The majority of the panel line ups on What's My Line were incredible -- just four good-humored, graceful, ferociously intelligent people. And Arlene was a joy every time.
Arlene was all the things said about her. Ive been watching ‘What’s My Line’ and now as an adult I have a new appreciation for the show and especially Arlene. She’s brilliant! She knows what questions to ask and she’s witty and beautiful as well. Her son must be so proud of his mom.
The most gracious and lovely tv memory of my childhood, that's Miss Arlene. I loved me some Dinah Shore, but this 5 year old in Wytheville adored - ADORED - Arlene Francis....then I started first grade, and our love was restricted to holidays and summers. I'll always love you, Arlene!! Spectacularly special !
I’ve been watching some old “What’s My Line?” episodes, and Arlene Francis was the soul of the show. She was charming, smart, and always elegant. One in a million.
The charme of Arlene Francis works throughout these old film material even today. She is a true beauty. And her panel is nearly ingenious. I in fact watch this instead of the current TV-Program an feel entertained much better.
Amongst her many other qualities, Arlene Francis has that extremely rare quality (shared for example by Grace Kelly) of becoming even more beautiful as she got older.
I just came across this woman maybe 3 months ago on What's My Line. I love her and the show. I am addicted to it. Arlene was a woman I would love to have had as a friend. I just loved her wit and personality...
being from Europe (and born quite a few years after the show ended), i never knew "What's my line" until about 3 or 4 weeks ago.. since then i can't stop watching the episodes on RU-vid, and a major part of the shows charme is what Arlene contributed. She's just so smart, classy and delightful.. (which the other panel members were as well, but her humour and personality just stood out a bit more).
It must be such bliss for Dorothy, Bennett, John, and Arlene to be looking down and seeing What's My Line is still super popular today and attracts young people (and even younger) to this day.
i believe people are in what could be called an unconscious state after they die and will remain in that state until the resurrection. even if you believe that people are immediately conscious in heaven upon dying, i don't believe that they look back to what is happening here on earth. they are much too blissfully happy to bother with earthly matters. when their friends and loved one arrive in heaven, they will have eternity to catch up on what's new.
@@nowvoyagerNE I too believe we fall into an unconscious state after we die and will remain in that state until the resurrection. I also believe that the day before the resurrection we'll be given temporary 'starter' wings, a beautiful bible (signed by you know who!), and a packet of McVitie's chocolate biscuits. I can't wait! SMH...
I love everything about Arlene!! Such a pleasure to watch on WML and elsewhere. Elegant, fun, intellligent, warm--what' s not to like about Ms. Arlene? Oh, and lovely to look at and a beautiful cultivated voice that avoids snobbiness, cuz she's the real thing.
Arlene Francis. I knew there was a great deal of substance and intelligence with her. One could not help but to like her and I did very much. Class does tell.
This is just wonderful. I'm just stumbling onto this video 4 years after it was posted. Peter Gabel looks just like Martin (except for the long hair). Thank you for sharing it.
What's My Line? I was thinking the exact thing, he is a copy of Martin Gabel. By the way, thank you for suggesting, a few months back, that I read Lee Israel's DOROTHY KILGALLEN. It's a great read and a good addition to my shelf, there beside 2 books by Arlene and Kitty Carlisle's autobiography.
I've watched many of these old shows because they are interesting to watch and the people I'm not familiar with but have heard of. I have found by watching that Arlene Francis was an extremely well spoken intelligent individual.
She had a sophisticated sexiness that you don't see much anymore now days. I remember when I was a teenager she was in a TV production of Laura that seems to have completely disappeared, but she was hotter than the star. Beautiful classy lady.
My earliest memory of Arlene Francis is as a host on the great MONITOR - and I thought of her then as a nice "old lady" -- now when I see her here on RU-vid on WML I can see what a beautiful, witty, intelligent and sexy lady she was! I was born too late ....
Before Dove soap was introduced in the 1950's, they ran a "mystery name" advertising campaign and Arlene was the spokesperson. In the lead-up, the wonderful new soap was described, but people were left guessing as to what the name would be. When the big day finally arrived, Arlene made the announcement to the world on live TV, but she pronounced the name wrong, using a long "O" sound (the past-tense verb). As a result, her job as a spokesperson for Dove took a dive!
I confess to having a major crush on Arlene as early as 1956. Not only was she elegant, but she had charm. And, even at the age of 100, she was a great beauty.
This is absolutely superb! Wish it were longer! Breath taking to see footage from "Blind Date" according to Imdb all footage from that series was believed to be lost. Thank you roots66 for all your fabulous posts. Love Miss Francis!
2:58 "Probably the preeminent intelligent female contestant in the history of television"??? With all due respect, her contemporary Dorothy Kilgallen was equally intelligent. I love them both! ❤️
Most people don't realize that back in the late 30's, Arlene was a member of Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre group. She once recounted in an interview how, one night, she was rehearsing with other cast members for one of Welles' Broadway productions while Orson and other members were off doing the Sunday night Mercury Theater On The Air on CBS Radio. As it turned out, that particular night, the radio broadcast was the infamous "War of the Worlds" episode. She recounted Welles and John Houseman racing into the theater in a panic because of the havoc the show was supposedly spreading nationwide as well as authorities and angry listeners wishing a word or two with them. She added that, needless to say, rehearsal was cancelled.
@vestiphobe : don't other to explain it at this late date. in fact i don't care for this woamn or her husband or why he gave her a diamond heart pendant. but i do care about people who play time-wasting games on you tube. *DUH* --i do have Google, and i bet i can out search you any day. the bottom line is, when i look up something, i share it with others, i don't waste people's time hinting at information. let's all grow up, ok people?
I feel I was cheated in that I only first met Arlene Frances on the syndicated version of What's My Line in the late '60s. I had no idea who she was. I thought they just found some woman to be on the panel, like maybe she had connections--maybe she knew someone. Now, I am addicted to watching the RU-vid videos of the original WML, and I am obsessed with her! She was an amazingly bright, beautiful, funny, smart woman!
Arlene was a class act. She was my favorite on What's My Line? Loved her heart necklace so much I got one for my wife for our 25th. My wife even puts her solitaire diamond inside sometimes like Arlene did. It was a shame that she got alzsimers(sp).
Brett Somers!!! Wow, that's a name from the '70s past. She was Jack Klugman's wife, as I recall. I don't know what else she did, but she was a brilliant Match Game panelist. She adored, and egged on, Charles Nelson Reilly whilst putting Richard Dawson in in place on occasion. Loved Brett!
She was wonderful. There was so much wit, reading and culture there, with such self-assured charm, all whilst lacking any sort of malice of discernible ego. She let others have their place and never felt encroached upon. She took the compliments on her personal and physical qualities in the spirit they were intended, and proved that a woman doesn't have to fight against being a woman to be the most respected person in the room. She could teach charm as a university major, but used it to generously delight and entertain all those around her, not to seduce or compete for attention. A very classy woman.
I worked with Artlene on `Emphasis` one of NBC`s last live radio shows. Arlene was one of 5 presenters. The others included Barbra Walters, Frank Blair, Dr. Joyce Brothers and Bill Cullen. Peter Flynn and Leonard Probst were the producers and Peter hired me. He might have hired me because of where I came from. My home town was Ludlow Park, right around the corner from Mt. St. Vincent (which is where Arlene went to school) Arlene was a bit of a phony. I thought Walters was more real. At least she`d insult you to your face. One never knew what Francis said behind your back. Dr. Joyce was probably my favourite along with Frank Blair. Arlene did not write her own pieces. This was the job of someone named (I think) Lenore Hershey. So if and when Lenore was late there was a terrible panic. Often Arlene wold show up (at the studio) in curlers. I remember she left the show while it was still going and I was still working there. As a going-away gift I gave her a single rose. She kindly accepted it but reacted in a way as to suggest she thought I was buttering her up.
While the WML panelists were generally intelligent, what people fail to realize is they were given hints about what line of questioning to follow by the producers, which is really cheating. If you watch the shows closely you will see this time and time again, like when the guy who taught butchering at San Quentin was on - within minutes there was talk of 'a building' where 'people slept' and then 'penal institutions'. It is doubtful such conclusions would have been reached if they weren't coached.
I grew up in the 50's but we didn't have a TV until I was about 6-7. I'm not sure when I first was aware of WML, with Arlene, Bennett Cerf, Dorothy Kilgallen and Steve Allen. And the many rotating guests panelists. I had such a crush on her and I had to finagle my way into watching the show which I think started at 8PM here in Utah, where we were then and I still am. I don't remember ever not watching it, and some of favorite pieces were when the Mystery Guest was her son Peter Gabel and a couple of times he was there with Christopher Cerf and it was so fun to watch their parents not guess who they were. She was a gem!
Classy dame! I remember her son when he was a contestant on What's My Line and a guide to the 1964 World's Fair. I see he has a 'different look'. Yawn.
Arlene Francis was the second lady of television, behind Kitty Carlisle. Kitty was the doyenne of game shows...People would watch To Tell The Truth just to see what Kitty would wear that particular day, and if she was not on that night, many simply changed the channel.
It was on GSN a while back, maybe a year and a half ago. They did a few docs on the history of game shows, and this one focused on the pioneering ladies of the genre. Dr. Joyce Brothers and Betty White (emphasis on the H in wHite of course!) were also featured...probably Brett Somers too though I can't recall for sure.
I love how the writers of this program and the media pundit think that being an intelligent woman who knew a lot about life was something extraordinary or unusual - like a woman can't be pretty and smart at the same time. Kitty Carlisle Hart was another pretty stage actress with a lot of poise and intelligence too.
I came here for Arlene Francis, but i just can't let go the unknown psycologist on the next segment, it's killing me to know how'd she reinvented the role of the everyday contestant. Any leads?
Whitzardable yeah, she won tens of thousands of dollars, answering questions about boxing, of all things : unheard of in 1950's culture for a little woman to know boxing ( or have a Ph D in psychology ).
3:00 Dicey conclusion. Arlene had the great natural gifts of grace and common sense, but was lapped by the sheer intellectual power of her co-panelist, Dorothy Killgallen --- who in turn could be extraordinarily graceless and who possessed very little wit, whereas Arlene's only problem in this respect was that she had so much, she would occasionally swing and miss, big time.
