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Plot
While playing cards with the Mertzes, Lucy remarks how nice it will be to get to celebrate her wedding anniversary in Hollywood. Ricky's flustered reaction tells Lucy that Ricky has totally forgotten about their quickly approaching anniversary. When Lucy steps out of the room, Ricky tries to find out the date from the Mertzes and Mrs. McGillicuddy, but he's out of luck. To keep Lucy from knowing that he's forgotten their anniversary, Ricky lies and says that he's been planning a huge party for Lucy at the Mocambo. How could he be planning a party if he had forgotten?
Late that night, while Lucy's sleeping, Ricky telephones Grenwich, Connecticut, to ask for the license bureau to send the wedding date via telegram. The next morning, Ricky manages to hide the telegram from Lucy. He pretends to hug her while telling her the date, and while doing so, he covertly opens the telegram behind Lucy's back, reads the wedding date, and correctly tells Lucy that they were married on the 7th. Lucy is very excited that Ricky remembered, and she asks if the anniversary party is still on. Ricky has to scramble to set up a party, so he asks his press agent to quickly put an ad in the paper that makes it sound like the party's been planned for a while.
The press agent ends up putting a huge celebrity guest list in the party, using the celebrities he knows will be out of town the night of the party. Now, things are worse. Lucy is expecting all these celebs to be at her party, and Ricky's lucky if he'll even get the PARTY done, let alone have celebrities there!
While cleaning out Ricky's robe for the laundry, she finds the telegram from the license bureau. She confronts him about it, and Ricky admits that he did forget their anniversary date, that the party hasn't been planned for weeks, and the celebrities listed in the paper won't be coming. Lucy is, of course, crushed, and she stops speaking to Ricky.
The night of the Mocambo party, Ricky insists that Lucy go to the club with him, but Lucy gives him the cold shoulder. When he leaves, Mrs. McGillicuddy insists Lucy go to the club to have fun by herself. After all, it IS her anniversary, and she deserves a good time. So, Lucy and her mother go to the Mocambo with Bobby the bellboy as an escort. When there, Ricky sincerely apologizes to Lucy by singing her "The Anniversary Waltz." At the end of the first verse, Lucy forgives Ricky, dances to "The Anniversary Waltz" with him, and they romantically kiss at the end of the song.
Trivia
- The idea for Ricky throwing an anniversary party for Lucy at the Mocambo came from the fact that Desi threw a surprise anniversary party for Lucy at the Mocambo in real life the year before.
- Fred and Ethel's anniversary is May 3rd.
- Ricky and Lucy's anniversary is said to be the 7th. But in "The Anniversary Present," two years before, their anniversary was on the 19th of the month!
- While Ricky forgot his anniversary date in season 1 (in "The Fur Coat"), he remembered the anniversary date both in seasons 2 and 3. So, why has he suddenly forgotten in season 4?
- The month of the Ricardos' anniversary (in THIS episode!) is never said, but it can be inferred from other parts of the episode. Lucy's mother said that Lucy got married in the spring, and the fact that Fred even suggested May 3rd (his own anniversary date) as a possible date means that the Ricardos' anniversary had to be somewhat close to the Mertzes' anniversary. What doesn't make sense is this- if the Ricardos' anniversary is on the 7th and in the spring, it either has to be April 7th or May 7th, more likely May 7th, based on Fred's suggestion. But Ethel never mentions that SHE will also be celebrating her annniversary soon! And if it IS April 7th, why would Fred have suggested a date a month in advance?! And for FURTHER confusion, at the very beginning of the episode, before anniversary dates are even mentioned, Fred and Ethel are talking about how, if they were back in New York, it would be so cold and they'd be shoveling snow. Even New York doesn't have snow in MAY! March, perhaps, but spring doesn't officially begin until the end of March. Very poorly planned details!
- It is likely from her snippy refusal tone and the fact that she planned a surprise anniversary for the Ricardos the previous year (which Ricky even notes) that Ethel really does know the anniversary date.
- Lucy and Ricky didn't have their wedding rings engraved.
- We learn Ricky's full name in this episode- Ricardo Fernando Alberto Ricardo y de Acha. The "Acha" part came from Desi's real-life full name of Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III. Interestingly, in one edition of the I Love Lucy year-in-a-box calendar, the creators made a trivia error by simply saying Ricky's middle name was "Alberto." They forgot the "Fernando." LucyEddFan wrote to them, informing them of the error.
- The list of fake celebrity guests supposedly coming to Lucy's Mocambo party included Esther Williams, Ben Gage, Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Wilding, Robert Taylor, Ursula Thiess, Van and Evie Johnson, Cary and Betsy Grant, June Allyson, and Dick Powell. Of these celebs, Lucy only got to really meet Robert Taylor and Van Johnson. She caught sight of Cary Grant at the Brown Derby (he was the first celeb she sighted!), but it is never mentioned that she actually met him.
- Interestingly, while Ricky is frantically trying to set up the Mocambo party with many phone calls, he nervously taps his fingers on the desk chair. What a perfect precursor to his finger-tapping habit in episode #123! This is the only time we ever see one of the foursome's annoying habits, other than Ethel being a noise eater.
- Lucy comments to Ethel about their wedding anniversary saying : If nothing else works I have the date on the calendar circled - From The Anniversary Present - The wedding anniversary is May 19, 1952 as per the calendar shown in EP 116. Memorial Day is highlighted in red(May 30) Friday, The only time in the 50's that it falls on that day.
Quotes
- Fred: If we were back home where it's cold, do you know what we'd be doin' right now?
Lucy: Yeah, pounding on the pipes for you to give us more heat.
Fred: Bologna! I mean, if we were back in New York, we'd be out shovelin' snow.
Ethel: You mean I'D be out shovelin' snow!
Fred: Aw, now, honeybunch, I only let you shovel the snow 'cause I had to keep an eye on the furnace.
Ricky: Yeah, to be sure nobody put any coal in it!
- Ethel: Lucy, I didn't realize you had a wedding anniversary coming up so soon.
Lucy: From the look on his face, neither did Ricky.
- Lucy: (referring to anniversary) What day is it?
Ricky: What day is it? It's Monday. Yesterday was Sunday, today's Monday. Monday!
- Ricky: What do you mean you don't know? You were at our anniversary party last year!
Ethel: So were you!
Ricky: Fred, do you remember?
Fred: Well, how 'bout May the 3rd? That date sticks in my mind for some reason. No, no, no- that's the day I fell down and broke my leg. Or was that the day I got the gout?
Ethel: Fred, for your information, May the 3rd is OUR wedding anniversary!
Fred: Well, I knew it was tied in with SOME painful memory!
- Ricky: You know what they ought to do? They ought to declare a national holiday and let everybody celebrate their anniversary on the same day.
Fred: Yeah, how 'bout April 1st?
- Ethel: Do you remember when Lucy got married?
Mrs. McGillicuddy: Certainly.
Ethel: When was it?
Mrs. McGillicuddy: Years ago.
Ethel: No, I mean, what was the date?
Mrs. McGillicuddy: Date? Oh, I'm no good at dates, but it was sometime in the spring.
- Ricky: I have a whole party planned at the Mocambo for that night.
Fred: But how can you, Rick, when you don't even...?
Ricky: Deal the cards, Fred!
Lucy: YOu have a party planned for WHAT night, Ricky?
Ricky: For the night of our anniversary.
Lucy: And what night is that, Ricky?
RIcky: Well, darlin', if you don't know when your own anniversary is, I'm certainly not gonna tell you!
- Ricky: (trying to make license bureau understand his name) "Ricardo." Yes, yes, As in "Montalban," yes. "Alberto," "Alberto." A-L-... You know, like "Albert." Put an "O" at the end! "Alberto," yeah. "Fernando"... Yes, as in "Lamas," yes. "Ricardo y Acha." "Acha," "Acha." Thank you, but I'm not sneezing! That's a name!
- Lucy: (spilling cough syrup) Oh, look what you made me do!
Ricky: I got enough of it!
- Ricky: I want you to plant a news item for me. You see, I forgot the date of our wedding anniversary.
Ross Elliott: Well, that's not news!
- Mrs. McGillicuddy: (reading newspaper) "Ricky Ricardo..." How do you like that? They spelled Mickey's name wrong!
- Ricky: (reading celeb guest list for party) Geez! I guess Lassie couldn't make it!
- Lucy: What's the meaning of this [telegram]?!
Ricky: No hablo ingles!
Lucy: You come back here! You hablo PLENTY of ingles, and you'd better start hablo-ing right now!
Ricky: Tengo que irme. Adios, muchacha.
Lucy: Come back here, or I'll adios YOUR muchacha!
Lucy: None of those peoples are coming [to my party]?!