Great show - and what a class act Francis X. Bushman was. Groucho always superb and so fast with the wit :) I am so glad we have these classic TV shows to go back to. We'll never see the likes or the talent of such magnitude ever again.
At the time of this episode in 1958, Aki Aleong was a budding actor with a handful of roles under his belt. He is still alive today, and he went on to appear in well over 100 movies and TV shows. He's still active, with two films presently in post-production: "Paranormal Activity Security Squad" (2014) and "Swan Song" (2014). In the '90s, he had a recurring role on "Babylon 5" as Senator Hidoshi. In the mid-'80s, he appeared in 9 episodes of "V" as Mr. Chiang.
Approximately two years after Jimmie Dee's post, Aki is still active, in three movies that are currently filming and cast in a fourth that has been announced. He's had a very impressive career both in front of the camera and in organizations related to his profession (like Screen Actors Guild). And he also had a successful career in the recording industry. But I wish we would have learned how an Asian family (Chinese with perhaps some Japanese ancestry as well) ended up in Trinidad. While the British imported laborers from India at some point, there is no other Asian group for which something similar occurred in Trinidad.
“Trinidad has oil, asphalt, and Angostura Bitters.” “Asphalt and Angostura Bitters makes a strong drink. I’ll have to order that when I want one for the road.” Another splendid example of Groucho’s quick wit.
I'm always amazed at the audience reactions back then, like genuine delight with oohs and aahs when the woman says she's going to have a baby, and the guy says he wants to bring his brothers to the U.S. A much more innocent, caring time I guess.
Besides the good natured Elvis Presley comparison you may not realize how big a star Francis X Bushman was in his time. Great to be able to see this 60+ years later.
It is amazing to see one of the old stars of Hollywood still vigorous 98 years after he made his biggest film. The compression of time beings then back and stops them being forgotten.
Frances X Bushman had a big Hollywood estate and was basically next door to Rudolph Valentino. When Valentino's marriage to Rambova was breaking up, Bushman remembers hearing the voices as they argued, carrying across the hills.
@@bobbywimsy6741 I'm a citizen of The Kingdom of The Netherlands; Did you know that the term 'Fundy' is an old Dutch phrase meaning a *'Fox-like man'?*
Wasn't it? I have a sneaking suspicion it might have been one of the pre-scripted lines that Groucho had to fall back on (as he did with all of these shows). It's just too perfect a setup and an answer to be spontaneous. But if anyone could have pulled this off as a true ad lib, it's Groucho. I actually pulled this very moment out and posted it as one of the YBYL highlight clips here: ru-vid.com/group/PLHaioNpr_GDbDCk-9VD2aTm_j4Qxm01eb
poetcomic1 I don't think you understand how YBYL was produced. About half the jokes in any given episode were prescripted. This is a fact, not my opinion. And this was far from being a formulaic joke that Groucho just recycled from having used it a million times before. There were certainly examples of that, but this isn't one of them. "Hawaii." "I'm fine, how are you?" "Tanks." "You're welcome." "I couldn't hear you, I need to have my glasses fixed." These are the types of formula jokes Groucho used over and over again, almost as an automatic reflex. The joke here was carefully built up to, and the wit of it is so specific a payoff to **this** situation and story, it's not a generic or recycled joke at all. Also, I explicitly said above, "if anyone could have pulled this off as a true ad lib, it's Groucho." I didn't even imply that he "needed writers" to make a joke like this, I said the direct, exact opposite.
While Francis X. Bushman is best remembered as a silent movie star, he continued acting right up until, his death, making many guest shots on TV shows in the 1950s and early 1960s.
Frances and Iva, 20 yrs younger, had 10 yrs together, until his demise 22 yrs before her. I'm going to search Pizza Flix for his movies. Delighted with the prospect...he has a new fan.
Groucho and Francis X. Bushman had a lot in common - they both lost their fortunes in the Crash of 1929. Also Francis X. Bushman gave land to Sid Grauman so he could build Grauman's Chinese Theatre.
I can’t believe how much culture had changed just 10 years after this. Some in this crowd would be in Woodstock, some running gunships in Nam, some rioting in the cities.
Oh neat. Snog & Grog would be a great name for a pub or t'other way 'round. Thanks for posting. Hey, Grog and Snog in the Smog....and then The Rain in Spain Stays Mainly on the Plain.
Don't know why anyone would take a fictional character for their moniker.Some useless trivia.....Henry Winkler NEVER knew how to ride a motorcycle...the scene you see in the beginning was staged.
@@CmonstoleCmonstole I agree! Using a "fictional character for their moniker" is something only a Buffon would do! It's like those ignorant jackasses who use meaningless words like "Cmonstole10 Cmonstole10" for example, why can't people just use their real names?
One for the road is an expression that means to have one last drink before you go out - on the road - and walk or drive. Sort of something that will "help" you keep being drunk. @@riconthemove
this nagged at me the whole episode... Francis X. Bushman was in a movie played on my 2nd favorite TV show of all time Mystery Science Theater 3000. Episode 0524. Movie - 12 to the Moon. 12 to the moon is from 1960. i made a screen shot but i have no idea how to add it here =>.
@@bernitacenteno1326 12:08 Francis says " I'll be 75 in January" meaning it is approaching. If it was already Feb 6 he would have said " I WAS 75 in January" or " I Was 75 last month" That's how I perceive it. Do you accept or reject this explanation ?
One never knows the reason why however Muriel and Frank were divorced in 1969, maybe the king of the house situation did not work that well. She passed away in 2014 at the age of 85, Muriel “Lou” Whelan.
Once again, I'm flabbergasted! (and if you've ever had your flabber gasted, you'll know how painful it can be.) Unbelievable. According to IMDB Bushman worked in films fairly consistently from 1911 (!) to 1966 the year of his passing!! www.imdb.com/name/nm0124279/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1
I'm working on a script for a You Bet Your Life reboot, two part mini series for youtube. It will be a professional looking fan film starring a Groucho impersonator.
SpideySpeaks Whether admitted to or not, it is, in the .most loving sense,when man is king in the castle, that there is a happy wife. This presupposes a man knows what and how to be a loving man, and a woman knows how to love, that there is mutuality of feeling, respect, etc. The bitter substitutes of feminism, and masculinism, are not substitutes for real and true femininity and masculinity,grounded in healing and peace, and not undealt with pain and wounds.
I like the way Groucho savors the humor. The audience laughing, he learned to enjoy the audience reaction. I find this very interesting. He appreciates the audience participation. Greenspring Valley area of Baltimore County is a very beautiful area still today. Horse farms galore in this area. photonet.hotpads.com/search/listingPhoto/Postlets/RT14943624/0000_1114245790_medium.jpg
+Bill Oviedo No- I just went and looked it up. It was indeed Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea. "The Terrible Toys" October 16, 1966 He died in August 1966 which was months after the Batman appearance.
+Bill Oviedo The Batman episode you referred to aired in May or April 1966 -which meant it was filmed in Feb or March. So it makes no sense they would have shot a Voyage episode for Fall 66 at in Winter of 66. It's not worth arguing about but given his death in Aug. 66- he would have had plenty of time to shoot that Voyage episode earlier that summer. That's the most logical scenario (and I have no idea why a black line appears in some of the copy here).
best television ever. but do you know how many pct are improvised ? certainly groucho knows a lot about them on beforehand. f.ex.he asked a woman: is there anything special about your marriage? (her sister married her brother-in-law.)
YBYL was heavily prepared, and Groucho had prescripted lines to fall back on. He never met the contestants before the shows, but the producers and writers did extensive interviews with them. There's good documentation to indicate that on average about half of Groucho's quips were his own ad libs and half were prewritten. It really depends on the segment, though. After you watch enough of these shows, you start to develop an ear for when Groucho is off script. The best segments, invariably, are the ones where he's surprised or tickled by something about a contestant and throws the script away. Like the interview with Albert Hall, e.g.
Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life I've tried desperately to develop an war for Trump talk and would up with nothing more than an old ear trumpet, and the jarring vision of RCA Victor, only we're not that little dog, and our wonderful Master is in Heaven, not in Mare-no-go.
At: 8:14; "Santa Barbara, Oxnard and Bakersfield". This is the second time that Oxnard is mentioned on YBYL, to my knowledge. The other time was with the Eskimo USAF sergeant who was serving at "Oxnard Air Force Base", better known as "Camarillo Airport" since the 1970s. The only reason that I give a shit about "Oxnard" is because I lived in Ventura many years.
@@airjor1 Cool! If your dad is still with us, tell him "thank you for your service"! The hangars are all still there and for many years it has been home to a Confederate Air Force wing. As for Ventura, it's a beautiful city; only problem is that it's located in Commiefornia. I lived most of my life in California but as a gun owner and conservative I couldn't stand it anymore and in 2012 moved to Arizona.
Jay Leno's remaking "You Bet Your Life, starting in September, let's see if he pays respect to the great Groucho of act like this show is his baby. The 1st episode he did of The Tonight Show replaced the king of monologue, he didn't say a word about Carson, wasn't until the news of johnny's death he did a show dedicated to him. Was it the network that made him it, or he felt millions of fans would think he was not respecting the man he owes his career too? Maybe good intentions idk. So we'll see...
Far more salient is the behavior of several adult female guests on YBYL with an astoundingly regressive philosophy. For example, the woman who insisted that no female should ever hold elected office especially that of President of the USA despite Groucho pointing out the potential positives that a woman President might possess. Women buying into and perpetuating the long-propagated falsehood that women aren't capable of holding leadership roles display an astonishing lack of historical & psychological knowledge. Re: Groucho, despite his near-constant shenanigans be it flirtation, flattery or even stereotyping, 'twas all in good fun & Groucho was intelligent enough to be above actual gender-bias, and he demonstrated it frequently. In addition to the above example which is one of many, as he says in this episode to the wife re: her husband (whom she claims is, as all men are, in her opinion, "the king of his castle"), "What do you do to keep him imagining that he's the boss?", implying that men are not the true holders of the reigns of power. Groucho knew that women are just as capable as men. A secure, well-educated woman with any awareness of social/cultural history would recognize Groucho as the intensely bright, clever, perceptive, sensitive and kindhearted product of his time that he was and would feel neither threatened nor offended by his silliness. You wrote "The feminist"; I assume you meant "the feminists". The time of using the word "feminist" is long past. One is either for equal rights/equal pay/equal respect for both genders or not. And Groucho was definitely pro-gender-equality.
@@michaelkottler You had me until the last line or so. Watch out for the slogans. Think of what slogans led to in 1917, 1933, 1949.... It always ends up like the Orwell quote: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
My grandmother used to write movie reviews in the 'teens and twenties. When I was a kid I asked her who her all time favorite actor was. She said "Francis X. Bushman" and I had no idea who the hell she was talking about.
Yes. What I do is simply multiply by 10 the amounts of money referenced or prices for the era of the late 50's and early 60's and it usually works out about right. then I adjust that for decades prior or after.