The Long, Long Trailer
Encyclopedia
The Long, Long Trailer is a novel
by Clinton Twiss from the 1950s, about a couple who buy a new travel trailer
home and spend a year traveling across the United States
.
The novel was made into a movie in 1954 starring Lucille Ball
and Desi Arnaz
, and featuring Marjorie Main
, Keenan Wynn
, Bert Freed
, Moroni Olsen
, Gladys Hurlbut, Madge Blake
, and Walter Baldwin
. The picture was directed by Vincente Minnelli
, working from a screenplay
by Albert Hackett
and Frances Goodrich.
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 moving, rocking trailer, and later a cliffhanging ride on a narrow road through the
mountains, with the trailer weighed down by many rock specimens she has collected. After they arrive at the home of Tacy's parents and other relatives who are gathered watching, Nicky accidentally backs the trailer into their hosts' porch, partly destroying it as well as prized rose bushes. In another scene, he has to change a tire at night while stuck in the mud during a rainstorm.
Relations deteriorate between the couple, and finally Tacy storms off in a huff. But by the film's end, they are tearfully reunited.
in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California
. The hairpin turn
featured in the film offers scenic views of the Owens Valley
. During the scenes of Nicky and Tacy pulling their trailer in the mountains, their 1953 Mercury Monterey convertible is replaced with a larger but similar appearing 1953 Lincoln Capri convertible. The distinct Lincoln grille is clearly evident in a shot as the car rounds a curve. The more powerful Lincoln (which is equipped with a 205 HP V8 engine) was needed to pull the heavy New Moon trailer up and over the steep grades of the Sierra Nevadas where the scenes were filmed.
The film's closing credits thank the National Park Service
for permission to film in Yosemite National Park
. There is one memorable scene where the car and trailer emerge from a tunnel to a view of Yosemite Valley, complete with a panorama of El Capitan
, Half Dome
, and the Yosemite Falls
.
' host, Robert Osborne
, the studio was not sure if this film would be a success because they thought that people would not pay money to see Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in a movie when they could watch the couple on television for free (I Love Lucy
). Arnaz made a $25,000 bet with the studio that the movie would make more money than the current highest grossing comedy at that time (Father of the Bride starring Spencer Tracy
and Elizabeth Taylor
and also directed by Vincente Minnelli
). Arnaz won the bet.
in Region 1 coding for the U.S. and Canada. It was released as a single disc and as a part of a 3-DVD set featuring two other Ball/Arnaz movies, Forever, Darling
and Too Many Girls
. The film was also released in Region 4 coding for Australia.
song "Everything Right Is Wrong Again" which contains the lyrics: Everything right is wrong again/Just like in The Long, Long Trailer/All the dishes got broken/The car kept driving/And nobody would stop to save her.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by Clinton Twiss from the 1950s, about a couple who buy a new travel trailer
Travel trailer
A travel trailer or caravan is towed behind a road vehicle to provide a place to sleep which is more comfortable and protected than a tent . It provides the means for people to have their own home on a journey or a vacation, without relying on a motel or hotel, and enables them to stay in places...
home and spend a year traveling across the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
The novel was made into a movie in 1954 starring Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
and Desi Arnaz
Desi Arnaz
Desi Arnaz was a Cuban-born American musician, actor and television producer. While he gained international renown for leading a Latin music band, the Desi Arnaz Orchestra, he is probably best known for his role as Ricky Ricardo on the American TV series I Love Lucy, starring with Lucille Ball, to...
, and featuring Marjorie Main
Marjorie Main
Marjorie Main was an American character actress, mainly at MGM, perhaps best known for her role as Ma Kettle in a series of ten Ma and Pa Kettle movies.-Early life and career:...
, Keenan Wynn
Keenan Wynn
Keenan Wynn was an American character actor. His bristling mustache and expressive face were his stock in trade, and though he rarely had a lead role, he got prominent billing in most of his film and TV parts....
, Bert Freed
Bert Freed
Bert Freed was a prolific American character actor, voice over actor, and the first actor to portray "Detective Columbo" on television.-Life and career:...
, Moroni Olsen
Moroni Olsen
Moroni Olsen was an American actor.-Biography:Olsen was born in Ogden, Utah to Mormon parents Edward Arenholt Olsen and Marsha Hoverholst who named him after the Moroni found in the Book of Mormon. Some sources have claimed that Olsen's birth name was John Willard Clawson, or even John Willard...
, Gladys Hurlbut, Madge Blake
Madge Blake
Madge Blake was an American character actress best remembered for her role as Aunt Harriet Cooper on ABC's Batman TV series of the 1960s.-Early life:...
, and Walter Baldwin
Walter Baldwin
Walter Baldwin was a prolific character actor whose career spanned five decades and 150 film and television roles, and numerous stage performances.Baldwin, who was born Walter S...
. The picture was directed by Vincente Minnelli
Vincente Minnelli
Vincente Minnelli was an American stage director and film director, famous for directing such classic movie musicals as Meet Me in St. Louis, The Band Wagon, and An American in Paris. In addition to having directed some of the most famous and well-remembered musicals of his time, Minnelli made...
, working from a screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
by Albert Hackett
Albert Hackett
Albert Maurice Hackett was an American dramatist and screenwriter most noted for his collaborations with his partner and wife Frances Goodrich.-Early years:...
and Frances Goodrich.
Plot
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
Mercury Monterey
The Monterey was introduced in 1950 as a high-end two-door coupe in the same vein as the Ford Crestliner, the Lincoln Lido coupe and the Lincoln Cosmopolitan Capri coupe. The reason was to offer a more luxurious coupe as the FoMoCo still not had any hard top. The Mercury line got a styling redesign...
convertible
Convertible
A convertible is a type of automobile in which the roof can retract and fold away having windows which wind-down inside the doors, converting it from an enclosed to an open-air vehicle...
with a 125 HP
Horsepower
Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...
flathead
Ford Flathead engine
The Ford flathead V8 was a V8 engine of the flathead type, designed by the Ford Motor Company and built by Ford and various licensees...
V8 engine
V8 engine
A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....
, 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 moving, rocking trailer, and later a cliffhanging ride on a narrow road through the
mountains, with the trailer weighed down by many rock specimens she has collected. After they arrive at the home of Tacy's parents and other relatives who are gathered watching, Nicky accidentally backs the trailer into their hosts' porch, partly destroying it as well as prized rose bushes. In another scene, he has to change a tire at night while stuck in the mud during a rainstorm.
Relations deteriorate between the couple, and finally Tacy storms off in a huff. But by the film's end, they are tearfully reunited.
Production notes
The dangerous mountain road featured in the movie is Whitney Portal Road, which leads up to Mount WhitneyMount Whitney
Mount Whitney is the highest summit in the contiguous United States with an elevation of . It is on the boundary between California's Inyo and Tulare counties, west-northwest of the lowest point in North America at Badwater in Death Valley National Park...
in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. The hairpin turn
Hairpin turn
A hairpin turn , named for its resemblance to a hairpin/bobby pin, is a bend in a road with a very acute inner angle, making it necessary for an oncoming vehicle to turn almost 180° to continue on the road. Such turns in ramps and trails may be called switchbacks in American English, by analogy...
featured in the film offers scenic views of the Owens Valley
Owens Valley
Owens Valley is the arid valley of the Owens River in eastern California in the United States, to the east of the Sierra Nevada and west of the White Mountains and Inyo Mountains on the west edge of the Great Basin section...
. During the scenes of Nicky and Tacy pulling their trailer in the mountains, their 1953 Mercury Monterey convertible is replaced with a larger but similar appearing 1953 Lincoln Capri convertible. The distinct Lincoln grille is clearly evident in a shot as the car rounds a curve. The more powerful Lincoln (which is equipped with a 205 HP V8 engine) was needed to pull the heavy New Moon trailer up and over the steep grades of the Sierra Nevadas where the scenes were filmed.
The film's closing credits thank the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
for permission to film in Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park is a United States National Park spanning eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in east central California, United States. The park covers an area of and reaches across the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain...
. There is one memorable scene where the car and trailer emerge from a tunnel to a view of Yosemite Valley, complete with a panorama of El Capitan
El Capitan
El Capitan is a vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park, located on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The granite monolith extends about from base to summit along its tallest face, and is one of the world's favorite challenges for rock climbers.The formation was...
, Half Dome
Half Dome
Half Dome is a granite dome in Yosemite National Park, located in northeastern Mariposa County, California, at the eastern end of Yosemite Valley — possibly Yosemite's most familiar rock formation. The granite crest rises more than above the valley floor....
, and the Yosemite Falls
Yosemite Falls
Yosemite Falls is the highest measured waterfall in North America. Located in Yosemite National Park in the Sierra Nevada of California, it is a major attraction in the park, especially in late spring when the water flow is at its peak....
.
Reception
According to Turner Classic MoviesTurner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies is a movie-oriented cable television channel, owned by the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary of Time Warner, featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and MGM, United Artists, RKO and Warner Bros. film libraries...
' host, Robert Osborne
Robert Osborne
Robert Jolin Osborne is an American actor and film historian best known as the primary host for Turner Classic Movies, and previously a host of The Movie Channel.-Life and career:...
, the studio was not sure if this film would be a success because they thought that people would not pay money to see Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in a movie when they could watch the couple on television for free (I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on the Columbia Broadcasting System...
). Arnaz made a $25,000 bet with the studio that the movie would make more money than the current highest grossing comedy at that time (Father of the Bride starring Spencer Tracy
Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...
and Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
and also directed by Vincente Minnelli
Vincente Minnelli
Vincente Minnelli was an American stage director and film director, famous for directing such classic movie musicals as Meet Me in St. Louis, The Band Wagon, and An American in Paris. In addition to having directed some of the most famous and well-remembered musicals of his time, Minnelli made...
). Arnaz won the bet.
Principal cast
- Lucille BallLucille BallLucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
... Tacy Bolton - Collini - Desi ArnazDesi ArnazDesi Arnaz was a Cuban-born American musician, actor and television producer. While he gained international renown for leading a Latin music band, the Desi Arnaz Orchestra, he is probably best known for his role as Ricky Ricardo on the American TV series I Love Lucy, starring with Lucille Ball, to...
... Nicholas 'Nicky' Collini - Marjorie MainMarjorie MainMarjorie Main was an American character actress, mainly at MGM, perhaps best known for her role as Ma Kettle in a series of ten Ma and Pa Kettle movies.-Early life and career:...
... Mrs. Hittaway - Keenan WynnKeenan WynnKeenan Wynn was an American character actor. His bristling mustache and expressive face were his stock in trade, and though he rarely had a lead role, he got prominent billing in most of his film and TV parts....
... Policeman - Gladys Hurlbut ... Mrs. Bolton
- Moroni OlsenMoroni OlsenMoroni Olsen was an American actor.-Biography:Olsen was born in Ogden, Utah to Mormon parents Edward Arenholt Olsen and Marsha Hoverholst who named him after the Moroni found in the Book of Mormon. Some sources have claimed that Olsen's birth name was John Willard Clawson, or even John Willard...
... Mr. Tewitt - Bert FreedBert FreedBert Freed was a prolific American character actor, voice over actor, and the first actor to portray "Detective Columbo" on television.-Life and career:...
... Foreman - Madge BlakeMadge BlakeMadge Blake was an American character actress best remembered for her role as Aunt Harriet Cooper on ABC's Batman TV series of the 1960s.-Early life:...
... Aunt Anastacia - Walter BaldwinWalter BaldwinWalter Baldwin was a prolific character actor whose career spanned five decades and 150 film and television roles, and numerous stage performances.Baldwin, who was born Walter S...
... Uncle Edgar - Oliver Blake ... Mr. Ludlow
- Perry Sheehan ... Bridesmaid
DVD release
The Long, Long Trailer was released on DVD on May 2, 2006 by Warner Home VideoWarner Home Video
Warner Home Video is the home video unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., itself part of Time Warner. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video . The company launched in the United States with twenty films on VHS and Betamax videocassettes in late 1979...
in Region 1 coding for the U.S. and Canada. It was released as a single disc and as a part of a 3-DVD set featuring two other Ball/Arnaz movies, Forever, Darling
Forever, Darling
Forever, Darling is a 1956 American romantic comedy film with fantasy overtones, starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, and James Mason, and directed by Alexander Hall...
and Too Many Girls
Too Many Girls (musical)
Too Many Girls is a Broadway musical comedy and a 1940 film version of the show, starring Lucille Ball.-Broadway version:Too Many Girls opened October 18, 1939, with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart and book by George Marion Jr. It was produced by George Abbott...
. The film was also released in Region 4 coding for Australia.
Popular culture
The film is referenced in the They Might Be GiantsThey Might Be Giants
They Might Be Giants is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years Flansburgh and Linnell were frequently accompanied by a drum machine. In the early 1990s, TMBG became a full band. Currently, the members of TMBG are...
song "Everything Right Is Wrong Again" which contains the lyrics: Everything right is wrong again/Just like in The Long, Long Trailer/All the dishes got broken/The car kept driving/And nobody would stop to save her.
External links
- The Long, Long Trailer at Trailerite.com
- Full-text of the Twiss'novel