Likewise with me. It's uncanny how I find myself smiling widely during each episode. And it's not just nostalgia kicking in. It's the magic of What's My Line.
At the beginning of the Mystery Guest routine, I wondered if Sheila could keep from smiling and stay in character. Arlene is so funny, witty and on point about so many obvious things. These shows bring out more than a smile on a regular basis. 😃
Has anyone else ever pictured families coming together in front of a television set to watch the show? It's a visualization I always get whenever I'm about to play an episode.
I was about 5-10 years old when I was allowed to stay up and watch the show until it went off in 1967. My sister and my Mother and my Father and me would all gather on their giant bed and watch Candid Camera and WML. Even after we started school, we were allowed to stay up till 11, even though it was a school night, because she thought What's My Line would be a good influence on us, a respite of sorts from all the other junk we watched, ate, listened to and were influenced by. WML was a bit of cosmopolitanism in our little 'burb in Virginia Beach. AND the only air conditioner in the house in those was in my folks room.
The first contestant on this evening's show is quite appropriate and timely, particularly since the show was pre-empted the previous week, 23 September 1962, by CBS's live coverage of the first performance at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Said performance was at Philharmonic Hall (later acoustically revamped and re-named Avery Fisher Hall), featuring the New York Philharmonic conducted by its then-music director, Leonard Bernstein. The program was: The National Anthem Introductory remarks by John D. Rockefeller, 3rd Beethoven: "Gloria" from "Missa Solemnis in D" (soloists: Eileen Farrell, Shirley Verrett-Carter, Jon Vickers, and Donald Bell; Schola Cantorum of New York and Juilliard Chorus) Copland: Connotations for Orchestra (world premiere) Vaughan Williams: Serenade to Music (soloists: Adele Addison, Lucine Amara, Eileen Farrell, Lili Chookasian, Jennie Tourel, Shirley Verrett-Carter, Charles Bressler, Richard Tucker, Jon Vickers, George London, Ezio Flagello, Donald Bell) Mahler: Part One ("Veni, Creator Spiritus") of Symphony No. 8 in Eb (soloists: Adele Addison, Lucine Amara, Lili Chookasian, Jennie Tourel, Richard Tucker, Ezio Flagello, George London; Schola Cantorum of New York, Julliard Chorus, and Columbus Boychoir) CBS's coverage of this event lasted about 2 hours (may have been 2 1/2 hours), was hosted by Alistair Cooke, and was directed by Kirk Browning and Don Hewitt. Columbia Records later released a 2-record set of this opening performance, complete with souvenir booklet - which, as with the first New York Philharmonic recordings made in Philharmonic Hall, merely exposed the acoustical shortcomings of the hall. (Not all of the shortcomings of the recording of Beethoven's "Missa Solemnis" made that fall can be blamed on Leonard Bernstein's self-indulgent and willful conducting; a big part of the problem is acoustical.) The previous Sunday's performance kicked off a gala opening week of orchestra concerts at Philharmonic Hall, including performances by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, and, on the previous evening (29 September 1962), the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra (conducted by Ernest Ansermet; it was an all-Falla concert, consisting of "El amor brujo" and highlights from his unfinished opera, "Atlantida"). Cleveland Orchestra music director George Szell was so displeased with the hall's acoustics that he refused to bring the orchestra there again for a tour performance, and Cleveland's future tour concerts in New York were, indeed, held in Carnegie Hall. (I know that the Chicago Symphony Orchestra has always performed in Carnegie Hall for its New York tour performances for as long as I can remember.)
The great story connected with that is Szell rehearsing the Clevelanders in the hall. After several bars of Brahms, he stopped, turned around and told the proud as punch bigwigs sitting there, "You might as well tear it down now and start all over again."
As it should happen, by the way, I attended a wind symphony (basically, concert band) concert yesterday evening at which the first work performed was William Schuman's concert-band transcription of his "New England Triptych," one of his most famous and most accessible works. It's well worth listening to - particularly when played by a first-rate concert band.
The production staff must have prayed every night to find contestants like the second one. Pretty. Charming. A product that audiences always find interesting and is always good for laughs. Syndicated WML used wine in dozens of demonstrations and found them usually hilarious.
Thanks for the memories. My grandmother used to watch this show when I visited her back in the day. By the way, the wine steward contestant reminds me of Ellie May Clampett of the Beverly Hillbillies with that hairdo. Lol!
September 30, 1962 was the last day of the regular season of major league baseball. it was the first season when both the American and National League were scheduled to play 162 games. The final challenger most likely worked that afternoon at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees had already clinched the pennant earlier that week, finishing ahead of unlikely challengers (the Minnesota Twins in second, formerly the doormat Washington Senators, and the third place Los Angeles Angels in only their second season). The Yanks were playing with the sole purpose of preparing for the World Series. A paid attendance of 14,685 saw them lose to the Chicago White Sox, 8-4. (No statistics kept on how many hot dogs they ate.) Ray Herbert struggled through five innings to notch his 20th victory. Eddie Fisher (the knuckleball pitcher, not the singer) followed with four shutout innings for the save. Meanwhile, at the end of the day, the Yankees did not know who they would be facing in the World Series. Going into the final day with a slim one game lead, the Dodgers were blanked by the Cardinals at home for the second straight day and 21 consecutive innings. Curt Simmons bested Johnny Podres with the Cardinals only run coming on an 8th inning home run by catcher Gene Oliver. Meanwhile in San Francisco forced a best of three playoff with the Dodgers for the second time in the rivalry of the two teams when they beat Houston with an 8th inning solo home run by Willie Mays snapping a 1-1 tie. When Stu Miller struck out Billy Goodman (playing in his last major league game of a 16 year career and a lifetime .300 batting average), the Giants and Dodgers were deadlocked atop the National League with records of 101-61. Also playing his last game that day was future Hall of Fame member Richie Ashburn. As the schedule worked in those days, if the White Sox were playing in New York, the Mets were playing in Chicago. For the first time in his career, Ashburn started at second base (it was the first time he started a game since Sept. 7). The Mets lost a modern record 120th game that day, 5-1 to the Cubs. In the 8th inning Ashburn managed to stroke a single in his last at bat, following a single by pinch hitter Sammy Drake. In an exclamation point to the Mets first season, the next batter, Joe Pignatano, hit into a triple play. Not only was it the last major league game for Ashburn, it was the last major league game for Drake and Pignatano.
It was the last Yankee World Series win for 15 years, after so many years of winning. My favorite Richie Ashburn story -- and this could never happen again with the netting now -- involves his penchant for hitting foul balls into the stands, which he did often. In one game I think in 1958, he fouled a ball into the stands and hit a woman, severely injuring her. A stretcher was brought out and she was taken away. Play resumed and Richie Ashburn fouled off the next pitch into the stands, where it hit the woman on the stretcher. He visited her in the hospital.
@@preppysocks209 The Ashburn foul ball story reminds me that when I coached Little League, there was a play area behind the 1st base dugout where tykes and tots would play while older siblings played ball. Many fouls from RH batters would land in the play area and everyone would cringe while waiting to see if a tyke gets hit. None ever did in the 5 years I was there. So the odds of Ashburn hitting the same woman twice is astronomical. Or maybe not. I once watched a major league batter foul off 4 or 5 consecutive balls into the same spot of his own dugout, spooking the hell out of his teammates. If the pitcher throws the same pitch to the same batter in the same spot, down and in, it's possible to connect with it in the exact same manner each time, sending the ball to the same spot.
@@bluecamus5162 Astronomical is right. Ashburn did not hit her in the same spot. He hit her once in her seat and once when she was no longer in her seat and was being carried in the stretcher.
The opening game has to be one of the most classy - if not THE most classy - sequence in WML. A truly prestigious guest plugging the big ticket in Manhattan during in that period of time. So, how do you get to Lincoln Center? Practice. Practice. Practice.
When I was a freshman in high school (1963), I played saxophone in symphony band. We performed Schuman's "Chester"...It is a classic in wind band literature...
The next episode after this one should be interesting. During the mystery guest segment with Greek actress Melina Mercouri, an intruder interrupted the segment.
Ry Cade There's some discussion on that video, and a lot more extensive, I think, elsewhere, maybe on that "Strange Moments from WML" video, which is quite well put together. I don't have a lot of info on the incident myself.
College must have been a little less expensive then than nowadays. My daughter went to college in the early 2,000's and it was about $60,000 then. The lad Selling hot dogs to help cover expenses must have been selling a lot of hot dogs. I'm thinking even back then it was considered expensive. But it seems like it did help to cover some of the costs.
As for the second contestant, Anika McMillan: She is, indeed, a very pretty, nicely-dressed, nicely coiffed, and pleasant young lady who makes a nice impression. However, Club Alabam in Chicago - which was then located at 747 N. Rush Street (a little bit north of downtown Chicago) - had a long and well-deserved reputation as a "mob joint," owned and operated by members of the Chicago Outfit (that's Chicagoese for "organized crime"), or by their "legitimate" front-men, as did many other businesses on that particular "strip" of Rush Street. There is no way that she could have or would have found steady employment at Club Alabam unless she had some direct or indirect connection to an Outfit member or members.
jmccracken1963 - They had another female sommelier on at one time perhaps a couple of years after this show. She spoke of the traditional training and testing involved. When I read about the nature of the Alabam it occurred to me that this was why I was always leery that this lady was not a true sommelier. She would not have been merely trained by her predecessor. She would have wanted to be certain everyone knew she had passed the quite strenuous training and testing. And, when asked, about knowing everything about wine, she would not, in such a profession, answered that she hoped so because it is the type of work where it is pertinent to inspire trust in the authority of your knowledge and service and your purveyor's great wisdom in having chosen you to serve his clients. So my guess is, while she may be called a wine steward in the broadest sense, that she was not a qualified sommelier and would not have been recognized as such by anyone in the field of food and wine. A guess.
"Are you an expert in wines?" "I hope I am. I try to be." That doesn't sound like someone who went through strenuous training and testing. If she had, she would have said so.
Gordon and Sheila back in the days when they were still Gordon and Sheila. This mystery guest sequence has always creeped me right out. If my husband wanted me to do a take on Svengali on live TV, I would have told him to get a substitute for the gig.
Hahaha Martin Gable just called out John Daly when he said "of course you remember John because you looked it up right before we came out here!" 🤣🤣🤣 I love Gable because he calls out John and can cut through his nonsense!!
2:00 Bennett: "A rather startling piece of news came over the wire today. This spaceship that we sent up, Mariner 2, to go all the way up to Venus and circle it ran into a meteor on the way, but after being deflected they got it back on its course." Mariner 2 was the first probe to reach another planet, and it was a simple flyby. Bennett doesn't know what the word 'meteor' means, and he has a couple of other things wrong as well. This is hard for a "space cadet" to listen to. Here is a better account: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariner_2
+Robert Melson A few years ago a committee of astrophysicists was formed to define things for us:the result was morons on parade. For example, it used to be simple: meteoroids were in space; meteors were in the atmosphere ; & meteorites had hit the ground. This gang, however, defined meteoroids to be in orbit, overlooking "asteroids," a pre-existing term describing something as being in orbit. Thus, supposedly, if a big rock comes from outer space on a collision course with Earth, the only correct thing to call it is "big rock." They decided that Pluto was not a planet, so what do they decide to call it?! A "dwarf planet" which one would expect to be some kind of planet. There are such misleading terms in the English language, but why add to them?[Q: What kind of nuts are in peanut brittle? A: There are no nuts in peanut brittle.] Would "planetoid" or some such be that hard to think of? Another idiotic idea was to create a boundry between micrometeoroids & meteoroids whereas it would make much more sense for micrometeoroids to be a subset of meteoroids. And so on...
Anita McMillan, the wine steward from Chicago, was so gorgeous that I've been trying to find any information at all on her after this appearance. Alas, my attempts have been in vain. Does anyone have any information on her subsequent to this episode of "What's My Line?"? What a great and self-effacing beauty she is here!
Tried and came up with an empty wine glass. Figuring she might have married, I also tried "Anika somellier" and I came up with a wine steward in Chicago by the name of Anika Ellison ... a young black woman who plies her trade at Spiaggia.
I think they were trying to give the impression that Gordon was a ventriloquist, making Sheila his. . . well. . . Yeah, it didn't work at all. It was a pretty weak idea, and they didn't execute it well. But I give them points for trying something new. They were mystery guests a LOT of times.
soulierinvestments Does the Svengali legend involve ventriloquism, though. . . ? She's clearly trying to mouth the words that he's speaking (and doing it badly). I did find it odd that she kept her hands in the air the way she did, which bears no relationship to any ventriloquist's dummy I've ever seen. Is that part of what makes you think of the Svengali legend?
*_COMPOSER AND PRESIDENT LINCOLN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS_* *_WINE STEWARD_* *_SELLS HOT DOGS AT YANKEE STADIUM_* The Gordon and Sheila segment was cringe worthy.
I'm confused. Why do all the women fawn all over Bennett Cerf? They're always describing him with such panache and polish (he doesn't have that) and how very attractive he is, the knight of Mt. Kisco (I guet they lived in the same town) but really> it's like they just drool and fawn or pander to his ego. Is there something I missed about him that makes him so special?
According to Henry Kissinger, power is the ultimate aphrodisiac. Bennett was a wealthy, powerful, well connected social figure, and a TV celebrity to boot.
+soulierinvestments When I was in college in the early 1970's and the drinking age in NY State was still 18, one of the ways that happened was what the heavy drinkers called "bowing to the porcelain god". The chemical engineering students among the group referred to the other way simply as "I equals O".
fishhead06 - it is always good to see women performing work men usually do. And the sommelier had long hair, something most of the women on this program usually didn't do.
I'm still so shocked and appalled at Bennett. "That hair do you have is rather startling". He is so uncouth saying things that would never ben said in polite society. He's dreadful
It was startling for those times, but Bennett was not disparaging it. " Startling" was a compliment in my time. It meant "original," but something to think about.. He is sometimes a bit "corny" but he is never dreadful.
![What's My Line? - James Edward Day; Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme; Tony Randall [panel] (Dec 2, 1962)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/dNjdVs3dNmQ/mqdefault.jpg)
![What's My Line? - James Edward Day; Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme; Tony Randall [panel] (Dec 2, 1962)](/img/tr.png)
![What's My Line? - Dick Powell; Tony Randall [panel] (Sep 9, 1962)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/VVhISV-jDl4/mqdefault.jpg)
![What's My Line? - Charles Boyer; Martin Gabel [panel] (Nov 25, 1962)](/img/n.gif)
lol. i love watching how Martin and Arlene introduce and say goodnight to each other. love their relationship
Watching them all have fun together always puts a smile on my face.
Likewise with me. It's uncanny how I find myself smiling widely during each episode. And it's not just nostalgia kicking in. It's the magic of What's My Line.
William Schuman was so polished, cordial and humble.
Schuman was such a great guest. Understated humor wins the day!
Important for very beginning of Lincoln Center.
At the beginning of the Mystery Guest routine, I wondered if Sheila could keep from smiling and stay in character. Arlene is so funny, witty and on point about so many obvious things. These shows bring out more than a smile on a regular basis. 😃
18:32 just for another laugh.
Wonderful! A classical composer. Too few classical composers and performers.
Love how he bowed to the audience. Just like he would at a concert.
Just fun to watch… love these
Has anyone else ever pictured families coming together in front of a television set to watch the show? It's a visualization I always get whenever I'm about to play an episode.
I was about 5-10 years old when I was allowed to stay up and watch the show until it went off in 1967. My sister and my Mother and my Father and me would all gather on their giant bed and watch Candid Camera and WML. Even after we started school, we were allowed to stay up till 11, even though it was a school night, because she thought What's My Line would be a good influence on
us, a respite of sorts from all the other junk we watched, ate, listened to and were influenced by. WML was a bit of cosmopolitanism in our little 'burb in Virginia Beach. AND the only air conditioner in the house in those was in my folks room.
+Joe Postove
Virginia Beach, home of the Witchduck!
Arlene is hilarious. “And it’s not in every room in the house?” 😂
The first contestant on this evening's show is quite appropriate and timely, particularly since the show was pre-empted the previous week, 23 September 1962, by CBS's live coverage of the first performance at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Said performance was at Philharmonic Hall (later acoustically revamped and re-named Avery Fisher Hall), featuring the New York Philharmonic conducted by its then-music director, Leonard Bernstein. The program was:
The National Anthem
Introductory remarks by John D. Rockefeller, 3rd
Beethoven: "Gloria" from "Missa Solemnis in D" (soloists: Eileen Farrell, Shirley Verrett-Carter, Jon Vickers, and Donald Bell; Schola Cantorum of New York and Juilliard Chorus)
Copland: Connotations for Orchestra (world premiere)
Vaughan Williams: Serenade to Music (soloists: Adele Addison, Lucine Amara, Eileen Farrell, Lili Chookasian, Jennie Tourel, Shirley Verrett-Carter, Charles Bressler, Richard Tucker, Jon Vickers, George London, Ezio Flagello, Donald Bell)
Mahler: Part One ("Veni, Creator Spiritus") of Symphony No. 8 in Eb (soloists: Adele Addison, Lucine Amara, Lili Chookasian, Jennie Tourel, Richard Tucker, Ezio Flagello, George London; Schola Cantorum of New York, Julliard Chorus, and Columbus Boychoir)
CBS's coverage of this event lasted about 2 hours (may have been 2 1/2 hours), was hosted by Alistair Cooke, and was directed by Kirk Browning and Don Hewitt.
Columbia Records later released a 2-record set of this opening performance, complete with souvenir booklet - which, as with the first New York Philharmonic recordings made in Philharmonic Hall, merely exposed the acoustical shortcomings of the hall. (Not all of the shortcomings of the recording of Beethoven's "Missa Solemnis" made that fall can be blamed on Leonard Bernstein's self-indulgent and willful conducting; a big part of the problem is acoustical.)
The previous Sunday's performance kicked off a gala opening week of orchestra concerts at Philharmonic Hall, including performances by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, and, on the previous evening (29 September 1962), the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra (conducted by Ernest Ansermet; it was an all-Falla concert, consisting of "El amor brujo" and highlights from his unfinished opera, "Atlantida"). Cleveland Orchestra music director George Szell was so displeased with the hall's acoustics that he refused to bring the orchestra there again for a tour performance, and Cleveland's future tour concerts in New York were, indeed, held in Carnegie Hall. (I know that the Chicago Symphony Orchestra has always performed in Carnegie Hall for its New York tour performances for as long as I can remember.)
The great story connected with that is Szell rehearsing the Clevelanders in the hall. After several bars of Brahms, he stopped, turned around and told the proud as punch bigwigs sitting there, "You might as well tear it down now and start all over again."
As it should happen, by the way, I attended a wind symphony (basically, concert band) concert yesterday evening at which the first work performed was William Schuman's concert-band transcription of his "New England Triptych," one of his most famous and most accessible works. It's well worth listening to - particularly when played by a first-rate concert band.
jmccracken1963 - The guest was actually the composer William Schumann?
@@shirleyrombough8173 Why not watch it and find out for yourself?
The production staff must have prayed every night to find contestants like the second one. Pretty. Charming. A product that audiences always find interesting and is always good for laughs. Syndicated WML used wine in dozens of demonstrations and found them usually hilarious.
I laughed how Dorothy honed in on the alcoholic content. Arlene was so funny as usual. She just had a quick wit.
That quick one from Arlene Francis was funny as hell! She is such a dame.
They obviously both enjoyed to indulge frequently.
Lush; was booze did her in.
What a wonderful singing voice Gordon had!
Absolutely glorious.
Gordon Macrae was one of the greatest singers of all time!
Merv Griffin thought he had a better voice than Gordon MacRae...but No!!!
Thanks for the memories. My grandmother used to watch this show when I visited her back in the day. By the way, the wine steward contestant reminds me of Ellie May Clampett of the Beverly Hillbillies with that hairdo. Lol!
Fine wine indeed, Bennett, I was startled by Dorothy's hairdo, it's a far cry from the cute Betty Boop she pulled off so well in the early 50's.
September 30, 1962 was the last day of the regular season of major league baseball. it was the first season when both the American and National League were scheduled to play 162 games.
The final challenger most likely worked that afternoon at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees had already clinched the pennant earlier that week, finishing ahead of unlikely challengers (the Minnesota Twins in second, formerly the doormat Washington Senators, and the third place Los Angeles Angels in only their second season). The Yanks were playing with the sole purpose of preparing for the World Series. A paid attendance of 14,685 saw them lose to the Chicago White Sox, 8-4. (No statistics kept on how many hot dogs they ate.) Ray Herbert struggled through five innings to notch his 20th victory. Eddie Fisher (the knuckleball pitcher, not the singer) followed with four shutout innings for the save.
Meanwhile, at the end of the day, the Yankees did not know who they would be facing in the World Series. Going into the final day with a slim one game lead, the Dodgers were blanked by the Cardinals at home for the second straight day and 21 consecutive innings. Curt Simmons bested Johnny Podres with the Cardinals only run coming on an 8th inning home run by catcher Gene Oliver. Meanwhile in San Francisco forced a best of three playoff with the Dodgers for the second time in the rivalry of the two teams when they beat Houston with an 8th inning solo home run by Willie Mays snapping a 1-1 tie. When Stu Miller struck out Billy Goodman (playing in his last major league game of a 16 year career and a lifetime .300 batting average), the Giants and Dodgers were deadlocked atop the National League with records of 101-61.
Also playing his last game that day was future Hall of Fame member Richie Ashburn. As the schedule worked in those days, if the White Sox were playing in New York, the Mets were playing in Chicago. For the first time in his career, Ashburn started at second base (it was the first time he started a game since Sept. 7). The Mets lost a modern record 120th game that day, 5-1 to the Cubs. In the 8th inning Ashburn managed to stroke a single in his last at bat, following a single by pinch hitter Sammy Drake. In an exclamation point to the Mets first season, the next batter, Joe Pignatano, hit into a triple play. Not only was it the last major league game for Ashburn, it was the last major league game for Drake and Pignatano.
It was the last Yankee World Series win for 15 years, after so many years of winning.
My favorite Richie Ashburn story -- and this could never happen again with the netting now -- involves his penchant for hitting foul balls into the stands, which he did often. In one game I think in 1958, he fouled a ball into the stands and hit a woman, severely injuring her. A stretcher was brought out and she was taken away. Play resumed and Richie Ashburn fouled off the next pitch into the stands, where it hit the woman on the stretcher. He visited her in the hospital.
Helluva; story--- those three ending their major league careers making an out on the same play to end the worst season ever.
@@preppysocks209 The Ashburn foul ball story reminds me that when I coached Little League, there was a play area behind the 1st base dugout where tykes and tots would play while older siblings played ball. Many fouls from RH batters would land in the play area and everyone would cringe while waiting to see if a tyke gets hit. None ever did in the 5 years I was there. So the odds of Ashburn hitting the same woman twice is astronomical. Or maybe not. I once watched a major league batter foul off 4 or 5 consecutive balls into the same spot of his own dugout, spooking the hell out of his teammates. If the pitcher throws the same pitch to the same batter in the same spot, down and in, it's possible to connect with it in the exact same manner each time, sending the ball to the same spot.
@@bluecamus5162 Astronomical is right. Ashburn did not hit her in the same spot. He hit her once in her seat and once when she was no longer in her seat and was being carried in the stretcher.
William Schuman had a certain "edge" about him I think. I liked it.
Galileocan g Yes, he seemed witty and distinguished. Had an air of success about him (which obviously he was)
You see it in successful artists...it's just a way about them. Dry witty depth
So does his music, although it isn't as well known as it once was.
The hot dog boy looked like a young movie star! Love this show!
The opening game has to be one of the most classy - if not THE most classy - sequence in WML. A truly prestigious guest plugging the big ticket in Manhattan during in that period of time. So, how do you get to Lincoln Center? Practice. Practice. Practice.
+soulierinvestments
Ironically, that was how I was told to get to Carnegie Hall!
I was an avid Giant's fan at the time. 24:34
When I was a freshman in high school (1963), I played saxophone in symphony band. We performed Schuman's "Chester"...It is a classic in wind band literature...
I remember that.
The next episode after this one should be interesting. During the mystery guest segment with Greek actress Melina Mercouri, an intruder interrupted the segment.
Can't wait!
I'm hoping for a lively discussion on that one as to whether the guy knew what he was doing or it was all an accident, as has been claimed.
Ry Cade There's some discussion on that video, and a lot more extensive, I think, elsewhere, maybe on that "Strange Moments from WML" video, which is quite well put together. I don't have a lot of info on the incident myself.
Lincoln Center has always been there. It's interesting to view this in the perspective as being a new theater just opened.
At the time of this Broadcast Lincoln Center had not always been there. It was brand new.
Lincoln Center just opened up in 1962
As a "wine steward," she would be providing a service; the service of a product called wine.
Liar
@@RonGerstein-tf5tp
Wow!
Someone needs a glass of wine, OR, lay off the wine.
The service was the provisioning of wine. Duh.
John Daly is only 48 here. And he says he's getting old. Well, maybe in 1962 that was getting old.
Mr. Schuman acknowledged the audience.
At first I thought the sommelier had a huge mullet.
College must have been a little less expensive then than nowadays. My daughter went to college in the early 2,000's and it was about $60,000 then. The lad Selling hot dogs to help cover expenses must have been selling a lot of hot dogs. I'm thinking even back then it was considered expensive. But it seems like it did help to cover some of the costs.
Try $2,000.
$100 in 1962 had the buying power of $1,045 today; Sept. 2024.
Wow William Schuman!
As for the second contestant, Anika McMillan: She is, indeed, a very pretty, nicely-dressed, nicely coiffed, and pleasant young lady who makes a nice impression. However, Club Alabam in Chicago - which was then located at 747 N. Rush Street (a little bit north of downtown Chicago) - had a long and well-deserved reputation as a "mob joint," owned and operated by members of the Chicago Outfit (that's Chicagoese for "organized crime"), or by their "legitimate" front-men, as did many other businesses on that particular "strip" of Rush Street. There is no way that she could have or would have found steady employment at Club Alabam unless she had some direct or indirect connection to an Outfit member or members.
Interesting
jmccracken1963 - They had another female sommelier on at one time perhaps a couple of years after this show. She spoke of the traditional training and testing involved. When I read about the nature of the Alabam it occurred to me that this was why I was always leery that this lady was not a true sommelier. She would not have been merely trained by her predecessor. She would have wanted to be certain everyone knew she had passed the quite strenuous training and testing. And, when asked, about knowing everything about wine, she would not, in such a profession, answered that she hoped so because it is the type of work where it is pertinent to inspire trust in the authority of your knowledge and service and your purveyor's great wisdom in having chosen you to serve his clients. So my guess is, while she may be called a wine steward in the broadest sense, that she was not a qualified sommelier and would not have been recognized as such by anyone in the field of food and wine. A guess.
"Are you an expert in wines?" "I hope I am. I try to be." That doesn't sound like someone who went through strenuous training and testing. If she had, she would have said so.
Gordon and Sheila back in the days when they were still Gordon and Sheila. This mystery guest sequence has always creeped me right out. If my husband wanted me to do a take on Svengali on live TV, I would have told him to get a substitute for the gig.
"And now, here is a word from our sponsor.."
(17:21)
She couldn't even get in a word!😄
I love these episodes do you have the new what’s my line in colour with Arlene Francis can’t seem to find those episodes?
Different subscription
Hahaha Martin Gable just called out John Daly when he said "of course you remember John because you looked it up right before we came out here!" 🤣🤣🤣 I love Gable because he calls out John and can cut through his nonsense!!
John Daly is the only one in the group who isnt arrogant af.
2:00 Bennett: "A rather startling piece of news came over the wire today. This spaceship that we sent up, Mariner 2, to go all the way up to Venus and circle it ran into a meteor on the way, but after being deflected they got it back on its course." Mariner 2 was the first probe to reach another planet, and it was a simple flyby. Bennett doesn't know what the word 'meteor' means, and he has a couple of other things wrong as well. This is hard for a "space cadet" to listen to. Here is a better account: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariner_2
Punsters never let factual details get in the way of a pun.
+Robert Melson A few years ago a committee of astrophysicists was formed to define things for us:the result was morons on parade. For example, it used to be simple: meteoroids were in space; meteors were in the atmosphere ; & meteorites had hit the ground.
This gang, however, defined meteoroids to be in orbit, overlooking "asteroids," a pre-existing term describing something as being in orbit. Thus, supposedly, if a big rock comes from outer space on a collision course with Earth, the only correct thing to call it is "big rock."
They decided that Pluto was not a planet, so what do they decide to call it?! A "dwarf planet" which one would expect to be some kind of planet. There are such misleading terms in the English language, but why add to them?[Q: What kind of nuts are in peanut brittle? A: There are no nuts in peanut brittle.] Would "planetoid" or some such be that hard to think of?
Another idiotic idea was to create a boundry between micrometeoroids & meteoroids whereas it would make much more sense for micrometeoroids to be a subset of meteoroids.
And so on...
Anita McMillan, the wine steward from Chicago, was so gorgeous that I've been trying to find any information at all on her after this appearance. Alas, my attempts have been in vain. Does anyone have any information on her subsequent to this episode of "What's My Line?"? What a great and self-effacing beauty she is here!
+519DJW Actually, when I heard she came from Chicago, I thought she was a Playboy bunny.
Try "Anika McMillan." I believe that's how she signed in.
Tried and came up with an empty wine glass. Figuring she might have married, I also tried "Anika somellier" and I came up with a wine steward in Chicago by the name of Anika Ellison ... a young black woman who plies her trade at Spiaggia.
Another wine Steward.
Too much unnecessary glorification of the hooch. Not everyone aspires to be a lush.
Dorothy has tall hair!!!!
I like good fun, but the robot bit that Sheila and Gordon MacRae did was kind of dumb.
I think they were trying to give the impression that Gordon was a ventriloquist, making Sheila his. . . well. . .
Yeah, it didn't work at all. It was a pretty weak idea, and they didn't execute it well. But I give them points for trying something new. They were mystery guests a LOT of times.
I think McCrae is doing a take on the Svengali legend, which is even more creepy when you think about it.
soulierinvestments Does the Svengali legend involve ventriloquism, though. . . ? She's clearly trying to mouth the words that he's speaking (and doing it badly). I did find it odd that she kept her hands in the air the way she did, which bears no relationship to any ventriloquist's dummy I've ever seen. Is that part of what makes you think of the Svengali legend?
What's My Line?
Svengali involved mind control from a far and ventriloquism from afar.
soulierinvestments Definitely creepy.
DK'S hair looks different every episode !! Don't like this one..at all...looks like a wall
Is Sep 23, 1962 here? I couldn't find it...
There was no show for 9/23/62. WML was preempted that week.
Lordy, Dorothy’s hair in this one. Lol
*_COMPOSER AND PRESIDENT LINCOLN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS_*
*_WINE STEWARD_*
*_SELLS HOT DOGS AT YANKEE STADIUM_*
The Gordon and Sheila segment was cringe worthy.
I'm confused. Why do all the women fawn all over Bennett Cerf? They're always describing him with such panache and polish (he doesn't have that) and how very attractive he is, the knight of Mt. Kisco (I guet they lived in the same town) but really> it's like they just drool and fawn or pander to his ego. Is there something I missed about him that makes him so special?
Look up his photo at 35, the year he was married to actress Sylvia Sydney; he's not bad looking.
According to Henry Kissinger, power is the ultimate aphrodisiac. Bennett was a wealthy, powerful, well connected social figure, and a TV celebrity to boot.
And adorable.
Bennett Cerf was the founder and CEO of Random House book publichers
Mr. Schuman, put glasses on him, looks similar to Bennett.
And the last is weird lol
McMillian's product does eventually wind up in the bathroom, true.
+soulierinvestments
When I was in college in the early 1970's and the drinking age in NY State was still 18, one of the ways that happened was what the heavy drinkers called "bowing to the porcelain god". The chemical engineering students among the group referred to the other way simply as "I equals O".
Boy, they were dense about the sommelier.
+fishhead06 In that time, the fact the sommelier is female was highly unusual. How times have changed.
Even now I have only seen one female sommelier.
fishhead06 - it is always good to see women performing work men usually do. And the sommelier had long hair, something most of the women on this program usually didn't do.
@@shirleyrombough8173
I'm still so shocked and appalled at Bennett. "That hair do you have is rather startling". He is so uncouth saying things that would never ben said in polite society. He's dreadful
That sounds more like an apt description for Hal Block...
It was startling for those times, but Bennett was not disparaging it. " Startling" was a compliment in my time. It meant "original," but something to think about.. He is sometimes a bit "corny" but he is never dreadful.
1st is rude
You are wrong
Because she's a woman she could not be a wine steward? That sums up the 1950s attitude and this show.
Can we stop projecting modern standards on history?
@@megancrager4397 Those that ignore history are bound to repeat it.
1his show is from 1962, not the 1950s
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
Big difference.@@RonGerstein
What in the WORLD!! it's one thing to be a ventriloquist to a dummy, but I've never heard tell of one for a HUMAN before!! That's SICK!
To whom are you referring? If it is Sheila and Gordon: they are playing a game for fun, not promoting a life style.
I don't drink but I would be glad to take it up just to meet that wine lady. 😍😍😍