In 1917 Herbert Marshall lost his left leg in WW1 after getting shot in the left knee by a sniper in France. He learned how to walk on the prosthetic leg well enough to return to the theater and throughout his career he mostly managed to hide the fact that he had a prosthetic limb, that would be pretty much impossible to pull off for a movie star today. He was active in helping amputee troops during WWII though
Herbert Marshall's response to Dorothy asking if he was a character actor, "The day has come," was charming. By the mid-50s his leading man status has long waned.
He was fated to appear in 'The Fly' with Vincent Price, where you can see the two old pros manfully struggling not to crack up at the absurdity of the story. Marshall was in the top rank of character stars: one of those guys who seems incapable of a lousy performance no matter how lousy the material.
@@esmeephillips5888 I recently watched "The Fly" again, for the first time since 1958. I was prepared for a completely hokey science fiction horror potboiler of a movie. Boy, was I wrong! While the special effects are primitive and ridiculous, the actors, script, and pacing make for a first rate thriller. And, the story is not dated. What happens to David Hedison and Patricia Owens is truly chilling and disturbing. Vincent Price and Herbert Marshall are excellent and give no hint of winking at the material.
@@lemorab1 I see 'The Fly' as one of a cluster of Cold War horrors which reflected an uneasy suspicion that the USA's somewhat contingent postwar supremacy- top dog of the planet, with secure employment and increasing affluence for the citizenry- might be abruptly upset by the arrival of UFOs or Russian missiles from a sputnik. 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' and 'The Incredible Shrinking Man' are other examples. 'Forbidden Planet' asks if American Man is really the last word, and the fate of the Krel warns him not to be too enamored of technological progress. It needs brains to put philosophical ideas over in popular entertainment. Actors such as Marshall and Price, writers such as Serling and Matheson, possessed them. Sci-fi had been a neglected genre in films for adults for 20 years when 'Destination Moon' appeared. It was the Bomb that got Hollywood watching the heavens again.
At my age, I have been familiar with a number of the Mystery Guests only by name and reputation. But at least I knew about them. Herbert Marshall was a name totally unfamiliar to me until I watched this episode.
Do get to know him! See the movie they are all referring to, "Trouble in Paradise". Also, "Blonde Venus", "Foreign Correspondent" and "The Letter". You'll discover a wonderful, debonair leading man. I love his appearance here as well. Interestingly, he lost a leg in WWI and somehow still became a heart-throb.
He was one of Garbo's choices as a leading man, in 'The Painted Veil", and approved by Somerset Maugham (who had written that story) to play Maugham's fictional alter ego in 'The Moon and Sixpence' and 'The Razor's Edge'. Like other Brits of that vintage- Donat, Rathbone, Colman, Karloff, Howard- he could project intelligence in a way few American men did except Edward G Robinson, without being dry or stilted on screen.
The absolute epitome of WML's well-deserved reputation of urbane, sophisticated and all-round charm : Dorothy's query, " Are you a character man ? " and Mr. Marshall responds, " The time has come. " ( and then, Miss Arlene's GENRE remarks....too too fabulous )
Those debonair Englishman ..... Mr. Marshall with his " The day has come " and then I'm reminded of Mr. Niven's remark, when the naked guy ran across the stage at the Academy Awards : " His major fame is from displaying his shortcomings. " Capital D for debonair -- and, my, how Miss Francis relates so thoroughly and appreciatively, showing her own innate glamour, class, and debonaire demeanor.
I remember a joke by Jack Paar on one of his comedy albums. It was about a debonair, unflappable Englishman that he allegedly heard about when he went to London to play the Palladium. The Englishman is with a woman who tells him that his smoking jacket is on fire. His reply: "Tell me when it reaches my lapels."
There are occasionally guests on the programme which have something very special about their personality, intelligence, demeanour - Ms Skelton in round 2 is clearly one such person!
Arlene announces that Cerf's'latest(hardcover) book has just come out in paperback, so now readers can have "Orchestra seat laughs at balcony seat prices."
I'm astonished of all the accomplishments Betty Skelton achieved during her lifetime. Would've been fun to listen to her life story. Hollywood could make a picture about her life.
Herbert Marshall, Ronald Colman, Claude Rains (another magnificent voice), and Basil Rathbone all served in the same regiment in the First World War, the London Scottish.
The Ernst Lubitsch picture Arlene was thinking of is Trouble in Paradise with Marshall, Kay Francis and Miriam Hopkins. And it's just a marvelous movie, much like the majority of Lubitsch films.
Marshall co-starred with most of the great Hollywood leading ladies of the 1930s. He never upstaged them but was no doormat- just what they needed to shine. He once got into a brawl over Gloria Swanson in a nightclub, but otherwise he was dignified and discreet: another plus in the moguls' opinion.
Betty Skelton- another of WML's favorite 'women doing men's work' contestants, and it's the lady panelists who sense it sooner. Arlene narrows the focus with question after question, then Dorothy shoots to kill. Relentlessness masked by geniality, rounded off by a flash of steel; not quite good cop/bad cop, but what a combo.
Herbert Marshall was brilliant in the film, ‘The Letter’ with Bette Davis. A brave man who lost a leg in WW1 and as a result was in a permanent state of pain. Strange that he was strangely coy and shy after he was successfully identified as the featured celebrity guest, but then Herbert Marshall was a well mannered gentleman of the ‘old school’ who was diplomatic in his speech and not someone who was overbearing about his achievements.
Joe, I thought the audience were a touch muted. Had the programme gone out in his leading man days, perhaps the females in the audience would have been more appreciative of his appearance. I feel that, great as he was, he always flew under the radar.
Joe Postove Marshall assumed the characters he played so thoroughly that the audience would forget the actor they were seeing on the screen. Lee Remick did that, so did Lawrence Olivier
I'm glad I saw this one. I usually end up seeing repeats, and there are so many of these shows. Marshall had his own radio Espionage adventure show. A MAN CALLED X . It was on the air from 1944-1952 a successful radio show. I think I have one or 2 in my collection.
The only picture I can remember Herbert Marshall in is Alfred Hitchcock's "Foreign Correspondent," in which he played second fiddle to Joel McCrea and Lorraine Day. I won't give any "spoilers" away--but Marshall was wonderful in it, along with the absolutely incomparable George Sanders (at a time when he could still have played the romantic lead, if he had wanted to). And on a completely unrelated subject, I believe it was a great idea to have Marshall give his answers using a British accent--which was usually a sign that the MG was *not* British!
Arlene is right: Trouble in Paradise (1932) is essential viewing for a look at the younger Marshall. It may be the smoothest, drollest con man role ever played in Hollywood. Everybody else in it is perfect too under the direction of Ernst Lubitsch.
Just another example that life in the world has always been flawed. Folks naturally like to remember the good things, but we can't forget the bad or we don't learn what we should. *As a kid, I was in the hospital for a week & on my walks, I would go past the polio ward & stop & talk to some of the kids in the iron lungs. It was a spooky thing to see another kid in 1 of those things. That was the 1st time I took notice of the reality of life; it is not all peaches & cream; it's a mix of good & bad.
Man, until I read your comment, the thought never crossed my mind, but now that you mention it, I'm thinking of all kinds of things I would have loved to hear her say.
I can remember my Junior High French teacher ingraining such pronunciations into our Psyche...''You WILL speak French as if you are Jean Paul Sartre sitting at a side walk cafe...your accent WILL blend indistinguishably......LoL...
Fred Allen asks MG Herbert Marshall "Were you born in this country?" and gets a 'No' since Marshall was born in England. 20:41 Afterwards Fred argues with John and claims he asked the question in a negative sense (which he did not). John takes the blame because he thought Fred was right but it was Fred who did an error in thinking. 23:25
Johan Bengtsson That's funny, because I remember so many instances where Fred *did* ask questions in the negative and improperly got no's, and no one ever registered it. It rarely happened to anyone else, but for some reason, maybe the equivocal tone of his voice, Fred regularly got shafted with unfair no's and never said a word about it (probably didn't realize it himself, or was grateful to have his turn over!)
What's My Line? I've noticed that as well...and had developed the hypothesis that John seemed to be laughing and otherwise too caught up by Fred's comedic delivery whenever it happened. Can't say that I could blame him too much.
Radio was definitely Fred Allen's forte. In fact, his comedy which worked so well on the radio, in my opinion, didn't work so well on television as a WML panelist.
Yes, it's a bit of a surprise he pressed the point here, because he definitely asked the question without a negative in it, so that "no" was the correct answer. He asked if Herbert Marshall was "born in this country (give or take a couple of states)" or something close to that, and he was not born in the U.S.A., so "no" was the answer given and it was given correctly.
Yes indeed, it was something that everyone watched every year and most years long ago it was held in my home town. I fear interest waned because of volunteer military service now being the law of the land. When everyone's family had people who had been in the armed services, it was a big deal. Now people identify with those who serve our nation or who play football, but do neither of those themselves. So, we wear tee shirts to claim relationships we lack. We've become a nation of voyeurs. Even TV must pretend to be unscripted reality.
@@stanmaxkolbe Why are you rude on a site that is not ill-mannered nor is the program being enjoyed improper in any fashion? Why do you not, instead, educate me on why watching the Army-Navy game, formerly a tradition of the weekend on which we celebrate Thanksgiving, has become somewhat less central to the season, as part of our national shared life. If you do not find that folks nowadays wear tee shirts et al to establish a relationship to things they have never participated in, even through family involvements, then by all means explain how I am wrong about that and offer your view. But there is no need to be rude in response to me. To be frank, there have been two deaths among our loved ones this past month, a miscarriage on Friday, and yesterday was my birthday. Perhaps considering your responses go to real humans with real lives would help or get off this site!
@@philippapay4352 I cannot speak for Stanley, but if I could I first would apologize for his rudeness and as explanation, not excuse, offer the possibility that your comment flippantly implied that the voluntary military was in some way less desirable than the involuntary draft which was worse than slavery. WML tends to have an older audience, many of whom were personally disadvantaged by Viet Nam era conscription which was disastrous for the inductee, bad for the military, counterproductive for the US and genocidal for Southeast Asians.
@@igkoigko9950 Lovely of you to respond so generously. I think I was totally misunderstood somehow in that I began my adult life marching for civil rights, for the 18-year old vote, and against the Vietnam War. I am that old and very much was not in favor of conscription and of those who cannot even vote about their fate. I have not reread what I said, though nowadays I think 2 years national service is probably a good idea from about age 18-20 for folks to get to know their country by serving in various ways, many non-military like the Peace Corps or AmeriCorps, so that they learn a bit of life as an adult and work skills and maybe other languages and mature a bit before going on to university or trade school. I am not in favor of a military draft. I suspect such a thing would broaden the views of many, provide skills, and focus minds on personal goals for the careers and future family life for all.
Gil Fates in his WML book claimed that Fred Allen got an occupation just once. Another one of the book's mistakes, for here and in other games, Fred solved occupations. It is true he went for laughs first.
I know Arlene cited Trouble In Paradise ... but it took long enough ... His voice was a Dead Giveaway ... It was as though no one on the panel had seen any of his movies ... Usually, in situations like this, they are on the Trail immediately ... Some of Marshall's Big Movies were: Trouble In Paradise (1932) ** If You Could Only Cook (1935) ** Foreign Correspondent (1940) * The Letter (1940) The Little Foxes (1941) Andy Hardy's Blonde Troubles (1944) High Wall (1945??) ** The Enchanted Cottage (1945) Duel In The Sun (1946) The Secret Garden (1949) * The Underworld Story (1950) * The Fly (1958) * * Personal Favorite ** Really Really Like Another point ... toward the End, John mentions that Dorothy will be covering the Sam Sheppard Case ... the Sam Sheppard Case started October 18 1954 and ended December 21 1954 with a Guilty Verdict for murdering his wife ... the case was Retried in 1966 with F Lee Bailey as his Attorney and this time a Not Guilty Verdict was returned ... This made F Lee Bailey a Celebrated High Profile Lawyer ... The Fugitive TV Series and Movie were based on Sam Sheppard ... Sam Sheppard: December 21 1924 - April 6 1970 August 1 2022 (0029 hrs)
When they say their goodnights at the end, John Daly says to Dorothy "you are going back to Cleveland for the Sheppard trial". That trial is the basis of the tv show, The Fugitive with David Jansen, William Conrad and Barry Moore which ran from 1963-1967.
In "High Wall" (1947), Herbert Marshall played a sinister character who had set up Robert Taylor to take the fall for his crime. When the elevator man in his building tried to bribe Marshall for money, otherwise he'd testify on behalf of Taylor, in an horrific scene, Marshall kicks the stool from under the man, sending him several stories down the open elevator shaft. Hell of a scene.
If IMDb is correct, then Arlene must've really been fond of "Trouble in Paradise". This is the Lubitch film mentioned during the mystery guest segment. "Trouble in Paradise" was released in 1932, two years before the code came into full effect. In 1935, it was resubmitted and denied distribution. It did not reach television until 1958. The "misconduct" today is rather tame, but understandable given the code of the time. So, either Arlene was so taken by a film she saw 22 years earlier that she remembered most of it and/or she might've seen a copy from someone's collection more recently.
One of the most delightful episodes so far in my chronological peregrination (as Msgr Daly might have put it). Betty Skelton distracted me a bit from my undying devotion to Arlene; I beg forgiveness.
Herbert was married to the very sexy blonde Boots Mallory at the time of this broadcast she died four years after this episode quite young Had not heard of him before this but had of his then wife
Well, Arlene couldn't think of it -- trust me, that sort of lapse happens to most people, I think -- it definitely happens to me. As to the others, they simply didn't know whom she meant and "Ludwig" as a first name didn't suggest the surname "Lubitsch" -- and I can see why no one was able to fill in Arlene's blank for her.
Miss Skelton died in 2011, and was amazing in all ways possible. www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/betty-skelton-fastest-woman-on-earth-dies-at-85/2011/09/03/gIQAyv83zJ_story.html airandspace.si.edu/explore-and-learn/topics/women-in-aviation/Skelton.cfm Bread box alert! Miss you, Steve.
Interesting that John mentioned only her automobile speed record, no mention of all the earlier, amazing (and at the time ESPECIALLY amazing for a woman) airplane related activities.
@@brucealvarez9263 And while it was said that her occupation was more often done by males, it would have been worth mentioning that earlier that year she had become the first female in that occupation.
Agree she seemed to be stretching, but I keep wondering where everyone gets the idea that Arlene accused Dorothy. Could someone please cite the source. It seems very unlike Arlene. I did read where Bennett made the accusation in which he said Arlene agreed with him, but Bennett believed what he wanted to believe.
I don't know if I've been paying REAL close attention to this or not, but to my remembrance, Arlene and Dorothy haven't been wearing low neck dresses or strapless dresses for some time. Did anyone say anything to them?
This episode stands out for a good and a bad reason; good because it's the only time a contestant is better dressed and more watchable on screen than the panel members and that person is or was Betty Skelton. The bad aspect is the book-plugging at the beginning which looks like trading favours between members of a privileged clique. I'm pretty sure those books are long forgotten and were pushed out in November to catch the Christmas market.
I'll have to research this since I am not certain that Bennett was kidding. I do not see who, back then, would have thought John Daly vice presidential timber for our national political office of that title. Because he was born in a foreign country he could not succeed to the presidency, which is the prime constitutional expectation of a vice president. I watched this with my parents and the news regularly as a child. I do not recall him as a journalist. I did not remember his excellent skills as a moderator until reviewing these fine shows all these years after their initial broadcasts. But, I am struck by how consummately in love with himself he is and self-promoting often even when speaking with the celebrity guests who are there at their publicists' behests to promote their talents and latest projects. Arlene or others often have to remind him to plug the work of the guest or one of the people on the panel that night. He also spends an inordinate amount of time when speaking with the celebrity guests talking about his friends they might know and their various accomplishments. So, he could never have held a position where he had to put the American people first and foremost. He even named all his sons after himself, John.
John acquired US citizenship at birth in South Africa to father who was a United States Citizen. Several other people - Cruz, Romney, McCain - have run for president having acquired citizenship at birth outside the US. The constitution refers to two methods of being a citizen: birth in the US or naturalization. It does not mention “acquired” or “derived” citizenship. The Supreme Court has never ruled on whether a acquired citizen is eligible to be president. Most experts believe there would be eligibility
@@stevekru6518 I am aware that citizenship can be conferred at birth "of the soil or of the blood" as it is known in some nations. I had forgotten that John Daly's father was a US citizen. Thank you. Sometimes the "of the soil" is because there are places around the world that are considered for legal purposes to be US soil, as in if one were born on a US military base abroad, and there are places here where one could be considered to have been born on foreign soil, as in if one were born in a foreign embassy here while the mother was visiting it on business. Probably an exception would be granted in the case of such a temporary visit to legally foreign soil in America.
John didn't name his sons "after himself" - he named them according to family tradition, as did his father before him, and his brother did, at least one son did, etc. All male babies were named John in the Daly family, including the MC himself.
I would say this - that’s nice country out there, that makes you practically a next door neighbour now if you will take a hike over to that part of the country blah blah blah
Around 1960, occasional WML panelist Hugh O'Brian said there are 5 stages to a film actor's career: 1) “Who is Hugh O’Brian?” (2) “Get me Hugh O’Brian as the star of our next picture!” (3) “Get me somebody who’s a Hugh O’Brian type.” (4) “Get me a young Hugh O’Brian.” (5) “Who WAS Hugh O’Brian?”
I remember Herbert Marshall from his film roles with Bette Davis. Wonderful actor. But this show is creepy - I vaguely remember it from when I was a kid. The contretemps with Fred Allen was uncomfortable, and the repartee sounds like a scene with a bunch of drunks in a bad play.
