What's My Line? - Bennett Cerf's first show! - Gloria Swanson (Oct 15, 1950)

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  • @cynthialyman2636
    @cynthialyman2636 7 лет назад +279

    What strikes me too is how there were no effects (decades before CGI) on this show, and the set was the essence of simplicity: chalk board, drapes, a desk and chairs, and flip cards to keep score. Yet it was highly entertaining and as I can attest to now, extremely habit forming.

    • @TheKazadoodle
      @TheKazadoodle 7 лет назад +8

      I wasn't aware that there were any game shows even nowadays with CGI, but I could be wrong.

    • @oswaldomilano3848
      @oswaldomilano3848 5 лет назад +6

      totallyagreed

    • @RobJazzful
      @RobJazzful 5 лет назад +13

      Cynthia Lyman ...ABSOLUTELY habit forming, he said at 4:00AM!

    • @elliottschertzer876
      @elliottschertzer876 4 года назад +4

      The set cost 12 bucks lol

    • @catteadams
      @catteadams 3 года назад +4

      I love that part! Nostalgia. Ha ha.

  • @58christiansful
    @58christiansful 2 года назад +18

    Utterly charming. A different world!

  • @erenunal
    @erenunal 5 лет назад +82

    it's incredible to witness the improvements in broadcasting within the lifespan of this show alone.

    • @kennixox262
      @kennixox262 Год назад

      I would imagine that you are seeing kinescopes that were created for delayed broadcast to the west coast. Videotape became available around 1957 and beyond.

    • @wschmrdr
      @wschmrdr Год назад +4

      @@kennixox262 All of what remains of the show is kinescope that was later converted. Videotape may have been available, but was incredibly expensive, so networks would commonly wipe and re-use it. Mark Goodson purchased kinescopes of every episode when he found out this was even happening with them, and it's for that reason we are able to enjoy the shows today.

    • @jw77019
      @jw77019 Год назад +1

      Even the NBC nightly news in the early 1970s often is shown on the Rachel Maddow show in black and white because they recorded over the color videotape. It was broadcast live since the mid 1960s.

  • @nunosoares2329
    @nunosoares2329 4 года назад +29

    RIP Gloria Swanson. Long long overdue condolences to the family for your loss 😔💐

  • @bluesborn
    @bluesborn 9 лет назад +179

    I love how mannered witty and urbane everyone was back then.

    • @darienwellness2866
      @darienwellness2866 6 лет назад +11

      Agreed. A very New York program at that time.

    • @mountrobson1
      @mountrobson1 5 лет назад +9

      @SavageArfad I am sure you are correct to an extent, but bluesborn's observation is valid. I've watched a few random episodes plus the first six episodes listed here and have seen, among other occupations, a butcher, lady wrestler, mosquito inspector, bartender, skirt-blowing machine operator, circus chimpanzee trainer, and chimney sweep...humble professions populated here by piquant, affable, and courteous contestants. Perhaps not the typical occupant in these trades today -- and certainly not examples of current game show contenders!

    • @christopherthorkon3997
      @christopherthorkon3997 3 года назад +13

      Yes. Also remember that, back in those days, good manners and a great education were the cultural norm. Not now.

    • @gabbyg7315
      @gabbyg7315 3 года назад +12

      And no matter the age, occupation or gender, they dressed so well, which is also a sign of respect to others, a concept lost on younger generations nowadays. No ripped jeans, low-cut tops displaying preposterous surgical enhancements, etc.

    • @rasberryfields2132
      @rasberryfields2132 2 года назад +2

      @@gabbyg7315 so true!

  • @photo161
    @photo161 7 лет назад +62

    What a monumental movie star was the glorious Gloria Swanson!

    • @neilphelan145
      @neilphelan145 3 года назад +8

      She is the essence of class!

    • @timprescott4634
      @timprescott4634 3 года назад +5

      And to think she never won an Oscar. A travesty.

    • @waynej2608
      @waynej2608 3 года назад +5

      @@timprescott4634 She had a good shot, with Sunset Blvd, in a fiercely competitive year.

    • @gabbyg7315
      @gabbyg7315 3 года назад +4

      I was asked to escort Gloria Swanson around a health show where her younger husband, the author of "Sugar Blues" was speaking. She was known for her dedication to a healthy diet and even used to take her own food to the Academy Awards dinners.
      I wasn't a particular fan of hers but was a fan of her very fine movie, Sunset Boulevard, and of her healthy lifestyle. Sadly, I was greatly disappointed to discover that her manners, privately, didn't correspond with those displayed on this program.

    • @olenfersoi8887
      @olenfersoi8887 2 года назад

      @@gabbyg7315 Are you implying that she was an uncouth slob in person???

  • @justsotired4022
    @justsotired4022 Год назад +6

    These shows are way before my time as an adult and they are extremely entertaining. It's easy to see why people looked forward to seeing them every week. There was great chemistry across the board with most of the panelists and John Daly. It is so relaxing to binge watch them.

  • @jetblack.7186
    @jetblack.7186 2 года назад +8

    I watched one last night and can’t stop watching them.

  • @call2872
    @call2872 2 года назад +58

    I adore her performance in Sunset Boulevard. Never seen a stellar acting like that, and who could forget the ending with those intense eyes looking at the camera?
    And yes, she should have won for Best Actress.

    • @laurahoward5426
      @laurahoward5426 2 года назад +1

      Nominated

    • @davidcouch6514
      @davidcouch6514 Год назад +5

      I’m surprised they didn’t recognize Norma Desmond’s voice right away.

    • @miketheyunggod2534
      @miketheyunggod2534 Год назад +4

      A legend who made an easy transition from silents to talkies.

    • @hcombs0104
      @hcombs0104 7 месяцев назад

      As much as I love Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday, I think Gloria Swanson should have won that year.

    • @lindaadams3622
      @lindaadams3622 4 месяца назад

      Did Arlene ever win an award for any of her work? Never heard that she had.

  • @Shizalumni
    @Shizalumni 9 лет назад +114

    It's surprising it took so long for them to guess Gloria Swanson, her voice is unmistakable.

    • @davidfelperin2367
      @davidfelperin2367 7 лет назад +11

      I agree. Why did she have to answer in complete sentences? Gave herself away.

    • @brkitdwn
      @brkitdwn 3 года назад +7

      @@davidfelperin2367 That's her nature.

    • @withonelook1985
      @withonelook1985 3 года назад +23

      She was a silent film star. Before Sunset Blvd. she had almost no known spoken roles. Her radio show happened after the movie. Her voice in Sunset was nothing like her actual speaking voice.

    • @ChrisHansonCanada
      @ChrisHansonCanada 2 года назад

      The audience reaction when she appeared was very subdued considering what a big star she was.

    • @ajplays7241
      @ajplays7241 8 месяцев назад

      I think Dorothy Knew and said she knew but the hard part is placing the name.

  • @rr7firefly
    @rr7firefly 3 года назад +66

    Gloria Swanson did not attempt to disguise her voice and she spoke at length. It's amazing she was not found out much earlier.

    • @michellelekas211
      @michellelekas211 2 года назад +9

      She was best known for her silents

    • @lottaandgus
      @lottaandgus 2 года назад +11

      @@michellelekas211 But she had just done Sunset Boulevard!

    • @michellelekas211
      @michellelekas211 2 года назад

      @@lottaandgus Yes.

    • @buffbill-t2i
      @buffbill-t2i Год назад +5

      people in those early days didn't have the benefit of hearing voices of stars like we would today, no vcrs and only saw them in a movie and you might see them again for years, barely any TV if they were even ever on TV at all.

    • @Orange-Jumpsuit-Time
      @Orange-Jumpsuit-Time Год назад

      Maybe if Joe Kennedy was on the panel? 😆😅🤣😂

  • @abigailparish288
    @abigailparish288 2 месяца назад +2

    I'm glad they stopped having the guests parade in front of the panel.

  • @ifbpeanut
    @ifbpeanut 6 лет назад +39

    Bennett Cerf was a great panelist!

  • @justinmay3451
    @justinmay3451 5 лет назад +18

    Happy Birthday Bennett Cerf! Thanks for all of the great WML memories and the laughs.

  • @SymphonyBrahms
    @SymphonyBrahms 4 года назад +22

    Class. Glamour. Talent. The great Gloria Swanson.

    • @TheVaughan5
      @TheVaughan5 3 года назад +3

      Certainly an icon of the golden age of Hollywood. There’s a very sad photo of Gloria standing amid the ruins of the then being demolished New York Roxy (The Cathedral of the Motion Picture). 1961 the beginning of the end not only for the movie palaces but also the Hollywood Studio System. Downtown America has never been the same since.

  • @jtal3292
    @jtal3292 10 лет назад +82

    Having just watched the very early episodes, I think what changed here is the audience. The audience reaction is a part of the show, and it lets the panel play to them, and show their personality more. Daly plays to them as well in his reactions. Having the audience this involved really is an important part of the show.

    • @catteadams
      @catteadams 3 года назад +7

      Agreed. Audience was part of the show.

    • @Orange-Jumpsuit-Time
      @Orange-Jumpsuit-Time Год назад +2

      Thank god later on they got rid of that stupid parading in front of the panel and guessing what their occupation is.

    • @Kitskacat
      @Kitskacat Год назад +1

      Agreed! It is so strange to watch the earlier episodes and get the SILENCE. No excitement about the occupations or even clapping when they say where they are from.

  • @HenryFrederick
    @HenryFrederick 7 лет назад +49

    This is like a time machine...

    • @astudent8475
      @astudent8475 3 года назад +3

      Damn... It is....

    • @donnacook8994
      @donnacook8994 Год назад +1

      To a time when people were more respectful and mannerly, better dressed, and well spoken. Nothing like 2023, sad to say. 😩

  • @downbntout
    @downbntout 2 года назад +22

    Happy to see that any footage of Gloria Swanson survived other than in her performances. I've always admired her stance against refined sugar. Refined people, good, not refined foods.

  • @ruthkidney3582
    @ruthkidney3582 2 года назад +7

    I wasn't born until 1956: so I didn't watch this show until it showed up on YT. Love binge watching it 😁

  • @watchful38
    @watchful38 10 лет назад +48

    Louis Untermeyer is my hero! He was the best poetry anthologist of the 20th Century IMO. The 1942 edition of the "Combined Modern American & British Poetry" is outstanding in the choice of poems and the commentaries. It is available second hand at Alibris Books. Only the 1942 edition is worthwhile. Other editions are abbreviated.

    • @evans54
      @evans54 3 года назад +4

      Fired from show because of the blacklist

  • @oughtssought1198
    @oughtssought1198 2 года назад +15

    it's a pleasure watching how this show evolves over the years

    • @1jamyc
      @1jamyc 6 месяцев назад +1

      Agreed! It took me many months, but I basically just finished watching the entire run of the show (thru 1967). These early ones really had a different feel, the low tech all around, no blackboard, mentioning RADIO shows a few times, the walk past the panelists, the prominence of the sponsor placement, and of course the regulars being 17 years younger...

    • @oughtssought1198
      @oughtssought1198 3 месяца назад

      @@1jamyc seeing commercials from that far back interests me too

  • @robinblankenship117
    @robinblankenship117 Месяц назад +2

    Decent tv is a welcomed thing! That's why it hooks you! Enjoyably show! ❤

  • @moonlightray8493
    @moonlightray8493 Год назад +9

    9:33 Arlene imitating a seal is simply adorable! I love how John joins in too, haha

  • @secondstring
    @secondstring 5 лет назад +36

    Bennett was good at this game from the start.

  • @VahanNisanian
    @VahanNisanian 10 лет назад +32

    Somewhere between this episode, and 12/31/50 episode, the white easel and felt marker were replaced with the familiar blackboard and chalk.

  • @dovbarleib3256
    @dovbarleib3256 7 лет назад +37

    Arlene Francis was correct in her wild guess. A Cosmetics Buyer will often buy cosmetics for Department Stores!

  • @davidrbecken
    @davidrbecken 6 лет назад +131

    The way they inspect the people is creepy. I am glad that stopped somewhere along the way.

    • @sophiemorrison9820
      @sophiemorrison9820 6 лет назад +12

      agree completely.

    • @AllenFreemanMediaGuru
      @AllenFreemanMediaGuru 5 лет назад +9

      vestiphobe Both of the ladies mentioned wanting to feel biceps early on!

    • @catteadams
      @catteadams 5 лет назад +33

      Absolutely. The very first shows were super creepy. The things the male panelists asked of the women contestants were embarrassing and gross. They gave me the creeps, and further having lived in that era, I remember this attitude from men towards women, and it was very creepy and difficult to navigate. THANK God we are evolving!!!

    • @jimboy819
      @jimboy819 4 года назад +4

      Agreed. Bend over on one knee while she looks at his back side. Creepy.

    • @mjames4709
      @mjames4709 4 года назад +5

      @@catteadams sounds like someone never got a wolf whistle?

  • @frankroper3274
    @frankroper3274 3 года назад +10

    It was an awesome show! I still enjoy it just as much as then!

  • @bobhayett2376
    @bobhayett2376 3 года назад +25

    What a great show. Everybody on the show is so polite and formal.

    • @valentinr.dominguez2892
      @valentinr.dominguez2892 2 года назад +6

      I miss those qualities in people. Today if you have those qualities, people look at you as if you have a problem.

    • @mynamedoesntmatter8652
      @mynamedoesntmatter8652 Год назад +1

      @@valentinr.dominguez2892
      But isn’t it so nice when you meet someone who does have these traits. They may be few and far between, but some people still raise their kids right, and the kids see the goodness in what they’ve been taught, preferring that over the foulness of those who don’t care.

    • @bookwoman53
      @bookwoman53 Год назад

      Also in formal wear.

  • @JDAbelRN
    @JDAbelRN 2 года назад +9

    It seemed that Gloria Swanson was quite surprised and appreciative of the STYLISH outfit the Stoppette Company gave to her as a gift. I HAVE read her autobiography and she was very interested in latest fashion and looking good in public. I do not recall any other guest receiving a gift other than a cash contribution to their favorite charity.

  • @bradmcneil4336
    @bradmcneil4336 2 года назад +5

    Wonderful segment with Ms Swanson.

  • @padijeff5675
    @padijeff5675 4 года назад +12

    Bennet Cerf always seemed the same over the years! Nice man!😼

  • @catelynstark5689
    @catelynstark5689 4 года назад +15

    Oh lordy I'm loving these early episodes where they're all acting so naturally. Also you can hear car horns at 12:24 and 12:30. Love it.

    • @GregInEastTennessee
      @GregInEastTennessee Год назад

      I was watching To Tell The Truth the other day and you could hear airplanes flying over and sirens going by.

  • @avicenna3994
    @avicenna3994 7 лет назад +25

    Thanks for all your hard work in assembling these episodes. It's nice seeing the show in its early days. Kilgallen, Francis and Cerf together for the first time worked so well, and Arlene seemed so excited to get the correct answers lol. Getting to know Untermeyer too (sad what happened to him). And it's nice to see John Daly give more direct explanations to the panellists instead of going on and on and on. :P

    • @olenfersoi8887
      @olenfersoi8887 2 года назад +3

      I presume you mean Untermeyer being black-listed as a result of the House Un-American Activities Committee hearings. He is just one of dozens, if not hundreds of people whose lives were adversely affected by that committee.

    • @voxtango1916
      @voxtango1916 2 года назад

      @@olenfersoi8887 We desperately need a HUAC today. Back then we were a nation of patriots. Now we are practically overrun by Communists and freaks.

  • @juangalt3496
    @juangalt3496 8 лет назад +51

    I guess Untermeyer and Cerf were two of the few and maybe the last TV panelists born in the 1800s.

    • @dylane.9470
      @dylane.9470 6 лет назад +17

      Fred Allen also was born in the 1890s.

    • @stephenvincent4989
      @stephenvincent4989 4 года назад +1

      By the look of the woman’s hairstyles it looks more like the 1700’s.

    • @JakobSeidl
      @JakobSeidl 4 года назад +4

      Groucho Marx too

    • @juangalt3496
      @juangalt3496 4 года назад

      @Maxx Fleischer What TV panel show was Pinza on regularly?

    • @catteadams
      @catteadams 3 года назад

      Did not know that.

  • @chrisallen7911
    @chrisallen7911 3 года назад +10

    Amazing what Class people had back then and how they dressed to be on Television. Those were the days.

  • @suzannelawrence1336
    @suzannelawrence1336 9 лет назад +7

    wow, all of these are so GREAT
    thanks for uploading them!

  • @Rhonda9199
    @Rhonda9199 7 лет назад +79

    Arlene Francis is so adorable!!!

    • @mountrobson1
      @mountrobson1 5 лет назад +6

      I am smitten by this lady! I'm 56 and had not know of her before today. Her velvety voice, her Mid-Atlantic accent (a bit of an affectation, as I understand it), her sharp intuitive skills....her shoulders!! I have a most beautiful aunt that favors her --- I've already sent her a message about her look-alike!!

    • @KevinDee007
      @KevinDee007 5 лет назад +1

      She has the shoulders of a swimmer.

    • @steventrosiek2623
      @steventrosiek2623 4 года назад +4

      Stunningly beautiful

    • @M3au
      @M3au 4 года назад +3

      I am lamenting that I too have the hots for Arlene ... 70 years after this program was broadcast! Her enthusiasm, energy and smile are enchanting.

    • @onecake34244
      @onecake34244 4 года назад +1

      I now think she's attractive... Watching these as a kid in the old days I thought she was really old. :)

  • @danielbisson8032
    @danielbisson8032 9 лет назад +17

    this was live tv its so exciting at the time

    • @stephenvincent4989
      @stephenvincent4989 4 года назад +1

      Yes, except in these days of audience participation then they were heard but never ever seen.

  • @miketheyunggod2534
    @miketheyunggod2534 Год назад +2

    John gave away the second contestant's job by his reaction to one of their guesses.

  • @billbrimmer1739
    @billbrimmer1739 3 года назад +8

    The show had hit its stride by this telecast. Eight months had enhanced the presentation and certainly the panelists.

  • @imtweetydiva29
    @imtweetydiva29 2 года назад +4

    Gloria Swanson what a treat! I loved her in "Sunset Boulevard".

  • @MerleOberon
    @MerleOberon 8 лет назад +50

    It's funny to read the smoking comments. I guess these are people too young to remember Johnny Carson always smoking on the earlier Tonight shows.

    • @WhatsMyLine
      @WhatsMyLine  8 лет назад +14

      We've gotten to a point culturally where it can cause controversy to portray even a FICTIONAL character as a smoker, so on that level, the comments aren't a surprise. People aren't even allowed to smoke in their own homes in many areas of the country now, if you live in an apartment building.

    • @kateluxor2986
      @kateluxor2986 8 лет назад +18

      Very true. It was a sign also of being cool and smooth. We're just too blasted politically correct nowadays and it's getting out of hand. I don't smoke and I don't like the smell but people should have the right to live their own lives. I always thought having a smoking section was a good idea in restaurants and such. Ah well, I liked this episode, though!

    • @jeffcraven7376
      @jeffcraven7376 6 лет назад +3

      Kate, I don't smoke either, and tobacco smoke (except for cherry pipe tobacco) smells like an un-wiped behind. Half my family smoked, so instead of complaining, I turn my head in the other direction & hold my breath; plus &/or I avoid places where persons' smoke. People do have the right to smoke if they have good health insurance to pay for the outcome; Lung & Throat Cancer, COPD, & poor circulation to the point of having legs etc. amputated.

    • @miketheyunggod2534
      @miketheyunggod2534 5 лет назад +1

      MerleOberon his guests also. All the way to the 80s.

    • @mikejschin
      @mikejschin 4 года назад +3

      Those of us who are even older remember when non-smokers had ashtrays in their living room for guests who smoked. A few people even kept small boxes of cigarettes on their coffee table in case their guests ran out of smokes during their visit. Different times.

  • @savethetpc6406
    @savethetpc6406 9 лет назад +14

    John reminds the television audience of WML's new day and time at about 25:45 in this video. Sundays at 10:30 PM Eastern Time would remain WML's standard time slot for the next 17 years!

  • @tigergreg8
    @tigergreg8 7 лет назад +11

    I can't believe how much this show changed over time. It seemed as though it was off the cuff. It became much more of a well organized show later.

    • @ChristopherUSSmith
      @ChristopherUSSmith 6 лет назад +7

      tigergreg8 It was still in its first year here, so things improved with time, and especially once they got the trifecta of Kilgallen-Francis-Cerf as the regular panelists (which we got a one time preview of here).

  • @fortomnicron5436
    @fortomnicron5436 9 лет назад +51

    I must say that Dorothy Kilgallen was quite an attractive woman in her younger days. Arlene Francis was a beautiful woman too in the 1950s.

    • @ColonelJack1
      @ColonelJack1 9 лет назад +15

      FortOmnicron54 Dorothy is most definitely HOT in this episode!

    • @amb1962
      @amb1962 9 лет назад +15

      FortOmnicron54 Definitely proves Dorothy wasn't flat-chested. You don't wear a dress cut that low if you didn't have something to show! :)

    • @styremcstyre
      @styremcstyre 9 лет назад +2

      +Andrew Baker I agree :)

    • @ih82r8
      @ih82r8 6 лет назад +8

      they both had beautiful hands, especially dorothy

    • @ericstuart7748
      @ericstuart7748 5 лет назад +2

      Dorothy was attractive? I don.t see it.

  • @steviekicks8829
    @steviekicks8829 7 лет назад +22

    Gloria is Beautiful!

  • @soulierinvestments
    @soulierinvestments 9 лет назад +30

    i think Dorothy, Louie and Arlene are fantastic even this early. G-T knew their casting stuff. No arguing. And around 9:40, we get Bennett's first WML pun. Flappers.

    • @savethetpc6406
      @savethetpc6406 9 лет назад +3

      soulierinvestments Good catch on the "flapper" pun! I had missed that one. That reminds me that I haven't seen any new posts from +Johan Bengtsson in a while. Isn't he joining in on these rerun episodes?

    • @dizzyology7514
      @dizzyology7514 9 лет назад

      SaveThe TPC It's possible that Johan doesn't know about the reruns, if he isn't on the Facebook group. If you know of a way to contact him, please do so. I tried to tag his name in this post so he would see it, but there are over half a dozen Johan Bengtssons on YT, and none of the individuals that the name brought up matched his photo.

    • @savethetpc6406
      @savethetpc6406 9 лет назад

      dizzyology
      I don't have any other way of contacting him except through YT, and I always have the same problem when I try to tag his name. I guess it must be almost like "John Smith" for Swedes! We can reply directly to him on his posts on other videos, though.

    • @WhatsMyLine
      @WhatsMyLine  9 лет назад +2

      SaveThe TPC I've had the same problem tagging Johan in a comment that wasn't a direct reply. The next time I see him add a comment to any video, I'll make sure to point out the reruns to him. But I don't think I've seen a comment from him for at least a couple of weeks.

    • @dizzyology7514
      @dizzyology7514 9 лет назад +1

      SaveThe TPC Yep, apparently the name is very much like "John Smith." Bengtsson is the 15th most common surname in Sweden, says Wikipedia.

  • @VahanNisanian
    @VahanNisanian 10 лет назад +10

    By Fall 1950, WML was now every Sunday. Before, it was once every two weeks on Thursday from February-March, then it was once every two weeks on Wednesday from April-September.

    • @catteadams
      @catteadams 3 года назад +2

      My family watched it every Sunday night and us kids had to HUSH. Also Perry Mason. Mom's favorite shows.

    • @joyciejd9673
      @joyciejd9673 3 года назад

      @@catteadams oh, yes! Perry Mason...I couldn’t remember if that was on Saturday or Sunday night. The whole family would gather together

  • @libertyann439
    @libertyann439 7 лет назад +51

    They sure acted strange to the guests asking them to kneel and show the rings like they are at a fish market. Glad they quit doing that.

    • @Teri_Berk
      @Teri_Berk 4 года назад +3

      You have to consider that it was a different period then. Showing rings must have been quite normal during then. The world has changed a lot.

    • @catteadams
      @catteadams 3 года назад +2

      Later the women were doing similar things, like may I see your hands, or may I see the label in your suit? Yuk. But they stopped that pretty quickly too. It was infant TV. LOL It needed time to grow.

  • @Janjanbobaney
    @Janjanbobaney Год назад +1

    Thank you for this montage of our dear Dorothy. Very well done and very thoughtful.. rip Dorothy .. gone but never forgotten ♥️

  • @WhatsMyLine
    @WhatsMyLine  9 лет назад +49

    Some scattered thoughts of my own on this one. . . All I ever have are scattered thoughts. ;)
    Wow, it sure took them forever in the first round to (a) figure out there was an animal involved, and then (b) narrow it down from there to seal. Good for you, Arlene! Not only did she get to the answer, but she even made sure first to clarify that the animal was a mammal. Later tradition on WML was for John to interpret the word animal as synonymous with mammal, which has always-- ahem-- bugged me. And I love her seal clap after she gets it. She's on fire in the second segment.
    If look closely, you can see John smoking on camera again in this one **very** briefly at 11:58.
    Note that the Gloria Swanson segment has some noticeable film splices in it due to its inclusion as a clip in the "WML at 25" special. Even by this point in the show's run, 8 months in, the mystery guest does not appear to be trying to disguise her voice at all. And it still takes them forever to identify her, despite her starring in the very recent "Sunset Boulevard". Dorothy even *passes*! Gasp!
    The gift of the Schiaperelli gown to Gloria Swanson baffles me. I did find an article recently describing a contest being conducted by Stopette where part of the top prize was a Schiaperelli gown. With no surrounding shows to go by (all are lost), I don't know whether this was a standard feature of the mystery guest rounds at the time or a one time aberration. Odd.
    The last segment was so absurdly rushed, all it served to do was take precious time from what should have a fascinating interview with Gloria. Boo!

    • @krasnykavkaz
      @krasnykavkaz 9 лет назад +6

      What's My Line? She probably thought that her own normal voice would be disguise enough, since Norma Desmond was (ironically) flagrantly theatrical in her diction and that was Swanson's only real talkie role of note in the past 9 years before the show.

    • @perpieta
      @perpieta 8 лет назад +4

      Arlene also knew that whale is a mammal (she mentioned "a whale" just after she confirmed the guest worked with mammals). Smart lady.

    • @kguy152000
      @kguy152000 7 лет назад +1

      7:20, he also has the cigarette in his hand. Very interesting to see.

    • @PepsiMama2
      @PepsiMama2 7 лет назад +3

      The gift of the Schiaperelli gown to Gloria Swanson done in that way was perfect... Gloria Swanson was a clothes horse and spent much of her time at fashion shows.... I thought it was pretty cool that they did it like that for her.. You can tell by the look on her face, she loved it..

    • @bradtorville5526
      @bradtorville5526 6 лет назад +2

      I'm not really sure why the smoking on camera bothers you so much. Gary Moore smoked like crazy on I've Got a Secret. I remember seeing a lot of smoking on I Love Lucy and other TV shows in the 50s. It was commonplace, particularly when so many of those shows had major brand cigarettes as sponsors. So why keep pointing out each time John Daly was seen smoking one?

  • @NetCerpher
    @NetCerpher 9 лет назад +5

    It's so rare to find TV produced before my birth... I love it!

  • @richieb.6558
    @richieb.6558 7 лет назад +25

    I was with Gloria Swanson the night before she died. She went to see a movie premiere at the Peking boat. Then I read the next day she had died.

    • @WhatsMyLine
      @WhatsMyLine  7 лет назад +7

      Wow. How did you know her?

    • @TheMaxou92
      @TheMaxou92 6 лет назад +5

      I thought she had been in the hospital for about a week before she died... didn't she suffere from heart ailment and a heart attack ?

    • @Sparrowdean
      @Sparrowdean 4 года назад +5

      @@TheMaxou92 @'Richie B. is a lying fantasist, RUclips is full of them. Gloria Swanson was a hospital patient in New York for about 2 weeks before she died.

    • @fossrampant5826
      @fossrampant5826 4 года назад

      "Did I say Gloria Swanson? I meant Gloria Vanderbilt. Yeah! That's the ticket!"

    • @Sparrowdean
      @Sparrowdean 4 года назад

      @@fossrampant5826 Gloria Vanderbilt was still very much alive when you wrote your post 2 years ago. The 1st anniversary of her death was 17 June 2020.
      Where's the Peking Boat?

  • @ceciliaellis6721
    @ceciliaellis6721 8 лет назад +18

    I love Bennett Cerf's accent - truly original.

  • @tomitstube
    @tomitstube 9 лет назад +15

    i see john is still having to deal with those moving rings on the card turn, constantly fooling with those things. gloria swanson looked amazing at 51 years old. larger than life mega star.

  • @DominiqueCurtis-p8i
    @DominiqueCurtis-p8i 17 дней назад +1

    No script either. Just nice educated people, w/ good manners.❤❤❤❤❤❤❤😂

  • @joannsmith150
    @joannsmith150 9 лет назад +33

    I have always wondered if the autographs of the celebrities were ever saved by someone. The ones done on paper and obviously not the chalkboard ones. Can you imagine if they had replaced the chalkboard every time and had all of those autographs is a warehouse somewhere! WOW!

    • @jvcomedy
      @jvcomedy 8 лет назад +1

      +Joann Smith I think many of them were saved as I read that there is one for sale on Ebay from time to time.

    • @joannsmith150
      @joannsmith150 8 лет назад +1

      I would hope that somebody from the production office on the show thought of doing that. I would also hope that the autographs were not just wiped off like those of the regular contestants.

    • @AllenMQuinn
      @AllenMQuinn 8 лет назад +12

      Especially Liberace's. His signature was so bad ass

    • @jeffcraven7376
      @jeffcraven7376 6 лет назад +1

      I bought W.C. Fields autograph (it's been verified as authentic) at a charity fund raising auction when I was 13 yrs. old. The autograph is locked away for 30 years in Grant's Tomb buried under 3,000 whiskey and gin bottles. No I really have Bill's autograph protected by a cranky banker 20,000 leagues under the sea.

    • @hmmmmmmmmm2
      @hmmmmmmmmm2 6 лет назад

      They DID replace the chalkboard every time. Once in a while you can see them sliding a new one down from the back and inside that wall. I'm sure it was just faster and made sure it was very clean for the TV. Not sure if that meant they kept the celebrity autographs, though.

  • @rogerrobin2774
    @rogerrobin2774 Год назад +8

    And the black bow ties begin! Bennett Cerf brought an additional touch of class to the program.

  • @cathykinn4516
    @cathykinn4516 2 месяца назад +1

    Vicious remark by Dorothy who was even more waspish back at the start - "She has 2 Engagement rings but no Wedding ring so that says she's been the Bridesmaid but never the Bride!" The Cosmetics Buyer seemed a very nice Woman, kept her Dignity in the face of DK's crassness.

  • @NLPaynter
    @NLPaynter 6 месяцев назад

    I loved this show as a kid. I watched with my grandfather. Great memories of time with him.

  • @pattyengler2569
    @pattyengler2569 2 года назад +4

    It looked like John Daly had a cigarette which was burning during the seal trainer contestant!
    I noticed the smoke! These old episodes are totally addicting.

  • @slapjohnson2808
    @slapjohnson2808 9 лет назад +40

    How classy Gloria Swanson was!

    • @lydialilli4351
      @lydialilli4351 6 лет назад +3

      So classy she slept with Joe Kennedy Sr. even though he was married with 9 kids.

    • @daniellefrank007
      @daniellefrank007 6 лет назад +2

      "Robin Williams quote".."I feel like Gloria Swanson..." 😐

    • @PAn-su3wy
      @PAn-su3wy 6 лет назад +6

      Joe Kennedy Sr. was an anti-semite, inside trader and stock manipulator that made money from the struggle of others. He was an absent father and husband as well as a known womanizer. He went through all of Gloria's money on their film venture and had affairs with other movie personalities as well. He was a powerful man that nobody questioned. He had a hell of a lot to lose but kept on with his lifestyle essentially unscathed. Does that strike you as having class? Gloria was intimidated by him and he knew it.

    • @bajemo359
      @bajemo359 3 года назад +2

      @@PAn-su3wy You forgot bootlegger.

  • @neilmidkiff
    @neilmidkiff 8 лет назад +9

    I didn't catch this one on first viewing: after the seal trainer is guessed, Louis brings up the topic of seals as pets and says something about having a seal in the bedroom. I think he must have meant the famous James Thurber cartoon with a couple in bed and a seal atop the headboard: "All right, have it your way--you heard a seal bark."

  • @Px828
    @Px828 7 лет назад +29

    Can't look at Gloria Swanson without thinking of Carol Burnett.

    • @arbyfatbuckle1733
      @arbyfatbuckle1733 7 лет назад +4

      me too.

    • @stacyblue1980
      @stacyblue1980 7 лет назад +2

      lolol Carol Burnett is lovely. Never been a fan of Swanson. Never understood why people thought she was glamorous. But she was unique..?.. I suppose.

    • @alanaronald244
      @alanaronald244 6 лет назад +5

      She was a HUGE silent picture star in both The Birth of a Nation, and Intolerance. Her wardrobe was so vaunted, varied, luxurious and expensive, that people appeared at any whistle stop of her tour just to see what she wore.
      True, she was tiny, she had tombstone teeth, and a rather outsize jaw, but her histrionics were renowned and her presence that of a giant. She radiated "star quality". Fearless, she did her own scene with a lion, she managed
      her own affairs after Joe Kennedy managed to almost destroy her financially, she ate natural food prepared by her own hand, and she was intelligent. Swanson was unique, more of a tour de force rather than a conventional beauty
      www.glamamor.com/2014/01/GloriaSwansonClareWestWhyChangeYourWife.html

    • @ChristopherUSSmith
      @ChristopherUSSmith 6 лет назад +7

      Indeed! Gloria absolutely *LOVED* Carol's parody of Sunset Blvd. She portrayed Charlie Chaplin when Carol did a tribute to silent movies on her show in the early 1970s.

    • @jeffcraven7376
      @jeffcraven7376 6 лет назад +1

      Carol did a bang up job; Remember it from when I was a smelly adolescent wanna-be hippy. Atleast I learned over again how to wash about 1974.

  • @waltermoriarty5157
    @waltermoriarty5157 8 лет назад +10

    I remember watching this live TV as a child. All the panelists, the moderator, and even the guests were so cultivated, urbane, witty, and well spoken. Not like today...

    • @georgestreng
      @georgestreng 6 лет назад +1

      That is the charm of the show.

    • @juanettebutts9782
      @juanettebutts9782 6 лет назад +3

      These days, people can't make it past one sentence without using vulgarities. Curse words do not improve speech. My mother used to say if a person can't think of anything else to say but a profanity, that shows a lack of intelligence. Mom was right.

    • @donnacook8994
      @donnacook8994 Год назад

      @@juanettebutts9782 Your Mom was right!

  • @lancedukel3436
    @lancedukel3436 3 года назад +8

    Gloria Swanson is the essence of chic.

  • @jcneverquits
    @jcneverquits 3 года назад +3

    "I still am big! It's the pictures that got small!" Gloria Swanson

  • @VahanNisanian
    @VahanNisanian 10 лет назад +12

    Little did Louis Untermeyer know, 5 months later, Bennett Cerf officially took his seat.

    • @ta2686
      @ta2686 10 лет назад +6

      Yet Louis Untermayer became poet laureate of the United States. He held that position between 1961 and 1963.

    • @WhatsMyLine
      @WhatsMyLine  10 лет назад +10

      ***** The few glimpses that we have of Untermeyer, I think he was quite good on the panel. The shows he was in are so early that they're of course very awkward and different from what WML would become, but I think he would have fit in quite comfortably as the show settled in if he'd had the chance. I suppose if he had, though, we wouldn't have had Bennett Cerf on the panel.

    • @PepsiMama2
      @PepsiMama2 10 лет назад +2

      What's My Line? If Untermeyer stayed on, why wouldn't we have Bennett Cerf? They're both appearing together here in this episode...

    • @WhatsMyLine
      @WhatsMyLine  10 лет назад +9

      PepsiMama2 Bennett was just a guest panelist here. The 4th regular panelist was already set as Hal Block-- Hal was just off this week for reasons unknown. Bennett wasn't back on the show until March 1951 when Untermeyer was fired and Bennett replaced him permanently.

    • @DLAN-jb3hb
      @DLAN-jb3hb 9 лет назад +1

      +What's My Line Untermeyer too, I thought that it was just Hal Block.

  • @franklesser5655
    @franklesser5655 6 лет назад +8

    I think that Bennett is good at this. I hope they have him on the show again!

  • @TheBraveIntrovert
    @TheBraveIntrovert 9 лет назад +3

    I would have loved tohave seen more of this panel combo.

  • @davidturk6301
    @davidturk6301 5 лет назад +3

    You can tell this is early production, since not a lot has been spent on the set. As any show becomes more established (confirmed that it will be around for more than a few installments), they will invest more in the set (e.g., permanent furniture designed specifically for the show, rather than transient furniture).

    • @esmeephillips5888
      @esmeephillips5888 3 года назад

      That Stopette spray on the front of the 'modesty screen' makes it looks like the panelists stink.

  • @janierunaway112
    @janierunaway112 2 года назад +2

    "Television's gayest game." Oh, how our lexicon has changed.

  • @ToddSF
    @ToddSF 8 лет назад +15

    How strange to see Arlene as a brunette. I remember when, in a future episode, she made a remark indicating that she used to be a brunette and I have seen her that way before, but I'm so used to her as a blonde - and blonde hair was such a good look for her on TV.

    • @WhatsMyLine
      @WhatsMyLine  8 лет назад +4

      I think she remained brunette up till 1954 or so. But the shade got lighter and lighter before she went full blonde. I also think the blonde hair suited her much better. Same with Gracie Allen (and there's a slight resemblance between them, especially in the mid 1950s.)

    • @ToddSF
      @ToddSF 8 лет назад +2

      What's My Line? -- I agree. Many years back when George Burns came out with his book "Gracie - A Love Story", I got a copy and was shocked to see all these photos in it of Gracie as a brunette. I simply had no idea -- I knew her from television starting from when I was a toddler. They had her go blonde for black and white television, having determined it would look better on her and it did. There is one photographic portrait, though, of Gracie in 1947 with long curly dark hair that is quite lovely. Strangely or not, my mother had the identical hairstyle in her wedding portrait taken in May 1947, though Mom's hair was always blonde. I think Gracie's blonde hair flattered her face on black-and-white television and it did exactly the same thing for Arlene.

    • @catteadams
      @catteadams 3 года назад +1

      Red head at one point too.

    • @lorenanders702
      @lorenanders702 3 года назад

      The blonde did look great on Arlene, but she was a true beauty always!

  • @stitchergary
    @stitchergary 5 лет назад +5

    I wish I could have been a friend of Bennett...He was so smart...

    • @onecake34244
      @onecake34244 4 года назад +1

      Would have liked to me him... Though I'd be intimidated a bit.

  • @salaciousbum1161
    @salaciousbum1161 3 года назад +2

    Love watching all of these! What always strikes me is that a big majority of the guests seem to want to bolt out as soon as the panel guesses them. It's almost as if they were forced to be there and don't care.

  • @VahanNisanian
    @VahanNisanian 10 лет назад +31

    Gloria Swanson. No other actress that came before, or after her, led a lifestyle as eccentric, yet intriguing and fascinating, as she did.
    She appeared again as mystery guest on February 14, 1965.

    • @soulierinvestments
      @soulierinvestments 10 лет назад +6

      And she looks absolutely great in that 1965 appearance.

    • @piustwelfth
      @piustwelfth 4 года назад +2

      She was WAY ahead of her time. She was a health food advocate before almost anyone else. That's one of the reasons she always looked so good.

    • @hcombs0104
      @hcombs0104 3 года назад

      @@piustwelfth It must be said she looked better than most 51-year-olds at that time.

  • @bleepiestofbloops
    @bleepiestofbloops 9 лет назад +6

    Love how you can hear the outside traffic around the 12:20 mark. Seems a problem with New York based shows. I was watching an old Dick Cavett show the other week and heard a siren. Even once in the last months of David Letterman's show, there was a loud siren heard.

  • @noe29933
    @noe29933 4 года назад +7

    Arlene Francis was the best she had a great since of humour loved life and laughed Hartley she certainly gave us many good laughs and was great and finding out who it was

    • @jerrylee8261
      @jerrylee8261 2 года назад

      Noel, I echo what you posted about AF but I sometimes wonder if the act of being before the public so often might have caused her some unshown in public stress. She seemed to have a problem with scratching her eyes.

  • @RobJazzful
    @RobJazzful 5 лет назад +14

    The little acted-out pre-show sequences were adorably stiff and uncomfortable in these early episodes.

  • @hcombs0104
    @hcombs0104 3 года назад +4

    I beg to differ with Gloria Swanson. She was most definitely the star of Sunset Blvd.

    • @JDAbelRN
      @JDAbelRN 2 года назад +1

      An extraordinary performance, from a forgotten silent movie star. I love Sunset Boulevard.

  • @lynnlobliner3933
    @lynnlobliner3933 2 года назад +3

    I've never seen GS be herself (nor have I seen her act in much - I'll have to change that). She doesn't seem egotistical or snobby. I love the additional respect they gave her!

  • @gorgeouss79
    @gorgeouss79 10 лет назад +3

    The second contestant dissed John's hand for a handshake then gave Bennett a handshake when he requested one. LOL

  • @icturner23
    @icturner23 3 года назад +1

    It’s so striking when we get a reminder that this programme began before Elizabeth II’s almost seven-decade reign.

  • @redtony58
    @redtony58 9 лет назад +19

    Dress by Schiaparelli. Headdress by Cindy Lou Who.

    • @conniemartin4878
      @conniemartin4878 7 лет назад

      Awesome comment. I first thought, Teletubby costumer.

  • @Ingentiy
    @Ingentiy 4 года назад +8

    Dorothy had an especially beamingly great smile in this episode.

  • @GingerHey
    @GingerHey 3 года назад +1

    Gloria Swanson was very beautiful and classy on the show. It was good to see Bennett Cerf as a guest on the panel at the time.

  • @MrJoeybabe25
    @MrJoeybabe25 10 лет назад +11

    This episode is about two months after "Sunset Blvd" was released. It was her first film in about a decade and her first successful film in a generation or more. She was quite good in the talkies (see 1929's "The Trespasser") but did not catch the breaks, and had a reputation as being very high maintenance (which in the relatively inexpensive era of silents was acceptable, but in the high cost and very competitive talkie era was not). She did not seem to get a great reception from the audience, so I wonder if many of them had yet to see the film? If so, she would have been unrecognizable to the studio audience, I think. Her last major Hollywood motion picture role was the poorly received Three for Bedroom "C" in 1952, and so she was unable to capitalize on the tremendously successful Sunset Blvd. which had a budget of 1.75 million (very expensive for the time) and a box office of around 5 million. Too bad, She was a marvelous actress, and I would have liked to have seen more of her in pictures as she grew older.

    • @MrJoeybabe25
      @MrJoeybabe25 10 лет назад

      David, we would agree it is an all time great film. I think that Gloria Swanson was the third or fourth choice, one of the early appeals to star in the flick was to MAE WEST! How's that for frightening! However, I do think she would have been great in it. Her loss and ours.

    • @Patrick3183
      @Patrick3183 9 лет назад

      Maybe the audience freaking out when stars walked on was a later development. It's possible for the early shows to be purposely more muted

    • @jmccracken1963
      @jmccracken1963 8 лет назад +6

      The following year (1951), at the time of the Academy Awards ceremony, Gloria Swanson and Jose Ferrer were starring on Broadway in a revival of the play "Twentieth Century." And Judy Holliday was also in New York, either making a picture or doing something on Broadway. A group of people, including Swanson, Holliday, and Ferrer were either watching a telecast of or (more likely) listening to a radio broadcast of the Academy Awards presentations that evening. And when the award for Best Actress was being presented, after the nominees were announced but before the winner was announced, Gloria Swanson leaned forward and whispered in Judy Holliday's ear, "One of us is about to be very, very happy." THAT is class!

    • @preppysocks209
      @preppysocks209 4 года назад

      @@MrJoeybabe25 As much as the role of Norma Desmond will always be associated with Gloria Swanson in an immortal performance, I do regret that Greta Garbo turned down the part. That would have been amazing.

    • @dutchtea8354
      @dutchtea8354 3 года назад

      @@Patrick3183 This was the first episode in which the audience applauded as the MG entered.

  • @cricketrecords
    @cricketrecords 8 лет назад +20

    I think the film they refer to is "Sunset Boulevard", which is actually a black comedy, not a tragedy in the official sense. But had she said yes to comedy it would have thrown off the panel completely, I'm sure. She was excellent in that film in any event.

    • @cricketrecords
      @cricketrecords 8 лет назад +5

      It is a black comedy, not a traditional comedy. The acting is campy, the situations border on absurd, and the film as a whole is just so over the top that it can't be taken seriously. Which is the point. It's planned to be that way. The movie "Psycho" is the same. Most people don't realize that it, too, is a black comedy. A very jet black comedy.

    • @WhatsMyLine
      @WhatsMyLine  8 лет назад +1

      First off, Hitchcock himself considered "Psycho" a comedy. I think the director's own opinion of his movie is worth at least minor consideration. "Sunset Boulevard" is indeed a black comedy, and much more obviously so than "Psycho". I'm baffled that anyone is able to appreciate "Fargo" and "Arsenic and Old Lace" without being able to discern this!

    • @WhatsMyLine
      @WhatsMyLine  8 лет назад

      Carter le grand Wow. I'm sorry I responded to you. Go away.

    • @ToddSF
      @ToddSF 8 лет назад

      Ye gods, as my late mother used to say.

    • @jmccracken1963
      @jmccracken1963 8 лет назад +2

      And as Zaneeta Shinn said - several times - in THE MUSIC MAN.....

  • @roberttelarket4934
    @roberttelarket4934 2 года назад +1

    I can’t believe this is the first show that I’ve never seen!

  • @user-vh8rk1sl4g
    @user-vh8rk1sl4g 3 месяца назад

    It's intersecting to see how the show evolved throughout the years . They're resurrecting so many game shows lately, I'd love to see this show be one of them.

  • @jw77019
    @jw77019 Год назад +1

    The makeup they had to use in early tv was very extreme I have heard. The lights were extremely hot too.

  • @michaeldonovan504
    @michaeldonovan504 7 лет назад +8

    Louis Untermeyer has a pleasant personality.

  • @srothbardt
    @srothbardt 2 года назад +2

    “A Seal in the Bedroom “ is a book by James Thurber. Untermeyer is an editor and writer .

  • @OldTelivisionRocks
    @OldTelivisionRocks 8 лет назад +28

    I love the panel, the quip about "how to win friends and influence people" to which Bennett appropriately remarks "read anything good lately?". Just goes to show there will never be a show like it, where a publisher is on a celebrity panel and is so utterly charming.
    Then Dorothy's crazy rings quip.
    Not only is Daly smoking but that thing is super smoky. I have seen smoking on classic tv before, but not so much on these kinds of programs and never blazing like it seems to be here.

    • @catteadams
      @catteadams 3 года назад +1

      lol I know. Also the studio was HOT as hell. And in many shows they talked about that. No air conditioning? Nah.

  • @bethe192
    @bethe192 5 лет назад +6

    I just want to hug John Daly! Such a sweetheart!

  • @dougxray
    @dougxray Год назад +2

    Jon Daly casually smoking on camera. My how times have changed.

  • @johndoughty1619
    @johndoughty1619 3 года назад +6

    Thank you for posting all these great episodes of a time gone by. I've watched many hours of the show in the last few weeks. I'm very glad the perp walk and the wild guess went away, but I do wonder: was the wild guess ever correct?

    • @lennypearl
      @lennypearl 2 года назад

      Yes! And this channel has them in one video 🙂 ruclips.net/video/pbj0uNMfoNI/видео.html

    • @Kitskacat
      @Kitskacat Год назад

      Yes, apparently there is a compilation video. Watch the second and third episodes in this Playlist (I think episodes 2 and 3 of the show)

  • @ricknajera3335
    @ricknajera3335 3 года назад +1

    Would have liked to have met le Swanson when we were in our primes! She was something! Love Sunset Boulevard.

  • @jban4457
    @jban4457 3 года назад +2

    This can't be Bennet's first show. In Mr Cerf's own words, "my first show I was filling in for Louie Untermeyer who was out of town giving a lecture".