Am surprised Oscar Levant accepted the invitation to appear. A true genius. As kids our parents always let us stay up late if Mr Levant was on television.
Oscar Levant was a brilliant pianist, composer, comic actor in many movies. His later years were not happy ones, but we have all those movies and piano performances to remember him by.
Great loss. (He dropped dead from chain smoking.) Fred Astaire ordered a recording of his show on local tv when Fred guested. It's on YT somewhere. A true genius.
it's wonderful to read how many people like Oscar Levant - i was a kid when this was on tv and i really loved him. he just had something about him. . .
@alexa penn - I'm with you. I enjoyed Oscar Levant thoroughly when he was on the Jack Paar Tonight Show. He was one of the great guests, like Jonathan Winters. Not that a living soul was readily placed in Jonathan Winters' category ever. Now and then Paar had a clunker on the show, but these two were gold.
I spent the weekend at my aunt & uncle's house in the early '60's. As a special treat they let me stay up to watch late night tv. Oscar Levant was a guest on a talk show (Jack Paar's Tonight Show, maybe?). I remember him blinking like he did here. Suddenly he blurted out, "Damn Eyes!" I remember it because we NEVER heard the word 'damn' on prime time tv back then. Sad that a comic genius like Oscar suffered from poor health in his later days. He had the quickest, sharpest wit.
Three weeks to go, and the SUPPOSEDLY alcoholic, drugged-up and troubled Dorothy Kilgallen looks WONDERFUL. Great figure, great look, bright, together and attractive. Plus of course she was extremely active in her day job at this point. Motivated, hungry and making big plans. Last but not least she's deemed perfectly fit and alert enough by the producers Goodsen and Todman to be a significant player on their top rated panel show. I think it does Dorothy's memory a great disservice to claim otherwise.
They were wealthy people, and I went out to have drinks after the show on Sunday evenings. If you actually get dressed up, when you go out, you will wear one of your best outfits and that is all these people were doing. Just the same, when they show the audience, you can see all the men generally are wearing ties and women are wearing their dresses. A real timepiece.
. The water salesman may be one of the smartest contestants to ever appear on the show........LOVE how he gives the panel such 'misleading' answers......even though he doesn't! Had them chasing their tails almost from the get-go, the way he answered them ! Who would have thought something as simple as WATER could be SO entertaining? Brilliant !!! .
Oscar Levant - i loved Oscar Levant. i wished i’d known him - i would’ve given him a big on the cheek. i saw him on Jack Paar when i was a kid - i remember him being so erudite and funny :). poor baby had quite a few tics by the time he was on this show. he was one of the George Gershwin group and they were best friends Oscar is the only pianist who can play Gershwin with heart besides Gershwin himself. Rhapsody in Blue was incredible. what a loss to us and to Oscar he was. just imagine the work he could have created. Ira, his brother, was an wonderful lyricist. Dorothy was so very heartfully authentic with him and so respectful from deep inside. Be happy, Oscar, wherever you are. we love you. 😼🎹 🎶🎭🌹
You just made me cry..I was watching Barkley on b'way and thought there's that pianist I've seen in several films and how talented and quick witted I thought I gotta know more and now here I am after reading and still searching for more about him I feel this empathy and awe for oscars talent and now I want to find out more about gershwin my father spoke highly of him when I was a theatre major and was just meeting my father for the first time...anyway I loved what you posted ...very classy and full of integrity thank you
I think the water guy is very happy that Uncle Milty was on the panel this night. He will definitely be telling his grandkids about this for years to come!
As someone who was there, there was a big 1964-1965 drought in New York City, and there was talk of rationing, this was when restaurants stopped serving water at meals unless asked....
This is most likely the best episode I've seen yet! Not going through them in order, but Water could be the most entertaining contestant there ever was! 😆
One of my favorite one-liners of Oscar's was "I knew Doris Day before she was a virgin." Warped, and funny as hell! I think he was also the one who coined the phrase "There's a fine line between genius and insanity. I've managed to erase that line." How true! And what a brilliant pianist and composer. He composed one of my favorite songs, called "Blame It On My Youth." The title is almost a description of his life. He recorded what many (including me) consider the definitive expression of Gershwin's "Rhapsody In Blue." He and Gershwin were close friends for years. And he made light of his hypocondria in such an endearing way. Though his body was failing at the end, he never lost his youthful wit. His headstone reads "I told you I was sick." Lovable, brilliant, and as drednm mentioned, how wonderful to be able to watch him on video in musical performances, movies, and other contexts.
Great comments! Thanks, I've seen pictures of that headstone, but never knew who's it was. I met Milton Berle many years ago, I was managing a restaurant and when he came up to pay the bill he opened his wallet and said "here take what you need". At the beginning of the show, they talk about newsboys, I knew a man of 80 years old who; when he was 7or8 years old, and working as a newsboy in Juarez Texas had taken a picture of Pancho Villa, and his men on horseback; invading the United States. He still had the photo and the camera.
I do not understand the comments about Cerf being rude to Levant. Oscar did indeed make fun all the time of his various illnesses. It was part of his act. So Cerf's question was apropos.
@lucy bond Oscar Levant, as wonderful as he was, personifies as much as anyone the famous comment that there is a fine line between genius and insanity.
It's great that we get some close up shots of Dorothy at the beginning of the program when she and John discuss newspaper boy sellers. She looks so good that it breaks your heart.
I think paper boys are a thing of the past. Many newspapers now rely on adults as independent contractors to get the paper out. And one day, they too shall be gone, as papers move content exclusively to the web. The most expensive aspect of publishing a newspaper is getting it out to newsstands and subscribers. I think we'll see the end of paper newspapers in my lifetime (I plan to live forever...ouch...that was some kind of pain!).
ColonelJack1 I think those of us who admire DK may see things in her as she approaches her end that may not be there. This is an eerie process, to say the least.
@@BBCHZ I'm with you. He was a hack, as were Henny Youngman and Bob Hope: nothing unique, artistic or intelligent about his comedy. And he was a total pig with females throughout his entire career. But he was good here.
This was one of the last times Oscar Levant would appear on screen. Two days later he was a guest on "The Merv Griffin Show" (for the fourth and final time since September 15, 1965). On October 29, 1965, he appeared along with his wife on a short-lived ABC talk show (September to December 1965) hosted by Phyllis Kirk called "The Young Set" . His final appearance on November 16, 1965 was not live. It was a retrospective of radio highlights on NBC to celebrate the 101st anniversary of Chase and Sanborn coffee.
Phyllis Kirk, the film actress of films like Crime Wave and House of Wax? Love her. I didn't know she had a TV show. A very talented and fetching looking gal.
@@mungous1000 I'm sure you're correct. He, like Henny Youngman and Bob Hope, was not at all original, interesting or intelligent in his hackneyed comedy. He was vulgar and was not a genuine wit a la say a Steve Allen.
That was a line that just about all the comedians of the era stole from Jack Benny. It was a running gag that Bob Hope never had an original joke, and even as late as Johnny Carson, Bob Hope would say, “That one didn’t work for Berle, either.”
Loved Oscar Levant in the movie Humoresque with Joan Crawford and John Garfield. He was not only a great pianist but Showed he had great wit in that film also off screen. ☺👏
The earliest mention of Oscar Levant that I can find by Dorothy Kilgallen, whose death is hurtling toward us (a mere three episodes away), in her Voice of Broadway column was at the end of August 1939; she relates a story involving Levant and Giants catcher Harry Danning, which she may indeed have gotten from an interview with Levant. In the second week of 1940, she opened her column by saying she wished that people would stop asking her what five books she would take to a desert island, what five men, etc. But then she added: "All right, I would choose [Ernest Hemingway's] 'A Farewell to Arms,' a complete Shakespeare, [Philip MacDonald's] 'Warrrant for X,' the collected poems of Rupert Brooke and [Louisa May Alcott's] 'Little Women.' For my five men, I would take George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Levant, Charles Boyer and two lads with shoulders and a few knives who could build fires, catch fish and cook. I would rather look like Vivien Leigh than any other motion picture actress."
For those who are too young to know him, Oscar Levant was a brilliant wit, author and one of the greatest pianists of his day. However by the mid 1960s, he was in pretty bad shape but he made it part of his act.
@@photo161 Sometimes a comment like yours includes the names of four or five of Levant’s contemporaries who (in your view) were better pianists than Levant. You’ve every right to your opinion, of course. But how nice it would have been to include some examples to support it. 🙂
I agree that the commercials should be left in. They are just as entertaining and educational of the period as the shows themselves. And it helps to create the time machine effect of taking you back to the era. It recreates the experience of the past w/o interruption.
Supp-hose was a great product! My dad wore the male version of them. He was a pharmacist and was on his feet all day. He also sold them at his drugstore. The commercials bring back memories!
A somewhat rare thing in New York City these days; a woman in a dress. And she is walking in Central Park, by Bethesda Fountain. Some things don't change. Supp hose adds were very popular back then.
One of the funniest What's My Line shows I have ever seen! Berle was Hilarious and Mr. Primo was A-One shooting those one liners right back at him! Great fun! 🦂🤣👍🥂
Oscar Levant was a genius. Of course, Oscar was also famous for his witty line, “There's a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line.” If you can, I'd recommend taking out the DVD "The Barkleys of Broadway," starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, and Oscar Levant, from your local library. Here's a clip: ua-cam.com/video/KaVPMG_yh_g/v-deo.html
I love how Kilgallen (sort of) whispers to Cerf after his questioning comes to an end, "Is something burning?" (Levant had just lit his cigarette.) You can see Cerf calming her, for a split second, before the camera moves to Francis. It's a lovely gesture on Cerf's part.
@Joseph Logue - He was a kind and funny man, albeit with his own interesting eccentricities. Their jerry-built studios were fire hazard death traps that would have been infernos in minutes. They should never have allowed smoking by anyone for a mere half hour of show time due to the hostile fire hazard alone.
Philippa Pay I’m a smoker and I agree. It wouldn’t take much to have one of those old studios go up like a torch. The show where they really smoked all the time was The Name’s The Same. I swear Abe Burrows must light four cigarettes in every 1/2 hour show 😮
@@ChadQuick270W I had smoked in my youth and there is no reason on earth anyone not under medical care has to smoke during any given half hour period. People do work for a living in offices and such where they get to grab cigs or coffee every few hours only. The place was made of plywood, rope, and glue and would have been a death trap of an inferno. I find it hard to believe their insurance carrier knew of this even back then due to the fire hazard with all those people in a poorly constructed makeshift TV studio. The women had costly hairdos and garments and would have reeked of cigar smoke when they went out after the show. At times the Gabels or others did; but often Dorothy, Bob Bach and his wife, and some others did regularly. So they were not glammed-up for one of Bennett's before the show Sunday evening suppers at his home with artists and friends. They had other late dinner assignations at the Stork Club et al to meet often with theater folk who have no other night of the week off from performances.
Philippa Pay I seem to have read somewhere that it was against the law to smoke in a theater in New York but the cigarette companies had enough clout that nobody enforced that law. I often go 3 or 4 hours at work without a smoke. It’s just part of life.
@@ChadQuick270W I am sure it was the 1980s before cigarette smoking in movie theaters was banned in San Francisco or the very late 1970s. I think a lot of people did so just because they could and thus feel more like they were relaxing at home, which is not the point or charm of going to a theater. But they lost no business once the ban occurred. I doubt NYC had a ban on it in theaters as early as the 1950s. So many of their other bans in buildings that accommodate the public were in the 1990s and 2000s, that I think it unlikely. Perhaps there was one for theaters that show live performances so as not to choke the artists trying to quote Shakespeare or play a flute or even wrangle a wild tiger into a circus cage?
This video sent me RUNNING to Google, so I could figure out Mr. Levant’s physical/mental health/substance/neurodivergent issues. I remembered him in Romance On The High Seas, and knew he played piano with big bands, but boy oh boy did he have a fascinating, full life. I had no idea what an amazing renaissance man he was - a true genius. Sidebar: We’re probably looking at pills and booze right here.
Oscar Levant looks very much in pain on this show. I wonder what the nervous tics and twitches are from? I love seeing him in movies made ten or more years before this WML appearance.
He had a heart attack in 52 and got depressed and became addicted to pain killers and booze. So its not so much physicsl as mental and emotional dependency.
At 7:19, Bennett clarifies that the profession of the first challengers was for a non-profit organization. Dorothy got it but Arlene and Milton Berle were confused. When Arlene understands and says "oh, oh", Berle mocks her by repeating "oh" four times. Bennett quickly covers it over by mentioning "That's what they did against Koufax, oh, oh, oh, oh." "They" refers to the Minnesota Twins who had been shut out by Koufax three days earlier for the second time in three games in the seventh and deciding game of the World Series. Bennett's remark gets a chuckle from Berle, a Dodger fan.
One of the commenters recounts the famous Oscar Levant quip regarding Milton Berle's conversion from Judaism to Christian Science, "Our loss is their loss." Since Levant made that comment on Jack Paar's show, it was years before this episode of WML. During the questioning of the MG, Berle asks if they have ever worked together. When Levant replies "no," Berle remarks, "Your loss." Levant at this time really was not capable of hiding his voice. Either it is an amazing coincidence that Berle told Levant that not working with Berle was "his loss," or Berle knew Levant was the MG and wanted to put a dig into Oscar for his using that very term to put down Berle.
Has anyone ever noticed that when a comic or a so-called comic is on the panel, they always are loud, rude, or take over the show trying to show how funny they think they are? Milton Berle was another example of this. You would think they would want to show a different side of themselves. Thanks for the video.
The first time I saw Groucho Marx on the panel, he was funny. The second time, not so funny. The third time (was there a third time?) he was just obnoxious and the show had to be "all" about him. I think he even got on Dorothy's nerves from the very beginning.
@@poetcomic1 OMG the 1965 episode that Buddy Hackett was on the panel & Yves Saint Laurent was the guest. Though not really the mystery guest but John figured Dorothy Kilgallen would recognize his name if not also his face & told the panel to put their masks on. Buddy's comment at the end. was too funny! And yes he blended in perfectly and never became like many of the other comedians who were also panelist.
NPR, 2006: "Given the number of self-destructing celebrities in the news this year, we thought we'd take a moment to remember the man some have called America's first publicly dysfunctional celebrity... He was a gifted concert pianist, a film and stage actor, a best-selling author, a radio and television personality, and one of the country's most acerbic wits... But Oscar Levant considered himself a failure. He was an insecure, tortured soul who battled a 10-year addiction to painkillers and was shuttled in and out of mental institutions... in 1958, Jack Parr brought him onto "The Tonight Show." Levant talked openly and hilariously about his depression... Mr. JACK PARR (Host): You're going to be all right. Listen, you're going to be swell. We just keep moving around. What do you do for exercise? Mr. OSCAR LEVANT: I stumble and then I fall into a coma. (Soundbite of laughter and applause) Mr. LEVANT: I really am suffering from amnesia, because I took shock treatments, and it reminds me I was - I came back from the hospital, and I was watching a television - an old picture with Ralph Richardson in where he's suffering from amnesia. And my wife came in, my wonderful wife, she really is, and said what are you watching? I said there's a movie with Ralph Richardson in it about amnesia. He's suffering from amnesia. I want to see how it turns out. She said but you saw it last week. (Soundbite of laughter) Mr. LEVANT: So consequently, I've been devoting my time to writing a book called "Memoirs of a Man Suffering from Amnesia," and I don't have a page filled. (Soundbite of laughter) Mr. LEVANT: There was one patient who was euphoric, and we were having lunch at an awful place, and he said what do you want, lemon juice or orange juice? He said what's the difference? (Soundbite of laughter) Mr. LEVANT: You know, when you're suffering from deep depression, you cannot make a decision. I first had deep apathy, then relapsed into deep depression. Gee, how I long for those deep apathy days. (Soundbite of laughter)
An entire book can be written about Oscar Levant's quips, but the one which comes to mind involves Milton Berle - seen on the "What's My Line" panel here. When told (by Jack Paar) that Milton Berle had converted to Christian Science (from Judaism) Oscar replied, "Our loss is their loss." The incredibly talented musician had the biting wit of any of the best stand-up comics of his day - or perhaps ever!
Yes, and that is why it is interesting that when Berle asked the MG if they had ever worked together, Levant said "no" and Berle replied: "your loss." Levant wasn't hiding his voice too well and Berle may well have known who the MG was and may have gotten in a dig at him for that famous comment.
RivaRidge'72 You can see on UA-cam a brief exchange by Jack Paar and Oscar Levant. Paar: What do you do for exercise? Levant: What do I do for exercise? I stumble and fall into a coma.
Thanks for the laugh Victor! I recall reading some years back that Mr. Levant telephoned his ex-wife (on her honeymoon with her new husband, an heir to the Loews theater chain) to ask what was showing at his neighborhood movie-house that night. That one still makes me laugh - Cheers!
@@preppysocks209 preppysocks209: I am sure you are correct about this - Milton's somewhat weak reply fully missed his target, but he most certainly said "your loss." It did not come over very clearly in the audio, so Milton's joke went mostly unnoticed. Milton Berle was certainly a bright comic, and a very successful television performer, but he (and everybody else) was no match for the incredible/biting wit of Oscar Levant.
@preppysocks209 You are speculating about whether the blindfolded Milton Berle knew who the mystery guest was. The only certainty is that Bennett Cerf knew who it was. Let go.
Oscar Levant...A pianist beyond compare, a song writer, an actor, a comedic wonder, sharp as a tack and an all around genius who, as unfortunate as it sound and was, spent much time in asylums. His interpretation of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue is nothing short of brilliant!
25:43 - "We had SQUAB together! STUFFED SQUAB!"...Of course Dorothy doesn't remember, however if 'ol Oscar can memorize an entire concerto or symphony, you sure has hell know he remembers the squab and that there's not much meat on a squab. Never had squab.
The bottled water salesman really plays a head game with the celebrity panelists. He enters their New York City parlor game and messes with their sophisticated personas. Then there's that bottled water 50 plus years ago was an unusual concept in and of itself. Not like in the 21st century world where individuals drinking bottled water is common practice.
Such a fun exchange with the water salesman. And I really enjoyed Milton Berle. I don't think he was nearly as crazy as Groucho, but humor is subjective. I always get a kick out of him though.
Mendel Berlinger's amusement ride spanned 9 decades traveling across most of the entertainment media. Uncle Miltie was the first major American TV star. His appearance on WML was like plugging a 220 volt talent into a 110 volt show. Whether the line was begged, stolen or borrowed, Berle once quipped, "A committee is a group of men that keeps minutes and looses hours." Exactly why I left the corporate sector.
I am surprised that I do not see a comment about the spot at 16:00 where Milton tries to pass his turn to Dorothy and says 'It will be good when you Kill Gallen....Kilgallen, good'. And this episode coming so soon before her death.
Have to disagree, it doesn't sound like Ken. Actually I thought the Champion spark plug ad might have been KN but it's a harder sell than he usually did. But the accent is off in the first spot. Of course KN did the Stoppette commercials, or a lot of them, even mentions it in one of his Word Jazz pieces.
That certainly is not why Milton Berle was chosen. He was like many guest panelists on WML, seeking to be the center of attention. I found him annoying here and if you notice Arlene's reaction to his antics, I suspect she did too.
@@Walterwhiterocks On the later WML in the 70's or something Soupy Sales was a regular panelist. He injected some humor here and there, but didn't try to monopolize like Milton Berle did here. And Soupy Sales also played the game for real and was a very smart guy. So not all comic types hammed it up that much.
@@Walterwhiterocks If you want to see an even worse example nowadays, check out the new "To Tell the Truth" to see almost everybody hamming it up. Goodson and Todman must be spinning in their graves. It's like they dropped the intelligence of the show down to double digits.
In '50 Hollywood made a movie that combine some of the short stories of Sir O'Henry ( O'Henry Full House, 1950) and Mr. Oscar Levant acted in a story with Fred Allen. I knew him as a charming comedian.
They were in the segment containing "The Ransom of Red Chief" in "O. Henry's Full House." Fred Allen played Sam "Slick" Brown, and Oscar Levant played Bill Peoria. Lee Aaker played J.B. Dorset (aka "Red Chief"). That segment was directed by Howard Hawks, by the way. (The other O. Henry stories dramatized on film in that movie were "The Clarion Call," "The Gift of the Magi," "The Cop and the Anthem," and "The Last Leaf.")
jmccracken1963 absolutely correct you are. I watched this movie 2 years back and somehow I forgot the name of some segements. Thanks for mentioning the segments.
I just watched Milton Berle Rowan and Martin’ Laugh In!. It was the 25th show of its third season, in 1970. He was hilarious, as he was in his own show.
Before watching this show I was sure I was going to hate Milton Berle but after seeing it, I must admit that I haven't had so much fun in a long time. He was really funny and witty. A little bit to much perhaps. If he had been a regular panelist he would have ruined the show but for a single performance he was a fresh sight and between his outbursts he did ask several good questions. I sure am gonna watch this several times. :)
***** I haven't seen that much of Milton Berle's humour but I'd must say that I like what I have seen sofar. Humour is more than just telling a joke, it's an instant feeling you get for a comedian (good or bad), it's about timing and the ability to make fun of yourself.
...I disagree. I view him here as nothing less than heroic in that he manages to remain as spontaneously and inimitable witty and entertaining in spite of his well know and progressive health problems.
Who knew that water is so funny? In 1965, WML had a number of strange water incidents. There is Milton and his water. There was in the Jack Jones sequence the electronic fire doused by Daly's water. There was Allen Sherman's water problem.
Sometimes it is the simplest and most common thing that they can't get. One was somebody who made button holes. ("Used indoors and outdoors", "In every house", "Adults and Children use them", "children use them", "everyone probably using it right now")
Those unfamiliar with the brilliant piantist Oscar Levant should look at movies "Rhapsody in Blue" "An American in Paris" and "The Bandwagon." Funny as heck in the last movie. "Tell Mrs. Martin I have gone to Tahiti . . to paint!"
soulierinvestments Great comment sir! Oscar Levant (a tremendous talent as you infer here!) was known as one of the greatest interpreter's of George Gershwin's music. Hardly anybody ever matched Levant's performance of "Rhapsody in Blue" in the relatively short time after the sad death of George Gershwin, at the age of 37, and this film's premier. Mr. Levant, by nature, was funny, sarcastic, dour, and brilliant - all at once (!) A good many folks considered him (back in the day) to be the most likely candidate to the incoming class at the local "Funny Farm." (Mr. Levant never denied this!) In the late 1950's/early 1960's Oscar Levant seemed to have jumped "a bit off the rails" during his many appearances on the Jack Parr show (via his "rants"), but this was decades before "Shock-TV " (think George Carlin!) became even midly acceptable by the television viewing public. Ahead of his time? I think so! Brilliant? No question whatsoever! P.S. Let's not forget "Humoresque," starring Joan Crawford, John Garfield and, of course, Oscar Levant. Did I say brilliant? Cheers and thanks!
Aw, poor Dorothy. She looked lovely (and was her usual mentally bright self) on this night. Her Life's candle was fast burning down and she had but a few weeks more to live. After Dorothy Kilgallen's death WML would limp along for (less than) another two years and would never be the same.
Many of the comments about Berle are negative. Those who are unkindly disposed to Berle should please bear in mind that according to the Guinness Book of World Records, Milton Berle appeared in more benefit performances than anyone else -- including Bob Hope. Whether people think he is camera hogging egomaniac, this was a man who used his celebrity repeatedly to help other people and worthy causes, and for that he deserves great praise. It seems that more celebrities of that era, the Sinatras and Sammy Davises, did more of that benefit work then than now, a great loss. Apart from someone like Angelina Jolie, it is hard to think of too many celebrities today who choose humanitarian work.
Ya know, I don't know if I'm just being influenced by that gosh darn snappy jingle, but maybe if Oscar Levant had switched to Kool Filter Kings, he may have felt a bit better. I love Oscar Levant's wit as well as the general witty tone of the show! They really don't make 'em like they use to.
Mr. Primo seems channeling the gold-miner lady from a few weeks ago. The fun of the show is to obfuscate, confuse, and indulge in innuendo. Arlene and John get it; others don't.
Interesting watching this having read that Milton and Dorothy had "exploits" together at some point. Milton was *long* rumored to be substantially blessed downstairs so maybe her curiosity got the better of her.
Note the facial tics and grimaces (tardive dyskinesia) of Oscar no doubt due to his use of some of the older psychiatric drugs which he at times abused. Very sad.
![What's My Line? - Danny Kaye; Bette Davis; B Hackett [panel] (Oct 24, 1965) [W/ COMMERCIALS]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/sfTAMv7ohSM/mqdefault.jpg)
![What's My Line? - Danny Kaye; Bette Davis; B Hackett [panel] (Oct 24, 1965) [W/ COMMERCIALS]](/img/tr.png)
![What's My Line? - Lee Remick; Orson Bean [panel] (Jan 10, 1965)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/qPQrh-KV4QM/mqdefault.jpg)
![What's My Line? - A man runs onstage - Milton Berle; Eamonn Andrews [panel] (May 10, 1959)](/img/n.gif)
Oscar Levant was a true genius! This is the best WML ever, thanks to Levant and the water guy!
Am surprised Oscar Levant accepted the invitation to appear. A true genius. As kids our parents always let us stay up late if Mr Levant was on television.
you had exceptional parents!
Oscar Levant was a brilliant pianist, composer, comic actor in many movies. His later years were not happy ones, but we have all those movies and piano performances to remember him by.
Great loss. (He dropped dead from chain smoking.) Fred Astaire ordered a recording of his show on local tv when Fred guested. It's on YT somewhere. A true genius.
Ask oscars daughters he was a special man. One of the first public figures to speak out about mental illness. Way ahead of his time.
He was impressive in Humoresque with John Garfield and Joan Crawford. Tremendous wit.
In@@fmphotooffice5513
it's wonderful to read how many people like Oscar Levant - i was a kid when this was on tv and i really loved him. he just had something about him. . .
@alexa penn - I'm with you. I enjoyed Oscar Levant thoroughly when he was on the Jack Paar Tonight Show. He was one of the great guests, like Jonathan Winters. Not that a living soul was readily placed in Jonathan Winters' category ever. Now and then Paar had a clunker on the show, but these two were gold.
Yes, he was "REAL tinsel!"
Oscar’s eldest daughter, Marcia, was a classmate and pal of Nora Ephron’s at Beverly Hills High School.
I spent the weekend at my aunt & uncle's house in the early '60's. As a special treat they let me stay up to watch late night tv. Oscar Levant was a guest on a talk show (Jack Paar's Tonight Show, maybe?).
I remember him blinking like he did here. Suddenly he blurted out, "Damn Eyes!" I remember it because we NEVER heard the word 'damn' on prime time tv back then. Sad that a comic genius like Oscar suffered from poor health in his later days. He had the quickest, sharpest wit.
He was on Jack Paar's show pretty often. I loved it when he was on.
Three weeks to go, and the SUPPOSEDLY alcoholic, drugged-up and troubled Dorothy Kilgallen looks WONDERFUL. Great figure, great look, bright, together and attractive. Plus of course she was extremely active in her day job at this point. Motivated, hungry and making big plans. Last but not least she's deemed perfectly fit and alert enough by the producers Goodsen and Todman to be a significant player on their top rated panel show. I think it does Dorothy's memory a great disservice to claim otherwise.
I couldn't agree more.
Thank you for this...you are the best !
I agree.
LBJ is ready to bump her off in 3 weeks.
Right on
I like how elegant they all look when they come out and it's just a game show!
They were wealthy people, and I went out to have drinks after the show on Sunday evenings. If you actually get dressed up, when you go out, you will wear one of your best outfits and that is all these people were doing. Just the same, when they show the audience, you can see all the men generally are wearing ties and women are wearing their dresses. A real timepiece.
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The water salesman may be one of the smartest contestants to ever appear on the show........LOVE how he gives the panel such 'misleading' answers......even though he doesn't!
Had them chasing their tails almost from the get-go, the way he answered them !
Who would have thought something as simple as WATER could be SO entertaining?
Brilliant !!!
.
And the water sales man hoisted his glass of water to the panel before their first question - as if toasting them.
He was superb. LOL
He was a straight out idiot. Apparently clueless.
@@peternagy-im4be don't talk about yourself like that.
@@suelutz5364 is that genuinely all you've got?
@@peternagy-im4be he was an idiot. Its annoying when the contestants give vague "sometimes" answers to definite yes or no questions.
Oscar Levant - i loved Oscar Levant. i wished i’d known him - i would’ve given him a big on the cheek. i saw him on Jack Paar when i was a kid - i remember him being so erudite and funny :). poor baby had quite a few tics by the time he was on this show. he was one of the George Gershwin group and they were best friends Oscar is the only pianist who can play Gershwin with heart besides Gershwin himself. Rhapsody in Blue was incredible. what a loss to us and to Oscar he was. just imagine the work he could have created. Ira, his brother, was an wonderful lyricist. Dorothy was so very heartfully authentic with him and so respectful from deep inside. Be happy, Oscar, wherever you are. we love you. 😼🎹 🎶🎭🌹
You just made me cry..I was watching Barkley on b'way and thought there's that pianist I've seen in several films and how talented and quick witted I thought I gotta know more and now here I am after reading and still searching for more about him I feel this empathy and awe for oscars talent and now I want to find out more about gershwin my father spoke highly of him when I was a theatre major and was just meeting my father for the first time...anyway I loved what you posted ...very classy and full of integrity thank you
I'm loving the shows with the original commercials! Thanks!
To go back in time makes me so relaxed.
The water guy is playing it coy. Good to see someone not intimidated by the show!
And he took a sip of the water in front of him. First contestant I ever saw doing that! 12:55
Johan Bengtsson I think he did it on purpose, playfully.
Joe Postove Yes of course he did. You could tell by watching him. :) Nice PR.
I think the water guy is very happy that Uncle Milty was on the panel this night. He will definitely be telling his grandkids about this for years to come!
As someone who was there, there was a big 1964-1965 drought in New York City, and there was talk of rationing, this was when restaurants stopped serving water at meals unless asked....
I adore Oscar Levant he is totally fabulous! Mr. Berle is an acquired taste which I've never had.
He was a brilliant pianist! Love his movie roles.
This is most likely the best episode I've seen yet! Not going through them in order, but Water could be the most entertaining contestant there ever was!
😆
One of my favorite one-liners of Oscar's was "I knew Doris Day before she was a virgin." Warped, and funny as hell! I think he was also the one who coined the phrase "There's a fine line between genius and insanity. I've managed to erase that line." How true! And what a brilliant pianist and composer. He composed one of my favorite songs, called "Blame It On My Youth." The title is almost a description of his life. He recorded what many (including me) consider the definitive expression of Gershwin's "Rhapsody In Blue." He and Gershwin were close friends for years. And he made light of his hypocondria in such an endearing way. Though his body was failing at the end, he never lost his youthful wit. His headstone reads "I told you I was sick." Lovable, brilliant, and as drednm mentioned, how wonderful to be able to watch him on video in musical performances, movies, and other contexts.
Great comments! Thanks, I've seen pictures of that headstone, but never knew who's it was. I met Milton Berle many years ago, I was managing a restaurant and when he came up to pay the bill he opened his wallet and said "here take what you need". At the beginning of the show, they talk about newsboys, I knew a man of 80 years old who; when he was 7or8 years old, and working as a newsboy in Juarez Texas had taken a picture of Pancho Villa, and his men on horseback; invading the United States. He still had the photo and the camera.
I do not understand the comments about Cerf being rude to Levant. Oscar did indeed make fun all the time of his various illnesses. It was part of his act. So Cerf's question was apropos.
Mary Cage it's because we live in this Flake Generation era, where simple comments can "destroy" people's psyche.
RetroGuy76:. The flakes reference to fragile egos was referencing today and not 1965
@lucy bond Oscar Levant, as wonderful as he was, personifies as much as anyone the famous comment that there is a fine line between genius and insanity.
@@preppysocks209 And he famously said, "I've erased that line."
Thanks so much for posting. Was curious to see Oscar Levant. Enigmatic, witty and an excellent musician.
Greatest recording of George Gershwins Rhapsody in Blue...Oscar Levant 1950.Columbia CL-700...Fine record.
loved Oscar in An American In Paris... fantastic!
It's great that we get some close up shots of Dorothy at the beginning of the program when she and John discuss newspaper boy sellers. She looks so good that it breaks your heart.
I think paper boys are a thing of the past. Many newspapers now rely on adults as independent contractors to get the paper out. And one day, they too shall be gone, as papers move content exclusively to the web. The most expensive aspect of publishing a newspaper is getting it out to newsstands and subscribers. I think we'll see the end of paper newspapers in my lifetime (I plan to live forever...ouch...that was some kind of pain!).
Is it just me ... or do you see that the closer we get to Dorothy's passing, the lovelier she appears?
ColonelJack1 I think those of us who admire DK may see things in her as she approaches her end that may not be there. This is an eerie process, to say the least.
Yes, I was actually thinking that Dorothy looked exceptional beautiful tonight
You're right. It does break your heart, especially knowing the horrible circumstances of her death.
Milton Berle is hilarious and the water salesman matches him wit for wit without missing a beat or losing his composure.
John Paradise h
I don't like Milton Berle, but I thought he was funny in this episode!
@@BBCHZ I'm with you. He was a hack, as were Henny Youngman and Bob Hope: nothing unique, artistic or intelligent about his comedy. And he was a total pig with females throughout his entire career. But he was good here.
Oh! So you're the one!
Staten Island wit!
Really enjoy the tv commercials included. Thank you!
I first saw Oscar Levant in Rhapsody in Blue. A new theatre production, "Goodnight, Oscar" starts this month at the Goodman in Chicago. Love him.
I was 12 when this show was aired, and I loved WML. It's still my favorite game show ever.
It seems like such a time of personal freedom
Oscar Levant sits down, pulls out a cigarette, and lights up!
It was
He was strung out on Demoral - very sad
“Personal Freedom” if you were of a certain particular demographics. 😂
@@IamPam_Iswear Oh, brother...
This was one of the last times Oscar Levant would appear on screen. Two days later he was a guest on "The Merv Griffin Show" (for the fourth and final time since September 15, 1965). On October 29, 1965, he appeared along with his wife on a short-lived ABC talk show (September to December 1965) hosted by Phyllis Kirk called "The Young Set" .
His final appearance on November 16, 1965 was not live. It was a retrospective of radio highlights on NBC to celebrate the 101st anniversary of Chase and Sanborn coffee.
About 3 weeks later, Dorothy would be gone as well...
Phyllis Kirk, the film actress of films like Crime Wave and House of Wax? Love her. I didn't know she had a TV show. A very talented and fetching looking gal.
The visual quality of this video is impressive.
Fast reply by Milton to the water man.
-I watched you years ago,
-Ah, *you* are the one! 15:15
Agreed - that was a remarkable comeback!
Yes, he probably only used that line a thousand times before.
@@mungous1000 I'm sure you're correct. He, like Henny Youngman and Bob Hope, was not at all original, interesting or intelligent in his hackneyed comedy. He was vulgar and was not a genuine wit a la say a Steve Allen.
That was a line that just about all the comedians of the era stole from Jack Benny. It was a running gag that Bob Hope never had an original joke, and even as late as Johnny Carson, Bob Hope would say, “That one didn’t work for Berle, either.”
Milton Berle: "Mr. Premo, I don't like you," as he takes a sip of his water. I just love Milton Berle.
This commercial break is brought to you courtesy of Sterling Copper, Draper, Pryce.
Levant would live for 7 more years after this appearance. He died at home in Beverly Hills, California, of a heart attack in 1972 at age 65.
I just love Milton Berle. He is so witty and smart. I waited a long time to see him on this program.
Loved Oscar Levant in the movie Humoresque with Joan Crawford and John Garfield. He was not only a great pianist but Showed he had great wit in that film also off screen. ☺👏
Humoresque; a great film.
The earliest mention of Oscar Levant that I can find by Dorothy Kilgallen, whose death is hurtling toward us (a mere three episodes away), in her Voice of Broadway column was at the end of August 1939; she relates a story involving Levant and Giants catcher Harry Danning, which she may indeed have gotten from an interview with Levant. In the second week of 1940, she opened her column by saying she wished that people would stop asking her what five books she would take to a desert island, what five men, etc. But then she added: "All right, I would choose [Ernest Hemingway's] 'A Farewell to Arms,' a complete Shakespeare, [Philip MacDonald's] 'Warrrant for X,' the collected poems of Rupert Brooke and [Louisa May Alcott's] 'Little Women.' For my five men, I would take George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Levant, Charles Boyer and two lads with shoulders and a few knives who could build fires, catch fish and cook. I would rather look like Vivien Leigh than any other motion picture actress."
The way you put it sounds like she died on air during an episode.
@@jeffstumpf9129 only a few hours later
Love Oscar Levant's books. So unique
I daresay few of the commentators have read his work.
Oscar was a underappreciated genius.
For those who are too young to know him, Oscar Levant was a brilliant wit, author and one of the greatest pianists of his day. However by the mid 1960s, he was in pretty bad shape but he made it part of his act.
No, he was not one of the greatest pianists of his day...not by a long shot...
@@photo161
Ouch! 😆
@@photo161
Sometimes a comment like yours includes the names of four or five of Levant’s contemporaries who (in your view) were better pianists than Levant.
You’ve every right to your opinion, of course. But how nice it would have been to include some examples to support it. 🙂
Oscar Levant was a GENIUS. Like all geniuses, filled with demons. Such a shame he was so miserable.
I wonder how Uncle Millie felt when Dorothy said that Oscar had said the most funny lines that she ever heard.
I remember fondly the title of one of Levant's brilliantly funny and insightful books; "A Smattering of Ignorance."
Bennett's "That's what they did against Koufax, oh-oh-oh," refers to his pitching a shutout to win Game 7 of the 1965 World Series against the Twins.
I agree that the commercials should be left in. They are just as entertaining and educational of the period as the shows themselves. And it helps to create the time machine effect of taking you back to the era. It recreates the experience of the past w/o interruption.
The Kool commercial shows a racially integrated Airport tower! Yay, integration, boo cancer!
Wow, Black man SIGHTING in that Kools TV ad! BRAVO!!
Supp-hose was a great product! My dad wore the male version of them. He was a pharmacist and was on his feet all day. He also sold them at his drugstore. The commercials bring back memories!
I love Milton Berle. He was funny as he heck and despite his antics he added a lot to the pleasure of this episode.
A somewhat rare thing in New York City these days; a woman in a dress. And she is walking in Central Park, by Bethesda Fountain. Some things don't change. Supp hose adds were very popular back then.
The first contestants’ jobs provided the biggest “wow” of any contestant I’ve seen on WML and I’ve seen many episodes.
One of the funniest What's My Line shows I have ever seen! Berle was Hilarious and Mr. Primo was A-One shooting those one liners right back at him! Great fun! 🦂🤣👍🥂
My Gosh… Sean Hayes did a marvelous job portraying Mr. Levant
Oscar Levant was a genius. Of course, Oscar was also famous for his witty line, “There's a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line.” If you can, I'd recommend taking out the DVD "The Barkleys of Broadway," starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, and Oscar Levant, from your local library. Here's a clip: ua-cam.com/video/KaVPMG_yh_g/v-deo.html
James Feldman - I loved that line about erasing the line ...
I personally am going to switch to Kools based on an air traffic controller's recommendation.
WOW- you're so funny, I forgot to laugh!
Back in the days when you could light up a butt anywhere.....even in an air traffic control tower!
I thought your comment was pretty clever, actually! LOL
I'll take a Kent, with a Micronite asbestos filter, please. 🚬
Jeepers! I was going to take a smokers advice on what airline to fly!
Arlene Francis, ever so elegant and charming at any age. I love her.
I love how Kilgallen (sort of) whispers to Cerf after his questioning comes to an end, "Is something burning?" (Levant had just lit his cigarette.) You can see Cerf calming her, for a split second, before the camera moves to Francis. It's a lovely gesture on Cerf's part.
@Joseph Logue - He was a kind and funny man, albeit with his own interesting eccentricities. Their jerry-built studios were fire hazard death traps that would have been infernos in minutes. They should never have allowed smoking by anyone for a mere half hour of show time due to the hostile fire hazard alone.
Philippa Pay I’m a smoker and I agree. It wouldn’t take much to have one of those old studios go up like a torch. The show where they really smoked all the time was The Name’s The Same. I swear Abe Burrows must light four cigarettes in every 1/2 hour show 😮
@@ChadQuick270W I had smoked in my youth and there is no reason on earth anyone not under medical care has to smoke during any given half hour period. People do work for a living in offices and such where they get to grab cigs or coffee every few hours only. The place was made of plywood, rope, and glue and would have been a death trap of an inferno. I find it hard to believe their insurance carrier knew of this even back then due to the fire hazard with all those people in a poorly constructed makeshift TV studio. The women had costly hairdos and garments and would have reeked of cigar smoke when they went out after the show. At times the Gabels or others did; but often Dorothy, Bob Bach and his wife, and some others did regularly. So they were not glammed-up for one of Bennett's before the show Sunday evening suppers at his home with artists and friends. They had other late dinner assignations at the Stork Club et al to meet often with theater folk who have no other night of the week off from performances.
Philippa Pay I seem to have read somewhere that it was against the law to smoke in a theater in New York but the cigarette companies had enough clout that nobody enforced that law. I often go 3 or 4 hours at work without a smoke. It’s just part of life.
@@ChadQuick270W I am sure it was the 1980s before cigarette smoking in movie theaters was banned in San Francisco or the very late 1970s. I think a lot of people did so just because they could and thus feel more like they were relaxing at home, which is not the point or charm of going to a theater. But they lost no business once the ban occurred. I doubt NYC had a ban on it in theaters as early as the 1950s. So many of their other bans in buildings that accommodate the public were in the 1990s and 2000s, that I think it unlikely. Perhaps there was one for theaters that show live performances so as not to choke the artists trying to quote Shakespeare or play a flute or even wrangle a wild tiger into a circus cage?
ABSOLUTELY wonderful W.M.L.
This video sent me RUNNING to Google, so I could figure out Mr. Levant’s physical/mental health/substance/neurodivergent issues. I remembered him in Romance On The High Seas, and knew he played piano with big bands, but boy oh boy did he have a fascinating, full life. I had no idea what an amazing renaissance man he was - a true genius. Sidebar: We’re probably looking at pills and booze right here.
Oscar Levant looks very much in pain on this show. I wonder what the nervous tics and twitches are from? I love seeing him in movies made ten or more years before this WML appearance.
@@lemorab1 I guess nowadays we might call it 'autistic'. Or perhaps, as a brilliant musician, maybe he was just eccentric.
He had a heart attack in 52 and got depressed and became addicted to pain killers and booze. So its not so much physicsl as mental and emotional dependency.
At 7:19, Bennett clarifies that the profession of the first challengers was for a non-profit organization. Dorothy got it but Arlene and Milton Berle were confused. When Arlene understands and says "oh, oh", Berle mocks her by repeating "oh" four times. Bennett quickly covers it over by mentioning "That's what they did against Koufax, oh, oh, oh, oh." "They" refers to the Minnesota Twins who had been shut out by Koufax three days earlier for the second time in three games in the seventh and deciding game of the World Series. Bennett's remark gets a chuckle from Berle, a Dodger fan.
Brilliant man. I wonder how he was talked into doing this.
The awful thing is, some people think it's funny, seeing someone in their worst moments.
I recall the 1960's had a several newspaper strikes in NYC. They are frequently mentioned on WML as in this episode.
One of the commenters recounts the famous Oscar Levant quip regarding Milton Berle's conversion from Judaism to Christian Science, "Our loss is their loss." Since Levant made that comment on Jack Paar's show, it was years before this episode of WML. During the questioning of the MG, Berle asks if they have ever worked together. When Levant replies "no," Berle remarks, "Your loss." Levant at this time really was not capable of hiding his voice. Either it is an amazing coincidence that Berle told Levant that not working with Berle was "his loss," or Berle knew Levant was the MG and wanted to put a dig into Oscar for his using that very term to put down Berle.
Milton Berle was a terribly overrated, totally obnoxious hack that was rarely, if ever, genuinely funny.
Has anyone ever noticed that when a comic or a so-called comic is on the panel, they always are loud, rude, or take over the show trying to show how funny they think they are? Milton Berle was another example of this. You would think they would want to show a different side of themselves. Thanks for the video.
Always.
The first time I saw Groucho Marx on the panel, he was funny. The second time, not so funny. The third time (was there a third time?) he was just obnoxious and the show had to be "all" about him. I think he even got on Dorothy's nerves from the very beginning.
ONLY one struck a beautiful balance between his humor and seriously playing he game and that was Buddy Hackett who was a favorite wih the others.
kenyon,
Yes I have.
So annoying
He's obnoxious
@@poetcomic1 OMG the 1965 episode that Buddy Hackett was on the panel & Yves Saint Laurent was the guest. Though not really the mystery guest but John figured Dorothy Kilgallen would recognize his name if not also his face & told the panel to put their masks on. Buddy's comment at the end. was too funny! And yes he blended in perfectly and never became like many of the other comedians who were also panelist.
Arlene Francis acted as though she couldn't stand Milton Berle, and Berle acted as though he knew it.
NPR, 2006: "Given the number of self-destructing celebrities in the news this year,
we thought we'd take a moment to remember the man some have called
America's first publicly dysfunctional celebrity... He was a gifted concert pianist, a film and stage actor, a best-selling author, a radio and television personality, and one of the country's most acerbic wits... But Oscar Levant considered himself a failure. He was an insecure, tortured soul who battled a 10-year addiction to painkillers and was
shuttled in and out of mental institutions... in 1958, Jack Parr brought him onto "The Tonight Show." Levant talked openly and hilariously about his depression...
Mr. JACK PARR (Host): You're going to be all right. Listen, you're
going to be swell. We just keep moving around. What do you do for
exercise?
Mr. OSCAR LEVANT: I stumble and then I fall into a coma.
(Soundbite of laughter and applause)
Mr. LEVANT: I really am suffering from amnesia, because I took
shock treatments, and it reminds me I was - I came back from the
hospital, and I was watching a television - an old picture with Ralph
Richardson in where he's suffering from amnesia. And my wife came in, my
wonderful wife, she really is, and said what are you watching? I said
there's a movie with Ralph Richardson in it about amnesia. He's
suffering from amnesia. I want to see how it turns out. She said but you
saw it last week.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. LEVANT: So consequently, I've been devoting my time to
writing a book called "Memoirs of a Man Suffering from Amnesia," and I
don't have a page filled.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. LEVANT: There was one patient who was euphoric, and we were
having lunch at an awful place, and he said what do you want, lemon
juice or orange juice? He said what's the difference?
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. LEVANT: You know, when you're suffering from deep depression,
you cannot make a decision. I first had deep apathy, then relapsed into
deep depression. Gee, how I long for those deep apathy days.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Wow! That is cutting edge real for then.
An entire book can be written about Oscar Levant's quips, but the one which comes to mind involves Milton Berle - seen on the "What's My Line" panel here. When told (by Jack Paar) that Milton Berle had converted to Christian Science (from Judaism) Oscar replied, "Our loss is their loss." The incredibly talented musician had the biting wit of any of the best stand-up comics of his day - or perhaps ever!
Yes, and that is why it is interesting that when Berle asked the MG if they had ever worked together, Levant said "no" and Berle replied: "your loss." Levant wasn't hiding his voice too well and Berle may well have known who the MG was and may have gotten in a dig at him for that famous comment.
RivaRidge'72 You can see on UA-cam a brief exchange by Jack Paar and Oscar Levant.
Paar: What do you do for exercise?
Levant: What do I do for exercise? I stumble and fall into a coma.
Thanks for the laugh Victor! I recall reading some years back that Mr. Levant telephoned his ex-wife (on her honeymoon with her new husband, an heir to the Loews theater chain) to ask what was showing at his neighborhood movie-house that night. That one still makes me laugh - Cheers!
@@preppysocks209 preppysocks209: I am sure you are correct about this - Milton's somewhat weak reply fully missed his target, but he most certainly said "your loss." It did not come over very clearly in the audio, so Milton's joke went mostly unnoticed. Milton Berle was certainly a bright comic, and a very successful television performer, but he (and everybody else) was no match for the incredible/biting wit of Oscar Levant.
@preppysocks209 You are speculating about whether the blindfolded Milton Berle knew who the mystery guest was. The only certainty is that Bennett Cerf knew who it was. Let go.
Oscar Levant...A pianist beyond compare, a song writer, an actor, a comedic wonder, sharp as a tack and an all around genius who, as unfortunate as it sound and was, spent much time in asylums. His interpretation of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue is nothing short of brilliant!
25:43 - "We had SQUAB together! STUFFED SQUAB!"...Of course Dorothy doesn't remember, however if 'ol Oscar can memorize an entire concerto or symphony, you sure has hell know he remembers the squab and that there's not much meat on a squab. Never had squab.
The bottled water salesman really plays a head game with the celebrity panelists. He enters their New York City parlor game and messes with their sophisticated personas. Then there's that bottled water 50 plus years ago was an unusual concept in and of itself. Not like in the 21st century world where individuals drinking bottled water is common practice.
Yes, the water sales man was great.
One of the few times the guest got more fun out of the game than the panelists methinks.
They had natural sparkling water, club soda, Vichy water etc - all plain waters in bottles.
"My health is the concern of the nation.."
I love Bennett’s remark about what the Twins did against Sandy Koufax in the 1965 World Series “0,0,0” 😂
Such a fun exchange with the water salesman. And I really enjoyed Milton Berle. I don't think he was nearly as crazy as Groucho, but humor is subjective. I always get a kick out of him though.
When the couple appeared at the beginning, I swore it was sister and brother.
Me too!!
Hazi Dead - Yeah, the mother Army private hardly looked old enough to have a son who was also an Army private. Must be her Army training.
Mendel Berlinger's amusement ride spanned 9 decades traveling across most of the entertainment media. Uncle Miltie was the first major American TV star. His appearance on WML was like plugging a 220 volt talent into a 110 volt show. Whether the line was begged, stolen or borrowed, Berle once quipped, "A committee is a group of men that keeps minutes and looses hours." Exactly why I left the corporate sector.
Bennett was very quiet (no surprise as Milton stole all attention and made all funny remarks!). I wonder if he enjoyed Milton's appearance or not.
Johan Bengtsson Of course he wouldn't. As for Arlene....
And if one of Milton''s jokes came off corny he immediately said it was one of Bennett's.
I am surprised that I do not see a comment about the spot at 16:00 where Milton tries to pass his turn to Dorothy and says 'It will be good when you Kill Gallen....Kilgallen, good'. And this episode coming so soon before her death.
I like that guy taking a drink of water. (He sells water)
It’s notable how some in the crowd are outraged at Bennett’s question at 24:06.
That was a low blow, but Oscar handled it superb
You got away with a lot back then, but Bennett was out of line even for then.
Milton Berle is channeling a little of Hal Block and Jack E. Leonard tonight.
+Joe Postove
Hal Block (along with Martin Ragaway) was one of the scriptwriters for Berle's NBC radio show in 1947-48
Lois Simmons Great info. Explains a lot.
Voice over on the Supp-Hose commercial is the great Ken Nordine.
Have to disagree, it doesn't sound like Ken. Actually I thought the Champion spark plug ad might have been KN but it's a harder sell than he usually did. But the accent is off in the first spot. Of course KN did the Stoppette commercials, or a lot of them, even mentions it in one of his Word Jazz pieces.
Ah, those were the days, when panelists were chosen for their ability to think.
That certainly is not why Milton Berle was chosen. He was like many guest panelists on WML, seeking to be the center of attention. I found him annoying here and if you notice Arlene's reaction to his antics, I suspect she did too.
@@Walterwhiterocks On the later WML in the 70's or something Soupy Sales was a regular panelist. He injected some humor here and there, but didn't try to monopolize like Milton Berle did here. And Soupy Sales also played the game for real and was a very smart guy. So not all comic types hammed it up that much.
@@trainliker100 True, but a vast majority did.
@@Walterwhiterocks If you want to see an even worse example nowadays, check out the new "To Tell the Truth" to see almost everybody hamming it up. Goodson and Todman must be spinning in their graves. It's like they dropped the intelligence of the show down to double digits.
@@trainliker100 I Have seen the "new" edition and you are absolutely right.
Dorothy has three weeks left to live here.
She died on Nov., 8th 1965.
So sad. She was one of their truly bright stars.
So sad!
I remember Levant on The Tonight Show starring Jack Parr. I'll never forget that he was always smoking a cigarette.
In '50 Hollywood made a movie that combine some of the short stories of Sir O'Henry ( O'Henry Full House, 1950) and Mr. Oscar Levant acted in a story with Fred Allen. I knew him as a charming comedian.
They were in the segment containing "The Ransom of Red Chief" in "O. Henry's Full House." Fred Allen played Sam "Slick" Brown, and Oscar Levant played Bill Peoria. Lee Aaker played J.B. Dorset (aka "Red Chief"). That segment was directed by Howard Hawks, by the way.
(The other O. Henry stories dramatized on film in that movie were "The Clarion Call," "The Gift of the Magi," "The Cop and the Anthem," and "The Last Leaf.")
jmccracken1963 absolutely correct you are. I watched this movie 2 years back and somehow I forgot the name of some segements. Thanks for mentioning the segments.
Think Marylnn Monroe was in that too wasn't she?
@@rharvey2124 yes
I just watched Milton Berle Rowan and Martin’ Laugh In!. It was the 25th show of its third season, in 1970. He was hilarious, as he was in his own show.
Would love to see Sean Hayes play this wreck
I hope someone streams it at some point
Before watching this show I was sure I was going to hate Milton Berle but after seeing it, I must admit that I haven't had so much fun in a long time. He was really funny and witty. A little bit to much perhaps. If he had been a regular panelist he would have ruined the show but for a single performance he was a fresh sight and between his outbursts he did ask several good questions. I sure am gonna watch this several times. :)
I agree, Johan. Definitely a pleasant and lively change of pace, but I'm glad WML was generally more sedate. :)
***** Oh, RW would have taken over the show completely! I agree with your examples. You write exactly what I had in mind but could not express. :)
***** I haven't seen that much of Milton Berle's humour but I'd must say that I like what I have seen sofar. Humour is more than just telling a joke, it's an instant feeling you get for a comedian (good or bad), it's about timing and the ability to make fun of yourself.
I agree! I never cared for him, but he actually made me laugh with the Water guy! 🤣
So talented in so many ways. But sad to see him struggling like this.
...I disagree. I view him here as nothing less than heroic in that he manages to remain as spontaneously and inimitable witty and entertaining in spite of his well know and progressive health problems.
Who knew that water is so funny? In 1965, WML had a number of strange water incidents. There is Milton and his water. There was in the Jack Jones sequence the electronic fire doused by Daly's water. There was Allen Sherman's water problem.
Sometimes it is the simplest and most common thing that they can't get. One was somebody who made button holes. ("Used indoors and outdoors", "In every house", "Adults and Children use them", "children use them", "everyone probably using it right now")
John's beautiful wording: in the same locus.
I loved the water seller and Milton Berle's interaction with him😅.
Mr. Primo the water man -- one of the funniest!
Those unfamiliar with the brilliant piantist Oscar Levant should look at movies "Rhapsody in Blue" "An American in Paris" and "The Bandwagon." Funny as heck in the last movie. "Tell Mrs. Martin I have gone to Tahiti . . to paint!"
In "Rhapsody in Blue" he actually plays himself. I wonder how many times that's happened in the movies.
***** Muhammad Ali in "The Greatest".
Ray Bolger and Fanny Brice portrayed themselves in "The Great Ziegfeld."
***** Fred Astaire played himself in his 1933 film debut, "Dancing Lady." Only Broadway/vaudeville fans would have known him.
soulierinvestments Great comment sir! Oscar Levant (a tremendous talent as you infer here!) was known as one of the greatest interpreter's of George Gershwin's music. Hardly anybody ever matched Levant's performance of "Rhapsody in Blue" in the relatively short time after the sad death of George Gershwin, at the age of 37, and this film's premier. Mr. Levant, by nature, was funny, sarcastic, dour, and brilliant - all at once (!) A good many folks considered him (back in the day) to be the most likely candidate to the incoming class at the local "Funny Farm." (Mr. Levant never denied this!) In the late 1950's/early 1960's Oscar Levant seemed to have jumped "a bit off the rails" during his many appearances on the Jack Parr show (via his "rants"), but this was decades before "Shock-TV " (think George Carlin!) became even midly acceptable by the television viewing public. Ahead of his time? I think so! Brilliant? No question whatsoever! P.S. Let's not forget "Humoresque," starring Joan Crawford, John Garfield and, of course, Oscar Levant. Did I say brilliant? Cheers and thanks!
Aw, poor Dorothy. She looked lovely (and was her usual mentally bright self) on this night. Her Life's candle was fast burning down and she had but a few weeks more to live. After Dorothy Kilgallen's death WML would limp along for (less than) another two years and would never be the same.
How sad.😢I didn’t know this about her. She was such a gracious, well spoken, extremely intelligent panelist.
The first thing the water man did was lift a class of water to his lips. FUNNY.
Many of the comments about Berle are negative. Those who are unkindly disposed to Berle should please bear in mind that according to the Guinness Book of World Records, Milton Berle appeared in more benefit performances than anyone else -- including Bob Hope. Whether people think he is camera hogging egomaniac, this was a man who used his celebrity repeatedly to help other people and worthy causes, and for that he deserves great praise. It seems that more celebrities of that era, the Sinatras and Sammy Davises, did more of that benefit work then than now, a great loss. Apart from someone like Angelina Jolie, it is hard to think of too many celebrities today who choose humanitarian work.
On this show, I found MB annoying.
If people think Milton is wild here then they should see Jerry Lewis' performances on the Colgate Palmolive Show. Oy Vey.
Ya know, I don't know if I'm just being influenced by that gosh darn snappy jingle, but maybe if Oscar Levant had switched to Kool Filter Kings, he may have felt a bit better. I love Oscar Levant's wit as well as the general witty tone of the show! They really don't make 'em like they use to.
I loved this episode. Performers were so witty in those days.
I love Milton Berle. Grimaces, corny jokes and all.
I can't believe that he was put on display like this. Clearly struggling.
He had personal and medical problems since the 1950s.
Milton is very affectionate with Dorothy
There's a reason for that.
Mr. Primo seems channeling the gold-miner lady from a few weeks ago. The fun of the show is to obfuscate, confuse, and indulge in innuendo. Arlene and John get it; others don't.
What great fun!
Mickey Mouse answers - good for you Dorothy!
Interesting watching this having read that Milton and Dorothy had "exploits" together at some point. Milton was *long* rumored to be substantially blessed downstairs so maybe her curiosity got the better of her.
3 weeks after this show,Dorothy would be gone....Very sad, very mysterious.
Note the facial tics and grimaces (tardive dyskinesia) of Oscar no doubt due to his use of some of the older psychiatric drugs which he at times abused. Very sad.
bt10ant People didn't have to 'abuse' the older psychiatric drugs. They took them as prescribed.
@@davidsanderson5918 Agreed. But he did abuse them as noted in both his biography as well as admissions in his own memoirs from 1965 and 1968.
Beautiful and Rich ... !