I have enjoyed laughing at a lot of comedians in my lifetime but Groucho was without a doubt, the best. No matter what words came out of his mouth he made me laugh the hardest. God bless you, Mr. Marx.
+Adam ASMR Witty as he was at times he used to be too egocentric and even pushy. Check his interview with Ms. Jayne Mansfield during his own TV show. He was sitting and smoking cigarettes while she was standing next to him all the show. It was all too much for me. I haven't found him funny since then. Cheers !!!
If you read his literature, yes, he was a complex character. A human being perhaps and not perfect. but a true wit and a guy with true insight. er, and funny even in 2016.
I think liberty in communication has been taken for granted; sure people have the liberty to say whatever they like but somewhere down the line people started seeing restraint and consideration as bad things that infringe on their freedoms. Therefore with the popular mindset endorsing rebellion against anything restrictive the young are left with no standards to live up to and no social constraints reigning-in the vulgar, brash, lewd, and crude. All that is left are bluntness and volume because the rational limitations that inspired ingenuity are no longer there - where once there were admirably cultivated topiaries there are only rudimentary unkempt shrubs.
The people on the panel tended to be journalists and socialites and other such high flyers - and talking like that on television was practically mandatory for decades. It may seem great as a novelty now, but it didn't represent the way people really spoke that accurately and lead to a lot of censorship and elitism. I agree that in some ways we've gone too far in the other direction, but strict social propriety is a rather unhealthy thing for a society
LukesShorts Why did my mentioning of restraint, consideration and rational limitations lead to you mentioning that "strict social propriety is an unhealthy thing"? I'm certainly not in support of returning to the way things were, but the way things are isn't working, so I'm suggesting taking a good concept from the past and applying it to the present: people communicating effectively having access to a well versed vocabulary and possessing the discerning to pick the right time and place for such communication. What say you?
+Ifihad Afulcrum I'm amazed, and I couldn't agree more. Every comment I've read from you is spot-on social commentary, and I do mean 100%. Are you an author?
+dust ䷷ "but Merton's wit is quicker." That's your opinion. As for Robin Williams, he's been gone over a year, and Simone was talking about TODAY. So her statement is still valid. No need to knock Groucho just to be contrary.
That is true. I am very picky at what makes me laugh and of course Robin Williams is also on that list. I do not go for salacious humor or bathroom humor at all. Guess I am just an old lady, stuck in the past.
i see why groucho's show was cancelled after his guest with 5 kids said she loved her husband and he retorted well I love my cigar but I still take it out of my mouth once in a while! genius! and naughty.
David James it was people helped each other and was honest left our doors unlocked windows opened no air conditioning in home back then. Very great time in our history we lost all of our morals and our honesty. When kids played out side from sun up to sun down. And ran all around town playing with different kids or riding bikes. we didn't have to worry about someone taken them. When parents made the kids mind with a spanking and a good talking to about what they did wrong. Now days we have kids running the parents instead of the parents running the kids. It is getting worse each day parents let their kids get by with hitting and cussing them with out slapping their mouth or butt. A few times. If my kids cussed me they got slapped and had to lick soap too to wash out their dirty mouth. They didn't cuss anymore because they knew if they did what would happen and lava soap don't taste good either. They still remember it too they didn't like it but they respect me and others and other people's things. They don't steel either. Or be disrespectful to anyone. They respect the elders. Kids today don't respect nobody not even their self. We lost a lot in the last 55 years or more what a shame we let our government tell us how to raise our children and now we are scared to spat that butt but God says Don't spare the rod on the child because you answer to God for not making your children mind you and respect others.
Groucho had the panel in such a state as to cause John Daly to "throw in the towel" and award Miss Grable the full $50, which wasn't exactly chump change back when this was recorded on kinescope.
Let's face it...anyone who's seen more than a handful of episodes of What's My Line? can say with confidence that Daly "threw in the towel" quite frequently. ;)
Always amusing that this show never had Show and Tell with the guest showing a photograph of themselves. There are dozens of pictures of Judy Grable on the web and Judy would have been glad to show one?
Groucho was on as a panelist at leas twice. For his second appearance, Arlene Francis introduces him by saying, "Hold on to your hats, he's back, here's Groucho Marx." One he was the mystery guest and he was equally off the wall. John Daly was even cracking up, answering the paneilsts with a wisecrack. When a panelist asked Groucho, "Do you perform standing up?" Daly blurted in laughing, "Not if he can do it sitting down." and the audience howled. I love the Groucho episodes.
5:15: "Ah, Dorothy. Before we pursue this subject any further...I don't want to pursue it any further...If I can interrupt, maybe I can pursue it further..."
Groucho was one of the genuine talents of the century. And in the scripted, spin-doctored environment of the 21st century he would not be given a stage. Long live Groucho!
Laurence Herring Because innocence is a particular kind of clarity, fragile, and fleeting. Through it we process experience, ideas, emotion, in a way that can't be duplicated after it's innocence is lost. I understand innocence to be the most complete lack of fear a person can be; we are born wholly innocent, we are taught/learn to be worldly, cautious, jaded. We can't remain wholly innocent, as adults it would be impractical and dangerous, but as in all things balance... I think we should endeavor to retain as much as we can, especially for the young. Sorry if that was to lengthy LHerring, I hope I've answered your question.
dust ䷷ That's such a general statement though, things aren't necessarily "better" all around now either. Most things are better now, but a few things were better then. Repressed... under control, dignified, refined, it all depends on how one looks at it. Some people are frugal, to others they're tight-wads or cheap. Some people are kind, to others they're gullible bleeding hearts. Some people are have a serious nature, to others they're mean, boring, or sticks-in-the-mud.
wonderful clip. I recall watching this with my parents back when and Groucho was so quick witted and one of the funniest men ever born. He was the last of the great comics who need not resort to profanity in order to get an ostensibly off color quip.
I'm amazed she came so close at the end. Did they feed answers/clues to the panelists that we don't see? I would NEVER have gotten anywhere near the answer based on the show thusfar.
You know the world is kinda messed up when you find peace of mind in comedy shows from 1950 and they are infinite times better than anything you can find either on tv or anywhere else today. :/ I'm 26 and it's been about 5 years I can't stand how idiotic everyone and everything has become... We applaud stupidity.
I'm from the UK but I find these old shows very easy to listen to, and it took me a little time to work out that I was watching the American version. The UK had it's own What's My Line but the BBC was not good at keeping copies of anything back then. As for this episode I love Groucho's humour.
Groucho was one of a kind. He had the unique ability to take anything you said and turn it into a joke. Everything people said came out funny to him. But his genius was that he could instantly clue you into his mind and let you see the same humor in it that he did. That was his genius. He let you laugh along with him. No one that I have ever seen has been able to do that with the frequency that he did. If some people can't see that, then I feel sorry for them because their life must B miserable.
Groucho Marx is a total scream…… such a talented man who had timing and an awesome wit…… loved watching his antics when he was on air in the black and white days…… very funny man……
I wish I had been born early enough to watch these shows. They are all orders of magnitude superior to any of the TV garbage of the past 15 years. In this episode, Groucho was incredibly good, and that gorgeous blonde was made to order for him. They should have made Groucho a permanent panel member, replacing that "chinless wonder."
@news4usunshine... I agree with everything you said...except..the "chinless wonder". Dorothy Kilgallen (the chinless wonder) was, by far, the MOST intelligent of all the panelists who've appeared on What's My Line. Her deduction prowess was of 'Sherlock Holmes-esque' proportions. She was hot on the trail of the mystery of the Kennedy Assassination when she mysteriously died of 'drug overdose'. There is much speculation that she was murdered. Check it out...I bet there's a show on RU-vid somewhere dealing with just that. I have the utmost respect for the "chinless wonder"...perhaps you should have the same.
Man of Truth news4usunshine 's statement is rather blanketed but if you're going to sling-mud like "childish hipster" the least you can do is give News some examples of what you consider to be the modern exception to News' rule. As someone who doesn't watch broadcast television I tend to miss-out on some lesser known shows, but News' statement may be true based on his sampling. Do give us a list though, you might know of some jems I don't.
Ifihad Afulcrum I don't give essays or lists right off the bat. Anonymity does not make everyone my peer, people need to earn my audience before I give them anything but ridicule, and his comment showed clear signs of mindless bias and/or attempts at looking more "cultured" by acting like everything new is shit and everything old is not, and just generally carrying an air of "I believe this and nobody will ever change my mind!" without having any actual experience to back up his shitty viewpoint. Cognitive dissonance is an easy stench to catch wind of. You on the other hand sound potentially more sensible than he does, so examples? Here, have a measly few; Regular Show, Adventure Time, American Pickers, the Daily Show and Colbert Report, Bob's Burgers, South Park, King of the Hill, Vikings, etc. And bear in mind even I avoid branching out to other channels fairly often, so there are probably good shows I'm not even watching. There are a lot of good shows. Just because they don't consist of an archaic atmosphere of restraint and maturity does not mean quality is not there. Being different does not automatically make something bad, nor does perceived immaturity. Then again I'm not sure why I'm trying to argue on that front since the very video this person is championing features a comedian making prostitute jokes about a female wrestler. Of course if you do nothing but turn on MTV or Fox for ten minutes and judge all television based on what you see you're going to decide that TV is shit now, but that's no different than people thinking that all modern music sucks because they listen to one whole radio station that plays shitty music aimed at and popular with the lowest common denominator. "Hurr, what's this Miley Cyrus and Lil Wayne shit!? Music stopped being good after the Beatles!" - Are words that I've seen far too often, barely even phrased differently, while I laugh and listen to some of the best music humankind has ever made. Same goes for TV, animation and games. You should do your research and gain some experience in a medium before judging it. See all that it has to offer before deciding that it offers nothing good and sitting around on RU-vid waiting for people to tell you otherwise.
Groucho could be entertaining, but sometime he never knew when to shut up. Harpo, his brother, wrote the best book of any of the Marx brothers, called “Harpo Speaks”. It’s brilliant and human and not selfish.
69? Groucho looked DAMN good for that age. The low-res television cams of the day helped; but he looks maybe 50 here. I grew up watching these shows. It may seem corny and even boring now, but this was prime-time entertainment back in the day --- it didn't get any better. TV had only been on the market for a few years, was black and white, transmitted and received via air, and viewable only in and near larger cities which were the only broadcast locations. The cities would have only one to three VHF stations (UHF wasn't out yet) and all stations signed off at 10pm each night. Most people did not own televisions because of price or their deadspot locations, and if you owned a TV your living room had neighbors over each evening. National news consisted of one 15-minute roundup each evening at 5 or 6pm, and local news stations were virtually non-existent.
Yes, true that, thanks for reminding us,I remember our TV set, black n white those were different times, at night the broadcast would end with the playing of the Star-spangles banner,
