THIS Classic ‘I Love Lucy’ Scene Made Lucille Ball Fear for Her Life
I Love Lucy is classic TV for a reason! From the chocolate factory episode to the egg tango that inspired a record-breaking 67-second laugh, there are plenty of unforgettable moments.
One such moment happens in Season 5’s “Lucy’s Italian Movie.”
The set up is practically manufactured for laughs: a tub full of grapes, a language barrier, and, of course, Lucille Ball. Lucy takes the place of another (vastly more experienced) grape stomper and climbs into the vat, convinced she’s up for the task. Only, mashing grapes for wine is harder than it looks. Exhausted, Lucy tries to climb out of the vat. Her coworker, who only speaks Italian, tugs her right back in.
An all-out grape fight ensues.
It’s funny, it’s messy, and it’s unforgettable.
It was also real.
“[Tirelli] was told that there would be a fight, and it was also explained to her that there were times when my legs had to come up in this huge vat of real grapes,” Ball admitted during a 1974 interview on The Dick Cavett Show. “I slipped and when I slipped, I hit her, accidentally. And she took offense. So, she hauled off and let me have it…it took all the wind out of me.”
Worse still, the language barrier between the two actresses was also real, so Lucy couldn’t explain her mistake. Infuriated, Tirelli seemingly made a real-life murder attempt. “She kept me down by the throat,” Ball stated. “I had grapes in my nose and in my ears and she was choking me, and I am really beating her to get her off. I was drowning in these grapes. She was killing me.”
Ball was such a pro at physical comedy that neither the director nor the crew realized that anything was amiss. Cameras kept rolling, and people kept laughing, unaware that Ball was in distress.
“To drown in a vat of grapes was not the way I had planned to go,” the comedienne quipped.
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Originally published March 21, 2024
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