What's My Line? - Gracie Fields; Laraine Day [panel] (May 1, 1955)

MYSTERY GUEST: Gracie Fields
PANEL: Dorothy Kilgallen, Fred Allen, Laraine Day, Bennett Cerf

[@mikejschin]

Joe Foss was a legend in the Marine Corps and was the leading ace in the Pacific Theater in WWII. In recognition for his role in the battle of Guadalcanal, Foss received the Congressional Medal of Honor. He and his group of 8 F4F Wildcats (known as Foss's Flying Circus) shot down 72 Japanese planes in a 3 month period, 26 of them credited to Foss. After an illustrious post-war career, he passed away on January 1, 2003 at the age of 87 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. RIP, from a fellow Marine.

[@stanmaxkolbe]

HOOAH! From an Retired Army Cavalry Dogface.

[@mikejschin]

@@stanmaxkolbe Greetings, Stanley. Good to hear from you. Incidentally, my grandfather was in the cavalry, though in a somewhat older form than yours. He was a cavalryman in the Austro-Hungarian army in the early 20th century. Horses and sabers and things like that.

[@conservativevicki7612]

Thank you so much for that lovely and well-deserved tribute to one of our Nation's heroes. And I'm very grateful for your service, too, for you are also a National hero. Please allow me to share with you, that my dad was also a hero. He fought in WW II and the Korean War (people died, so I refuse to call it a conflict). He was a POW in Korea for just short of 3 years, and died at the age of 53 (1971) as a result of the treatment during that time. Mom said he had 2 Purple Hearts, but but we kids never saw them; he didn't talk about any of this. And I'm grateful, too, @mikejschin, for your grandfather's service, another hero!

[@mikejschin]

@@conservativevicki7612 Your father was a true hero. I salute him and extend my sincerest condolences to you and the rest of his family for the loss you suffered because of his service.

[@bigoldinosaur]

HOOAH!!!

[@stangibell4274]

"WML?" is an extraordinary tool for learning. This is my second time through watching in chronological order. Never thought much the show when I was growing up even as some of its scripted one-liners entered everyday jargon. I remember my mother and sometimes my dad watching while my brother and I were in another room. Watching now, I appreciate the more than obvious reasons for its popularity. Only today did I read about Joe Foss and remember that when he became more well known nationally, I didn't particularly care for the group in which he moved. Maybe one of the reasons I like the show now is for provoking so many forgotten memories of people, places, and things; a worthwhile venture for the twilight years.

[@TheNomadicview]

I can't thank you enough for uploading these shows. Not only are they entertaining but they recall a time when people seemed quite a bit more polite and intelligent.

[@AaronHahnStudios]

well said.

[@leesher1845]

Funny segment on the woman who was the showgirls dresser. The governor of South Dakota seemed so refined. There aren’t too many senators I can think of today who would’ve come even close to him.

[@orrieleejones6996]

With he’s back ground and life before being a governor was AMAZING AND SO BRAVE

[@TheGreatAtario]

Today I realized there was such a thing as a secondhand locomotive trade

[@earlenepeterson8065]

Thank God for every Metal of Honor person. I salute you.

[@twinsonic]

"Medal"

[@stevekru6518]

I also salute the Metal of Honor people. No typo. Many Transuranic metals were named after great people including Curie, Lawrence, Einstein, Fermi, Rutherford, Bohr. Given a choice I’d surely prefer joining the list of metals, not Medals, of honor, but recognize I lack the intelligence to join the former, and courage to join the latter.

[@waldolydecker8118]

My nosy neighbor is probably a first ballot Meddle of Honor person, but I would not salute her for that achievement.

[@erichanson426]

The way the 2nd player said no to Fred Allen as to whether he could do her job was priceless.

[@kasperjoonatan6014]

Well, Fred asked if he could learn to do it and I think the answer was incorrect. Even if he was not allowed in the dressing room he could learn it elsewhere.

[@Beson-SE]

Laraine Day was at this time still married to Leo Durocher, who was the first person ever to appear twice as a MG (1951 and 1953).

[@Baskerville22]

What's a "MG" ?

[@Beson-SE]

@@Baskerville22 Mystery Guest

[@andrewthornhill7042]

Loved Gracie Fields! I remember when she died. A real character! When we visited Capri we attempted a pilgrimage!!

[@ArmenianBishop]

That'd be her Capri retirement home, La Canzone Del Mare. For many years, Roman Emperor Tiberius (42 BC -- 37 AD) lived at Villa Jovis, on Capri island.

[@Flyingcar100]

It felt weird for him to say 48 states.

[@loissimmons6558]

Sigh. It's what I originally learned.

[@caitlinfitzpatrick836]

John Francis Daly? The man had 5 names, and Bennett managed to create a 6th for him tonight.

[@soulierinvestments]

Among other things that Governor Foss did, he eventually became a general and the president of the National Rifle Association. According to Wikipedia, during Foss's term as governor, he accompanied a high school student named Tom Brokow, who also belonged to the South Dakota Boys State, to New York for a joint appearance on -- of all things -- "Two for the Money," (!) that game show that Fred nearly hosted, which featured Foss because of his wartime celebrity. It would be darned interesting to know if that episode got kinescoped and survived.

[@418-Error]

I'm surprised no comments mention the Medal of Honor. Fixed now.

[@jennymode]

@@418-Error I did.

[@juliansinger]

Confession: I had always vaguely assumed the Latin Quarter was a district, not one specific night club. But it was! Owned by Barbara Walters' father, it rivaled the Copacabana, at its height. Which was basically the 40s and 50s. But now I know! Mrs. Oldham was 48 here? Seems a bit older. But it looks as if she's the Oldham who re-married someone named Olson in the 60s, after her first husband died. Though I don't know if this Mrs. Oldham I found makes sense, because she and Mr. Oldham lived in Mastic, which is about an hour from New York City itself. So possibly not. Anyway, if it is her, she died in 2003, after outliving both her husbands by decades. (She and Mr. Oldham had 4 kids.)

[@michellecalling]

That's right. Hawaii and Alaska were not part of the union yet.

[@soulierinvestments]

Gil Fates, in his book on WML, wrote that Cerf, Francis, Kilgallen tended to play the game straight and leave the yocks to Hal March and the Allens, So when they came up with funny things, it was a bonanza. The second game was bonanza night as far as Dorothy and Bennett are concerned. LOLOF. Lorraine Day. Bright woman. Not just another pretty face, boys.

[@WhatsMyLine]

I've been rereading the book recently to refresh my memory of the show-- helps me keep up with the comments. :) It's a great read, I just wish he spent a little less of the book on the syndicated version. I find it really amusing how he spends pages and pages on detailed technical explanations about TV production that are patently obvious to people now. E.g., he goes on and on about the vagaries of distributing videotaped programs via syndication, explaining how they received hundreds of letters from offended viewers whenever episodes with Bennett Cerf aired after he'd died.

[@conservativevicki7612]

I didn't know about the book, so I'm going to get a copy and start reading it. I really enjoy the show so much. I love how the men stood to shake hands with the guests, and the women rose to shake the hands of special guests to show respect when it was appropriate. I also absolutely love the beautiful clothes and jewelry the women wore. Everyone was so polite; it was just a different era that I doubt we'll ever see again. Sigh....@@WhatsMyLine

[@lindanitzschke1315]

I live in Sioux Falls, not far from Joe Foss Field, our airport, and I get to see jets come in low over my 4th (top) floor apt. in preparation for landing at said airport, where our fighter jets are also stationed, and boy do those fighters scream when they take off from Joe Foss Field, heading out, over my apt.!

[@songanddanceman100]

Gracie Fields should have stuck around.

[@robertjean5782]

WML NOT a talk show😊

[@patriciamooney928]

I never heard of Gracie Field's. Thank you.

[@robertknight2556]

You only had to briefly google before leaving your comment. Rather belatedly, but to enlighten you: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gracie_Fields

[@neilmidkiff]

For those who don't recognize Gracie Fields and are puzzled by Bennett's reference to an aspidistra, here is a clip of her 22 years later doing the song she entertained with for decades: kzbin.info/www/bejne/onmxXo2Hr9B9gLc British music hall is a tradition we don't much follow in the USA...kind of like vaudeville, and very much dependent on personality and audience connection. Her Northern England (Lancashire) accent is very evident to my ear, and I've read that the working class audiences in industrial cities took her to their hearts as "our Gracie" as she was among the first cinema stars to succeed with a regional accent rather than the "received pronunciation" upper class accent usually heard on stage and screen.

[@CoxJoxSox]

Mr Voss has quite an impressive WW2 ace pilot history - look him up

[@sandrageorge3488]

I thought it was Foss

[@lanef58]

@@sandrageorge3488 Yes, it is Foss

[@jennymode]

The "regular" guests should have had the opportunity to shake hands with the panel afterwards. A natural instinct, many turn towards them. And there are so many very illustrious guests- he was a governor, arranged military exercises and received the Medal of Honor. Wow! Compared to a movie star. I remember a woman guest who was an internationally recognized war correspondent, embedded with paratroopers, survived a concentration camp... and she didn't "qualify" to shake hands either. There.

[@mikejschin]

I agree 100%. Fortunately, they changed the procedure later so that "ordinary" guests shook hands with the panel on the way out. Too bad they didn't start doing it sooner. btw, the war correspondent you refer to was Brigitte Friang, whose life story was incredible. The panel would have received a great honor if they had been able to shake hands with her.

[@loissimmons6558]

A few miles south of the Polo Grounds where the Giants staged a marathon victory, the Dodgers scored a run in the bottom of the 8th to beat the Braves, 5-4, and put them 5½ games ahead of the Braves and Cardinals. The Dodgers put together 3 singles in the decisive frame to win the game. The winning blow was a pinch hit by George "Shotgun" Shuba. The Dodgers didn't lose a game all week. After sitting idle for two days, they beat the Reds on Wednesday, the Cubs on Thursday and Saturday (more rain on Friday, no doubt) and the Braves on Sunday: all at Ebbets Field. The four victories were the start of an 11 game winning streak, not long after a 10 game winning streak was stopped. It put their record at 15-2 and the best was yet to come. In the Thursday game against the Cubs, once again the Dodgers won due to one inning of offensive outburst. Trailing 2-0 after 6½ innings, the Dodgers broke the shutout when Duke Snider led off with a double and came around to score on a fly ball and a ground ball. Singles by Gil Hodges and Jackie Robinson kept the inning alive and Carl Furillo brought everyone home with a three run home run. and that was all the scoring for the day. On Saturday, home runs by Hodges, Snider and Robinson staked Russ Meyer to a 7-2 lead and he barely hung on in a 3-run 9th by the Cubs to notch a complete game victory, 7-5.

[@stanmaxkolbe]

WTF has this to do with WML?

[@juliansinger]

@@stanmaxkolbe I don't know about Lois's reasons for posting about it, but I find it interesting and relevant; at least two of the panelists were huge baseball fans, and it was a real background to the year. Several Giants and Dodgers players appeared on WML, and the season is occasionally mentioned.

[@stanmaxkolbe]

@@juliansinger Oh ok my Bad! Sorry.

[@juliansinger]

@@stanmaxkolbe No worries! (As it turns out, having watched forward a bit, Lois is also posting this in such detail because WML could (and arguably should) have had Dodgers on once they won the World Series, and didn't. (And had Joe DiMaggio on instead.) So it's also a first-fandom passion.)

[@bigoldinosaur]

It still blows me away to think that really not that long ago we only had 48 states.

[@peace-now]

Gracie sang the Maori Folk Song "Now is the Hour".

[@michaelbarnhart2593]

Laraine Day was beautiful! Love her hairstyle. :-)

[@MerleOberon]

Yes, very timeless beauty!

[@rogeroge50]

The 1st word that came to my mind was cute!

[@jmccracken1963]

And Gov. Joseph Jacob Foss served only one term as Governor of South Dakota (in fact, he had been inaugurated as Governor only 4 months before this episode). He ran for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1958 (as a Republican) and lost to George McGovern. Foss later became the first Commissioner of the American Football League, serving as Commissioner for the first 7 years of the league's existence. He also hosted THE AMERICAN SPORTSMAN on ABC from 1964 to 1967, and then hosted and produced his own syndicated TV series, THE OUTDOORSMAN: JOE FOSS from 1967 to 1974. Quite impressive - but the most impressive of all was his tours of duty as a fighter pilot with the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II. And yes, the second game was, indeed, very funny - beginning with Fred Allen's play on Margaret Oldham's last name (saying that it reminded him of Jack Benny; it took me a few seconds to realize what he was referring to, and then I laughed!)..... And finally, in reference to John Daly's final remark about the New York Giants: yes, they did, indeed, win in 16 innings that day. They beat the Cincinnati Reds 2-1 at the Polo Grounds on a 1-out, pinch-hit single by Bill Taylor which scored Whitey Lockman from 3rd base (he had led off the bottom of the 16th with a single). And Giants starter Johnny Antonelli pitched a COMPLETE GAME that day, giving up 1 run on only 6 hits in 16 innings, walking only 5 and striking out 11. And the Giants had 2 runs on 13 hits that day.

[@savethetpc6406]

Thank you, jmccracken1963, for providing so much additional information. It's interesting to learn more about a contestant and to have a fuller understanding of topical references made by the people on the show. Governor Foss seemed like quite a jovial fellow in his appearance here, and it's nice to know he enjoyed several successful careers. Sounds like quite an amazing baseball game as you described it, too!

[@Beson-SE]

What was the connection between Jack Benny and the name Oldham?

[@jmccracken1963]

Try it this way: "old ham." That is, indeed, Fred Allen's sense of humor - and I LOVE it!!!!!

[@soulierinvestments]

Johan Bengtsson The connection between Mrs. Oldham's name and Jack Benny is that Benny was an old ham. badda bing

[@WhatsMyLine]

soulierinvestments :)

[@michaeldanello3966]

In its Sixth year and still nobody figured out that the microphone for the guest needed to be moved closer so Daly didn't have to repeat 3 or 4 times a night, 50+ times a year "move closer to the mic, please"!

[@robertjean5782]

The theater was built above a train station, which was constantly noisy.😊

[@tugginalong]

Read about the life of Joe Foss. Heck of a man and a great American.

[@scotnick59]

Laraine Day was a babe

[@willewinky]

Dotty is wonderful

[@adamcoates2890]

After the applause for the governor and Congressional medal of Honor recipient, John should have kept his mouth shut and let the governor speak.

[@scottpardee6303]

I agree!

[@robertjean5782]

John did, for a few minutes. WML not a talk show 😊

[@adamcoates2890]

I think John Daly talked too much. A typical TV News personality been going on since the early days, like we see here.

[@InjuredRobot.]

Fred Allen oscillated between genius comedy and painfully cringy hack jokes - and not much in-between.

[@trock6577]

Not so much genius. Don’t find him funny one bit. Maybe back in the fifties his so-called wit was considered hilarious.

[@malindazielke2631]

The Rand McNally joke was pretty good

[@robertjean5782]

​@@trock6577exactly his dry wit was loved by millions!😊

[@1jamyc]

During the Gracie Fields segment, they mentioned Vera Lynn. Till now, I thought Pink Floyd invented that name for their song

[@jeanmarie4462]

Vera Lynn was famous for starring in White Christmas with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, and Rosemary Clooney.

[@melloe6831]

@@jeanmarie4462 no . That was vera Ellen in White Christmas. Vera Lynn was a famous English singer, who had many hits during World War II and brought the country together with her songs, she sang the white cliffs of Dover, we’ll meet again, etc.

[@melloe6831]

Vera Lynn was a very famous English singer with many hits, especially during World War II. She lived to be 103 years old, and passed away around two years ago.

[@davidcroberts8367]

48 states.

[@robertfiller8634]

How could they let a governor of a state, a WW II marine fighter ace and recipient of Medal of Honor just exit without shaking hands with the panel? It was totally shameful and disgraceful.

[@c7261]

Ye Gods. Would you like them to lick his boots too? There's nothing quite as disturbing as an American's fanatical worship of institutionalised killing. Everyone deserves equal respect regardless of their profession.

[@robertfiller8634]

@@c7261 Defending against the horror of Nazi Germany is not "institutionalized killing". Which side were you on? And, I'm not American.

[@stevekru6518]

@@robertfiller8634 While WWII was one big war, as an individual Foss didn’t defend against Nazi Germany but was on the offensive against Japan. We agree that in Europe and the Atlantic, German was evil and had to be stopped. However, in Asia and the Pacific there is room for debate. Japan attacked Pearl, but were defending against the US cutting off their access to fuel and raw materials. History is written by the victors and I’m glad that history is written in English. C was wrong to criticize the US in WWII, but his criticisms are valid for much subsequent military action,especially against Viet Nam and Iraq

[@briane173]

I didn't detect an English accent in Gracie Fields at all; she sounded to me like she was from friggin' Alabama.

[@Sylvander1911]

Really John "unthaw"?

[@michaelclark6223]

Yeah, that, and a few seconds prior when he called the governor "Joe". Even if they were on a first name basis, I wouldn't think it was good public etiquette.

[@atronish]

ABOUT FIRST CONTASTANT, GOBERNOR FOSS [WAR HEROE] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Foss

[@bweatherman3345]

Serf had a dirty mind.

[@chasethrockmorton2736]

48 states? 😳.

[@mikejschin]

Alaska and Hawaii were not yet states at the time of this program.

[@stanmaxkolbe]

Did you study history in pubic school?

[@chasethrockmorton2736]

@@stanmaxkolbe, Yes.

[@stanmaxkolbe]

@@chasethrockmorton2736 Ok like me fell asleep in history class. I'll admit I didn't get into history until I was in my thirties. Love it today.

[@jessicaphillips4542]

How funny cars mostly used by men

[@robertjean5782]

They were speaking of train cars😊

[@VTMCompany]

17:10 Who?

[@armyvet4081]

allen was untalented - I would not have hired him to take out my garbage

[@El_Ophelia]

Doesn't anyone else feel weird he talks about his wife and kids so naturally and happilly, even a newborn, and within a few shorts he ends up divorcing his wife of so many years just to marry this younger woman...Yeah it bugs e.