+Abigal M. dorothy would do the same thing... i'm guessing allen was using it as a rouse to search out the next question (or joke), he was originally a comedian who replaced hal block (who would get fed loosely suggested questions for a laugh). early on allen was going for the jokes as well as the clues.
Blank looks away from the action are always funny. :) And especially a look away that breaks the fourth wall a la Oliver Hardy, sometimes all it needs is the eyes to move rather than the whole head.
tomitstube Have to say, Dorothy might do the same thing but it doesn't amuse me when she does it. She hasn't got a comedic way, at least not intentionally like Allen.
Don Bryant Elizabeth sounded like Minnie Mouse.Roz Russell led everyone to believe she was a he, until Bennett asked the sex of the contestant, w/ Dorothy under her breath saying " Go ahead this could be 'Anything!' Also ,Dick Powell & Debbie Reynolds were hilarious disguising their voice. I'm sure there are many more I haven't watched yet. Let my add June Havoc.
Early on, here is wonderful Steve Allen cracking up the audience with that look and persona we all grew to love and admire...... a very naturally funny man and genius.
The line of questioning by Steve Allen preceding and including this one broke me up. "If I didn't use this thing, could I possibly ruin my hat?" Priceless.
Arlene is wonderful and looks stunning. But praise for Dorothy’s looks reminds me of the folktale “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” She actually looks somewhere between bad and funny.
In my 'New' discovery of 'Old' Hollywood; I have been viewing some of June Havoc's films & continue to do so . I find her a much better actress than I expected, & very charismatic . Watching her appearance on "W.M.L.," is so hilarious, it ranks in my Top 10. "NOW LET ME BREAK THAT DOWN FOR U...." Love seeing these wonderfully historical Celebrity moments. 100 of years from now people will see it all in some new way, who knows ; but we are one of the 1st Generations that had film & video as a Reference point in History.
the good thing about internet is that people never dies,all of them Are still alive for us,and we admire them ,make comments ,they wouldn-t know 68 years AGO
Today's RUclips Rerun for 8/10/15: Watch along and join the discussion! This is a somewhat "historic" show, containing Steve Allen's first mention of the famed "bread box" which is still referenced in pop culture today. While not worded in the classic "Is it bigger than a bread box" style, and while it isn't played at all as a joke (just as Steve said in later interviews), this is indeed the start of it all. The big moment occurs at 23:57. ----------------------------- Join our Facebook group for WML-- great discussions, photos, etc, and great people! facebook.com/groups/728471287199862/ Please click here to subscribe to the WML channel if you haven't already-- you'll find the complete CBS series already posted, and you'll be able to follow along the discussions on the weekday "rerun" videos: ruclips.net/channel/UChPE75Fvvl1HmdAsO7Nzb8w
June Havoc was a real star. Brilliant. Great writer. Her autobiography is one of the best. She accomplished so much. Her sister paled in comparison, but then when the best Broadway music ever got made about the sister… sad for June. Miss Havoc deserved better. A movie about her life would be amazing.
GoNavy: It was Gypsy Rose Lee’s memoir that was the bad for GYPSY and her only requirement when the musical was being developed was that it be called GYPSY. When contracts are signed allowing individuals to be portrayed on stage there are sometimes limitations. June Havoc did not like how their mother was portrayed in the memoir and initially refused to allow herself/name to be used in the musical. She did relent when the show’s producer subtitled it “A Musical Fable” and was going to change the name of the younger sister to “Clair”. Since she essentially would not be part of it, she agreed and the character remained “June”.
When Bennett asks the manhole cover salesman (at 23:13) if his product is used by both sexes, he gets a "no" answer, based on the contestant's and John's understanding of the product as _used by_ those who would be lifting it off and putting it back on in order to go into or out of the manhole (and the apparent assumption that there were no women doing that kind of work at the time). However, I think the main use of a manhole cover is to protect pedestrians from falling into the manhole, and in that respect it would certainly be used by adults of both sexes, as well as by children! ;)
No, that's not true at all. John was clear to indicate as it pertains to the contestant, so in that case it would be only to the people buying manhole covers. (23:37) I can't tell you whether any women bought manhole covers in the 1950's but I would say this would largely be men, and certainly not children.
I didn't know Miss June! Now I'm already searching more about her films to learn about her work, but I loved her as a mistery guest, one of my favorites so far (I started watching the show in order less than 1 month ago). She gave me such a good laugh, she's sweet and very funny.
I wonder how many people know that she is the sister of Gypsy Rose Lee, and her actual last name was Hovic which she changed ever so slightly for her stage name. Her last name is used as Rose's last name in the play and film "Gypsy".
Wow that was a long time ago. 1953 Dwight Eisenhower was sworn in for his first term of office and Elizabeth II was crown queen of the United Kingdom later that year. That's that's 70 years ago my goodness how time flies!
+gcjerryusc Close, but wrong sibling. Olivia de Havilland's sister was fellow Academy Award winner Joan Fontaine. (de Havilland is the family name; reportedly their mother refused to allow Joan to use the name professionally, although I don't see how she could forbid it.) They are the only siblings to have won in the lead acting category. Although the younger sister, Miss Fontaine passed away in 2013, while Miss de Havilland at last report is still living and became an centenarian this year on July 1 (very recently joined in that "club" by Kirk Douglas). The two sisters feuded for most of their lives. Ironically, Miss Fontaine was quote as saying in 1978, "I married first, won the Oscar before Olivia did, and if I die first, she'll undoubtedly be livid because I beat her to it!"[
gcjerryusc From what I read, the de Havilland household and the childhood of Olivia and Joan was quite dysfunctional. In their early years they lived with their parents in Japan. Joan was a somewhat sickly child and they came back to the U.S. (the SF area) for that reason. But soon, their father went back to Japan to continue the affair he was having with their (Japanese) housekeeper, who he eventually married after divorcing the mother of Olivia and Joan. The mother eventually remarried (someone with the last name of Fontaine). Apparently he was very strict. The mother also very much favored Olivia over Joan. The excuse she would use is that Olivia was allowed to do things but Joan couldn't because her health would make her incapable of doing them. (Ironic, considering that Olivia played the part of the frail and sickly Melanie Hamilton Wilkes.) The rivalry between the sisters started in childhood. Reportedly, Olivia would cut apart the clothes she outgrew that were to be Joan's hand me downs. Joan would have to sew them back together so she could wear them.
gcjerryusc Around the time I turned 40, I came up with two things to help me have a positive attitude towards age: 1) Middle age is ten years older than I am (regardless of what age I am at the time). 2) I want to get older, but I don't want to get old.
It frequently annoys me that some of the most interesting (and potentially funny) professions are saved for the end of the show, and then have to be cut short because of time. I remember an episode of All in the Family, where Edith has Archie guess the surprise. The first question he asks is, "Is it smaller than a breadbox?"
And in that context, even when rushed for time, why does John Daly insist on his whole spiel? It's really starting to get on my nerves. I want to cry out, "Shut up, John, we've heard it all X times!" And may I ask, having worked my way through this far, if John ever stops saying some variant of "But the panel has to dig?" for every single contestant? (Guess I should take a break from these shows, huh?)
Daly, great though he is, appears to be wholly in charge of timekeeping without aid and it seems to be compromised practically every 'week' at the moment. Why the execs didn't advise him on it I don't know. And I agree, often the last guest stimulates the best early questions and then it has to be brought to a finish amid a vibe of controlled panic. I guess the production team are at fault for not advising Daly.
The last contestant was usually someone who lived near NYC and who could arrive and depart from the studio at their own expense. Many of these contestants never went on, so the producers did not wish to provide them with hotel and travel accommodations. Live TV meant you needed to fill every second without going one second over. The frenetic pace of the final round is a relic of that era.
23:57 Since the highlight of this episode is Steve's casual invention of the breadbox question, it seems reasonable to add his POV (from his 1960 autobiography, 'Mark It and Strike It') to the comments: The one line that seems to have stuck in the public consciousness is one whose popularity has always been a puzzle to me. One evening, in trying to determine the size of an object that was manufactured by one of the guests, I said, "Is it bigger than a breadbox?" I meant this in all seriousness, but for some reason the audience laughed uproariously. Perhaps the reason is that the breadbox is an old-fashioned item to today's homemakers and so the word had the sort of connotation that surrounds phrases like high-button shoes, celluloid collar, or raccoon coat. In any event, from that day to this the phrase has been a part of the American vernacular. Dorothy, Bennett, and Arlene picked it up as a sort of running joke and there was a time when every week somebody would send me an unusual breadbox or ask me for mine or send me a song about breadboxes or something of the sort. One kitchenware manufacturer even wanted to put a Steve Allen breadbox on the market. For more fun, check out this follow up vid: ruclips.net/video/-q9tXR7jmL8/видео.html
+YouzTube99 So, is Steve speculating that the uproarious laughter of the 1953 audience was caused by the fact that the breadbox was an old fashioned item in 1960? Maybe I'm reading this wrong.
+Bruce C Actually, if you listen to that section of the vid, Steve's memory is wrong; the audience did NOT laugh uproariously, though one of the women on the panel giggled. To be fair, he probably didn't have YT available to double check. He may have remembered a subsequent show (linked at the bottom of my original comment) in which the producers invited a guest who made breadboxes. The audience immediately got the connection and hilarity ensued but they were laughing about the joke on Steve, not the breadbox. That said, he's quite correct about the phrase catching on but even in 1960 breadboxes were falling into disuse and are now just an anachronism. The phrase is rarely used by young people and will likely be relegated to pop culture history book in a generation or so.
+YouzTube99 Yes, I can easily understand Steve's mistaken memory of the laughter. And, although I remember breadboxes being very common well into the 70's, I'll accept that their popularity may have been waning in 1960. What I take issue with is the idea that a situation in 1960 could cause a reaction in 1953. Breadboxes were certainly not outdated in January of 1953 when the supposed laughter occurred. Steve's speculation here is illogical. I could understand if this were an off the cuff interview, but it's an autobiography. I probably shouldn't be letting this bother me, but I consider Steve to have been a rather intelligent man, so I find the lack of logic here upsetting. Thanks so much for posting the excerpt though.
I think part of what's going here may be that Steve found this all more than a little bit irritating, that a straight question he asked once on WML became the single most well known quote associated with him, and it's not even a joke, was never meant as one. I sense an edge in the way he wrote about it, the puzzlement over the "uproarious" studio laughter that never happened being the result perhaps of the many year of this being shoved in his face as his most significant contribution to pop culture, asking about bread boxes, for crying out loud. He's grasping at straws to come up with any sort of explanation as to why this line "took off", and the speculation he arrived at was poorly thought out because he didn't much care. His interview on the EmmyLegends website spends about 5 minutes, tops, talking about WML-- and of those maybe 5 minutes, he's talking about the bread box question for half of it!
+What's My Line? Thanks to you and YouzTube99 for indulging me. I think that both your assessments are correct. I have so much respect for Steve Allen that I didn't want to accept this carelessness. It was like hearing that George Reeves jumped out of a window and died. I thought he could fly. Very disappointing to a young boy. I will choose to blame this all on the publisher who neglected to proof read and edit diligently. My respect for Steve goes untainted. He should have use Random House. My thanks again to both of you and the link to "Meeting of Minds". This channel is my go to for entertainment. A day rarely goes by that I don't watch at least one episode of WML.
At 26:30 Bennett says that June Havoc is "writing a book for us" but as far as I've been able to find, her first published book was "Early Havoc" published by Simon & Schuster in 1959.
Miss Hawkrigg married a gent named Vincent Handal and I don't know if she had a profession, but he retired in 1995, and they moved from Brooklyn to Hampton Bays (on Long Island) and enjoyed themselves in volunteering, largely Catholic-oriented. They had three children together (one of whom became a nun), and as of March (when her husband died), Mrs. Handal is still with us.
I was just under 5 years old about this time. I would sometimes visit my grandmother in her apartment when she watched this show, but I was too young to understand what the panel and contestants were talking about.
June Havoc, I remember seeing her on the Outer limits episode Cry Of Silence she costarred with Eddy Albert they were looking to buy a farm and were attacked by tumble weeds & frogs & Rocks by an invisible alien force from outer space. -- Eddy Albert wound up on Green Acers co staring with Eva Gabor on that farm ! I had to look up June Havoc's filmography after seeing her on the Outer Limits,,, She Was A Beautiful Movie & Film Actress, Where Once Upon A Time In An Era Were There Were Great Film Stars.
I agree. Something feels off when I see Bennett sitting elsewhere. By this point he already was a regular panelist...I suppose it wasn't until Bennett and John developed their playful bromance that he really established himself as the king of the panel. Can't get enough of their style...
I feel like the furthest seat to the [audience] right was for the person who played a comedic role on the panel. I haven't watched too many episodes yet, but I'd assume who primarily did this changed over time. No idea how much of this was their own personality, vs suggestions from the production team on how to act or what to say.
There are so many of the mystery celebrities I've never heard of, while there are so many others whose fame bloomed after their (first) appearance on the show.
Steve Allen, whose question, "is it bigger than a bread box?" eventually became a staple of What's My Line questioning, made allusion to it in this, his first appearance on the program.
Why did they usually keep the best, most obscure occupations for the end, when they usually don't have enough time ? Must admit Ive never heard of June Havoc as an actress .
Mr Allen seemed quite nervous! It's interesting to see performers before they became established. Some become very confident, smug, while others never forget how hard they had to work to get where they are.
there was a great rivalry between sisters gypsy rose and june, gypsy was always considered the raconteur or socialite of the two, but obviously june had that same wit about her, and gypsy was always jealous of june's talent and looks. all this spurred on by a vaudevillian mother of fierce independence for the era. fascinating book (american rose) about the 3 women carving a life out for themselves in a male dominated world, and just how hard it was to do that in the first half of the 20th century.
@@paacer I looked up _American Rose_ , and it looks like it was written by Karen Abbott. Here's a link to the book's entry on GoodReads: www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/8201605
As pertains to the sales of manhole covers, I don't think that's relevant. Perhaps (but probably not), it would have a different answer if the person worked for the city or a utility.
Ah! Thank you for noting this, you0107! I meant to make a note of this myself when I initially watched the shows and never did, and of course could never find it again afterwards when I went back looking for it. Yes, it's at 23:57, and while not worded in the classic "Is it bigger than a bread box" style, this is, indeed, Steve Allen's first mention of it. I'm adding a note to the description about it, and flipping all the cards for you in thanks.
What's My Line? 65 years and 2 days ago that the show was first aired!!! do you know if NBC intend to digitise some (or all) of the episodes of this or any other of the net's shows?
עידו שמחי WML was a CBS show, not NBC, and CBS has no rights nor interests in the series whatsoever at this point. The film prints and the copyright to the concept for the series are all owned by Fremantle Media now. The original series episodes were never copyrighted (as was the case with virtually all live shows of the time), which is why I'm able to post them to RUclips.
What's My Line? My bad about NBC instead of CBS, but who is Fremantle Media and i don't understand the copyrights thing, if the film prints and copyright to concept of the show owned by some company how come the episodes are not protected?
עידו שמחי Copyrighting the title and concept for a show is not the same thing as the episodes themselves being copyrighted. It means that no one else can produce a new version of What's My Line without Fremantle's permission, but it has nothing to do with the public domain status of the episodes of the CBS series. I don't want to get into a whole discussion about how copyrights work, all due respect.
I will be acting with June Hovac next week. I recently purchased on Ebay an LP called CO-STAR. It comes with a script and she reads her acting lines and in the script I act with her. I had a choice of other LP's with different actor's but I wanted her because she was so great in ''SUBWAY'' a SUSPENSE radio drama and one of my favorite radio stories (It's on RUclips) So I'm looking forward to be acting with her next week. She was funny on this episode and cute.
Might be wrong but wasn't there an episode where one of the panel asked "is it bigger than a bread box?" and the guest occupation was a bread box maker?
@DarkLight753 I think so, but I don't know if I could find it now. I know there was at least one with a bread box maker, though. In the one I watched most recently (already at least a few weeks ago), I think it was the last game segment of the episode, and they didn't have time to properly finish the game before John flipped all the cards due to time. I don't think the question was asked in that one, but my memory's not so great on this stuff. Of course, they had this contestant on especially to have a little extra fun with Steve. I think there may have been another such episode in which the question really was asked, and the answer had to be, "no, it is not bigger than a breadbox." ;)
You can search it under Bread Box Maker and it was after Steve had been on for a few years with his bigger than a bread box question already having become part of the language. It was the final contestant and the questioning started with Dorothy went to Steve and he got it. Dorothy had asked if it was bigger than a phone booth, so Steve asked his question and when the answer came back NO and people laughed it started to dawn on every panelist at once that perhaps they'd actually found a bread box mfg. to bring on the show.
@@philippapay4352 I recall when the question was asked if it was bigger than a breadbox, John said "No, it's not bigger than a breadbox" and repeated it again and so they knew he was making that clear....
@@Stuff7630 Yes, indeed. Dorothy asked about a phone booth or a bird bath and then when the bread box was brought up immediately following, John rather gave it away by repeating himself as you mention. Of course, he had to call the game for time. It was the final contestant of the night, so there really wasn't time to go on. But, John did give the game away on that one.
At 68 years old, I am somewhat taken aback by the Dorothy's desire to feel the male contestants' muscles. With the lens of history, it just strikes me as so sexist! I'm obviously a victim of leftist propaganda!
+Rob Billeaud the younger and more talented sister of the infamous gypsy rose lee. if you're interested i read a great book about gypsy rose called "american rose" by karen abbott, they grew up doing a vaudeville act. amazing lives they led, it has a lot about june in the book. a real good read.
This wasn't Steve Allen's first mention of a Bread box. I made a comment on the episode before the last that the first time the breadbox is mentioned on the show, somebody comes on there who makes breadboxes
but she won them over. She *was* well known during those years ... but her sister was FAMOUS ... watch the clip where Gypsy Rose Lee is the mystery guest, I think it's the biggest applause I've ever seen a WML guest get and that was before she even signed in. Absolutely everyone knew her ... the same wasn't true of June Havoc
I remember the days of the Truant Officers, I wonder if they're still a position for them these days. I also remember the Bread Box, all homes seemed to have one when I was growing up.
Is it just me, or does the volume change (sometimes drastically) from show to show? I have to keep my ear buds at-the-ready for my cellphone on which I watch these episodes because the sound level changes from loud to soft and back again.
There were television monitors in the studio positioned so the audience could see them, but the panelists could not. The monitors showed the same picture that was going out over the air to home viewers.
Bennett was moved to the end of the panel after Hal Block had been fired. This episode is from the time when Block was still on the show, but on a forced vacation.
What about a bread box? I've never head anyone say something is "bigger than a bread box." What's the significance of him saying something about a bread box?
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
I love when Steve asks a question at which the audience laughs, he always looks out towards them. I don't know why I find that so funny.
+Abigal M. dorothy would do the same thing... i'm guessing allen was using it as a rouse to search out the next question (or joke), he was originally a comedian who replaced hal block (who would get fed loosely suggested questions for a laugh). early on allen was going for the jokes as well as the clues.
Blank looks away from the action are always funny. :) And especially a look away that breaks the fourth wall a la Oliver Hardy, sometimes all it needs is the eyes to move rather than the whole head.
tomitstube Have to say, Dorothy might do the same thing but it doesn't amuse me when she does it. She hasn't got a comedic way, at least not intentionally like Allen.
It's almost like he is cocking his head like a curious puppy. Very funny!
I do too! I think after a bit he used those looks to make us laugh harder, he was a great comedian!!! 🌼
June Havoc was a riot! She was so funny that I wish it had gone on longer!
Really one of the funniest mystery guest sequences -- ever. A vocal disguise for the ages with amusing bits to boot. Well done June.
Don Bryant Elizabeth sounded like Minnie Mouse.Roz Russell led everyone to believe she was a he, until Bennett asked the sex of the contestant, w/ Dorothy under her breath saying " Go ahead this could be 'Anything!' Also ,Dick Powell & Debbie Reynolds were hilarious disguising their voice. I'm sure there are many more I haven't watched yet. Let my add June Havoc.
Natalie Wood provided a nice accent.
Steve Allen had a great laugh. He could laugh at himself and also make others laugh. Not a bad thing to say about a person's legacy.
Early on, here is wonderful Steve Allen cracking up the audience with that look and persona we all grew to love and admire...... a very naturally funny man and genius.
I had never heard of June Havoc until today but she was a sweetheart!
The line of questioning by Steve Allen preceding and including this one broke me up.
"If I didn't use this thing, could I possibly ruin my hat?"
Priceless.
Dorothy Kilgallen looks stunning as well as the wonderful Arlene Francis, big fans of theirs :-)
I was in love with Arlene Francis for many years.
Arlene is wonderful and looks stunning. But praise for Dorothy’s looks reminds me of the folktale “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” She actually looks somewhere between bad and funny.
Miss June Havoc is too much, and I love it!
June Havoc; was highly underrated - wonderful singer and actress
June Havoc is one of a kind!
What a fun mystery guest!! Mr Daly makes it fun also! Thank you.
Miss Havoc lived to be 97.
The way she said "Miss Kilgallie" and "Mr Cerfie" was just hilarious!
Piper Laurie also did that when she appeared.
In my 'New' discovery of 'Old' Hollywood; I have been viewing some of June Havoc's films & continue to do so . I find her a much better actress than I expected, & very charismatic . Watching her appearance on "W.M.L.," is so hilarious, it ranks in my Top 10. "NOW LET ME BREAK THAT DOWN FOR U...." Love seeing these wonderfully historical Celebrity moments. 100 of years from now people will see it all in some new way, who knows ; but we are one of the 1st Generations that had film & video as a Reference point in History.
I was two years old when this episode was on live TV.
Wonderful show, back when the entertainment industry had panache, style, and class. You can not say that today.
I love Steve Allen on the panel.
Edwin Rivera
Yes! Steve is the best!!!!
ANYBODY'S an improvement over Hal
Ha! I was thinking just that, then I scroll down and see your comment. I just plain love his presence anywhere.
He's my favorite panel member!
His whole demeanor was one of carefree humor!
the good thing about internet is that people never dies,all of them Are still alive for us,and we admire them ,make comments ,they wouldn-t know 68 years AGO
June Havoc was the funniest mystery guest star I ever saw on the show.
Today's RUclips Rerun for 8/10/15: Watch along and join the discussion!
This is a somewhat "historic" show, containing Steve Allen's first mention of the famed "bread box" which is still referenced in pop culture today. While not worded in the classic "Is it bigger than a bread box" style, and while it isn't played at all as a joke (just as Steve said in later interviews), this is indeed the start of it all. The big moment occurs at 23:57.
-----------------------------
Join our Facebook group for WML-- great discussions, photos, etc, and great people! facebook.com/groups/728471287199862/
Please click here to subscribe to the WML channel if you haven't already-- you'll find the complete CBS series already posted, and you'll be able to follow along the discussions on the weekday "rerun" videos: ruclips.net/channel/UChPE75Fvvl1HmdAsO7Nzb8w
Hnn
June Havoc was a real star. Brilliant. Great writer. Her autobiography is one of the best. She accomplished so much. Her sister paled in comparison, but then when the best Broadway music ever got made about the sister… sad for June. Miss Havoc deserved better. A movie about her life would be amazing.
Absolutely she was a beautiful Lady, people like that just don't exist anymore , we used to be such a proud Country
GoNavy: It was Gypsy Rose Lee’s memoir that was the bad for GYPSY and her only requirement when the musical was being developed was that it be called GYPSY. When contracts are signed allowing individuals to be portrayed on stage there are sometimes limitations. June Havoc did not like how their mother was portrayed in the memoir and initially refused to allow herself/name to be used in the musical. She did relent when the show’s producer subtitled it “A Musical Fable” and was going to change the name of the younger sister to “Clair”. Since she essentially would not be part of it, she agreed and the character remained “June”.
Beat Army!!
I love seeing the entire episode. Thanks!
They really should have had June on the show more often.
Agreed,
June Havoc was so funny! She lived to be 97. Sadly, her daughter predeceased her...
When Bennett asks the manhole cover salesman (at 23:13) if his product is used by both sexes, he gets a "no" answer, based on the contestant's and John's understanding of the product as _used by_ those who would be lifting it off and putting it back on in order to go into or out of the manhole (and the apparent assumption that there were no women doing that kind of work at the time). However, I think the main use of a manhole cover is to protect pedestrians from falling into the manhole, and in that respect it would certainly be used by adults of both sexes, as well as by children! ;)
Nowadays a 'Manhole Cover' is classed as sexist and is called 'Personnel Access Cover'. How boring!
No, that's not true at all. John was clear to indicate as it pertains to the contestant, so in that case it would be only to the people buying manhole covers. (23:37) I can't tell you whether any women bought manhole covers in the 1950's but I would say this would largely be men, and certainly not children.
Steve Allen and ' is it larger than a bread box ' made history !
Almost every episode someone would ask it, always laughing !
Timeless
Why? What's funny about a bread box?
Love Miss Havoc. Saw her last night in "Brewsters Millions"..small part, but she was a firecracker.
I didn't know Miss June! Now I'm already searching more about her films to learn about her work, but I loved her as a mistery guest, one of my favorites so far (I started watching the show in order less than 1 month ago). She gave me such a good laugh, she's sweet and very funny.
The BEST panel!!!!!👍
June Havoc died in 2010 at 97 y.o. Her sister was Gypsy Rose Lee.
I wonder how many people know that she is the sister of Gypsy Rose Lee, and her actual last name was Hovic which she changed ever so slightly for her stage name. Her last name is used as Rose's last name in the play and film "Gypsy".
I had never heard of June Havoc before. What a personality. Cool name too.
She is Gypsy Rose Lee's sister.
@@chrisjeffries2322 she was but she was also way more accomplished then her.
@@rickwhite3181 Yes I do know that, thank you, Rick.
I am addicted to WHAT'S MY LINE.
I adore Steve.
I’d heard the name but didn’t know anything about him until WML here on YT.
June Havoc's exit after her appearance was the fastest I've ever seen. She practically raced off the stage.
she flew
June is so cute!!!
That question - bigger than a bread box - would became iconic.
Wow that was a long time ago. 1953 Dwight Eisenhower was sworn in for his first term of office and Elizabeth II was crown queen of the United Kingdom later that year. That's that's 70 years ago my goodness how time flies!
A great sense of humor was a family trait hared by June and her sister Gypsy Rose Lee.
June Havoc was younger sister to Gypsy Rose Lee.
+gcjerryusc
Close, but wrong sibling. Olivia de Havilland's sister was fellow Academy Award winner Joan Fontaine. (de Havilland is the family name; reportedly their mother refused to allow Joan to use the name professionally, although I don't see how she could forbid it.) They are the only siblings to have won in the lead acting category.
Although the younger sister, Miss Fontaine passed away in 2013, while Miss de Havilland at last report is still living and became an centenarian this year on July 1 (very recently joined in that "club" by Kirk Douglas).
The two sisters feuded for most of their lives. Ironically, Miss Fontaine was quote as saying in 1978, "I married first, won the Oscar before Olivia did, and if I die first, she'll undoubtedly be livid because I beat her to it!"[
gcjerryusc From what I read, the de Havilland household and the childhood of Olivia and Joan was quite dysfunctional. In their early years they lived with their parents in Japan. Joan was a somewhat sickly child and they came back to the U.S. (the SF area) for that reason. But soon, their father went back to Japan to continue the affair he was having with their (Japanese) housekeeper, who he eventually married after divorcing the mother of Olivia and Joan.
The mother eventually remarried (someone with the last name of Fontaine). Apparently he was very strict.
The mother also very much favored Olivia over Joan. The excuse she would use is that Olivia was allowed to do things but Joan couldn't because her health would make her incapable of doing them. (Ironic, considering that Olivia played the part of the frail and sickly Melanie Hamilton Wilkes.)
The rivalry between the sisters started in childhood. Reportedly, Olivia would cut apart the clothes she outgrew that were to be Joan's hand me downs. Joan would have to sew them back together so she could wear them.
gcjerryusc Around the time I turned 40, I came up with two things to help me have a positive attitude towards age:
1) Middle age is ten years older than I am (regardless of what age I am at the time).
2) I want to get older, but I don't want to get old.
Steve asks June at 17:08 if she is a leading lady. I'd call her a misleading lady as a mystery guest; that "elderly" vocal style is a great put-on.
"misleading lady" - very witty Neil!
It frequently annoys me that some of the most interesting (and potentially funny) professions are saved for the end of the show, and then have to be cut short because of time.
I remember an episode of All in the Family, where Edith has Archie guess the surprise. The first question he asks is, "Is it smaller than a breadbox?"
And in that context, even when rushed for time, why does John Daly insist on his whole spiel? It's really starting to get on my nerves. I want to cry out, "Shut up, John, we've heard it all X times!" And may I ask, having worked my way through this far, if John ever stops saying some variant of "But the panel has to dig?" for every single contestant? (Guess I should take a break from these shows, huh?)
I agree 100%!!!!
Daly, great though he is, appears to be wholly in charge of timekeeping without aid and it seems to be compromised practically every 'week' at the moment. Why the execs didn't advise him on it I don't know. And I agree, often the last guest stimulates the best early questions and then it has to be brought to a finish amid a vibe of controlled panic. I guess the production team are at fault for not advising Daly.
The last contestant was usually someone who lived near NYC and who could arrive and depart from the studio at their own expense. Many of these contestants never went on, so the producers did not wish to provide them with hotel and travel accommodations. Live TV meant you needed to fill every second without going one second over. The frenetic pace of the final round is a relic of that era.
@@davidsanderson5918 I totally agree with you.
23:57
Since the highlight of this episode is Steve's casual invention of the breadbox question, it seems reasonable to add his POV (from his 1960 autobiography, 'Mark It and Strike It') to the comments:
The one line that seems to have stuck in the public consciousness is one whose popularity has always been a puzzle to me. One evening, in trying to determine the size of an object that was manufactured by one of the guests, I said, "Is it bigger than a breadbox?" I meant this in all seriousness, but for some reason the audience laughed uproariously. Perhaps the reason is that the breadbox is an old-fashioned item to today's homemakers and so the word had the sort of connotation that surrounds phrases like high-button shoes, celluloid collar, or raccoon coat. In any event, from that day to this the phrase has been a part of the American vernacular. Dorothy, Bennett, and Arlene picked it up as a sort of running joke and there was a time when every week somebody would send me an unusual breadbox or ask me for mine or send me a song about breadboxes or something of the sort. One kitchenware manufacturer even wanted to put a Steve Allen breadbox on the market.
For more fun, check out this follow up vid:
ruclips.net/video/-q9tXR7jmL8/видео.html
+YouzTube99 So, is Steve speculating that the uproarious laughter of the 1953 audience was caused by the fact that the breadbox was an old fashioned item in 1960? Maybe I'm reading this wrong.
+Bruce C
Actually, if you listen to that section of the vid, Steve's memory is wrong; the audience did NOT laugh uproariously, though one of the women on the panel giggled. To be fair, he probably didn't have YT available to double check.
He may have remembered a subsequent show (linked at the bottom of my original comment) in which the producers invited a guest who made breadboxes. The audience immediately got the connection and hilarity ensued but they were laughing about the joke on Steve, not the breadbox.
That said, he's quite correct about the phrase catching on but even in 1960 breadboxes were falling into disuse and are now just an anachronism. The phrase is rarely used by young people and will likely be relegated to pop culture history book in a generation or so.
+YouzTube99 Yes, I can easily understand Steve's mistaken memory of the laughter. And, although I remember breadboxes being very common well into the 70's, I'll accept that their popularity may have been waning in 1960. What I take issue with is the idea that a situation in 1960 could cause a reaction in 1953. Breadboxes were certainly not outdated in January of 1953 when the supposed laughter occurred. Steve's speculation here is illogical. I could understand if this were an off the cuff interview, but it's an autobiography.
I probably shouldn't be letting this bother me, but I consider Steve to have been a rather intelligent man, so I find the lack of logic here upsetting.
Thanks so much for posting the excerpt though.
I think part of what's going here may be that Steve found this all more than a little bit irritating, that a straight question he asked once on WML became the single most well known quote associated with him, and it's not even a joke, was never meant as one. I sense an edge in the way he wrote about it, the puzzlement over the "uproarious" studio laughter that never happened being the result perhaps of the many year of this being shoved in his face as his most significant contribution to pop culture, asking about bread boxes, for crying out loud. He's grasping at straws to come up with any sort of explanation as to why this line "took off", and the speculation he arrived at was poorly thought out because he didn't much care. His interview on the EmmyLegends website spends about 5 minutes, tops, talking about WML-- and of those maybe 5 minutes, he's talking about the bread box question for half of it!
+What's My Line? Thanks to you and YouzTube99 for indulging me. I think that both your assessments are correct. I have so much respect for Steve Allen that I didn't want to accept this carelessness. It was like hearing that George Reeves jumped out of a window and died. I thought he could fly. Very disappointing to a young boy. I will choose to blame this all on the publisher who neglected to proof read and edit diligently. My respect for Steve goes untainted. He should have use Random House. My thanks again to both of you and the link to "Meeting of Minds". This channel is my go to for entertainment. A day rarely goes by that I don't watch at least one episode of WML.
June should have been brought back another time
At 26:30 Bennett says that June Havoc is "writing a book for us" but as far as I've been able to find, her first published book was "Early Havoc" published by Simon & Schuster in 1959.
I believe that her second book was published called "More Havoc" and a third one was planned...
Miss Hawkrigg married a gent named Vincent Handal and I don't know if she had a profession, but he retired in 1995, and they moved from Brooklyn to Hampton Bays (on Long Island) and enjoyed themselves in volunteering, largely Catholic-oriented. They had three children together (one of whom became a nun), and as of March (when her husband died), Mrs. Handal is still with us.
Good God almighty.
@@peternagy-im4be lol
I wasn't born for another 11 years, and I miss these days.
I was just under 5 years old about this time. I would sometimes visit my grandmother in her apartment when she watched this show, but I was too young to understand what the panel and contestants were talking about.
Miss June Havoc couldn't disguise her voice from Mr. Cerf. Lol!
Only because they had met a short time before.😊
June Havoc, I remember seeing her on the Outer limits episode Cry Of Silence she costarred with Eddy Albert they were looking to buy a farm and were attacked by tumble weeds & frogs & Rocks by an invisible alien force from outer space. -- Eddy Albert wound up on Green Acers co staring with Eva Gabor on that farm ! I had to look up June Havoc's filmography after seeing her on the Outer Limits,,, She Was A Beautiful Movie & Film Actress, Where Once Upon A Time In An Era Were There Were Great Film Stars.
Lol! June's funny!
I was hoping to find the first breadbox reference! Thank you.
June looks so young, not anything like 40 which she was.
The women guests had some awesome careers for the time. Feminists with charm and class.
It's weird seeing Bennett and Steve sitting, well, at each others regular chairs. I guess seat positions weren't set in stone at this time.
I agree. Something feels off when I see Bennett sitting elsewhere. By this point he already was a regular panelist...I suppose it wasn't until Bennett and John developed their playful bromance that he really established himself as the king of the panel. Can't get enough of their style...
It was whoever got there first, I guess.
@@erenunal Bennett wasn't the king of the panel, he thought he was the queen of the TV skween.
I feel like the furthest seat to the [audience] right was for the person who played a comedic role on the panel. I haven't watched too many episodes yet, but I'd assume who primarily did this changed over time. No idea how much of this was their own personality, vs suggestions from the production team on how to act or what to say.
There are so many of the mystery celebrities I've never heard of, while there are so many others whose fame bloomed after their (first) appearance on the show.
Steve Allen, whose question, "is it bigger than a bread box?" eventually became a staple of What's My Line questioning, made allusion to it in this, his first appearance on the program.
13:01 Steve not only has been on "It's a Secret," he hosted it on two separate runs and guested on it in 2000. :)
Why did they usually keep the best, most obscure occupations for the end, when they usually don't have enough time ?
Must admit Ive never heard of June Havoc as an actress .
No idea, but I assume it's so John can say, "oops, we ran out of time" when they get to a question that is particularly difficult to answer.
Mr Allen seemed quite nervous! It's interesting to see performers before they became established. Some become very confident, smug, while others never forget how hard they had to work to get where they are.
What an awesome guest! Even though I’ve been kind of a film buff, I don’t recall June Havoc at all, but she was brilliant!
there was a great rivalry between sisters gypsy rose and june, gypsy was always considered the raconteur or socialite of the two, but obviously june had that same wit about her, and gypsy was always jealous of june's talent and looks. all this spurred on by a vaudevillian mother of fierce independence for the era. fascinating book (american rose) about the 3 women carving a life out for themselves in a male dominated world, and just how hard it was to do that in the first half of the 20th century.
Thanks, didn't know she was GRL's sister . That book sounds interesting, who is the author ?
@@paacer I looked up _American Rose_ , and it looks like it was written by Karen Abbott. Here's a link to the book's entry on GoodReads: www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/8201605
Anybody know which actress Dorothy had in mind when she was asking about the suit of armor?
Of the manhole salesman;
Is it in the entertainment category?
Only when it's not in it's place.
As pertains to the sales of manhole covers, I don't think that's relevant. Perhaps (but probably not), it would have a different answer if the person worked for the city or a utility.
John Daley's hair in the back looks weird. This show gets addictive. I love watching these old shows from my youth.
He wears a rug
Behold : The First ever meme !
If Bennett were on the show today, he’d be 124 years old!
Good god almighty.
The rubber panty guy was rather handsome !
Arlene made a comment about him😊
june havoc was in the movie -gentlmen's agreement.she was gregory peck ' s secretary.
Wasn’t that Celeste Holme?
My brother got me onto his show when I was into elementary school
Is this the first time Arlene has been seen wearing a tiara? I don't remember seeing one on the previous episodes.
Well, we're missing almost all of the first two and a half years of the series, so it's pretty much impossible to answer that question today.
Thanks! I'm watching 01/25/53 tonight and she's wearing a crown!
dafyddhugh Oh, good grief, yes, I remember THAT headgear. Fortunately, Arlene moved past her tiaras and crowns phase pretty quickly! :)
Every time John asks if the blindfolds are on, I end up saying "Yes John". For some reason I just have to say it.
shuboy05 Heehee
Too good. I think you just started a trend, at least in this household.
@@alansorensen5903 Are the blindfolds on?
@@shuboy05 Yes! John.
@@alansorensen5903 I recall in one episode Dorothy replying "Yes daddy"
When there are contestants with occupations of humorous potential John often starts off with Steve Alan
So, that's how the breadbox question was born! :)
Ah! Thank you for noting this, you0107! I meant to make a note of this myself when I initially watched the shows and never did, and of course could never find it again afterwards when I went back looking for it. Yes, it's at 23:57, and while not worded in the classic "Is it bigger than a bread box" style, this is, indeed, Steve Allen's first mention of it. I'm adding a note to the description about it, and flipping all the cards for you in thanks.
What's My Line? 65 years and 2 days ago that the show was first aired!!!
do you know if NBC intend to digitise some (or all) of the episodes of this or any other of the net's shows?
עידו שמחי WML was a CBS show, not NBC, and CBS has no rights nor interests in the series whatsoever at this point. The film prints and the copyright to the concept for the series are all owned by Fremantle Media now. The original series episodes were never copyrighted (as was the case with virtually all live shows of the time), which is why I'm able to post them to RUclips.
What's My Line? My bad about NBC instead of CBS, but who is Fremantle Media and i don't understand the copyrights thing, if the film prints and copyright to concept of the show owned by some company how come the episodes are not protected?
עידו שמחי Copyrighting the title and concept for a show is not the same thing as the episodes themselves being copyrighted. It means that no one else can produce a new version of What's My Line without Fremantle's permission, but it has nothing to do with the public domain status of the episodes of the CBS series.
I don't want to get into a whole discussion about how copyrights work, all due respect.
A manhole cover salesman ... might be one of the stranger occupations on this show ...
Stopette? And are there truant officers any more?
June Havoc had a beautiful speaking voice ... put on, I'm sure, beautiful nonetheless
I will be acting with June Hovac next week. I recently purchased on Ebay an LP called CO-STAR. It comes with a script and she reads her acting lines and in the script I act with her. I had a choice of other LP's with different actor's but I wanted her because she was so great in ''SUBWAY'' a SUSPENSE radio drama and one of my favorite radio stories (It's on RUclips) So I'm looking forward to be acting with her next week. She was funny on this episode and cute.
June Havoc ?
@@dcasper8514 Yes June Hovac!
Not "physically" acting with her, as you seem to be naively implying. June Havoc died over 10 years ago.
Might be wrong but wasn't there an episode where one of the panel asked "is it bigger than a bread box?" and the guest occupation was a bread box maker?
@DarkLight753 I think so, but I don't know if I could find it now. I know there was at least one with a bread box maker, though. In the one I watched most recently (already at least a few weeks ago), I think it was the last game segment of the episode, and they didn't have time to properly finish the game before John flipped all the cards due to time. I don't think the question was asked in that one, but my memory's not so great on this stuff. Of course, they had this contestant on especially to have a little extra fun with Steve. I think there may have been another such episode in which the question really was asked, and the answer had to be, "no, it is not bigger than a breadbox." ;)
Yep, absolutely! It may have been in that episodes listed title and possibly searched for as such.
You can search it under Bread Box Maker and it was after Steve had been on for a few years with his bigger than a bread box question already having become part of the language. It was the final contestant and the questioning started with Dorothy went to Steve and he got it. Dorothy had asked if it was bigger than a phone booth, so Steve asked his question and when the answer came back NO and people laughed it started to dawn on every panelist at once that perhaps they'd actually found a bread box mfg. to bring on the show.
@@philippapay4352 I recall when the question was asked if it was bigger than a breadbox, John said "No, it's not bigger than a breadbox" and repeated it again and so they knew he was making that clear....
@@Stuff7630 Yes, indeed. Dorothy asked about a phone booth or a bird bath and then when the bread box was brought up immediately following, John rather gave it away by repeating himself as you mention. Of course, he had to call the game for time. It was the final contestant of the night, so there really wasn't time to go on. But, John did give the game away on that one.
At 68 years old, I am somewhat taken aback by the Dorothy's desire to feel the male contestants' muscles. With the lens of history, it just strikes me as so sexist! I'm obviously a victim of leftist propaganda!
Never heard of June Havoc. Pretty lady.
rbilleaud Her sister was Gypsy Rose Lee.
I saw her in the touring company of Sweeney Todd years ago. I even met her afterwards and got her autograph. Just my two cents. :)
+Rob Billeaud the younger and more talented sister of the infamous gypsy rose lee. if you're interested i read a great book about gypsy rose called "american rose" by karen abbott, they grew up doing a vaudeville act. amazing lives they led, it has a lot about june in the book. a real good read.
I may be in the minority here, but I miss Hal Block! But I like Steve Allen a lot; he was a great replacement.
This wasn't Steve Allen's first mention of a Bread box. I made a comment on the episode before the last that the first time the breadbox is mentioned on the show, somebody comes on there who makes breadboxes
Weak applause for Havoc when she came out.
but she won them over. She *was* well known during those years ... but her sister was FAMOUS ... watch the clip where Gypsy Rose Lee is the mystery guest, I think it's the biggest applause I've ever seen a WML guest get and that was before she even signed in. Absolutely everyone knew her ... the same wasn't true of June Havoc
I've been watching these in order, but I swear someone else (one of the woman?) did the breadbox question in a 1952 episode.
I remember the days of the Truant Officers, I wonder if they're still a position for them these days. I also remember the Bread Box, all homes seemed to have one when I was growing up.
John Daly sure tends to answer questions much too much. Sometimes, wrongly.
Dorothy was so sharp
Wow, Mr. McMichael is from East Orange N. J. My mom and dad had property there back in the day. Small world.
He was my best friend’s father. We just found out about that he was on this show!
Well Miss June did not cause Havoc, but she gave herself away by opening her mouth. LoL! She was a wonderful actress and dancer.
It's weird not seeing Bennett Cerf sitting at the helm.
June Havoc is so funny on this. I would've classified her as a comedienne more than anything even though she went for leading lady.
Is it just me, or does the volume change (sometimes drastically) from show to show? I have to keep my ear buds at-the-ready for my cellphone on which I watch these episodes because the sound level changes from loud to soft and back again.
no expense spared on the set in those days
How did they let the "audience in the theater" know what the lines were?
There were television monitors in the studio positioned so the audience could see them, but the panelists could not. The monitors showed the same picture that was going out over the air to home viewers.
June didn’t have a chance to say what she was currently doing and given the bums rush off stage!
With the absentee rate in public NYC schools at astronomical levels, I doubt that truant officers are in existence anymore. How sad...
Why is Bennett not on the end?
Bennett was moved to the end of the panel after Hal Block had been fired.
This episode is from the time when Block was still on the show, but on a forced vacation.
What about a bread box? I've never head anyone say something is "bigger than a bread box." What's the significance of him saying something about a bread box?
Is it me or is the photo of the supposed upcoming guest actually the manhole cover salesman they've just had on?!
How large is a breadbox? Does it keep bread fresher?
bookwoman53 it’s typically the size of a loaf of bread. And I imagine it did keep bread fresher. This was back before big refrigerators.
bookwoman53 a