Lucille Ball And Desi Arnaz's Story Is Being Revisited In "Lucy And Desi," And Here Are 21 Reasons Why You Should Watch The Documentary

The documentary includes interviews with numerous people who met Lucy and Desi in real life, including their two children.

"I think [Lucy and Desi is] going to be amazing. From what I've heard so far, and what I've seen them do, they're really pulling out every stop," Lucie Arnaz- Luckinbill told Palm Springs Life in 2021. Both she and her brother, Desi Arnaz Jr., are featured in the doc.

Amy made sure the documentary would cover an extended timeline of Lucy and Desi's story, rather than just focusing on the start and finish of their lives.

"We tried to tell their story in three acts," Amy told IndieWire. "We're really obsessed with the beginnings [of things], and we really wanna know how things end, and a lot of life takes place in the middle, which is where all the good stuff is," she added.

This isn't the first time Lucy and Desi's story has been told by filmmakers; Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie, another documentary on the couple, was directed and produced by Lucie and released in 1993. In addition, the biopic starring Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem, Being the Ricardos, provided a depiction of their lives in 2021.

Lucy and Desi reintroduces the world to the couple through a new, unfiltered lens.

Together, Lucy and Desi created Desilu Productions, a company that made legendary television shows like Star Trek and I Love Lucy, and provided the filming location for hits such as The Andy Griffith Show. Some moments in the Lucy and Desi trailer showcase this segment of their careers.

Lucy would later become the first woman to oversee a Hollywood studio when, in 1962, she bought out Desi's financial interest in the company. 

Bette Midler, Carol Burnett, Charo, and Norman Lear are a few people who are interviewed in Lucy and Desi. 

"You realized that women could do this too," Bette said in the trailer for the film when discussing Lucy's leadership role in creating and running Desilu Productions with Desi.

"She was fearless," Carol said of Lucy.

Ron served as an executive producer of Lucy and Desi as his company, Imagine Documentaries, spearheaded the film. In her interview with IndieWire, Amy said Ron first presented her with the opportunity to direct the project.

This venture is a full circle moment for Ron, who starred as Opie Taylor in The Andy Griffith Show, which filmed at Desilu Studios.

In her IndieWire interview, Amy said a lot of the audio used in the film was taken from an archived interview Lucy did for the Ladies' Home Journal, while Desi's audio was from the spoken version of his memoir and personal recordings. 

"It's really valuable because Lucy talking about herself tells you stuff, even what she doesn't talk about," Amy said. "It was some intimate moments and all of it access was provided by their estate and by Lucie Arnaz-Luckinbill, which was a huge treasure trove to find."

"It would be great if people realized how incredibly ahead of their time both Lucy and Desi were and how the characters of Lucy and Ricky pervaded American culture in a way that is really significant," Amy said when discussing what she'd want audiences to take away from the documentary. 

Cuban playwright Eduardo Machado is interviewed in the film, who revealed the significance of Desi's character to audience members who could resonate with his background.

"[Eduardo] ... talks about how important it was for him when he arrived in the United States to see a beautifully-dressed, well-spoken [Cuban] man who was the boss of his work and his family on TV," Amy said.

David, who has composed for projects like Arrested Development, Trading Places and The Good Place, created music for Lucy and Desi. 

"I think it's a really interesting story ... even big Lucy fans will find things they didn't know, and ... I loved writing the music. It was a great experience," David said in an interview on The Jan Price Show.

One moment in Lucy and Desi shows how, towards the ends of Desi's life, he, Lucy, and Lucie watched episodes of I Love Lucy and laughed together while he was in the hospital. This was a heartfelt memory in their lives that Amy says audience members can resonate with as they navigate their own journeys.

"I mean, that [moment] is ... that's it. We're only here for a short time, right? So I love the humanness of that, the realness of that I think people can really relate to no matter what they do or have done in their lives," Amy said.

The documentary covers the fact that, when they first met, Lucy and Desi were not fully satisfied with their individual careers. Not only did they find love together, but their union brought out their greatest professional potential for either of them.

"There was a frustration career-wise ... for both Lucy and Desi, and sometimes frustration is a great motivation," Amy told IndieWire. "So they were not quite getting their itch scratched in what they were doing, and they knew they were capable of doing more, and when they met each other, they saw that in each other. Which is really ... kind of what you hope for in any relationship, is somebody sees the possibility of you, the width and breadth of you and also maybe what you have yet to do."

Although they divorced in 1960, following a 20-year marriage, Lucy and Desi were still close until Desi's passing in 1986. This lifelong support system served as a focal point for Amy as she directed Lucy and Desi. 

"One of the favorite things about working on this documentary was that, [Lucy and Desi's] relationship is a symbol for how people can come in and out of your lives in different ways," Amy said in her Variety interview. "Much like how the show continues to stay in this American psyche, Lucy and Desi really stayed in each other's lives and hearts and worked together, and were with each other until the very end."

"There is this version of the way people in general approach women in art ... which is that they're just naturally good at things, like ... they fell into a patch of clover and they're just like, how lucky and natural," Amy said.

Director of archives at the National Comedy Center's Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Museum, Laura LaPlaca, and Journey Gunderson, the executive director of the center, are featured in Lucy and Desi. They speak of how Lucy's comedic abilities, contrary to how they may appear, required a lot of dedicated work.

"[Laura and Journey] ... kept perspective about where [Desi and Lucy] were in time, and also how Lucy herself did not consider herself a typically naturally funny person, so she worked really, really hard at it. Music, comedy, those are disciplines where ... if they're done right, they seem easy to do," Amy added. 

Although not always given credit for his behind-the-scenes work, Desi was instrumental in producing I Love Lucy. Lucy was also dynamic in her role as a co-creator of the show. The documentary gives credit to the couple for their indelible contributions to the medium of television.

"The way we make TV is very similar to how Desi first shaped it. He was a huge influencer and giant boss, and a very good boss who knew how to hire the right people and how to delegate," Amy said. "And you know, both him and Lucy...did not look like the faces of gatekeepers in the 1950s. And his story...is often, at best minimized, at worst sometimes treated like [he was] lucky to be on the show, and he made the show. I mean, he created the show with [Lucy]."

The documentary includes how Lucy and Desi initially faced opposition due to their differing ethnic backgrounds when they wanted to bring their marriage dynamic into I Love Lucy.

"[Lucy] insisted on Desi, her real-life husband, being her husband in the I Love Lucy show," Amy told Variety. "A lot of people thought, well, no one's going to buy that these two people are married, and Lucy and Desi were like, 'But we are [married].' Even that is, at the time, so groundbreaking. I think people really take that in stride now, but it was so huge that they both insisted on that."