What's My Line? - Arlene Francis's first show! - Elliott Roosevelt (Feb 16, 1950) 

It was a stroke of stupidity!!!!! I detest her!!!!!

What do these men even add? I didn't even notice they existed. Daly is a classy character but the rest come off as pompous blowhards.

And Bennet.

Why did she marry a dork like Gabel?

have you seen the video of her playing the trombone! lol FUNNIEST VIDEO! 😂

I agree; glad they got away from governors and neuropsychologists as time passed!

Can’t believe he was smoking....different time and place.

Always.

I never knew that Arlene was a smoker. I guess most of the people in those days smoked on TV.

@@belindaf4584 Was surprised by that, also. She seemed too elegant to smoke. If the director/producer had never modified WML, we would have been deprived of years of entertainment. I only watch these first episodes because they make me appreciate so much what WML became.

Plus, she so brilliantly gets her very first Mystery Guest. What a great addition to WML...I'm sure the producers and cast felt the same. She truly brought a lot to that show, and contributed to its growth and longevity. Btw, ex-Governor Hoffman of NJ wasn't so bad, himself.

It most definitely was her first; this is the second ever episode, and she wasn’t on the first.

@@RobJazzful m

By the time Arlene appeared on What's My Line, she had over a decade of radio/game show host experience. A seasoned pro & a master interlocutor.

All cadavers. Dead and burried.

Well they struck gold with Groucho and Jerry Lewis if you ask me, and they weren't selected as permanent panelists.

BurnRoddy Jerry Lewis? Too egotistical!

The men on the panel were probably all born in the late 19th century or early turn of the century. Interesting backgrounds.

I've seen other episodes with Untermeyer and think he would've been fine (in the Cerf vein) if he had stuck around, and that he was capable of developing comradery with other panelists. Unfortunately, HUAC and private orgs branded him a Communist, the Catholics organized protests at CBS, and they had to let Untermeyer go.

@@BurnRoddy Groucho had become a limelight hog. He knew he was finished in movies and was afraid nobody could strike sparks off him like his kin and La Belle Dumont. As a guest he hijacked shows and irritated his colleagues. He was okay in charge of non-celebs on 'You Bet Your Life', but nothing else he did after 'A Night in Casablanca' added to his luster. At least his closest female comparator, Mae West, had a brief belated comeback in 'Myra Breckenridge'.

Arlene Francis was born Arlene Francis Kazanjian and was the niece of Dr. Varaztad Hovannes Kazanjian, whose "pioneering contributions to plastic surgery transformed the new discipline into an esteemed surgical specialty." www.countway.harvard.edu/chm/rarebooks/exhibits/plastic_surgery/page_2.html Your witness, Mr. Mason.

Who cares? Classy woman miles above those of today.

She was beatiful bombshell yet married to a fat short ugly man in Martin Gabel. That sort of thing never ever happens. If a guy like that gets a gal like her is because he made the world for her and made her simle/laugh every day. She must've been a very very happy lady. Here's a life fact for ya: A woman ages terribly when she loses her smile.

I take exception to your view of Martin Gabel, he may have been short, but he was neither fat nor ugly. It is also obvious that they adored each other.

@@romeman01 Very interesting info! And especially in Arlene's profession, a sensible thing to do. :))

And she was already wearing her signature heart-shaped diamond pendant, a gift from her husband, Martin Gabel. I was dismayed to read that the pendant was stolen from her as she was exiting a taxi in 1988. Just as important, she had a keen mind to match her charms.

Who killed ms. Kilgalhan?

Plastic surgery works wonders.

@@edwardjtruskyjr1921 herself, accidentally

@@edwardjtruskyjr1921and Preppy: If you're really interested, check out with an open mind the Actual Facts in the books by Lee Israel and Mark Shaw.

+ron a. Mr. Untermeyer got blacklisted by the Communist Witchhunt of the '50s so he got forced by protesters to get kicked out of the show...

I can only speculate that Governor Hoffman and Dr. Hoffman were simply obnoxious, rude and sexist, and the producers must have felt they could do better . . . . Dorothy Kilgallen was the only one of the original four who was any good -- adding Arlene was a huge improvement, and so was adding Bennett Cerf.

Absolutely agree. Arlene was the beating heart of WML all through: smart, warm, funny, sometimes a shade risque, never hitting a wrong note. Add John's prosy affability and Dorothy's formidable forensics and you had a formula that clicked pretty soon... and went on clicking for 15 years in prime time. No surprise that Miss Francis became the highest paid panelist on TV.

@@ToddSF Yeah, I didn't like Louis Untermeyer trying to take over Arlene's turn!

I have to agree. That is the slowest-moving episode of WML? I have ever seen. Fortunately, they were given time to mature, and it became the marvelous panel show we now know and love. But Arlene smoking? Good God! I'm going out to buy a pack of cigarettes right now! Oops. Too late. I've been smoking a pipe for over 40 years. Blame Bing Crosby.

I thought the same thing...

Quite sexist by 2021 standards, of course.

@@sharonrollings105. And quite racist. Notice the introduction... with negative, racist stereotypes following the White doctor. You have the lazy, sleeping Mexican, the Indian Chief impression of the Native American, and the all-White panel, all-White guests, and all-White audience. Back in the 1950s, America was not all-White. But if you watched TV, or listened to radio, or looked at any advertisement you'd think America was all-White. Really scary.

@@fredchester921 Scary? How do you even function?

You should read the whole story about him.

Astute from the start, cute but never a tart! ☺

The combination of Arlene and Dorothy was the best.

Yes those other panellists in the earliest show were a bit wooden weren't they?lol🤣🎩

I agree with you, 100% and thank goodness the dissed that walk down to meet the panelists snd the free guess . And the "fat a closer look" at challenger. All changes for a better program.

Absolutely right!

💯 Agreed!

shakakaun1 they must have been known back then. I imagine.

I have no doubt you are correct. My comment was based that IMO they did not bring any personality or chemistry to the show. I found them boring.

I remember as a very little girl seeing the blindfolds and thinking they were so cool that I wanted to have the one with the eyes like she had... with eyelashes ☺️☺️☺️

Quite true! No one was quite sure how to proceed. Francis was seminal in opening things up; I suspect it was her more relaxed approach. The show became at once more formal and more natural in just a few years.

These early shows certainly lacked structure and direction, but then, all of television was new, not just the WML show. It looks like the camera men, directors, sound and title guys were still trying to refine their craft. I thought Louis Untermeyer had potential, but the other two men certainly lacked charm.

If you look closely at the 24:15 mark, Arlene is smoking a cigarette, too.

They stayed on low budget $50. Maybe was significant sum in 1950 but not in 1960.

He was married to Faye Emerson, who later was a regular panelist on WML's low brow sister show "I've Got A Secret". According to stories of the time, while she was Roosevelt's wife, she attempted suicide. I guess that was one of the scandals.

You must be a wonderful person and friend, to be so insightful and thoughtful of those who suffer from depression.

Blacklisted. The Trumpanzees of 1950.

Stephanie McCoy - Why was Mr. Untermeyer blacklisted?

@@shirleyrombough8173 He was accused, probably unfairly, of being a Communist sympathizer. The sponsor of the show stuck with him for a while, but eventually there were so many demonstrators demanding his removal that the sponsor caved and fired him. Bennett Cerf talks about this in a 1968 interview: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kxA4UQ3gcbw.html

Arlene had $1000 per episode / maybe later?/ and the rest $500 per episode.

Did her husband replace it?

He did not replace it, he had been deceased two years. She was mugged in 1988 getting out of a taxi....

@@jrobertmoore9406 Terrible and El Tacko

My mother had a similar heart shaped necklace that she wore on special occasions. Everytime I see Arlene I think of my dearly departed mother. We buried her with that necklace. RIP mom.

@@scotnick59 Much better that her jeweled heart was taken and that her real life heart was not damaged. You can always buy another heart pendant.

That was a gift from her husband, Martin Gabel. It was stolen by a mugger in New York City in 1988. That must have been devastating for her, as Martin died in 1986.

The show was definitely still finding its feet here lol🤣🎩

Three people to my right, there is someone else named Hoffman. How dumb and confusing was that? It isn't as if they were major celebrities. And they weren't very good. If the psychiatrist was supposed to make the panel more formidable by getting inside of the heads of the guests to figure out their professions, he was a big flop at it, at least in this episode.

John M I'm not worried about you being a stalker. There are a few regulars on the WML channel that I have exchanged a number of posts with. And the majority of them are men. (Of course, one is in Israel, one would appear to be in SF, and I think another one might be in the SF Bay Area as well. and the channel owner is in AZ.) Anyway, I am well aware of the rudimentary technical aspects of the early broadcasts. And with the show in b&w, I am not basing on how flattering an imagined color might be. When I made my rare comment on Arlene's unflattering dress, I based it solely on style, whether it flattered her figure (as much as one can see), and even did it fit the mood that WML was trying to set in the way John Daly and the other panelists were attired. One of my talents is that I have a pretty good eye for women's clothing: what works and what doesn't. I've picked out outfits for female friends on numerous occasions and they come back telling me about the compliments they receive. All I can say is if I had discovered a time portal and found myself doing a quantum leap into Arlene's dressing room that evening, I would have told her, don't wear it ... either donate it or burn it! Of course, that might have changed history as we know it. Edith Keeler would have lived and the Enterprise would vanish ... oh wait, that's a different show.

John M You wrote, "I think I love you." Oh, John! This is so sudden! I hardly know you. Why I declare, I believe I am positively getting the vapors. Then again, as far as I know, there is no one in the Partridge Family named John. :-)

i know lol he just sat there like a stoop!

@@loissimmons6558 I always enjoy your remarks!

+Galileocan g You are right. He was. When he was dying he wrote a confession that he had embezzled $300,000 from the state.

Galileocan g He made that attempted joke on the previous episode.

If we were blind we wouldn’t be watching, but thanks on behalf of the sight impaired, who are listening; this is something the world needs to know.

The heart was a gift from her husband. Later on life it was stolen when she was mugged. It was never recoverrd.

Three stuffed shirts. Fortunately for them they turned to comedians.

You're in for quite a long-- and happy-- journey, then. :)

What's My Line? I know, right? Great stuff.. it's kinda like a historical journey through times... As a European I never saw this show so for me it's very educational as well as entertaining ;)

How are you doing thus far? I am also making that endeavour, but am already quite familiar with the series. It was a little trying for me, this time, it gets so much better after 1954.

Matthew Laurence I am really enjoying it, although I must admit that unlike many, I miss cringing my toes over Hal's embarrasing lines .. ;)

Lars Rye Jeppesen You are made off stronger stuff than many of us, I liked him most of the time, but sometimes....pushed the envelope a tad farther than it needed to go. He would have been better suited to 'MatchGame' in the 1970s, or even 'What's My Line' after it was syndicated in 1968. Shame they didn't bring him back for a second chance, every so often, but I gather he turned off comedy once being fired, going into business.

Nick Mad, you didn't add gray color. For gray is more than the black or white.

Faith Adams, about 27:20.

stlmopoet I agree. I like Untermeyer on the panel. Even Arlene wasn't the Arlene we came to know as the show progressed. If he'd been able to stick around, I think Untermeyer would have become a fine panelist. Unfortunately, most of the shows with him on the panel are lost.

What's My Line? I like Untermeyer too. he has a quiet, warm sense of humour, that shines through all the 'chit-chat' around him...

SuperWinterborn So there are some of us-- I haven't even see as many positive comments about Untermeyer as I have about Hal Block!

What's My Line? You know what? I like Hal Block too, and to my knowledge, I do mean he was underrated as a comedy writer, and I didn't like the way B. Hope treated him either. I don't mind his "bloopers" on the panel, he was just a big boy, and personally I couldn't care less about his remarks there. :)

SuperWinterborn I defend Hal Block sometimes, too, to be clear. He was a very funny guy, and he could play the game well. But I do think he was all wrong for the show.

Pah, right! Rapid changes... We were literally best off in the 1930's, the 1950's was the contentment period, the 1960's was when we became the vacation country with a slightly more riled amount of vigor.

Marie Katherine Sorry-- what was fast? In any event, I'm delighted to read that your parents enjoyed the video. Assuming I'm interpreting you correctly, that is.

What's My Line? She started a new thread, but I think she was referring to your quick response to her question about Mr. Jim Walsh, who sold garbage cans for Wheeling Steel.Marie Katherine Is Mr. Walsh your father? We WML fans are always interested in hearing from people who may have been or have known contestants on the show. If you have the time to respond, I'm sure we'd all love to hear more about his experiences as a contestant and perhaps a little something about what he's been doing since then.

SaveThe TPC Nice catch, TPC!!

I had never heard this story that makes me so sad 😞

@@michaelhasenstein7838 Her son lives in Calif. Still does. I miss her and all the ones on What My Line it was a show you could watch with the family and not worry that you had to send the kids out of the room or turn it off for cussing and sex. Was not in the show all though at times there was some real close calls on it. But never went so far as to say it.

Arlene Francis died at the age of 93 on May 31, 2001 in San Fransisco, from Alzheimer's and cancer.

With creepy men no less *wink*

When sentences weren't laced with the "f" word as their only adjective!

@Helen Weinstock. I agree.

What is it about some people that they can't just appreciate a thing without having to knock the current generation of it? TV shows, music, movies - time and again, if it's an older example, there will be some jerk who can't just praise it but has to put down newer incarnations in the process. There is much about these early episodes that is delightful and genteel. There is also much about these early episodes that is narrow-minded, classist, sexist or unhealthy. I'm a big, big fan of this show, but I don't feel the need to put down all modern programming by extension. ETA: For what it's worth, incidentally, I'm not taking offense as a member of either of the groups you just slammed. I'm at the older edge of Generation X, nearly a Boomer, simply sick and tired of people knocking whatever the youngest generations are in any given moment.

@@tejaswoman : It wasn't my intention to slam an entire generation. However having said that, this generation of young people, especially teens, don't know what it's like to exist without smartphones, etc. It is vital that they learn from history. Too many of them are becoming narcissistic and only focused on themselves. They need to realize that there's more to interacting with people than just what they're fed on a daily basis. For example, social media and its influencers. There was a time when society functioned very differently, and they need to know that.

I should clarify, though, that I always enjoy revisiting these early episodes, regardless of their absurdity at times!

Nor did ex-Gov. Hoffman's wolf-whistle at the last contestant. Did they ask Miss Archer to turn around and face the audience so he could get a good look at her behind?

Yes, it was a surprise but back then smoking was prevalent. So glad that has changed!!!

@@debrareisdorf309 Smoked for ten years. Started at 15 back in late 50s. What a nasty habit. Don't understand why anyone today would take up the habit with all the warnings.

Indeed! "Do you mind standing on one heel for a moment?" Uh, yeah, I do, Mr. Creepo Psychiatrist.

Elsie M. You're the latest victim of an inexplicable bug in the YT/B+ comments system, in that there is no way to reply to the comment you left elsewhere on this video, so this is really more of a reply to that comment than this one. I personally relish the awkwardness of early TV (and for that matter, early radio and early silents and early talkies!) Dr. Hofman was the dead weight here, I thought. I still say Untermeyer could have been a fine panelist if he'd not been fired due to the blacklist. We don't have too many examples of shows with him to go by, but I find him funny and personable. Arlene did great immediately, though. She brought such a sparkle to even this painful "growing up" phase of the show. She also zeroed in on the first guest's line in her first round of questioning ever. :)

What's My Line? It's interesting to see how the show grew and matured, Gary. But you're not saying you would have continued to watch if all of this preamble to the game continued, are you?

Joe Postove Oh no, I'm not trying to argue that the show should have remained awkward and uncomfortable. It wouldn't have been WML if it hadn't far outgrown its initial awkwardness. I was just saying that I genuinely enjoy the awkwardness of early material, in any media. It illuminates how entertainment grew to be put together more professionally later, and it's also partially just a kick, in the sense of "Well, you'd never see *that* a year later."

What's My Line? I agree with you 100%. But watching them all, is kind of like watching a bunch of old soap operas. Everything about a soap opera from say, 1959 is exciting. The fact that it's live, the staging, organ music, the harsh lighting. But a few is enough. Now it depends on the show. When I discover my cache' of Jack Paar Tonight shows, I shall be so transfixed that I will never go hungry again (or words against that effect). In exiting, I am enjoying the old WML's and I hope you enjoy my criticism. IWWBWS (I wonder what Bennett would say)?

I listened to the last part three times, and still don't know what her occupation was.

@@slaytonp She taught dancing.

Sure there's a studio audience-- who do you think's laughing and applauding? :) WML had a live studio audience for its entire run, since the first episode.

. . . and I agree about Arlene!

I've only ever seen that it was the mystery guests who were paid. Do you have a good source that says all guests were paid?

I was just thinking that the amount of money that the contestants was paid never changed over the span of seventeen and a half years so there must have been more to it. The contestants were paid for their travel and probably accommodations while there. My guess is that the mystery guest entertainers "payment" was promotion for whatever they were working on at the time.

I think the mystery guests were expected to donate their money to charity.

@@sophiemorrison9820 Many times the Mystery Guests were on the show to plug their latest TV Show/Movie/Concert Tour/Book or whatever. Not all the time, but many times.

soulierinvestments Perhaps a case of overstating his influence on the show? Odd, because obviously, his influence was considerable; there was no need for him knock the debut so harshly to show how drastically he changed everything around! And let's face it: the changes that were required to really turn WML into the show we think of today took literally *years* to be instituted. It's not as if the first 2 shows are so wildly different from the early, awkward shows that followed (based on the few surviving shows of the era to compare against, anyway. . . )

What's My Line? soulierinvestments My understanding is that after the first two shows, they were given an ultimatum RE the third show. It had to be good and it had to attract a sponsor, or the show would be canned. Someone on another post here comments about how Daley's desk was moved in the third episode, which was part of trying to smooth out all the kinks. You both probably know all about this, but perhaps others watching this episode won't.

stlmopoet If I'm not mistaken, Frank Heller, the director for the next 17 years, was also brought on for the third show. It was much improved, no doubt about that, but certainly not the night-and-day difference Fates described. E.g., it took 3 more years before the show had a well balanced panel (when Block was fired and Steve Allen brought on). The two most significant improvements to the format took until the mid 50s to be instituted: getting rid of the free guesses and eliminating the walk of shame. It was a gradual-- very gradual-- process of tweaking, certainly not an overnight transformation. Rough as these first two shows are, I can still easily see the seeds of the greatness to come.

What's My Line? The third episode is much better than the previous two, IMO, but as you say, nothing like what it would become.

Goodson must have had sadistic streak to keep that walk of shame for so long.

He should.

soulierinvestments I think it's the kinescope. You can see that often when a new camera shot is taken, it starts off very dark and underexposed and then "self-adjusts" within a few moments. That's not studio lighting, that's a result of the rough early kinescope process.

soulierinvestments I noticed a problem with the sound, too. John's and the contestant's microphone were all the way over to their left, as most talking would be done facing the panel, but while John was facing the standing contestant, he was off mike.

soulierinvestments In Arlene's book, she says: "I missed the first show and my place was taken by ex-Governor Hoffman of New Jersey. I don't honestly remember why I missed it, but I think I had committed myself to something else, some other program that night, and I suppose I made no great effort to get out of it because, as I have indicated, I didn't think anything earthshaking was going to result from this modest little show which we'd tried out in Mark Goodson's apartment." (from page 92 of "Arlene Francis: A Memoir" by Arlene Francis with Florence Rome) The fuzziness of her memory on this neither confirms nor dispels your theory, I guess, and you could be right, though certainly the panel with both Dorothy and Arlene on it would prove to be the winning combination!

As the third episode proved more or less conclusively.

+SaveThe TPC t

***** ?

He ignored it because Arlene did not ask a direct question, "Are you a lady wrestler?" Arlene frequently does this throughout her entire tenure on WML. She waltzes right up to the answer and then hands it off to another panelist after she did the detective work; and the other panelist correctly guesses it, based upon Arlene's paving the way. It's as if she can't bear to get the correct answer! I find this irritating about her, not charming. She isn't "ladylike" if she shows a competitive spirit. I prefer Dorothy's no nonsense approach. She wants to win and makes no bones about it.

PhilBagels lol... love how the announcer had to lead him...

I'll say. I had no idea it was so difficult to come up with a "yes or no" question. And when they did, some of them were so vague, for example, "Does your job involve other people?" They certainly had to work the kinks out and select some better panelists based on what I saw on this episode.

Arlene seemed to start as though she'd been on the panel for 17 years already. Left the chauvinists in the dust. Brava!

Yessssss 👍