Beautiful show... reminds me of another time , another place. I was six years old in 1954, just starting First grade....such a classy show, and people had manners back then... Thank you for the upload.
Merle Oberon was stunning and very talented as an actress. I love her. I loved her in Wuthering Heights and my favorite, These Three. I loved her accent. She was visibly disappointed when the panelist guessed her identity.
DLAN 1122 Fashion-conscious women watching at home were interested in what Dorothy and Arlene were wearing, and the producers decided to let them have a good look, hence the full-length shot of them.
+corner moose Absolutely. A gown is meant to be seen full-length, not just from the shoulders up, or for a brief instance from whatever could be seen over the top of the desk if they stood up to shake the hand of the Mystery Guest. It thought Dorothy looked lovely and Arlene was striking in a rather unusual patterned gown that worked quite well. As for what the men were wearing, the looked handsome but nothing out of the ordinary. I find men's fashions so boring compared to women's. It adds time to my routine to decide what to wear, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
I love these glimpses into the personalities of these old stars who seemed so distant at the time. For example, I've always thought that Merle Oberon came across as a bit of a cold fish in movies, but, here, she seems mischievous and a bundle of fun.
All the money went into paying the panelists. $500 each appearance except for Arlene who got double. And who knows how much John was paid? (Whatever it was, it was well worth it, as he made the show what it is.)
Agree, why would they make 2 guests share a small chair ? Sure en joying these old reruns on Utube. Most of all people r now dcsd, so fun to see them way back then. Was n hi schl n mid 60s so do remember the hair dos, fashion and jewelry. Yes, we really did wear white gloves when going out. Even had to wear them when took ballroom dancing n the 50s n grade schl.
Doesn't mean they didn't have covert addictions or vices. They may have overcompensated in these "socially accepted" ways to pretend or cover up any stigmas or weaknesses.
Miss Merle Oberon,I love her from the moment I saw her magical performance on Wuthering heights 😍.She was one of best actress on this planet.Iconic and so beautiful ❤️
Interesting that mr. Daly mentioned at the end that Dorothy was leaving to cover the Shepherd trial. She thought he was innocent and he later was found innocent after being found guilty at 1st.
At last! The panel ladies get to show off their exquisite gowns during the introduction-adding a great bit to the entertainment value of the show, and John has been gradually eliminating that stupid walk contestants had to take in front of the panel, making it far less embarrassing for all concerned.
@partycentralsales I never noticed it before, but you're right. Merle DOES resemble Merle (!!) Mostly it's in the lower half of her face, but the patrician nose is exactly the same.
Mrs. Sayler (the lady who washes cows) seems rather annoyed at the panel in this episode, because they obviously don't remember her, and I can't say that I blame her. The first episode with Mrs. Cora Sayler aired on May 23, 1954, and she seemed happier in that one. Also, there is a younger cow washer on the Aug. 18, 1957 episode of WML who stumps the panel again! Dorothy, Bennett & Arlene were all on the panel for all three cow-washer episodes, (though the 4th panelist was different each time) -- you'd think they'd learn! :)
SaveThe TPC This is great! We can compare the gambits that are apparently given to Steve Allen and Robert Q. Lewis in the two 1954 episodes, and there are definite similarities: the service is more for females; those who receive the service are of a weight heavier than the average woman's, for example. There are also some differences, of course, but we do see ample evidence of the gambits' existence. Apparently the producers had no qualms about seeming to run the same (or a very similar) gambit twice with the same contestant within a five month period. Looking at the 1957 episode, however, Ernie Kovacs, the panel comedian, does not start the questioning (Bennett Cerf does), and neither Bennett or Kovacs (or Dorothy in between them) seems to "run" with a gambit. In fact, Kovacs gets a "no" on his first question. The gambit is gone.
@@robertmelson2130 Yep. When the Twenty-One scandal broke its banks, it spooked Gil Fates quite a bit. He got rid of his gambits to avoid even the slightest appearance that the game might be rigged, even though G-T were very strict about outright cheating and got through the scandal without a scratch.
Yeah she was a bit more sassy this time around; but I think she had as much fun stumping them a second time as she did the first. And why wouldn't she? She'd always have won twice as much money as the average challenger.
The Crawford sisters were only in their mid 30's when this show was done and to me they look more like they're at least in their mid 50's. Funny how people then looked older than they were. Perhaps 50 years from now they'll be saying the same thing about people of today.
What a fun episode! Even Lewis dialed back his annoying personality, though I loved when Bennett snapped 'One minute!' after Lewis' display of loquacity in his question for the twins! 😂
I remembered the basics of the Sam Sheppard case, when John Daly mentioned it at the end. So I quickly looked it up. He was, initially, found guilty of murdering his first wife. The ruling was overturned by the US Supreme Court. One of the reasons given was how bad the judge was, one point was an interview with Dorothy Kilgallen, where he reportedly said, "Well, he's guilty as hell. There's no question about it."
Walker Gordon cows! I grew up in Princeton NJ and when I was a child we would go to the barns and pet the calves. There was also a wonderful method for milking the cows that that was open to the public. We would stand high above in the center of a huge rotating wheel. Stalls were placed around the wheel- like a rotating pizza. The cows would walk in, a bar would come down and hold their head loosely in place and a man would quickly attach suction cups attached to hoses to the udders. The milk would flow upwards to glass jugs that hung above. We used to bet which cow would give the most milk by the time they slowly revolved back to their starting point and left by another door. There were also huge glass jars stuffed with musty hay explaining how much a cow needed to eat a day. It was very informative and a huge amount of fun! One could always tell when it was going to rain, because, "It smells like Walker Gordon" when the wind blew a certain direction.Thank you so much, again, for posting these wonderful episodes!
In most countries, in the world, it is rude for even two men to shake hands. That is something that is mostly only seen in the United States. In Europe, people can automatically tell when somebody is from the United States if the person wants to shake the hand of the other person.
I met Merle Oberon in Santa Barbara at a film festival shortly before she died. She talked about Lawrence Olivier, calling him "Larry". She was actually born in Bombay when her mother was only 12 years old, but she hid this all her life.
@Qwerty123 yes she was. It says in her wiki page. Hence her grandmother raised her as her own daughter. Her mother went on marrying later in her life had 4 more children. Her grandmother though gave birth at the age of 14, so she became a grandmother at a whooping age of 26 years old.
I am from Cleveland, Dorothy said that on the first day of the Sheppard trail, the judge asked what a famous report liker her was doing there, he said, "it is open and shut, he is guilty as hell."
I wish they had given the lawyers the cow washer's slot. I think they were far more interesting and then they could have just brought the cow washer back on at the end for a minute as a novelty since the joke would still work even if they ran out of time for questions.
I hope those who love this show and appreciate that era also watch To Tell the Truth. I was 26 yrs old when this particular show was filmed and hate what we've become. I go to sleep with WML on my laptop.
Miss Oberon was one of the great beauties of the silver screen. Unfortunately, she was also one of the first Hollywood stars who overdid the cosmetic surgery. Her mother was West Asian, and she actually hired her as a maid (to disguise her true identity). Her life story would make a great film.
Merle Oberon was Anglo Indian but because of the racism in Hollywood claimed to be from Tasmania. Errol flynn was Tasmanian, he knew Merle was not from Tasmania but never told anybody.
orgonko the wildly untamed Hiya. No, I recognized her face from her first appearance on the show. I guessed who she was even before they revealed her occupation to the audience. ^o,-^
+Owlz Eyez Then you did a whole lot better than the panel! :) Of course, I'm sure you'd seen her previous episode a lot more recently than they had seen her at the time. ;)
Yes, we "binge watch" these, compared to their doing a show once a WEEK! Even watching one a DAY far outpaces their time lapse. (Did I say that correctly?)
Being kind to the panel saying Cora Sayler was on 6 months ago. It hadn't even been 5, she was on the Ted Williams episode in late May. They even had Bob Q Lewis use the same gambit that Steve Allen did in that episode (if Steve was here he may have remembered).
Ok... I was confused thinking 'How many cow washers can there be? They've had a number of 'lady barbers' & 'lady bartenders' & 'lady bullfighter.' So I thought I must have seen this one.. Nice trick.
I saw the other episode with the woman who washed cows, and both times she was asked if she dealt primarily with the female sex... And of course, the answer was "yes"!
I grew up near Cranbury & Walker-Gordon Farms...hoe of the Rotolactor. It was a sort of milking merry-go-gound on which cows were loaded and hooked up to milking machines. Once around, in 12 and a half minutes, and the cows had been milked and would exit the gadget. I remember an early class trip there. It had a round second floor which was a sort of museum about dairy, and from which one could look down on the process..This lady who wash the cows was probably stationed where the cows would enter the rotlactor. The farm ceased operation in 1971 as its site on highway 130 became to valuable as a location for condominiums and an office park. Elsie the cow, when she became a popular animation in the 1630's was also represented by a live Elsie, whose grave was at the farm. It should be noted that Walker-Gordon was an entire dairy laboratory, more than just a farm. Sorry it is gone now...but, I hear there is still a working rotary milker in Indiana.
@@renakonar3733 Yes, it is pretty and, though the nearby highway has exploded with development, the village itself is much the same as you remember. I guess we should be thankful that it is not much promoted or mentioned on TV.. One of the few times it was is when Gordon Ramsay tried to save a local restaurant. If I recall correctly, it might have made one of those "best places to live" lists.
Miss Ezekiel was the 12th known regular guest from a foreign country. Miss Oberon was the 39th foreign born MG. The Misses Crawford were the 1st duo/group regular guests and the 1st twin guests.
I sorta miss the candid shot of the entire panel before the introductions. Watching from the beginning of the series, you can see them sitting stone-faced, as if they don't realize they're on camera. ...up through later episodes where they're chatting with each other - Arlene and Bennett seem to cut-up quite a bit - and, on more than one occasion, a male panelist will blow his nose into a hankerchief...like they STILL don't realize they're on camera!!
This is the comment I was looking for - it was obviously a pass-ag dig, as apparently it was a well-known secret in Hollywood. Imagine Merle squirming in the green room...
While "Anglo-Indian" can refer to someone who is of mixed Indian and British ancestry, it also meant (back in the days of the British raj and for some time afterward), someone of English ancestry who was resident in India. Merle Oberon's father was English, but her mother was of Eurasian ancestry, partly of Ceylonese with some Maori ancestry, added to European ancestry. She hid that fact until a year before her death with the fiction that she was born in Tasmania, and that all her school records had been destroyed in a fire. She was actually born in Mumbai, India (which was still called Bombay when she was born). Records proving her birth location were located after her death. I note that one slightly shocking fact is that her mother was only 12 years of age at the time of her birth -- and had a second child at age 14. Miss Oberon's mother later married and had four more children for a total of six. Merle Oberon was raised by her mother, but everyone was told that little Estelle Merle O'Brien Thompson was her younger sister, and her later children grew up believing that. As has been observed, Merle Oberon concealed her Eurasian ancestry and birth information in order to succeed in her profession and in society in general in an era where people were intolerant of such situations. It is thought, too, that she didn't want anyone to know her mother was only 12 years old and that she was born out of wedlock.
In this footage, Merle kind of resembles a younger Meryl Streep. Notice her face from about 19:00 onward, and you'll see that there's a resemblance to Meryl there.
"Taking Ghandi from babies." That has to be one of Bennett's worse puns ever. Yuck! I enjoyed the episode anyway. I thought I recognized the second contestant! Kind of sad that the three main panelists didn't recognize her; she looked hacked that they didn't catch on. I can't say as I can totally blame her for that.
+Kate Luxor I didn't recognize her, but I immediately said to myself that they had someone with the same profession fairly recently (at least in terms of me watching the episodes). Then I remembered a spoiler comment made on the previous episode that she came back and fooled them again. This time at least, Robert Q Lewis gets a pass since he wasn't on that show. As far as the other three, I guess they would have been disqualified as eyewitnesses in a future trial. I thought Dorothy caught on right away when she gestured in some manner just before John called on Robert to start the questioning. Being an investigative reporter to some extent, I thought she remembered the name or the face or her hometown. But there must have been a different reason for her doing that because she didn't say anything along the line when it was her turn to ask questions.
Giving the panelists only one minute to discover the contestants' "line" was ridiculous. It's not fair to the women who were hurried on and off, not fair to their families and friends who wanted to see them on TV, not fair to the panelists, not fair to the audience. I don't understand why the final contestants weren't moved to next week's program when there was so little time remaining. Not that my opinion counts, considering the show is 64 years old!
Beat the Clock would have the contestant finish up their segment at the start of the following week. Probably would have broken up the flow of WML too much, however.
Too true. I can look on Google to find out what Merle Oberon did to become famous but she said so little on this show that I haven't a clue. Yes, the two twins were a lost opportunity and would probably have been more fun than the cow-washing woman who was slow to answer questions.
Out of town guests, such as the two from Georgia, may not be in NYC the following weekend; similarly, even locals may not be available for the following week. In any event, being on national TV for even just a couple of minutes while making maybe a weeks salary was a nice deal for a lot of people at that time (especially if they had experienced the depression and WW2).
Curious as to why Robert Lewis did not shake the hand of the first contestant. He stood up at least but did not shake hands with the woman from India. He shook hands with everyone else. Maybe it's nothing. Arlene was right. They were being dubious with the cow washer. I felt the woman was being obtuse on purpose. She kept delaying her answers when there was no reason to have to think about it. Do they give milk? Yes, the answer is Yes, say Yes already! Are these bovine? Yes, the answer is Yes, say Yes already! Being a "Boston" word, whatever that means, is irrelevant. I got that same vibe the first time she was on. She did not want to answer the questions when the answer was Yes.
However, as Gandhi was and is revered in India....the Lady did NOT, clearly, think it funny or amusing at all....she rolled her eyes...probably thinking Cerf, you're a Jack Ass...LoL..
@@stanochocki8984 Or she could have just thought it was kind of a crap racially based joke 🤷🏿♂️ FWIW I thought she found it amusing. Also - Gandhi is a very problematic figure and Indians have a complex relationship with his legacy.
@@anurag684 It's a silly play on words. "It's like taking candy from a baby" is an old expression meaning something (something underhanded, or a trick) is very easy to do.
From WIKI: "Merle Oberon was raised as the daughter of Arthur Terrence O'Brien Thompson, a Welsh mechanical engineer from Darlington who worked in Indian Railways and his wife, Charlotte Selby, a Eurasian from Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). However, according to her birth certificate, Merle's biological mother was Charlotte's then-12-year-old daughter, Constance. To avoid scandal, Charlotte raised Merle as Constance's half-sister. Charlotte had herself given birth to Constance at the age of 14 as the result of rape by Henry Alfred Selby, the Anglo-Irish foreman of a tea plantation. In their 1983 biography of Oberon, Charles Higham and Roy Moseley also wrote that Selby had Māori ancestry"
it's very hard to trust or believe anything written about Merle Oberon 's early life, she put it aside and that was her business, we don't need a DNA test to assure us she was a wonderful Actress and one of the most Beautiful Women of Hollywood History !
WHEN THEY HAVE 2 GUESTS, DALY SHOULD GIVE THEM THE 2 CHAIRS while keeps standing and moderate that segment ,or 'always' have a wider chair when there are 2 guests to accmmodate the visitors better.
However, it did mean that there were two people on this episode from Bombay, although it was not widely known at the time that Miss Oberon was born there.
Thank goodness they got rid of that nonsense of the contestant walking by the panelists and also them exiting behind John Charles Daly. Very undignified and disrespectful to the contestants.
It's frustrating when Dorothy asks questions that she knows the answer to or when she asks the same questions over and over in a different way. Very annoying.
Purple Capricorn She learned not to do this by the 1960s, but I totally agree that this was very irritating behavior for viewers (not to mention her fellow panelists). She did this quite often in the 50s.
+What's My Line? I like it when she does this. She investigates. It is her nature as a journalist & carries over into this program. Bennett & Arlene do it too. Dorothy had a very keen mind & was quite thorough & I love to watch her as she asks questions. She never gets on my nerves.
It was either in his published memoirs or (more likely) in his "oral history" recordings about WML where Bennett Cerf talked about Dorothy's questioning ploy of asking incremental questions calculated to get a "yes" answer, but didn't do much to advance the game by discovering something not already known. Bennett said that Arlene used to 'burn' when Dorothy did that, because, as an actress, Arlene did like actors who deliberately tried to upstage their fellow performers, and Dorothy's obvious attempts to hog the camera to no good purpose struck her the same way. I can't stand it myself. I also hate when she asked "insider" questions such as "Did you lose your address book out of a helicopter over the Greek islands?" or "Did you study dentistry?"
Beautiful show... reminds me of another time , another place. I was six years old in 1954, just starting First grade....such a classy show, and people had manners back then... Thank you for the upload.
I was 5 yrs old then and know exactly what you mean.
I agree and was also 6 in 54.❤
Theis era makes me think of segregation and white supremacy
1954 my grandmother was getting her house burned down for buying in a white neighborhood.
Stop the crap
This stuff helps me stay sane in an insane society.
You too? Oh god I thought I was only one being kept sane by this.
Right on...this and, "You Bet Your Life" and Jonathan Winters, or it's a sanitarium.
I know what you mean. I am so glad I found this show.
Right!
Me too !
Merle Oberon was stunning and very talented as an actress. I love her. I loved her in Wuthering Heights and my favorite, These Three. I loved her accent. She was visibly disappointed when the panelist guessed her identity.
Merle Oberon looked so crestfallen when they guessed her identity! Most mystery guests are delighted.
‘Cause she was hiding her true identity 🤫
This is the first time that I have seen the panelists stand in front of the curtain giving their intros.
DLAN 1122 Fashion-conscious women watching at home were interested in what Dorothy
and Arlene were wearing, and the producers decided to let them have a
good look, hence the full-length shot of them.
Yep, it's first time
Awkward without the door they later installed.
SPOILER :)
+corner moose
Absolutely. A gown is meant to be seen full-length, not just from the shoulders up, or for a brief instance from whatever could be seen over the top of the desk if they stood up to shake the hand of the Mystery Guest. It thought Dorothy looked lovely and Arlene was striking in a rather unusual patterned gown that worked quite well.
As for what the men were wearing, the looked handsome but nothing out of the ordinary. I find men's fashions so boring compared to women's. It adds time to my routine to decide what to wear, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
Merle Oberon was such an incredibly beautiful woman.
I love these glimpses into the personalities of these old stars who seemed so distant at the time. For example, I've always thought that Merle Oberon came across as a bit of a cold fish in movies, but, here, she seems mischievous and a bundle of fun.
I always wonder why the show did not supply a bench for guests. Nevertheless, one of the finest, classiest, most enjoyable shows on television!
All the money went into paying the panelists. $500 each appearance except for Arlene who got double. And who knows how much John was paid? (Whatever it was, it was well worth it, as he made the show what it is.)
Agree, why would they make 2 guests share a small chair ? Sure en joying these old reruns on Utube. Most of all people r now dcsd, so fun to see them way back then. Was n hi schl n mid 60s so do remember the hair dos, fashion and jewelry. Yes, we really did wear white gloves when going out. Even had to wear them when took ballroom dancing n the 50s n grade schl.
They were very elegant back in those days, it's in their speech, clothes, manners
and slim
Respect & intellect glow from within.
Doesn't mean they didn't have covert addictions or vices. They may have overcompensated in these "socially accepted" ways to pretend or cover up any stigmas or weaknesses.
I was just thinking that we were also slimmer at that time and I also enjoyed their clothes and manners.
Merle Oberon ....surely no-one other than her could have the most exquisite beauty of face.
Miss Merle Oberon,I love her from the moment I saw her magical performance on Wuthering heights 😍.She was one of best actress on this planet.Iconic and so beautiful ❤️
I am a native of Cleveland Ohio and a student of the Sam Sheppard trial, it was interesting hearing it mentioned on this episode.
Interesting that mr. Daly mentioned at the end that Dorothy was leaving to cover the Shepherd trial. She thought he was innocent and he later was found innocent after being found guilty at 1st.
At last! The panel ladies get to show off their exquisite gowns during the introduction-adding a great bit to the entertainment value of the show, and John has been gradually eliminating that stupid walk contestants had to take in front of the panel, making it far less embarrassing for all concerned.
this is the first time the panel is being introduced off the desk
Never realized how much Meryl Streep resembles Merle Oberon as she appears here.
Uncanny.
@partycentralsales I never noticed it before, but you're right. Merle DOES resemble Merle (!!) Mostly it's in the lower half of her face, but the patrician nose is exactly the same.
Mrs. Sayler (the lady who washes cows) seems rather annoyed at the panel in this episode, because they obviously don't remember her, and I can't say that I blame her. The first episode with Mrs. Cora Sayler aired on May 23, 1954, and she seemed happier in that one. Also, there is a younger cow washer on the Aug. 18, 1957 episode of WML who stumps the panel again! Dorothy, Bennett & Arlene were all on the panel for all three cow-washer episodes, (though the 4th panelist was different each time) -- you'd think they'd learn! :)
SaveThe TPC This is great! We can compare the gambits that are apparently given to Steve Allen and Robert Q. Lewis in the two 1954 episodes, and there are definite similarities: the service is more for females; those who receive the service are of a weight heavier than the average woman's, for example. There are also some differences, of course, but we do see ample evidence of the gambits' existence. Apparently the producers had no qualms about seeming to run the same (or a very similar) gambit twice with the same contestant within a five month period. Looking at the 1957 episode, however, Ernie Kovacs, the panel comedian, does not start the questioning (Bennett Cerf does), and neither Bennett or Kovacs (or Dorothy in between them) seems to "run" with a gambit. In fact, Kovacs gets a "no" on his first question. The gambit is gone.
Robert Melson
Interesting observations! I'll have to check that out when I have more time, but thanks for detailing it so well in the meantime. :)
@@robertmelson2130 Yep. When the Twenty-One scandal broke its banks, it spooked Gil Fates quite a bit. He got rid of his gambits to avoid even the slightest appearance that the game might be rigged, even though G-T were very strict about outright cheating and got through the scandal without a scratch.
I remember a nun who was a dentist on this show - perhaps female dentists were rare and unexpected in the 1950s.
Yeah she was a bit more sassy this time around; but I think she had as much fun stumping them a second time as she did the first. And why wouldn't she? She'd always have won twice as much money as the average challenger.
The Crawford sisters were only in their mid 30's when this show was done and to me they look more like they're at least in their mid 50's. Funny how people then looked older than they were. Perhaps 50 years from now they'll be saying the same thing about people of today.
I was prepared to challenge your accuracy, but you're right! They were born in 1919 so in 1954 they were only 35 years old!.
@@ElizaDolittle OMG, they could be my daughters ! feel ancient at 56
What a fun episode! Even Lewis dialed back his annoying personality, though I loved when Bennett snapped 'One minute!' after Lewis' display of loquacity in his question for the twins! 😂
I was going to make a similar comment, but you beat me to it....
I remembered the basics of the Sam Sheppard case, when John Daly mentioned it at the end. So I quickly looked it up. He was, initially, found guilty of murdering his first wife. The ruling was overturned by the US Supreme Court. One of the reasons given was how bad the judge was, one point was an interview with Dorothy Kilgallen, where he reportedly said, "Well, he's guilty as hell. There's no question about it."
Little much the bushyman walked in, left the sleeping husband, and beat to death the wife.
Shepherd was ridiculously guilty. Read: The Unknown Darkness.
I thought Merle Oberon was a Shakespearean actress. But maybe I just imagined it while having a midsummer night's dream.
And then it occurred to me that she would need to look more haggard to play Oberon ...
@@loissimmons6558 Merle Haggard. I got it.
Walker Gordon cows! I grew up in Princeton NJ and when I was a child we would go to the barns and pet the calves. There was also a wonderful method for milking the cows that that was open to the public. We would stand high above in the center of a huge rotating wheel. Stalls were placed around the wheel- like a rotating pizza. The cows would walk in, a bar would come down and hold their head loosely in place and a man would quickly attach suction cups attached to hoses to the udders. The milk would flow upwards to glass jugs that hung above. We used to bet which cow would give the most milk by the time they slowly revolved back to their starting point and left by another door. There were also huge glass jars stuffed with musty hay explaining how much a cow needed to eat a day. It was very informative and a huge amount of fun! One could always tell when it was going to rain, because, "It smells like Walker Gordon" when the wind blew a certain direction.Thank you so much, again, for posting these wonderful episodes!
Thank you for the wonderful description! What delightful memories!
DENTIST
WASHES COWS. THIS IS A TRICK: SHE STUMPED OUR PANEL SIX MONTHS AGO
LAWYERS
A gentleman doesn't shake a lady's hand unless she offers first.
I wonder if Robert Q Lewis knew that. He didn't offer his hand.
I was just going to post the same comment. Excellent observation. Not too many are aware of that.
In most countries, in the world, it is rude for even two men to shake hands. That is something that is mostly only seen in the United States. In Europe, people can automatically tell when somebody is from the United States if the person wants to shake the hand of the other person.
For some reason Lewis didn't want to shake hands with the Indian lady.
@Michale Stone: Maybe she had cooties. ;)
I met Merle Oberon in Santa Barbara at a film festival shortly before she died. She talked about Lawrence Olivier, calling him "Larry". She was actually born in Bombay when her mother was only 12 years old, but she hid this all her life.
Her mother Sri lankan
She had to. Mixed parentage and illegitimate birth shut a lot of doors for people in those days. That's the way things were then.
That's wack
@Qwerty123 yes she was. It says in her wiki page. Hence her grandmother raised her as her own daughter. Her mother went on marrying later in her life had 4 more children. Her grandmother though gave birth at the age of 14, so she became a grandmother at a whooping age of 26 years old.
@@HoneyQuint It did make her beauty more exotic and unique than either Hedy's or Vivien Leigh's
The first guest had the most gorgeous smile!!! How could they miss Dentist!?!
She was quite lovely...but, she seemed to be chewing gum at one point, early on.
Because both John and Ruth were sneaky in their answers.
I am from Cleveland, Dorothy said that on the first day of the Sheppard trail, the judge asked what a famous report liker her was doing there, he said, "it is open and shut, he is guilty as hell."
And she proved him wrong and showed what a travesty the whole thing was.
Arlene looks beautiful ... wonderful frock & so self possessed ...
She was a delicate flower.
I wish they had given the lawyers the cow washer's slot. I think they were far more interesting and then they could have just brought the cow washer back on at the end for a minute as a novelty since the joke would still work even if they ran out of time for questions.
Exactly. It was a poor joke on the panel and a dull challenger. An in-joke really that was funnier for Mr Daly than for us.
I hope those who love this show and appreciate that era also watch To Tell the Truth. I was 26 yrs old when this particular show was filmed and hate what we've become. I go to sleep with WML on my laptop.
I thought I was the only one
I play it on my tablet throughout the night! These are historic!
I was only 6, but often could not sleep and stayed up to watch this, but I also agree with you that I am terribly saddened by what we have become.
I knew when I heard Cranberry, NJ. I recall that.
I wonder why Robert Q. Lewis didn't offer his hand to shake the first guest's hand.
Yep I noticed that too.
She passed over him. Gentlemen did not reach out to shake a woman's unless she first initiates it. She did not reach her hand out to him.
Miss Oberon was one of the great beauties of the silver screen. Unfortunately, she was also one of the first Hollywood stars who overdid the cosmetic surgery. Her mother was West Asian, and she actually hired her as a maid (to disguise her true identity). Her life story would make a great film.
There is a film 'Queenie'.
Bennett Cerf never fails to make me cringe at least once every episode when he's on the panel.
COINCIDENCE that the first guest was from Bombay India, Oberon's 'secret' birthplace?
And she was Indian also. ❤
The perp walk by the panelists is awkward especially when no one shakes hands.
Merle Oberon was Anglo Indian but because of the racism in Hollywood claimed to be from Tasmania. Errol flynn was Tasmanian, he knew Merle was not from Tasmania but never told anybody.
Because Errol Flynn had his own secrets and they were much more horrendous than hiding one's place of birth.
🎉Merle Oberon was INDEED a glamorous woman!
Would have enjoyed a little conversation before she left.
She was stunningly beautiful ❤️!!
Format change as the panelists enter and introduce each other.
Okay, it's official, I've watched too many episodes. I pegged the cow washer immediately. ^o,-^
Owlz Eyez did you close your eyes when they showed her line?
orgonko the wildly untamed
Hiya. No, I recognized her face from her first appearance on the show. I guessed who she was even before they revealed her occupation to the audience. ^o,-^
+Owlz Eyez Then you did a whole lot better than the panel! :) Of course, I'm sure you'd seen her previous episode a lot more recently than they had seen her at the time. ;)
LoL 🤣
Yes, we "binge watch" these, compared to their doing a show once a WEEK! Even watching one a DAY far outpaces their time lapse. (Did I say that correctly?)
Being kind to the panel saying Cora Sayler was on 6 months ago. It hadn't even been 5, she was on the Ted Williams episode in late May. They even had Bob Q Lewis use the same gambit that Steve Allen did in that episode (if Steve was here he may have remembered).
Merle is lovely as always.
I thought she looked tired and lackluster. Most times actresses look lovelier r/t the black and white.
Ok... I was confused thinking 'How many cow washers can there be? They've had a number of 'lady barbers' & 'lady bartenders' & 'lady bullfighter.' So I thought I must have seen this one.. Nice trick.
I loved the movie Wuthering heights
A professional cow washer!! Who knew! The farmers just didn't wash them themselves?!
At about 10:00 when John says to the second contestant that he wasn’t sure if she watched the show . . . 🤣
I saw the other episode with the woman who washed cows, and both times she was asked if she dealt primarily with the female sex... And of course, the answer was "yes"!
I grew up near Cranbury & Walker-Gordon Farms...hoe of the Rotolactor. It was a sort of milking merry-go-gound on which cows were loaded and hooked up to milking machines. Once around, in 12 and a half minutes, and the cows had been milked and would exit the gadget. I remember an early class trip there. It had a round second floor which was a sort of museum about dairy, and from which one could look down on the process..This lady who wash the cows was probably stationed where the cows would enter the rotlactor. The farm ceased operation in 1971 as its site on highway 130 became to valuable as a location for condominiums and an office park. Elsie the cow, when she became a popular animation in the 1630's was also represented by a live Elsie, whose grave was at the farm. It should be noted that Walker-Gordon was an entire dairy laboratory, more than just a farm. Sorry it is gone now...but, I hear there is still a working rotary milker in Indiana.
The little town of Cranbury is quite pretty, with its Victorian houses. I used to pass through there with my boyfriend in the 80s.
@@renakonar3733 Yes, it is pretty and, though the nearby highway has exploded with development, the village itself is much the same as you remember. I guess we should be thankful that it is not much promoted or mentioned on TV.. One of the few times it was is when Gordon Ramsay tried to save a local restaurant. If I recall correctly, it might have made one of those "best places to live" lists.
Esa es una época maravillosa. tiempos así no volverán 😂😂😂
Absolutely they will never return very sad to know that.☮️👊
Merle Oberon's mother was from Sri Lanka ( Cyclone )
Miss Ezekiel was the 12th known regular guest from a foreign country.
Miss Oberon was the 39th foreign born MG.
The Misses Crawford were the 1st duo/group regular guests and the 1st twin guests.
I guess this is the episode where panelists would walk in after being introduced instead of already being seated.
I sorta miss the candid shot of the entire panel before the introductions. Watching from the beginning of the series, you can see them sitting stone-faced, as if they don't realize they're on camera. ...up through later episodes where they're chatting with each other - Arlene and Bennett seem to cut-up quite a bit - and, on more than one occasion, a male panelist will blow his nose into a hankerchief...like they STILL don't realize they're on camera!!
Interesting - two of the guests tonight are from Bombay, India: the dentist and Merle Oberon. Coincidence?
Yes, Ms. Oberon's true birthplace was not public knowledge at the time.
When the cow washer got up to leave Daily should have said, “see you in another six months.”
It is ironic that only Indian (from Bombay) guest is followed by Merle Oberon. DId they know something given Merle's secret ancestry?
This is the comment I was looking for - it was obviously a pass-ag dig, as apparently it was a well-known secret in Hollywood. Imagine Merle squirming in the green room...
Always amuses me guest couples have to share one chair! Didn't the studio have any spare chairs? Lol
I think it probably had to do with the limited camera angle for Daly's desk.
They had two chairs on this one; re-watch it.
Merle Oberon looks a little like Meryl Streep here. Or I should say the other way around. Like she could have been her mother (minus the colouring)
Merle Oberon stared in the greatest romance in motion picture history.
Flike Merle's brother was an actor too???
orgonko the wildly untamed Oops. Must have been thinking of the German Oberons.
While "Anglo-Indian" can refer to someone who is of mixed Indian and British ancestry, it also meant (back in the days of the British raj and for some time afterward), someone of English ancestry who was resident in India. Merle Oberon's father was English, but her mother was of Eurasian ancestry, partly of Ceylonese with some Maori ancestry, added to European ancestry. She hid that fact until a year before her death with the fiction that she was born in Tasmania, and that all her school records had been destroyed in a fire. She was actually born in Mumbai, India (which was still called Bombay when she was born). Records proving her birth location were located after her death. I note that one slightly shocking fact is that her mother was only 12 years of age at the time of her birth -- and had a second child at age 14. Miss Oberon's mother later married and had four more children for a total of six. Merle Oberon was raised by her mother, but everyone was told that little Estelle Merle O'Brien Thompson was her younger sister, and her later children grew up believing that. As has been observed, Merle Oberon concealed her Eurasian ancestry and birth information in order to succeed in her profession and in society in general in an era where people were intolerant of such situations. It is thought, too, that she didn't want anyone to know her mother was only 12 years old and that she was born out of wedlock.
Flike - As Cathy in Wuthering Heights, with Laurence Olivier? Great movie. :)
Summer Lovers, but I doubt that’s your favorite.
In this footage, Merle kind of resembles a younger Meryl Streep. Notice her face from about 19:00 onward, and you'll see that there's a resemblance to Meryl there.
bluedasher74 I agree. Right down to the mannerism
Only in the face believe me!
It's an impressive resemblance!
Funny how the questions to Mrs. Sayler went down the same trail lol.
I think that the Indian woman dentist had ill-fitting dentures
She kept adjusting her mouth.
The cow washer lady sure opened the door for some fun banter.
Wuthering Heights
Ms.Oberon was wonderful as Kitty, the stage actress, in 1944's "The Lodger." Then, of course, there's Cathy in "Wuthering Heights", 1939...
So, two guests from India 🇮🇳!?
"Taking Ghandi from babies." That has to be one of Bennett's worse puns ever. Yuck! I enjoyed the episode anyway. I thought I recognized the second contestant! Kind of sad that the three main panelists didn't recognize her; she looked hacked that they didn't catch on. I can't say as I can totally blame her for that.
Kate Luxor - ha! It was so bad it was Brilliant!
Agree on the puns but she seemed to think ti was funny.
+Kate Luxor
I didn't recognize her, but I immediately said to myself that they had someone with the same profession fairly recently (at least in terms of me watching the episodes). Then I remembered a spoiler comment made on the previous episode that she came back and fooled them again.
This time at least, Robert Q Lewis gets a pass since he wasn't on that show. As far as the other three, I guess they would have been disqualified as eyewitnesses in a future trial. I thought Dorothy caught on right away when she gestured in some manner just before John called on Robert to start the questioning. Being an investigative reporter to some extent, I thought she remembered the name or the face or her hometown. But there must have been a different reason for her doing that because she didn't say anything along the line when it was her turn to ask questions.
+Kate Luxor
Considering that Ghandi had been murdered nearly 7 years prior to this episode, IMHO the pun was in very poor taste as well.
@@loissimmons6558 Too soon?
Giving the panelists only one minute to discover the contestants' "line" was ridiculous. It's not fair to the women who were hurried on and off, not fair to their families and friends who wanted to see them on TV, not fair to the panelists, not fair to the audience. I don't understand why the final contestants weren't moved to next week's program when there was so little time remaining.
Not that my opinion counts, considering the show is 64 years old!
Beat the Clock would have the contestant finish up their segment at the start of the following week. Probably would have broken up the flow of WML too much, however.
Too true. I can look on Google to find out what Merle Oberon did to become famous but she said so little on this show that I haven't a clue. Yes, the two twins were a lost opportunity and would probably have been more fun than the cow-washing woman who was slow to answer questions.
Out of town guests, such as the two from Georgia, may not be in NYC the following weekend; similarly, even locals may not be available for the following week. In any event, being on national TV for even just a couple of minutes while making maybe a weeks salary was a nice deal for a lot of people at that time (especially if they had experienced the depression and WW2).
pretty sure they were brought on as backups in case time was allowed. so, just calm down.
That was a curtain-heavy opening for sure.
Curious as to why Robert Lewis did not shake the hand of the first contestant. He stood up at least but did not shake hands with the woman from India. He shook hands with everyone else. Maybe it's nothing. Arlene was right. They were being dubious with the cow washer. I felt the woman was being obtuse on purpose. She kept delaying her answers when there was no reason to have to think about it. Do they give milk? Yes, the answer is Yes, say Yes already! Are these bovine? Yes, the answer is Yes, say Yes already! Being a "Boston" word, whatever that means, is irrelevant. I got that same vibe the first time she was on. She did not want to answer the questions when the answer was Yes.
They should have brought the cow washer back once a year, would have been nice to see when they will remember :)
Merle Oberon looks like Meryl Streep with brown hair
"Taking Gandhi from babies"--one of Cerf's greatest puns.
However, as Gandhi was and is revered in India....the Lady did NOT, clearly, think it funny or amusing at all....she rolled her eyes...probably thinking Cerf, you're a Jack Ass...LoL..
@@stanochocki8984 Or she could have just thought it was kind of a crap racially based joke 🤷🏿♂️ FWIW I thought she found it amusing. Also - Gandhi is a very problematic figure and Indians have a complex relationship with his legacy.
What does it mean tho
@@anurag684 It's a silly play on words. "It's like taking candy from a baby" is an old expression meaning something (something underhanded, or a trick) is very easy to do.
@@stanbrown32 oh ok I knew that phrase. It's just a word play not anything meaningful
You would think that after a while, they would have gotten a bench.
Oh no they started that walk of shame again.
Another very funny episode but Mrs Saylor, the cow washer, didn't seem to really know what she did.
Second Lady is fine. She smiles. Laughs. Those questioning her…just enjoy the show.
The "do they look better afterwards in a bathing suit" comment just GOT ME!! I am laffing SO loud!! lololol
Especially when Mrs. Saylor answers, "NO! "
From WIKI:
"Merle Oberon was raised as the daughter of Arthur Terrence O'Brien Thompson, a Welsh mechanical engineer from Darlington who worked in Indian Railways and his wife, Charlotte Selby, a Eurasian from Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). However, according to her birth certificate, Merle's biological mother was Charlotte's then-12-year-old daughter, Constance. To avoid scandal, Charlotte raised Merle as Constance's half-sister. Charlotte had herself given birth to Constance at the age of 14 as the result of rape by Henry Alfred Selby, the Anglo-Irish foreman of a tea plantation. In their 1983 biography of Oberon, Charles Higham and Roy Moseley also wrote that Selby had Māori ancestry"
Omg it is the same cow woman i would have never got it either because i also forgot about her
Merle Oberon was beautiful!
Such a beauty and sadly not recognised during this time as an Asian Actor.
I noticed Mr. Lewis didn't shake her hand. I consider this extremely rude.
it's very hard to trust or believe anything written about Merle Oberon 's early life, she put it aside and that was her business, we don't need a DNA test to assure us she was a wonderful Actress and one of the most Beautiful Women of Hollywood History !
behind the curtain
Interesting they didn't recognize she was a medical professional for so long.
Anyone else notice how that second fella wouldn’t shake hands with the Indian Lady Dentist?
I was still in the crib.😅😅😅😅
WHEN THEY HAVE 2 GUESTS, DALY SHOULD GIVE THEM THE 2 CHAIRS while keeps standing and moderate that segment ,or 'always' have a wider chair when there are 2 guests to accmmodate the visitors better.
13:50-sick burn
From 1950 to 1967 john charles daly's hair (wig) exactly the same each show
read about how Merles lies about her birth place caught up with her...very curious
Greco Grant What's so curious about it?
Greco Grant
However, it did mean that there were two people on this episode from Bombay, although it was not widely known at the time that Miss Oberon was born there.
Don't care... she was a charismatic actress.
Flickers... Love Dorothy
Merle Oberon's facial features remind me of Meryl Streep, and their first names even sound similar.
I think it is the small mouth but very beautiful
It's weird when twin dress the same. They're individuals, not the same person.
I had just been born. July.
Thank goodness they got rid of that nonsense of the contestant walking by the panelists and also them exiting behind John Charles Daly. Very undignified and disrespectful to the contestants.
Strange how many are not sure how to answer, think clean would look bette in swimsuit. They didnt remember... amazing with her.
Where do you get this footage? DVDs are almost non-existent. Is this brilliant series about to be lost?
It's frustrating when Dorothy asks questions that she knows the answer to or when she asks the same questions over and over in a different way. Very annoying.
Don Mueller
SMH I don't want to talk bad about her or bash her, but that was unnecessary and selfish of her.
Purple Capricorn She learned not to do this by the 1960s, but I totally agree that this was very irritating behavior for viewers (not to mention her fellow panelists). She did this quite often in the 50s.
+What's My Line? I like it when she does this. She investigates. It is her nature as a journalist & carries over into this program. Bennett & Arlene do it too. Dorothy had a very keen mind & was quite thorough & I love to watch her as she asks questions. She never gets on my nerves.
It was either in his published memoirs or (more likely) in his "oral history" recordings about WML where Bennett Cerf talked about Dorothy's questioning ploy of asking incremental questions calculated to get a "yes" answer, but didn't do much to advance the game by discovering something not already known. Bennett said that Arlene used to 'burn' when Dorothy did that, because, as an actress, Arlene did like actors who deliberately tried to upstage their fellow performers, and Dorothy's obvious attempts to hog the camera to no good purpose struck her the same way. I can't stand it myself. I also hate when she asked "insider" questions such as "Did you lose your address book out of a helicopter over the Greek islands?" or "Did you study dentistry?"
Mine either.
Mrs. Cora (the cow lady) is far too smart for this game lol.
She was virtually brain dead.
Why do they always rushed the last guest. The producer must have poor time management skils