What's My Line? - Dan Topping; Walter Pidgeon (Aug 26, 1956)

MYSTERY GUEST: Dan Topping [part owner of the NY Yankees]; Walter Pidgeon [film actor]
PANEL: Dorothy Kilgallen, Robert Q. Lewis, Arlene Francis, Bennett Cerf

[@steveember8972]

What a classy, gracious gent, Walter Pidgeon!

[@benjamintzs]

Walter Pidgeon’s voice was the real thing

[@timerover4633]

Walter Pidgeon was fantastic in Forbidden Planet, one of the finest science fiction movies ever made.

[@danielfronc4304]

Time Rover Amen to that! At a time when they couldn't get any help from CGI.

[@stanmaxkolbe]

HOOAH!

[@Tessmage_Tessera]

Spectacular film.

[@brandonflorida1092]

Correct as you stated it! It had just come out when this episode was made. Too bad they didn't think it worth mentioning, but this was back in the days when science fiction was treated as a low genre.

[@NizFam]

I love the terms "Legitimate Theatre"... and "Lively Arts".

[@Merrida100]

It's amazing to see the jobs that people do by hand back then compared to what's been automated in today's world.

[@SD-yc1zr]

Phoebe Blunk. Now that's a great name!

[@Carl.Henriksson]

I've only seen him in The Last Time I Saw Paris, but damn what an incredible actor already, judging from that movie.

[@joncheskin]

Phoebe Blunk is attractive but also commands authority. I could definitely see her as a cop.

[@MrSceneNine]

@@robertcarran9585 Glad to see I'm not the only one who saw that resemblance.

[@lllowkee6533]

Walter Pigeon and Greer Garson stared in MRS MINIVER, 1942 WWII themed movie. My favorite!

[@danielfronc4304]

Walter Pidgeon. The definition of a true man. Men wanted to be like him and women wanted to be with him. He had a great and classic career!

[@olie171]

And some men wanted to be with him. 😏

[@accomplice55]

@Jeepman89: I believe about half of what was in Scotty's book. Do you really think that the whole Tracy & Hepburn relationship was fake? I'll never believe that.

[@accomplice55]

@Jeepman89: Saying that she liked women is not the same as saying that her relationship with Spence was all for show.

[@sansacro007]

@@accomplice55 Indeed. For both.

[@Widda68]

Cerf was presumably very successful as head of Random House publishers. --and a good player, because of his close ties to the New York entertainment scene, He always knew the latest news of Broadway plays., moves, sports, others in the headlines) HE was a bit of a stodgy nerd. But he was always interesting to watch .

[@61pwcc]

Walter Pidgeon = CLASS!

[@m.e.d.7997]

Absolutely. Lovely man. A rare breed nowadays

[@fanboy2015]

Walter Pidgeon was a cool guy.

[@briancollins1579]

+George Alexander real class...

[@gbrumburgh]

A rare mistake on John Daly's part in accidentally revealing that there were two mystery challengers instead of one by using a plural word.

[@lopa2828]

He used the words "they" and "guests" accidentally two times for the first contestants

[@bluecamus5162]

It's the first time I've seen him blow that, but it's surely understandable.

[@neilmidkiff]

Whatever one's personal reaction to Robert Q. Lewis (I'm always glad to see him on a show), it's undeniable that he was a sharp game player and a real asset to the panel. This episode shows him at just about the peak of his intuition. And he was able to keep things light and funny without disrupting the flow of the game. A comic like Jack E. Leonard might have been funnier in a night club than Q (I have no evidence on this guess) but on WML, Leonard comes across to me as self-serving and intrusive, not at all interested in the game, and so his wisecracks are more annoying than they are humorous in my opinion. It's no surprise to me why Goodson and Todman employed Q so often.

[@belindaalbright8798]

I have to agree with you. In fact, many of the comedians who appeared on the panel were less than desirable and quite full of themselves. Robert Q. should have been offered a permanent seat on the panel and perhaps he was. Q. brought much to the show with his wit and level of intelligence. I noticed too many panelists weren't capable of the quick thinking required to ask relevant questions. Perhaps we are spoiled by the skillful abilities of Dorothy, Arlene and Bennett.

[@drumbum3.142]

@@belindaalbright8798 How Could One.. that Is Haughty, Pompous, and (Unfortunately) At Times Just Plain Downright Rude; Not to Mention Condescending (Towards the Guests) be an Asset to ANY show ?... Just Curious.

[@riggerparish]

@@drumbum3.142 That’s Some Serious Capitalization. Good Job!

[@drumbum3.142]

@@riggerparish haww! That's NOTHIN! . You Outta See me.. no... (🤔); read me - --- from Washington DC! *ESPECIALLY During the previous pathetic presidency ! ...

[@lllowkee6533]

Comedians were just the worse panelist…always seeking attention. Groucho Marx was the very worse! Hal Block right behind him and he was often vulgar.🤯

[@ihatey0utube]

i miss quoting "poof! there goes perspiration!" :(((

[@donaldwarren463]

and yes, Walter could sing, in early Hollywood films, he was often singing ..

[@dafrieze]

He studied at the Boston Conservatory of Music in hopes of being an opera singer.

[@jasonplatt2228]

He was also the first person to record the vocal of Irving Berlin's song "What'll I Do" and is available on KZbin. I'm surprised that, usually knowledgable, host John Daly wasn't aware of that part of Walter Pidgeon's career.

[@preppysocks209]

Walter Pidgeon starred in "Saratoga," in 1937, with a gang of MGM stars, Clark Gable and Hattie McDaniel two years before Gone with the Wind and Frank Morgan and Margaret Hamilton two years before The Wizard of Oz, Jean Harlow, and Lionel Barrymore. Pidgeon, not an MGM contract player, was Harlow's fiance, although Gable of course wins her in the end. About 90% of the way through production, while filming a scene with Pidgeon, Harlow collapsed, primarily due to kidney disease. She died a week later. A body double and another actress who impersonated her voice allowed the film to be finished with Harlow's scenes.

[@bluecamus5162]

I couldn't figure what play Walter was talking about, but here it is... "Kyle Crichton (father of Robert Crichton) adapted the story (My Philadelphia Father) into a play called The Happiest Millionaire,[7] which opened on Broadway on November 20, 1956, at the Lyceum Theatre. Walter Pidgeon portrayed Anthony J. Drexel Biddle and George Grizzard played Angie. It was Pidgeon's first appearance on Broadway in 21 years, and MGM obtained film rights in exchange for permitting him to appear in the play........ The New York Times called the production "decent and amusing" and Pidgeon "wonderful."[10] The production ran for 271 performances, closing on July 13, 1957."

[@sz5876]

Almost 70 years ago, wow

[@keithnaylor1981]

Walter Pidgeon starred in two landmark movies: Forbidden Planet, the best sci-fi movie until 2001 A Space Odyssey came along in 1968, and one of the greatest Victorian dramas ever made That Forsyte Woman 1949, with Greer Garson and Errol Flynn.

[@dustypink4802]

Walter Pidgeon played Mr Biddle on the stage?!?! Greer Garson played Mrs Biddle in the film! Why, oh why couldn't he have played Mr. Biddle in the film too?! Then we couldn't have had another Garson and Pidgeon film. Oh the possibilities!

[@DDumbrille]

Perhaps Pidgeon would've preferred to play Mrs. Biddle? Oh the possibilities!

[@Beson-SE]

Dorothy: Do you sing? Walter Pidgeon: If they want to empty a theatre. :) 16:21

[@jasonplatt2228]

He had a self-deprecating sense of humor and was modest about his talents but he had a wonderful singing voice although he sang in a style that would be considered old-fashioned by the time this show aired in the 1950s.

[@ruthwayneperry3097]

I've got to check out that HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE. I loved the one with Fred MacMurray. Didn't know about another one.

[@williamsnyder5616]

Two men responsible for anguish in Boston, Washington, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City as their Wehrmacht, er, Yankees, marched through the American, League in the 1950s (eight pennants in ten years).

[@FergusMcDopey]

Such a gentleman, that Mr. Pidgeon. So hunky too in Mrs Miniver & Madame Curie. He and Ms Garson were a fabulous and sorta sexy pairing. If that questionable book is true, my heavens, that's all the hotter!

[@SoloPilot6]

This week's episode brought to you by Krell Concentrate.

[@michellecalling]

Bennett has got the cutest smile. Isn't he dreamy?

[@neilphelan145]

@@robertcarran9585 Creepy is a great description.

[@gailsirois7175]

No

[@mehboobkm2018]

He was the nicest

[@ChrisHansonCanada]

Pompous snoot is my description of him

[@sherlockhomo-ph4su]

What the hell, are you drunk??

[@observerguy5031]

Webb and Topping along with Larry MacPhail bought the Yankees from the Ruppert estate in 1945. Two years later Webb and Topping bought out MacPhail. They sold the Yankees to CBS in 1964. George Steinbrenner led an investor group that bought the Yankees from CBS in 1973.

[@SuperWinterborn]

@Observer Guy: They seem to be a couple of quite cynical Businessmen to me..

[@paulmccool378]

SuperWinterborn They were. Aside from owning the Yankees, they made their money as property developers, and building contractors. One of their bigger projects in the 1940's was a WWII-era Internment Camp to hold Japanese Americans near Parker, Arizona.

[@jvcomedy]

Steinbrenner paid a "whopping" $10 million for the Yankees. They're now worth in the $2.5 billion range. Not a bad return on investment.

[@loissimmons6558]

Webb and Topping supplied the capital to help Larry MacPhail (the baseball man of the three) to buy the Yankees in 1945. Topping became well-acquainted with MacPhail when both were key figures of teams that played at Ebbets Field. Webb became acquainted with MacPhail during WWII when they met in Washington when each of them were there to discuss wartime government contracts. As it was said about MacPhail by his own family members, when sober he was a genius, with one drink he was brilliant and with two or more he was a maniac. And since he was probably an alcoholic (based on his behavior patterns), he usually didn't stop at one. A couple of incidents when he was drunk after the Yankees won the 1947 World Series led Webb and Topping to buy him out. MacPhail never returned to baseball. He owned a thoroughbred horse stable in Maryland and became President of Bowie Race Track until more drunken episodes finished him in that position and even had him barred from the track. Webb was mostly a silent partner whose primary interest was his construction business out west. His name was known with the Yankees strictly because he was half-owner, so Webb and Topping were often named in tandem. He was more likely to attend league meetings representing the Yankees as his contribution to the leadership of the team. And it was Webb who sided with GM George Weiss to hire Casey Stengel as manager in 1949 over Topping's objections. Topping was a rich kid who was an heir to his mother's fortune (from Topping's grandfather) in the tin industry. As someone with money and no particular field of endeavor, he indulged himself by purchasing sports teams. Before the Yankees, he was part owner (and eventually sole owner) of the Brooklyn Dodgers football team in the NFL starting in 1934. At the end of WWII, now that he was a co-owner of the baseball Yankees, he desired to move his football team to Yankee Stadium, which had over twice as many seats as Ebbets Field. But the ownership of the New York Giants football team blocked the move. Instead, Topping moved his team into the new All-American Football Conference and renamed them the New York Yankees. However, when the AAFC was absorbed by the NFL in 1950, the Yankees were not one of the teams that survived. At this point, his football team folded and he concentrated his sports attentions to the Yankees. Topping also indulged his interest in women with six marriages, his first to an heiress (money attracts money), and also over the years to actresses Arline Judge and Kay Sutton, and to one of the best known figure skaters of all time, Sonja Heine. For a bio of Topping, here is the one on the website of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR): sabr.org/bioproj/person/f12c897a Unlike Topping, Webb started out in life as a working man who built his construction business from the bottom up. Here is the SABR bio on him: sabr.org/bioproj/person/db1a9611

[@waldolydecker8118]

CBS was out of its lane "managing" a baseball club and ended up literally giving the team away to Steinbrenner for a song and dance. CBS repeated its incompetence a couple of decades later when it gave away its hold on NFL broadcasts to FOX because it figured FOX could never win the contract because they had no announcers on staff. CBS was too stupid to understand that once FOX won the contract, the NFL and FOX would simply have the courts release CBS's announcers from their contracts to join FOX.

[@markxxx21]

What a difference a few years makes from praising the police in 56 at at Chicago to vilifying them in Chicago in 68

[@jerrylee8261]

Will slap myself and not make a political post thus incurring the wrath of Gary.😊

[@sansacro007]

More than a few years. Complicated times, dose late 60s. (As we "look forward" -- or not-- to 2024's Chicago's likely debacle). [Wonder how this post will wear.]

[@neilmidkiff]

Gary, Del Webb should be added to the mystery guest list in the video description, and to the title if space permits.

[@erichanson426]

John did a blooper😆

[@bigwilson8794]

Arlene had a "part time" home in Mt. Kisco. In those days it was "in the country". Today it is most certainly "suburban"

[@loissimmons6558]

And she had just given her NYC apartment address earlier in the month on the episode that originated in Chicago with the political campaign button maker.

[@dh3279]

What a classy gentleman. And what a voice.

[@Merrida100]

Goodness gracious, still pushing two guests on one little seat. These poor men! This must be so uncomfortable.

[@slaytonp]

These days too few two people would fit in one chair well enough to maintain a sitting position on one cheek only.

[@nancymilawski1048]

I read somewhere that they actually had a different chair that was slightly larger so 2 people could sit on it as long as they were quite close together.

[@adamodeo9320]

Arlene is 50 here and looks very much younger

[@sansacro007]

Class and stunning with a killer sense of humor and sly flirtatious style.

[@Night-Tid3]

What a beautiful policewonan

[@janetmarletto6667]

Del Webb is well-known in California for developing planned communities among other business interests.

[@drzarkov39]

Daly never saw the Oscar Meyer Weiner Mobile --- a hot dog on wheels.

[@henrywyche]

Phoebe reminds me of Jodie Foster

[@Rhonda9199]

I can see that too!

[@Banks-gd1in]

I agree

[@sandrageorge3488]

A little, she does.

[@paulmorin6569]

Definite resemblance

[@amberola1b]

John says hes never seen one, meaning a hot dog, with a wheel. I guess this was way before the Oscar Meyer wienermobile

[@orgonkothewildlyuntamed6301]

i'm guessing it was too much trouble to have someone bring out a 2nd chair after the panel blindfolded

[@joeambrose3260]

G and T were notorious skinflints, the stage chairs were hand me downs from St Catherines on 42nd st

[@lethaluks2942]

I never understood why if there are two guests that they have to share a chair!

[@ChrisHansonCanada]

Phoebe Blunk looked like a prettier version of Nellie Oleson. I couldn't help noticing the widow's peak on Walter Pidgeon. I have always found that attractive.

[@krasnykavkaz]

I'm surprised that Bennett didn't twig to the Yankees' owners, but, then again, he was a Giants fan, apparently...

[@loissimmons6558]

I'm not sure who Bennett rooted for. He was very knowledgeable about baseball in general. In interviews he has stated that his father was a semi-pro baseball player with enough skill to get a tryout with the Dodgers and come close to making the majors. The reason he didn't pick up on the identity of the first challengers was that they hadn't narrowed it down that far yet. But when Robert Q. Lewis correctly identified that they were the Yankees owners, it was Bennett that helped him out with the names, which Lewis obviously didn't have at his fingertips. Bennett also knew that the Yankees had rather coldheartedly released Phil Rizzuto (who had appeared on Goodson-Todman shows occasionally: he was the Mystery Guest on the premier episode of WML) on Old Timers' Day the day before this episode. It was one of the most classless moves made by an organization known for its class. They not only released Rizzuto, they actually went through the charade of asking him into their office to discuss who should be dropped from the roster to make room for veteran outfielder Enos Slaughter, who they had just reacquired from Kansas City. Rizzuto named player after player until he realized, after hearing them give reasons why those players couldn't be dropped, that he had been set up and the player to be dropped was him. While fans were outraged, Rizzuto was advised to not knock the Yankees for the move. The move paid off almost immediately. In September 1956, Rizzuto filled in as a broadcaster for the NY Giants to replace Frankie Frisch when Frisch had a heart attack. The Yankees sponsor, Ballantine, insisted that the Yankees add Scooter to their broadcasting team for the 1957. Had he knocked the Yankees months earlier, it is doubtful they would have been so willing to hire Rizzuto as one of their announcers.

[@johnnyboyUS]

Why is Dan Topping mentioned in the title, but not Del Webb?

[@jackseward7779]

Inyeresting that Mr, Pidgeon did not plug Forbidden Planet - released in March. Perhaps because it was not an immediate success that year?

[@beadyeyedbrat]

Dorothy was much cuter with the simpler hairstyles.

[@Bigbadwhitecracker]

I would have much preferred Pidgeon in The Happiest Millionaire to MacMurray in the Disney Film. I wish I could have attended one of those 271 performances at the Schubert Theater.

[@krystonjones]

"Yes I would say that it would be safe to say that knowing as we do the wide dispersal of women in all kinds of endeavours....” I would say, with his permission, that it would be safe to say that no one loved the sound of his own rambling more than Daly per se, in and of himself, excluding others, that may or may not agree with, not withstanding those that may be inclined to agree but may be otherwise indisposed to ascertain the veracity of this said statement.

[@sansacro007]

It was also a schtick; he was very skilled and amusing at (mostly!) not giving it away.

[@buddhistsympathizer1136]

Praising the Police's actions on television . . . oh, what a different world . . .

[@youtuber5305]

Wasn't 1956 when Pidgeon's movie FORBIDDEN PLANET came out?

[@ChrisHansonCanada]

21:15 WARNING: Handling too many wieners makes your ears grow.

[@theamishumpire1301]

Is Dell Webb the man who started Dell Web over 50's living communities?

[@amybrown7723]

The Amish Umpire I know he built Sun City and it's many retirement community offshoots in Arizona but I'm not sure if that's the same thing as what you're asking

[@10lassie]

+The Amish Umpire Also Las Vegas casino The Mint .

[@loissimmons6558]

+The Amish Umpire Yes. Del Webb who co-owned the Yankees is the same person who owned Del E. Webb Construction Co. and built Sun City, other housing communities, the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas for Bugsy Siegel and later owned three casinos of his own (two in Vegas and one near Lake Tahoe), and also started chains of motels and hotels. He was primarily active in the western part of the country and other than the fact that he was a big baseball fan, there is nothing specifically that would seem to link him to Topping (who was from the NYC area), nor either of them to Larry MacPhail who was a third co-owner with them from 1945 to 1947 when Webb and Topping bought him out. The only tangible connection was that Webb and Topping both had money and MacPhail (with the baseball acumen) was always looking for people with money to help him get back into baseball. Since Topping was the only one of the two who was local to New York, he served as Team President from 1947-1966, staying on in that role for two years after Webb and Topping sold the team to, ironically, CBS. It was a sale that long-time Yankee fans rue as it brought on a down period in team history.

[@dcasper8514]

The Amish Umpire. I wondered that too.

[@Lindsaybkk]

Walter Pidgeon died 1984 aged 87 so in 1956 he was 59? 😬 They didn't age well in those days did they

[@eggszavieyah]

After watching more than a few of these WML shows, noticing on those occasions when there was more than one guest at one time. I wonder why the studio and/or network couldn't come up with an extra chair or chairs? A needless oversight of a basic accommodation.

[@jblue705]

Xavier I know, it seems so strange to me 🤷‍♂️

[@accomplice55]

I wish I had a dollar for every time this question was asked.

[@ChrisHansonCanada]

Because the panel would have seen the extra chair added and would have known more than one person was coming out.

[@eggszavieyah]

@@ChrisHansonCanada What you say makes sense before the panel is told to put the masks on ... and I ask, how far away is the TV stage crew, and how heavy is another chair to slip in with the guests ... this is not planning for brain surgery... simple accommodations. 😁

[@sandy3482]

when asked to put on their blind folds for the 1st guest the panel always groan, why is that? these two were great owners but they sold to CBS which ruined the Yankees for years until George Steinbrenner brought success back to the Yanks

[@woodykelleher9253]

ONE BABE OF A COP!!

[@woodykelleher9253]

Time to feel a cop!

[@ruthkidney3582]

I love how liberated without the so called 'movement'. The 60's was so false about 'liberation'. Terrible what it did to our society!

[@lilybean5824]

x

[@joeambrose3260]

"Be sure to watch the Ernie Kovacs show on another network".Are you shitting me ?

[@accomplice55]

I'm not sure what your question is. They always said things like that on TV, in the 50s and 60s, at least.

[@joeambrose3260]

@@accomplice55 Sorry, Jeff Bezos and I had the misfortune of being born in 1964

[@sansacro007]

@@joeambrose3260 sad for you. '64 was a landmark year! [Kovacs, btw, was great]