@@rhondablack8079 I remember Hitchcock relaying an anecdote about a colleague's daughter who watched Diabolique, and was too scared to take baths afterwards. Then she watched Psycho, and was too frightened to take showers, haha!
Miss Desmond and Mrs. Bancroft were absolute pistols. They both had fantastic personalities and a sense of humor. Even Mrs. Bancroft schooled the panel a couple of times despite her laryngitis. Janet Leigh looked gorgeous and I liked her for greeting the panel despite spraining her ankle. What class! :)
Movies and tv shows from the 50's painted a picture of women only working in the home. But "What's my Line" showed an equal number of men and women who had paying careers. Really nice to see.
+dancepiglover The WML staff used the preconceived notions as to what would be considered men's work and what would be considered women's work to great advantage when choosing which challengers would be on this program. This was part of their attempts to make it harder for the panel. In the same way, they had male challengers who had something to do with diapers or other baby items or women's clothing quite frequent.
dancepiglover, I agree with you. Back then, as it does the day, the media paints a false narrative designed to make us believe that each and every member of certain groups was a sad, oppressed, subjugated and roundly discriminated against individual. Shows like "What's My Line," as you point out, give us a glimpse of the truth. Thank God for that.
That's because all of the nonsense about inequality is media and special interest group generated. Same for the minority nonsense. There were many successful and working folks on all sides of the debate back then, and there were many people struggling. That's life, but the media and the soap box groups turn it into profit by exploiting specific cases.
dancepiglover - Surprisingly the program's mystery guests were a diverse group. I am very pleased to observe such inclusiveness. And yes, an equal number of men and women. Bravo.
Thank you super very much for "repairing" this video! We all appreciate the attention to detail and painstaking work you put into gifting us these time capsules of entertainment.
Today's SPECIAL UA-cam rerun-- a new version of a previously glitched video! This is the last of the shows we had to get past in the daily reruns that had glitches, this one pretty hard to follow at points in the prior version, particularly the Janet Leigh segment. There were also LOTS of great moments lost along the way, so I really wanted to patch together a new version of this one for when we got to it in the reruns. There were somewhere on the order of 60 edit points required here, and that's with the entire Janet Leigh segment replaced wholesale! This took approximately forever to do, but I think you'll see it was worth it-- this was a particularly lively episode, with great contestants and a fun (if short) mystery guest round. Enjoy! -------------------------- Please click here to subscribe to the WML channel if you haven't already-- you'll find the complete CBS series already posted, and you'll be able to follow along the discussions on the weekday "rerun" videos: ua-cam.com/channels/hPE75Fvvl1HmdAsO7Nzb8w.html Join our Facebook group for WML-- great discussions, photos, etc, and great people! facebook.com/groups/728471287199862/
The best part about Steve Allen on WML was that his gimmick was that he never got any better. I love how he works his jokes into his long line of questions that almost never ends up anywhere near the correct answer.
I sometimes get the impression Daly just wants some of the guests to get the money. He seems very generous. He sometimes hurries things along in order for the guest to get the full amount. The first lady , the girdle woman, has a great personality.
Increasing the pace of the show provides more viewer entertainment. Much like professional sports, WML is not a game, it is a business. Agree that girdle girl was personable.
I think the sword swallower with laryngitis had a sassy personality too. Once John said she was a sword swallower I was just waiting for Steve Allen to say "Well, now we all know what's wrong with your throat." Never happened.
Kilgallen cheats (or it should have been considered cheating) so it kind of evens out. "Are your products, say, automotive, or animal, or entertainment related in any way?"
Daly has stated more than once that the purpose of the show is x to have fun, and since the prices were modest even by the standards of the 1950s game shows. I'm not surprised.
One interesting thing I noticed on rewatching this: Steve Allen's free guess in the final round is *exactly* the sort of remark that, if Hal Block had made it, we'd all be crying "clod" at: "I don't know what she does, but she can do it to me, I'll tell you that." So much of the effect of these lines depends on the delivery, and on our instinctive, gut reaction to the individual people, not entirely on the content of the line. From Steve, this comes off as simply a flippant joke; from Hal, we'd probably interpret it as an inappropriate come on.
+Bigwave2003 I agree that Block came across as lecherous. I think that this can be largely attributed to his body language. Constant touching of the face and head scratching shows a lack of refinement. That combined with the skirt chasing humor gives the lecherous impression. Keep in mind that Hal was neither an actor nor comedian. He was a very successful writer and producer. He wrote jokes for the biggest comedians of the time. He was recruited by WML at a time when the show was getting bad reviews and the trash bin seemed imminent. His addition brought praise from the critics and increased viewership. It's not unreasonable to think that we owe the life of WML to Hal Block. As the show began to become more refined Hal became increasingly out of place.
I thought he was harmless and kind of funny. Maybe for the fifties he was too much but I tend to defend him. I thought people overreacted to him in a critical way.
Exactly one year before this broadcast that had Steve Allen & Janet - Janet did a movie with Donald O'Connor called Walking My Baby Back Home. There's a scene where Janet, The Modernaires (vocal group) and a GIGANTIC Dance Band are singing and playing South Rampart Street Parade - the old Bob Crosby record hit. Steve Allen had recently written the words for this long and complicated song - Steve must have been thrilled (and proud) to see this HUGE "production number" on the big screen so well played & sung (Modernaires sang great - Janet was not quite on the beat in spots) with his very clever words to this great (now) Jazz Classic song! And of course this movie was featured in the famous 1975 Columbo episode where Janet is a former singer losing her memory and watches her old films.
+dept2 How ironic and somewhat prescient that Janet Leigh would be on a WML episode with a challenger named Mrs. Desmond. The Columbo episode sounds a little bit like the movie Sunset Boulevard where the character Norma Desmond spends a lot of time watching her old films and losing her mind.
Thanks for the comment, Andrew-- I'm glad you enjoyed it! :) I think this was a particularly lively episode, so it was a shame to have it only in a nearly unwatchable form up till now.
If someone else has already commented on this, pardon me, but it seems to me that Dorothy's "fit or inspect" guess was close enough to the first guest's job of testing the girdles.
Betty Bancroft was born Elizabeth Jane Wrisley on January 15, 1902, and may have originally been from Ashtabula, Ohio (in some reports, she later claimed to be from North Hampton, MA where she may have been living at the time.) In 1926, under her married name Elizabeth Jane Housel gave birth to her daughter Betty Jane Housel. After marrying Fred Ford Bancroft (1885-1963), Elizabeth changed her daughter's name to Zoe Ann Bancroft. By the 1940s, Fred and Betty Bancroft of Forrest City, Arkansas owned their own sideshow "Fred Bancroft's Circus Side Show" and traveled with several different circuses throughout the years, performing under the names "Colorado Fred, the Knife Thrower", and "Buckskin Betty", or under the combined name as the "Shooting Stars". The highlight of their early act was when "Colorado Fred" threw knives at "Buckskin Betty" while she was spinning on the "Wheel of Death". Besides being an "impalement artist" and target for Fred, Betty also performed as trick rifle sharpshooter, a rope spinner, and whip artist, and later as a sword swallower. In 1940, they worked with Rowe Brothers Circus. In March, 1942 Fred Bancroft's Side Show performed in Louisiana; in June 1942, Fred and Betty Bancroft performed with the Golden West Shows in Minnesota. On October 16, 1942, their daughter Zoe Ann Bancroft married concessionaire William Brown. In 1943, Fred and Betty were signed to perform as the "Shooting Stars" as well as manage the office of their Bancroft's Side Show which toured Indiana and Illinois. On January 25, 1945, their daughter Zoe Ann Bancroft was married to Thomas P. Mangos in Pensacola, FL, but Zoe Ann continued to work the sideshow with her parents while her husband was deployed overseas. In May 1945, Fred Bancroft's Side Show worked the John Marks midway with "Buckskin Betty" sharpshooting, "Colorado Fred" doing impalement, and daughter "Zo Anne" Bancroft working the blade box. From 1944-48, the Bancrofts worked with Wallace Bros Shows, Cetlin and Wilson Shows and John R. Ward Shows, and with the Royal Crown Shows in 1948. According to the August 14, 1948 Billboard listing, "Mrs. Elizabeth Bancroft of the Circus Side Show with the Royal Crown Shows, writes denying any knowledge of an Ed S. Torbert, who it was reported in the Billboard, was employed by her and Fred Bancroft as a calliope player. She said she has no responsibility since May 30 for any salaries or any other indebtedness contracted by Fred Bancroft." In 1949, the Bancrofts worked with the Blue Grass Shows in Kentucky. In 1951, their daughter Zoe Ann was married to Jim Wolff. According to July 26, 1952 Billboard, "Fred and Betty Bancroft, also of the same back-end unit, took delivery of a Chevrolet town car recently." The first mention of Betty Bancroft performing as a sword swallower is in April 18, 1953 with the Dick Slayton show on the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Sideshow. Betty Bancroft first appears on the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus route book as their sword swallower in 1953 while her husband Fred Bancroft appears as the knife thrower with Betty as his target. According to the Dec. 5, 1953 Billboard, the 1953 Ringling Brothers season ended well, and Manager Dick Slayton has been signed for 1954 season. Fred and Betty Bancroft spend their winter quarters in Rattlesnake, FL. The Bancrofts returned again for a second season with Ringling Brothers again in 1954, when Betty performed as their sword swallower in Madison Square Garden in New York under the stage name "Lady Beth". She was also known to swallow a neon tube. In 1954, Elizabeth J. Bancroft appeared on episode #201 of the popular TV show "What's My Line?", filmed April 4, 1954, and aired a week later on April 11, 1954. A description of the TV episode says, "Mrs. Elizabeth J. Bancroft - "Sword Swallower" (salaried; she performs with the Ringling Brothers Circus which is currently in NY; from North Hampton, MA; She has such a severe case of laryngitis that she can barely speak!)" (video) In 1955, Fred and Betty Bancroft do their Wheel of Death knife throwing act in the Paul Flanagan show. Their son, Harry L. Bancroft, was a tattoo artist and had a trained chimp named "Cheeta" who was supposed to have been the offspring of Cheeta on Tarzan, and another son, Raymond Bancroft helped out with the show. Fred Ford Bancroft died on 23 Aug 1963 at the age of 78 in Houston TX. (grave) Elizabeth Jane Wrisley Hudson Housel Bancroft died on March 1, 1985 in North Fort Myers, Florida at the age of 83. (Could this be the grave of Elizabeth Jane Hudson Bancroft?)Seeking photos and more information on Elizabeth Jane Wrisley Hudson Housel Bancroft. Buckskin Betty Elizabeth Bancroft Timeline 1902: Jan 15: Born Elizabeth Jane Wrisley 19??: Marries Hudson 1924: Elizabeth Wrisley Hudson - Thomas Housel marriage 1926: Daughter Betty Jane Housel born 19??: Betty marries Fred Bancroft, changes daughter's name to Zoe Ann Bancroft 1936: June 23-27: Colorado Fred and Buckskin Betty perform in Massillon OH 1940s: Live in Forrest City, AR and own "Fred Bancroft's Circus Side Show" 1940: Rowe Brothers Circus 1940: July 27: Colorado Fred and Buckskin Betty perform in Harrisburg PA 1942: Feb 4-6: Colorado Fred and Buckskin Betty perform in Warren PA 1942: March: Fred Bancroft's Side Show performs in Louisiana 1942: June: Fred and Betty Bancroft perform with Golden West Shows in Minnesota 1942: October 16: Daughter Zoe Ann Bancroft marries concessionaire William Brown 1944-48: Bancrofts work with Wallace Bros Shows, Cetlin and Wilson Shows, John R. Ward Shows 1944: Aug 26: Fred and Betty Bancroft report good grosses with World's Fair Oddities 1945: Jan 25: Daughter Zoe Ann Bancroft marries Thomas P. Mangos 1945: Daughter Zoe Ann Bancroft marries Roy E. Deerman 1948: Royal Crown Shows 1949: Blue Grass Shows in Kentucky 1950: Live in Owensboro, KY 1951: Aug 14: Colorado Fred and Buckskin Betty perform in Monroe WI 1951: Daughter Zoe Ann Bancroft marries James Jimmie Ned Wolfe 1952: July: Fred and Betty Bancroft take delivery of a Chevrolet town car 1953: April 18: With Dick Slayton on Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Sideshow 1954: Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Sideshow Madison Square Gardens NY 1954: April: "What's My Line?", filmed April 4, 1954, aired on April 11, 1954 1954: Oct 2: Betty Bancroft slightly injured when knife board fell on her 1955: Fred & Betty Bancroft do Wheel of Death knife throwing act in Paul Flanagan show 1963: 23 Aug: Fred Ford Bancroft dies in Houston TX at 78 1985: 1 March: Elizabeth Jane Bancroft dies in Ft. Myers FL at 83 ????: Daughter Zoe Ann Bancroft Wolfe buried in Ellenton FL
Melissa H -- Thank you for all the research you did! Great information! I like reading the comments prior to watching the videos for this reason: I feel as if I "know" the contestants better. Makes viewing the people more interesting. ☺
Melissa H - Thank you for the informative history. Still, no one addressed the question regarding Ms Bancroft's sore throat being the result of a wrongly swallowed sword. Rats.
Janet Leigh's most prominent movie in the pop culture zeitgeist is of course Psycho, but this was six years before that was even filmed. She was already quite a famous personage before then, but Hitchcock's movie looms largest in the mind of history...
orgonko the wildly untamed, in the vernacular of the Hollywood cool cat of the 1960s: "Tony P and Jan Leigh on the same show? That woulda been wild, man!"
with the first contestant both arlene and steve guess incorrectly that she designs girdles and yet John doesn’t catch the repetition and counts steve’s guess and flips a card
I love this show and am delighted there are so many of them online. It was classy enough to attract the most distinguished guest celebrities. Also, I am so very glad that later, WML changed to (a) not having the contestants make some pointless initial greeting to the panel, and (b) let them greet them properly and shake their hands AFTER the round was finished, rather than having them scuttle off into the back exit behind John, which always looks so dismissive. Somebody in the production team was obviously very thoughtful.
I'm a big fan of WML and all the old stars. I seem to recall an episode where the panel guessed the profession on the 'free" guess they were given. Could you tell me which episode that was it does exist?
That happened several times, actually. There's a list of all the shows where it happened on this page: www.tv.com/shows/whats-my-line/episode-253-95210/trivia/ Just scroll down to where it says, "FREE WILD GUESS WIN HISTORY FOR WHAT'S MY LINE? - CBS 1950 - 1955"
Agree. Imagine a science fiction movie in which a person - I volunteer - goes back in time to date Arlene, but there is a snafu, and it’s Dorothy instead. That would change the genre from sci-fi to horror!
Dorothy was just as wonderful as Arlene, did you see how out of everyone on the panel, she was the closest to getting the second lady's profession right? So, so, intelligent. I really don't know why you're comparing them at all!
I always wondered what would happen if some jerk in the audience decided to yell out the name of the mystery guest for the panel to hear (besides him being kicked out and banned forever from the show)...
I found it interesting that Arlene actually correctly pronounced "lingerie" (lan-zhuh-ree), closer to the original French, whereas most Americans today would pronounce it "lahn-zhuh-ray". I wonder if that was more common back then, or if it's just a product of her particular upbringing and training.
Janet Leigh made a great Christmas movie with Robert Mitchum. She plays a young war widow with a small son and watch what happens when Robert Mitchum walks into their lives. Great holiday fun!
It looked to me that the last two ladies offered their hands to the female panelists, but the first one didn't offer her hand, but merely nodded to Arlene and Dorothy, but shook hands with Bennett and Steve because they stood and offered their hands.
I apologize to the person who took the time to put in the very interesting information about the dates the sword swallower was active. I clicked on it to try to read the whole thing and unfortunately that block thing for like, dislike, report as spam came up. I tried to cancel it and got a pop up saying that the message had been reported. I hope that when UA-cam investigates, they will see this and realize that it was an app error and I absolutely did not mean to report that comment as spam. It was a very good comment and I hope they will put it back where it was.
Don't worry about it-- the channel owner (me) has the ultimate control over what comments get marked as spam, regardless of what users may have flagged. Most spam flags are automatic by UA-cam, not a result of users flagging anything, and they're almost always a mistake. It's part of my routine to review the comments marked as spam and unflag anything that was flagged inappropriately. The comment you're referring to is still here, assuming you mean the one from juliansinger.
Any building or house that is heated with radiators has to have a boiler to make the hot water or steam that supplied the radiators. Also when the heat is provided by baseboard panels that have hot water circulating in them. Boilers still exist today. You see them all the time on "This Old House" and "Ask This Old House." Sometimes they also provide hot water for household or building use by one means or another. One big issue on those two programs is often replacing the old boiler with something that is nowadays much more efficient in the amount of energy required to make the hot water, and, of course, if they're looking at an old boiler, a lot of them have failed in one way or another.
3:06 That almost like that android wisle i heard on phones often some years back, little different, maybe this inspired that, maybe a common tune on the continent overseas, who, knows, i anyhow don't.
Woofta, there were a few questionabke comments from the men in this episode, also kind of sexist that Bennett guessed 'makes cream puffs' when in reality that #girlboss not only immigrated to a new country, but manages a whole factory. Let me be clear: I LOVE this show and all of the panelists, they are all quite lovely individuals. I think it's just interesting to see these beautiful humans be a bit of a product of their time
Janet Leigh was only 27 here. She had been married to Tony Curtis(lucky stiff), for 3 years - and would stay married to him for another Eight. The last couple of years being hell on earth for Miss Leigh as Curtis' alcoholism and drug addiction worsened. One of the Top Three beautys in Hollyweird history ( In my humble opinion).
i watched a show once about people who do tricks like sword swallowing that no one believes they really do it, that it must be a trick. one sword swallower was challenged to have xrays taken while he swallowed the sword. they watched in disbelief as the sword went into his stomach. the xray techs said that was impossible.
Vic -- The final contestants nearly always get cut short. WML should've taken time to visit with the MGs instead if rushing the last people on and off stage. One way to look at it, though, is they earned a nice little chunk of money (a bit less than $500 in 2019) for only a couple minutes of "work." Every time I tell myself, "Someone needs to tell WML to change their tactics," I have to laugh: the program has been off the air for decades!
@@juanettebutts9782 True! I just feel sorry for the people who tell all their friends and relatives to watch them on WML, and then they're only on for 2 minutes.
Bennett's mispronunciation of Janet Leigh's last name was embarrassing. For someone who is supposed to be erudite and up on current entertainers, he really falls short.
Is any one else slightly irritated that the last guest's name is probably Morgau and not Morgan? and that Ms. Morgau never corrected anyone? i base this idea on the fact that she is from Austria, and there are more last names and regions that end in "au" than in "An" ?
I never knew that about Australian last names, and I never would have noticed this. It does look indeed like she signed in as "Morgau" rather than "Morgan", and just didn't want to correct John. But it's strange, because John almost never got the names wrong, even when they were foreign names written in different alphabets like Japanese or Korean (and it wasn't because he was actually reading the letters-- he was clearly briefed on the contestant names before the shows.) I guess he just screwed up this time!
+What's My Line? And by Australian you mean Austrian ? ;) yep, there are many regions that have an "au" ending - such as Wachau valley, or Schoppernau or Schwangau, in Germany near the Austrian border. I figured that John would have been briefed on how to say and pronounce the name correctly. Perhaps, Ms. Morgau wanted to have a more "anglicized" name, for whatever reason?
+greenapplelane Good thought but checking the current Vienna phonebook reveals there is not a single Morgau but several Morgan listed. Doesn't mean you are necessarily wrong but she probably really had the last name Morgan.
+James Hendrix Yeah , i mean it certainly could be. But i based my observation on that in her signature the last letter doesn't look like an "N" to me at all, and because there are names of places in south Austria by the German border have the ending of "AU" .
You are correct in that the last letter looks a bit more like an 'u' than an 'n' but Greta was taught Kurrentschrift (German cursive) in Vienna which looks like this: members.aon.at/sulzberger/infoclip/images5/kurrent.jpg As you can see the letter 'n' and 'u' look quite similar, the letter 'u' has an accent on top to differentiate the two. The German word 'Au' means meadow in English and that's why it's often found in names of villages and places in parts of southern Germany and Austria, it is however not common in German or Austrian last names.
Janet Leigh is one of the loveliest women to ever grace the Silver Screen.
Janet looked so good here. She always seemed so pleasant too.
Why did Tony Curtis ever let her go...or did she dump him?
Her last name was really MORRISON, why did she change it to an indeterminate name like Leigh/Lee/Lay when there was already a Vivien one at that time?
Is she ever...Woof!
@@rogerpropes7129 she dumped him
This compilation is a treasure. To those who put it together, I say THANK YOU.
PS, I've fallen in love with Arlene Francis !
Same here. I’m a huge fan of Ms. Francis and glad her legacy lives on thanks to You Tube.
Metoo
I love watching these! People seemed so well-mannered, clean-spirited and polite back then. Makes one wish for simpler times.
Thanks for posting.
ohtoseemusic, I so agree!
Were people genitally less well endowed 50 a few year ago?
simpler for who
ohtoseemusic - You couldn't have said it better. I think that whenever I watch this program.
The girdle tester seemed to have so much fun, like the male maker of leg make up on another program
1954 - Way back when Janet Leigh felt completely safe taking a shower
Way back before a lot of us felt unsafe taking a shower, thanks to Janet.
I'm referring to the Hitchcock movie, Psycho, which has an unforgettable scene of her character getting stabbed to death in a shower.
@@slaytonp Ah Duh?
@@slaytonp I remember reading she always took a bath after she made Psycho but never again a shower
@@rhondablack8079 I remember Hitchcock relaying an anecdote about a colleague's daughter who watched Diabolique, and was too scared to take baths afterwards. Then she watched Psycho, and was too frightened to take showers, haha!
Miss Desmond and Mrs. Bancroft were absolute pistols. They both had fantastic personalities and a sense of humor. Even Mrs. Bancroft schooled the panel a couple of times despite her laryngitis. Janet Leigh looked gorgeous and I liked her for greeting the panel despite spraining her ankle. What class! :)
Kate Luxor - I wonder if she got that sore throat from swallowing all those swords.
@@shirleyrombough8173 I don’t think she had laryngitis at all. That was more like permanent damage to her vocal chords.
Funfact: Mrs. Bancrofts voice was the inspiration for Zuul from Ghostbusters 1984.
Movies and tv shows from the 50's painted a picture of women only working in the home. But "What's my Line" showed an equal number of men and women who had paying careers. Really nice to see.
+dancepiglover
The WML staff used the preconceived notions as to what would be considered men's work and what would be considered women's work to great advantage when choosing which challengers would be on this program. This was part of their attempts to make it harder for the panel. In the same way, they had male challengers who had something to do with diapers or other baby items or women's clothing quite frequent.
dancepiglover, I agree with you. Back then, as it does the day, the media paints a false narrative designed to make us believe that each and every member of certain groups was a sad, oppressed, subjugated and roundly discriminated against individual. Shows like "What's My Line," as you point out, give us a glimpse of the truth. Thank God for that.
That's because all of the nonsense about inequality is media and special interest group generated. Same for the minority nonsense. There were many successful and working folks on all sides of the debate back then, and there were many people struggling. That's life, but the media and the soap box groups turn it into profit by exploiting specific cases.
@@no_handle_required amen 👏
dancepiglover - Surprisingly the program's mystery guests were a diverse group. I am very pleased to observe such inclusiveness. And yes, an equal number of men and women. Bravo.
Thank you super very much for "repairing" this video! We all appreciate the attention to detail and painstaking work you put into gifting us these time capsules of entertainment.
Yes, we are grateful for the work involved in bringing these wonderful episodes to us.
I love watching this show for the style itself. I also appreciate the history from this show. A reminder of simpler times.
Today's SPECIAL UA-cam rerun-- a new version of a previously glitched video!
This is the last of the shows we had to get past in the daily reruns that had glitches, this one pretty hard to follow at points in the prior version, particularly the Janet Leigh segment. There were also LOTS of great moments lost along the way, so I really wanted to patch together a new version of this one for when we got to it in the reruns.
There were somewhere on the order of 60 edit points required here, and that's with the entire Janet Leigh segment replaced wholesale! This took approximately forever to do, but I think you'll see it was worth it-- this was a particularly lively episode, with great contestants and a fun (if short) mystery guest round. Enjoy!
--------------------------
Please click here to subscribe to the WML channel if you haven't already-- you'll find the complete CBS series already posted, and you'll be able to follow along the discussions on the weekday "rerun" videos: ua-cam.com/channels/hPE75Fvvl1HmdAsO7Nzb8w.html
Join our Facebook group for WML-- great discussions, photos, etc, and great people! facebook.com/groups/728471287199862/
+What's My Line? Thank you for doing all that work. Pain in the tuchus, but entirely worth it.
***** Thanks for the acknowledgement. It means a lot to me. :)
Excellent Work, these shows make me laugh out loud. I just love the people.
Thank you so much for your hard work!
The best part about Steve Allen on WML was that his gimmick was that he never got any better. I love how he works his jokes into his long line of questions that almost never ends up anywhere near the correct answer.
He was usually fed questions for laughs from the staff of WML I hear.
Have been watching these shows non-stop. LOVE IT!!!
I sometimes get the impression Daly just wants some of the guests to get the money. He seems very generous. He sometimes hurries things along in order for the guest to get the full amount.
The first lady , the girdle woman, has a great personality.
Increasing the pace of the show provides more viewer entertainment. Much like professional sports, WML is not a game, it is a business. Agree that girdle girl was personable.
I think the sword swallower with laryngitis had a sassy personality too. Once John said she was a sword swallower I was just waiting for Steve Allen to say "Well, now we all know what's wrong with your throat." Never happened.
Kilgallen cheats (or it should have been considered cheating) so it kind of evens out. "Are your products, say, automotive, or animal, or entertainment related in any way?"
Daly has stated more than once that the purpose of the show is x to have fun, and since the prices were modest even by the standards of the 1950s game shows. I'm not surprised.
One interesting thing I noticed on rewatching this: Steve Allen's free guess in the final round is *exactly* the sort of remark that, if Hal Block had made it, we'd all be crying "clod" at: "I don't know what she does, but she can do it to me, I'll tell you that." So much of the effect of these lines depends on the delivery, and on our instinctive, gut reaction to the individual people, not entirely on the content of the line. From Steve, this comes off as simply a flippant joke; from Hal, we'd probably interpret it as an inappropriate come on.
+What's My Line? Similarly, Groucho was the king of skirt chasing humor and seemed welcome on WML.
Bruce C Another good example, yes.
It depends on the degree one does it. Being a desperate leering lech seemed to be Hal Block's whole act.
+Bigwave2003 I agree that Block came across as lecherous. I think that this can be largely attributed to his body language. Constant touching of the face and head scratching shows a lack of refinement. That combined with the skirt chasing humor gives the lecherous impression. Keep in mind that Hal was neither an actor nor comedian. He was a very successful writer and producer. He wrote jokes for the biggest comedians of the time. He was recruited by WML at a time when the show was getting bad reviews and the trash bin seemed imminent. His addition brought praise from the critics and increased viewership.
It's not unreasonable to think that we owe the life of WML to Hal Block. As the show began to become more refined Hal became increasingly out of place.
I thought he was harmless and kind of funny. Maybe for the fifties he was too much but I tend to defend him. I thought people overreacted to him in a critical way.
I love the fact that Arlene corrected herself when she directed the questioning to John instead of to the contestant.
Janet seems very happy here! Like her life was good.
Exactly one year before this broadcast that had Steve Allen & Janet - Janet did a movie with Donald O'Connor called Walking My Baby Back Home. There's a scene where Janet, The Modernaires (vocal group) and a GIGANTIC Dance Band are singing and playing South Rampart Street Parade - the old Bob Crosby record hit. Steve Allen had recently written the words for this long and complicated song - Steve must have been thrilled (and proud) to see this HUGE "production number" on the big screen so well played & sung (Modernaires sang great - Janet was not quite on the beat in spots) with his very clever words to this great (now) Jazz Classic song! And of course this movie was featured in the famous 1975 Columbo episode where Janet is a former singer losing her memory and watches her old films.
+dept2
How ironic and somewhat prescient that Janet Leigh would be on a WML episode with a challenger named Mrs. Desmond. The Columbo episode sounds a little bit like the movie Sunset Boulevard where the character Norma Desmond spends a lot of time watching her old films and losing her mind.
Thanks for the background on the song. The Columbo episode is one of my favorites
A girdle tester and a sword swallower--that is grandmaster-level WML.
Jonathan C - This comment made both me and my daughter laugh out loud. :D
That girdle tester was very 'spirited', bet she'd been a fun date!
Great renewed episode. Thanks for all the effort!
Thanks for the comment, Andrew-- I'm glad you enjoyed it! :) I think this was a particularly lively episode, so it was a shame to have it only in a nearly unwatchable form up till now.
Janet Leigh is so cute it should be illegal
Excellent actress Janet Leigh.
Thank you so much for posting these!
4 years later Janet gives birth to Jamie Lee. Her daughter will receive an Oscar 2023 for best supporting actress.
Jamie Lee is hilarious in The Fish Called Wanda .
RIP Janet Leigh. Overdue condolences to the family for your loss. 😔💐
"Mrs. Bancroft has has throat problems, she's a sword swallower."
Apparently John thought she's not a very good one. :-)
Funny, I associate Janet Leigh so much with Psycho that it never even would've occured to me that she made movies this early.
Yep she was a veteran by the time Psycho was made
Screen legend Janet Leigh's falsetto in the Mystery Guest segment was hilarious! (She was great in "Psycho", too.)
If someone else has already commented on this, pardon me, but it seems to me that Dorothy's "fit or inspect" guess was close enough to the first guest's job of testing the girdles.
I agree
Thank you so much. These are so wonderful to watch.
Betty Bancroft was born Elizabeth Jane Wrisley on January 15, 1902, and may have originally been from Ashtabula, Ohio (in some reports, she later claimed to be from North Hampton, MA where she may have been living at the time.) In 1926, under her married name Elizabeth Jane Housel gave birth to her daughter Betty Jane Housel. After marrying Fred Ford Bancroft (1885-1963), Elizabeth changed her daughter's name to Zoe Ann Bancroft.
By the 1940s, Fred and Betty Bancroft of Forrest City, Arkansas owned their own sideshow "Fred Bancroft's Circus Side Show" and traveled with several different circuses throughout the years, performing under the names "Colorado Fred, the Knife Thrower", and "Buckskin Betty", or under the combined name as the "Shooting Stars". The highlight of their early act was when "Colorado Fred" threw knives at "Buckskin Betty" while she was spinning on the "Wheel of Death". Besides being an "impalement artist" and target for Fred, Betty also performed as trick rifle sharpshooter, a rope spinner, and whip artist, and later as a sword swallower. In 1940, they worked with Rowe Brothers Circus. In March, 1942 Fred Bancroft's Side Show performed in Louisiana; in June 1942, Fred and Betty Bancroft performed with the Golden West Shows in Minnesota. On October 16, 1942, their daughter Zoe Ann Bancroft married concessionaire William Brown. In 1943, Fred and Betty were signed to perform as the "Shooting Stars" as well as manage the office of their Bancroft's Side Show which toured Indiana and Illinois. On January 25, 1945, their daughter Zoe Ann Bancroft was married to Thomas P. Mangos in Pensacola, FL, but Zoe Ann continued to work the sideshow with her parents while her husband was deployed overseas. In May 1945, Fred Bancroft's Side Show worked the John Marks midway with "Buckskin Betty" sharpshooting, "Colorado Fred" doing impalement, and daughter "Zo Anne" Bancroft working the blade box. From 1944-48, the Bancrofts worked with Wallace Bros Shows, Cetlin and Wilson Shows and John R. Ward Shows, and with the Royal Crown Shows in 1948. According to the August 14, 1948 Billboard listing, "Mrs. Elizabeth Bancroft of the Circus Side Show with the Royal Crown Shows, writes denying any knowledge of an Ed S. Torbert, who it was reported in the Billboard, was employed by her and Fred Bancroft as a calliope player. She said she has no responsibility since May 30 for any salaries or any other indebtedness contracted by Fred Bancroft." In 1949, the Bancrofts worked with the Blue Grass Shows in Kentucky. In 1951, their daughter Zoe Ann was married to Jim Wolff. According to July 26, 1952 Billboard, "Fred and Betty Bancroft, also of the same back-end unit, took delivery of a Chevrolet town car recently."
The first mention of Betty Bancroft performing as a sword swallower is in April 18, 1953 with the Dick Slayton show on the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Sideshow. Betty Bancroft first appears on the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus route book as their sword swallower in 1953 while her husband Fred Bancroft appears as the knife thrower with Betty as his target. According to the Dec. 5, 1953 Billboard, the 1953 Ringling Brothers season ended well, and Manager Dick Slayton has been signed for 1954 season. Fred and Betty Bancroft spend their winter quarters in Rattlesnake, FL. The Bancrofts returned again for a second season with Ringling Brothers again in 1954, when Betty performed as their sword swallower in Madison Square Garden in New York under the stage name "Lady Beth". She was also known to swallow a neon tube. In 1954, Elizabeth J. Bancroft appeared on episode #201 of the popular TV show "What's My Line?", filmed April 4, 1954, and aired a week later on April 11, 1954. A description of the TV episode says, "Mrs. Elizabeth J. Bancroft - "Sword Swallower" (salaried; she performs with the Ringling Brothers Circus which is currently in NY; from North Hampton, MA; She has such a severe case of laryngitis that she can barely speak!)" (video)
In 1955, Fred and Betty Bancroft do their Wheel of Death knife throwing act in the Paul Flanagan show. Their son, Harry L. Bancroft, was a tattoo artist and had a trained chimp named "Cheeta" who was supposed to have been the offspring of Cheeta on Tarzan, and another son, Raymond Bancroft helped out with the show. Fred Ford Bancroft died on 23 Aug 1963 at the age of 78 in Houston TX. (grave) Elizabeth Jane Wrisley Hudson Housel Bancroft died on March 1, 1985 in North Fort Myers, Florida at the age of 83. (Could this be the grave of Elizabeth Jane Hudson Bancroft?)Seeking photos and more information on Elizabeth Jane Wrisley Hudson Housel Bancroft.
Buckskin Betty Elizabeth Bancroft Timeline
1902: Jan 15: Born Elizabeth Jane Wrisley
19??: Marries Hudson
1924: Elizabeth Wrisley Hudson - Thomas Housel marriage
1926: Daughter Betty Jane Housel born
19??: Betty marries Fred Bancroft, changes daughter's name to Zoe Ann Bancroft
1936: June 23-27: Colorado Fred and Buckskin Betty perform in Massillon OH
1940s: Live in Forrest City, AR and own "Fred Bancroft's Circus Side Show"
1940: Rowe Brothers Circus
1940: July 27: Colorado Fred and Buckskin Betty perform in Harrisburg PA
1942: Feb 4-6: Colorado Fred and Buckskin Betty perform in Warren PA
1942: March: Fred Bancroft's Side Show performs in Louisiana
1942: June: Fred and Betty Bancroft perform with Golden West Shows in Minnesota
1942: October 16: Daughter Zoe Ann Bancroft marries concessionaire William Brown
1944-48: Bancrofts work with Wallace Bros Shows, Cetlin and Wilson Shows, John R. Ward Shows
1944: Aug 26: Fred and Betty Bancroft report good grosses with World's Fair Oddities
1945: Jan 25: Daughter Zoe Ann Bancroft marries Thomas P. Mangos
1945: Daughter Zoe Ann Bancroft marries Roy E. Deerman
1948: Royal Crown Shows
1949: Blue Grass Shows in Kentucky
1950: Live in Owensboro, KY
1951: Aug 14: Colorado Fred and Buckskin Betty perform in Monroe WI
1951: Daughter Zoe Ann Bancroft marries James Jimmie Ned Wolfe
1952: July: Fred and Betty Bancroft take delivery of a Chevrolet town car
1953: April 18: With Dick Slayton on Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Sideshow
1954: Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Sideshow Madison Square Gardens NY
1954: April: "What's My Line?", filmed April 4, 1954, aired on April 11, 1954
1954: Oct 2: Betty Bancroft slightly injured when knife board fell on her
1955: Fred & Betty Bancroft do Wheel of Death knife throwing act in Paul Flanagan show
1963: 23 Aug: Fred Ford Bancroft dies in Houston TX at 78
1985: 1 March: Elizabeth Jane Bancroft dies in Ft. Myers FL at 83
????: Daughter Zoe Ann Bancroft Wolfe buried in Ellenton FL
Melissa H -- Thank you for all the research you did! Great information!
I like reading the comments prior to watching the videos for this reason: I feel as if I "know" the contestants better. Makes viewing the people more interesting. ☺
Melissa H - Thank you for the informative history. Still, no one addressed the question regarding Ms Bancroft's sore throat being the result of a wrongly swallowed sword. Rats.
In case you didn't know... Janet Leigh is Jamie Lee Curtis's mother.
Janet Leigh's most prominent movie in the pop culture zeitgeist is of course Psycho, but this was six years before that was even filmed. She was already quite a famous personage before then, but Hitchcock's movie looms largest in the mind of history...
Father is Tony curtis
@@nicolejanssens199 please post proof pronto
@@joeambrose3260 it's true....Tony Curtis is JLC's father
@@jrm8899 : I assumed Joe was kidding. Doesn't everyone know this?
15:50 ... Get ready for one of the best reaction shots of all time...
Back in the day when men stood up when greeting women...
They stood up when they greeted men as well.
LilRAEofsunshine Back when American women were worth standing up for
Back when women respected strong men.
tinwoods Good guess!
I still do.
imagine if this was one of the episodes that Tony Perkins was on the panel..................
orgonko the wildly untamed, in the vernacular of the Hollywood cool cat of the 1960s: "Tony P and Jan Leigh on the same show? That woulda been wild, man!"
Yikes!
Arlene had a great gift for recall belting things out non stop.
with the first contestant both arlene and steve guess incorrectly that she designs girdles and yet John doesn’t catch the repetition and counts steve’s guess and flips a card
What's my line was so long ago my grandparents used to tune to this
I remember, as a kid in the 50s, being allowed to stay up late to watch WML. Now I'm in my late 70s, still watching it.
Janet Leigh. Just amazing.
Super show can,t stop watching
Whenever the sword swallower spoke, I visualized Linda Blair saying it.
I love this show and am delighted there are so many of them online. It was classy enough to attract the most distinguished guest celebrities.
Also, I am so very glad that later, WML changed to (a) not having the contestants make some pointless initial greeting to the panel, and (b) let them greet them properly and shake their hands AFTER the round was finished, rather than having them scuttle off into the back exit behind John, which always looks so dismissive.
Somebody in the production team was obviously very thoughtful.
i like how in 1954, everyone was too polite to make any comments about the sword swallower.
crowd just murmured.
I'm a big fan of WML and all the old stars. I seem to recall an episode where the panel guessed the profession on the 'free" guess they were given. Could you tell me which episode that was it does exist?
That happened several times, actually. There's a list of all the shows where it happened on this page:
www.tv.com/shows/whats-my-line/episode-253-95210/trivia/
Just scroll down to where it says, "FREE WILD GUESS WIN HISTORY FOR WHAT'S MY LINE? - CBS 1950 - 1955"
Janet Leigh is fantastic.
Arlene is wonderful ... so sharp, so amusing & so often right & never looks sulky when she is not unlike her female cohort on the panel ...
Agree. Imagine a science fiction movie in which a person - I volunteer - goes back in time to date Arlene, but there is a snafu, and it’s Dorothy instead. That would change the genre from sci-fi to horror!
Dorothy was just as wonderful as Arlene, did you see how out of everyone on the panel, she was the closest to getting the second lady's profession right? So, so, intelligent. I really don't know why you're comparing them at all!
I always wondered what would happen if some jerk in the audience decided to yell out the name of the mystery guest for the panel to hear (besides him being kicked out and banned forever from the show)...
As a French person, it's refreshing to hear Arlene pronounce "Lingerie" correctly. I don't understand why Americans these days call it Lawn-Jer-ay.
Because Americans don't generally speak French. How many English words do the French pronounce properly? Yeah, that's right. You're welcome.
She's so beautiful, Janet Leigh!
I found it interesting that Arlene actually correctly pronounced "lingerie" (lan-zhuh-ree), closer to the original French, whereas most Americans today would pronounce it "lahn-zhuh-ray". I wonder if that was more common back then, or if it's just a product of her particular upbringing and training.
Arlene spoke French...
Janet Leigh was so beautiful. Her older daughter Kelly resembles her so much
Bennett should have gotten a "no" when he asked if she was Janice Lay.
Janet Leigh made a great Christmas movie with Robert Mitchum. She plays a young war widow with a small son and watch what happens when Robert Mitchum walks into their lives. Great holiday fun!
The most unlikely looking sword swallower ever!
17:07 I was worried about what he was going to say there
Precious Memories..Such a Beautiful Wholesome Family Show Blessing..Thankyou for Sharing..⚘🎚⭐🍑🦋
Knowing how smart the panel is, I'm surprised they got stumped by the sword swallower.
When John Daly selects a panelist to begin a new round of questions, does he do so randomly? Or is there a method to how he does it?
If the contestant is an attractive young woman, it often starts with Bennett.
@@kentetalman9008 Lolllll
Mrs. Bancroft's voice may have been the result of years of sword swallowing.
I think you're exactly right. I think they just told the panel she had a cold so as not to give them any kind of clue.
Moral of the story: Don't swallow swords.
norelco pc - Yes, that was what I was thinking.
Yes. Losing your voice as a sword swallower....must be an occupational hazard.
I wonder why the women panelists didn't shake hands with the first female guest, but did with the other female guests.
It looked to me that the last two ladies offered their hands to the female panelists, but the first one didn't offer her hand, but merely nodded to Arlene and Dorothy, but shook hands with Bennett and Steve because they stood and offered their hands.
Knott Reel - I wondered that myself. Maybe the shaking of hands was a newly created part of the program.
I apologize to the person who took the time to put in the very interesting information about the dates the sword swallower was active. I clicked on it to try to read the whole thing and unfortunately that block thing for like, dislike, report as spam came up. I tried to cancel it and got a pop up saying that the message had been reported. I hope that when UA-cam investigates, they will see this and realize that it was an app error and I absolutely did not mean to report that comment as spam. It was a very good comment and I hope they will put it back where it was.
Don't worry about it-- the channel owner (me) has the ultimate control over what comments get marked as spam, regardless of what users may have flagged. Most spam flags are automatic by UA-cam, not a result of users flagging anything, and they're almost always a mistake. It's part of my routine to review the comments marked as spam and unflag anything that was flagged inappropriately. The comment you're referring to is still here, assuming you mean the one from juliansinger.
Thank you as I felt absolutely horrible for having done that. I also sent a message to UA-cam letting them know that was an error on my part.
Doreen Platt Very kind of you to take the time to do that!
She's a doll.
Is it just me or did that "boiler"lady from Austria bear a striking resemblance to another Austrian, Hedy Lamarr?
This was aired the day before I was born.
Old Fart I was born two years later. (:
That's a great birthday then, that was my also the day my best friend was born!
Apparently, I don't know what a boiler (game 4) is. Any clues?
I think this refers to big water boilers used for heating purposes. Apparently she worked in a factory that manufactured them.
+Michael Maloney In the 1950s, boilers were also used for locomotives and ships.
+Michael Maloney en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiler
thanks!
Any building or house that is heated with radiators has to have a boiler to make the hot water or steam that supplied the radiators. Also when the heat is provided by baseboard panels that have hot water circulating in them. Boilers still exist today. You see them all the time on "This Old House" and "Ask This Old House." Sometimes they also provide hot water for household or building use by one means or another. One big issue on those two programs is often replacing the old boiler with something that is nowadays much more efficient in the amount of energy required to make the hot water, and, of course, if they're looking at an old boiler, a lot of them have failed in one way or another.
Good episode.❤
Janet Leigh. She's adorable. 🤓😍.
Bennett frequently gets the names wrong
MAJOR hint from John at 10:40
Sometimes he did that. Always aggravated me!
3:06 That almost like that android wisle i heard on phones often some years back, little different, maybe this inspired that, maybe a common tune on the continent overseas, who, knows, i anyhow don't.
Janet Leigh didn't get the film roles she deserved after her initial success
Not until Halloween H2O 😝
Miss Desmond was intriguing..
she's so cute
Janet and Tony , i love their daughter
This aired 1week after I was born
Woofta, there were a few questionabke comments from the men in this episode, also kind of sexist that Bennett guessed 'makes cream puffs' when in reality that #girlboss not only immigrated to a new country, but manages a whole factory. Let me be clear: I LOVE this show and all of the panelists, they are all quite lovely individuals. I think it's just interesting to see these beautiful humans be a bit of a product of their time
Wasn't the cream puffs comment from Dorothy Kilgallen, not Bennett? And what's sexist about that?!
Someday you too will be referred to as a "product of their time."
That is one beautiful woman
The last guest; Greta Morgan looked a little like Hedy Lamarr. And also from Austria like Lamarr. Daly is smitten and acted silly.
18:58 " Janet Lay " Is that the way it was pronounced back then ?
If you watch this often, you learn that Mr. Cerf often has special ways of pronouncing things😉
I love dear Bennett!
I can now see why Tony Curtis married Janet and created Jamie Lee.
What did Arlene ask Steve at the end of the show. I may have heard that wrong.
+Brian Allen I believe she asked him, "how's your boiler?" (referring to the line of the previous contestant.)
Ah, yes... John Charles Daly and his 'conferences'.
So many people had real, physical, hands on jobs. I think that is so much better for you mentally than sitting behind a screen all day.
I think Mrs Bancroft was putting on the laryngitis, as she spoke normally when leaving the show.
You're not hearing Mrs. Bancroft's voice. You're hearing Arleen's voice.
norelco pc
An ordinary guest would have no REASON to disguise her voice
Love, love these shows.
Janet Leigh was only 27 here. She had been married to Tony Curtis(lucky stiff), for 3 years - and would stay married to him for another Eight. The last couple of years being hell on earth for Miss Leigh as Curtis' alcoholism and drug addiction worsened. One of the Top Three beautys in Hollyweird history ( In my humble opinion).
Okay i thought it was infidelity but the other two seemed heavily involved it seems. I think she was broken up but went on to marry a good man
Was Bennett being flip ?
Janet Lay !
She was a newcomer in the business.... and (I think) he thought her name rhymed with sleigh
Is it just me, or does Mrs. Bancroft look like a female version of Bennett Cerf?
I don't see the resemblance, but I love her spirited way of answering the panelists' questions! :)
Haha I see it
The segment with the lady who tested girdles was a real ribtickler.
The sword lady gives this a thumbs up. And Janet. What the heck and the boiler lady.
I've never been the same after Psycho and Rudolph the red-nosed Reindeer.
i watched a show once about people who do tricks like sword swallowing that no one believes they really do it, that it must be a trick. one sword swallower was challenged to have xrays taken while he swallowed the sword.
they watched in disbelief as the sword went into his stomach.
the xray techs said that was impossible.
MrYfrank14 - I can't believe it! People actually did swallow swords. I hope they were compensated for the inherent danger of this occupation.
The last contestant came all the way from Austria and then got short shrift.
Vic -- The final contestants nearly always get cut short. WML should've taken time to visit with the MGs instead if rushing the last people on and off stage. One way to look at it, though, is they earned a nice little chunk of money (a bit less than $500 in 2019) for only a couple minutes of "work."
Every time I tell myself, "Someone needs to tell WML to change their tactics," I have to laugh: the program has been off the air for decades!
@@juanettebutts9782 True! I just feel sorry for the people who tell all their friends and relatives to watch them on WML, and then they're only on for 2 minutes.
Vic -- Agreed. Not fair.
Bennett's mispronunciation of Janet Leigh's last name was embarrassing. For someone who is supposed to be erudite and up on current entertainers, he really falls short.
@GregPatrei He doesn't pronounce it incorrectly. You're talking out of your *ss. You're the one who should be "embarrassed".
December 2019 ?
Janet always did wear a bra well.
For a slender petite woman she did always have phenomenal breasts. Pretty face, great figure, nice personality and great actress. R.I.P. Janet Leigh.
Brooke Hanley -- I believe that's called "a bullet bra"!!!!!
Michael Hoshall u
Are you INSANE? You must be a guy. No GIRL would ever say that
@@brookehanley3659 LOL, I guess a girl would (grosse)
Oh the manerisms. Jaime Lee may look like Tony but she took after janet.
I was 3 days old…
I wonder if she showered before the show.
Is any one else slightly irritated that the last guest's name is probably Morgau and not Morgan? and that Ms. Morgau never corrected anyone?
i base this idea on the fact that she is from Austria, and there are more last names and regions that end in "au" than in "An" ?
I never knew that about Australian last names, and I never would have noticed this. It does look indeed like she signed in as "Morgau" rather than "Morgan", and just didn't want to correct John. But it's strange, because John almost never got the names wrong, even when they were foreign names written in different alphabets like Japanese or Korean (and it wasn't because he was actually reading the letters-- he was clearly briefed on the contestant names before the shows.) I guess he just screwed up this time!
+What's My Line? And by Australian you mean Austrian ? ;) yep, there are many regions that have an "au" ending - such as Wachau valley, or Schoppernau or
Schwangau, in Germany near the Austrian border. I figured that John would have been briefed on how to say and pronounce the name correctly. Perhaps, Ms. Morgau wanted to have a more "anglicized" name, for whatever reason?
+greenapplelane Good thought but checking the current Vienna phonebook reveals there is not a single Morgau but several Morgan listed.
Doesn't mean you are necessarily wrong but she probably really had the last name Morgan.
+James Hendrix Yeah , i mean it certainly could be. But i based my observation on that in her signature the last letter doesn't look like an "N" to me at all, and because there are names of places in south Austria by the German border have the ending of "AU" .
You are correct in that the last letter looks a bit more like an 'u' than an 'n' but Greta was taught Kurrentschrift (German cursive) in Vienna which looks like this:
members.aon.at/sulzberger/infoclip/images5/kurrent.jpg
As you can see the letter 'n' and 'u' look quite similar, the letter 'u' has an accent on top to differentiate the two. The German word 'Au' means meadow in English and that's why it's often found in names of villages and places in parts of southern Germany and Austria, it is however not common in German or Austrian last names.
Greta Morgan was absolutely beautiful.
A Hedy Lamarr look alike - and both from Austria!
@@robertfiller8634 Indeed!! Both were beautiful.
The Austrian looks like Hedy Lamar!
I love Miss Desmond's hat!