Groucho - Short-lived British follow-up to You Bet Your Life (Jul 1, 1965)

[@stephenleech6445]

I have always loved Groucho,, he was hugely funny!

[@vilentman111]

i guess this must have been on when TV was still worth watching

[@unzarjones]

Wow, I was surprised to see this. I knew he tried some pilots that didn't work out, but I never knew he did a show in Britain. Thanks for the upload.

[@grouchomarx-youbetyourlife7476]

Unzar Jones Glad to share it. Most hardcore Groucho fans didn't know this episode existed either, until about a year ago!

[@nikolayivanov2812]

theres only one eh?

[@ahcapella]

​@@grouchomarx-youbetyourlife7476 Yeah, I didn’t know about this one either! And I’ve watched all of those game show pilots on the 2 You Bet Your Life DVD sets that I have. I really liked the murder mystery one, “The Plot Thickens!”

[@hungryherbie]

I have become a big Groucho fan recently he was way ahead of his time what a cheeky host not sure he would get away with his comments these days and Philip what a story must have rich parents to support his life style and the girl with the nice thighs as Groucho put it what a beauty and the guy from Liverpool he was brilliant Groucho was stumped by his wit brilliant video

[@orvpibbs2905]

Excellent ! Gotta love Groucho

[@deltabilly1]

That second girl is a knockout!

[@masonldn8647]

Couldn't agree more . Shame girls don't sound of even behave like this anymore

[@BUSTER.BRATAMUS]

The poor guy seems painfully shy...Groucho is as brilliant as ever.

[@theophilhist6455]

He looks like he's out of touch totally

[@vanhetgoor]

I could watch this every week, Groucho Marx was such a nice person, so polite and witty.

[@NoosaHeads]

I remember watching this. He was still sharp as a razor blade.

[@peggymount]

Was going through some old TV Times (A radio and TV listings magazine in the UK). Obviously looking around my birth date and found one of my heroes had actually done a TV show, in the UK the day before I was born.. It's fantastic to see it.

[@JenifAR87]

Glenna is beautifully eloquent. Groucho is effortlessly wonderful as always too.

[@jubalcalif9100]

She's no Hope Emerson, but Glenna is indeed one lovely lady !

[@jeffreylockhart6444]

Groucho was 75 when this made

[@jubalcalif9100]

Thank you VERY much for uploading this bodacious "blast from the past" ! Fun & fascinating footage ! I never even knew about this short lived British TV program until reading about it recently in a Marx Brothers biography at our local Barnes & Noble.

[@voiceguy3635]

Compare these contestants to the ones on the current "YBYL".Devolve is an understatement.

[@michaelbrunton3508]

The male contestant from Liverpool has a cigarette in his hand while Groucho is enjoying a cigar. How times have changed.

[@SwarthySkinnedOne]

Michael Brunton I'll say! In more ways than one:(

[@ADAMSIXTIES]

17:30 the Beatle references start. 1:06 1st contestant happens to have Lennon specs (before John did!)

[@ronricho-vc5kv]

Unbelievable. I wish they had continued this in the UK with Groucho as the host. Also, I wonder what came of the young woman from West Africa. She was a natural.

[@SteveStalzle]

I never knew this existed. COOL.

[@keithnaylor1981]

Never knew about this UK show. It would have been better if the questions had been arranged from easy to hard like they were in his previous show You Bet Your Life.

[@kingalexander2704]

Whoever thought that this show would go over in England? Groucho was American humor from way back. He didn't do fart jokes and cross-dressing skits!

[@coreywiley3981]

It is kinda cool to hear a Marx Brother talk about The Beatles.

[@adkforever6997]

You know, I rather thought John Lennon and the younger Groucho (when he used to wear oversized spectacles and faux mustache in his classic comedies) resembled each other.

[@ahcapella]

@@adkforever6997 John Lennon (allegedly) told Mickey Dolenz that The Monkees-who were created, so to speak, in the image of The Beatles-“were not really like the Beatles at all. They were more like the Marx Brothers.”

[@Lockbar]

The girl is stunning, the guy is afraid of his own shadow. Sad.

[@Awibrahor]

Lockbar There’s two of them. BOTH girls are stunning.

[@adkforever6997]

@@Awibrahor Not in the slightest funny. Unless you like bearded lasses.

[@Awibrahor]

ADKforever What’s not funny? You must be responding to a comment that someone (you?) decided to have removed. Explain yourself.

[@jubalcalif9100]

She's no Esther Howard, but she is indeed one lovely lass !

[@charleswinokoor6023]

Hard to believe they didn’t know it was Kipling.

[@jubalcalif9100]

Indubitably. Somone once asked me how I liked Kipling. I replied, "I don't know. I've never kippled".

[@jameskennedy9655]

There is this beautiful divide between a male and female that connects us.

[@Meatcity-sf8fm]

Jim talks about the Beatles like I talk about rap and hip hop.

[@donnajocatlady3839]

The 2nd duo is an example of how things can be if people let go of identity politics.

[@masonldn8647]

In my opinion, much of England was like this at the time

[@ianmax69]

Wow Glenna Forester Jones there before she was briefly famous...She would have made a great Bond girl

[@bradgotch]

Glena is outrageously stunning.

[@adkforever6997]

Glena is simply outrageous.

[@jubalcalif9100]

She's no Marie Dressler, but Glena is indeed gorgeous.

[@ManInTheBigHat]

"A woman's strength is her weakness." No sexism like that one TV these days. And not even close, not even a million miles close, to Groucho's wit. It's amazing how poised a nineteen year old could be back then. I don't know anyone that poised at any age these days, much less a teenager. 26:11 "Come over here you little cutie.....(anyone catch the rest of that parting line?)

[@sweiland75]

There's quite a difference between this and the other episodes I've watched of the American version. The Americans are much more reserved.

[@littlemissmello]

@@sweiland75 the culture of banter is strong!

[@robbielosee]

In regards to your question at 26:11, Groucho asked “...they all as pretty as you down there?”

[@brianarbenz7206]

And calling the contestant from Sierra Leone "a credit to West Africa." Sheeesh.

[@cats0182]

Groucho could NEVER get away today with the stuff he got away with back then.

[@littlemissmello]

and rightly so! I bloody love Groucho but I'm really glad that it's no longer okay to talk to a woman the way he did to the first woman in this episode.

[@finnjosh9444]

A different and a better time when men were men and women were real women.

[@adkforever6997]

@@finnjosh9444 .....and we were all subservient to outrageous and repressive social requirements, being under heavy manners as it was known.

[@jiggywithit4869]

I wonder what became of these people.

[@ADAMSIXTIES]

Glenna Forster-Jones was in films in the '60s and '70s, but then disappeared.

[@adkforever6997]

Helping the lawn grow six feet above them.

[@keithnaylor1981]

Sadly no more of this UK show seems to exist. The US had more sense and kept a lot of classic shows, which is why on KZbin I can still watch: What’s My Line You Bet Your Life (Groucho Marx) I’ve Got a Secret The Names the Same To Tell the Truth all better than todays rubbish.

[@jamesmack3314]

If the first girl is still alive I'm guessing she's around 80

[@adkforever6997]

By the way she was behaving, I'd say 180.

[@altfactor]

Keith Fordyce was better known as the co-host (with Cathy McGowan) of "Ready, Steady, Go!", a rock-and-roll music series than ran on Britain's ITV from 1963-66.

[@jimmiedee2315]

Glenna Forster-Jones appeared in various UK TV shows and movies from 1965 to 2001. "Casualty" .... Mrs. Kierney (2 episodes, 2001) - Mix and Match (2001) TV episode .... Mrs. Kierney - Allied Forces (2001) TV episode .... Mrs. Kierney The Punk (1993) .... Actress "Brideshead Revisited" .... Blackbird Singer (1 episode, 1981) - The Unseen Hook (1981) TV episode .... Blackbird Singer Flash Gordon (1980) (as Glenna Forster Jones) .... Sandmoon Girl "Shelley" .... Nurse (1 episode, 1980) - May the Best Man Win (1980) TV episode .... Nurse The Human Factor (1979) .... Black Prostitute Rosie Dixon - Night Nurse (1978) .... Staff Nurse Smythe "Odd Man Out" .... Cleo (5 episodes, 1977) - Clunk Click (1977) TV episode .... Cleo - Who's a Pretty Baby? (1977) TV episode .... Cleo - Sink or Swim (1977) TV episode .... Cleo - Money, Money, Money (1977) TV episode .... Cleo - A Chip Off the Old Block (1977) TV episode .... Cleo "Yes, Honestly" .... Sophia (1 episode, 1977) - Entertaining Mr. Roscoe (1977) TV episode .... Sophia The Spy's Wife (1972) .... Shirley Leo the Last (1970) .... Salambo Mardi Joanna (1968) .... Beryl Stimulantia (1967) .... The naked girl As Herself: Sympathy for the Devil (1968) .... Interviewer in wrecker's yard "Groucho" (1965) … Contestant

[@HarveyMushman888]

Looks like Jimmie Dee has a soft spot....or maybe I should say a hard spot for Miss Jones....

[@keithnaylor1981]

Wow - amazing research!

[@kevinjudy7218]

I love how Groucho is soo on even when his guests seem like jerks...

[@LyleFrancisDelp]

Any Brit who doesn’t know the author of The Jungle Books, should be forced to turn in their Brit Card.

[@RobertSeviour1]

Such a contrast between the show in California and this attempt in the UK. The 'cool' girl and the studious man were so uptight compared with the sassy Americans. Despite Groucho's terrific gifts - this show was a non-starter.

[@adkforever6997]

The studious man WAS AMERICAN. Re-watch it.

[@jessewolf6806]

The girl was not uptight. Quite the opposite.

[@LandondeeL]

12:30---the answer to that one is Pete Townsend

[@user-gh8wt2zi2n]

Whats the exchange rate in 1965?

[@servalspots7133]

The $/£ exchange rate from 1949 to 1967 was fixed at $2.80/£1.00 (weird, eh?) So the £35 to £36 the respective couples won would have been worth about $100 at the time. £36 in 1965 is about £670 in 2017 money (adjusted for inflation). That is $890 if you converted it today. If you converted the £36 to $101 in 1965, it would be worth $780.01 today (after adjusting for US inflation over the same period)

[@doctorcraptonicus7941]

Two Tommy Coopers to a Harpo.

[@craigdallas784]

@@servalspots7133 was the value of the pound reduced to half in 1949? I recall a Jack Benny program that Jack paid Rochester in Pounds.

[@SwarthySkinnedOne]

That chick from Africa is 60s all over. Good Lord! from heel to hair. First place winner of the Ms. 1960s pageant.

[@TruckTaxiMoveIt]

Africa always had a way with fashion then going to one of the big industrialized countries gave them a huge amount of access and if you look at her accent and how articulate she was she would have been a super rage in the United States in the age of the internet.

[@SwarthySkinnedOne]

Truck Taxi Interesting comment, reply I mean.

[@masonldn8647]

Black girl looks like she just finished off singing backup for Diana Ross and ran to the set . Classic look

[@masonldn8647]

1st price was £11 ... I wonder what the exchange rate was because in US is was about $70 for first price

[@diongibbsbpwp160]

He was great in the UK, but even in 2019 August almost, American and European prizes on game shows Lotto (Lottery), are massively higher rewards than what the UK offers. At this time the US Show had $300 or then roughly £248 Maximum prize and UK was £25 how sad.

[@zarabada6125]

Prize money is a reflection on the size of the audience and the associated advertisement/sponsorship revenue. The UK has a much smaller population, meaning fewer potential customers, leading to lower advertisement revenues and resulting in less prize money. If the show was on the BBC, which is banned from taking advertising revenue in the UK, all prize money had to come from the show's budget.

[@fawltyborstals]

18:50 what does the bloke say in response here?

[@ADAMSIXTIES]

In Britain they knew Groucho from the Marx Brothers films, not the real one. He also didn't know all the British idioms, so he was glad to have 4:30 Philip Nicholson from Santa Monica there. But in general it didn't work there.

[@Frank00]

I noticed the same thing, in some ways British proper is a different language. Groucho seems lost at times.

[@thorne62]

It cost those two contestants more than what they won just to get to the show...

[@brianarbenz7206]

What a confluence of people from eras and places. As a Yank, I had never heard of this. I watched You Bet Your Life frequently in the late 1970s when it was reprised. There's a lot of that show in this. The man from California acted reserved and played up absurd failures to make him seem quirky was classic of YBYL guests.

[@rickrick5041]

What happened to Leona Taylor?

[@eugenepiurkowski5439]

Interesting that Groucho did not shake hands nor give Glenna a kiss. Was it her suntan?

[@mehboobkm2018]

Watch it again.. He was about to shake hand with the girl before camera focussed to the audience

[@adkforever6997]

Graucho excelled at making the man extremely self-conscious of his eccentric interests. You can easily read his inner-core meltdown as Marx tears his world asunder. Brilliant.

[@BCTMarcus]

For your information: that Nicholson feller might have turned rather wealthy in the end. Because from the 2nd half of the 1960s, more and more music composed before 1800, was increasingly performed on (copies of) old instruments. The UK was one of the first countries where this Early Music Revival became popular, and where Early Music ensembles were formed, playing on those old instruments. Nowadays Renaissance and baroque music is quite popular, and almost entirely played on those oldies. Building viola da gamba's or Krummhorns most certainly can make for a good living. And how about Nicholson's interest in Arabic language and Islam? It's almost as if he could foresee that those religions/cultures/languages would be getting more important in the upcoming decades. I would almost say that Nicholson is as revolutionary as the Marx Brothers were as Vaudeville artists and comic film makers... [wink]. Apart from that, it really takes some gutz to come from the USA, go overseas and study those things in the early 1960s in London, UK. So hats off to him! The cool thing too, imho: Nicholson remained absolutely himself, a bit shy and no showing off at all, just answering Groucho's questions seriously. The girl was a different character, but I'm convinced she did not act at all, she was also just herself. She returned Groucho's sharp questions and wit with evenly sharp and witty answers. I bet Groucho was thinking "damn, ur a tough cookie and I like it." At the end, when shaking hands, she says "it was very nice to meet you." Which is almost an answer that Marx himself could have given under such circumstances. No wonder he asked for a kiss. To the uploader @Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life: thanks for this, I really enjoyed watching it. Thumbs up!

[@brianarbenz7206]

I'd bet Mr. Nicholson was playing up his quirky interests and his record of miscues. That was something many of Groucho's You Bet Your Life guests did, to make them seem colorful and endearing.

[@Gosperella26]

Try a Little Tenderness. Wow, when Otis just came out. Good taste, gorgeous girl. One of my favorite hosts in a city I love.

[@henningandersen9027]

How did Bing Crosby get bald?

[@jubalcalif9100]

Well, there's an old saying, "Hair today....gone tommorrow".

[@davemooreblues]

I had no idea this ever even happened. Are there any more episodes online? And My God, that black girl is fantastic!

[@grouchomarx-youbetyourlife7476]

This is the only episode of the Groucho BBC series that's ever surfaced. That doesn't mean there aren't possibly more out there, but none accessible to the public.

[@garyranieri3856]

that black girl went on to appear in some films including 'flash gordon' in 1980

[@SwarthySkinnedOne]

She's was high-fashion sixties Modern and "with it", as they use to say back there. Thing about her is that if a single guy wanted her to give him the time of day so he''d have a fighting chance to ask her out, he'd better have his goddamn shit together intellectually for decent informed and stimulating meaningful conversation, or else she'd kick him to the curb, like she would a broken vibrator with dead batteries to boot, in nothing flat! She's dosen't strike me as the naïve sort that would blindly go in for jerk-off bs dudes who had nothing else to offer other than just a hard dick in heat for some easy pussy, satisfying himself only for cheap thrills and to cut another notch on his belt. No. I don't think so.

[@alfienoakesIII]

@@grouchomarx-youbetyourlife7476 It wasn't a BBC show it was on ITV - commercial TV. The Smithsonian claims to have TWO episodes in its archive.

[@LyleFrancisDelp]

Theme music has nothing on “You Bet Your Life” theme…which became synonymous with Groucho himself.

[@craigdallas784]

The beat generation

[@garyfrancis6193]

The Beat Generation was in the 50’s

[@michaelpaulsmith4619]

The host of the show here - in the role of Fenneman - is a minor DJ and quiz show host called Keith Fordyce. I say this for the completists among you! Replacing George was never going to work, now was it?

[@LandondeeL]

+Michael Paul Smith Keith Fordyce wasn't THAT minor. At the time, he was also the compere of Ready Steady Go!

[@michaelpaulsmith4619]

LandondeeL Indeed so. He was a much bigger star than I gave him credit for in my comment and you're quite right to have pointed that out. All good wishes..

[@marlenerichards5756]

it was never that funny without George

[@keithnaylor1981]

First guest with the beard looked like he wished he hadn’t come! I think he must have got his personality from studying wet lettuces. Not surprised when Groucho asked if he was asleep!

[@Schnitzengruben]

20:02 "Liverwurscht' rofl

[@YAFONOOB]

11:55 Just imagine if they would have said "Wurtzite boron nitride" or "Lonsdaleite"!

[@mistywatercolormemories]

So there was only 1 episode. Was this a pilot?

[@sweiland75]

Compared to the American YBYL, Groucho seemed a bit culture shocked by this assertive woman.

[@romancandlefight1144]

'Assertive' meaning not wanting to marry? He was from another age, literally.. swinging sixties kids were ~60 years his junior

[@brianarbenz7206]

Assertive, yet she smiled in agreement to Groucho's awful declaration that "a woman's weakness is her strength." That kind of aphorism puts women and men on the path to abusive relationships.

[@rickrick5041]

What is the name of this show?

[@mrcrazyjonpresents4312]

Groucho as it says in the title

[@mowguy1]

And so the sundial salesman became a professor at Berkeley University

[@sbcruiser2]

Wow!! Who knew?

[@ttacking_you]

Dude should have just said his parents support him .

[@ttacking_you]

Which is Veeerrrrryy apparent ." Musical instruments" yeah right

[@deltabilly1]

Apparently the BBC had very little in their budget for toupees

[@jubalcalif9100]

Reminds me of why Geronimo placed his wig on the stove.....he wanted to keep his "wig wam".

[@carlrudd1858]

Very good... a nice change from the USA show...but what's with the hair on that Keith guy? wow......

[@SwarthySkinnedOne]

It's the beatnik look he's sporting. (Know a lil about the beatniks?)

[@Havanacuba1985]

Leoni the first girl is smokin hot ❤❤❤❤

[@christopherkloe6442]

Well now i know what morocco bound means.

[@judyharris6516]

Really low energy; need that Captain Spalding music

[@MrMenefrego1]

It's so sad to see Groucho this way, he is so out of sorts and the whole thing seems so forced. He should-have retired after the American "You Bet Your Life" was cancelled.

[@jamesmack3314]

Wrong...he was totally on his game...funny and witty as hell

[@bobdownes162]

Found his British contestants a pain in the arse. Don't think Graucho looked too well, maybe his guests were the cause of it. (Englishman)

[@TotalSinging]

Groucho was 75 here

[@coronapapi]

Bob Downes It was the "harder"/hotter thing. haha

[@banishedfromthedwarfplanet530]

The personal nature of Groucho's questions are unusual for the host of a TV show, past or present.

[@toomces50]

How did Bing Crosby go bald? Shoving the midwife up the stairs. The only people who didn't understand that joke were me and Groucho. Can anyone explain it, please?

[@vicmclaglen1631]

Don't know, because he was banging his wife so much she was always around delivering, or because he was banging the midwife? Not sure but probably one of the two.

[@a.jseventyseven8771]

The man from Liverpool moved his head to suggest that Bing Crosby was pushing the Midwife up the stairs with his head, and he went bald because he had to do it so often that it rubbed his hair off.

[@SwarthySkinnedOne]

Thomas Yohn Ok. For a more thorough explanation that can be derived from the joke (a rather clever one, if a bit racy), this episode was televised in 1965, right? Way before then, Bing had been married twice and had a total of 7 kids in these marriages. So because of this, the midwife comes into play and every time called upon.......and well, you know the rest from previous comments.

[@brianarbenz7206]

The audience seemed to get that joke. Now I do that I understand how many children he had (something I, even as a U.S. person, was not aware of). Still, I think it is asking a lot to expect the audience to get the image of someone using their head to shove anyone upstairs. Is that some British expression?

[@masonldn8647]

20:38 imagine not knowing Otis Redding 🤣🤣 and the old fellow not liking the Beatles

[@jessewolf6806]

That “old fellow” is probably 15 years younger than Mick Jagger is today.

[@TruckTaxiMoveIt]

Ouch

[@robertewing3114]

To what degree do people generally have a sense of humour, most need help, few would admit they do because they want to appear smart, and here is one individual with immense talent trying to pull that sense out of strangers, he should have been Knighted while in the UK, not die like his father before him, simply plain Mr Chamberlain. Mind you, Westminster Abbey has a sculpture image of plain Mr Chamberlain. The cigars in Europe are going out, we may not see them lit again in our lifetime. Karl Marx.

[@519djw6]

The first female contestant seemed so disdainful of Groucho and his wit that I wonder why she even volunteered to go on his program. In fact, I'd go so far as to say she was a rude #%@&@!

[@Juscz]

That might be a cultural thing. British women can often be rather self-assured.

[@adkforever6997]

@@Juscz : Actually, most English women---and men, for that matter---are quite self-effacing and humble, unlike this young lady, who, was combative and pompously defensive.

[@brianarbenz7206]

Are you saying it is rude to be badgered excessively? I think Groucho's questions -- as much as I like and appreciate his greatness - were rude #%@&@.

[@fonso1030]

This was somewhat interesting, at best. But difficult to watch.

[@HMinot]

Otis Redding!

[@laurastone6578]

I think Groucho liked the ladies. That thigh comment could never be said in our "woke" culture.

[@jessewolf6806]

And she appreciated the comment.

[@adkforever6997]

Is it me, or is Groucho unusually cruel, pestering the first young man by asking him condescending questions? Groucho always would probe his contestants with quite personal questions, but he always tempered potentially embarrassing ones with his wry charm. However, that wry charm was utterly lacking, This wasn't a repartee; it was an interrogation. This was quite the embarrassing experience for not only the young man but for the viewer. Quite unwatchable.

[@56squadron]

Groucho was from a generation where they believed it was wrong for people to withdraw into themselves and be morose, so when he encounters people like that he does prick them, but I think he does it to try to wake them up. There is no malice in it. And there was going to be no repartee as you say, because he was a block of wood - he wasn't volunteering anything. That guy was so withdrawn into his own world it had become a world of idiocy. He was in england to sell sundials (in a country with no sun) so he could go back to the US and make machine to fix instruments nobody plays anymore so he could take them to morocco, sell them, and then fund his plans to find a star plotter that no longer exists... and nobody needs or wants. It's like a deranged woody allen movie staring Biff Loman.

[@samp.8099]

It was clearly a made-up bit to be funny. Nothing on television is ever authentic.

[@brianarbenz7206]

@@samp.8099 Totally agree. That guy may have been unofficially auditioning for a career as a comedian using a self-effacing shtick.

[@waynedoyle5584]

groucho opinion on this show " horrible " ....i think as you can see is americans have problems understanding english accent as seen with woman in beginning and elsewhere in show [ a lot of repeating of words going on in show ] ....groucho ain,t the problem , the british audience loved him .....it just does not run smoothly as in u.s because of the different way of speaking ....thats all

[@romancandlefight1144]

Swinging sixties.. Groucho was too old and classy

[@laurenceleadman4779]

The. English likes to argue my mom was English my would argue with anyone

[@voiceguy3635]

How great was Groucho--let's say--compared to Jimmy Fallon.

[@harlow743]

No Fenneman !!

[@gustavefrankfurter6462]

No wonder it didn't last. Groucho looked a bit lost. His style of wit doesn't quite match up with 1965 British wit.

[@papagen00]

As much as I enjoy watching the American YBYL, the British version is awkwardly unfunny.

[@ParanormalExplorer]

The guests seem to not care for humor as the Americans did.

[@dennisurbina7570]

Americans we laughed anything

[@edmundpower1250]

Groucho is creepy

[@foljs5858]

If you're a descendant of religious nuts protestants who were thrown out of Europe, and carry their guilt and shame about sex in them, then yes...

[@SwarthySkinnedOne]

Edmund Power K. You must be young.

[@adkforever6997]

@@SwarthySkinnedOne You must be right.

[@zacredman9137]

I'm a 49 year old woman and I don't think he's creepy at all!!!❤🔥💋

[@KJTV67]

@@SwarthySkinnedOne He must also be new here!