PASSWORD - Arlene Francis & Shelley Berman (Feb 13, 1962)

[@just4mygrl]

I never knew much of Arlene Francis, I'm a late fan of hers and now watching more of her, just love her!

[@rtususian]

Watch as many of the What's My Line episodes from the 50s and 60s as possible. Arlene is so naturally funny. During the mystery guest portion of one of the shows, Yul Brynner was the celebrity. Arlene asked him, do you have blond curly hair? When Bishop Fulton Sheen was a guest, through the questioning it came out that his TV sponsor was non profit, so Arlene asked incredulously, "Non-Profit? What a crazy sponsor you must have!"

[@zenaidalacuzong1918]

Likewise

[@zenaidalacuzong1918]

Love Arlene Francis I’m a fan

[@DavidEFarner]

❤️She is absolutely charming! ❤️ I’ve loved her since I was a little boy in the ‘60’s. ❤️

[@johnscanlan9335]

I grew up listening to Arlene Francis almost every day. She also had weekday radio program that my mother ALWAYS listened to. Needless to say, her program was very entertaining!

[@tjbnyc76]

SO MANY "Classic Arlene" moments in this episode. Besides the infamous "Chubby" moment, my favorite comes very early on: starting at 1:00 when she performs a spontaneous "striptease," and immediately thereafter being informed that her partner is a religious counselor! Her "save" is priceless. Berman is also very funny, and his partner is, too -- she reminds me of a road company Imogene Coca or Carol Burnett.

[@livianaotacilla1403]

Arlene was so beautiful ! The classiest woman of tv history

[@steveember8972]

She was so charming, classy, sharp, and beautiful! Chubby was fun, but mustn't forget Arlene's "Bust" moment! Have to imagine it would have been fun to be on one of Ms. Chapman's flights - even a short one ;-)

[@teddytodorova]

As I am binge watching What's my line I immediately thought of chicken plucker :D

[@lynettepalecek3141]

I watched Arlene Francis many, many times in "What's My Line?" on KZbin. She was always a very energetic, outgoing, and friendly person. If you see the heart shaped necklace she's wearing, her husband Martin Gable gave that to her. She wore it every day until a mugger stole it from her.

[@lennypearl]

This was a treat to watch! Arlene just lights up the screen!

[@jasonpaulotsky]

This has got to be one of my favorite ever episodes of Password!

[@jeffbaumann3289]

The "sweater" was absolutely hilarious! Arlene had the audience cracking up!!!! 😂😂

[@patriciamooney928]

Enjoyed this a lot. Arlene was just a ray of sunshine 🌞. In addition to the moments already pointed out, I love how she just says what she's thinking: Why didn't you just say chicken!

[@jacquelinebell6201]

Such a funny show. I'm loving seeing how many shows Arlene was on.

[@brandoncastro2441]

Love this game like to see Arlene on this game she was so beautiful and funny.

[@craigsrevens6797]

Arlene Francis. The First Lady of American Television. She was an amazing woman. Lovely and classy in every way. Rest in peace, dear lady.

[@sharksport01]

Betty White.

[@jasonhurd4379]

21:00: Why, oh why did no one say 'cardigan'? First thing that popped into my head!

[@rtususian]

I thought exactly that. If they had given the clue, "Argyle" the respondent might have said "socks" instead.

[@juanr9446]

The best episode of all

[@contraryMV]

I didn't expect Arlene to be so weak in the lightening round. Still love her, tho.

[@rtususian]

Yes she is so sharp on What's My Line that I was taken aback the first time I saw her do a lightning round on Password and she didn't do so well. However in the episode I saw from like 1967 she got better and better. Sometimes it takes people a little while to improve their playing skill.

[@moonlightray8493]

​@@rtususian To be fair, it's not very surprising that Arlene is poorly-practised at giving clues, since she was always on the guessing (i.e. clue-recieving) side of What's My Line.

[@MollyT119]

13:37 YES ARLENE!!!!! ❤️❤️❤️

[@Qermaq]

By way of comparison, Francis here is 55. Same age as Tilda Swinton and Kelly LeBrock and Jane Lynch are today.

[@SuperWinterborn]

Qermaq Arlene aged gracefully. Not with silicone and restylane as the latter in your comment. ;)

[@lawsonj39]

@ZoneFighter1 Google them.

[@tmmartinesq.6216]

She never had a pretty face.

[@DRIVEIN101]

I always loved Arlene Francis. She was so wonderful and charming

[@MoistMumble]

OH I'VE GOT IT!

[@voicetube]

A couple clues in for "pluck" I would've said either "eyebrows" or "tweezers"

[@jeffbaumann3289]

I was waiting for someone to say "feathers", as in plucking feathers.

[@voicetube]

@@jeffbaumann3289 that makes sense!

[@sharksport01]

I love how she is bossing Shelley about the show rules and one minute later spelling words.

[@eyextacy8412]

Horrible clues but damn they had fun! Good episode.

[@joyceadair3003]

I know. It made me wonder if maybe they just weren’t as worldly as people are now. They should be able to come up with a lot more clues. 🤷‍♀️

[@TheNomadicview]

The contestants seem more like actors than "real" people.

[@bubgum00]

I didn’t know that Password was on TV this early.

[@hifijohn]

first episode was in 61

[@drakea.5816]

Francis was known for wearing a heart-shaped diamond pendant, a gift from Gabel, which she wore on nearly all of her What's My Line appearances. A mugger robbed her of the pendant as she was leaving a New York City taxi in 1988.

[@lynettepalecek3141]

That's right. Sometimes she would blend in her necklace with whatever else she was wearing or hide it inside her dress in the neckline.

[@Linda98671]

Such clever people, I’m not! There is no way I could ever play this game! Love watching it though.

[@markmaki4460]

OMG better than the poop that passes for comedy in TV these days!

[@leesher1845]

Why didn’t somebody say pig for the word squeal?

[@fromthesidelines]

0:33- "....brought to you this evening by DUTCH MASTERS! Step up to finer smoking pleasure with Dutch Masters- the FINE cigar! And now, here's your host on 'PASSWORD'.....ALLEN LUDDEN!"

[@raymondclark6232]

1971 Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act,They can't show any Cigarette Ads on Television.I loved the old Dutch Master Jingle."Step up to Dutch Master.and Smile,Brother Smile" I seen it on You Tube.I just born in the world in 1965,

[@rtususian]

I'm old enough to remember cigarette and cigar commercials on TV. I love the ones from the 1950s where they say 4 out of 5 DOCTORS recommend so-and-so cigarettes!! And the Flintstones was originally sponsored by a cigarette company!!

[@joycejean-baptiste4355]

When did Miss Frances sleep I wonder. She was on, I've got a secret, and What's my line, and Password in addition to being in plays, movies and other T. V. shows. What energy she had.

[@dinahbrown902]

She was also a wife and mother 😊

[@joycejean-baptiste4355]

@@dinahbrown902 Amazing!

[@hifijohn]

shouldnt it be checkers instead of checker??

[@leesher1845]

That flight attendant was obnoxious.

[@neenanorto3399]

I'm with you Jason H.Why oh why indeed 🤕

[@just4mygrl]

Kenneth reminds me of Sean Hayes lol

[@soulierinvestments]

Why didn't someone say Chicken?

[@alskndlaskndal]

soulierinvestments or duck, for the rhyme. :-)

[@tjbnyc76]

soulierinvestments If Bennett had been on, he would have said "sheep." ;)

[@tjbnyc76]

soulierinvestments By the way, I LOVE this episode for all of the priceless Arlene moments, and Berman's comedy; the contestants are nice and supply some (often inadvertent) fun moments of their own, but MAN...are they DENSE.

[@contraryMV]

No kidding. Or feathers, or eyebrows.

[@Troy345]

Pizzicato or defeather... I was literally screaming at the tv...

[@Norfolk250]

Worst episode for clues and answers. Golly!

[@4seeableTV]

Love Arlene. But the fast round wasn't her finest moment. 14:58 Easy to second guess, sure, but these were child's play. Obvious clues: Sketch for 'Draw' Identical for 'Twins' And she said Santa Claus for 'Whiskers'. ???? I think she'd had a cocktail or two before the program. She was really good on the panel shows, but these type of one on one shows that required more skill weren't really a comfortable fit for her. And that's not saying she wasn't smart. She was. And she had a good sense of humor. But you need to be zeroed in on a show like password, like Betty White or someone similar.

[@harlankrissoff9966]

I guess this early, no one had the option to pass or play. You had to play. So where did the name Password come from?

[@elspethcoogan1499]

Because players passed one version of a word to another..?

[@leesher1845]

Why on earth didn’t somebody say “chicken” for the word pluck??

[@Edward-bm7vw]

I probably would have said "feather"

[@jacquelinebell6201]

That's all I could think of. They got a bit stuck.

[@lennypearl]

I would have said “defeather”, but I guess when you’re in a studio under pressure, the most simplest of solutions (like “chicken”) just never comes to mind

[@jaysmith1408]

Shell-Berman! Would only make sense with him as the contestant.

[@voicetube]

Okay, I personally think this might be pretty clever… How about after maybe at least two or three fails at "Sweater" somebody says "perspirer…"

[@elizabethbowen7094]

How about "cardigan" ? You couldn't miss.

[@voicetube]

@@elizabethbowen7094 agreed!

[@johnmonkus4600]

Ah-ha! The non linearity of the horizontal is from the camera! This is a video tape, not a kinescope, which is a movie of a CRT. It took a while before such things were noticed. CCD cameras and flat panel displays have a perfect raster built in physically, unlike CRTs and camera tubes that depend on imperfectly tuned circuits to generate a virtual raster . All kinds of problems with the edges of the picture are also visible that were never seen at the time of broadcast, for TV's didn' t show the edges. Lens turret cameras frequently have black corners.

[@soulierinvestments]

I don't know. Arlene can be kinda disruptive in this game. And Berman gets emotional on both ends of the spectrum. Reminds me of that time on WML 1963 when he got hysterical during the questioning of that rocking chair manufacturer.

[@rtususian]

This was very early on in Password's history, notice how Allen Ludden has to explain the rules more than the way he usually does? However I thought that proper names weren't allowed, at least early on in the show's run, but I guess I was mistaken.

[@rtususian]

You have to remember, this is one of the very first Password episodes. The American public and the players had to get adjusted to the parameters of the game. And notice how Alan goes into more detail about the rules of the game than he does in later episodes?

[@lindaroper2654]

The girl on the first round acted dinggey.

[@garfieldharrison510]

Back then certain mediocre entertainers got away with being silly and a smile. All of a sudden they were Entertainers. Really?

[@calvinsweet3400]

Worse players ever!

[@tporchia6663]

Ever since I found out of the 2 deaths associated with Arlene, I see her in a different way.

[@WhatsMyLine]

In what possible respect? Arlene wasn't responsible in any way for either accident-- she wasn't even present when the dumbbell incident happened. If your opinion of someone fundamentally changes because of accidents that the person has absolutely no responsibility for, then I'd suggest you're being unduly and unfairly moralistic. Accidents happen.

[@MollyT119]

And the car accident also wasn’t her fault...it was raining heavily that day, her car (likely rear wheel drive, as most were then) hydroplaned, and she wasn’t able to gain control of it. She suffered a serious head injury and broken bones, and said she had no recollection of the accident, other than faintly remembering flashing lights afterwards. It affected her a lot and she had a VERY hard time dealing with the aftermath of it, psychologically.

[@randysills4418]

These contestants are not very good...

[@lynettepalecek3141]

I'm surprised that Allen Ludden didn't have a quip at the end of this episode.

[@lindaroper2654]

Arlene didn't bother to clap when Allen come out. She seem not friendly on what's my line when others on the panel come out ,she didn't smile.

[@mollydion8311]

I love this show!! But hate how silly, stupid, goofy the women contestants act.

[@youminholastransit3218]

Bruh. How???

[@cubematrixstudio7605]

Arlene Francis sucked at this game.

[@lynettepalecek3141]

I would have said "cashmere" and "turtleneck" for "sweater."

[@lynettepalecek3141]

I would have said "two" and then "identical" for "twins."

[@lennypearl]

And “defeather” for “pluck”!