What's My Line? - Mike Todd; Ginger Rogers; Martin Gabel [panel] (Feb 17, 1957) 

Very TRUE

So very well stated, Danny...I would only add that he had class, something rarely observed in todays genre who couldn’t hold a candle to John.

🙁

.......which is a vicious kick in the head.

BLOWS THE MIND DOESN’T IT !

Yeah ages being equivalent they looked older back then

true story two old woman at a bus stop ane one says to the other i think fred astaire was the greatest dancer that ever lived and the other old lady i think ginger rodgers was the greatest dancer because she did everything that fred did but backwards and wearing high heels 😂😂

If she is such a wonderful person to know why is it that she found it necessary to marry five times?!! Maybe her husbands did not think she was so wonderful. She drove one husband to drink because of her straight laced ways and inflexible attitude.

@@jackanthony976 Dear sir, no one has ever "driven" anyone to drink. Her husband was responsible for his own alcohol addiction. Many movie stars of that era were more likely to marry because of the morals of the time. They only realized later that thay weren't suited for eachother. Many people are inflexible concerning what drinking does to the family.

@@patriciaannking8601 I agree with some of what you wrote but being inflexible is not limited to "what drinking does to the family". She could have been inflexible in a general sense, which makes it very hard to live with. And also, the morals of the time, as you so put it, have nothing to do with marrying five times. I would say that five times is rather ridiculous for one lifetime, regardless of the morals of the time. You can find out that you are not suited for someone without ever marrying them. Even back then, most people dated for a while before they got married and within that time period you should be able to determine if mutual suitability exists. I love Ginger Rogers. I think she's the greatest female dancer ever. She did a lot of patriotic work with Bob Hope during the wars in this country. She sacrificed her time and went overseas to enrich and bring love, hope and entertainment to the lives of many many American soldiers. And that is a truly truly beautiful and Christian thing to do. However... not everything is what it seems and with all due respect to this beautiful woman, being married five times is a little much. Have a great day.

@@dannysullivan8929 well I have you known that there are several celebrities that's been married more than twice Elizabeth Taylor eight times Joan Collins five times Zsa Zsa Gabor nine times Eva Gabor five Nicholas Cage five times Mickey Rooney eight times Larry King eight times Richard Pryor 7 times so from these people and many more you can in fact be married more than twice or more than once in that matter because of several different circumstances that revolves around the divorce proceedings or reasons for marriages breaking up needless to say a person should not be crucified or judged based on the amount of times they've been married there's more than one reason and more than one side of the story so let's not be too hasty in deciding once fate or reasoning behind such actions

That adds even more class to the show.

When my boys were in high school, they auditioned for region and area orchestras (1990’s). We always dressed to the nines for orchestra concerts but parents often wore shorts and flip flops to band concerts….

Don’t you think we need to get back to that. Everything is too casual today,

jeff Downes That is so cool! How did it come about?

She just happened to sit in the row facing mine in the terminal. I was a very talkative little kid and thought it was really cool I was talking with someone who had made movies.

jeff Downes Did you recognize her? Or did the adults who were with you tell you who she was?

I didn't know who she was then, but some people sitting around me did. She told me during our conversation she made movies is how I found out. I've seen a ton of her movies since.

You lucky dog, even as a 7 year old that must have been an experience

I agree with you Dune...l have become addicted to WML myself

I love them all. But also get a little sad sometimes knowing almost everyone has passed away. Sometimes I’ll Google them, even the non-movie stars, just to see more about their lives and I’m always happy when I find they lived a long life.

I agree! No one is near me now but I am smiling non-stop during this show and all others!

Johnny, hear! Hear! I don't think Gary profits a great deal from this so the fact that he does do it is even more endearing.

Yes! I listen and watch them while I'm out and there's always a smile on my face in public. Have to stop from laughing out loud sometimes! 🤣

Geraldine Payne, I agree absolutely, about Gabel's attraction! Several times I've explained that to a couple of *male* commentators who try so hard to discredit him, for the stupidest reasons.

Johan Bengtsson While he was never on the show on a week-to-week basis, Martin holds the record for guest appearances at 112-- that's 50 more appearances on the panel than Fred Allen made. I do consider him something of a regular on that basis.

What's My Line? I think Gabel was a better fit for the program than Allen, honestly. Fred was witty and very funny, but I think Gabel just fit the humor and tone of the program. Fred throwing in weird lines related to nothing made me go, "Why?"..like asking Daly "Do you think Ike will run again?" I get that's a joke..but so many of his one-liners were so out of context. I love Fred..but he was a better fit doing radio comedy.

Ryan Schroer I totally agree, Ryan. I've said the same thing many times in comments on other videos. I first got into WML because I was already a HUGE fan of Fred Allen's radio work and books, and was a bit disappointed he wasn't better on WML, but it just wasn't the right format for him. It always bothers me that of the folks who do remember him at all today, most remember him specifically for WML, but his work on WML is really not what he deserves to remembered for.

I wonder what Fred would have done with the reality TV genre. He would have done something very creative because that was his strength.

Johan Bengtsson I Loved Gabel and Fred. I usually don't like the dry sense of humor because half the time it's just not funny, Gabel added Wit and charm like his wife Arlene. Fred was very funny as well with his random questions sometimes.

calvin ghanian ... I was wondering about that. Thanks 👍🏻🥰‼️

Tubular Ap, agreed! Handwriting is almost a lost art. I've actually been questioned "What is this? How does it work"? Young brains only see computer screens.

Penmanship or Cursive Writing as it is known today, (or The Palmer Method as it was known in my grammar school days!) is not entirely dead - yet. All 4 of my grandkids have learned it as part of their elementary education. I’m writing this in April of 2022, & they range in age from 14 down to 11.

Only she didn't. Astaire choreographed their dance routines and his steps were the more difficult ones. Her genius was in acting like dancing with Fred Astaire was the most wonderful thing in the world. I've read that later in life, he said she was his favorite dance partner. One of my fantasies is to time travel back to the 1920's and drink champagne, eat caviar, and dance the Charleston with Fred Astaire.

She certainly did not do everything he did. One takes one's hat off to her work ethic and excellent acting but she was never even close to the dance that Fred was. After her partnership with Fred, she hardly danced at all in her movies and there is good reason for that.

@@lemorab1 The Charleston? I'd rather do the Continental with him. :)

Ginger was so graceful and strong to be able to do all those graceful leaps. When she is dancing with Fred I only have eyes for her. I loved the way she held her hands and arms.

@@somewhere6 @lemorab I like the line because it is clever. I never let details get in the way of appreciating humor.

I noticed how thin she was. She looked great.

I love the commercials too.Roy.

Interesting connection here, as Joan Blondell and Ginger Rogers both starred together in Golddiggers of 1933.

Check out the opening number she stars in of the movie musical, Golddiggers of 1933----she is fantastic!

Ab-so-LUTE-ly! Sadly, we'll never see their like again,

***** I'm so glad she actually fooled Bennett in this one! Usually he guesses her way too quickly.

Ginger Rogers, and Bennett Cerf "related"? How so?

Roy Harris Phyllis Cerf was one of Ginger's cousins.

I thought that he hinted that he thought the MG was Elizabeth at first.

How sad.

Do you mean sad that he was killed, or sad that she was not? Just asking.

@@josephlacerra8433 what a dumb comment

@@josephlacerra8433 what????

Liz Taylor was "too ill" quite a lot.

That sounds interesting. Wonder why Lauren refused the part. I will watch for it on TCM.

Doris Day always spoke very highly of Ronald Reagan - he was, in her words, "a perfect gentleman." Doris gave quite a heartfelt and affectionate tribute to the late President of the USA (and her former co-worker) when he passed in 2004.

@@rivaridge7211 Doris Day was always a class act.

It's a very good movie that is rarely shown, I recommend it.

I only watch Monkey Business because of unowho.

Who could you get, without hearing the crap Hollywood spews out of their mouth! Golden Globes is PERFECT EXAMPLE!! 🤪🤪🤪

I wish. But these folks are classy and that's just not possible to duplicate today. Sad.

Todays celebrities are too smothered in their own self importance to give up their spare time for shows like this.

They used celebrities that were in NYC to promote their opening of whatever.

+ToddSF 94109 If I understood the questions and answers correctly, the final challenger did not work for the Dutch government. He worked for a family owned business that was contracted by the Dutch government to print their bank notes. His company did not sell to the general public in Holland or any other country. They only sold their finished product to the Dutch government for whatever their contract stipulated. Thus, unlike someone who worked for the U.S. Bureau of Engraving, his company actually had a product, but his company never sold it to the public and never sold it in the U.S. Once it was sold to the Dutch government, it became legal tender and ceased to be a product.

He would have used Brylcream

@@mark_call_yerdogoff They're basically the same - a water, beeswax and oil combination. "Pomade" is just a general name and Brylcreem is a brand. But yes, I can definitely see John using it in particular!

That is a puzzler for sure. Around the World is pleasant enough but TEDIOUS in places. Of course, nobody at the time regarded The Searchers as anything more than a solid Western. And I think 10 Commandments has aged better than Around the World in almost all aspects.

After all these years, most of "The Ten Commandments" holds up remarkably well as a movie.

+soulierinvestments I'll try. I saw it in 1956, when I was 8 years old, and Mike Todd was a master publicist and showman. The excitement over "Around The World In 80 Days" was unlike anything surrounding any other movie. Todd and Elizabeth Taylor were about the two most famous people on earth and the force field surrounding them must have swept the Academy voters into his pocket. Also, it represented David Niven's return to the Hollywood A-List after several years of career exile, as fallout from his feud with Sam Goldwyn. Sometimes, an inexplicable phenomenon lays waste to all forms of competition , regardless of merit. This was one of those.

Per Wikipedia, Around the World In 80 days made $42 million, (a huge sum in those days) but The ten commandments made $$122.7 million, so it was the box office champ for the year, despite Arlene's prediction.

As a nine-year-old, and despite the overwhelming hype that was going on, I had the feeling that Around the World in 80 Days was going to be a gigantic snore. I still have not seen it. I spent my money to see The Ten Commandments, like three times, from which I developed a lifelong love of Egyptology.

“Training” on this show means a specific course of formal study leading to bolding a degree specifically for the position.

According to whom?

Rene Shay, yes, I remember reading about her hair colour changes, both blond and reddish, I think. Glad she settled on the brunette. And I've always wished I could see the colours of their gorgeous dresses too.

@@aileen694 I wish I could see the color of their dresses also. I have read that Arlene and Dorothy's gowns were beautiful!

I actually thought the blond color here flattered her more. Much softer for her face.

Lars Rye Jeppesen she is a claque!

@@alexhu7939 What is a claque? ...just googled it with that ? French spelling. And yes, we used to call it a "plant" or a "shill".

What beautiful genes in that family!

It was an elaborate comb-over to conceal his bald spot.

Thank you. And by the way.........thank you, thank you for all the great pleasure!!!

What's My Line? I think it is a hair piece in the front?

I noticed that too! I always make a guess before their line is revealed, and his meticulous non-cursive rendition of his named led me to think that his was a printing occupation, specifically a man who prints signs for roads & highways. I love graphology.

The November 29, 1964 show. The panel was Dorothy, Bennett, Arlene and Carol Channing. There is also a Steve Allen show where Deborah Kerr had Bennett's seat so John was teasing Steve occasionally about sitting with three lovely women.

+soulierinvestments I think the biggest appeal for that movie is watching for the cameos. Take the scene in the western saloon, where the camera keeps giving us a shot of the back of the piano player's head. The whole scene plays out to the end before he turns around, revealing himself as Frank Sinatra.

Todd AO was not only very wide screen in its format, but also used 70mm film instead of 35mm, so the resulting widescreen picture was very bright and had great color with very fine resolution.

Galileocan g Yeah, they kept going back to her looks over and over again. I didn't see it either!

Keep in mind the standards of beauty were quite different in the 50s. There was more of an emphasis on "wholesome American housewife" looks and being the sort of girl that a guy would "proudly bring home to his parents". Mrs. Leif definitely fits into that box. She has a small heart-shaped face, arched brows, and has nice cheekbones, but she is also wearing an extremely fashionable hairstyle and dress for that time. She gives off the impression of someone who takes pride in her appearance. And in the 50s there wasn't such an emphasis on straight white teeth that there is nowadays, so her crooked smile and slight double-chin wouldn't be seen as offputting.

Some people have a charisma in person that doesn't show up on screen or in pictures.

"crooked smile and slight double-chin wouldn't be seen as offputting" My face belonged in the 50s xD

I was confused, as well. Sue99's explanation makes sense, however. I guess standards really were different, because in the episode with the first female mayor of a city in Colorado, they didn't whistler for her once, and she looked like some French actress -- totally drop dead gorgeous. They never said a word!

Galileocan g I think they ran out of gel

@@bigwilson8794 Or, he didn't have time to gel his hair or simply didn't want to.

I noticed the hair on John Daly as well. I think he needed a haircut and a hairdresser before coming on. Looked a bit frumpy.

Not slicked up with Vitalis.

1) not specifically 2) ok

It is very uncommon for people to use money as a literal weapon to directly into the life of another human being or to destroy enemy fortifications or enemy devices.

+Katarzyna Kopeć it sounds like she says, "and i'm the girl that knows it's impossible if martin knows what he's talking about." she kind of fumbles over the wording making it hard to understand her.

+tomitstube I hear Arlene saying: "and I'm the girl that knows that it's possible that Martin knows what he's talking about".

@@neilmidkiffI think Arlene is saying, I'm the girl that knows it's imposable and Martin is the one that knows what he's talking about . Martin came from a family of jeweler in Pittsburg so when it comes to jewelry be should know.

Thanks for that