Well, I'm surprised no one has offered this theory yet, so I guess I will after all. I was hoping someone else would say this first and then I could just concur. :) In my opinion-- just opinion, mind you-- John Daly is a bit tipsy in this program. Here's my "evidence", such as it is: (1) He's acting a bit oddly from the very start of the program, kicking things off by noting how much he didn't want to be there due to Father's Day, (2) He barely let anyone else talk (except George Burns of course), (3) He got a basic piece of information about the first guest wrong (he wasn't the pilot of the Caroline), (4) His speech and his movements feel, to me, overly measured, as if trying to compensate for any mild intoxication through sheer concentration (5) His moderation of the questioning segments was a bit off, too. One example: during the golf pro segment, he stretches the point of whether the sport could be played indoors to the point of absurdity, such that even *Dorothy*-- who was always trying to wheedle a partial yes by modifying what she meant by her questions-- volunteers to take a simple "No" on that question! Just my take, of course-- but I've watched this one 4 times in the past couple of months, and I'm convinced a bit more each time that John had a couple of drinks more than usual before the show. He's not the sort of guy who'd ever appear on national TV totally snookered-- but I do think he's just a bit tipsy. Regardless, we'll never know for sure-- but I'd sure love to see what Gil Fates had to say about this episode in his production notes. TV.com's listing for this show doesn't note anything out of the ordinary about John's performance here.
David Von Pein I'm not sure it has to be an either/or situation. I think you're probably right, he's filling, but our host is right too. There's something awfully precise about his movements and speech, as though he's trying to appear sober. And it's undeniable that he ramped up the annoying quotient when adjudicating the answers for the golfer. Much worse than usual.
David Von Pein No need to be sorry for disagreeing-- it just makes the discussion more interesting. I'm certainly not claiming I *know* anything, it's only my take. I am relieved, though, that I'm not the *only* one who suspects he was tipsy. And it's nice to be talking about a cast member being possibly tipsy other than Dorothy for a change! :) There was at least one show where Arlene was *clearly* more than tipsy, which was an absolute riot. Funny that Arlene drunk is hilarious, where Dorothy drunk is just heartbreaking to watch. I don't think I've ever seen a show where Bennett showed any signs of inebriation.
At 9:48, John mentions that LtCol Swindal "flew the hump" during WWII. He was referring to a supply operation in which allied aircraft flew cargo over the Himalayas to resupply Chiang Kai-shek and American Army Air Corps bases. Those flights from India to China were difficult and dangerous due to violent turbulence, winds from 125-200 miles per hour, icing, and less than adequate navigational equipment. Occasionally, Japanese fighter planes attacked the transports, which were unarmed and unescorted. A total of 373 aircraft were lost during the operations. Hats off to LtCol Swindal and his fellow pilots for their incredibly heroic work.
I truly enjoyed this episode, because they didn't have to rush through the mystery guest, and because I love George Burns, and I love that he got to converse for a while.♡
Colonel Swindal was still flying Air Force One for the flight down to Dallas on November 22, 1963 and the sad flight back to Washington after the assassination. That particular aircraft, the Boeing 707 tail number 26000 is at the Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, OH and you can walk through it and out the same door the casket was removed from.
How heartbreaking.......I was thinking when he was introduced that thankfully he did not have anything to do with his ground transportation. Poor man. Such sad times in American history.
Arlene Francis went to Germany to film the movie "One, Two, Three" with James Cagney, Horst Bucholz and Pamela Tiffin. James Cagney was a riot with lots of fast talking and great one liners.
The first time I saw Martin, I wondered how Arlene could have been attracted to him. It didn't take long to realize that Martin was not only a loving husband, he was also intelligent, witty, charming, and cultured. Just the sort of man Arlene would have been attracted to. They were a great match.
George Burns was a naturally funny man, a sweetheart, and truly loved Gracie to whom he gives ALL credit for his success. Of all of his books my favorite was, Gracie: A Love Story. I can watch him and Gracie all day long, their movie shorts, their TV shows, his stand-up, all of it. He was in every sense of the word a mensch.
Every sense? He cheated on her at least once. When Gracie found out, she made him buy a new dining room table. Years later, she wanted a new table. She remarked, "I wish George would cheat on me again." My favorite story of their relationship dates from early in their marriage. George traveled quite a bit and told Gracie that he was the man of the house and would have to make the decisions, even when he was away, so Gracie would have to wait on making decisions until he returned. Gracie demurred, saying that even if George were the man of the house, there would be times when decisions would have to be made even if he was away. George agreed with that, so they compromised that Gracie could make the small decisions while he would always make the big decisions. For years George would say, "I'm still waiting for my first big decision."
I saw George Burns "live" one time. I think I knew about ninety percent of the material by heart. Thus, nearly each time he offered up another piece of schtick, I was falling out of my seat laughing by the time he'd finished the first sentence.
George did tend to repeat most of his act year after year. There's a recording of a concert he did in 1974 that has about two thirds of the same material he was using till the very end.
Another one of his stock lines that I remember and love: "It only takes one drink to get me drunk. But I can't remember if it is the eleventh or the twelfth."
Unlike today, most people knew how to open a book back then. And serfdom had existed in Tsarist Russia during the lifetimes of Daly and all the panelists. Amazing to think how much history these people lived through...
Yeah. Wow. 65. That's 2 years b4 I was even born. I grew up with George Burns. Love him and Gracie Allen. Love their show. She was absolutely one 9d the funniest ladies in comedy. I know she was intelligent, but man did she play dumb, just, so spot on. I think that shows how smart, and of course, how talented she was. May they both R.I.P. They will always b missed and treasured. At least in my heart.
Don't know why I said '65 was 2 years b4 I was born. Maybe I was tipsy.😏 Either way ,I was born in '64. My comments about George & Gracie are true tho. I loved them.
@@RichardHannay I specialized in giant silk moths. I sold specimens to private collectors, colleges and biological supply houses. I also reared and released Monarch Butterflies.
Arlene Francis -- bless her heart -- very often wore the most complicated outfits for this program. Dorothy Kilgallen was always considerably more conservative in what she chose to wear.
It is about the situation in divided Berlin. They didn't get the movie finished before East started to build the wall, so the team had to use giant models of the Brandenburg gate for the film's final scenes!
Martin Gabel used the six-syllable word "ratiocination" at 13:19. He knew what it meant, logical reasoning, but he didn't know how to pronounce it. The first syllable is pronounced "rash".
What I liked about this episode is that the two contestants as well as the mystery guest had ample time to chat with John Daly after their profession or identity had been revealed. All too often in other installments they just leave or have a very short exchange, so I think having just two contestants rather than three would've been the ideal way to assure that each person got a fair amount of airtime.
Yes and if that happened every show perhaps there would be a lot fewer fourth contestants which usually win the whole prize because they can't take the time to ask questions
My grandad smoked cigars in my family’s apartment when I wss a kid during the 1960s. With both parents smoking cigarettes, I don’t remember the smell of his cigar ever being discernable. Today, any tobacco smoke is intrusive and disgusting, but back then it was all so pervasive, even on airplanes and cinemas, that we didn’t notice it.
@@petemarshall8094 I must disagree. I was 6 yrs old in 1961, and I remember how strongly cigars smelled, vs cigarettes. And cigar smoke’s lingering smell on clothing was easily discernible from that of cigarettes. My father occasionally smoked a cigar, but my mother forbade it indoors. We could always smell the smoke on him afterwards. Stale cigarette smoke had a different scent to it.
He didn’t say “worter.” Burns was originally from NYC. It’s a different accent (or set of accents) than that. “Worter” would be a bit south of the NYC metro area, more Maryland/DC. Burns said “wawteh.”
@@Historian212 Perhaps in the USA but in Canada we can buy fine Havana cigars, which don’t smell anything like the El Productos, Old Ports, Dutch, Dominican, Jamaican and South American cigars. i enjoy three Montecristo #2 cigars in my office every day and after many years nobody has yet complained. Yet when a friend gave me a Nicaraguan cigar, it stunk the whole place up, like a cigarette would. I would think that George could afford the good ones.
Eisenhower called his official airplane the "Columbine" but Kennedy did not name the plane, so it was called by its call sign "Air Force One". LBJ also did not name the plane but Nixon called it "The Spirit Of '76". But since the Ford Administration the Presidential plane has always been called "Air Force One" - when the President is aboard.
At 16:41, John Daly asks the golfer if she is going to play at the "Baldersol". In fact, she was going to play in the Women's U.S. Open at the "Baltusrol Golf Club" in New Jersey. The winner of the open was Mickey Wright. "Baltusrol" is not an easy name to get right. I remember that when the men's US Open was played there, the write-up in my hometown newspaper used a different spelling almost every time the name was printed. They only got it right occasionally.
Arlene went to Germany to film Billy Wilder's "One Two Three" Nice work if you can get it. RE: First contestant. Eisenhower's pilot also appeared on WML.
Bennet often used the word "dexterity" in his questions. I especially remember one episode of WML from the middle of the 1960s with a young boy (I think he was 8) who was a trick billiard shooter. Bennet asked him if his speciality needed dexterity and the boy whispered to John Daly "-What's that?" And all laughed and applauded. Maybe you can't expect a young child to know a difficult word as 'dexterity'! Steve Lawrence was one of the panelist I think.
I remembered that one differently. He was a billiards champ as I recall and he answered "yes" to the dexterity question as I recall with no prompting from John. He was a very well mannered child -- -which the panelists commented on -- and my immediate thought was that his parents had thoroughly prepared him for his appearance, including running through common questions that were asked by WML panelists, including the dexterity one. Bennett could be obtuse in what he said and asked.
One of George Burns’ answers caught my attention. “Yes, but I’m still speaking to Jerry Lewis.” I wonder if he could be referencing the rift that developed between Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin.
I like that Arlene can engage just as enthusiastically with a fish counter and a pilot for the President. DK always comes off as 'exclusively' very snobbish, and acted all coy around "influential" people. I know, her job. But Arlene pulled off the diplomacy with such grace and tact, never looking down her nose at people.
I think Arlene would have been the perfect hostess for a party. She would have been able to make every guest feel like the most important person there.
When it's revealed that Ms. Francis is heading off to Germany for a few weeks, no reason was forthcoming. Clearly, she was wending eastward to co-star in the great Billy Wilder's One Two Three. She was essaying the role of James Cagney's wife. Flash forward a year-or-so later---no surprise---and she was wonderful in the finished film.
RE John's comment about working on Father's Day. Since WML had videotaping available to it, I wonder if Daly and Cerf discussed with G-T doing a tape for use on Father's Day. If they did, they lost.
Given the standards of today's educational system (of which I am a part), there is almost no one brought up who could understand Dorothy's pun about the feudal system and "Cerfs".
epaddon I just tested your theory out on my son, who took a two-year AP World History class during his first two years of high school (he's a Junior now). I am proud to say that he understood the pun -- he didn't think it was funny -- but he got it. :)
+Sabine Beyer It's a pun on how under the medieval feudal system which dominated Europe for a thousand years, you had wealthy landowners and peasants who were forced to work for the landowners in a state of permanent service in which they first met their obligations to the landowner before they could keep anything for themselves. These peasants were known as "serfs" which is pronounced the same way as Bennet's last name "Cerf".
Thank you. Its the same source as servant than. It didn't came to my mind until know. It's not always easy to understand puns in a foreign language. Thanks again.
I would always wonder if this show could be revived today, but I think it's impossible with the increase use of machine or artificial intelligence to do work. Sigh, gone were the days.
It would be awful with the choices available today, and definitely would lack class and fun like you see on this show. The panel would be saddled with endless tweets about how someone was offended by a remark that hurt their feelings. 🤔🙄
Daly seemed to be more relaxed in this episode. Maybe because he knew there wouldn't be any contestant after the MG sequence, and didn't have to rush anything this time.
Well, I'm repeating myself, but as I said in a reply to epaddon, I don't believe that timing had anything to do with it. The MG segment was over at around the 19:00 mark, more than enough time to have fit in a fourth contestant. More time, in fact, than the fourth contestants usually got! I think John just genuinely enjoyed George and wasn't interested in cutting the "interview" short. Note, too, that John even requested that George *sing*, and more than once! How many times did we ever see John request a MG to perform? Possibly never! In virtually all cases, he was the one who would squelch these requests from the panelists (usually they came from Arlene). Also, take note in particular of how he conducted the "interviews" following the first two segments. I've never seen him this garrulous in any other show, most pointedly when he told the story of how well he did on a tough golf hole after having already talked almost non stop for a couple of minutes. Truly a strange performance from Mr. Daly in this one!
What's My Line? Hm.. I had a theory myself, but it fell apart when I checked the facts. You won't reveal yours? ;) One thing is for sure; Daly *was* more relaxed, and seemed to be in a good mood..
SuperWinterborn I'll offer my theory if no one else does-- but I think someone else will. Someone on FB already has! "Relaxed" and "in a good mood" could almost be considered euphemisms for my theory. :)
SaveThe TPC Very simple, "down to earth guess": That Virginia had told him she was pregnant. But their first son was born oct. '62. So much for that theory.
Arlene looks exhausted during the introduction of her husband. It's odd.....seen it time and time again. So often she looks WONDERFUL, freshfaced, glamourous and bright. Then every so often, the dark shadows appear along with the crows feet and her eyes are like narrow slits. I suppose that's life!!
She was a mom, made movies, acted in plays, wrote a couple books, filled in on TV news and entertainment shows and had her own program called Home, of course What's My Line weekly. I'd look tired occasionally too.
maynardsmoreland How I love George Burns. . . it was such a treat to see him get so much time to shine in this show. His career was somewhat in the dumps at this point, so it's nice to hear the *HUGE* ovation he got from the audience upon entering. Without Gracie.
Mr. Burns tried a solo series with the same "Burns and Allen" cast, minus Gracie, after her retirement. Canceled after a year. Then he did a show with Connie Stevens - another series failure. He finally came into his own as an elder statesman of comedy with "The Sunshine Boys." Yes, even though his career was not going well in the 60s, Mr. Burns shines here!
maynardsmoreland He was not well served all those years he tried to find a Gracie substitute. Connie Stevens on "Wendy and Me" was basically playing the Gracie character. His Vegas act usually had a female partner-- a long series of them-- who performed old Burns and Allen routines with him. He had to find himself, and it took him a really, really long time to do it-- not until he was almost 80 years old. We're all very lucky he lived long enough to finally manage it in his last 20 years. As you probably know already, he got the part in "The Sunshine Boys" that breathed new life to his career thanks to his best friend Jack Benny, who was originally slated to play his role. When Jack realized he was too sick to ever be able to do the movie, it was at *his* insistence that the producers auditioned George. It was Jack's final gift to his lifelong closest friend. I get a lump in my throat every time I think about it. :)
What's My Line? I didn't realize that Jack actually "passed the torch" to George for his role in "The Sunshine Boys." I just thought that the movie producers thought of George as a substitute for Jack Benny after Jack died. That is indeed a heart-stirring story.
SaveThe TPC I wasn't there as an eye witness, of course, so I can't vouch that it's actually true, but that is the way the story has been told in various books about both George and Jack. It certainly does fit the character of their friendship, and the wonderful, generous spirit Jack Benny had. I choose not question the reality of it. :)
I'm not going to weigh in on the "tipsy or not" debate just now, but just want to make a suggestion to those considering the question. I've just watched the July 2, 1961 episode with Yogi Berra, and there is no fourth challenger that night either. See if you get the same impression about John's condition or approach that night that you get from this episode.
RE: " Murder One" by Dorothy Kilgallen. It's too bad that Dorothy's concentration, time scheduling, and health issues did not let her finish the whole book herself. Bennett finally published "Murder One" two years after Dorothy died. Her father wrote part of the book based on her outlines.
soulierinvestments There seems to be some debate about who finished writing "Murder One." Gil Fates asserts in his book about "What's My Line?" that it was finished by Jim Kilgallen, but Lee Israel claims in her biography of Dorothy that it was completed by a writer named Allan Ullman.
SaveThe TPC Is that where the notion that Jim finished it came from? Wow-- I've been wanting to figure this out for months now. I would *definitely* trust Lee Israel's research over Gil Fates's often faulty memory. Thanks so much for clearing this up!
What's My Line? You're most welcome. :) It took me a little while to find the exact quote, but here it is, from page 109 of "What's My Line? TV's Most Famous Panel Show" by Gil Fates: "Her fellow panelist, Bennett Cerf, gave Dorothy a ten thousand dollar advance on a book he wanted her to write on the famous murder trials she had covered. She only got to write part of it. It was finished after her death by her father, Jim."
I heard George Burns say once his career for 40 years consisted of one joke and then she died. While there was some truth to that, it wasn't entirely true. George was funny on his own.
They mentioned twice that Arlene was going to Germany for a couple of weeks. She was going to play James Cagney's wife in the film; One, Two, Three which was directed by Billy Wilder. Great show. In the show synopsis above it states that John Daly was acting strange. He was long winded, and they didn't get to a 3rd guest.
This IS an unusual episode. We get to see George Burns's entertainment style at length. He appeared on WML 3-or-4 times and was hugely funny every time. His 1954 appearance with Gracie was in a comedy class all its own, exploring the comic potential of knocks on wood. Interestingly enough, we also get to see at length John as interviewer. He can hold his own with Larry Blyden [who Gil Fates wrote was WML's great interviewer host] very good as always. I wonder if John stretched his post-game small talk because --- for whatever unexpected reason -- the show did not have a fourth contestant on hand. You know -- got hit by the plague in the green room sort of thing.
I don't think Daly is acting all that weird. And I don't think he's "tipsy". I think the others are correct in their guess that Daly is just trying to stretch the program due to the lack of a fourth contestant. It's interesting, though, that this is one of the times that we can hear a bit of one of the "small conferences". When he's having a conference with the golfer after Bennett asks about whether there's any connection with the water, you can clearly hear at 12:25, Mr. Daly says "...just to confuse them some more".
The passage of time: Marleen Hagge, age 27 here, died 5/16/23 at age 89. Batlusrol Golf Course is named after the farmer who used to own the land, Mr. Baltus Roll.
Man, Mr. Cerf just called Mr. George Burns wife, Gracie, stupider. Interesting. Wrong choice of words he may have thought as the words came out of his mouth. Lol! Poor choice of words. Mr. Burns knew what he met I'm thinking. Lovely couple and nice act.
Just to show the range of George Burns' skills, watch the 1981 movie "Going In Style". It also includes Art Carney and Lee Strasbourg. It's a remarkable film that could have been played for silly laughs; instead it was rendered as a gritty drama. Fantastic acting from those three, with Burns as the ringleader.
OK , no doubt about it now. The panel definitely gets advance hints about the professions, at least sometime. The show started with Arlene asking the pilot about working for a non-profit organization. I realize its one of the standard questions, but never first. Why else would she ask that then?
When Bennett Cerf told Arlene not to go to the wrong side of Germany, he was referring to Communist East Germany. East Germany distanced itself from Communism, when it was reunited with West Germany, following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and has been Communist-free ever since.
***** As a matter of fact, Arlene did run into a bit of a problem with the "wrong side of Germany" during the making of the film. In her memoirs, she writes: "...the only time the company left Munich was to go to Berlin, for a scene in the picture which called for Horst Buchholz to ride through East Berlin on a motorcycle releasing balloons with anti-Russian slogans on them. They weren't supposed to be inflated until he got past the Brandenburg Gate, but by some mischance, one of the armed guards on the roof of one of the buildings caught sight of them and filming was ordered to cease on the spot. The company was invited to leave Berlin forthwith---which you can bet your lederhosen we did." (from page 173 of "Arlene Francis: A Memoir" by Arlene Francis with Florence Rome.)
SaveThe TPC Will do! I'm still waiting for "At Random", and I'm actually thinking very seriously about buying Arlene's cookbook too, after reading a very funny blog post about it from 2008. Looks like it might be a real riot: dannymiller.typepad.com/blog/2007/10/arlene-francis-.html
What's My Line? That was a funny article, but that cookbook sounds like a vegetarian's nightmare! I hope it won't invade my dreams tonight.... It sounds like it might be a fun read as long as you have no intention of making the recipes, though. ;) I also can't blame the blogger's mother for being horrified and insulted at what her child had written about her! (And if I were she, there'd be a whole truckload of guilt mixed in with those emotions too. To be honest, I already started feeling some when I recognized at least a few similarities to what the blogger described in my own repertoire of family meals!)
Daly does indeed seem drunk as some have said. Even now at 3:33 trying to get to his chair he seems off balance. Being it was Fathers Day maybe he was VERY upset for not getting time off. Maybe he wanted a guest MC/HOST....
PILOT FOR PRESIDENT KENNEDY PROFESSIONAL GOLFER 🤪14:12 Dorothy could clearly be heard whispering while John spoke to the golfer. When asked what his sex life was like in his eighties, George Burns said it was like trying to put an oyster in a slot machine.
I think John Daly was 'padding'/stretching his material because there was no 3rd challenger after George Burns. Mr Daly is normally quick to thank people and to bring on the next person but in this episode he tells a rather boring story about golf, he flatters the President as if he wants a job from him and he lets George Burns talk till nearly the end of the show. Maybe the final challenger was ill, nervous or absent - there is something odd and aimless about the moderator's time-filling behaviour.
interesting that the term "air force one" was never used. the term was invented in the 50s but I guess it hadn't entered general public knowledge yet by 1961..
You can follow the frequency of usage of words or phrases with the "Google Ngram Viewer." The phrase "air force one" appears to have originated just after 1920 and reached a peak in 1940. It reached a trough in 1950, a peak in 1955, and another trough that bottomed out about 1962. Usage in the 21st century was much higher than in the 20th, with a peak at about 2010.
@@jackkomisar458 context matters. the term Air Force One in regards to the callsign for the plane the US President is on was invented in 1953. The "Air Force" under that term wasn't even a thing until 1947.. so yeah no one in 1920 was using the term Air Force One in regards to a plane the US President was on. Although Teddy Roosevelt was the first President to ride on a plane in 1910, it wasn until FDR in 1943 that a President used a plane to travel for official business. looking up word usage certainly can shed light on things, but you have to also look at the whole story. Any hits prior to 1953 simply can't be in reference to what we're talking about here.
That was the most drastic part, yes, but he was rambling on and on throughout the show, most especially in the "interviews" after both the first two segments. It's also incredibly odd of him to start the whole show off by noting how much he didn't want to be there-- and odd of him to have allowed the MG, George Burns, to have four minutes of virtually uninterrupted time to tell stories. AND request that George sing, more than once! How many times did we ever see John request a MG to perform? In virtually all cases, he was the one who would squelch these requests from the panelists (usually they came from Arlene). But before anyone speculates that he was stretching the program out for time considerations, I'm going to say, I don't think this had *anything* to do with it. The MG segment was over at around the 19:00 mark, more than enough time to have fit in a fourth contestant. More time, in fact, than the fourth contestants usually got! I won't offer my speculation as to what the reason for this unusual behavior was, but I do have a theory. . . ;)
And, miraculously, he shot the same score in both rounds he spoke about, 116. Yeah, I go with the intoxicated theory. (Sorry this is posted 4 years later, I just started watching these in the last week.)
Its a wonder George Burns lived so long with all those stinky cigars. Seemed he out-punned Bennett. I wonder if Gracie was retired from illness since died so young.
+libertyAnn Gracie had a serious heart condition and she had had a series of "minor" heart attacks even before she retired from show business in 1968 (See the documentary "The Better Half" about her. Also, George's book Gracie: A Love Story is on TH-cam as an audiobook and he talks, towards the end, about her heart attacks). When she had an attack, she would put a nitroglycerin tablet under her tongue and George would hold her until she felt better, but one night the medicine didn't work and she was rushed to the hospital where she later died. George and Gracie's adopted son, Ronnie, says (on a Larry King special taped right after George's death) that Gracie would have needed a heart transplant in order to have lived longer and that just wasn't available at the time. She died, in my opinion, very young. George was devastated by her death and while he "dated" some young (extremely young) women later in life, he never remarried. If you listen to interviews of him on TH-cam being interviewed by Barbara Walters and another where he is interviewed by Ed Bradley of "Sixty Minutes," it is quite clear that he was completely in love with Gracie for the whole of his long life.
Gracie's deteriorating health was a major factor in her retirement. Another factor was that she was tired of playing such a totally illogical character. As Bennett guessed, Gracie was "a lot stupider on the air than she is in private life." Not only was she tired of that image, George had said in interviews that her part was very difficult to learn because it was so contrary to anything rational. She basically had to memorize it word by word.
+@@loissimmons6558 Gracie was known in private life for her wit. When asked at a party whether Jack Benny was really as cheap as he acted, her reply was "Do you think I'm dumb?!"
At 13:00, Miss Arlene seems a tad lizard-lidded and again at 15:35 - maybe she and Mr. Daly had their postprandials together before the broadcast. Or she's maybe just more glamorous than usual.
@@joeambrose3260 ... Why? What’s wrong with my post? Unless you’re saying for me to say exactly where I live. I won’t give my exact location. I can say I’m an Army vet an go to the VA in Birmingham.
xleax I don't curse, never been drunk, don't do drugs. I'm funny, I love the classics.If I ever get rich I will give half to my mom and some of whats left over i'll donante...
Maybe adding to the "tipsy" theory: On the 2nd guest, the female pro golfer, John should have ended it right away when Bennett said "champion golfer," either by just giving a "YES!!" or "Flipping over the cards." It was overly obsessional to say "no" and leave it for Dorothy (or anyone) to say "pro golfer." ALTHOUGH.....this is hardly the only time there was such over obsessionality about a guess being not 1000% right and letting it go on. IMO it was the onliest occasional thing about the show that wasn't great.
Respectfully disagree. No reason to accuse - that is the correct word - Daly of being tipsy. Seriatim: 1. Daly made an appropriate homage to Fathers’ Day. Nothing more 2 Daly often monopolizes speech, his monologues being an enjoyable aspect of the show 3. Kilgallon called the plane “Caroline;” Daly only used the name she proffered 4. Not at all overly measured. And the show flowed smoothly 5. In the 60s, putting in executive offices was common. Of course, since the 1980s there have been indoor golf facilities where real balls are hit by real clubs into computer controlled screens (I do not mean video games) Daly has hosted the biggest stars and world leaders, but Burns is in a select group that could easily dominate conversation with Daly. Daly came across perfectly clearly on my bargain speakers and it was Burns who misheard Gracie instead of Benny. As always, thank you for these shows.
![What's My Line? - Alan King; Suzy Parker & Martin Gabel [panel] (Jun 25, 1961)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/VFCXacY4UmU/mqdefault.jpg)
![What's My Line? - Alan King; Suzy Parker & Martin Gabel [panel] (Jun 25, 1961)](/img/tr.png)
![What's My Line? - George Burns; Martin Gabel [panel] (Feb 2, 1964)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/GHV3pyC5DrI/mqdefault.jpg)
Well, I'm surprised no one has offered this theory yet, so I guess I will after all. I was hoping someone else would say this first and then I could just concur. :)
In my opinion-- just opinion, mind you-- John Daly is a bit tipsy in this program. Here's my "evidence", such as it is:
(1) He's acting a bit oddly from the very start of the program, kicking things off by noting how much he didn't want to be there due to Father's Day, (2) He barely let anyone else talk (except George Burns of course), (3) He got a basic piece of information about the first guest wrong (he wasn't the pilot of the Caroline), (4) His speech and his movements feel, to me, overly measured, as if trying to compensate for any mild intoxication through sheer concentration (5) His moderation of the questioning segments was a bit off, too. One example: during the golf pro segment, he stretches the point of whether the sport could be played indoors to the point of absurdity, such that even *Dorothy*-- who was always trying to wheedle a partial yes by modifying what she meant by her questions-- volunteers to take a simple "No" on that question! Just my take, of course-- but I've watched this one 4 times in the past couple of months, and I'm convinced a bit more each time that John had a couple of drinks more than usual before the show. He's not the sort of guy who'd ever appear on national TV totally snookered-- but I do think he's just a bit tipsy. Regardless, we'll never know for sure-- but I'd sure love to see what Gil Fates had to say about this episode in his production notes. TV.com's listing for this show doesn't note anything out of the ordinary about John's performance here.
I see what you mean, and he also seems unusually chatty with the contestants.
We have seen him tipsy once before. In an episode connected with New Year's celebration I think. He was behaving different then, though.. :)
David Von Pein I'm not sure it has to be an either/or situation. I think you're probably right, he's filling, but our host is right too. There's something awfully precise about his movements and speech, as though he's trying to appear sober. And it's undeniable that he ramped up the annoying quotient when adjudicating the answers for the golfer. Much worse than usual.
David Von Pein No need to be sorry for disagreeing-- it just makes the discussion more interesting. I'm certainly not claiming I *know* anything, it's only my take. I am relieved, though, that I'm not the *only* one who suspects he was tipsy. And it's nice to be talking about a cast member being possibly tipsy other than Dorothy for a change! :)
There was at least one show where Arlene was *clearly* more than tipsy, which was an absolute riot. Funny that Arlene drunk is hilarious, where Dorothy drunk is just heartbreaking to watch. I don't think I've ever seen a show where Bennett showed any signs of inebriation.
SuperWinterborn Are you referring to the show where he kept saying "1963" over and over again? (Or was it 1962?)
At 9:48, John mentions that LtCol Swindal "flew the hump" during WWII. He was referring to a supply operation in which allied aircraft flew cargo over the Himalayas to resupply Chiang Kai-shek and American Army Air Corps bases. Those flights from India to China were difficult and dangerous due to violent turbulence, winds from 125-200 miles per hour, icing, and less than adequate navigational equipment. Occasionally, Japanese fighter planes attacked the transports, which were unarmed and unescorted. A total of 373 aircraft were lost during the operations.
Hats off to LtCol Swindal and his fellow pilots for their incredibly heroic work.
I truly enjoyed this episode, because they didn't have to rush through the mystery guest, and because I love George Burns, and I love that he got to converse for a while.♡
Colonel Swindal was still flying Air Force One for the flight down to Dallas on November 22, 1963 and the sad flight back to Washington after the assassination. That particular aircraft, the Boeing 707 tail number 26000 is at the Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, OH and you can walk through it and out the same door the casket was removed from.
How heartbreaking.......I was thinking when he was introduced that thankfully he did not have anything to do with his ground transportation. Poor man. Such sad times in American history.
I'm glad they pronounced his name properly. Some may have pronounced it Swindle, which is wrong.
And apparently lived until 2006.
Arlene Francis went to Germany to film the movie "One, Two, Three" with James Cagney, Horst Bucholz and Pamela Tiffin. James Cagney was a riot with lots of fast talking and great one liners.
And Cagney found the film so demanding and stressful, that he didn't make another movie for 20 years.
@@PhilBagels He was very unhappy with working with Horst Buchholz.
@@preppysocks209 thought him very unprofessional ... something Cagney never was .....
@@anneroy4560 indeed
I was waiting for someone to mention this movie. I don't know any of the back stories, only that it's very funny.
Martin: "Except in my marriage, I've had no instinct for success in my life."
Awwwwwwwwww I need my own Martin
The first time I saw Martin, I wondered how Arlene could have been attracted to him. It didn't take long to realize that Martin was not only a loving husband, he was also intelligent, witty, charming, and cultured. Just the sort of man Arlene would have been attracted to. They were a great match.
@@mikejschin Yes. Both Arlene and Martin were very lucky. More than just luck though.
@@mikejschin Your brain can make up for other shortcomings. If you are missing that and looks too like me then good luck.
@@Dios67 Aw...but you have humility and grace! :)
God speed one to you! :)
George Burns was a naturally funny man, a sweetheart, and truly loved Gracie to whom he gives ALL credit for his success. Of all of his books my favorite was, Gracie: A Love Story. I can watch him and Gracie all day long, their movie shorts, their TV shows, his stand-up, all of it. He was in every sense of the word a mensch.
Every sense? He cheated on her at least once. When Gracie found out, she made him buy a new dining room table. Years later, she wanted a new table. She remarked, "I wish George would cheat on me again." My favorite story of their relationship dates from early in their marriage. George traveled quite a bit and told Gracie that he was the man of the house and would have to make the decisions, even when he was away, so Gracie would have to wait on making decisions until he returned. Gracie demurred, saying that even if George were the man of the house, there would be times when decisions would have to be made even if he was away. George agreed with that, so they compromised that Gracie could make the small decisions while he would always make the big decisions. For years George would say, "I'm still waiting for my first big decision."
George Burns would have been 65 years old here. He looks Great, and as always... impeccably dressed. An entertainer's entertainer.
I was just surprised Gracie wasn't with him.
@@JasonSmith-vj1de Well, she died in '64, so maybe she had health issues leading up to her heart attack.
My Apologies, she had retired by this point.
I saw George Burns "live" one time. I think I knew about ninety percent of the material by heart. Thus, nearly each time he offered up another piece of schtick, I was falling out of my seat laughing by the time he'd finished the first sentence.
George did tend to repeat most of his act year after year. There's a recording of a concert he did in 1974 that has about two thirds of the same material he was using till the very end.
+drchilledair That was by no means a complaint. It was like an oldies but goodies concert.
drchilledair Oh, I didn't take it as a complaint.
Another one of his stock lines that I remember and love: "It only takes one drink to get me drunk. But I can't remember if it is the eleventh or the twelfth."
🤣👍
I love Dorothy's comment about the feudal systems and serfs/Cerfs. She certainly was knowledgeable.
Unlike today, most people knew how to open a book back then. And serfdom had existed in Tsarist Russia during the lifetimes of Daly and all the panelists. Amazing to think how much history these people lived through...
Cerf means deer in French.
Such a classy show, always.
John Daly is such a delight to listen to. So gracious !
Burns was a character. Funny as hell. I'm 62. Hope I live as long as he did.
Yeah. Wow. 65. That's 2 years b4 I was even born. I grew up with George Burns. Love him and Gracie Allen. Love their show. She was absolutely one 9d the funniest ladies in comedy. I know she was intelligent, but man did she play dumb, just, so spot on. I think that shows how smart, and of course, how talented she was. May they both R.I.P. They will always b missed and treasured. At least in my heart.
Don't know why I said '65 was 2 years b4 I was born. Maybe I was tipsy.😏 Either way ,I was born in '64. My comments about George & Gracie are true tho. I loved them.
George was 65 here. Lived to 100. Passed in 1996. Missed.
Please post proof pronto
I would have liked to have appeared on this show. For 15 years I operated a caterpillar farm.
LOVE caterpillars !!
are you shitting me?
What happens when they become butterflies?
@@RichardHannay I specialized in giant silk moths. I sold specimens to private collectors, colleges and biological supply houses. I also reared and released Monarch Butterflies.
Arlene Francis -- bless her heart -- very often wore the most complicated outfits for this program. Dorothy Kilgallen was always considerably more conservative in what she chose to wear.
Arlene was show biz. Dorothy was journalism.
I’m guessing that Arlene’s going to Germany was to film the hilarious movie 123 with James Cagney. Highly recommended as it’s a great movie 👍
Really good movie!
It is about the situation in divided
Berlin. They didn't get the movie
finished before East started to build
the wall, so the team had to use
giant models of the Brandenburg
gate for the film's final scenes!
Mr. Burns is a riot without even trying. Genius.
Well said!!!! 👍👏👏👏👏🥰
No one can be more funny 😂than Groucho marx 😊
I was surprised when George walked in front of the panel they didn't smell the cigar smoke & figured out who he was right away.
Yeah, they had some options like Groucho, Ernie and when George opened the mouth, I think everybody knew who it was, they just played along , I guess
It wasn't lit 😅
Martin Gabel used the six-syllable word "ratiocination" at 13:19. He knew what it meant, logical reasoning, but he didn't know how to pronounce it. The first syllable is pronounced "rash".
What I liked about this episode is that the two contestants as well as the mystery guest had ample time to chat with John Daly after their profession or identity had been revealed. All too often in other installments they just leave or have a very short exchange, so I think having just two contestants rather than three would've been the ideal way to assure that each person got a fair amount of airtime.
Yes and if that happened every show perhaps there would be a lot fewer fourth contestants which usually win the whole prize because they can't take the time to ask questions
@@toddmccreary4579 And so many of the last guests had such interesting and fun occupations it baffled me that they got a rush job.
Daly wasn't acting at all strange or unusual; he conducted himself quite normally.
Saying glass of "worter" with that cigar burning, how could they not get George Burns!
My grandad smoked cigars in my family’s apartment when I wss a kid during the 1960s. With both parents smoking cigarettes, I don’t remember the smell of his cigar ever being discernable. Today, any tobacco smoke is intrusive and disgusting, but back then it was all so pervasive, even on airplanes and cinemas, that we didn’t notice it.
@@petemarshall8094 I must disagree. I was 6 yrs old in 1961, and I remember how strongly cigars smelled, vs cigarettes. And cigar smoke’s lingering smell on clothing was easily discernible from that of cigarettes. My father occasionally smoked a cigar, but my mother forbade it indoors. We could always smell the smoke on him afterwards. Stale cigarette smoke had a different scent to it.
He didn’t say “worter.” Burns was originally from NYC. It’s a different accent (or set of accents) than that. “Worter” would be a bit south of the NYC metro area, more Maryland/DC. Burns said “wawteh.”
@@Historian212 Perhaps in the USA but in Canada we can buy fine Havana cigars, which don’t smell anything like the El Productos, Old Ports, Dutch, Dominican, Jamaican and South American cigars. i enjoy three Montecristo #2 cigars in my office every day and after many years nobody has yet complained. Yet when a friend gave me a Nicaraguan cigar, it stunk the whole place up, like a cigarette would. I would think that George could afford the good ones.
Eisenhower called his official airplane the "Columbine" but Kennedy did not name the plane, so it was called by its call sign "Air Force One". LBJ also did not name the plane but Nixon called it "The Spirit Of '76". But since the Ford Administration the Presidential plane has always been called "Air Force One" - when the President is aboard.
George Burns sounded like Walter Mathau from the Odd Couple during mystery guest segment.
George Burns and the word institution go hand in hand.
I don't know why but I like how even when they know who it is they ask one more question.
At 16:41, John Daly asks the golfer if she is going to play at the "Baldersol". In fact, she was going to play in the Women's U.S. Open at the "Baltusrol Golf Club" in New Jersey. The winner of the open was Mickey Wright. "Baltusrol" is not an easy name to get right. I remember that when the men's US Open was played there, the write-up in my hometown newspaper used a different spelling almost every time the name was printed. They only got it right occasionally.
Arlene went to Germany to film Billy Wilder's "One Two Three" Nice work if you can get it.
RE: First contestant. Eisenhower's pilot also appeared on WML.
George has ZERO chance of fooling anyone with his voice, he should have whistled or barked
Good God! George was amazing!
Bennet often used the word "dexterity" in his questions. I especially remember one episode of WML from the middle of the 1960s with a young boy (I think he was 8) who was a trick billiard shooter. Bennet asked him if his speciality needed dexterity and the boy whispered to John Daly "-What's that?" And all laughed and applauded. Maybe you can't expect a young child to know a difficult word as 'dexterity'!
Steve Lawrence was one of the panelist I think.
Kids didn't know the word "dexterity" because Dungeons & Dragons wasn't published yet.
I remembered that one differently. He was a billiards champ as I recall and he answered "yes" to the dexterity question as I recall with no prompting from John. He was a very well mannered child -- -which the panelists commented on -- and my immediate thought was that his parents had thoroughly prepared him for his appearance, including running through common questions that were asked by WML panelists, including the dexterity one. Bennett could be obtuse in what he said and asked.
How dare he call Gracie
,' stupider,' oh, Mr. Cerf!
By George going over to the panel as he was walking on, especially with the lighted cigar should have given them a clue who it could've been.
I thought that of Groucho as well. The cloud around him had to permeate the set quickly.
One of George Burns’ answers caught my attention. “Yes, but I’m still speaking to Jerry Lewis.” I wonder if he could be referencing the rift that developed between Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin.
I'm sure he was.
George would have been speaking with the both of them ...
I love this show.. it was a bit before my time but I enjoy this immensely…
I like that Arlene can engage just as enthusiastically with a fish counter and a pilot for the President. DK always comes off as 'exclusively' very snobbish, and acted all coy around "influential" people. I know, her job. But Arlene pulled off the diplomacy with such grace and tact, never looking down her nose at people.
I think Arlene would have been the perfect hostess for a party. She would have been able to make every guest feel like the most important person there.
I agree about Dorothy and how she behaves around certain people
I agree. I would have loved to have met her.
I have never seen GB except as a very old man. Hardly recognised him this young.
When it's revealed that Ms. Francis is heading off to Germany for a few weeks, no reason was forthcoming. Clearly, she was wending eastward to co-star in the great Billy Wilder's One Two Three. She was essaying the role of James Cagney's wife. Flash forward a year-or-so later---no surprise---and she was wonderful in the finished film.
Yes, "One Two Three" was the reason for Arlene's Germany trip. It's mentioned in other episodes, if not this one.
Arlene zinged out the one liners in the film with relish.
RE John's comment about working on Father's Day. Since WML had videotaping available to it, I wonder if Daly and Cerf discussed with G-T doing a tape for use on Father's Day. If they did, they lost.
22:59 "Jack laughs at a red hat."
60 years ahead of his time.
George Burns didn’t disguise his voice well enough. Loved the signature cigar.
Given the standards of today's educational system (of which I am a part), there is almost no one brought up who could understand Dorothy's pun about the feudal system and "Cerfs".
epaddon
I just tested your theory out on my son, who took a two-year AP World History class during his first two years of high school (he's a Junior now). I am proud to say that he understood the pun -- he didn't think it was funny -- but he got it. :)
+SaveThe TPC My english isn't good enough to understand this pun, could somebody explain it to me, please!
+Sabine Beyer It's a pun on how under the medieval feudal system which dominated Europe for a thousand years, you had wealthy landowners and peasants who were forced to work for the landowners in a state of permanent service in which they first met their obligations to the landowner before they could keep anything for themselves. These peasants were known as "serfs" which is pronounced the same way as Bennet's last name "Cerf".
Thank you. Its the same source as servant than. It didn't came to my mind until know.
It's not always easy to understand puns in a foreign language.
Thanks again.
ZoneFighter1 lol, me too! And now I feel old for knowing what a serf was! 😂
The BURNS & ALLEN show was WAY AHEAD of it's time...It was really about nothing.
@Josh Levy And so wonderful!!! 👏👏👏🥰
will you be gentlec
will you be genltle with me the whole night?
arlene asked john daly “
is irritating
I would always wonder if this show could be revived today, but I think it's impossible with the increase use of machine or artificial intelligence to do work. Sigh, gone were the days.
It would be awful with the choices available today, and definitely would lack class and fun like you see on this show. The panel would be saddled with endless tweets about how someone was offended by a remark that hurt their feelings. 🤔🙄
It was revived in the 70s with little success 😮
I was taken aback when John Daly referred to the golfer as performing a "service". What service?
Entertainment
Well, she didn't deal in a product.
you're easily taken aback...
Daly seemed to be more relaxed in this episode. Maybe because he knew there wouldn't be any contestant after the MG sequence, and didn't have to rush anything this time.
Well, I'm repeating myself, but as I said in a reply to epaddon, I don't believe that timing had anything to do with it. The MG segment was over at around the 19:00 mark, more than enough time to have fit in a fourth contestant. More time, in fact, than the fourth contestants usually got! I think John just genuinely enjoyed George and wasn't interested in cutting the "interview" short. Note, too, that John even requested that George *sing*, and more than once! How many times did we ever see John request a MG to perform? Possibly never! In virtually all cases, he was the one who would squelch these requests from the panelists (usually they came from Arlene).
Also, take note in particular of how he conducted the "interviews" following the first two segments. I've never seen him this garrulous in any other show, most pointedly when he told the story of how well he did on a tough golf hole after having already talked almost non stop for a couple of minutes. Truly a strange performance from Mr. Daly in this one!
What's My Line? Hm.. I had a theory myself, but it fell apart when I checked the facts. You won't reveal yours? ;) One thing is for sure; Daly *was* more relaxed, and seemed to be in a good mood..
SuperWinterborn I'll offer my theory if no one else does-- but I think someone else will. Someone on FB already has!
"Relaxed" and "in a good mood" could almost be considered euphemisms for my theory. :)
SuperWinterborn
I'm curious -- what was the theory that "fell apart" when you checked the facts?
SaveThe TPC Very simple, "down to earth guess": That Virginia had told him she was pregnant. But their first son was born oct. '62. So much for that theory.
Arlene looks exhausted during the introduction of her husband. It's odd.....seen it time and time again. So often she looks WONDERFUL, freshfaced, glamourous and bright. Then every so often, the dark shadows appear along with the crows feet and her eyes are like narrow slits. I suppose that's life!!
She was a mom, made movies, acted in plays, wrote a couple books, filled in on TV news and entertainment shows and had her own program called Home, of course What's My Line weekly. I'd look tired occasionally too.
The great George Burns!
maynardsmoreland How I love George Burns. . . it was such a treat to see him get so much time to shine in this show. His career was somewhat in the dumps at this point, so it's nice to hear the *HUGE* ovation he got from the audience upon entering. Without Gracie.
Mr. Burns tried a solo series with the same "Burns and Allen" cast, minus Gracie, after her retirement. Canceled after a year. Then he did a show with Connie Stevens - another series failure. He finally came into his own as an elder statesman of comedy with "The Sunshine Boys." Yes, even though his career was not going well in the 60s, Mr. Burns shines here!
maynardsmoreland He was not well served all those years he tried to find a Gracie substitute. Connie Stevens on "Wendy and Me" was basically playing the Gracie character. His Vegas act usually had a female partner-- a long series of them-- who performed old Burns and Allen routines with him. He had to find himself, and it took him a really, really long time to do it-- not until he was almost 80 years old. We're all very lucky he lived long enough to finally manage it in his last 20 years.
As you probably know already, he got the part in "The Sunshine Boys" that breathed new life to his career thanks to his best friend Jack Benny, who was originally slated to play his role. When Jack realized he was too sick to ever be able to do the movie, it was at *his* insistence that the producers auditioned George. It was Jack's final gift to his lifelong closest friend. I get a lump in my throat every time I think about it. :)
What's My Line?
I didn't realize that Jack actually "passed the torch" to George for his role in "The Sunshine Boys." I just thought that the movie producers thought of George as a substitute for Jack Benny after Jack died. That is indeed a heart-stirring story.
SaveThe TPC I wasn't there as an eye witness, of course, so I can't vouch that it's actually true, but that is the way the story has been told in various books about both George and Jack. It certainly does fit the character of their friendship, and the wonderful, generous spirit Jack Benny had. I choose not question the reality of it. :)
I think the word for Arlene is "Vivacious "..a fabulous panellist and beautiful charismatic lady!!⚘️⭐️✨️🌟
Arlene sounds like she's had a few goblets of wine.
Just watched martin Gabel in the film goodbye charlie ,funny ,
I'm not going to weigh in on the "tipsy or not" debate just now, but just want to make a suggestion to those considering the question. I've just watched the July 2, 1961 episode with Yogi Berra, and there is no fourth challenger that night either. See if you get the same impression about John's condition or approach that night that you get from this episode.
I sure don't get the same impression of John in any other show! But then I already made my take on this pretty plain in the other thread. :)
George Burns was born in 1896. He lived to be 100. He was very young looking when he was on this show in 1961.
RE: " Murder One" by Dorothy Kilgallen. It's too bad that Dorothy's concentration, time scheduling, and health issues did not let her finish the whole book herself. Bennett finally published "Murder One" two years after Dorothy died. Her father wrote part of the book based on her outlines.
soulierinvestments It would have been a fascinating book, yes. Truly a shame she didn't finish it.
soulierinvestments
There seems to be some debate about who finished writing "Murder One." Gil Fates asserts in his book about "What's My Line?" that it was finished by Jim Kilgallen, but Lee Israel claims in her biography of Dorothy that it was completed by a writer named Allan Ullman.
SaveThe TPC Is that where the notion that Jim finished it came from? Wow-- I've been wanting to figure this out for months now. I would *definitely* trust Lee Israel's research over Gil Fates's often faulty memory. Thanks so much for clearing this up!
What's My Line?
You're most welcome. :) It took me a little while to find the exact quote, but here it is, from page 109 of "What's My Line? TV's Most Famous Panel Show" by Gil Fates: "Her fellow panelist, Bennett Cerf, gave Dorothy a ten thousand dollar advance on a book he wanted her to write on the famous murder trials she had covered. She only got to write part of it. It was finished after her death by her father, Jim."
SaveThe TPC Yeah, the Fates book isn't well indexed, unfortunately Very hard to find specific sections after the fact. Thanks for digging that out. :)
I heard George Burns say once his career for 40 years consisted of one joke and then she died. While there was some truth to that, it wasn't entirely true. George was funny on his own.
They mentioned twice that Arlene was going to Germany for a couple of weeks. She was going to play James Cagney's wife in the film; One, Two, Three which was directed by Billy Wilder.
Great show. In the show synopsis above it states that John Daly was acting strange. He was long winded, and they didn't get to a 3rd guest.
This IS an unusual episode. We get to see George Burns's entertainment style at length. He appeared on WML 3-or-4 times and was hugely funny every time. His 1954 appearance with Gracie was in a comedy class all its own, exploring the comic potential of knocks on wood. Interestingly enough, we also get to see at length John as interviewer. He can hold his own with Larry Blyden [who Gil Fates wrote was WML's great interviewer host] very good as always. I wonder if John stretched his post-game small talk because --- for whatever unexpected reason -- the show did not have a fourth contestant on hand. You know -- got hit by the plague in the green room sort of thing.
Did Lt Col Swindal fly President Kennedy to Dallas in Nov 63?
Bennett knew that it was George before he said a word. Must've smelled the cigar and had some inkling that he was in the neighborhood.
Bennett has good ears and I'm guessing a great sense of smell. He can tell when something is a bit different.
I don't think Daly is acting all that weird. And I don't think he's "tipsy". I think the others are correct in their guess that Daly is just trying to stretch the program due to the lack of a fourth contestant.
It's interesting, though, that this is one of the times that we can hear a bit of one of the "small conferences". When he's having a conference with the golfer after Bennett asks about whether there's any connection with the water, you can clearly hear at 12:25, Mr. Daly says "...just to confuse them some more".
The passage of time: Marleen Hagge, age 27 here, died 5/16/23 at age 89.
Batlusrol Golf Course is named after the farmer who used to own the land, Mr. Baltus Roll.
Man, Mr. Cerf just called Mr. George Burns wife, Gracie, stupider. Interesting. Wrong choice of words he may have thought as the words came out of his mouth. Lol! Poor choice of words. Mr. Burns knew what he met I'm thinking. Lovely couple and nice act.
Just to show the range of George Burns' skills, watch the 1981 movie "Going In Style". It also includes Art Carney and Lee Strasbourg. It's a remarkable film that could have been played for silly laughs; instead it was rendered as a gritty drama. Fantastic acting from those three, with Burns as the ringleader.
OK , no doubt about it now. The panel definitely gets advance hints about the professions, at least sometime. The show started with Arlene asking the pilot about working for a non-profit organization. I realize its one of the standard questions, but never first. Why else would she ask that then?
When Bennett Cerf told Arlene not to go to the wrong side of Germany, he was referring to Communist East Germany.
East Germany distanced itself from Communism, when it was reunited with West Germany, following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and has been Communist-free ever since.
*****
As a matter of fact, Arlene did run into a bit of a problem with the "wrong side of Germany" during the making of the film. In her memoirs, she writes: "...the only time the company left Munich was to go to Berlin, for a scene in the picture which called for Horst Buchholz to ride through East Berlin on a motorcycle releasing balloons with anti-Russian slogans on them. They weren't supposed to be inflated until he got past the Brandenburg Gate, but by some mischance, one of the armed guards on the roof of one of the buildings caught sight of them and filming was ordered to cease on the spot. The company was invited to leave Berlin forthwith---which you can bet your lederhosen we did." (from page 173 of "Arlene Francis: A Memoir" by Arlene Francis with Florence Rome.)
SaveThe TPC I finally got my copies of both her books earlier today! Thanks, once again, for offering such great info from the WML-related books. :)
What's My Line?
My pleasure! :) I haven't read "That Certain Something" yet. Let me know if you think it's worth reading.
SaveThe TPC Will do! I'm still waiting for "At Random", and I'm actually thinking very seriously about buying Arlene's cookbook too, after reading a very funny blog post about it from 2008. Looks like it might be a real riot: dannymiller.typepad.com/blog/2007/10/arlene-francis-.html
What's My Line?
That was a funny article, but that cookbook sounds like a vegetarian's nightmare! I hope it won't invade my dreams tonight.... It sounds like it might be a fun read as long as you have no intention of making the recipes, though. ;) I also can't blame the blogger's mother for being horrified and insulted at what her child had written about her! (And if I were she, there'd be a whole truckload of guilt mixed in with those emotions too. To be honest, I already started feeling some when I recognized at least a few similarities to what the blogger described in my own repertoire of family meals!)
What an interesting man George Burns was. So witty and intelligent.
Wow; the pilot for the president!
Daly does indeed seem drunk as some have said. Even now at 3:33 trying to get to his chair he seems off balance. Being it was Fathers Day maybe he was VERY upset for not getting time off. Maybe he wanted a guest MC/HOST....
But didn't they work every other Father's Day ???
PILOT FOR PRESIDENT KENNEDY
PROFESSIONAL GOLFER
🤪14:12 Dorothy could clearly be heard whispering while John spoke to the golfer. When asked what his sex life was like in his eighties, George Burns said it was like trying to put an oyster in a slot machine.
I think John Daly was 'padding'/stretching his material because there was no 3rd challenger after George Burns. Mr Daly is normally quick to thank people and to bring on the next person but in this episode he tells a rather boring story about golf, he flatters the President as if he wants a job from him and he lets George Burns talk till nearly the end of the show. Maybe the final challenger was ill, nervous or absent - there is something odd and aimless about the moderator's time-filling behaviour.
Hold it... hold it. John asked if George called Jack Benny recently, and George responses that he called *Gracie.* Did John ask the wrong question??
I assumed that George simply misheard John’s question.
I think he meant Jack Benny called Gracie.
interesting that the term "air force one" was never used. the term was invented in the 50s but I guess it hadn't entered general public knowledge yet by 1961..
You can follow the frequency of usage of words or phrases with the "Google Ngram Viewer." The phrase "air force one" appears to have originated just after 1920 and reached a peak in 1940. It reached a trough in 1950, a peak in 1955, and another trough that bottomed out about 1962. Usage in the 21st century was much higher than in the 20th, with a peak at about 2010.
@@jackkomisar458 context matters. the term Air Force One in regards to the callsign for the plane the US President is on was invented in 1953. The "Air Force" under that term wasn't even a thing until 1947.. so yeah no one in 1920 was using the term Air Force One in regards to a plane the US President was on. Although Teddy Roosevelt was the first President to ride on a plane in 1910, it wasn until FDR in 1943 that a President used a plane to travel for official business.
looking up word usage certainly can shed light on things, but you have to also look at the whole story. Any hits prior to 1953 simply can't be in reference to what we're talking about here.
How tragic. I love to hear news of the Kennedy family in its time but it is so heart breaking.
Well John does seem to be rambling over the golf course a bit!
That was the most drastic part, yes, but he was rambling on and on throughout the show, most especially in the "interviews" after both the first two segments. It's also incredibly odd of him to start the whole show off by noting how much he didn't want to be there-- and odd of him to have allowed the MG, George Burns, to have four minutes of virtually uninterrupted time to tell stories. AND request that George sing, more than once! How many times did we ever see John request a MG to perform? In virtually all cases, he was the one who would squelch these requests from the panelists (usually they came from Arlene).
But before anyone speculates that he was stretching the program out for time considerations, I'm going to say, I don't think this had *anything* to do with it. The MG segment was over at around the 19:00 mark, more than enough time to have fit in a fourth contestant. More time, in fact, than the fourth contestants usually got!
I won't offer my speculation as to what the reason for this unusual behavior was, but I do have a theory. . . ;)
And, miraculously, he shot the same score in both rounds he spoke about, 116. Yeah, I go with the intoxicated theory. (Sorry this is posted 4 years later, I just started watching these in the last week.)
Yes, John does seem very...reflective.
i just cant believe some of these guests come on the show and cant answer the simplest questions about their occupations.
George looks like Charles Lane in the thumbnail.
13:05 Martin Gabel casually drops "ratiocination." Nice.
John Daly name-dropping stories.... "Skip ahead!" Useless air time.
Its a wonder George Burns lived so long with all those stinky cigars.
Seemed he out-punned Bennett.
I wonder if Gracie was retired from illness since died so young.
+libertyAnn Gracie had a serious heart condition and she had had a series of "minor" heart attacks even before she retired from show business in 1968 (See the documentary "The Better Half" about her. Also, George's book Gracie: A Love Story is on TH-cam as an audiobook and he talks, towards the end, about her heart attacks). When she had an attack, she would put a nitroglycerin tablet under her tongue and George would hold her until she felt better, but one night the medicine didn't work and she was rushed to the hospital where she later died. George and Gracie's adopted son, Ronnie, says (on a Larry King special taped right after George's death) that Gracie would have needed a heart transplant in order to have lived longer and that just wasn't available at the time. She died, in my opinion, very young. George was devastated by her death and while he "dated" some young (extremely young) women later in life, he never remarried. If you listen to interviews of him on TH-cam being interviewed by Barbara Walters and another where he is interviewed by Ed Bradley of "Sixty Minutes," it is quite clear that he was completely in love with Gracie for the whole of his long life.
Gracie's deteriorating health was a major factor in her retirement. Another factor was that she was tired of playing such a totally illogical character. As Bennett guessed, Gracie was "a lot stupider on the air than she is in private life." Not only was she tired of that image, George had said in interviews that her part was very difficult to learn because it was so contrary to anything rational. She basically had to memorize it word by word.
+@@loissimmons6558 Gracie was known in private life for her wit. When asked at a party whether Jack Benny was really as cheap as he acted, her reply was "Do you think I'm dumb?!"
Agree, but I think there was a typo in your response, Gracie retired in 1958, not 1968. We lost her in 1964. Yes, she died very young.
Mr. Swindal had to change his flight plans to Texas!
At 13:00, Miss Arlene seems a tad lizard-lidded and again at 15:35 - maybe she and Mr. Daly had their postprandials together before the broadcast. Or she's maybe just more glamorous than usual.
I live in a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama.
Please post proof pronto
@@joeambrose3260 ... Why? What’s wrong with my post? Unless you’re saying for me to say exactly where I live. I won’t give my exact location. I can say I’m an Army vet an go to the VA in Birmingham.
@@dianefiske-foy4717 Thank you for your service to and for our country.
@@mikehalm164 ... You’re welcome 🇺🇸😊‼️
John is off the mark in this episode...??
George Burns alway burns a cigar!
Wasn't Johnny Olsen the regular announcer by this time?
Arlene Francis is so hot. So smooth and classy. They don't make them like that anymore.
paul harris I beg to differ...
Can you offer an example?
xleax
Me...
Purple Capricorn We don't know nothing about you.. Offer something
xleax
I don't curse, never been drunk, don't do drugs. I'm funny, I love the classics.If I ever get rich I will give half to my mom and some of whats left over i'll donante...
116 golf score !! WOW.. That's not good..
not bad, only two over par per hole...
Oh how heartbreaking. This was while President Kennedy was still alive.
all these references to President Kennedy are very poignant.
Maybe adding to the "tipsy" theory: On the 2nd guest, the female pro golfer, John should have ended it right away when Bennett said "champion golfer," either by just giving a "YES!!" or "Flipping over the cards." It was overly obsessional to say "no" and leave it for Dorothy (or anyone) to say "pro golfer."
ALTHOUGH.....this is hardly the only time there was such over obsessionality about a guess being not 1000% right and letting it go on. IMO it was the onliest occasional thing about the show that wasn't great.
Why does George Burns when he smiles look like Robert De Niro here?
7:56 to 8:03 Hilarious!
Pretty risqué comment by Arlene about John going easy on her. Arlene here, at 53, is sexier than anyone in Hollywood now, IMO.
Mrs. Robert....Hag? 11:07
Respectfully disagree. No reason to accuse - that is the correct word - Daly of being tipsy. Seriatim:
1. Daly made an appropriate homage to Fathers’ Day. Nothing more
2 Daly often monopolizes speech, his monologues being an enjoyable aspect of the show
3. Kilgallon called the plane “Caroline;” Daly only used the name she proffered
4. Not at all overly measured. And the show flowed smoothly
5. In the 60s, putting in executive offices was common. Of course, since the 1980s there have been indoor golf facilities where real balls are hit by real clubs into computer controlled screens (I do not mean video games)
Daly has hosted the biggest stars and world leaders, but Burns is in a select group that could easily dominate conversation with Daly. Daly came across perfectly clearly on my bargain speakers and it was Burns who misheard Gracie instead of Benny.
As always, thank you for these shows.
She said mein fuhrer to her jewish husband
Gasp. She didn't.
@@shirleyrombough8173 She did.
John was NOT tipsy. Leave these peoples' reputations àlone.