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Wally Pipp II

 


The screenplay of a recent Amazon release, "Being the Ricardos," features a brief mention of the unfortunate Wally Pipp, discussed yesterday.

Desi and Lucille are speaking.  At this point in the plot, Lucille has continued to work within the movie studio system looking for her big break. The decision to try working within the maw of the new technology, television, as an alternative route to stardom is still ahead of them. 

Lucille is frustrated because she has been stuck getting bit parts -- just a couple of words beyond being an extra. For example, in one Astaire-and-Rogers movie she played an unnamed hairdresser, seen fixing up Ginger's hair backstage. She had one dispensable line. 

To the point: in a key scene in Being the Ricardos Desi and Lucille are speaking. She is excited. A famous actress has taken ill, and will have to back out of a leading role in a big studio project. She thinks she is going to get the part.  So she tells Desi this, but she starts by telling him of how Wally Pipp's headache paved the way for the rise of the Yankee legend, Lou Gehrig.

When she's done with the story, there is a pause. Then she starts explaining (dare one call it gringa-splaining?). "You see, MGM is the Yankees and...."

Desi replies, wearily, "I got the analogy soooooo long ago." 

Maybe I'm engaging in a bit of ethnic stereotyping but what I heard in his voice (actually the voice of the brilliant actor Javier Bardem) includes, "don't over-explain a baseball story to a Cuban man." 

Anyway, it was a fine moment and sticks in my head.  

  

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