By Gail Marsh
If you’ve never seen this hilarious, charming, classic movie, or haven’t viewed it in a while, it’s time to break out the popcorn! “The Long, Long Trailer” takes the best (and worst) parts of RV life and makes them all laugh-out-loud funny.
In this movie, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz star as newlyweds. They decide to purchase a trailer to live in as they travel the United States, following Desi’s civil engineering job. Sounds reasonable and eerily familiar to today, right? Well, just like in real life, things do not go as smoothly as planned.
I think every RVer wannabe should see this movie. It humorously portrays the very real challenges to owning and operating an RV. These include backing up, maneuvering tight corners, encountering bad weather, driving up and down steep grades, and dealing with all the other stresses of RVing.
Some behind-the-scenes facts
For those of you who’ve enjoyed this classic movie for years, here are a few behind-the-scenes facts that you may not know:
- “The Long, Long Trailer” movie is based on a novel written by Clinton Twiss (1951). Turns out, this author and his wife sold all their belongings and traveled the country, much like the characters in the movie. Twiss used many of his own experiences in the book.
- The RV featured in the film was a 36-foot Redman New Moon model. It sold new for $5,350 in 1953.
- A 1953 Mercury Monterey convertible pulled the trailer. This car featured a 125 HP flathead V8 engine.
- To pull the trailer up Whitney Portal Road (leading to Mount Whitney), producers had to replace the original car with a beefier Lincoln Capri (205 HP V8). Watch closely as the car makes the curve. You’ll see the iconic Lincoln grille.
- Many scenic places are featured in the movie. As you watch, see if you can spot a tunnel view of Yosemite Valley, Yosemite Falls, and panoramic views of Bridal Veil Falls, El Capitan, and Half Dome.
- Rumors claim that Desi Arnaz bet producers the movie would gross more than the highest-grossing comedy of the day, “Father of the Bride.” Arnaz won the $25,000 bet.
If you need a break from nightly news and sitcom reruns, rent or stream “The Long, Long Trailer“. You won’t regret it! Who knows? Maybe the movie will remind you of some of your own RV misadventures.
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I had the pleasure of watching this movie with about 400 other RVers in a theatre at an RV Boot Camp several years ago. It really was a great way to appreciate this movie!
Not a great way to start a marriage. Sneaking rocks into the trailer even though she was told not to, for obvious reasons. I out grew Lucy and Desi by the time I turned 15. I can’t stand the movie or much else they are in.
Back when movies were clean, and funny.
When the movie is on, I shudder and my wife laughs. The rocks! When we get back from a trip, rocks start appearing in our yard.. I told her the earth will probably shift on it’s axis or our property will sink.
I recently saw it and it was interesting how little has changed over the years. The biggest change was Ricky having to manually apply the trailer brakes.
We have this on DVD, along with so many RV movies. So much fun finding these movies, they bring memories of situations that we can laugh at watching now. A lot of the situations were not very funny at the time. I’ve got to get back on the road.
I have this movie and I have it in my DVR also, it is such a keeper, love the part when she is cooking while he is driving
One of my favorites. I own it, along with RV, We’re The Millers, Lost in America, Meet The Fockers, and our latest favorite, Leisure Seeker. We have more RV movies and take them with us wherever we camp.
I will never forget the best line in the movie when Lucy says “Turn right here left.” just as they enter an intersection and Desi turns right before she could get the “here left” out of her mouth. Great movie that to this day has some things in common. Stay safe, Stay well, Safe travels
I remember that movie and it was great. Lucy’s rock collection was memorable. Also alot of us can relate to the help Desi got backing the trailer into a driveway. Now I have to check Amazon Prime to see if they have it.
You can get it on ITunes. It’s a wonderful movie. Totally hilarious! We ended up buying it so we could watch it whenever we need a laugh.