What's My Line? - LOST EPISODE!!! Hedda Hopper; Constance Moore [panel] (Apr 29, 1951)

[@WhatsMyLine]

Continuing the First Annual Summer of WML Miscellany. . . new videos every weekend! Live chats every Sunday night while watching the new video and an episode of WML afterwards, 10pm Eastern. If you haven't already, please consider joining! facebook.com/groups/728471287199862/

[@policechristie5345]

What's My Line? Is it true Eddy and Mac hate each other

[@policechristie5345]

What's My Line? Did Eddy and Mac hate each other

[@WhatsMyLine]

I don't know who you're referring to.

[@emiliecohen1795]

What's My Line? I just want to thank you SO, SO MUCH for uploading all these episodes. They’ve honestly been essential to my mental health, allowing me to briefly escape from these terrible times in which we live. I’m eternally grateful to you.

[@Ponce1967]

Tampa 1900

[@markoperak5989]

I like the fact that Ms. Fernandez took the initiative and answered all the questions solely, without John's help. Quite a sharp lady indeed. Great episode, and huge thank you for this marvelous channel!

[@alejdelat7949]

missus*

[@FeggyMin]

she was ineed amaziiing

[@tejaswoman]

@@alejdelat7949 Not sure why you think "Mrs." is a correction. The entire raison d'être of "Ms." is to serve as a counterpart to Mr., representing both the single and the married.

[@志瑜杨]

@@tejaswoman because she said she is a Mrs. and there is nothing wrong with being a Mrs.

[@jcrook5904]

@@志瑜杨 There is a hell of a lot wrong with being a Mrs.

[@susanwenner8738]

Dorothy loved being part of the panel. She always had her ears and thoughts going right into her next move. Loved her giggles.

[@melianna999]

She was jewel. So sad this brilliant woman was killed.

[@lindapolson4102]

Lie detector lady was the most confident non celebrity guest I've ever seen.

[@icturner23]

No, the (best) skirt-blowing guy “Definitely!” was, but she was fantastic too. I watched without knowing her line and I really enjoyed her style of answering and trying to guess from it.

[@icturner23]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/l4LHi6yfa8uisLs

[@abhinavs5213]

Then you may not have seen too many.

[@poolside16190]

She should’ve guest hosted when John was away the 2? Times he was.

[@Deejaay83urj38]

Wasn't she

[@Justcanadianjanjan]

Wow!!! Thank you for your hard work and efforts to make showing this lost episode possible! What a treat! 💞

[@WonderWhatHappened]

This episode seems to be one of the most animated one I've seen. I so glad you were able to find this gem. Thanks!

[@WhatsMyLine]

Glad you enjoyed it-- and thanks for the comment!

[@TSquare7741]

Yes, they all seem a bit more spirited for some reason. Was this one aired?

[@tonycevallos7513]

No matter how many years pass, Bennett Cerf never ages.

[@nancyayers6355]

Tony Cevallos He had a positive attitude and had a fantastic sense of humor, probably knew what was happening and up on everything.

[@Feroal2]

Who can replace him-Intelligent, chivalrous, and charming. I hate to give into the cliché but where are these sort of people today, yesterday, or for a long while? As a 27 year old, I feel robbed of not only stimulative people, but also consequently, content.

[@Retroscoop]

I wonder if he was already like that in Kindergarten. There are some people who are quite difficult to see as a child. Winston Churchill or Hitchcock for example.

[@preppysocks209]

@@Retroscoop Can't picture Churchill as a child? Don't you know that all babies look like Winston Churchill?

[@karltiedemann9329]

@@preppysocks209 Funny. PG Wodehouse said that newborns look like a cross between Winston and a poaches egg.

[@Schnorbs]

Thank you very much for posting. It's amazing how something that's two thirds of a century old (66 years!) can be so entertaining.

[@barbaraalauro]

Very much so! What a treat!

[@mikesnyder1788]

Love this series!!! My wife and I watch an episode of this and To Tell the Truth and What's My Line every night during dinner. I watched this a tiny bit as kid in the 1950's but now I can appreciate everything about this delightful show. Thanks so much for sharing with us!!!

[@AllenMQuinn]

What a treat. Thank you so much for your hard work finding and posting this. So important to preserve television history, especially in those super early days.

[@travis7310]

I love that countdown before the opening! This is a true 16mm print and for 66-years-old, the quality is great! Thank you for finding and uploading this!

[@jmccracken1963]

I'm glad that this episode came to light, because it's a lot of fun to watch. Nothing seems to faze any of the contestants this evening, each of whom displays an interesting and engaging personality all her/his own. I thought that one of the previous commentators was exaggerating when he said that Constance Moore married in her teens, but he/she wasn't: she was FIFTEEN YEARS OLD when she married Hollywood agent John Maschino. And they were, indeed, happily married for about 63 years (with two children), "till death do us part" (his death, in 1998). I think that Miss Moore does a great job as a panelist on this show. Thank you very much for sharing this with us!

[@Bigbadwhitecracker]

What a wonderful treat! Praying for more 1951s to be discovered! :)

[@winonafrog]

Wow Ive been watching 1962 - 65 episodes, didnt even realize how old this was

[@BrooklynArch]

This is wonderful, thank-you Gary, and I'm proud to be apart of such a wonderful group!

[@BrooklynArch]

(And all I keep thinking of whilst watching this is how Bennett is getting *poofed* by the Stopette bottle!)

[@WhatsMyLine]

Once you notice the poof spray, you can't unsee it. :) So glad you're a part of the group.

[@2-ply]

An awesome find! Thank you so very much for making it possible to enjoy WML to us all!

[@shadikhosropanah2363]

I feel calm and at ease while watching this show. thank you

[@alskndlaskndal]

I never thought we'd see one of the "lost"episodes! And this is a delightful one to have back again. Thank you for all of your work to bring it to us!

[@kennethbjorkmann8517]

Very interesting to see this show in its infancy (1951). The awkward "inspections" of the guests before they sat down, the guests exiting behind John Daley after each game rather than shaking hands with the panelists, the panelists making silly wild guesses before beginning the formal questioning, all things which were wisely deleted in future seasons. Dorothy Kilgallen, however, was still razor sharp in asking her probing questions. She was top notch. So wonderful to see this show develop polish and class as time went on. Classic television at its best.

[@lemorab1]

But, three silly things weren't deleted for another three years, at least: The perp walk, the free guesses, and having the non-celebrity guests exit behind John Daly rather than shaking hands with the panelists prior to exiting. The producers took way too long to make those changes.

[@auntiealias957]

@@lemorab1 They also took way too long to fire Hal Block, although he's not too bad at this early stage.

[@rtususian]

@@auntiealias957 I always find GROUCHO MARX really really annoying on this show as a panelist. He is constantly acting up and thinks it's the GROUCHO MARX SHOW.

[@auntiealias957]

@@rtususian I haven't actually seen episodes with Groucho. I've just watched the first three years for the most part. I'll have to check him out.

[@lllowkee6533]

So glad they changed the things you mentioned. They didn’t mind wearing furs or talking about occupations of raising animals to kill for fur.? They made comments about guests being fat or beautiful etc for as long as WML ran.. We are better than that now.. but lost the polite and gracious manners.

[@cgeubanks]

This is a terrific episode, thanks for bringing it to us again!

[@soulierinvestments]

A great restoration of a great episode. thanx to W Gary W. and excuse my obsession -- I still hold out hope that color videotape of 1966 - 1967 will show up.

[@WhatsMyLine]

You're allowed to have hope. :)

[@lorilori3]

This was wonderful to watch. I wanted more. Thank you again WML!

[@edsmith1172]

This program with its' commercials so much brings me back to "The Day". I watch it and nostalgia just runs rampant. Thank you so much for bringing this back to those of us who are of an age to remember.

[@wiguy3]

Thank you so much for giving us the pleasure of seeing this. This Sunday evening program was the highlight was the close of weekend hours for my family. I had to go bed immediately following.

[@druidbros]

I had forgotten John smoked during any episode. What a great time. Thanks again for all the hard work you do.

[@WhatsMyLine]

So glad you enjoyed it!

[@brendanjobe6895]

He quit smoking on camera after the 1954 Reader's Digest report came out. I believe he quit for good around 1985.

[@bigred997]

interesting to see john daly casually smoking with the camera focused on him. also, it is obvious that the producers tightened up the chatter allowed by the panel as time went on.

[@gregh7400]

This show was often sponsored by cigarette companies and cigarettes were okay things back in the 50's. Even some Drs. smoked.

[@davidsanderson5918]

Greg H .....and of course it was okay on TV appearances, whether sponsored or not, way into the 70s and 80s. Actors, singers, comedians, politicians, you name it.....pipes, cigars, cigarettes. Frankly it was not only common but somewhat alluring, cool and distinctive in several instances. Shame it's a killer. Ah well.

[@audreymai2773]

@@gregh7400 My mom remembers when they smoked on planes and in hospitals.

[@gregh7400]

@@audreymai2773 Actually, I'm old enough to remember that. Then there were "smoking sections" on planes and in restaurants before they did away with it entirely.

[@susanjensen4678]

@@gregh7400 yes it's actually not that long ago. It wasnt until 1973 that US government regulated smoking on airplanes by mandating smoking and non-smoking sections of an airplane. And only in 1990 there was a ban on passengers smoking, whereas pilots were still allowed to smoke

[@chope6786]

Loved watching Hedda Hopper. She seemed to be older and it struck me that I was watching someone likely born in the 1880s. And yet the way she talked boisterously, she might’ve been the lady next-door today. The societal time capsule effect of these episodes is just fascinating. Brings the past so close to today. It makes me realize how much we all aren’t that different if we went back in time.

[@vickihshallenberger3644]

WOW! I wasn't even thought of yet when this was aired LOL I was born in late 1952

[@ragemanchoo82]

The commercials intact, too! I love it!! :D

[@lottalady73]

At 3:59 Hal Block jokingly guessed that one of the contestants (Mrs. Fernandez, the Lie Detector machine operator) was “a pall bearer for the New York Giants”. Word of explanation: On the day this show was aired, the Giants lost in Brooklyn by a score of 6-3. It was their fifth straight loss to the Dodgers and their 11th consecutive defeat overall. They were, at that moment, in 8th (and last) place in the NL, 7 1/2 games behind their rivals with a hideous record of 2-12. Block was not alone in thinking that the Giants were dead and awaiting burial. But he was wrong! New York turned their season around and ended up catching the Dodgers by season’s end and then beat Brooklyn 2-1 in a three game playoff to decide who would go on to play the Yankees in the World Series. That series culminated in an electrifying walk-off four bagger by Bobby Thompson surrendered by the hapless Ralph Branca in the bottom of the ninth, a blast called the “shot heard ‘round the world” en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shot_Heard_%27Round_the_World_(baseball) The ‘shot’ was memorialized by WMCA radio broadcaster Russ Hodges’ iconic Home run call “The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!! The Giants win the pennant!!! The Giants win the pennant!!!!” Russ Hodges, by the way, was WML’s first guest on their October 7, 1962 show. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKjFdpdtp7t-nZI So... ...if you don’t know now you know.

[@Iconoclasher]

Hedda Hopper is the mom of William Hopper, "Paul Drake" from Perry Mason.

[@stevefish3124]

And also the wife of De Wolfe Hopper, the actor who made a career of reciting " Casey at the Bat" . He also made a recording of the poem.

[@sandrafraser8120]

Thank you for that bit of trivia, I can see the resemblance.

[@ChadQuick270W]

Thanks so much for all the effort to get this episode and upload it.

[@bgdavenport]

I'm not giving a thumbs up on enough of these episodes which I am enjoying immensely.

[@MarthaCarnahan]

Mattress man is hilarious, he should have had his own TV show!

[@listeningeyes3298]

The LIVE studio audience interfered when Hal Block said that it was either a pillow or mattress. The LIVE studio audiences should have NEVER been allowed to see the contestants jobs/careers. Showing the viewers at home is one thing, but NOT the LIVE studio audiences. Try being a contestant and the LIVE audience giving your job/career away.

[@Cedar77]

@@listeningeyes3298 It's part of the fun. Else there would have been way less laughs in the studio. Also, it's supposed to be a little help. Arlene has always been paying a lot of attention to the audience.

[@jimmiedee2315]

Hilarious episode. Thanks for posting.

[@WhatsMyLine]

My pleasure!

[@rdalbright1]

Hedda's hat is a hoot!

[@lisahinton9682]

Wow, that bauble around Hedda Hopper's neck - whooowee! Thank you for including the commercials and everything that went with this when it was first aired. Truly appreciate it when the episodes are posted this way.

[@Justcanadianjanjan]

Ms Fernandez was incredible!!! Poor John didn’t get to do his little conference tactics with the contestant and answer for the contestant. I know Dorothy would have been delighted about that deep down. 😉 This is probably in my top 5 now for fave episodes .. thank you for uploading it. Happy new year everyone 2023 🥳💥

[@overcamehim]

For someone who was having so much fun, Hedda got out of there fast.

[@LB-px9td]

It’s so great to watch these programs to see how things change. Mr. Daly was smoking during the show ,no one would be doing that today.

[@dixonhayes3796]

Great find! Thanks! What a time capsule.

[@v8infinity8]

Delightful .Just adore Mrs Fernandezs hat :) Dorothy is so clever !!!!

[@madeleinerickardsson4202]

Yes, I really like Dorothy ...

[@cynthiat6505]

I watched the final episode last night and was so sad, and this is here today!!! Thank You so much!!!

[@joeygagliardi7380]

Great Change !!! From what is now seen on TV,,, just watching without all the hatred in the World these days. Really enjoyed this,,, even though I was not born when this show was on TV.

[@Jilliiette]

This is such a treat :)

[@WhatsMyLine]

Glad you enjoyed it, Jill. Any lost episode would be a treat, but this is a particularly good episode!

[@kirkmorgan-austin1187]

Hopefully more epiaodes surface.Never say never.

[@WhatsMyLine]

I never have! :)

[@karlakor]

I never considered What's My Line to be a game show. Its emphasis was not on the prize money, which was incidental, but rather on the dialogue between the participants. It was such a classy show, a breed apart from other games shows of the era.

[@GOLDVIOLINbowofdeath]

$50 in 1960 was not inconsiderable and I assume they paid expenses to and in NYC from USA

[@GOLDVIOLINbowofdeath]

If you are a big fan of Cerf you are a fan of a con artist who scammed millions from wannabe writer correspondence students. Like Weinstein, it took a while before a publication was willing to publish a story about his scams

[@barryobrien7935]

There used to be a category called Panel Shows.

[@MsMarple]

Couldn’t agree more, tho GOLDVIOLIN is accurate. $30-50 could pay 1 or 2 months of rent in 1951. 😅

[@lapsedluddite3381]

@MsMarple - Checking with an inflation calculator shows the value of $50.00 in 1951 to be $600.00+ in 2024, and checking with "ipropertymanagement" shows the average (country wide) rent in 1950 to be $42.00! I paid $50.00/month for a small one bedroom cottage on a very large lot in a lovely small forested CT shoreline (read affluent) town in 1965.

[@lisablack2022]

My grandmother, Eileen Bernhardt was a guest on Whats My Line. Her secret was she was a female Santa Claus. I would be so excited if you could find this episode! If you know where to find this episode can you send me the link. I would love to see her! Thank.you!

[@jmccracken1963]

Was she on the CBS "What's My Line?" (which aired every Sunday evening from 1950 to 1967), or on the syndicated "What's My Line?" (which aired 5 days a week from 1968 to 1975)? Or was she perhaps on the radio edition of "What's My Line?" (which aired for a few years in the early 1950s)? If she had been on the CBS show (which is the focus of the What's My Line? channel on KZbin), it is likely that her name would come up on an Internet search somewhere on the tv.com site, as those who compiled the CBS "What's My Line?" information to that site had access to the production logs for the show, including "lost episodes" from that show's 17 2/3 year run. As it did not, I suspect that she may have appeared on the syndicated show, instead, particularly as she would by then have been in her 40s when the new WML? was on the air. (Her obituary does not indicate which version of WML? she appeared on - only that she did appear as a contestant on "What's My Line?" and what her "line" was.) Happy hunting!

[@VickyRBenson]

This interesting article about Eileen Bernhardt (1995) seemed to indicate that she might have been on What’s My Line in the 1970’s. It told how Mrs. Bernhardt started being a Santa. It was when she and her husband both lost their jobs before Christmas. How she came to start actually seeing the wishes of the children come true was moving. What a wonderful lady she was! www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1995-12-11-1995345062-story,amp.html

[@meredithlanterman554]

@@VickyRBenson ❤

[@leahmollytheblindcatnordee3586]

Thank you so much for these videos. I am enjoying them.

[@lissalives1]

What adorable contestants. ♥️

[@andrewwalton1520]

There was NOTHING adorable about Hedda Hopper !

[@vickimanager]

I'm excited to watch this with the gang!

[@WhatsMyLine]

Quite an epic live chat we had in the Facebook group last night-- over 500 comments in the course of 30 minutes!

[@vickimanager]

It was very exciting!!! I'm glad Patrick alerted me. Sometimes life just goes by too fast these days. Great job Master Gary! Kudos to you and your merry team.

[@loissimmons6558]

I had never heard of Constance Moore prior to seeing this episode. This was her only appearance on WML, and I thought she played the game fairly well for a first time. I found that Miss Moore was primarily a singer although she also appeared in films, especially musicals during WWII. She retired from films in 1947, but acted sporadically for the small screen between 1954 and 1967. She originated the role of Wilma Deering, the only female character in the 1939 movie "Buck Rogers" (starring Buster Crabbe in the title role). The lovely Erin Gray played Col. Deering in the 1979 movie and TV show that followed (1979-81), starring Gil Gerard in the title role. Miss Moore retired as a performer in 1967 in her late 40's. She married her agent (later becoming a successful real estate agent) when she was an older teen (there is some uncertainty as to her birth year, either 1920 or 21) and they were still married nearly 60 years later when he died in 1998. They had two children together, neither of whom went into show business.

[@gomphrena-beautifulflower-8043]

Lois Simmons • I thought her beauty was quite breathtaking! And here’s to long marriages. (I’ll celebrate 40 years this year😊 !)

[@jamesfox2579]

I just LOVE her Ring!!❤️

[@karltiedemann9329]

@@gomphrena-beautifulflower-8043 Congrats.

[@tejaswoman]

I was especially surprised to hear of anyone famous from Dallas who had never crossed my radar before. That's unusual.

[@kathiehagen]

So much fun! Thank you!

[@aaronsakulich4889]

Thank you for this! Must be an early episode with Daly smoking like that. I can't remember a segment I laughed at more continuously than the second guest!

[@erichanson426]

I've been watching lot of these episodes, and have made it back to the beginning. It almost looks like Bennett Cerf looks younger in the later episodes.

[@hcombs0104]

The sound is very clear on this episode. And, obviously Hedda Hopper and Dorothy were on very good terms.

[@loissimmons6558]

Best sound quality I've ever heard on a WML video delivered on Gary's channel through Nov. 1955. I wonder where it was kept and preserved to keep it in such fine shape. The video was very good as well.

[@WhatsMyLine]

My presumption is that the original WML films held in the Goodson-Todman archive are in much higher quality than we've come to expect from the GSN reruns. What we're seeing in the GSN reruns are films hastily transferred to videotape and degraded further and further by rebroadcast, home recording, digital encoding, and in the case of KZbin videos, the process of posting to KZbin. If the G-T archive of these films is intact, and anyone who had access cared enough to retransfer them digitally, I think the quality would be comparable.

[@hcombs0104]

It would be nice to find all the kinescopes. It would also be nice if somebody could find an actual surviving videotape of the show during its final years, preferably one with Dorothy in it.

[@WhatsMyLine]

My comment above was about Fremantle's lack of interest in making new digital transfers. Every single episode of WML in the Fremantle library has already been aired on TV on GSN and posted here to this channel. So no WML from Fremantle is remaining "unseen". That's not to defend them-- they're the worst-- but it's simply untrue that anything Fremantle has of the CBS WML series is unavailable. It's just that the majority of the episodes are available only from decades-old transfers to VIDEOTAPE and could be seen in much better quality if a new transfer was done today, something Fremantle has demonstrated no interest in ever doing.

[@jackanthony976]

Of course they were on good terms. ..as one witch to another.

[@josephbailey3968]

Hedda got right up and went over to the panel at the end while Daly was still talking to her.

[@jackanthony976]

That was Hedda's way of giving shade to Daly.

[@screenactorsguilable]

@@jackanthony976 what a crazy bitch Hedda was at 25:59 !

[@patmccoy8758]

Did you know that Hedda Hopper is the mother of William Hopper (Perry Mason)?

[@barryobrien7935]

I thought they were short on time and she was given the cue to walk over to the panel.

[@benkleschinsky]

I counted the commercial 1 minute and 20 seconds and this was when television was free over the air. Now we pay a subscription, and the advertisements are five times as long. There isn't even time for theme songs anymore.

[@savethetpc6406]

At about 26:37, John says to Hedda: "We'll send a check to your favorite charity." Was this standard procedure for the Mystery Guests' winnings from the show? I have seen specific cases in which certain MGs wanted their winnings to go to particular charities, but the fact that John said it this time in such a non-specific way makes me wonder if this was done regularly. I know that MGs were paid a fee for appearing on the show, but was there some reason that they couldn't keep the prize money or that the powers that be thought it would be "unseemly" for them to do so?

[@loopshackr]

I'm sure there was never any stigma in getting paid. Many guests, not only MG's, opted to donate their appearance fees to charity. Usually, John would announce this as he shook the guest's hand goodbye, but Hedda just up and bolted, leaving John kind of hanging out there and sounding rather strained.

[@WhatsMyLine]

My guess, just a guess, is that the rare on camera mentions like this of donated winnings came at the direct request of the guests.

[@travis7310]

I love seeing these early episodes. It took a while for the show to really take off. This really shows television in its infancy.

[@downtonabbeyfreak]

Bennett takes Dorothy's hand at 17:01. It's such a sweet, fleeting moment to me. Adorable.

[@contraryMV]

I caught that too. Made me wonder exactly when and why the big chill happened between them. She was pretty non responsive to this gesture.

[@44032]

Before Bennett started dying his hair. I'm glad Mr Horowitz is such a jolly fellow.

[@terrihenricks4160]

When Hedda Hopper said she had appeared in a movie within the past year, I believe she was referring to her cameo role in Sunset Boulevard.

[@piustwelfth]

Hedda Hopper was a well-known actress in silent movies and talking pictures for more than a quarter century. She has more than 150 screen and television credits. After making more than 100 films, she retired in 1942 to concentrate on her newspaper column. She used her experience and contacts in the film industry to become a famous Hollywood columnist.

[@nancysanders2398]

Terri henricks Her son was William Hopper,who played Paul Drake,in Perry Mason,tv series.

[@maureen5540]

Terri henricks I never knew, thanks for the information!

[@jackanthony976]

@@piustwelfth With more than 150 screen and television credits Hedda knew where the bodies were buried and thus was highly qualified to be a "gossip" columnist.

[@piustwelfth]

@@jackanthony976 Hedda remained a huge fan of the movies, and her favorite was Greta Garbo. She even collected Garbo's photos. Approx. 25 years ago in Hollywood, I purchased seven 11x14 originals of Garbo from Hedda's collection.

[@CzechMirco]

Mr. Horowitz performing the "Riker manoeuvre" when sitting down.

[@g.r.bryant2258]

A classic that will still be shown on TV as repeats in 2117! The producers finally got smart in 1955 or 1956 when they started limiting questions to just one for the famous guests. It got toooo easy.

[@dixonhayes3796]

Spring 1955 is when that rule went into effect.

[@jeprice08]

I didn't notice Constance Moore at first until I read one of the comments and then it hit me, I saw her as Wilma Deering in the Buck Rogers serial with Buster Crabbe.

[@caw7007]

I love these so much! Thank you for gathering and organizing!

[@Maazzzo]

Thanks for posting these!

[@poolside16190]

Mrs. Hopper is someone Dorothy probably knew all too well if were being honest.🤓

[@MountainFisher]

Indeed! Except Dorothy tended to be more sure of the facts than Hopper before she destroyed someone's career.

[@vertxxgg]

great work WML Facebook group hank you so much...from Spain

[@Arthur_McGowan]

That was fun, partly because it was "lost." And it was a good episode, too.

[@WhatsMyLine]

Glad you enjoyed it-- and thanks for the comment, Vincent!

[@neiltucker8743]

That was a jolly good time.

[@jamesfox2579]

The ring that Constance Moore is wearing is absolutely beauuuutiful!💕😮

[@lottalady73]

At 29:00 Hal Block says “Goodnight Louella Parsons”. He gets a laugh, but it’s actually a pretty mean joke. Parsons was Hedda Hopper’s arch-rival and their feud was absolutely authentic (unlike the phony Fred Allen/Jack Benny feud). Hopper and Parsons were both Show Business gossip columnists (as was Dorothy Killgalen, which is why she said - at 25:54 “I would have killed myself” if she didn’t recognize Hopper). Parsons was Hollywood’s first tattler and the younger Hopper got into the business much later. Hopper took a “no holds barred” approach to finding success on the turf Parsons once had all to herself (at the height of her career, Parsons had a readership of 20,000,000 - not too shabby!) At any rate, Hopper and Parsons really and truly hated each other so Block’s remark (like so many he made in his time with WML) was more of a dick comment than a funny quip

[@wholelotanothin1]

Paul Bradford interesting that you took that as a “dick” comment considering Hedda was such a vile person.

[@grizzlybear4]

Good for Hal. She was a wrecker.

[@notvalidcharacters]

I think you're presuming what was *meant* by the reference and such presumption is a guess on your part.

[@Jukka70]

@@grizzlybear4 I just read about Hopper, what a bitch. I can't believe half the stuff she did. You know I remember on the cartoon the Flinstones, there was an episode of him taking flying lessons and there was a nosy gossiper that ran to the phone lines to tell everyone. I now think that's who they were referring to.

[@djdon60]

Thank, you, "WML", for this; wondered, what "Paul Drake"s Momma sounded/acted, like. "She dyes, by her own hand." I'll wager Mr. Cerf was watching, backstage and, thinking, "love it, Hal!"

[@karltiedemann9329]

The full version of the joke was, "She's a suicide blonde-- dyed by her own hand.

[@loopshackr]

10:06 Ms. Fernandez waves and says "Hi" to someone in the audience....

[@savethetpc6406]

I noticed that too, and of course, Mr. Horowitz says hello to his daughter, Joyce at the beginning of his segment. Two instances of off-stage greetings in the same episode. I wonder if perhaps this was fairly common during this time period of WML's run, and it's just that we don't have enough examples of the show from this era to have seen it before on KZbin.

[@robertbennett7995]

D

[@henkehaandersson]

thanks for this upload.

[@feralbluee]

Thank you so very much. what a great show! Who knew Hedda Hopper was such a coquette. she was adorable. She wasn’t so adorable with her pen, however. 🤨 on her, even the hat worked. what in the blue blazes were those little round things on the top? LOL Btw, she is Dennis Hopper’s mother. He played Paul Drake in Perry Mason with Raymond Burr. :)

[@mickeysanders74]

That was William Hopper

[@JehanineMelmoth]

This is such a treat. Thank you!

Image is incredible, but the sound... AMAZING!

[@Retroscoop]

I loved the Stopette ads and Jules showing off with his bottles and test tubes....

[@soulierinvestments]

Hedda Hopper portrayed a New York gossip columnist in George Cukor's great 1939 comedy, "The Women." In retrospect, it would have been more realistic if Dorothy had played that role.

[@bjbell52]

Wasn't Hedda Hoper the mother of William Hopper who played Paul Drake on Perry Mason?

[@clivefuller-hale5073]

It is amazing you finding these lost episodes. Have you ever found the one with Dick Haymes as mystery guest? Many thanks, Clive

[@WhatsMyLine]

No, but believe me, any episodes that turn up will be posted-- I have no interest, really, in acquiring more shows if I can't share them.

[@balconi89]

A weird moment at 5:05.......I think the contestant asked between questions to Dorothy "Do You sleep well?" Wonder why she felt the need to ask that.

[@mikeykm1993]

Joseph Hoag yes she actually gave away a huge clue so it’s lucky they didn’t hear her!

[@AllenFreemanMediaGuru]

Stick to yes and no Mrs F!

[@bambi274]

The 50's older episodes, seems more fun. Than 60's episodes

[@erik5222]

Knew Connie Moore lovely friend & person. RIP Connie! Kevin Taylor

[@AuntieSDC]

Hedda Hopper is William Hopper's mother. He played Prosecutor Paul Drake on the "Perry Mason" show.

[@ellenhannon5298]

Paul Drake was Perry Mason's private detrctive not the district attorney William Tallman was

[@laurahoward5426]

He played Paul Drake, Perry Mason's man

[@TheCometHunter]

I get a kick out of Mr. Horowitz's healthy sense of humor on his size.

[@PepsiMama2]

This was a fun episode... glad you found it Gary.... hoping one day to see that you found the episode with Lauritz Melchior ...

[@WhatsMyLine]

If I do, I certainly post it! :) Good to see you commenting again, PepsiMama2!

[@balconi89]

Bennett snorted while laughing at 24:40. Never heard him do that before.

[@WhatsMyLine]

I've watched this show 4 or 5 times already and never noticed that. You must have the ears of bloodhound. :)

[@balconi89]

He did it earlier in the show too, but I cant find it........

[@ModMokkaMatti]

More importantly, did he ever do it after that?

[@rtususian]

I love how Bennett, when he is saying the word "known", uses 2 syllables, as in "no - when"!! LOL

[@erichanson426]

Wow, the laughter by the audience at 14.29, when Hal asked if it bought pleasure, that is some really off beat humor for that time period

[@timowthie]

Eric Hanson I noticed that too, very modern kind of joke and laughter. Though the more I watch of this show, the more I realize people aren't necessarily too different now.

[@davidsanderson5918]

The humour even in Busby Berkeley films, pre-code, indicates that what made people laugh then (ie. sexual innuendo) is just as raunchy as what made people laugh now. Indeed sexual innuendo goes back to Shakespeare. Unfortunately the restrictions imposed by networks, censorship people and so forth in the mid-20th century gives the impression that it was otherwise but of course sex has always made people laugh and always will. :)

[@lekmirn.hintern8132]

@@davidsanderson5918 The difference is that then it was innuendo and smart -- so it's funny. Now it's literal, brainless, and not funny at all.

[@ModMokkaMatti]

@@davidsanderson5918 I was just going to point out the vast difference between pre-code entertainment productions and those that followed during its enactment, as well. I remember the first few times I saw pre-code talking pictures a considerable number of years ago - and being so accustomed to the more restrictive/censored films, my eyes and ears were opened to how they weren't all that far removed from contemporary real life.

[@josephpanzarella1417]

Of course the show was live so they couldn't edit it. And it was a late-night program (10:30 PM). But yes, that was a wonderfully "dirty laugh" from the audience.

[@sandragailgoudelock1531]

I love what Mrs. Fernandez is wearing! LOVE Hedda! Yes, I know she was nasty customer but a great hat is a great hat!

[@wallacekenman2794]

Dorothy was a one time gossip columnist - i figured she would realize it was Hedda Hopper- they were both well known and very popular

[@Dizzyfingers2]

Hedda Hopper destroyed countless, innocent lives ... she should not be celebrated.

[@M3au]

Aaron Robinson maybe, but Hollywood needs a few Hedda Hoppers in there at the moment.

[@sdfeinstein]

He gave up on the New York Giants a bit too soon, given that they won the pennant in a three game playoff about 6 months later

[@loissimmons6558]

October 3, 1951. One of the saddest days for Brooklyn Dodger fans. I wasn't even born yet when that happened and my skin still crawls when I hear Russ Hodges shouting, "The Giants win the pennant, the Giants win the pennant ..." Hal Block was referring to statements made by Dodgers Manager Chuck Dressen at the time that "The Giants are dead." (They had gotten off to a terrible start, winning their first game and then losing 11 in a row) while the Dodgers were flying high in April, getting an early 5 game lead. Also, there is a famous story that in Ebbets Field, the two clubhouses were separated by just a single door that could be opened from either side. The players might shout through the door ribbing each other at times, but would always respect the privacy of the other team when they were having team strategy meetings. And the ribbing would never get too vicious. But when the Dodgers swept the Giants that April at Ebbets Field, after the final game Dressen and some of the players were singing through the door "The Giants are dead." Dressen had been a coach under Giants manager Leo Durocher and to him the Dodger sweep was proof that he had been the brains behind Durocher's success as a manager. So he was really rubbing it in. When the Giants started to play better and had a fantastic run in August and September (and some say they cheated by positioning someone with binoculars in the center field clubhouse at the Polo Grounds to steal the signs of the opposing catcher and relay them to the dugout by a buzzer system), the Giants players used this as motivation to spur them on. The Giants were also helped by calling up a young player by the name of Willie Mays about a month after this episode of WML aired and some improvements to their pitching staff. One other fallout of the Dodgers singing in April was that the Giants complained to the National League office and the doorway between the clubhouses in Ebbets Field was bricked up.

[@sdfeinstein]

Great perspective. Thanks for this...

[@loissimmons6558]

+sdfeinstein You're welcome. It's cathartic!

[@jmccracken1963]

Why single out the New York Giants for stealing signs that year? Sign-stealing is one of those "artful dodgings" practiced in baseball - as the spitball had been before 1920 or so. In his book, "Veeck - As In Wreck," Bill Veeck admitted to having someone with a spotting telescope out in the center-field stands at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland in 1948 to steal signs and relay the stolen signs to the dugout (depending on which Indian player was at bat - not everybody needed or wanted the help).

[@loissimmons6558]

+jmccracken1963 While the 1951 Giants aren't the only example, most players over the years differentiate between someone on the field stealing signs and someone off the field doing it. The players, the coaches on the field when their team is at bat, those in the dugout and those in the bullpen are part of the game. Someone in the clubhouse, the scoreboard or the stands is not supposed to be part of the game. It is my understanding that umpires have the discretion to put a stop to such practices when they discover them, just as they can eject someone in the stands who is doing something to interfere with play on the field (for example, reaching over the fence to interfere with a player attempting to catch a ball or reflecting a mirror into the eyes of players). Note that the Giants were not accused of employing this tactic after the 1951 season. If it was legal, why not continue it? I will admit that the Dodgers had already suspected that the Giants were employing this tactic by the time of the third game of the playoffs, and that it was up to their catchers to disguise the signs from whoever was stealing them. But someone with baseball experience (and the Giants supposedly were using Herman Franks, a catcher by trade as a player) would be able to pick up on sign changes pretty quickly. So it would have been a cat and mouse game.

[@Anodreth]

Thank you so much.

[@loissimmons6558]

Was this the origin of the panel (and especially Arlene Francis in her introduction at the beginning of the show, even if she wasn't present for this episode), referring to Hal Block as "Dimples"?

[@savethetpc6406]

+Lois Simmons As far as we can tell, the answer to that would be a resounding *_YES!!!!!_* :-) (One of the things that makes the discovery of this particular episode so exciting!)

[@WhatsMyLine]

It has to be. Unless one chooses to believe that there were totally separate occasions of contestants on the show noting their fascination with Hal's dimples. The mind fairly boggles at that notion. :)

[@henjutsu1]

I was getting tired of too much Hal Block back when he was on every time, but this was rather "refreshing" (I'm up at the end of 1955). Perhaps had he been a guest panelist, it could have been just the right balance. This episode was great, the guests were all very interesting. One thought came to mind... This is 1951, the show was still in its early years and limited to just the locations where Montenier could sell his Stopettes. With respect to time, this being 66 years later, much of the original audience is likely no longer around. There are about 7 billion people on the planet, and this video has only had 4,462 views. It feels like we're archaeologists who just discovered something that no one (or technically, almost no one) has ever seen. Thank you for posting this, and please pass some thanks to everyone who helped fetch this episode, in conjunction with some delicious tea.

[@loissimmons6558]

+henjutsu1 I'm a month behind you on watching the WML episodes. It occurs to me that at least in this episode (with the second challenger), Hal Block invades the physical space of a man (~10:40). So this gives a little perspective of when he did so with a woman (although he certainly wasn't going to try to kiss the second challenger in this episode). And I found it funny when the first challenger (who loved his dimples) started her "walk of shame" and he told her, "I'll leave you to Cerf for the moment." (~3:15) Archaeologists? Hmm, I wonder if I'd dig being Mary Leakey. Or would I rather branch off into anthropology and do Samoan studies like Margaret Mead?

[@savethetpc6406]

+henjutsu1 I loved your comment and perspective, but just a minor note of correction -- the episode is from 1951 (not 1953). :-)

[@shirtless6934]

How many times did they have to let that Hedda Hopper witch on the show to keep her quiet about them?

[@davidmaneti9788]

Great show. And, you learn history as well!

[@candacesalim9659]

John Dalys face when the panelist says "can it give you pleasure" to the Mattress Manufacturer. 😂🤣 He had such good morals, you could read him well when annoyed or snarky!