What's My Line? - Edith Young & Phyllis Cerf; Joan Crawford; Peter Ustinov [panel] (Dec 8, 1957)
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- Опубліковано 27 вер 2024
- MYSTERY GUEST: Edith Young & Phyllis Cerf [Bennett's wife!]; Joan Crawford
PANEL: Arlene Francis, Peter Ustinov, Dorothy Kilgallen, Bennett Cerf
![What's My Line? - Salvador Dali; Lillian Roth; Peter Lawford [panel] (Jan 27, 1957)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/wKLpo8f12TM/mqdefault.jpg)
![What's My Line? - Joan Crawford; Victor Borge [panel] (Dec 13, 1964)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/4IY5PNPuvZg/mqdefault.jpg)
At this point, Joan Crawford was one of the biggest stars the movies had ever seen. 30 years and she was still going strong. The mention of "long golden curls" was a reference to Mary Pickford, who at one point was Crawford's mother-in-law! Joan Crawford, one of the greats!
@drednm I think Dorothy asked about "long golden curls" (at 21:05) because she was thinking of Shirley Temple. Shirley Temple was no longer making movies in 1957, but she would have still been associated with motion pictures in the minds of most Americans at the time, so it would be sensible for Dorothy to think of her, based on the differing answers from Joan and John to Arlene's questions about her being associated with "pictures." Also, Shirley Temple had brought to life characters "from the pages of a book" in such films as _The Little Princess_ and _Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm_ .
@@savethetpc6406 Pickford made those films too :-)
Bette Davis didn't think so...
@@harveymanfredsenjenson5417 Bette Davis was the greatest of the greats.
@@SymphonyBrahms Joan Crawford didn't think so...
Joan Crawford was such a huge star in Hollywood. It's almost hard to comprehend the magnitude of her star power. They don't make film stars like her anymore. Fun fact, during the 1930s and 40s, Crawford was consistently in the top 10 billing actors in Hollywood.
Have watched Mildred Pierce several times. A great job of casting and a great job by all in the cast. Love when a bit player who might be on for just a few minutes yet he gives his all.
Peter Ustinov. What a speaking voice he had!
Yeah, It really grates on you
Peter Ustinov had an AMAZING speaking voice! It was so resonant and deep. I've always loved listening to him.
John's lengthy and verbose "clarifications" are hilarious.
And he won awards as a newscaster.
I would loved to have met him.
Masterful deployment of "precision" in excess, for comic effect. Very often comedy is skilled, performative, exaggeration.
I call them obfuscations and they were funny. However, by 1957, I think they had gotten a bit played out. I think on earlier shows, particularly how Fred Allen responded some of them were really funny.
Btw, I took an engineering class in college where there was one teacher who did that when we were taking exams. After 15 minutes, he would "explain" something about one of the questions or how it was written that confused me.
What a fun episode! Thank you Gary.
Ustinov, erudite and charming as he was, was an excellent panellist.
And Daly kept butchering his name. The Russian spelling of “Ustinov” began with the vowel for YOO, not OO.
Mr. Ustinov never fails to amuse me. I could watch and listen to him for hours.
Bennett was sure happy happy happy when he saw Phyllis.
Joan really didn't disguise her voice much in this episode - I was surprised the questioning went on for as long as it did. She made several appearances as "Mystery Guest" during the WML show's long run. Her comment to Bennett at the show's end is very funny! Thanks for all the fun posts!!
I think they knew who it was and stretched it out so the show wouldn't come up short.
Steven Chappell I think Bennett knew instantly. Watch his body language. He kindly let them have some fun and experience before revealing who they were. He’s a highly intelligent man. He knew his wife’s voice. I think his protest at the end, when he stated he recognized the other lady’s voice rather than wife Phyllis’s, was just a generous compliment to her.
Bennett always smiles so nicely when it's revealed what they are. Quite the gentleman, and a great sport.
Bennett seemed to enjoy himself immensely on this show. At times, it strikes me that there is still a lot of little boy in him. There's alway something that lights him up like a kid who just got his first hit in Little League.
@@mikejschin I think that applies to all men as far as having a little boy inside. Men and boys are put under a lot of pressure to talk, act, walk, etc. in a certain manner. Otherwise a lot of finger wagging and mean comments ensue. We would be better off to just relax and be ourselves.
Ted Bundy had a nice smile too.
@@mikejschinWord my bro!
@@jerrylee8261
Yeah. And how's that worked out so far? 😢
I would love to have had the opportunity to sit down with Arlene Francis over cup of coffee and tell stories, partly to enjoy the kindness of her company, but to also be in her company to enjoy her incredible intellect, creative perspectives and, of course, her sense of humor. She's one of the funniest people I have come across through the various mediums over many decades...
Oh John, how you always make me smile. I wish I could have met you.
The comments about eyebrows, ageing, adoption, family etc regarding Joan Crawford have a place. But there is no doubt that Joan Crawford did more to dignify the role of women in the movies than any actress ever. She was an incredible person with an amazing life story.
Wow!!! The fashion that they are wearing is timeless and classy!!!
When people used to dress, they acted with dignity and respect back then .... immaculate!!!
CLASSY!! DRESSING WAS A MANDATORY ROUTINE FOR BOTH MEN AND WOMEN OF ALL SOCIAL AND ETHNIC GROUPS.
SOCIETY NEEDS TO RETURN BACK. TOP QUALITY FABRICS...TIMELESS!!!
LOVE IT!!!
You can start dressing up any time you like.
@@richardr2555 I always have and still do. 👍
Yaaaaaas☆☆☆
According to wikipedia, Joan Crawford was very close to Dorothy and morose when she died. "In an interview with the Fort Lauderdale News, actress Joan Crawford said she was distraught over the death of her close friend Kilgallen. Crawford, who was traveling in Florida, said, “Perhaps it’s just as well I won’t be at the funeral. I hate them. I want to remember her as she was . . . her fineness, her beauty.”
Interesting. It wouldn't have occurred to me that they were close ...
Her vicious pen.
@Sheila collins Readers should note that no evidence is offered to support any of the contentions of this comment.
Phyllis Cerf was a former actress named Phyllis Fraser. She starred with John Wayne in "Winds of the Wasteland"
Cerf was married for a very brief period to Sylvia Sidney ..
and Phyllis married former NYC mayor R. Wagner after Bennetts death…
For a second I wondered why there are no comments from 70 years ago. 😂
That cracked me up, i can relate, thank you!
For a second I wondered if your IQ was above 70
🤣
Joan plays her best role five years in the future (1962) as the crippled sister in "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?"
You probably never saw Humoresque or Mildred Pierce.
@Keith Hyttinen: Undoubtedly one of her stellar performances! Commenter "poetcomic1" also mentions "Humoresque" & "Mildred Pierce" but lets not forget another of her impactful performances in "Flamingo Road".
@@jp0308 There was a costume party in Hollywood that year and Joan wore her Carnival Girl dress from Flamingo Road and looked great.
I thought she was amazing in Grand Hotel, The Women and A Woman's Face, as well as the other mentioned above.
@@jp0308 I think Joan in Flamingo Road slapped the hell out of Sydney Greenstreet. Another of my favorite actors.
At 13:18 John Daly refers to Arlene Francis as "Miss Hathaway." Hathaway Shirt Company had a series of ads that featured a very distinguished man with an eyepatch. It's considered to be among the best ad campaigns in American advertising history.
Only Arlene would epitomize the phrase; "The show must go on". IMHO when she appeared in a jeweled eye patch showed her as the trooper that she was.
thank you
He called her Ms. Hathaway last week. I wondered at the reference. Thank you for clearing it up for me!
Phyllis Cerf is also Ginger Rogers' cousin
Actually he's her cousin-in-law. Cerf's WIFE is Ginger Roger's cousin.
@@markxxx21 That is what Holly said
Going back for a second round of viewing these in order... First, kudos to Arlene for balancing the diagonal strap of her eye patch with an off-one-shoulder neckline. Classy as always, even when injured. Second, it's amazing to see Joan Crawford in the process of getting used to appearing on live TV. She seems absolutely terrified in the beginning, but as she gets into the spirit of the show, her warmth and humor become evident, and by the end, she's seemingly comfortable with it all. Of course, the genial WML team spirit must have helped a lot; I'll bet she was glad to have used this program for her broadcast debut.
Neil, am on a second round myself. It never gets old and will third round it. Priceless entertainment. I thought Joan looked very unhappy at first. Maybe it was nerves as you posted.
Once she started smiling more she was lovely.
This is such a TREAT!!😁
1957. unlucky year for Arlene Francis. First her broken ankle and then an eye problem that required a patch. From 1953 to 1960, Arlene appeared on WML with an eye patch on 4 different occasions, and on another occasion, her eye problems necessitated wearing dark glasses on live TV.
There's a strange comment about Arlene's eye problems in the Gil Fates book-- he claims she had a habit of "sticking her fingernail in her eye". I've never heard of anyone doing such a thing before in my life. I guess this was a nervous habit?
In fact, I think that she was wearing dark glasses at the end of the previous week's show - during the "Good night"s.
At first I thought cataracts, but that doesn't make much sense. Conjunctivitis, maybe? Considering the costume and makeup changes she went through in a day it wouldn't be too strange.
Also, if sticking her finger in her eye was a nervous habit why didn't we see it on any of the episodes? You don't just stop a habit like that for the cameras.
Dixie Alexander Yes, you can, Dixie, when you're a thorough-going professional like Arlene Francis was. Think about a celebrity who tended to bite his nails: would he be totally unable to stop doing so for 30 minutes while being broadcast to 40 million people live? If he was so unable, he wouldn't become a regular panelist on a top rated show! Nervous habit doesn't mean uncontrollable, constant compulsive behavior. It means something a person does when nervous.
Not nervous habit. Clutziness. Fates I think overstated his observation in his book to that point. So far as I can tell, Arlene appeared with eye problems maybe 5-6 times on Sunday night WML. What's My Line?
Having a lady in the group of Santas is most likely what threw them off their sled.
I love Joan Crawford. She started as a dancer and became an amazing actress. It's disgusting to me that her image and accomplishments have been tarnished by a book that was published after her death and to which she could not respond.
A deeply disturbed woman a shame .. she was a true artist and gifted actress
There were plenty of Joan's peers who backed up Christina's stories of what she and Christopher suffered at the hands of Joan. Joan's an incredible actress but used her adopted children to boost her image and as pawns, and she abused them horribly. She may be dead but that doesn't mean her acts weren't vile.
What makes you think she would have responded to that book?
@@lilybean835 Joan had her moments of fanaticism.
What's worse is the people who feel the need to comment "WhErE's ThE wIrE hAnGeRs" or "bEt ThE kiDS wErE tiED tO tHe BeD WIth KniTTiNg nEeDlEs" and crap like that, like they knew her and didn't just see a fictional movie.
Joan Crawford answered "Never!" when asked if she ever appeared on Broadway, however she did appear in 2 musical revues on Bdwy in the 1920s.
Joan Crawford didn't even try to disguise her voice and they still couldn't guess right away.
amazing Joan
Mr Peter Ustinov was a handsome chunky Papa
When she said she was not in the movies anymore she could not have known that five years later she would be in What Ever Happened To Baby Jane ?
A great movie. Recorded it a few weeks ago but did not watch as was
just not in mood. Bette had to have had a ball with her character being overdressed and manic and mean as hell.
"Is one of you creatures married to me!" 😂
I didn't care for Joan, but will not deny her talent.
"Wunderbar!"
It gives me a strange feeling to see this, because she is 99 % same as my ex. My ex had almost as good looks too, but the demeanor is unmistakable.
I feel I know exactly this type of personality, and I don't mean anything negative about it. Maybe some people who read this know what I mean.
Arlene is adorable here.
I like Arlene's mask in this episode!
I think she was adorable on all the episodes! 😆
¹
I've had 2 of those tonight John, only 1 more.😀😀😀
*No wire hangers! EVER!!!*
Were the acoustics & microphones quite antiquated in this studio? How many hundreds of times have we seen people asking for repeat Q&As because they just can't hear?
That definitely seems to be the case, though I think it was even worse in the previous studio.
+wiguy3 Frank Lloyd Wright was a guest and he said he could do something about the acoustics.
He performed wonders in some of his public spaces but I'm not sure even his genius could have helped- not without huge amounts of $$$$ any way.
+wiguy3 The acoustics on this show are really about the worst I've ever seen on a regular program. Of other live and/or filmed before studio audience shows, the 70s Match Game had some people with bad hearing/acoustics problems, but that was mostly because they were all trying to crack jokes a mile a minute and weren't listening.
A club I used to go to had bad acoustics, but they put down poison and soon got rid of them!
"HOLLYWOOD ROYALTY"
I wonder who would get it if you sent a picture to that address today?
Let's try! :)
You'd probably get something similar to what Elvis sang about (with vocal backing by the Jordanaires) in one of his movies ...
ua-cam.com/video/u7FWidbrEkw/v-deo.html
The person who lives there,
Einstein
Bill de Blasio will keep it on file and send out his thugs to throw you in jail for not wearing a mask.
Wow Joan was pure class.
Thanks. Such a classy show....just one example is that John Daly refers to the audience as being in "the theatre" rather than the "studio audience."
people dressed so stylishly back then
They were appearing on tv. I bet you would dress stylish too
When there were movie stars...Where did they go?
It's nice that Arlene finally acknowledged the (thunderous) applause as a clue. Couldn't Joan have at least tried to disguise her voice?
Did you wear long, golden curls? Lol
A Mary Pickford reference (at one time Joan Crawford's mother-in-law).
@mermaidmotelxx and @
José Carlos C. Salazar
I think Dorothy was probably thinking of Shirley Temple. It makes sense, since she said that she wasn't "associated with pictures" anymore, but John said that many people would definitely still associate her with the movies she had made in the past.
I always forget just what a HUNK Peter Ustinov was!!! 😁
Wow, did you hear Edith Young, the co-author with Bennett Cerf’s wife say that the show wouldn’t let her disguise her voice? Also, John Daly told the panel right up front that there were two of them, which he never does. Were the producers afraid Bennett would get upset if he didn’t guess them? I can’t think of any other reason. I can see Bennett pouting about something like that, though.
Bennett was a bit of a pouty boy, more so when nobody appreciated his little silly puns.
ModMokkaMatti Yeah, he had a big streak of immaturity.
bennett appeared to be quite a pansy
alfred e neuman Agreed.
Bennett’s wife looks bothered when they said dual
Joan looks radiant here!
Ahoy! Miss Aaaarrrrgrrrr-lene Francis, matey!
I would say that Santas entertain.
I'm about to make some people mad I love Joan but I have never watched mommie dearest
Read the book. It's better than the movie.
same, i refuse to watch it
Faye Dunaway overacted and chewed the scenery all the way through it. I'm not a Faye Dunaway fan and I'm not a Joan Crawford fan. But I will admit that when Joan was good she was very, very good (Mildred Pierce, Humoresque, Possessed) and when she was bad she was horrid (Berserk. What a laugh fest).
Who knows a person really except for themselves. Gossip
There is no reason to. Joan wasn't in it.
CO-AUTHORS OF BOOK OF GAMES
PROFESSIONAL SANTA CLAUSES
I just noticed that Dorothy doesn’t wear her brooch later in the show.
No shit, Sherlock
She sold it to buy booze.
Mommy, she said ding dong!
How nice that people dressed up in those days. Joan Crawford was a HUGH star in those days
jeez arlene had some EYE incidents eh...she had a patch on her LEFT eye earlier in the fifties!
She always was sticking her fingernails into her eyes after she takes off her mask after the mystery guest seems to me
@@jessicaphillips4542
LOL
Did Crawford say that she was not associated with pictures any more? By the time this show was made, she had made eleven movies in the past seven years. What was she talking about?
William S. She explained here that she hadn't made a film since the previous year, apparently due to her new marriage.
Yes I posed my question too soon. Still, I find it an odd comment.
@@kkallebb Perhaps because Joan was odd.
The love of the audience for Crawford is palpable and rightly so. Mind you, I'm interested that the applause for her is far far more robust than in recent weeks for people like Gene Kelly and Mickey Rooney. The latter for instance was the no.1 Hollywood attraction box office-wise for three years running. Interesting to see who stayed in favour with the public. Or at least the audience of WML!
In all honesty I'm not keen on Crawford. The pedantic manner she exhibits with Serf (about her not being in movies any more!) before she leaves the stage is just the sort of passive-aggressive manner I don't like. I'm with 'team Bette Davis'!! :)
At this Point in her life she thought she was retiring from film. Two years Later she was suddenly widowed and left in debt and had to keep working.
14:52 Creepy smile! YIKES!
Regarding this episode: Joan Crawford may have come across as a LITTLE (emphasis mine) bit difficult, but she also is still a very classy lady - and one just has to look at her eyes when she's on-screen, just as in all of her movie performances. And at least her answers were intelligible to the panel (unlike the previous week's Mystery Guest, Errol Flynn, whose (drunken, perhaps?) unintelligible responses thoroughly exasperated Martin Gabel)......
Crawford had never done live television at this point, and I think any "difficulty" she gave the panel during the questioning stemmed both from nervousness (and her tendency to fall back on "grahhhnd lady" mannerisms in such instances) and also her sincere, perhaps competitive desire to stump the panel. (I've rewatched this since reading your comment, and she seems to be enjoying herself, for the most part.) JC also displays a surprising amount of humor in her initial quip to Arlene, and just as she exits, with her parting shot to Bennett. And, in her many subsequent Mystery Guest appearances, once she'd become comfortable with both the format and the panelists, she's quite funny -- a sense of humor usually not something ascribed to Miss Crawford, perhaps unfairly.
I am of the generation that was terrified of Joan Crawford for all the horrible things she did to her children. I never would watch her in movies.
Watch whatever happened to baby Jane. Joan’s performance is hilariously bad, acting as if it were a serious drama, and not the camp fest that Bette Davis knew it to be.
“You wouldn’t do these awful things to me if I weren’t in this chair.”
“But ya ARE, Blanche! ya ARE in that chair!”
Phyllis is ginger rogers' cousin
Peter Ustinov was an amazing actor, director and writer, but like so many British celebrities who appeared on this programme he had very little knowledge of current Hollywood stars.
And his style was timeless!
Bennet must have known earlier that his wife was one of the first mystery guests. Probably knew it before he left home to do the show.
Joan Crawford at her homeliest here.
No, actually, she got homelier later on.
I never thought that she was that beautiful. Not like Norma Shearer or Greta Garbo.
Somebody needs to make a narrative film about WML that shows the non Polly Anna truth. I would donate to that
Peter and Bennett weren't invited to the benefit ?
Later Joan would appear on t.v. shows Route 66 and Password
Something off about her.
Joan made those ultra women's pictures, with great melodrama, face slapping, and storming around in some sort of near hysteria. Great to watch on a rainy afternoon....like 'Harriet Craig' or 'The Damned Don't Cry' or 'Female On The Beach.' They're almost comedic in their intense over acting......
Emoters
@@dinahbrown902 Emoters? Who, who was, or who, who is, in hollywood is NOT an emoter?
Is emoter ever a REAL word? i think you mean to write 'emotionalist'. That's it....
Joan Crawford is okay, I just never understood the eyebrows.
In 2019, the fashion fad is for women to have wide, long, dark "boyfriend brows." I don't understand it.
Most lowbrows don't
She changed her appearance in the 1940's. Thick eyebrows and accentuating the cheekbones. I think that it made her face look hard and mannish.
His eyebrows are amazing and legendary. I think just because of how iconic her eyebrows are, she should have had another Oscar hahahaha
Mommy Dearest
Joan Crawford was 53 when this show was made, but to me she looks closer to 70. It doesn't appear she aged too well. Also, it would appear to me she's doing her best Michael Jackson imitation........is she just wearing one glove?
Oddly enough, she looks much better on the 1961 episode of this show. I do know Crawford was absolutely petrified to be in front of a live audience--she was probably gripping the host's hand below the desk.
Jeff Vaughn Miss Crawford did rely on filters on the lenses in her more mature years and she's certainly not well lit here. I remember reading somewhere that like so many of the "Golden Age" stars she could feel the lights on her face and neck and could tell if she were well lit or not. She would pat her throat and comment to the lighting cameraman that she "felt a little warm" there. This meant that her throat wasn't in shadow, which she preferred as it exposed her age more if it wasn't.
She also relied on some of the most immense necklaces and neck wear to hide a few things!
Everyone aged horribly back then, heavy smoking/drinking and no botox.
SOUNDS LIKE STREISAND FEELING THE LIGHTS.
Cerf tried tone so sophisticated he was useless.
It’s embarrassing when Arlene waits till the very end to guess Joan Crawford even though she did not disguise her voice. Gullible audience
Judging by all the naive comments about Cerf in all these videos, it is no wonder he was able to scam tens of million$ from wannabe writers thru his Famous Writers School. With his WML acting appearances lowering people’s guard against their better judgement, I think he profited more off of WML than Goodson or Todman combined.
Peter Ustinov still young here but aged plenty by 1970 .
I don't know if Crawford abused her kids, but I do find her creepy on this show.
It's because you've never gotten over her role in that movie with Bette Davis.
Haters
That's why she was cast in Straight Jacket.
Christina! Get the ax!
Mrs Cerf was cute!
Cm rosary, you don’t have access to Joan’s neighbors or anyone else. You alone want to believe she’s evil.
Lots of people believe her to be evil. Helen Hayes and Lana Turner both testified that they knew of her child abuse.
Blah, blah, blah. You people are like a broken record, banging on about the same tired bs🙄🙄🙄
You’d have to be Joan , all else is dirt spread when she can’t defend herself
Signing on the board was a waste of time actually.
Mr Ustinov was always clueledd
Clueless
This was definitely a "highbrow" television program for the time, referring to children as waif. Only educated people would know this and back then it was extremely rare to have attended college.
Ridiculous Joan involved in international adoptions after what we know about her is true from Mommie Dearest!
Gossip
No more wire hangers!!!!
Joan looks awful in the screen capture for this video.
Poor Joan Crawford! She seem totally DEFLATED in comparison to her previous appearance with her twin adopted daughters on tow.
Angela Joseph The appearance with her daughters was after this in Jan 1961. This is from 1957.
I cannot stand to look at Joan Crawford knowing what she did to her children What a wicked woman
How do you know? Damn
Joan Crawford had a negative attitude in this episode. I can't believe she filled in for her daughter on a soap opera playing the part of a young girl. She was full of herself
She was an egomaniac. And I watched her on the soap opera. She was terrible, and obviously drunk.
@@SymphonyBrahms In all the comments I see that for all of you Joan is always drunk everywhere hahahaha
I know exactly why Joan took on that role and it has nothing whatsoever to do with the reasons you toxic trolls put forward. You're obviously not fans so why don't you p*** off with your negative claptrap!
Why does the female Santa look so mean?
Because she doesn't
Because it was a "trans-woman."
So that’s how life was! All are clueless. But lied the style in which they lived in .
Sorry but I never cared for Joan Crawford. Bette Davis yes however this show was great b nothing like it today.
Is it me or does Joan Crawford appear to be gurning here? high?
chrisdesu Making grotesque faces?
Probably drunk.
Poor Joan looks so thin
Joan Crawford was a terrible "parent" to those she adopted.
How come arlene has an eye patch?
Because-- and as strange as this sounds, it comes straight from producer Gil Fates-- she had an odd habit of sticking her fingernail in her eye, causing self injury several times. A very strange nervous quirk from a woman who strikes everyone as so well balanced!
What's My Line? Are you absolutely certain? That sounds so bizarre.
MrRJMGREEN I'm not certain of anything. I just related what I read in Gil Fates's book. This is what he said. Other folks have pointed to different explanations of a couple of the incidents in Arlene's autobiography (which I've not read).
What's My Line? OK, thank you very much.
What's My Line? She was accident prone too it has been written. I was surprised at that.
Silly dumb occupations of the 50s? You have to be creative if you have no money right?
Miss Joan Crawfish !!!
I wonder who did Joan beat after the show?
@@toddchastain7418 The stagehand who gave her the chalk that broke.
You know for picking on large people (Bennett's) wife is not at all small.
@Sandra George.
I don't see anything at all wrong with her weight, in fact, I think you is a rather attractive lady.
Shut up John!!
It's official! John has FINALLY gotten me to a point where I don't hardly like him AT ALL (I used to like him alot). But I've FINALLY gotten so SICK of his drawn out responses!!
and he STILL thinks it's funny!
The audience who laughs at it thinks it's funny too, as do the panel members who joke back with him, and apparently Phyllis Cerf, who gave him a side hug and blew him a kiss when he did it. :)
"You didn't even know your own wife,don't be silly."
hahaha.