That’s so cool to think about! I love this show and just the kindness and respect they show for each other....you can see they all admire each other. Makes me happy and I’m sure they’d think it’s incredible that we’re watching them here on RU-vid!
Of course they knew, after all they were the elite and members of the Illuminati they had access to flat screen, iPhones and time travel plus interdimensional travel back then.
All the celebrities, if they have big egos, certainly hide them here and are so agreeable, pleasant and amusing - very different to those of today who take themselves far too seriously.
I don't understand it. But I've been obsessed with this for the last week. Just watching it non-stop. Really messed me up when I learned about Dorothy's sad end.
I've been watching the whole string of episodes for well over a month now -- primarily because WML was a staple of my childhood; and while I can distinctly remember WML episodes from the early 60s, I'd never seen the first six years of shows because I wasn't born yet. That makes this a particular treat.
Agreed, if I had the chance to Meet Ginger Rodgers I would thrilled, Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire...all favorites of mine. This coming from the Arthur Murray kid...
From what I have read, there was a party after the show including everyone. Some challengers mention sitting and chatting with the MG before going on. Remember that the money prize was worth a 10X equivalent now.💙
This show was on the air Nov 21, 1954 and I write this on Nov 21, 2014. I watch these shows in chronological order so it was a happy coincidence that the dates matched so luckily! 60 years... :)
Apart from recording the moeurs of a more gracious age, these shows yield invaluable biographical and historical glimpses. The quality of the guest roster is extraordinary- a pantheon of modern talent when the country was on top of the world. Sure, it is only an after-dinner parlour game, but the folks involved are interesting- whether celebrities or ordinary Joes. The humor is unforced and sometimes hilarious, the possibility of surprise constant and the retention of regular personalities gives the show a feel of easy familiarity. Like our closer relations, best friends and neighbors, the panelists are soothing company but with the occasional flash of steel in Dorothy's interrogations or bitchiness (especially from Cerf) to add a dash of Angostura to the sweet cocktail. If only by comparison with the crass cacophony of today's TV, these episodes have matured wonderfully and are more engrossing than when first screened. Not all television is here today, gone tomorrow.
Miss Ginger Rogers appears in this episode looking pretty good for a woman of 43 but check out her appearance later in the What's My Line show 1962 at age 51, what a stunning woman she looks so much better and sexier.....
@Randy Sills. 🌿I really liked when Bennett said that, too, Randy! They must have a lot of fun...all of them. Hope you're staying safe wherever you are with this crazy weather and the damage Hurricane Ian has wrought. Best Wishes from Michigan.
I inherited my grandmother's cookbook Depression era Virginia recipes. She wrote in her own recipes for a variety of plasters and poultices. Another valuable time capsule.
Edward R. Morse, thought to be too young by Arlene to be a casting director, was 38 years old when he appeared on WML. He may have been given that position shortly before he appeared because there aren't many credits given to him for casting work prior to 1955. He was Casting Director for 52 episodes of Little House on the Prairie, 8 episodes of Kung Fu and 8 episodes of The Brady Bunch. He was also Casting Director on a number of Jerry Lewis movies: The Patsy, The Nutty Professor, Cinderfella, and The Geisha Boy are the ones I recognize. He was also Casting Director for the 1959 movie version of Li'l Abner with Peter Palmer in the title role, Stubby Kaye as Marryin' Sam and a number of sexy female denizens of Dogpatch (Leslie Parrish, Julie Newmar, Stella Stevens and Carmen Alvarez most prominent - tough casting work but someone had to do it). Speaking of rough work, he also was Casting Director for at least two Elvis movies I recognize: Loving You and Girls! Girls! Girls! And he would be the Casting Director for an Alfred Hitchcock motion picture in 1956, The Man Who Knew Too Much. Both Hitchcock and the female lead in the movie, Doris Day, had been the Mystery Guest on WML within the previous 5 months.
I wonder if he was the one who rejected Bruce Lee for David Carradine in Kung Fu; a brilliant decision if so. I doubt the show would have been so cerebral if Lee had played Kwai Chaing Caine.
A LOT was unfolding at the time -- not the least of which were the McCarthy hearings. That's what makes these shows so valuable is that it's a time capsule of what to us is history, but to them was their present.
I wonder if they timed Gov. Williams' appearance for a week when Remington was the sponsor. His maternal grandfather was the founder of the Mennen company, makers of men's personal care products, including Mennen Speed Stick and various variants of that product, making it the market leader in deodorants and antiperspirants for men for many years. Therefore, it was a direct competitor with Stopette. His nickname, "Soapy", came from his connection to the Mennen company.
Thanks for making the Mennen connection; I hadn't noticed the name on previous viewings. When I was young, Mom used Stopette and Dad used Speed Stick and Mennen shaving cream. Speed Stick still works for me.
@Lois Simmons. 🌲🌲🐿️🌲🌲 This episode turned into more than just a stopping by to hear how Ginger disguised her voice. There was something different and fun to watch at every turn, wasn't there?❣️ And then the biggest treat of all came when I (having been born in the late 40's with no access to a TV until 1955) realized who Gerhard M. Williams was!! He completely fooled me with the glasses and the straight tie!! So much fun to enjoy his interaction with John and the lively panel...and then to learn all you had to share with us about "Soapy.". As a small child, I remember hearing my folks talk about him, always with smiles on their faces and in their voices. Thanks for sharing all the interesting info, Lois❣️ Best Wishes from Michigan's thumb. 🌲🌲🌲
As Bennett's new book is plugged in the introduction, I have to smile ... because a hardback early edition of it is on the table within arm's reach as I write this. I was reading in it just last night. Not a first edition, and no dust jacket, so bought inexpensively at a library sale. It's an anthology of humorous stories, light essays, and verse by other authors, so while there are a few puns here and there, it's not packed with them to the extent that Bennett's other joke collections are.
Neil Midkiff It always amuses me that Bennett, presumably such a great author and a celebrated expert on humour, struggles to deliver a gag with any comedic skill at all. Toecurlingly bad in fact. :)
@@davidsanderson5918 Yes, by analogy with another field, he's a musicologist rather than a performer. He is good at understanding, editing, and collecting humor, but in live performance, he gets the tempo and rhythm wrong.
Mustard plaster was replaced with Vicks vapor rub. My husband had me wear the rub so he was better but I was sticky the next morning. 🙃 but I sure slept 😴
I was 2 months old when this was aired. Entertainment world? Motion picture? Broadway play? Television? Musical? Guessed again too soon. The panelists knew Soapy right away.
That IS an odd camera angle for John's intro of the contestant! As a rule, they only used that particular camera angle, and only briefly, when following a contestant to the chair next to John as they sat down. Since John turned immediately to deliver the intro directly to the camera, he must have expected it, which means they must have been experimenting with something new! Nice catch. :)
Since the first challenger was left-handed, they used a different camera angle and therefore probably a different camera than usual as he began to sign his name. Then the switched to the usual angle - quite possibly the one John turned to. Normally the one John turned to in that direction wouldn't be available so soon before the challenger started signing.
Dang, they went to commercial before I could tell if Dorothy was going to stand up for Mr. Williams. (Who is clearly a political celebrity time has forgotten. Though on reading up on his actual accomplishments, as opposed to his ties, he's fairly impressive as a figure.) Ginger was a hoot.
When this was recorded Ginger was between 'Forever Female'- a comedy ominously about an actress who fights aging- and 'Tight Spot', in which she is a deglamorized gangster's moll turned state's evidence. They were her last two good movies, though she had theatrical high spots years later in 'Hello Dolly' and 'Mame'. She refused film parts because Hollywood had become too 'vulgar'.
She was ridiculous in her pious morality, just like Loretta Young. Rogers didn't want to do Kitty Foyle for moral reasons, yet it was the only film to give her an Oscar nomination/win.
@@Scorchy666 That was her formidable mother talking through her. Ginger never got out from under Lela's influence. Neither did five husbands. But Lela was a motion picture veteran (and a Marine!) whose professional advice was sound. On balance she was good for her daughter's career- unlike the showbiz mom of Hollywood's other leading triple threat, Judy Garland.
@Al Fabeech Ginger Rogers and Phyllis Cerf were reared in many ways quite like sisters. Phyllis was the younger of the two and met Bennett when in the company of Ginger. Ginger often stayed at the Cerf home when in NYC because they were, indeed, that close. The good thing about them guessing her quickly is that they had a moment or two to kid and chat with her where John Daly wasn't dominating the conversation about himself. It was focused on Ginger's work.
@@esmeephillips5888 Sadly, Daly did have a fourth contestant waiting in the wings if the MG ran really short. He never rushed Ginger probably because she was related to Bennett. But Daly talked so much about himself and his friends during MG segments that they did not have enough good interviews to run for the MG portion of the 25th anniversary show of WML because when they viewed them all, they discovered Daly either rushed them out the door or talked on and on about himself and his past and his friends who had books on their field. It was in one of the biographies written by Gil Fates or one of them that they thought they had a treasure trove of good conversation and did not. So, we are lucky to have what we find here. If you pay close attention, it is fairly frequently that Arlene or Dorothy or sometimes Martin or Tony Randall have to jump in and give the MG plaudits on a great piece of work or even mention their new book, etc., that was the reason for the visit. Daly was so busy preening, he missed the point of the MG visit, which was why their agents sent them. Daly was good at most of his moderating.
@@philippapay4352 I guess Daly was something of a big mouth, but he never irritated me. His occasional scuffles with Cerf were to be enjoyed. There was a campy vibe, particularly when Robert Q was present, which may have helped preserve the quality for later generations. Think how dull WML would have been with the likes of Mike Douglas as emcee.
@Songs Mirth Old-timers used a hard 'g'. (Not a k, Bennett.) The 'j' way crept in round about WW2 when the area's population exploded. Many newcomers had no Spanish background, so the pronunciation morphed. I do not know of any other major city where that has happened since.
@@esmeephillips5888 Yes, but that wasn't the only thing he pronounced oddly. Watching these videos, I've heard him pronounce quite a few words strangely.
She probably quit sun tanning as much. Hollywood stars obsessed over getting tan, even up through the 1980's. Besides the risk of skin cancer, it severely ages your skin. Fair skinned people like she was suffered the most damage.
...Did you actually *get* mustard plasters in the drug store? (Do you still?) Hm. Not still, no, but you can get them at WalMart. Why you would when you can just make one, I don't know, but anyway. Mr. Vana appears to have been a soda jerk in 1910, a "laborer" in 1920 (and married to someone named Anna), and a foreman in 1940. (Mustard plasters were probably a sideline?) Anyway, he was 60 here, and died in 1970. (His son of the same name died in 2012, so I was having a brief moment of thinking our Mr. Vana was 35 when he went on WML, which, no.)
How many here think that Ginger should have fired her dress designer? The creation she's wearing here makes her look either fat or pregnant, and as far as I know she was never either. Otherwise great to see her seemingly happy and being very funny.
It isn't a dress. it's an evening coat, designed to go over a full-skirted gown. If you watch closely, there's a near wardrobe malfunction as she stands and she clutches the coat closely, so something may have happened to a strap or such.
Ginger began to put on pounds in the late Forties. Compare her waist in 'Swing Time' in 1936 and her reunion with Fred in 'The Barkleys of Broadway'. Her favorite couturier, Bernard Newman, no longer designed as often for her as when studios picked up the tab. Ginger had decided preferences and did not always flatter herself as she aged. In her last years she often looked too much like Mae West for comfort.
Has anyone noticed that more often than not it is Arlene Francis who guesses the mystery guest in quick time. Is it possible in our now digital age to check for holes in her mask.
Since this was a weekly program for a number of years, these folks especially Arlene Francis & Dorothy Kilgallen, this is I'm guessing what they did for a living...How fun that must have been? Wonder how much they were paid weekly?
Iris Acheson Lots more than just this. Dorothy wrote a syndicated newspaper column, The Voice of Broadway, and did other reporting such as the Sam Shepard murder trial she was covering at this time. Arlene was a stage, radio, and movie actress, and hosted various radio and TV talk shows and game shows. Both were married with children as well. I'm sure they had household help and maybe secretaries too, but still they must have kept up a terrific pace to do all they did.
@@neilmidkiff Dorothy was a damn good reporter, who had dropped out of college to follow her dad into newspapering. Her column ranged much wider than showbiz gossip, covering crime and politics. Her TV fame came later. One reason why WML still works is that the panelists were talented and versatile before they became among the first wave of famous faces on screen. Their questions indicate that. Television did not yet rely on vapid folks who were famous for being famous.
They had other endeavors as well. They were paid $750 per show= $7500+ now. That was a LOT of money. ( Bennett Cerf was paid TWICE that! ) That explains Arlene's drastic transformation fro drab to sparkling. She must have had quite a glam team Later she was on the Board of Directors of Bonwit Teller and probably benefited hugely in terms of fashion and jewelry. Dorothy became a lifetime member of the Best Dressed List. Arlene was fortunate to have Martin Gabel as her supportive husband; whereas,Dorothy had a jealous, alcoholic, and vindictive husband who is suspected of killing her.
@Jim Stark I hope you don't go through life getting this offended at things people say. Especially something as trivial as comments someone made about a game show from 70 years ago. You'd be a very difficult person to be around. Was Dorothy your grandmother or something?
it used to be pronouned "los angeles" with a hard G because that is the spanish pronunciation. "known" is just a different accent, not a mispronunciation.
This have to stop! Enough of these transgender famous Hollywood actors and singers for so long even till this day have no idea they were and are not the same gender they were born in!!! Some of the guest on What's My Line as been more mysterious than anyone knew!!!
