It says a lot about the world we live in now that watching these clips are way better than anything I can find on tv today. Thank goodness I can come watch these wonderful people who actually had something interesting to say. I miss those times.
Totally agree, also Dick had such a relaxed attitude he let guests jabber on no rush, and at times he just had the one guest, I loved his shows, back in the day Dick Cavett was the cool host of talk, I believe he really enjoyed his job.
He wears these funny hats, awful clothes with mismatching colors, and then he opens his mouth and just floors you with the most incredible wit, humor and intelligence. I can never have enough of his talk. I wish he was alive today, bestowing his limitless talent upon us still.
If he “was” alive “today”, that is, earlier on the day you wrote this comment, he would have been dead by the time you actually did write it. “Was” is past tense. I assume you mean “if he were alive today”, but maybe not. I only wish Groucho were better mannered on talk shows.
@@jeffryphillipsburns I'll admit that I'm a card-carrying grammar nerd, but you give us pedants a bad name. Where do you get off coming down on some guy who's making a well-written, thoughtful comment, well above the usual standard of drivel might I say, because of a frankly debatable and unquestionably slavish adherence to an out-of-date grammar rule. Indicative or passive? Either is entirely acceptable these days, and your attempt to be clever merely marks you out as a prat.
In "Adventures in the Screen Trade" William Goldman talks about how reality shows (before there was a name for them) were pitched in the early 80s to studio executives, but the studio executives thought they were so offensive and inhumane that those who pitched them were tossed out of the room. On the other hand, all kinds of horrible unspeakable abuse and exploitation was going on that the culture refused to acknowledge, in entertainment specifically, and to a great degree it still refuses to acknowledge. On the surface everything was just fine and decent, but that was a lie. So maybe that's the trade off. We just have to take the honey booboos and all the other psychic garbage that lines the wastebins of the American mind with everything else. There's no debate that there's infinitely more good television out there now, you just have to want to see it.
Think about this. Where ever on Earth today could you find two giants in the entertainment world, who's careers were so oddly different, speaking about culture, humor, literature, and commedy at the same time!?! This was a golden era. SO glad Dick created a showcase for such tallent!
Jim Stewart Groucho was interesting & of course very funny on talk shows. However I’ve noticed in these wonderful old clips that he did enjoy the sound of his own voice a little too much. So much so he would interrupt anyone even the charismatic & equally interesting Capote to turn the topic back to himself. Greatly enjoyed the banter between them including the underrated Cavett.
I dunno, Groucho was Groucho and Capote didn't assert himself. Different personalities and one's an actor and the other isn't. But both HIGHLY intelligent, I enjoyed the show!
Groucho came from Vaudeville where you “hogged the limelight” as much as you could. Capote was a literary genius who wrote one of most compelling and strangest classics ever. He invented a whole new genre of literature. There’s no competition here. Both were masters of their professions.
One of the things I like about Capote is that when the others say something funny and Capote finds it funny he can't resist an authentic laugh. Here he is almost the only one who is really responding to the others. It was part of his magic.
I was a teenager and I watched Dick Cavett at night as much as I could. Saw Groucho many times on late night. Cavett show should have continued much longer than it did. I know who Capote was from seeing him on late night tv and read his in cold blood and saw the excellent movie with Robert Blake.
I know, Groucho was older and I think he had a difficulty with hearing. Truman was gracious but they were both in aw of each other. They had respect for each other.
I never heard of it till now. Jean Shepherd wrote A Christmss Story. Truman wrote A Christmas Memory. I looked it up on Wikipedia and yes, it does sound like a sweet story. I'm going to buy the book. Thank you.
@@JohnSmith-su3ze These men are all liberals, you schmuck. In fact, in his book The Groucho Phile, Marx says "I've been a liberal Democrat all my life", and "I frankly find Democrats a better, more sympathetic crowd.”
Groucho slowed down a little but never changed, imho. In the mid-60's he went on "What's My Line?" and created near total chaos, interrupting often, even skewing his blindfold and giving away the identity of the mystery guest. When Dorothy Kilgallen let a double entendre slip during a question he quipped, "My work here is finished." He was funny enough to offset the annoyance, but many WML fans thought he ruined the show.
THis long form discussion is so much better than the commercial driven soundbites that the talk show has become. Only on RU-vid can a host get into material like this anymore. And these geniuses! Holy smokes! They were flirting all along!
When you compare the guests on this show to today's guests it's so glaringly obvious the difference in character, the gift of gab was so much more prevalent and common.
A rare meeting of masterminds, discussing the masterminds that inspired them and still setting the standard of excellence more than a half century after the fact.
Capote never finished that book while living. In fact, it basically led to his death. He was brilliant, but like a lot of people, was his own worst enemy.
I have been enjoying Groucho and the Marx brothers since I was a kid about 60 years ago. When I see this elderly man sitting there with his cigar and funny hat, and realize this is the same Groucho who played Otis B. Driftwood, Hugo Hackenbush, Professor Quincy Adams Wagstaff etc------ I'm in awe.
I’m just going to have to walk the streets with my prices strapped to my back … he is so adorably funny. I wish I had lived in that era and met him. I love him. When I read his work now I am floored by his incredible talent. His personality was was just an extra gift beyond that the incredible writing legacy.
Yep. Too many posters here are not from the era in question or have insufficient understanding about it, and they are misunderstanding what was going on - these two clearly knew each other socially beforehand to some extent and they know exactly what they are doing, AND they get on. Besides, there would hardly have been any other people in the world at the time who could have even gone a single round with Capote on an equal footing (most people were totally intimidated by him) especially if they were pretending to be intellectual, which Groucho was not... ...pretending, that is; he WAS an intellectual comedian of genuine equal rank as an artist with Capote.
@Sudden Arrival Well, of course Marx was a hard-working stage actor/performer, initially probably just to survive -, and a screen actor which back in those days also meant a good deal of actual sweat work, rather than pure brain work. All the same, there are lawyers and modern day scientists and even politicians who might aspire to at least 'some' ability to actually be able to COMMUNICATE verbally... You make a valid point about the arrogance of comedians - that is an aspect of that group. Some much worse than others, much MUCH worse. I have seen other interviews in which Groucho did appear to tend to expose far more academic a style of knowledge and a span of literature than many people would have had even were they to have ever been to Yale!! ...I think he was likely as not, never really practically able to have had any kind of life or career as a literary intellectual, and his comedy was a bit of a smoke screen for who he really was, or perhaps wanted to be at heart. You are of course completely correct, Capote was in a league so rarefied, frankly, that today, he would be utterly dismissed completely, that's how dumbed-down the public has been made - in my view. I simply loved Capote's writing but I didn't think he could ever finish a story and there's my own arrogance on display there!! This video reminds me of a discussion that used to be up on-line but now is not as far as I can tell - between Malcolm Muggeridge and Diana Rigg... Which was simply astonishing.
@@interqward1 Groucho was, as you say, very erudite, and took a keen interest in modern literature. He once met T.S.Eliot at a dinner party in London. They were both keen admirers of each others' work, but Groucho wanted to talk about poetry and Eliot wanted to talk about comedy, and to top it all both their wives were keeping a stern eye on what the husbands were drinking, so...a bit tense all round.
I don't know what video most of you were watching. I thought Groucho and Truman each gave as much as they got. A wonderful exchange between two 20th century icons.
possible that for most of these people they never really saw Groucho perform. For all of us who've seen him since quite young, we're not gonna have a prob. I agree, this all seems very amicable and I do not understand why people have to complain about this recorded history of two men who made such an impact in the entertainment world.
The problem here is that it was Capote's segment and Groucho had an interview segment of his own just before, so he was a bit rude to tell stories about himself. I attribute this behavior to his age.
This was Grouchos style look at any of his movies, his game show "you bet your life" or when he appeared on "what's my line"...he loved to banter and intergect humor into an otherwise dull talk show format. The exchange with him and Capote at the end was hilarious...when Groucho said to Truman "would you consider this an engagement?" Cavette looked extremely nervous..Capote was calm and jovial when he said "your a little old for me"...Groucho said "I can't give you what you're entitled to" ...that's when Cavette sought desperately to go to commercial, but not before Capote quipped "the best years of your life?"....great final comeback!!
Groucho was definitely impressed by Capotes intellect. Groucho a very well read and smart man in his own right. I love when Capote says that comedy writing is the hardest form of writing there is. People writing for tv today probably think it's easy, probably because they can't do it. "Mind if I don't smoke?" Groucho
That was a beautiful olive branch he handed Goucho as well Mr. Cavett, as per "comedy writing." I love the fact that they were Sharing their multiual respect for each other. Groucho being self deprecating at one liners, but Capote would not allow that. And Bringing up marriage, Capote just rolled with the punches. Without malice. All in all Goucho kept up and Capote slowed a bit, to let him. At the end, there was only winners, unlike today's world. Wow!!! ❤ Thank you.
Capote’s “posthumous novel” line gave me chills.… “either I’m gonna kill it or it’s gonna kill me.” He literally prophesied his end over a decade before it happened.
A talk show in which guests talk about Evelyn Waugh, Henry James & Sinclair Lewis, the first American novelist to get the Nobel Prize in Literature. And it was Groucho & Truman Capote. 😮
I totally agree with you. Groucho was a genius and Truman was a gentleman so the segment worked perfectly through Groucho´s clever remarks anyway. Cool segment.
This is just about the greatest interview and show i have ever seen, such talent and amazing humour, it just doe's something to me which i cannot explain. Thank you for uploading 👍
you dont see this type of wonderful calm discussion anymore. Its always all about the host trying to spin off one liners now it seems. This has been a pleasure to watch.
It's pretty clear to me that Capote enjoyed the whole show. Remember, he was a listener who knew how to get everything he could hout of his sources, and he was willing, to a certain point, to let Grouch carry as much of the conversation as he could. Truman could really kee[a. Conversation going, we'll have to give him that. A brilliant mind.
I recall a funny incident when Truman Capote and Rich Little were on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show. Rich started talking like Capote with hilarious result.
Herein all reproach Groucho for stepping on T's lines. In fact, T, a true gentlemen, reverentially paid homage to his elders, a genius as much as T was. RIP to all three, each of whom possessed an IQ of almost 200
Capote was at his most coherent (vs. other interviews of the era). His comments on writing under the influence of alcohol or drugs were interesting. And his comment on "Answered Prayers" being his "posthumous novel" was foretelling of the mess it made out his life. And in spite of his age, Groucho was a natural as a talk show guest. He was still very sharp at this time, obviously.
For people with ANY sense of reality at all: it is sooooooooooo obvious that all three of these very very bright people were enjoying themselves immensely on this program. And Truman was a great sport about it all too. and Groucho almost ALWAYS dominated the time before any camera. he was a ham and a BIG scene stealer.
