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I don't think the other members of the What's My Line panel liked Dorothy Kilgallen, Part 7

Feel free to share any final thoughts.

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by Anonymousreply 600September 8, 2024 2:54 AM

Previous thread.

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by Anonymousreply 1July 27, 2024 1:09 AM

Audrey Meadows as the mystery guest in 1955, shortly before the debut of the "Classic 39" episodes of "The Honeymooners."

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by Anonymousreply 2July 27, 2024 11:17 AM

Arlene wears her heart necklace over a pearl necklace. Too much bling?

by Anonymousreply 3July 27, 2024 11:49 AM

She forgot to remove one item of jewelry after checking herself in the mirror, R3.

by Anonymousreply 4July 27, 2024 12:52 PM

Charles Coburn

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by Anonymousreply 5July 28, 2024 2:25 AM

It's interesting that while Arlene and Dororthy can enjoy the audience laughter Steve Allen does not.

by Anonymousreply 6July 28, 2024 2:47 AM

R6 When the audience laughed at one of Steve’s questions because they knew something he didn’t, he usually gave the audience a perplexed look. It wasn’t due to a lack of humor, based on his hysterical laughter when he found that something was funny on his talk shows (The Tonight Show and later a syndicated talk show). On WML, I think he was trying to understand what in the world the audience was laughing at.

by Anonymousreply 7July 28, 2024 7:54 AM

The Weather Lady has haunted eyes as if she is a serial killer victim but good hair.

by Anonymousreply 8July 28, 2024 12:19 PM

Fred Astaire as the mystery guest in 1955. When a panelist asks whether he's a singer, he says he is not. Obviously he's primarily remembered as a dancer, but to say that he's not a singer is pretty odd, considering all the times he sang in movies and introduced classic songs. Miss Dorothy registers an objection after his identity is guessed.

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by Anonymousreply 9July 28, 2024 12:35 PM

I've read that Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, and other composers loved to have Fred sing their songs. Although he's not held in high regard for his voice, they felt his simple singing style highlighted their work better than the renditions by the great singers of the era.

by Anonymousreply 10July 28, 2024 4:27 PM

Fred was still a handsome man.

by Anonymousreply 11July 28, 2024 8:03 PM

Fred #2

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by Anonymousreply 12July 28, 2024 8:18 PM

Arlene must have told her hairdresser Make me into Marilyn.

by Anonymousreply 13July 28, 2024 8:45 PM

Fed and George Burns had the best toupees in Hollywood.

by Anonymousreply 14July 28, 2024 8:48 PM

As we're wrapping things up in this thread, please post your 5 all-time favorite Mystery Guest appearances. Mine would include:

Roz Russell

Ava Gardner

Elizabeth Taylor

Irene Dunne (first appearance)

Robert Wagner (both appearances)

by Anonymousreply 15July 28, 2024 8:52 PM

[quote] Feel free to share any final thoughts.

[quote] As we're wrapping things up in this thread

Now wait a minute, OP and R15, I’m not done asking my questions.

by Anonymousreply 16July 29, 2024 1:27 AM

Was that a no?

by Anonymousreply 17July 29, 2024 1:45 AM

When Fred exited in the clip at R12 we had a rare glimpse of the camera to the right of the panel! And a stagehand.

by Anonymousreply 18July 29, 2024 3:46 AM

In regards to fave Mystery Guests, my two are also Rosalind Russell, and Judy.

Roz is hilarious in response to Dorothy's question, Are you under 48.

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by Anonymousreply 19July 30, 2024 2:59 AM

A quick appearance by Arlene Frantic...

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by Anonymousreply 20July 30, 2024 3:16 AM

Judy

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by Anonymousreply 21July 30, 2024 3:23 AM

Michael Redgrave.

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by Anonymousreply 22July 31, 2024 5:17 AM

The Lifeguard got wolf whistles. Have not heard those in a while in clips.

by Anonymousreply 23August 1, 2024 12:13 PM

"What's My Line?" audiences, in the earlier days, were pretty generous with their wolf whistles. I think even Eleanor Roosevelt might have gotten a few.

by Anonymousreply 24August 1, 2024 9:47 PM

Johnny Carson was just so damn cute! Even before he had those ears fixed.

Fun reference to Vanessa Redgrave at the end of r22. Her dad was mighty cute, too.

by Anonymousreply 25August 2, 2024 2:13 AM

Mrs. Frankel doesn't go with the product darling.

by Anonymousreply 26August 2, 2024 2:33 AM

Natasha Lytess. aka Tala Forman.

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by Anonymousreply 27August 2, 2024 4:30 AM

I love how she dresses DOWN for the show.

by Anonymousreply 28August 2, 2024 4:33 AM

You can easily see how Natasha would drive MM's directors crazy.

by Anonymousreply 29August 2, 2024 1:32 PM

Any wolf whistles for Natasha??

by Anonymousreply 30August 2, 2024 1:33 PM

Marilyn lookalike Toni West.

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by Anonymousreply 31August 2, 2024 2:28 PM

Natasha is Miss Frump of 1954 but you can imagine Marilyn saying how beautiful she is.

by Anonymousreply 32August 2, 2024 2:32 PM

In that clip, Natasha is beautiful and gracious.

by Anonymousreply 33August 2, 2024 3:31 PM

Where's Boris Badenov?

by Anonymousreply 34August 2, 2024 3:44 PM

Damn! Robert Preston at R31 is really handsome with a mustache.

For those who like to keep track of such things, the show aired on March 17, 1957.

by Anonymousreply 35August 2, 2024 10:10 PM

Natasha Lytess was on the same episode as Alfred Hitchcock.

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by Anonymousreply 36August 3, 2024 7:28 AM

Lee Meriwether.

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by Anonymousreply 37August 3, 2024 1:06 PM

Here's one with a mystery guest I've never heard of. She seems like a bit of a character and has her dog with her the entire time. I suspect that the show realized that she wasn't all that famous, because "Famous Ice Skating Star" is superimposed on the screen as she signs in.

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by Anonymousreply 38August 4, 2024 10:52 AM

R25- Johnny Carson was quite good looking in the 1960's- slim and good looking which is just my type. I was never into muscular guys and most especially not into bears. I can like slim and hairy but not fat of any kind.

by Anonymousreply 39August 4, 2024 11:03 AM

Wiki

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by Anonymousreply 40August 4, 2024 11:46 AM

R35 - here's the whole show.

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by Anonymousreply 41August 4, 2024 11:48 AM

Norman Vicent Peale reminds me that a stripper used to use the stage name "Norma Vincent Peel."

by Anonymousreply 42August 4, 2024 1:40 PM

Re r38, that was the first MG segment in which they allowed the panelists only one question at a time, which I think was a huge improvement in the game because it didn't allow Dorothy the opportunity to hog the segment. I'm surprised it took them until 1955 to figure out how it would improve the pacing of the game.

Those references to Godfrey and "fire" I assume were about Arthur Godfrey's notorious firing of Julius LaRosa from his daily TV show? Or did Godfrey fire a lot of people?

Interesting how the final contestant was a beautifully statuesque woman (who resembled Ava Gardner) but got NO wolf whistles or catcalls when she signed in. Had Johnny Olsen fallen asleep??

And the naval submarine guy was very handsome! I could see why Dorothy thought he might be some kind of a performer.

by Anonymousreply 43August 4, 2024 11:25 PM

I didn't know who that scott woman was either. I'll always hate her for bringing her dog though.

by Anonymousreply 44August 5, 2024 12:00 AM

FU, R44

by Anonymousreply 45August 5, 2024 2:02 AM

[quote]Those references to Godfrey and "fire" I assume were about Arthur Godfrey's notorious firing of Julius LaRosa from his daily TV show? Or did Godfrey fire a lot of people?

I'm quite sure that must have been a reference to Godfrey's firing of Julius La Rosa, R43, which was a huge scandal at the time. Godfrey not only fired him, he fired him while the show was on the air, and he announced the firing to his audience. I'm sure Godfrey fired a lot of people along the way. Despite his folksy demeanor, he was known to be a major asshole and very difficult to work for. But his firing of LaRosa was unusually cruel. I wonder sometimes whether "A Face in the Crowd" was at least partially inspired by Godfrey.

by Anonymousreply 46August 5, 2024 3:51 AM

Julius LaRosa

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by Anonymousreply 47August 5, 2024 4:29 AM

and again

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by Anonymousreply 48August 5, 2024 5:03 AM

The lovely Barbara Ann Scott...

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by Anonymousreply 49August 5, 2024 5:36 AM

Who said this is to be the last of the What's My Line threads?? The show is as endlessly fascinating as Miss Arlene Francis herself.

Of all the Mystery Guests I've seen, my favorites are Rosalind Russell, Debbie Reynolds (any and all of her appearances), Elizabeth Taylor, and Burns and Allen.

by Anonymousreply 50August 5, 2024 6:05 AM

[quote]Who said this is to be the last of the What's My Line threads?? The show is as endlessly fascinating as Miss Arlene Francis herself.

I'm the OP of this thread and some of the other threads in this series. I didn't mean to sound dictatorial. I thought that maybe interest was finally waning and that maybe a Part 7 wasn't needed. And, initially, Part 7 wasn't getting much of a response. But then things picked up, as they tend to do when it comes to America's favorite game show. But I'm perfectly happy to see these threads continue. In the future, I won't be apologetic about new WML threads.

by Anonymousreply 51August 5, 2024 7:28 AM

In R48 the host mixes up the intro for Dorothy and Arlene. Outrageous!

by Anonymousreply 52August 5, 2024 10:19 AM

Poor Stubby sweating on camera.

by Anonymousreply 53August 5, 2024 10:39 AM

So those 2 clips are La Rosa before and after the firing. I don't think his career ever really recovered. Or was he never really that popular? I'm not really up on him.

by Anonymousreply 54August 5, 2024 1:38 PM

I didn't see her dog wearing skates.

by Anonymousreply 55August 5, 2024 2:47 PM

La Rosa was a household name just for being a part of Arthur Godfrey's stable of regulars. He was a nice young man who had a nice Lana Turner-like showbiz storyline (his Navy buddies got him in front of Godfrey, an ex-Navy man himself, for an audition and Godfrey hired him as soon as he was discharged). He had several records that had moderate success on the charts.

After his notorious on-air firing, he was pretty hot for a few years. He signed a contract with Ed Sullivan for regular appearances on his show, had several records in the top ten, and even got his own show for a while. Meanwhile, Godfrey's reputation took a huge hit. So La Rosa came out on top of the situation.

by Anonymousreply 56August 5, 2024 3:40 PM

He was more vers than top.

by Anonymousreply 57August 5, 2024 4:00 PM

But why did Godfrey fire La Rosa?

by Anonymousreply 58August 5, 2024 6:07 PM

Godfrey felt betrayed that Julius hired a personal agent and manager.

by Anonymousreply 59August 5, 2024 6:13 PM

Godfrey felt threatened because Julius had become more popular than him.

by Anonymousreply 60August 5, 2024 6:14 PM

The horror, the horror.

by Anonymousreply 61August 5, 2024 6:15 PM

Godfrey also fired Archie Bleyer.

by Anonymousreply 62August 5, 2024 6:19 PM

Laverne & Shirley were big La Rosa fans. He appeared in one episode.

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by Anonymousreply 63August 5, 2024 7:39 PM

The Orange Julius was the Official Drink of the 1964 New York World’s Fair.

I just thought I'd mention that.

by Anonymousreply 64August 5, 2024 8:28 PM

[quote] Godfrey felt betrayed that Julius hired a personal agent and manager.

R59 Wait, performers had agents and managers long before the Godfrey show existed. Did Godfrey slice off 20% of what he would have paid his talent by not allowing them to have agents and managers, with the excuse that it would have gone to an agent and manager anyway? In addition, agents negotiate higher pay for their clients. It’s easy to see why Godfrey was considered to be an asshole employer.

by Anonymousreply 65August 6, 2024 7:44 AM

Archie Bleyer became Arthur Godfrey's musical director in 1946, remaining in this role until 1953. Many close to Godfrey considered Bleyer's creativity and understanding of music to be pivotal to the success of Godfrey's radio and TV programs

by Anonymousreply 66August 6, 2024 11:09 AM

Arthur Godfrey #1

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by Anonymousreply 67August 7, 2024 5:11 AM

Going on the audience reaction Godfrey was much beloved, though it looks like he's wearing a rug.

by Anonymousreply 68August 7, 2024 6:53 AM

Godfrey was, in fact, much beloved in his day, R68. The truth about him didn't come out until much later, but his firing of LaRosa did his reputation no favors.

by Anonymousreply 69August 7, 2024 7:59 AM

It occurred to me that the perp walk of the early episodes had the guests exit behind John Daly and the removal of the walk allowed for guests to say goodnight to the panel at the end of their match.

by Anonymousreply 70August 7, 2024 12:45 PM

[quote] La Rosa was a household name just for being a part of Arthur Godfrey's stable of regulars. He was a nice young man who had a nice Lana Turner-like showbiz storyline (his Navy buddies got him in front of Godfrey, an ex-Navy man himself, for an audition and Godfrey hired him as soon as he was discharged).

R56 How is that storyline like Lana Turner's?

by Anonymousreply 71August 8, 2024 5:01 AM

Arthur Godfrey #2.

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by Anonymousreply 72August 8, 2024 2:36 PM

Sorry but Kitty Carlisle and Phyllis Newman are no Dorothy and Arlene.

by Anonymousreply 73August 8, 2024 2:52 PM

Arthur Godfrey was the 1990s Regis Philbin of the 1950s.

by Anonymousreply 74August 8, 2024 3:11 PM

[quote]How is that storyline like Lana Turner's?

Maybe Julius was wearing a tight sweater.

by Anonymousreply 75August 8, 2024 8:31 PM

[quote]Sorry but Kitty Carlisle and Phyllis Newman are no Dorothy and Arlene.

Leave Kitty alone. She was indispensable for many years to another Goodson and Todman classic.

by Anonymousreply 76August 8, 2024 8:52 PM

Can't believe no one has commented on the SUPER-CUTE rose grower from Nottingham, England at the end of r72! Before his occupation was revealed I thought for sure he must be with some boy band.

by Anonymousreply 77August 9, 2024 10:12 PM

At r72, Bennett introduced Kitty Carlisle as a girl and then Phyllis Newman referred to herself as a girl. This was 1965. Things were about to change! Well, maybe not for Bennett.

Arthur Godfrey got tumultuous applause on his entrance. Surprised me as I would have thought by 1965, he was long passe.

by Anonymousreply 78August 9, 2024 10:15 PM

[quote]Arthur Godfrey got tumultuous applause on his entrance. Surprised me as I would have thought by 1965, he was long passe.

In 1966, Godfrey played Doris Day's father in "The Glass Bottom Boat."

by Anonymousreply 79August 9, 2024 10:25 PM

But that was a year after that 1965 WML appearance, r79. So maybe he was beginning a comeback?

by Anonymousreply 80August 9, 2024 10:26 PM

I think "The Glass Bottom Boat" was pretty much the extent of his comeback. He came to prominence on a radio station in Washington, D.C., in the 1930s.

by Anonymousreply 81August 9, 2024 11:54 PM

R8 He was in a few other films and did commercials, endorsements.

He was spokesman for Chrysler for a few years in the 1970s and did many commercials for them.

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by Anonymousreply 82August 10, 2024 12:04 AM

Godfrey made one more film, the ever-popular-on-Datalounge Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows in 1968.

by Anonymousreply 83August 10, 2024 12:35 AM

I fucking hate Phyllis Newman. She stunk up every show she was on.

by Anonymousreply 84August 10, 2024 1:43 AM

The seemingly genuine popularity of Arthur Godfrey & Joan Crawford among the hosts & celebrity panelists puzzles me. I would’ve thought they, if not the general public, had a better sense of who they really were.

by Anonymousreply 85August 10, 2024 1:50 AM

They're still better than the dumb ass who brought her dog on.

by Anonymousreply 86August 10, 2024 1:51 AM

Mrs. Richard Carlson was there?

by Anonymousreply 87August 10, 2024 1:56 AM

R85, I think they were just being politic. Godfrey and Crawford were beloved by most people, and there was nothing to be gained by rocking that boat. I'm sure they were very different in private.

by Anonymousreply 88August 10, 2024 2:18 AM

Dorothy and Joan were great friends.

by Anonymousreply 89August 10, 2024 2:24 AM

^^^ They would be.

by Anonymousreply 90August 10, 2024 2:26 AM

I can just imagine Dorothy being obsequious to Joan.

by Anonymousreply 91August 10, 2024 2:29 AM

Joan was a "friend of Dorothy."

by Anonymousreply 92August 10, 2024 2:46 AM

Dorothy also seemed the type to cover her upholstery in clear plastic.

by Anonymousreply 93August 10, 2024 3:30 AM

R77 - yes he was cute. But Phyllis' hair was a mess in that show.

by Anonymousreply 94August 10, 2024 5:19 AM

Someone reported that Godrey's return to the show when Dorothy was not on was no accident. He detested her; the two of them had been knocking pieces off of each other publicly for years. One of TV history books reports that publicly Godfrey called Dorothy a liar or words to that effect.

by Anonymousreply 95August 10, 2024 5:23 AM

[quote]Arthur Godfrey got tumultuous applause on his entrance. Surprised me as I would have thought by 1965, he was long passe.

Godfrey was long past his heyday in 1965, like some of the other stars who appeared, but he had been a very big deal in his time. The audience would have been applauding for him out of fond remembrance of his past career more than for his current activities (although he was still active, as others have pointed out).

R88, didn't JCD have some connection with or gratitude to Godfrey from his early radio days in DC? As for the panel, I can't imagine Arlene and Bennett being anything but warm and polite to Joan Crawford or Arthur Godfrey. Unless they had been personally hurt by one of the two stars, why wouldn't they be?

by Anonymousreply 96August 10, 2024 6:27 AM

In R72 Daly credits Godfrey for being his mentor in radio.

by Anonymousreply 97August 10, 2024 6:33 AM

[quote]I fucking hate Phyllis Newman. She stunk up every show she was on.

"And Phyllis Newman will have to do as Stella."

by Anonymousreply 98August 10, 2024 8:51 AM

Arthur Godfrey as panelist.

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by Anonymousreply 99August 10, 2024 11:05 AM

He and Dorothy must have gotten past their mutual hatred going from this episode.

by Anonymousreply 100August 10, 2024 11:09 AM

Is this fucking thread ever going to end?

by Anonymousreply 101August 10, 2024 12:14 PM

Only when the last boomer passes the scene, R101.

by Anonymousreply 102August 10, 2024 1:53 PM

When people here talk about how the audience reacts, surely they must realize not every audience reacts in the same way. One group of people may have been more subdued or raucous than another. It might not even have to do with who the star was.

by Anonymousreply 103August 10, 2024 1:58 PM

[quote]Godfrey was long past his heyday in 1965, like some of the other stars who appeared, but he had been a very big deal in his time. The audience would have been applauding for him out of fond remembrance of his past career

Oh c'mon. By 1965 his TV show had been off the air only 5 years. He was still appearing on TV. Still doing commercials into the 1970s: Chrysler, Colgate, Viitar, Lipton. Still had a popular network radio show.

He was on WML? in 1963, 1964, 1966.

Also did "I've Got a Secret".

Did Password.

He did the Ed Sullivan show a number of times in the 1960s.

He hosted "The Hollywood Palace" (and sang with the Mamas and Papas!)

Etc. and Etc. In the 1960s he was still all over TV.

For the Glass Bottom Boat his name was above the title along with Doris Day and Rod Taylor. Day was the biggest box office female star at the time.

Some of you are acting like the guy was washed up by the 1960s. Stop rewriting history.

I was a kidback then and had to put up with seeing the guy everywhere and having to change the channel as fast as I could.

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by Anonymousreply 104August 10, 2024 3:55 PM

Nobody cared if Arthur Godfrey was in The Glass Bottom Boat or not. The success of it was not riding on his participation.

He had a radio show on CBS that didn't go off the air until 1972. It had a studio audience. I heard it once or twice.

by Anonymousreply 105August 10, 2024 4:02 PM

(Morning show.)

by Anonymousreply 106August 10, 2024 4:02 PM

[quote]Nobody cared if Arthur Godfrey was in The Glass Bottom Boat or not. The success of it was not riding on his participation.

I'm sure his casting was carefully considered.

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by Anonymousreply 107August 10, 2024 4:10 PM

Doris Day should have carefully considered, before agreeing to do this turkey.

by Anonymousreply 108August 10, 2024 4:19 PM

Actually it was a box-office success.

by Anonymousreply 109August 10, 2024 4:33 PM

Did Rick reel that Boat movie?

by Anonymousreply 110August 10, 2024 5:19 PM

R109 That didn't make it good. Vincent Canby, NY Times:

[quote] FRANK TASHLIN, one of the few Hollywood directors to pursue the slapstick muse, may some day make a really funny film, full of outrageous sight gags, mistaken identities and lunatic chases. In the meantime, you can chalk up as another frantic failure The Glass Bottom Boat, the new Doris Day vehicle that chugged into the Music Hall yesterday, and promptly sank.

I admit I have some fondness for this movie because it's one of the first ones I ever remember seeing (at the drive-in) but it's stupid.

by Anonymousreply 111August 10, 2024 5:25 PM

[quote]Actually it was a box-office success.

Only because it had Paul Lynde in drag.

by Anonymousreply 112August 10, 2024 5:30 PM

Doris Day's film career never recovered from The Glass Bottom Boat.

Speaking of DD, she made two rare TV appearances on WML as MG in the mid-1950s, then swore off TV until she starred in her own sit-com more than a decade later.

by Anonymousreply 113August 10, 2024 6:15 PM

I think her subsequent films were hits.

by Anonymousreply 114August 10, 2024 6:25 PM

[quote]Is this fucking thread ever going to end?

I certainly hope not. Perhaps you shouldn't click on it if it bothers you so much.

by Anonymousreply 115August 10, 2024 7:27 PM

[quote]Doris Day's film career never recovered from The Glass Bottom Boat.

What are you talking about?

No matter what the critics thought of it, the film was a box office success.

Her previous film and her next one, Caprice, lost money.

"Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?: was a hit.

Her last film "With Six You Get Eggroll"": "the film went on to gross $10,095,200 at the box office according to Variety and the box office website The Numbers, making it one of the top ten moneymaking films of Day's 39-film career"

by Anonymousreply 116August 10, 2024 7:46 PM

Frankly, r116, that's a shock to my misguided ancient old brain as I would have sworn that all 4 of these DD films were flops.

by Anonymousreply 117August 10, 2024 10:59 PM

The only Doris Day film from her post-Pillow Talk period that still holds up for me is Please Don't Eat the Daisies. The sexual innuendo in all the rest has really dated badly (if it was ever fun).

by Anonymousreply 118August 10, 2024 11:56 PM

We've seen then-Congressman John Lindsay before as a panelist (from 1964). Here he is again as a panelist, this time in 1965.

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by Anonymousreply 119August 11, 2024 12:42 AM

I love the episodes when the celebrity's voice is just too well known to fool anyone. No matter what the celebrity did. One like John Wayne, Bette Davis, and especially Lucy. I love watching the panel do a wink and nod and pretend they don't know who it is to keep the segment on longer.

by Anonymousreply 120August 11, 2024 12:46 AM

Speaking of which I would have thought that even with that falsetto fey voice he put on, Robert Mitchum would have been recognized at r119, but.....no. What a helluva guy he was!

by Anonymousreply 121August 11, 2024 1:10 AM

The Thrill of It All is a pretty good latter Day film.

by Anonymousreply 122August 11, 2024 7:02 AM

[quote]I love the episodes when the celebrity's voice is just too well known to fool anyone. No matter what the celebrity did.

That was certainly the case when Eleanor Roosevelt was the mystery guest. John Daly answered the questions for her. I guess that, given her stature, they couldn't have just handed her a bulb horn and told her squeeze it once for yes and twice for no.

by Anonymousreply 123August 11, 2024 7:34 AM

The nail polish maker in R119 is handsome.

by Anonymousreply 124August 11, 2024 7:42 AM

Robert Mitchum certainly did make records. He wrote and sang the title song to his 1958 movie Thunder Road which made the charts. He also wrote Whippoorwill a lilting and lovely song that Keely Smith sang in the same film. He also recorded a full album of Calypso music.

by Anonymousreply 125August 11, 2024 7:47 AM

Earlier Mitchum.

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by Anonymousreply 126August 11, 2024 7:48 AM

The diaper service manager segment is very funny. As is Bennett saying Mitchum's fans having blood-curdling screams.

by Anonymousreply 127August 11, 2024 11:40 AM

I really loved the way Elizabeth Taylor disguised her voice in this 1954 episode.

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by Anonymousreply 128August 11, 2024 7:47 PM

No one was a funnier MG than Elizabeth Taylor. It's shocking that MGM never starred her in any comedies.

by Anonymousreply 129August 12, 2024 2:25 AM

Roz and Debbie Reynolds were funnier. Not to say that Elizabeth wasn't funny as hell.

by Anonymousreply 130August 12, 2024 2:29 AM

I had never noticed that, R129! I never cared much for her as a dramatic actress -but really enjoyed her when she was doing comedy (The Flintstones and parts of A Little Night Music).

I wonder how she would have done in a revival of Auntie Mame? Or in the Angela Lansbury role in Death On The Nile?

by Anonymousreply 131August 12, 2024 2:35 AM

Gotta say I was way ahead of the panel on the diaper guy (I purposely hid my eyes when it was first revealed). Really couldn't believe it took them that long to zero in on the product. But it sure was funny.

by Anonymousreply 132August 12, 2024 2:49 AM

R129 A Date With Judy, Julia Misbehaves, Father of the Bride, The Big Hangover, Father's Little Dividend. Love is better Than Ever.

by Anonymousreply 133August 12, 2024 2:52 AM

The whole show.

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by Anonymousreply 134August 12, 2024 6:59 AM

Elizabeth is also funny mimicking Michael Caine's cockney accent in X Y and Zee.

by Anonymousreply 135August 12, 2024 7:01 AM

She was 22 in that R128 and R134 episode.

by Anonymousreply 136August 12, 2024 7:32 AM

r133, I don't think Liz had a single funny line in any one of those comedies.

So, yes, you're right she did appear in some MGM comedies, but she was always the straight man and never showed the flair she exhibited on WML. Never allowed to be goofy.

by Anonymousreply 137August 12, 2024 12:06 PM

I don't think what a person does on a game show reflects their ability to act in a certain genre. If she had a lot of comic ability she would have been in more comedies (post-MGM, as well).

by Anonymousreply 138August 12, 2024 4:21 PM

That's rather naive, R138. Hollywood (and all of show business, really) tends to typecast people, and seldom gives them opportunities to go beyond that typecasting. Ingrid Bergman was adept at comedy -but she was always getting cast as overly-serious characters. How many years was Carol Burnett in the business before she was allowed to tackle a non-comedic, dramatic role? It's endemic in our system. Look at how homogenized our musical acts are these days. The system doesn't look for new, different, or unexpected. They pigeon-hole people as rapidly as possible and then keep them there.

by Anonymousreply 139August 12, 2024 5:02 PM

That's one of the reasons I love WML, the opportunity to see those big Hollywood movie stars goofing around like kids, disguising their voices and being silly and real. A much more real glimpse of them than the public ever got to see in the 1950s and 60s.

I probably mentioned it in one the previous WML threads, but Robert Wagner is another star who showed comic abilities in his 2 MG appearances than he ever showed on screen, even in comedies.

And it's a reason I find Roz and Debbie just slightly less amusing MGs - I expect them to be as funny as they were.

by Anonymousreply 140August 12, 2024 9:35 PM

R129 never saw Father of the Brude!

by Anonymousreply 141August 12, 2024 9:52 PM

Or of the Bride!

by Anonymousreply 142August 12, 2024 9:52 PM

Elizabeth became an adult when Dore Schary took over MGM after they outed Louis B Mayer. Schary was not interested in nurturing the studios stars so she may have gotten better roles if Mayer was still around.

by Anonymousreply 143August 13, 2024 12:03 AM

Sal Maglie, Ann Miller.

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by Anonymousreply 144August 13, 2024 1:17 AM

Oh yeah, Elizabeth Taylor was just hilarious in that raucous comedy Father of the Bride! I can't believe it didn't lead to more comic roles.

by Anonymousreply 145August 13, 2024 1:21 AM

7 threads about Dorothy Kilgallen?

I love this place.

by Anonymousreply 146August 13, 2024 1:23 AM

I love Ann Miller.

by Anonymousreply 147August 13, 2024 1:40 AM

Ann Miller is so adorable in that clip! The panel had no idea. I wonder what TV show she had guested on in the past 48 hours?

by Anonymousreply 148August 13, 2024 2:07 AM

"Dore Schary took over MGM after they outed Louis B Mayer. "

Louis B. Mayer was gay????

by Anonymousreply 149August 13, 2024 3:03 AM

Baseball really was the most important sport in the 1950s and early 60s. WML loved those baseball players. Rizzuto, Maglie, Berra, Garagiola...

by Anonymousreply 150August 13, 2024 3:25 AM

There were so fewer distractions back before the internet was invented. Less options but it was a lot healthier.

by Anonymousreply 151August 13, 2024 4:01 AM

[quote]7 threads about Dorothy Kilgallen? I love this place.

Well, about Dorothy, yes, but really about the original run of "What's My Line" on Sunday nights from 1950 to1967, which was essentially a microcosm of daily life, culture, celebrity, politics and attitudes of the 1950s and early '60s. As such, it's endlessly fascinating. Plus, Arlene Francis!

by Anonymousreply 152August 13, 2024 8:34 AM

R149 - ok. Fired. Is that better?

by Anonymousreply 153August 14, 2024 10:35 AM

Phil Silvers.

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by Anonymousreply 154August 14, 2024 2:31 PM

Phil Silvers was one of the nicest men in showbusiness. And funniest.

by Anonymousreply 155August 14, 2024 2:57 PM

That bill collector got whistles even before she was on camera.

by Anonymousreply 156August 15, 2024 12:01 PM

R139 Maybe you're right, but having acted I've noticed that because someone is funny offstage, it doesn't mean they can act in comedy. Conversely, some people who are great at comedy are not particularly funny offstage.

Bette Davis was very funny on some talk shows, but for the most part, she wasn't good trying to do comedies that other actresses (Rosalind Russell) could do in their sleep (June Bride, for example). Why not? I don't know. She didn't have the innate ability, lightness, timing to do light comedy well. (She was funny in All About Eve, though--in an essentially sarcastic role.)

by Anonymousreply 157August 15, 2024 1:23 PM

R145 Maybe Taylor wasn't funny in Father of the Bride but it certainly was a funny movie.

by Anonymousreply 158August 15, 2024 1:26 PM

Also R157 some people who are known comics are just terrible on WML. I'm not sure even Phil Silvers is funny taking bites from an apple as his answers.

by Anonymousreply 159August 15, 2024 4:20 PM

Julie Harris, Maximilian Schell, Mary Martin, Howard Keel, Barbara Harris, Joan Blondell, Alfred Drake, Gloria Grahame, Shirley Jones, George Sanders, Ann Baxter, Geraldine Page, Glenn Ford, Eleanor Powell, just a few stars who I wish appeared on WML but I don't think ever did.

Unless it was on the syndicated show?

by Anonymousreply 160August 17, 2024 3:42 AM

Oh, how I would have loved to see Barbara Harris! I can just imagine the voice she might have used and the off-the-wall answers she might have given. The woman was just so damned talented!

by Anonymousreply 161August 17, 2024 5:43 PM

I've sometimes wondered if some celebs refused the MG gig because they were afraid of appearing foolish or afraid that the panelists wouldn't guess their identity.

by Anonymousreply 162August 17, 2024 5:48 PM

[quote] Shirley Jones ... I wish appeared on WML but I don't think ever did.

In 1962 ...

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by Anonymousreply 163August 18, 2024 12:42 AM

and 1968.

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by Anonymousreply 164August 18, 2024 12:43 AM

I don't think that Sergeant Marine at r163 fooled anybody.

by Anonymousreply 165August 18, 2024 12:55 AM

Anita Gillette and Shirley Jones are both so wonderfully dressed and coiffed at r164! 1968 fashion perfection in glorious color. That makeup! Arlene looks pretty, too.

And would Anita's green nail polish tell us that she was then starring in Cabaret on Broadway?

Have to say though, the syndicated version was just deadly dull.

by Anonymousreply 166August 18, 2024 1:10 AM

Agreed about how dreary the syndicated WML was. As was the syndicated IGaS of the early ‘70s. In contrast, the contemporary syndicated TTTT was quite good.

by Anonymousreply 167August 18, 2024 1:30 AM

R160 - Geraldine Page

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by Anonymousreply 168August 18, 2024 2:33 AM

r157 - Rosalind's comic gifts were as great as Bette's dramatic ones. Roz *owns* Hildy, Ruth and Mame.

by Anonymousreply 169August 18, 2024 2:38 AM

I have to laugh when Abe Burrows says he is not used to such hostility. And he worked in the theatre!

by Anonymousreply 170August 18, 2024 3:08 AM

All that constant horrid cigarette smoke from Abe Burrows......disgusting! I know it was a different time but still, it seems so rude and self-absorbed. Dorothy and Arlene's hair must have stunk by 11 pm. Abe didn't have any, so he needn't worry.

by Anonymousreply 171August 18, 2024 3:14 AM

I wonder if Arlene was recovering from her notorious auto accident in the segment at r168? She looked to be wearing a sling under her cape.

by Anonymousreply 172August 18, 2024 3:28 AM

I thought so too as that happened in May.

by Anonymousreply 173August 18, 2024 3:38 AM

In the Geraldine Page segment Arlene says her concussion is catching up with her.

by Anonymousreply 174August 18, 2024 3:52 AM

"All that constant horrid cigarette smoke from Abe Burrows......disgusting! I know it was a different time but still, it seems so rude and self-absorbed."

Back then, smoking was the norm, and non-smokers had no say in anything. Doctors did cigarette commercials. And, yes, everything stank. We've come a long way, baby!

by Anonymousreply 175August 18, 2024 3:53 AM

Joan Blondell was on the show October 29 1950 but it appears the episode is lost.

by Anonymousreply 176August 18, 2024 4:00 AM

Joan's sister Gloria!

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by Anonymousreply 177August 18, 2024 4:05 AM

I wonder if Arlene’s concussion led to her Alzheimer’s.

by Anonymousreply 178August 18, 2024 6:54 AM

Shirley Jones wasn't guessed by the panel during either of her appearances. How embarrassing for her.

by Anonymousreply 179August 18, 2024 8:29 AM

She and her career survived, somehow.

by Anonymousreply 180August 18, 2024 12:08 PM

George Sanders was on twice.

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by Anonymousreply 181August 18, 2024 1:00 PM

#2.

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by Anonymousreply 182August 18, 2024 1:01 PM

[quote] George Sanders was on twice.

And he married two Gabor sisters, Zsa Zsa & Magda.

by Anonymousreply 183August 18, 2024 1:05 PM

And he had two testicles.

by Anonymousreply 184August 18, 2024 1:20 PM

I remember Gloria Blondell as Honeybee Gillis, sexy neighbor on THE LIFE OF RILEY starring former WML MG William Bendix as Chester Riley. Gloria was my first Blondell, didn't even know Joan existed until later in life.

by Anonymousreply 185August 18, 2024 1:25 PM

Thank you to the posters who are so generously linking segments of the MGs who I'd thought never appeared on WML.

I'm sure there's nothing online of Mary Martin ever appearing on WML but I do wonder if she did and it's one of the lost episodes. Or maybe, she preferred her Sundays off.

by Anonymousreply 186August 18, 2024 1:28 PM

The show is not on Mary Martin's IMDb page with her as a guest.

by Anonymousreply 187August 18, 2024 1:32 PM

George Sanders sings.

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by Anonymousreply 188August 18, 2024 1:40 PM

I first knew of Joan Blondell from the TV show Here Come The Brides.

by Anonymousreply 189August 18, 2024 1:40 PM

[quote]And he married two Gabor sisters, Zsa Zsa & Magda.

No wonder he offed himself.

by Anonymousreply 190August 18, 2024 2:49 PM

R182 EDS Wiki

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by Anonymousreply 191August 18, 2024 8:03 PM

[quote]She and her career survived, somehow.

I don't recall suggesting that Shirley Jones's career suffered because of her dud appearances as a mystery guest.

by Anonymousreply 192August 18, 2024 10:09 PM

I let Elizabeth Taylor come on my show for booze money. The bitch wasn’t funny!

by Anonymousreply 193August 18, 2024 10:24 PM

The syndicated panel, even Arlene, came off like idiot hicks trying to guess Shirley Jones. They didn't seem up on anything current on Broadway or otherwise. And I believe Anita Gilette and Orson Bean were currently appearing on Broadway.

by Anonymousreply 194August 19, 2024 12:01 AM

For the R182 show Arlene must have told her hairstylist - give me the Joan Blondell.

by Anonymousreply 195August 19, 2024 12:07 AM

R192 You said "How embarrassing for her." I'm saying I doubt she was embarrassed. You're presuming.

by Anonymousreply 196August 19, 2024 2:23 AM

R194, yes, but missing Shirley Jones in 1962 is quite a failure because at the time she was starring in the movie version of The Music Man, which had just opened two months earlier and was a big success. No one asked the usual “is one of your pictures currently playing on Broadway”, or they might have gotten it,

by Anonymousreply 197August 19, 2024 9:04 AM

Why do you suppose Shirley Jones stumped them both times? In 1962, besides The Music Man, she'd even just won an Oscar for Elmer Gantry.

by Anonymousreply 198August 19, 2024 11:31 AM

Shirley was not really a "big" star at the time. She had been on Broadway and was a favorite of Rodgers & Hammerstein, who got her into the lead of two major movies based on their shows (Oklahoma, Carousel), but other than that her movie career prior to 1962 consisted of April Love (co-starring Pat Boone), Never Steal Anything Small (a semi-musical with James Cagney). an English movie called Bobbikins (about an infant who talks like an adult). Elmer Gantry (the Oscar role), a cameo in the all-star Pepe, and Two Rode Together (a John Ford western that wasn't very successful). She also did TV anthologies. Her movie career didn't take off from winning an Oscar, or after The Music Man, either. Before long she was back in TV, mainly.

by Anonymousreply 199August 19, 2024 1:30 PM

Shirley Jones was just too bland. Pretty, but bland. And her soprano was rather mediocre.

by Anonymousreply 200August 19, 2024 1:48 PM

But she wasn't fat.

by Anonymousreply 201August 19, 2024 1:49 PM

I remember seeing her in A Ticklish Affair (1963) on TCM, an MGM movie about a widow in San Diego whose kids "inadvertently send an SOS while playing with their uncle Cy's Navy Signal Lamp, the Navy sends their top man to investigate and he falls for their mother." It sounds like a Doris Day-James Garner movie plot, but had Shirley and Gig Young, instead. Shirley played kind of a pseudo-Doris Day part in The Courtship Of Eddie's Father the same year, as well.

She was cast in Pocketful of Miracles by Frank Capra but was replaced by Hope Lange at Glenn Ford's insistence (Ford was the co-producer and Hope was his girlfriend).

It was really The Partridge Family that made her famous for a younger generation. Otherwise she probably would have been relatively forgotten by that generation, like, say, movie sopranos Jane Powell or Ann Blyth.

by Anonymousreply 202August 19, 2024 2:10 PM

Ann Blyth will NEVER be forgotten as long as "Mildred Pierce" is around!

by Anonymousreply 203August 19, 2024 2:17 PM

Shirley was also in the original Dirty Rotten Scoundrels with Marlon Brando and David Niven. Or was the movie called something else in that version?

by Anonymousreply 204August 19, 2024 2:18 PM

Bedtime Story.

by Anonymousreply 205August 19, 2024 2:21 PM

R203 You're right. Forgive me, Veda!

by Anonymousreply 206August 19, 2024 2:22 PM

Ah, yes, that's right. Thanks, r205.

by Anonymousreply 207August 19, 2024 2:23 PM

I like Shirley immensely but when you see Elmer Gantry now it's a shock Jean Simmons (who was great) didn't get a Best Actress nomination, and Shirley's supporting turn as the hooker is good, for her (because she always played a different type), but not really great. Kind of theatrical, where normally she was realistic.

by Anonymousreply 208August 19, 2024 2:39 PM

Failing to get Shirley says more about the panel that night, than about her. She teed up the answers and they didn’t connect obvious dots. Arlene musing it might be Roz shows *they* were having a bad night. Too much pre-gaming….

by Anonymousreply 209August 19, 2024 3:26 PM

I agree, R209. Shirley was not the most larger-than-life personality, nor was she notorious for being a diva or having a scandalous personal life. However, not only was she starring in a hit movie based on a long-running Broadway musical that was playing in first-run theaters at the time, she had been on Broadway, had starred in a previous hit movie based on a Broadway musical, and had won an Academy Award the year before. She was a big star and quite popular with the public; certainly she was at least as big a star as Mitzi Gaynor (whom Arlene hilariously guessed).

It's the failure to ask that key "are you in a current movie" question that led to the panel's failure. They were all over the map, naming people who had been in 2-3 year-old movies instead of focusing on what what playing right then, in August 1962. If they had done that, I think they would have gotten to Shirley Jones' name pretty quickly. Also, was Shirley living in LA at that point? The panel seemed to have a bit of a blind spot about LA-based celebs.

Incidentally, both Shirley and MItzi are still alive at the ages of 90 and 92, respectively.

by Anonymousreply 210August 19, 2024 5:49 PM

[quote]but other than that her movie career prior to 1962 consisted of April Love (co-starring Pat Boone)

Those two are still around.

I wish they'd get together for Late December Love!

by Anonymousreply 211August 19, 2024 7:09 PM

FWIW Shirley had not yet appeared on Broadway when she was the Mystery Guest in 1962.

However, I believe she was then currently married to Jack Cassidy who was very much a Broadway theatre fixture, leading me to think that the Cassidys must have lived in NYC for much of the year and hobnobbed with Broadway types like Arlene and Martin.

by Anonymousreply 212August 19, 2024 8:14 PM

[quote]Incidentally, both Shirley and MItzi are still alive at the ages of 90 and 92, respectively.

As is Ann Blyth, at age 96.

by Anonymousreply 213August 19, 2024 8:54 PM

A HYSTERICAL, CRYING LAUGHING Panel!

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by Anonymousreply 214August 20, 2024 1:32 AM

Claudette Colbert looked terrific in that episode, R214. And I think everyone loved the pandemonium Groucho caused when he visited the show, except maybe Dorothy who took the game so seriously.

by Anonymousreply 215August 20, 2024 7:38 AM

R215 Groucho knew Arlene had a much better sense of humor than Dorothy. So did the ventriloquist Paul Winchell, when he had his “dummy” Jerry Mahoney go after Arlene on several shows when they were on the panel. Imagine what Dorothy’s reaction would have been if a hand puppet had been all over her. No, don’t even imagine it; it’s too ewwww!

by Anonymousreply 216August 20, 2024 7:56 AM

I don't think Groucho was a good fit for the show. He really wasn't interested in playing the game unlike when was on You Bet Your Life. The only funny moment for me was when Dorothy got fuddled by Groucho about the lady wrestler and sex.

by Anonymousreply 217August 20, 2024 11:41 AM

[quote]Shirley played kind of a pseudo-Doris Day part in The Courtship Of Eddie's Father

Were you in a movie where you stuck a thermometer up Ronny Howard’s rectum?

Are you Shirley Jones?

by Anonymousreply 218August 20, 2024 6:55 PM

[quote]Were you in a movie where you stuck a thermometer up Ronny Howard’s rectum?

Does it have to have been in a movie?

by Anonymousreply 219August 20, 2024 6:59 PM

Funny moments.

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by Anonymousreply 220August 20, 2024 8:40 PM

The nudist camp contestants have some of the funniest lines ever.

by Anonymousreply 221August 20, 2024 8:57 PM

Do nudist camps still exist? I mean, they must, right? Yet one never hears about them anymore.

by Anonymousreply 222August 20, 2024 9:03 PM

4 Aussie nudist campgrounds where you can bare all

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by Anonymousreply 223August 20, 2024 9:05 PM

FWIW Shirley had not yet appeared on Broadway when she was the Mystery Guest in 1962.

R212 IBDB says she was in South Pacific.

South Pacific (Apr 07, 1949 - Jan 16, 1954) Performer: Shirley Jones Ensign Sue Yaeger - Replacement

Playbill says she was also in Me & Juliet, but IBDB doesn't. Wikipedia says she was in the Chicago company of M & J.

by Anonymousreply 224August 21, 2024 1:07 AM

Chicago is not the legitimate theatre, r224.

And you do realize those South Pacific dates are the dates of the entire run of the production, not Shirley's time as a replacement?

by Anonymousreply 225August 21, 2024 1:11 AM

R225 Of course I realize that, Miss Francis. Do you think I'm an idiot? The point is she was in South Pacific on Broadway sometimes during its run. Probably late in its run, since she was born in 1934.

[quote] Her first audition was for an open bi-weekly casting call held by John Fearnley, casting director for Rodgers and Hammerstein and their various musicals. At the time, Jones had never heard of Rodgers and Hammerstein. Fearnley was so impressed, he ran across the street to fetch Richard Rodgers, who was rehearsing with an orchestra for an upcoming musical. Rodgers then called Oscar Hammerstein at home. The two saw great potential in Jones. She became the first and only singer to be put under personal contract with the songwriters. They first cast her in a minor role in South Pacific. For her second Broadway show, Me and Juliet, she started as a chorus girl, and then an understudy for the lead role, earning rave reviews in Chicago.

by Anonymousreply 226August 21, 2024 1:16 AM

*Sometime

by Anonymousreply 227August 21, 2024 1:17 AM

Nevertheless, Shirley Jones's Broadway credits in 1962 would hardly have been known or remembered by the panel.

by Anonymousreply 228August 21, 2024 1:23 AM

R228 Nobody said they would.

I wrote, in R199:

[quote] Shirley was not really a "big" star at the time. She had been on Broadway and was a favorite of Rodgers & Hammerstein, who got her into the lead of two major movies based on their shows (Oklahoma, Carousel), but other than that her movie career prior to 1962 consisted of April Love (co-starring Pat Boone)...

Then 212 said:

[quote] FWIW Shirley had not yet appeared on Broadway when she was the Mystery Guest in 1962.

So I was merely correcting R212 who had tried to correct me.

by Anonymousreply 229August 21, 2024 1:32 AM

Yea, dem bums don’t know Oscar from nuttin’

by Anonymousreply 230August 21, 2024 1:34 AM

But, r229, my response was all in the context of why the panel might not have guessed her identity in 1962. As I said: For Whatever It's Worth. I was not correcting you and I'm sorry if you took offense.

by Anonymousreply 231August 21, 2024 1:43 AM

R231 I didn't take any offense. I said she had appeared on Broadway. You said she had not yet appeared on Broadway when she was the mystery guest in 1962, which is incorrect.

by Anonymousreply 232August 21, 2024 1:46 AM

OK, you win! Go to bed happy (for a change), r232.

by Anonymousreply 233August 21, 2024 1:48 AM

R233 Haha, you act like I was arguing with you, but you were the one who took exception to what I wrote in the first place. I didn't/don't want any argument.

by Anonymousreply 234August 21, 2024 1:51 AM

Since we are on Shirley Jones does anyone know why she was not in the run for the film of South Pacific? She is younger than Mitzi.

by Anonymousreply 235August 21, 2024 2:35 AM

[quote]She is younger than Mitzi.

But is she younger than springtime?

by Anonymousreply 236August 21, 2024 2:59 AM

Was the film of Carousel a disappointment after the film of Oklahoma? I don't know but perhaps R&H felt like they needed some new blood after 2 with Shirley. I don't think they would have wanted to be yoked to her again and again and again no matter how much they liked her.

by Anonymousreply 237August 21, 2024 3:17 AM

Tony Thomas and Aubrey Solomon's book on Fox says Carousel was a box office flop.

by Anonymousreply 238August 21, 2024 3:53 AM

But not younger than springtime

by Anonymousreply 239August 21, 2024 4:33 AM

[quote]Tony Thomas and Aubrey Solomon's book on Fox says Carousel was a box office flop.

Probably because they gave away the ending in the first five minutes of the movie.

Carousel is a good musical but it didn’t fit into the “Technicolor” world of 1950s musicals. The movie comes across as hokey.

by Anonymousreply 240August 21, 2024 10:01 AM

r239 Really?

by Anonymousreply 241August 21, 2024 3:53 PM

More funny moments.

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by Anonymousreply 242August 22, 2024 6:15 AM

Watching all of the DNC stuff now and remembering hearing, at least in the 1950s episodes, when members of the panel and the occasional MG would talk about being at those conventions, though, of course, some were at the RNCs.

I guess it's safe to assume that Arlene and Bennett were Democrats. But was Dorothy known to be a Republican? Or maybe not....and what about JCD?

by Anonymousreply 243August 22, 2024 11:45 PM

JCD was a conservative Republican. But I'm sure he'd be on Team Harris this year.

by Anonymousreply 244August 23, 2024 2:01 AM

R243 From what I’ve read, Dorothy was a Republican, but she adored JFK after she and her younger son met with him. I gather that was one of the reasons she so doggedly pursued the issue of who was behind the killing of JFK and how Jack Ruby killed Lee Harvey Oswald.

by Anonymousreply 245August 23, 2024 11:35 PM

[quote]Dorothy was a Republican, but she adored JFK after she and her younger son met with him.

Dorothy thought she stood a chance. JFK had already slept with half of Washington DC. He was ready for a brainy New York girl.

by Anonymousreply 246August 23, 2024 11:41 PM

Was the stance on issues back then (1950s/early 60s) not so radically different that many voters tended to vote more for the candidate they liked than sticking strictly with one party over another?

by Anonymousreply 247August 23, 2024 11:55 PM

R247, a commitment to negotiate and compromise about fundamental matters was built into the system at the time, partly from post-WWII effects that included the Sino/Soviet issue and established political norms extending to the 19th century. Democrats could work with Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, and even Reagan on critical domestic and international matters. The GOP worked with Kennedy and Johnson, although the Tea Party, Gingrich and everything since has been aimed to the present Donald fascist collapse of Lincoln's titular party. Just remember, though, the demonization of the Clintons and Obamas and the filth sprayed out in every election. Aim Lower has been the GOP's campaign. Make it worse and we'll keep their votes and we'll keep raking in the the dough.

It's now a future-looking USA or an obstructed, drained, controlled and violent remnant. Joking about a civil war doesn't change what has been happening.

by Anonymousreply 248August 24, 2024 12:29 AM

Congress then was still dominated by members of the old Solid South, segregationist Democrats. So the great divide, at least for civil rights-related issues, was then not between the parties, but by geography.

by Anonymousreply 249August 24, 2024 12:41 AM

Zzzz

by Anonymousreply 250August 24, 2024 1:24 AM

The CRA and VRA were passed by a coalition of northern Democrats and liberal Republicans, finally breaking the filibusters led by southern Democrats (supported by conservative Republicans).

by Anonymousreply 251August 24, 2024 1:52 PM

I wonder if Arlene Frances knew that.

by Anonymousreply 252August 24, 2024 1:59 PM

The Solid South was so engrained in Arlene's heyday that I doubt she then ever entertained the thought of a political environment that would ever change.

by Anonymousreply 253August 24, 2024 2:07 PM

I never thought politics would make its way into this thread and it's fine but can we get back to talking about showbiz please?

by Anonymousreply 254August 24, 2024 2:58 PM

Against my better judgment - here's Danny Kaye.

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by Anonymousreply 255August 24, 2024 3:00 PM

R255 That was great. I laughed out loud a few times.

by Anonymousreply 256August 24, 2024 3:09 PM

The parachute jumper is hot.

by Anonymousreply 257August 24, 2024 3:25 PM

Danny Kaye #2 as panelist

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by Anonymousreply 258August 25, 2024 1:04 AM

I don't think there's been a hotter Elmer ever than that parachute jumper. I wonder if the Rices were aware of playwright Elmer Rice when they named their son Elmer?

by Anonymousreply 259August 25, 2024 3:13 AM

That poodle clipper at r258 is pretty darn hot, too! Daddy!

I wonder why he was so nervous.

by Anonymousreply 260August 25, 2024 3:37 AM

I have to laugh when they asked him if he preferred being on the show to doing his job, and he said being on the show.

by Anonymousreply 261August 25, 2024 4:25 AM

The balloon guy was cute too.

by Anonymousreply 262August 25, 2024 4:26 AM

Danny K $3

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by Anonymousreply 263August 25, 2024 4:29 AM

Why did John make such a point of saying what a great person Danny is, such a wonderful human being, whenever he was on? I know he did a huge amount for UNICEF, etc. but even though I'm a big Danny Kaye fan I know there are many stories about his moodiness and huge ego. John praised most stars, but he just seems in these clips to sincerely gush so much over how lovable and wonderful a person Danny is.

by Anonymousreply 264August 25, 2024 12:00 PM

[quote]Why did John make such a point of saying what a great person Danny is

He knew about the affair between Danny and Laurence Olivier and wanted in on the action.

by Anonymousreply 265August 25, 2024 12:31 PM

Danny K #4

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by Anonymousreply 266August 25, 2024 5:22 PM

R265 Okay, so nobody has a real answer.

by Anonymousreply 267August 25, 2024 5:59 PM

I think Daly did so as a form of apology for Kaye not playing the game. They should never have agreed to his condition that he would only appear if he could lie as the guest. There are moments where you can see how mean Kaye really is.

by Anonymousreply 268August 25, 2024 6:21 PM

[quote] I think Daly did so as a form of apology for Kaye not playing the game.

Yes, I see your point, but he also seems to sincerely mean it.

To be honest--to me, anyway--he seems to be acting more devilish or prankish than actually mean. I think it was a good idea, it broke things up, and was a little different from the same old thing. It was actually pretty funny.

by Anonymousreply 269August 25, 2024 8:38 PM

The funniest part for me is when Bennett asks Dorothy and Tony Randall why they are banging on the desk.

by Anonymousreply 270August 25, 2024 9:36 PM

Do you think Yves Saint Laurent is wearing a wig?

by Anonymousreply 271August 25, 2024 11:24 PM

Buddy Hackett actually made me laugh for once when he said why should I wear a mask when I wouldn't recognize Yves Saint Laurent.

by Anonymousreply 272August 25, 2024 11:31 PM

By the mid 60s sophisticated men who had thick hair styled it to look like a wig, r271. Women, too.

by Anonymousreply 273August 25, 2024 11:58 PM

Johnny Carson - so cute at r263! And Othol the Onion Grower was kind of hot in his way, too.

by Anonymousreply 274August 26, 2024 12:15 AM

I only had time to watch the YSL segment. Really, that show is just so darn charming.

I love the way Arlene bailed out John with her explanation of how to pronounce the name of the perfume "Y" ...."or if you like the perfume you could pronounce it "Why Not"!"

That perfume BTW, that Yves was introducing in NY back in 1965, is still in production.

by Anonymousreply 275August 26, 2024 12:30 AM

One of the panelists (was it Johnny?), in trying to determine what Yves' "product" was, asked if it was sprayed on and his answer was no. I guess the perfume wasn't being sold quite yet.

by Anonymousreply 276August 26, 2024 12:34 AM

Danny K #5

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by Anonymousreply 277August 26, 2024 5:47 AM

One commentator noted there is tension between Arlene and Sue Oakland.

by Anonymousreply 278August 26, 2024 9:10 PM

Maybe from the start when Martin describes Sue as one of the most remarkable combinations of IQ and beauty ever to appear on the show. And Arlene is looking offstage when Sue enters!

by Anonymousreply 279August 26, 2024 9:15 PM

The chimp trainer looks like Cheryl Ladd.

by Anonymousreply 280August 26, 2024 9:39 PM

I love Arlene but she was the Adorable Witty Girl on the panel, and I imagine after Dorothy's death, she was wary of the cutesy Phyllis Newman and maybe even Sue Oakland (who was quite beautiful but not particularly adorable or witty).

Arlene was probably far more comfortable when the bitchy KIlgallenesque Suzy (Aileen Mehle) guest paneled.

by Anonymousreply 281August 26, 2024 11:37 PM

The panel all seemed to know and adore CT Dem Senator Ribicoff, even Republican John Charles Daly.

by Anonymousreply 282August 26, 2024 11:48 PM

Wiki

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by Anonymousreply 283August 27, 2024 12:45 AM

Abe was Hottttttt!

by Anonymousreply 284August 27, 2024 12:45 AM

Pre-Senate, Abe Ribicoff was in JFK's cabinet, but in history is probably best remembered for using his speech at the "68 DNC to challenge an outraged Mayor Daley by decrying "Gestapo tactics in the streets of Chicago."

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by Anonymousreply 285August 27, 2024 1:01 AM

When contestants steal the show.

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by Anonymousreply 286August 27, 2024 8:30 PM

Love the contestant at r286 who couldn't afford a haircut!

by Anonymousreply 287August 27, 2024 10:37 PM

Here's the episode with the lady from 2.10.

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by Anonymousreply 288August 28, 2024 12:47 AM

Herman seems like a jolly man.

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by Anonymousreply 289August 28, 2024 1:01 AM

The Mayoress of Ottawa was a hoot!

by Anonymousreply 290August 28, 2024 1:21 AM

Here's the one with the haircut guy.

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by Anonymousreply 291August 28, 2024 1:36 AM

Here's the one with Shatner coming onto the female contestant.

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by Anonymousreply 292August 28, 2024 6:50 PM

Unusual to have Dorothy and Kitty C on the same panel and no Arlene.

by Anonymousreply 293August 28, 2024 6:54 PM

[quote]Unusual to have Dorothy and Kitty C on the same panel and no Arlene.

In the first show after Dorothy's death, Kitty Carlisle sat in for her.

by Anonymousreply 294August 28, 2024 7:48 PM

It was easily done, Kit.

by Anonymousreply 295August 28, 2024 8:08 PM

I know it doesn't need to be said, but young William Shatner was soooo handsome.

by Anonymousreply 296August 28, 2024 8:18 PM

Do you see how he rests his left arm behind Kitty's chair? He seems to have trouble with boundaries.

by Anonymousreply 297August 28, 2024 10:48 PM

I think we may have come full circle now as IIRC that Man on the Flying Trapeze was discussed maybe as early as the first WML thread. Didn't someone even post a link to Lee Staph's life story back then?

by Anonymousreply 298August 29, 2024 12:15 AM

Here's the one where Arlene laughs about the exercise instructor in ladies reducing salon.

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by Anonymousreply 299August 29, 2024 12:51 AM

[quote]Here's the one where Arlene laughs about the exercise instructor in ladies reducing salon.

Was this before one of Arlene's exercise weights killed a man unlucky enough to be walking past her apartment building when it rolled off her windowsill?

by Anonymousreply 300August 29, 2024 3:29 AM

That was in 1960.

by Anonymousreply 301August 29, 2024 5:29 AM

The alimony clerk has a pronounced Wisconsin accent.

by Anonymousreply 302August 29, 2024 5:39 AM

Dorothy looks perhaps her most attractive in this one.

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by Anonymousreply 303August 29, 2024 10:10 PM

Bergen Evans.

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by Anonymousreply 304August 29, 2024 10:12 PM

Perle Mesta mentions the upcoming TV biopic.

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by Anonymousreply 305August 30, 2024 4:37 AM

SKYSCRAPER

[quote]Then we would all be spared the personality-splitting question: to comment, or not to comment, when they still might be "fixing?" Variety, and other papers, review shows the minute they rear their heads out of town, in any town, so it seems to me the divertissements are fair game when they come into my town and start playing previews to which people pay $50 a ticket for the privilege of sitting in the balcony.

[quote]I am referring, specifically, to "Skyscraper," which I saw -- saw the first act of, to be completely accurate -- at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre last night, in homage to a worthy charity, the George Junior Republic, of which I am a patron. The street outside the theatre was jammed with Rolls-Royces and Cadillacs, the playhouse was crammed with attractive and celebrated and polite people, but even the politest could not work up much enthusiasm for this new musical comedy. It contains Julie Harris, quite inexplicably, since she is not a musical comedy performer, Charles Nelson Reilly, who does everything but set fire to his trousers to get laughs where none are written in the libretto, one marvelous construction company ballet in the first act which should open the show, but doesn't, no music to sing of, and a lot of costumes that imitate last year's Courreges.

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by Anonymousreply 306August 30, 2024 4:56 AM

R306 Dorothy could be genteel and apologetic and then RIP YOUR EYES OUT. That’s why she’s a DL favorite and this thread has just over 3,900 posts!

by Anonymousreply 307August 30, 2024 6:54 AM

I read that whole quote waiting to see if someone from What's My Line was mentioned in it. Thanks for letting me know how it related to WML, R307.

by Anonymousreply 308August 30, 2024 7:41 AM

The tall Texas peanut farmer at R303 is handsome and plays the game with confidence. He's sexy.

Dorothy does look nice - they all do, although I like Arlene better as a blonde.

by Anonymousreply 309August 30, 2024 9:49 AM

The political campaign button maker seemed to be very touchy-feely with JCD. He couldn't seem to keep his hands off of him!

Those CBS newscasters were all so handsome when they were younger. Not like the hunks we see today, but more distinguished.

by Anonymousreply 310August 30, 2024 2:01 PM

Speaking of tall, I wonder if Wilt Chamberlain had his way with Arlene & Dorothy after the show.

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by Anonymousreply 311August 30, 2024 2:10 PM

[quote] The tall Texas peanut farmer at [R303] is handsome and plays the game with confidence. He's sexy.

That's John Connally's brother.

by Anonymousreply 312August 30, 2024 2:14 PM

A Globetrotter?!

Arlene and her racialism!

by Anonymousreply 313August 30, 2024 2:23 PM

Re Skyscraper

Dorothy Kilgallen attended a preview performance—a benefit for charity—on October 21, 1965. Despite a theater critics' tradition of refraining from reviewing preview performances of Broadway shows, Kilgallen expressed her opinion of Skyscraper in her column as it appeared in the New York Journal-American. The quote given in R306 is from her.

by Anonymousreply 314August 30, 2024 10:39 PM

Perhaps the best part of the Skyscraper story is Dorothy died 2 weeks after filing that mean-spirited review of an early preview. Karma? The show finally opened 5 days after she died.

I wonder if it was unusual in 1965 for Broadway shows to preview for as long as 22 days. When I first read about the incident at r306, I assumed that the show probably only had a few previews (after extensive multi-city tryouts) so her reviewing one of them didn't seem quite so bad.

Nevertheless, it doesn't appear Julie Harris appeared as a MG to plug the show, even with Dorothy permanently removed.

by Anonymousreply 315August 31, 2024 12:03 AM

Is it odd that Dorothy only saw the first act of Skyscraper? Is that all the preview was or did she walk out?

by Anonymousreply 316August 31, 2024 12:27 AM

Skyscraper gave us this pretty song. Sinatra recorded it too.

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by Anonymousreply 317August 31, 2024 12:32 AM

She walked, r316.

by Anonymousreply 318August 31, 2024 12:37 AM

I think the song "Everybody Has the Right to Be Wrong" also came from Skyscraper and got a lot of covers back then.

by Anonymousreply 319August 31, 2024 12:56 AM

A non-profit and on television? Boy do you have a crazy sponsor.

by Anonymousreply 320August 31, 2024 12:58 AM

Bobby Darin - "Everybody Has the Right to Be Wrong"

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by Anonymousreply 321August 31, 2024 1:00 AM

I loved how Dot could zoom in on most any musical guest in about three questions. "are you playing below 57th Avenue?"

by Anonymousreply 322August 31, 2024 1:04 AM

Not unlike Arlene with guests of the Legitimate Theatre. She always knew who was currently on the boards!

by Anonymousreply 323August 31, 2024 1:10 AM

Where you on a TV spectacular this afternoon?

by Anonymousreply 324August 31, 2024 1:12 AM

TV Spectaculars were never broadcast in the afternoon.

by Anonymousreply 325August 31, 2024 1:16 AM

I never miss a Julie Harris musical.

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by Anonymousreply 326August 31, 2024 1:25 AM

Unless they were recorded.

by Anonymousreply 327August 31, 2024 1:26 AM

The political campaign button maker seemed to be very touchy-feely with JCD. He couldn't seem to keep his hands off of him!

He's Italian.

by Anonymousreply 328August 31, 2024 2:00 AM

Related

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by Anonymousreply 329August 31, 2024 2:06 AM

How bizarre does t seem to us today that back then Arlene would have blurted out her home address to millions of TV viewers?

by Anonymousreply 330August 31, 2024 2:31 AM

[quote]Unless they were recorded.

Whether they were recorded or not, they were not broadcast in the afternoon.

TV Spectaculars were shown during primetime.

by Anonymousreply 331August 31, 2024 2:35 AM

So that's a no?

by Anonymousreply 332August 31, 2024 2:48 AM

Weren't there occasionally TV spectaculars on Sunday afternoons in the 1950s? Like musical events with Leonard Bernstein, etc.

by Anonymousreply 333August 31, 2024 2:49 AM

R333 Bernstein did a show called Omnibus on Sunday afternoons. It was a series, not a Spectacular.

by Anonymousreply 334August 31, 2024 2:55 AM

Wilt The Stilt has devil ears.

by Anonymousreply 335August 31, 2024 4:38 AM

Oh boy that department store detective in R311 would cause a riot today with her story about the colored woman thief.

by Anonymousreply 336August 31, 2024 5:06 AM

I'm pretty sure Amahl and the Night Visitors was presented on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon a few times, live. I just looked it up on Wikipedia and it said it had been presented in prime time, but was then done on afternoons the next few times.

by Anonymousreply 337August 31, 2024 7:14 AM

Arlene and the man with the beard.

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by Anonymousreply 338August 31, 2024 9:22 AM

[quote]I'm pretty sure Amahl and the Night Visitors was presented on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon a few times, live.

"Amahl and the Night Visitors" was a small-scale opera written for television. It wasn't a "spectacular." Not every musical program was a spectacular.

by Anonymousreply 339August 31, 2024 10:43 AM

Define spectacular.

by Anonymousreply 340August 31, 2024 1:52 PM

Teri Hatcher's breasts.

by Anonymousreply 341August 31, 2024 2:36 PM

You people are slipping. R322 makes an absurd reference to something called 57th Avenue and no one corrects her. There is no such avenue, unless you’re traveling through Flushing, Queens.

by Anonymousreply 342August 31, 2024 2:51 PM

fuck you R342. I knew my mistake as soon as I hit it. I thought it was going unnoticed.

by Anonymousreply 343August 31, 2024 4:14 PM

You thought wrong. And it’s not a mistake, it’s wrong even if you tried Street.

by Anonymousreply 344August 31, 2024 4:21 PM

No call for a conference was made.

by Anonymousreply 345August 31, 2024 4:25 PM

The tree surgeon was a sexy guy. I love Arlene. She can take it as well as she can dish it.

by Anonymousreply 346August 31, 2024 4:26 PM

[quote]How bizarre does it seem to us today that back then Arlene would have blurted out her home address to millions of TV viewers?

Playing with fire.

by Anonymousreply 347August 31, 2024 4:31 PM

A Spectacular showcased stars. It's generally associated with things like Peter Pan, Cinderella, Frank Sinatra Timex Show, The Edsel Show, The Ford anniversary with Mary Martin & Ethel Merman, Annie Get Your Gun, An Evening with Fred Astaire. A lot of them had single sponsors. That sort of thing.

Amahl and the Night Visitors was an opera with unknowns to the general public. I don't know if it can really be classified as a Spectacular or if that word was used in its promotion. Perhaps.

As these one-off star vehicles became more common, the word Spectacular was replaced with the word Special.

by Anonymousreply 348August 31, 2024 4:38 PM

The tree surgeon was a good looking guy with a nice sense of humor.

It's funny to watch Dorothy in that segment. She's prickly with John and she interrogates the tree surgeon like she's working for the CIA. She takes the game so seriously. Arlene and Bennett want to have fun.

by Anonymousreply 349August 31, 2024 4:54 PM

He's usually an annoying priss pot but I like Tony Randal as a panelist. Seems he knew everybody and that they all liked him.

by Anonymousreply 350August 31, 2024 4:58 PM

R344 There's no 57th Street?

by Anonymousreply 351August 31, 2024 5:25 PM

R348 It had a single sponsor, Hallmark, I beleive.

by Anonymousreply 352August 31, 2024 5:26 PM

Or believe.

by Anonymousreply 353August 31, 2024 5:27 PM

R351 didn’t say that, did I! No, I did not.

by Anonymousreply 354August 31, 2024 5:31 PM

Spectaculars had razzamatazz.

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by Anonymousreply 355August 31, 2024 5:31 PM

Small conference.

by Anonymousreply 356August 31, 2024 5:32 PM

R354 I don't know why anyone made a big deal of this in the first place. So trivial and picky.

by Anonymousreply 357August 31, 2024 5:34 PM

Then why are you bringing it up again🤷🏻‍♂️

by Anonymousreply 358August 31, 2024 5:35 PM

Would we share an elevator?

by Anonymousreply 359August 31, 2024 5:39 PM

Some people have to have the last word...

by Anonymousreply 360August 31, 2024 5:42 PM

^ see R359 did it right in mocking Killgallen’s questioning ways. 👍🏼

by Anonymousreply 361August 31, 2024 5:42 PM

Did you address book fall out of an whirly bird type craft whilst flying of Greece?

by Anonymousreply 362August 31, 2024 5:44 PM

They all liked her. But, she was a woman with issues. There were times when, yes, they were exhaused by her during her 15 year run. And in those moments, didn't particularly like her, even if they still loved their long time friend.

There was an incident with Mike Wallace. He was supposed to be the mystery guest, but when John Daly got wind of it he refused to go on with Wallace. They were forced to find a last minute replacement. This was 1958 and Mike Wallace was seen as tabloid journalism- not someone who Daly would associate with.

Well, the entire story made the New York Journal American. John Daly knew Dolly Mae had leaked it. He didn't speak to her off air for many months, and was cold to her on air.

But, Daly eventually got over it. On the episode after she dies, he looks absolutely striken.

by Anonymousreply 363August 31, 2024 5:45 PM

Her death completely took the wind out of the sails of WML

by Anonymousreply 364August 31, 2024 5:51 PM

NBC Specataculars 1955

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by Anonymousreply 365August 31, 2024 6:01 PM

Well, it was already near the end of its 16th season, R364.

by Anonymousreply 366August 31, 2024 6:08 PM

According to Wikipedia, the NBC "spectaculars" were a flop idea.

by Anonymousreply 367August 31, 2024 6:35 PM

Back in the day, TV specials were called spectaculars.

by Anonymousreply 368August 31, 2024 6:43 PM

Speaking of flop ideas, don't forget Betty Hutton in the waning days of her career starring in the first NBC color spectacular, the original musical "Satins & Spurs!"

by Anonymousreply 369August 31, 2024 6:48 PM

I don't think she was in the waning days of her career yet.

by Anonymousreply 370August 31, 2024 6:52 PM

Only on WML would they have mother/son sword swallowers and NOT have them give a demonstration before they left the stage.

by Anonymousreply 371August 31, 2024 7:07 PM

It wasn’t an episode of Truth or Consequrnces!

by Anonymousreply 372August 31, 2024 7:09 PM

You know what I meant…

by Anonymousreply 373August 31, 2024 7:10 PM

[quote]—Sorry, no link from me

It would kill you, r369?

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by Anonymousreply 374August 31, 2024 7:26 PM

Originally in color

by Anonymousreply 375August 31, 2024 7:38 PM

Betty Hutton starred in TV's first color "spectacular", 'Satins and Spurs (1954) (TV)', which debuted on September 12, 1954. It was a 90-minute musical comedy produced by Max Liebman. She played a rodeo queen who falls for a magazine writer, played by Kevin McCarthy. Reactions by critics and viewers were so negative that she announced her retirement from show business (one of the many times.)

by Anonymousreply 376August 31, 2024 7:41 PM

A 1954 RCA Color TV cost $1,000....that's about $11,700 in today's money.

by Anonymousreply 377August 31, 2024 7:55 PM

[quote] Only on WML would they have mother/son sword swallowers and NOT have them give a demonstration before they left the stage.

That would have to wait for the syndicated show. John Daly forbade exhibitions under his watch.

by Anonymousreply 378August 31, 2024 8:04 PM

Sometimes inflation calculators don't seem to make sense. I saw a 1975 ad for RCA clock radios for 19.95. Inflation calc. says it would be @ $115 today. For a clock radio? I don't believe we paid the equivalent of that much money.

by Anonymousreply 379August 31, 2024 8:16 PM

Come to think of it, I think the price of the radio was $29.95.

by Anonymousreply 380August 31, 2024 8:17 PM

R379 Well, look at it this way, for comparison: an entry level Ford or Chevy cost around $1,700 in 1954.

So $1000 for a TV really was A LOT of money.

by Anonymousreply 381August 31, 2024 8:31 PM

And the average cost of a new house was $10.250

by Anonymousreply 382August 31, 2024 8:33 PM

[quote]And the average cost of a new house was $10.250

You could just win one on The Price Is Right...

if you're willing to move to Florida

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by Anonymousreply 383August 31, 2024 8:44 PM

So if the avg home price home price in LA is $1,000,000, then my next tv will cost $100,000. And you people keep bitching about us boomers — you could be paying a hundred grand to watch Friendz reruns…

by Anonymousreply 384August 31, 2024 8:47 PM

Hey it wasn't that long ago when a big flat-screen TV would cost you a few thousand, and now they're a few hundred.

But in 1970, when my folks bought our first color TV, a console...

"In the early 1970s a good, 21-inch console color television might cost you $500. In today's money that would be around $3300."

I can't believe they spent that much!

by Anonymousreply 385August 31, 2024 8:52 PM

And of course there was only one income in the household. But then the cost of other things was definitely cheaper. A loaf of bread in 1970 could be around 25 cents. That's only around two bucks and some change today.

by Anonymousreply 386August 31, 2024 8:57 PM

More stealing contestants.

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by Anonymousreply 387August 31, 2024 8:58 PM

[quote]NBC Specataculars 1955

That must have been from later in the year. Mary Martin's "Peter Pan" aired on NBC, live and in color, for the first time in March 1955 and would definitely have been considered a spectacular.

by Anonymousreply 388August 31, 2024 9:01 PM

Hal Block kisses the contestant.

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by Anonymousreply 389August 31, 2024 9:06 PM

[quote] And of course there was only one income in the household.

Which helps to explains the ubiquitous presence then of rental car commercials. With women not in the workplace, families typically owned just one car. Thus, the greater need for renting a car.

by Anonymousreply 390August 31, 2024 9:25 PM

I didn't buy my first color TV until 1990 when I was 41.

Back then it just didn't seem that necessary. And it was what I had grown up with, what I was used to. Yes, I had old man attitudes even back then.

by Anonymousreply 391August 31, 2024 9:34 PM

Well, this thread has certainly gotten a Labor Day Weekend bump!

Are you bitches going for Thread #8?

by Anonymousreply 392August 31, 2024 9:36 PM

Herb Shriner

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by Anonymousreply 393August 31, 2024 9:45 PM

Herb Shriner, father of soap star Kin.

by Anonymousreply 394August 31, 2024 9:47 PM

The face lifter lady was a real character.

by Anonymousreply 395August 31, 2024 10:01 PM

R390 just no. Those ads has two markets: business travelers and vacationing families. WTF?.

by Anonymousreply 396August 31, 2024 10:04 PM

R396, business travel and vacationing families have been a constant over time, so that would not explain why these ads are no longer a fixture in the culture. The disappearance of the two parent, one-car, family, does help to inform their absence.

by Anonymousreply 397August 31, 2024 10:12 PM

R390. I'm sorry but I think you're wrong. This is R386 replying, not 396.

I don't think it was families with one car who used the car rental agencies. I don't know anyone in the 'burbs where I grew up who ever rented a car for that reason. Quite a lot of the time, either the dad took the train to the city and the mom drove him to the train and kept the car, or maybe she drove him to work, or (in our case) the dad got a ride with someone else, and Mom had the use of the car. In other cases, people occasionally had two cars. But nobody rented a car for household use.

I worked briefly for Hertz when I was younger and had to review paperwork and it was overwhelmingly travelers who used rental cars. Other than that it was people whose cars were totaled and being repaired.

by Anonymousreply 398August 31, 2024 10:19 PM

[quote] I worked briefly for Hertz when I was younger and had to review paperwork and it was overwhelmingly travelers who used rental cars. Other than that it was people whose cars were totaled and being repaired.

Again, save for the historically recent advent of vehicles for hire, how, then, do you explain the long absence of rental car commercials? People continue to total their cars. When did you work for Hertz?

by Anonymousreply 399August 31, 2024 10:27 PM

The advertisements targeted vacationers.

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by Anonymousreply 400August 31, 2024 10:28 PM

And businessmen:

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by Anonymousreply 401August 31, 2024 10:29 PM

R390 OJ was not there to get housewives into Hertz rentals. Your comments are bizzare. Mom was going to rent by the day to run errands? 🤔

by Anonymousreply 402August 31, 2024 10:31 PM

R401 love that ad—it’s LAX!

by Anonymousreply 403August 31, 2024 10:38 PM

R390, the person who replied to you, R402, is right. How would these housewives even get to a rental car agency? This was before Enterprise picked you up. The agencies were usually at the airport. Or out on some highway.

I didn't realize there are no longer car rental ads. I think there actually are some. Here's one with Tom Brady:

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by Anonymousreply 404August 31, 2024 10:38 PM

An enterprise TV ad:

So recent the announcer has vocal fry.

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by Anonymousreply 405August 31, 2024 10:40 PM

They still run ads by the gazillion—they havee this new thing that works better than tv: the interwebs.

by Anonymousreply 406August 31, 2024 10:40 PM

(Maybe not TV. Possibly an online or YouTube ad. The thing is, if you rented a car, I have a feeling these things would then pop up all over your devices.)

by Anonymousreply 407August 31, 2024 10:42 PM

R406 Exactly

by Anonymousreply 408August 31, 2024 10:43 PM

Yeah, R402, I'm not talking about as "recent" as the late '70s, when OJ was hawking for Hertz. I'm talking about a pre-feminism era, e.g., the '60s & earlier, when stay-at-home Moms were the norm. And R404, I should have been more clear. One key marketing appeal back in the day was for weekend activity. Dad was not at work, Mom could take control of the wheels, & Dad wanted to pursue his own outside interests.

by Anonymousreply 409August 31, 2024 10:48 PM

R409 I was around back then.

Housewives did not rent cars.

by Anonymousreply 410August 31, 2024 10:56 PM

R409 you type funny. If you’re going to reset your argument to that time period, you might want to know how credit cards and rental outfits worked back then. Just sayin’

by Anonymousreply 411August 31, 2024 11:07 PM

R409 If it was the weekend she had a car available —you really need to get your one-car story straight.

by Anonymousreply 412August 31, 2024 11:08 PM

It was the weekend when Mom (finally) had access to the family's one car; you don't think Dad was going to tied to the home, do you?!

by Anonymousreply 413August 31, 2024 11:11 PM

R413 You don't understand the era.

People worked around having only one car, without resorting to renting one.

And there were more two car families than you might think. A used car, or one of the new compacts, for mom.

by Anonymousreply 414August 31, 2024 11:18 PM

In the 1950s There was a big push by the car companies to get families to buy a second car.

1956 FORD COMMERCIAL - Two Ford family

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by Anonymousreply 415August 31, 2024 11:21 PM

The two Ford family....1953

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by Anonymousreply 416August 31, 2024 11:23 PM

How much was a carton of cigarettes?

by Anonymousreply 417August 31, 2024 11:57 PM

Bennett and the Congresswoman

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by Anonymousreply 418September 1, 2024 1:04 AM

Fran Allison

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by Anonymousreply 419September 1, 2024 1:10 AM

No Kukla? No Ollie?

by Anonymousreply 420September 1, 2024 1:15 AM

Iris Blitch

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by Anonymousreply 421September 1, 2024 1:18 AM

R414 People worked around having one car--exactly. They still were doing this in the '60s-'70s when I was growing up. Also in the '50s people had one TV, one phone.

by Anonymousreply 422September 1, 2024 1:23 AM

OG bitch: Blitch was a vocal advocate both for women's rights and racial segregation. …that’s how they rolled in Georgia! 😵‍💫

by Anonymousreply 423September 1, 2024 1:24 AM

I liked those cutie singing garbage men. find them for me.

by Anonymousreply 424September 1, 2024 1:24 AM

Here

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by Anonymousreply 425September 1, 2024 1:27 AM

At four thousand posts, I think we are just scratching the surface on this critical issue. Where do we go from here?

by Anonymousreply 426September 1, 2024 1:30 AM

We'll go to Part 8, R426, and see where it takes us.

by Anonymousreply 427September 1, 2024 1:33 AM

150+ posts left to make in this thread before that happens.

by Anonymousreply 428September 1, 2024 1:33 AM

Arlene was ready to eat up those garbage boys. Arlene always enjoyed the good looking men.

by Anonymousreply 429September 1, 2024 1:34 AM

The episode at R418 features a "strongman" as a contestant but what about body builders? They always seemed to turn up somewhere on 1950s television. No Mr.Universe?

by Anonymousreply 430September 1, 2024 1:42 AM

Margaret Truman was a dog.

by Anonymousreply 431September 1, 2024 1:44 AM

I’m gonna come back & give you a fat lip, R431.

by Anonymousreply 432September 1, 2024 1:55 AM

R431 And kick you in the nuts.

by Anonymousreply 433September 1, 2024 1:59 AM

Those cute singing garbagemen have to some of the best contestants ever. So funny. And so hot!

by Anonymousreply 434September 1, 2024 2:01 AM

Margaret dancing with LBJ at his inaugural ball

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by Anonymousreply 435September 1, 2024 2:02 AM

[quote]if you're willing to move to Florida

Dealbreaker!

by Anonymousreply 436September 1, 2024 2:25 AM

The singing garbage boys segment is HILARIOUS. You can't watch that without laughing along. Great television.

by Anonymousreply 437September 1, 2024 2:43 AM

Didn't someone many threads ago do a search on Art Asquith and come up with his entire history post-garbage collecting?

by Anonymousreply 438September 1, 2024 2:51 AM
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by Anonymousreply 439September 1, 2024 2:59 AM

Top John Daly moments.

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by Anonymousreply 440September 1, 2024 3:31 AM

R418, “you may do anything you like, Mr Cerf.”

I know just how she feels!

by Anonymousreply 441September 1, 2024 7:48 AM

This show has Bennett's second wife Phyllis as a MG.

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by Anonymousreply 442September 1, 2024 7:52 AM

R422, it depended on where you were. In most suburbs, it was impractical to do the household's shopping or pick up dry cleaning on foot or do any of the other errands a housewife might want to do in the daytime. That made having a second car a tremendous convenience. In the 1960s DC suburb where I grew up, most families with children had two cars so the wife/mother could take care of household business and take the kids here and there without waiting for the father to come home. There were exceptions, but fewer and fewer as time went by. As long as the wife could drive, she usually had a car. Who do you think was driving all those station wagons?

by Anonymousreply 443September 1, 2024 7:57 AM

From R442 Theodore Kratzke, (one of the department store Santas, was my mother's high school shop teacher!

by Anonymousreply 444September 1, 2024 8:22 AM

[quote] In the 1960s DC suburb where I grew up, most families with children had two cars so the wife/mother could take care of household business and take the kids here and there without waiting for the father to come home.

That was not the experience of most families in the '60s, with 60% of family households owning just one car (with a little less than 20% owning two cars and 20% owning no cars).

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by Anonymousreply 445September 1, 2024 11:32 AM

R433 That wasn't my experience in the '60s. As I already explained, the mom would usually have the car because she would drop off the dad at the commuter train or they figured out some other way. My friend's mom used to borrow the car of the old lady who lived next door and didn't go out that much. Also, not all women drove, back then. My mom's sister never learned to drive, neither did the woman who lived next door to us with her husband.

by Anonymousreply 446September 1, 2024 12:57 PM

(And even some men never drove--two of my uncles never learned to drive. They lived near streetcar lines.)

by Anonymousreply 447September 1, 2024 12:59 PM

Also, and this may surprise some younger DLers here, most middle-class people didn't have credits cards in the 1950s, 60s and even 70s. Thus, there was no way to rent a car.

by Anonymousreply 448September 1, 2024 1:18 PM

Originally published in Nov. 1952 in the Saturday Evening Post --

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by Anonymousreply 449September 1, 2024 1:44 PM

R448 no—that’s not it. Salient fact is that women could not get a credit in their own name.

by Anonymousreply 450September 1, 2024 2:14 PM

My parents subscribed to The Saturday Evening Post & I still have some issues from the '60s. They also subscribed to Look (& I have some of its '60s issues, too), but not, surprisingly, the more popular Life.

by Anonymousreply 451September 1, 2024 2:20 PM

Yes, that's true, r450, but I can remember my parents' attitude (and I assume many others) that credit cards and mounting credit debt were a societal evil and just simply unnecessary.

by Anonymousreply 452September 1, 2024 2:25 PM

[quote] Salient fact is that women could not get a credit in their own name.

Make America Great Again.

by Anonymousreply 453September 1, 2024 2:29 PM

I’d reach the opposite conclusion:

1. The credit card process and general use increased exponentially without a drop off, from the 50s forward.

2. The very fact that federal law was changed to allow for women get credit on their own points to it quickly having become an essential part of American life.

by Anonymousreply 454September 1, 2024 2:29 PM

I don't recall anyone using credit cards at all very much until the '70s. What were there? Gasoline credit cards, Diner's Club? I don't remember too many others. IN the '50s ash and checks were used, mostly--there must have been other ways to rent cars.

by Anonymousreply 455September 1, 2024 2:31 PM

You didn't know my parents, r454.

And to this day I really only use one credit card for everything and always try and pay my bill in its entirety.

by Anonymousreply 456September 1, 2024 2:34 PM

But that change in federal law, R454, didn't happen until 1974 with the passage of The Equal Credit Opportunity Act.

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by Anonymousreply 457September 1, 2024 2:35 PM

To bring this discussion somewhat back to the purpose of this thread, does this mean Mrs. Richard Kollmar was never issued a credit card in her own name?

by Anonymousreply 458September 1, 2024 2:38 PM

R456 And you shouldn’t assume your parents’ attitude was shared by many others—clearly based on the history of finance it wasn’t. Nor is your current attitude the common one as to credit card use.

R457. Yes—we know the federal law came later …that’s the very point raised already.

by Anonymousreply 459September 1, 2024 2:39 PM

And now we return you, hopefully, to our show.

Can someone post a link to the show with a Hertz counter rep? Or maybe a Diners Club credit approval clerk?

by Anonymousreply 460September 1, 2024 2:41 PM

Wealthy women may not have had credit cards in their own name, but Dorothy and her ilk would have had accounts at all sorts of businesses from their hair salons to their butchers and bakers to Bergdorf's and Bonwit's. Cash never crossed their palms.

by Anonymousreply 461September 1, 2024 2:42 PM

[quote] Can someone post a link to the show with a Hertz counter rep? Or maybe a Diners Club credit approval clerk?

Until that possibility is unearthed, maybe this will suffice.

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by Anonymousreply 462September 1, 2024 2:45 PM

Five kids in my family. My dad had a Porsche and my mom had a Ford station wagon. LOL

by Anonymousreply 463September 1, 2024 3:02 PM

From the Jack Lemmon movie "Good Neighbor Sam"

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by Anonymousreply 464September 1, 2024 3:55 PM

(Should've mentioned that the scene also features WMLer Robert Q. Lewis)

by Anonymousreply 465September 1, 2024 3:58 PM

r461 wealthy women had their own driver, at least their own car. duh

by Anonymousreply 466September 1, 2024 4:06 PM

Store accounts were the go to before credit cards for women. They'd send a bill once a month.

by Anonymousreply 467September 1, 2024 4:07 PM

In the latter half of the 1970s while going to school, I worked at a French restaurant in midtown Manhattan.

People paying by credit card was a very rare thing.

by Anonymousreply 468September 1, 2024 4:40 PM

Yea—all those businessmen at lunch and wealthy couples at dinner in Motown were the least likely to ever pull out a credit card. Thank you for the laugh, and for your service!

by Anonymousreply 469September 1, 2024 4:44 PM

*Midtown

by Anonymousreply 470September 1, 2024 4:44 PM

Top Arlene moments.

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by Anonymousreply 471September 1, 2024 4:47 PM

Top Dorothy moments.

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by Anonymousreply 472September 1, 2024 4:48 PM

sdfdsfsdfsad

by Anonymousreply 473September 1, 2024 4:53 PM

spectacular

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by Anonymousreply 474September 1, 2024 5:25 PM

Sad last days for Bogie.

by Anonymousreply 475September 1, 2024 8:17 PM

And sadly, Bogie never made it over to WML. I wonder, had he lived longer, might he have done a mystery guest appearance? I believe Betty Bacall did 2.

by Anonymousreply 476September 1, 2024 11:19 PM

Have you been known to drink a coffee of international variety whist feed your feline a feat that is very fancy?

by Anonymousreply 477September 1, 2024 11:26 PM

I think Arlene was drunk off her ass during the bell episode.

by Anonymousreply 478September 2, 2024 12:05 AM

[quote]Yea—all those businessmen at lunch and wealthy couples at dinner in Motown were the least likely to ever pull out a credit card. Thank you for the laugh, and for your service!

Were you around then and dealing with the paying public?

by Anonymousreply 479September 2, 2024 12:08 AM

The episode for R478

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by Anonymousreply 480September 2, 2024 1:04 AM

I think that Arlene had possibly had one over the eight and the reactions of fellow panelists and John Daly suggest amusement at the unusual situation. Nevertheless, as always, she is the complete professional and a joy. She could also, of course, have been totally exhausted and relying on her "show must go on" ethics to get her through the half hour. Her work schedules must have been totally draining.

by Anonymousreply 481September 2, 2024 1:06 AM

R468 yes—you were serving me.

by Anonymousreply 482September 2, 2024 2:12 AM

R479 yes.^^

by Anonymousreply 483September 2, 2024 2:13 AM

The episode at R480: It seems Dorothy was on to the fact that Arlene was a little drunk. Note how she keeps looking at Arlene and giggling. She's really enjoying herself.

by Anonymousreply 484September 2, 2024 2:24 AM

R482 Oh yes, I remember you!

by Anonymousreply 485September 2, 2024 2:27 AM

And I forgot to leave a tip on my Diners Club receipt. Even-Steven R485

by Anonymousreply 486September 2, 2024 2:50 AM

I have the feeling we should be grateful that dress the boxing kangaroo referee wears is not seen in color.

by Anonymousreply 487September 2, 2024 3:59 AM

Met Allen Funt in early 80s at a tiny tavern in Tacoma. Had no idea where he was. He asked Where is The Sheraton hotel? So I drove him down there and he gave me $100 dollar bill.

by Anonymousreply 488September 2, 2024 4:26 AM

[quote]It seems Dorothy was on to the fact that Arlene was a little drunk.

Perhaps Arlene had been entertaining before that night's show and had enjoyed a bit too much of the Vat 69.

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by Anonymousreply 489September 2, 2024 8:24 AM

The episode with the maternity clothes salesman and Dorothy is 8 months pregnant.

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by Anonymousreply 490September 2, 2024 8:49 PM

You never hear as much squealing hilarity from the panel and the audience when maternity/pregnancy comes into play.

Seems so immature and silly now. To me, at least.

I guess they must have cut the panel's introductory walk when Dorothy was pregnant. I have no memory of ever seeing her visibly so during WML.

by Anonymousreply 491September 2, 2024 10:31 PM

Was there a panel introductory walk in the original series? I thought that was only in the syndicated version.

by Anonymousreply 492September 2, 2024 10:35 PM

Not the guest/contestant walk, the panel walking in as they're introduced, r492.

by Anonymousreply 493September 2, 2024 10:58 PM

they all had such beautiful penmanship.

by Anonymousreply 494September 3, 2024 12:54 AM

They had some training, R494.

by Anonymousreply 495September 3, 2024 4:13 AM

Dorothy's daughter was born March 19, 1954. Dorothy is still on the show March 7.

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by Anonymousreply 496September 3, 2024 4:22 AM

Betsy Palmer was pregnant during I've Got a Secret.

by Anonymousreply 497September 3, 2024 4:52 AM

When John Daly starts WML in 1950, he's 36 years old. Filled with energy, chipper, happy, all with a strong mid-Atlantic accent.

When the show ends in 1967, Daly is 53, and markedly different. He seems run down and weary. As if life had knocked the stuffing out of him. In those years he got divorced (with young children) got remarried to the daughter of a Supreme Court Justice, had two members of the WML? panel die, dealt with the JFK assasaination, and all the upheaval of the '60s.

Just interesting to note the impact of such great cultural change on the greatest generation. It's very apparent with Daly.

by Anonymousreply 498September 3, 2024 5:11 AM

March 14, 1954. 5 days before birth.

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by Anonymousreply 499September 3, 2024 6:05 AM

John makes a reference to Dorothy being pregnant in the episode.

by Anonymousreply 500September 3, 2024 6:21 AM

[quote]Not the guest/contestant walk, the panel walking in as they're introduced, R492.

What I meant was, the panel is already seated at the start of the show, as in the "5 days before birth" clip at R499. The panel members have a walk-in entrance in the 1970s syndicated version.

by Anonymousreply 501September 3, 2024 10:37 AM

R499, they may not have been doing it then, but at some point during the run they would designate at the outset whether the show was "live from New York." There was no reference to that on the episode you linked, so it's possible that the show was taped for later broadcast.

by Anonymousreply 502September 3, 2024 11:32 AM

March 21, 1954. No Dorothy so she must be recovering from the birth.

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by Anonymousreply 503September 3, 2024 11:48 AM

Bennett mentions the birth.

by Anonymousreply 504September 3, 2024 11:49 AM

As does Steve.

Was very sweet idea to have Dorothy's other 2 children as Mystery Guests. The daughter looks just like her.

by Anonymousreply 505September 3, 2024 11:57 AM

[quote] When John Daly starts WML in 1950, he's 36 years old. Filled with energy, chipper, happy, all with a strong mid-Atlantic accent.

He grew up in Boston and went to a private school in NH. When did a New England accent become "mid-Atlantic"?

by Anonymousreply 506September 3, 2024 1:07 PM

There's no such thing as a "New England accent." Eastern Massachusetts is very different from Maine, or southern Connecticut for example.

by Anonymousreply 507September 3, 2024 1:11 PM

R506 Daly adopted that accent that many actors and people who spoke for a living at the time had. I've always heard that refered to as "Mid-Atlantic." By the end of the run of the show, he no longer had it.

R506 I'm so glad you're here to correct people when we say wrong things.

by Anonymousreply 508September 3, 2024 1:15 PM

I love that Dorothy's middle name was Mae. I can just picture her family calling her Dotty Mae at home. Popping her balloon and making her cringe.

by Anonymousreply 509September 3, 2024 2:20 PM

We're just going to turn all the cahhdds

by Anonymousreply 510September 3, 2024 2:21 PM

Do you know how we play the game?

by Anonymousreply 511September 3, 2024 2:31 PM

I thought her family called her Dollie Mae. Or is that just a DL thing?

by Anonymousreply 512September 3, 2024 5:19 PM

Are you familiar with the way we keep score?

by Anonymousreply 513September 3, 2024 7:11 PM

There certainly may be some training required, but not in our normal frame of reference. I don't want to mislead you I'm going to give you a no.

by Anonymousreply 514September 3, 2024 7:14 PM

I have to laugh at Dorothy's message at the end of the R503 show. She says Margaret looks wonderful and beautiful but doesn't comment on her game ability.

Also Fredric March scores a laugh from his exiting curtsy, as if parodying Dorothy's daughter.

by Anonymousreply 515September 3, 2024 7:21 PM

Is it Miss or Mrs.?

by Anonymousreply 516September 3, 2024 7:25 PM

Can you just imagine JCD asking a man upon his introduction: "Are you married or not?"

by Anonymousreply 517September 3, 2024 7:32 PM

I've seen game show episodes from the '60s & '70s where, asked if they had any children, the flummoxed female contestant responds with some variation of, 'No, I'm not even married.'

by Anonymousreply 518September 3, 2024 7:37 PM

Dorothy back on the show March 28, 1954.

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by Anonymousreply 519September 3, 2024 7:40 PM

Both Steve Allen and John Daly say it's nice to have her back.

by Anonymousreply 520September 3, 2024 7:43 PM

Meh.

by Anonymousreply 521September 3, 2024 7:43 PM

For a loveless marriage, Dorothy had a lot of kids.

by Anonymousreply 522September 3, 2024 9:04 PM

She was drunk a lot. It was probably just a big of surprise to her as it was to you.

by Anonymousreply 523September 3, 2024 9:09 PM

Please note Janet Leigh's Remington Rand typewriter in this scene from "Psycho" (1959). That's Alfred Hitchcock's daughter Patricia in the scene with her.

Too bad Stopette deodorant didn't also get product placement in the movie.

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by Anonymousreply 524September 3, 2024 9:19 PM

An odd episode. No panel regulars were there that night. It wasn't nearly as good. Though I have no idea who she was I really like Laraine Day. I'll have to googie her. As usual I hate Mickey Rooney in whatever he does.

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by Anonymousreply 525September 3, 2024 9:55 PM

Poor Gene. Life took it's tool on her looks way too early. Something must have been bothering Dotty Mae. She had a broom stick up her ass for this episode.

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by Anonymousreply 526September 3, 2024 10:05 PM

[quote] For a loveless marriage, Dorothy had a lot of kids.

She was a good, mid-century, Catholic.

by Anonymousreply 527September 3, 2024 10:45 PM

[quote]Though I have no idea who she was I really like Laraine Day. I'll have to googie her.

Laraine Day was an actress with a long list of movie credits. Her leading men included Cary Grant. Her marriage to Leo Durocher led her to being known as the First Lady of Baseball. Durocher was the second of her three husbands.

by Anonymousreply 528September 3, 2024 10:46 PM

Laraine Day was one of those Hitchcock heroines who was NOT an icy blonde...1940's Foreign Correspondent opposite Joel McCrea. And she was often the leading lady in MGM's popular Dr. Kildare series.

And yes, she was the only highlight of that LA version of WML.

by Anonymousreply 529September 4, 2024 1:27 AM

[quote]He seems run down and weary. As if life had knocked the stuffing out of him. In those years he got divorced (with young children) got remarried to the daughter of a Supreme Court Justice, had two members of the WML? panel die, dealt with the JFK assasaination, and all the upheaval of the '60s

Everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at his rear end.

by Anonymousreply 530September 4, 2024 1:47 AM

I know Laraine Day best as the kleptomaniac in the film noir classic The Locket. She is the lead and stars with Robert Mitchum in an early role, Brian Aherne, Gene Raymond, and Lilian Fontaine (Joan and Olivia's mom). In the film she goes through many husbands and hairstyles.

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by Anonymousreply 531September 4, 2024 1:55 AM

I'd bet that Esther Williams, Mickey Rooney and Laraine Day never suspected that their fellow panelist Jack Lemmon would become one of the biggest movie stars of the 60s and the 70s in just another few years. Jack probably didn't even see it coming.

by Anonymousreply 532September 4, 2024 2:53 AM

Why the move to LA? How many episodes were done out there?

by Anonymousreply 533September 4, 2024 3:13 AM

Vaughn Monroe.

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by Anonymousreply 534September 4, 2024 4:18 AM

Here's the show for R526

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by Anonymousreply 535September 4, 2024 6:09 AM

I think Gene still looks beautiful. And I don't see any problem with Dorothy on the show.

by Anonymousreply 536September 4, 2024 6:41 AM

R492 and R501, the CBS show starting using a walk-in introduction for the panelists around ’56 or ’57. Only in the earlier years do the episodes start off with the panelists seated. It was a big improvement and quite interesting because you can following the changing fashions of the era and also get a better sense of Arlene’s and Dorothy’s sense of style.

by Anonymousreply 537September 4, 2024 8:15 AM

R512, yes, it's Dollie Mae, not Dottie Mae, and it's not a DL thing. I heard someone on the show – maybe Bennett or a MG she knew well – call her Dollie Mae affectionately at one point. I think friends as well as family used the nickname. She may not have minded it at all.

by Anonymousreply 538September 4, 2024 8:17 AM

R517, JCD had to ask “is it Miss or Mrs.” because the panelists addressed the contestants formally. Men were always “Mr.”, and even little boys were “Master”. “Ms.” did not exist yet, so they had to know whether to say “Miss Contestant” or “Mrs. Contestant”.

R533, they only broadcast from Los Angeles that once, on January 12, 1958. I think in the previous episode JCD had said he would be in LA the following week, so they would be doing the show from there. I thought it was a fun change but certainly wouldn’t want to see it often. The Hollywood people take the game less seriously, although all the panelists on that episode had appeared on WML in New York. I know Laraine Day had been a guest panelist. And Mickey Rooney, Esther Williams and Jack Lemmon had all been MGs and maybe guest panelists, too. Jack was definitely a panelist at some point, but it might have been after this special episode.

by Anonymousreply 539September 4, 2024 8:30 AM

Nevertheless, there was always a lascivious sigh when a pretty guest informed JCD that it was Miss So and So.

by Anonymousreply 540September 4, 2024 11:28 AM

the panel sing Happy Birthday to Dorothy.

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by Anonymousreply 541September 4, 2024 2:34 PM

Are you affiliated with any branch of the ahhhmed services?

by Anonymousreply 542September 4, 2024 5:53 PM

Esther Williams got a lot of prime cock in her day.

by Anonymousreply 543September 4, 2024 6:47 PM

Do you think the R541 intro was right to left and not the usual left to right to allow them to sing to Dorothy?

by Anonymousreply 544September 4, 2024 8:51 PM

Laraine Day #1 September 9, 1951 as MG appears to be lost.

by Anonymousreply 545September 4, 2024 9:21 PM

[quote]“Ms.” did not exist yet, so they had to know whether to say “Miss Contestant” or “Mrs. Contestant”.

Tell that to the idiot closed-captioning people who use it instead of "miss" on every single TV show and movie, irrespective of the era in which it was produced.

by Anonymousreply 546September 4, 2024 9:29 PM

There's a fun Sept. 1963 show with Gordon & Sheila McRae with lots to talk about if someone would be so kind to link it. I tried but couldn't succeed.

by Anonymousreply 547September 5, 2024 1:50 AM

Here

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by Anonymousreply 548September 5, 2024 1:52 AM

R507 Despite the many New England accents, they share common traits. There's probably no such thing as a Southern accent, either, but the various Southern accents share certain traits which make the accent unmistakably Southern.

by Anonymousreply 549September 5, 2024 2:02 AM

(For instance, Boston, Maine, and New Hampshire all drop r's.)

by Anonymousreply 550September 5, 2024 2:03 AM

Mystehy guest enteh and sign in please

by Anonymousreply 551September 5, 2024 2:07 AM

...You pronounce the r in mystery and the r before a vowel...

by Anonymousreply 552September 5, 2024 3:05 AM

Laraine Day #2 as panelist.

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by Anonymousreply 553September 5, 2024 5:52 AM

Laraine Day #3 as panelist.

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by Anonymousreply 554September 5, 2024 9:16 AM

Governor Foss.

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by Anonymousreply 555September 5, 2024 9:27 AM

Rodgers and Hammerstein as the mystery guests in February 1956.

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by Anonymousreply 556September 5, 2024 10:32 AM

When that false teeth saleswoman did the perp walk in R541 she ignored Arlene.

by Anonymousreply 557September 5, 2024 7:47 PM

Looks like Part 8 will soon be with us! :)

by Anonymousreply 558September 5, 2024 7:47 PM

John Charles Daly says in R543 that they have a new sign-in board. Here is the previous episode with the old board.

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by Anonymousreply 559September 5, 2024 8:00 PM

oops the above reference should be R541.

by Anonymousreply 560September 5, 2024 8:02 PM

[quote]Rodgers and Hammerstein as the mystery guests in February 1956.

Did anyone ask them if they were in the legitimate theater?

by Anonymousreply 561September 5, 2024 9:16 PM

Did they play longhair music.

by Anonymousreply 562September 5, 2024 9:30 PM

Did they recently have dinner with Bennett?

by Anonymousreply 563September 5, 2024 10:57 PM

When you're down and out

Lift up your head and shout

It's going to be Laraine Day

by Anonymousreply 564September 5, 2024 11:00 PM

I applaud JCD's apparent but understandable impatience with Fred Allen at r556.

by Anonymousreply 565September 6, 2024 12:24 AM

For R525

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by Anonymousreply 566September 6, 2024 12:49 AM

For R548

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by Anonymousreply 567September 6, 2024 3:23 AM

The same show's Wine Steward is one of the few ladies I can understand getting wolf whistles.

by Anonymousreply 568September 6, 2024 3:54 AM

For R547

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by Anonymousreply 569September 6, 2024 4:10 AM

Part 8 is ready for when it's needed.

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by Anonymousreply 570September 6, 2024 6:20 AM

Mark Clark for R556

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by Anonymousreply 571September 6, 2024 7:20 AM

[quote] Now wait a minute, I’m not done asking my questions. — Dorothy @ R16

See, John, I told you so.

by Anonymousreply 572September 6, 2024 8:00 AM

From R560 I was curious about the baby alligators mentioned in the previous show.

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by Anonymousreply 573September 6, 2024 9:23 AM

Everyone on the panel was crushing on the dimpled Parisian newsie at r569.

by Anonymousreply 574September 6, 2024 1:27 PM

New York Herald Tribune?

by Anonymousreply 575September 6, 2024 9:01 PM

When I was in junior high school in suburban NJ the 1960s, we were all required to buy a subscription to either the NY Times or the Herald Tribune, in order to keep up with our class in current events. IIRC the papers were delivered directly to the school, and we must have gotten some kind of student discount.

Most everyone, me included, opted for the Trib because, unlike the Times, there were comics.

Hated that class btw. I couldn't have cared less why Madame Nhu was visiting America (though I was kinda fascinated by her Suzy Wong dresses).

by Anonymousreply 576September 6, 2024 9:39 PM

Of course, my dad brought home the NY Post nightly.

by Anonymousreply 577September 6, 2024 9:40 PM

And now let's meet our award winning What's My Line panel.

by Anonymousreply 578September 7, 2024 2:09 AM

I hated the episodes with Graucho Marx. He never knew when to just shut it off for a few minutes. Even Jerry Lewis knew how when he was a panelist.

by Anonymousreply 579September 7, 2024 2:24 AM

I agree about Groucho, but I found every comedian that sat in the guest panelist spot to be annoying and distracting. And unfunny. That would also include Victor Borge, Buddy Hackett, Paul Winchell and his dummy Jerry...and even Jerry Lewis and a few others I'm happily forgetting. And let's not even talk about non-guests Hal Block (yecccchhh) and Fred Allen (zzzz). Steve Allen was great, however.

Young Johnny Carson was my fave and he could be funny in that spot, but he never overwhelmed the game. And he was cute!

I never got why Goodson/Todman felt a comedian needed to be in the mix.

by Anonymousreply 580September 7, 2024 3:00 AM

I loved Groucho on the show.

by Anonymousreply 581September 7, 2024 3:02 AM

Oh, I loved Buddy as panelist.

by Anonymousreply 582September 7, 2024 3:02 AM

Laraine Day #4 as panelist

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by Anonymousreply 583September 7, 2024 3:25 AM

Wiki

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by Anonymousreply 584September 7, 2024 3:46 AM

Small conference: Just a reminder, as this thread winds down, that Part 8 is waiting in the wings.

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by Anonymousreply 585September 7, 2024 4:12 AM

Incomparable, r584.

by Anonymousreply 586September 7, 2024 4:45 AM

Laraine Day #5 is the Los Angeles show.

by Anonymousreply 587September 7, 2024 4:58 AM

The Elephant Trainer puts Fred in his place.

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by Anonymousreply 588September 7, 2024 5:13 AM

[quote] I never got why Goodson/Todman felt a comedian needed to be in the mix.

R580 To get laughs, which most of them did at that time. I’m an ancientgay, and I liked most of the comedians that appeared on the panel. The common thread for most of them was that they were quick-witted and could ad-lib jokes about what was just said. Steve Allen, Joey Bishop, Buddy Hackett, Johnny Carson, Groucho, and yes, even Hal Bloch, who was a comedy writer. His humor was too burlesque for the show, so he had to go. But I laughed at some of Hal’s lascivious jokes especially because they were so out of place that they were additionally funny to me. Kind of like why I laugh hysterically when watching Family Guy.

Arlene was also excellent at making snappy jokes quickly but not as frequently as the professional comedians could do. They were “sure laughs” for Goodson and Todman.

By the time of the syndicated show, comedy styles were changing. Soupy Sales was almost unbearable for me to watch sometimes. He wasn’t in the same league as most of the comedians who appeared on the original show. He did “shtick” and physical comedy on his own show, and those just didn’t work when he was on the panel.

by Anonymousreply 589September 7, 2024 5:20 AM

Good night, Miss Dorothy. Good night, Mr. Allen. Good night, Miss Arlene. Good night, Mr. Cerf.

See you all on the next thread for more "What's My Line?"

by Anonymousreply 590September 7, 2024 5:27 AM

I thought the bowling alley pin setter was going to be a cartoon voicer since she comes from Hollywood and has a cartoon voice.

by Anonymousreply 591September 7, 2024 5:34 AM

How long did it take Goodson/Todman to find a bread box maker/seller to appear as a contestant?

by Anonymousreply 592September 7, 2024 1:10 PM

I was at a party once, where we played What's My Line? using our first jobs out of high school or college. I was shocked at just how terrible most people were at playing the game. It goes to show just how capable the original panel was -narrowing things down with for-profit vs. not, product vs service, etc. I guess most people just don't think that way...

by Anonymousreply 593September 7, 2024 2:19 PM

That cannot be answered with a yes or no.

by Anonymousreply 594September 7, 2024 2:31 PM

R593 They were a bit more experienced at it than the people at the party, though.

by Anonymousreply 595September 7, 2024 2:49 PM

The female wrestler is very concerned with her spit curl.

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by Anonymousreply 596September 7, 2024 5:30 PM

How fortuitous that the camera is on the panel when the audience screams at Arlene guessing the motorcycle cop. It's funny how all the panel look at the audience in unison and Arlene laughs.

by Anonymousreply 597September 7, 2024 5:47 PM

LOVE the idea of WML as a party game! Can't believe my friends and I never tried that over so many years.

And weren't Deals in a service/product; For/Not for profit often JCD gimmes?

by Anonymousreply 598September 7, 2024 8:30 PM

Fred Allen moments.

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by Anonymousreply 599September 8, 2024 1:20 AM

See you all in the new thread. :)

by Anonymousreply 600September 8, 2024 2:54 AM
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