The Long, Long Trailer

Saturday, 10 July 2010

I’m not much into comedy; especially slapstick comedy.  So, I was skeptical when Mui asked me to see if Netflix had a Lucille Ball comedy named The Long, Long Trailer in its inventory.  Since he asked me nicely, however, I added it to the queue.

We watched the DVD before we traveled to Oregon to pick up the coach, but I didn’t have time to blog about it then.  We’re home this weekend, giving the Phaeton a well-earned rest after our cross-country trip.  What better time to post about a fun bit of fluff.

It turns our that the newbie RV adventures of Tacy and Nicky Collini (played by real-life wife and husband, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz) was indeed hilarious and I’m glad we put it in the queue.  That Nicky was driving what he describes as “forty-feet of train” was of special interest considering we were going to be doing just that ourselves.

Here’s a brief plot synopsis of the movie, which is based on a novel by Clinton Twiss.  (See this Wikipedia article if you want more details.)

Nicky Collini and his fiancée, Tacy, buy (despite Nicky's extreme reluctance and dire predictions), a large trailer home (a 40-foot 1953 New Moon, which cost $5,345 at the time), so that they can save money that would otherwise be spent on a house, and also be able to travel around the USA to civil engineering projects that Nicky is employed on.

They have to buy a more powerful car to tow the trailer, a 1953 Mercury Monterey convertible with a 125 HP flathead V8 engine, and the money spent starts to mount up. The honeymoon trip to the Sierra Nevada Mountains rapidly becomes a catalogue of disasters. These include Tacy's attempts to cook dinner in a tilted trailer, and a cliffhanging ride on a narrow road through the mountains.

Relations deteriorate between the couple and finally Tacy storms off in a huff. But by the film's end, they are tearfully reunited.

After we stopped laughing, we made note of two lessons-learned.  First, cooking dinner while the vehicle is in motion is not a good idea (to boot, it’s illegal).  Second, a rock collection is not a good idea when you have mountains to cross (or at any other time either; just think of all that extra weight and what it would do to your miles/gallon).

If you’re in the mood for a bit of light-hearted laughter, make a bowl of popcorn, and sit back and watch The Long, Long Trailer.

(To whet your appetite, click here to watch a short clip on You Tube.)