Got to watch The Long,Long Trailer

[Roger Ledbetter]

If You havn't seen this 1954 movie starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, it will be coming on TCM (Turner Movie Classics) Dec 4 at 11:30 pm (I assume EST).

You have got to watch it at least once if you tow a RV, you will laugh till you cry.

Program your VCR's and enjoy Roger Ledbetter

 

[emarsh]

Absolutely! I have been waiting for this episode, to show my nephew. This is a must see Lucy show for men. Thanks for the report! Ed

PS

I can't remember what car he had to tow with, was it a 57 Ford?

Do you know the title, I would definitely willing to buy a copy, this is the funniest Lucy story ever.

 

[dmurdock]

Yes, everytime I think my rig is anywhere close to being large, I try and watch that movie. Man, what kind of big block did that car have in it? That trailer looked like it weighed around 20k

 

[emarsh]

Ordered a copy VHS from Amazon.com

If there ever was a classic, this is it!

 

[chuck3]

That is one very funny movie.

 

[ISBPilot]

Ha Ha Haaa

That was one pulling little car... ..... lol. I loved the backing into the relatives driveway.

 

[Bob Wagner]

Laughter brought tears

The long long trailer really <b>ROCKS</b> !!!



Great

 

[Joe G.]

LOTS of laughs! Great fun. When I see an old movie I always get caught up in the old cars. I can't remember what year the Nash was, but the others were familiar. However, I suspect that a '53 Mercury flathead V8 couldn't move that trailer off the lot, never mind up a steep hill. All those old California scenes were a real trip too. Yosemite Valley with no cars? It's been a while to say the least. I'm not sure but I think the hill was Tioga Pass. Might have been Sonora. Of course, they leaned the camera a bit for those shots. Big improvements since then on those old roads. My wife didn't think the souvenir unloading at the top was so funny. That's exactly what she does. Of course I almost fell out of my chair for that scene. Did anyone but me catch the Power Wagon wrecker? Eat your heart out PW!

 

[whiteknight]

My wife and I just got married this past June and we were planning our honeymoon in Prince Edward Island and to take my 37 foot (almost 39ft from hitch ball to rear bumper) travel trailer with us. My mother-in-law said we had to see this movie before the trip, so I found it on video and we both wathed it just a few weeks before we left. We found it halarious but I had to assure my wife to be that our trip would be much smother than theirs. We did have a great trip with no problems. Of course we had that hummin Cummins leading the way.

 

[Roger Ledbetter]

If I could only get her to cook

While riding in the back, Lucy was the best in that part. Hang on and make me somthing to eat!

Oh yeah I will put the hammer down and sing a song while I am waiting. Ha, very funny!

 

[Briar Hopper]

I've watched that movie many times since I was a kid. My dad and mom lived in a trailer like that before I was born, as he had a dump truck company(26 trucks at that time) and they would travel to where the road projects were. Dad used to watch it with me, then after we recovered from laughing our butts off, tell me stories about HIS experiences while pulling "that stupid trailer", that still raise my hair every time I remember them.

He also had some pretty good trucking stories.

 

[wcaldwell]

My wife and I rented it a couple of months ago - Ricky was driving a 53 - 54 Mercury convertable. The length of that trailer had to have been at least a 40-footer and looked like it would have weighed at least 10k. Look at the dolly they used to carry the tongue to keep it from tearing off the rear half of the car.



I have a 1987, 26-foot Nomad tongue-pull and after doing some towing, I know there was no way on God's green earth Ricky was going to get that trailer up that mountain and back down the other side with that car and still have any semblance of an engine, transmission, or brakes left.



But it was just simple, fun entertainment.

 

[Joe G.]

That was a '53 with the flat head. Somewhere around 110 to 120 or so HP. Those convertables made in the '50s were really heavy because of the extra bracing in the frames. You should see the underside of a '53 Caddy convertable like we had. I-beam X member in addition to the normal frame. The trailer had to be hollow for the car to even move it. It was kind of a slug just getting around on its own. It would have looked like Old Faithful on that hill. Ya gotta suspend belief and just enjoy it for the fun. Laughed myself silly in some parts.

 

[Paul Somers]

Joe G. Are you sure?

I know the 1953 Ford had flat head engine and first year for OHV was 1954. I thought Mercury was one year ahead of Ford and had the OHV in 1953. My dad had a 1953 Ford six clylinder and it was OHV. His previous 1949 Ford six clyinder was flat head. Don't remember what year the six went OHV. I'm probably wrong; memory isn't what it used to be.

 

[Joe G.]

Paul,



Ford went to an OHV six in '52 or '53 (I think '52 is correct but I would have to look it up), but all the V8s were still flatheads until '54. The die hard flathead hot rodders all used '53 Mercs as their base engine for years after that. Very good sturdy engine. The first OHV six was not a very good engine. Compared poorly with the old "run forever" flathead six. It had a cast steel crankshaft the same as the first Ford OHV V8s. That is probably one reason you don't see many Fords from that era on the road compared to Chevies. There are some very nice mid '50s Ford pickups (my favorite pickup from that era) running around Eureka. All of them except one that I know of have small block Chevy power. The exception is a magnificent restore job.



You can tell the Merc in the movie is a '53 because of the tail lights. Lots of chrome. The '54 had the rear fenders extended some and the tail light lens was molded into the sheet metal. More lens and very little chrome.

 

[tgbol]

In '60 my parents took the family on our first trailer trip. From SoCal to Montana, Yellowstone and then to Seattle, 3 weeks. The tow vehicle was a '56 Mercury Station wagon with a 312. We blew a head gasket out side of Helena, 3 hours later we were back on the road. The trailer was a 16 ft Shasta.

When My dad died he was packing up the '75 Merc and 27' KountryAir for another 6 month trip. He and my mom kept a copy of the Long Long Trailer in the trailer just for laughs.