What's My Line? - Senator John McClellan; Louis Jourdan [panel] (Feb 13, 1955)

MYSTERY GUEST: Senator John McClellan
PANEL: Dorothy Kilgallen, Fred Allen, Arlene Francis, Louis Jourdan

[@loissimmons6558]

It seems to me that a job testing pogo sticks would have its ups and downs.

[@Sgt_Glory]

Bennett Cerf may have been on vacation, but he's there in spirit thanks to your pun.

[@AaronHahnStudios]

Yes,... including it's work place compensation payments.... I'm in. :-)

[@shirleyrombough8173]

Lois Simmons - Ouch. Both ways.

[@diamondstud322]

Omg. I should not be laughing, but I can’t help myself 😂🤣😂

[@highiron4527]

If they were in Australia would it have it's down and ups?... Just curious. 😋

[@TinaMaritina11]

Louis Jourdan was one of the most handsome men to ever live. Swooning over him!

[@robertcollins7025]

Louis Jourdan was exquisitely handsome!

[@WhatsMyLine]

Have you seen Hitchcock's "The Paradine Case"? Hitchcock complained more than once in later interviews that Jourdan was completely miscast in that role, which called for a low class, gutter type of actor, that Jourdan was too refined and attractive for the part. Kind of odd, considering that he gave just as much care and attention to perfectly lighting Jourdan's perfect face as he did to his female lead, Valli!

[@davidwencer9226]

And still alive at 92!

[@ToddSF]

Yes, he was handsome -- movie-star handsome. My mother certainly thought he was good looking and, I think, handsome with a French accent was certainly fine with her. I'm impressed, here, to listen to him -- he certainly had a fluent use of English, though he had a strong French accent.

[@loissimmons6558]

+gcjerryusc Some age slower than others, some grow old gracefully, some leave the spotlight and for the rest there's Botox and face lifts.

[@slaytonp]

@@loissimmons6558 Which renders the rest of them going from ageing gracefully to looking like a peeled grape.

[@igkoigko9950]

The most clever question: prefaced by “I might as well get a news item out of this,” Dorothy asks if the senator will run for president. Smart lady!

[@crispincain5373]

Louis Jourdan passed away on February 14th 2015, 60 years and one day after this broadcast.

[@Beson-SE]

Two weeks before this show, president Eisenhower promised to protect Formosa (Taiwan) from being invaded by China (The Formosa Resolution). Arlene asked the MG senator John McClellan if he was a democrat. When he hesitated she thought he was another senator, Wayne Morse, who famously switched from Republican to Democrat after Eisenhower's statement since he was a strong opponent of general Chiang Kai-Shek's government on Formosa. 20:13

[@Rosarium2007]

Thanks for the backstory on President Eisenhower & Senator Morse.

[@loissimmons6558]

On January 3, 1955, Sen. McClellan replaced Sen. Joseph McCarthy as the Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Investigations. This followed the censure of McCarthy after the conclusion of the hearings held by McCarthy to investigate suspected Communists and security risks in the U.S. Army. During those hearings in 1954, McClellan was a minority member of that committee and at one point led a Democratic Party member walkout in protest of McCarthy's conduct during the hearings.

[@shirleyrombough8173]

Good for those senators who walked out. Senator McClellan is a hero, as well as his colleagues who walked out. It's so hard to go against your colleagues in the House and Senate. See, for example, Rep. Cheney going against her fellow Republicans.

[@gingerhaydon4693]

Terrific show. I loved the Pogo lady! I bet she enjoyed her job!

[@leesher1845]

Louis Jordan was SO handsome and such a good actor.

[@loissimmons6558]

It surprised me that the occupation of the second challenger wasn't guessed. Not long before this episode, Fred Allen had made reference to the smog in Los Angeles on a couple of occasions when a challenger from the L.A. area was on the show. One time he brushed some smog off the suit jacket of a male contestant during the walk of shame.

[@Merrida100]

I was remember that exact episode as well.

[@AaronHahnStudios]

well noted... good memory Lois.

[@leannsherman6723]

Louis Jourdan was strikingly handsome - and a fine actor.❤

[@MrWindermere123]

The timing worked perfectly in this episode - there was no rushed final challenger and the Senator was identified after a long questioning by the panel. You can see John Daly glancing upwards and to his right where there must have been a clock with perhaps a number display counting down the seconds towards the end of the broadcast. His skill lies in keeping time whilst joining in the fun and when he makes a mistake (eg. he turns a card wrongly in this episode and turns it back when Dorothy complains) he carries on very smoothly. The show can go on without Bennett Cerf but I think it would have died without Mr Daly.

[@shirleyrombough8173]

I like Bennett. He always laughs when he makes a wrong choice, very good naturedly. He is erudite and clever and oh those puns!

[@shirleyrombough8173]

But John Daly was indispensable to the enjoyment of these episodes. Each panelist contributed immensely to the success of this program.

[@drumbum3.142]

"I'm going out on a Limb; because I generally get Cut Off.. ." 😅😅😅

[@soulierinvestments]

Old joke: Eleanor Roosevelt is asked what she thinks of current foriegn affairs. She replies, "I'm against them, though Louis Jourdan isn't half bad."

[@ToddSF]

Don't forget this other quote from Eleanor Roosevelt: "Franklin! If you can have a mistress, so can I!" That's actually a quote from Charles Pierce, the comedian who was a female impersonator, when he impersonated Eleanor Roosevelt for a moment. But his point was well taken and I wonder just how enamored Eleanor Roosevelt actually might have been with Louis Jourdan.

[@shirleyrombough8173]

@@ToddSF Regardless of your persuasion who wouldn't be enamoured of Louis Jourdan?

[@yeahnoonecaresifyouarefirst]

🤨😂 conceivably 😂

[@michaeldanello3966]

This was the second contestant whose job was a pogo stick tester. Who knew so many were needed to do that job!!??

[@robertjean5782]

Millions were sold😊

[@DaRozeman]

Mr. Jourdan did quite well here given that he is from France. Kudos for his knowledge/familiarity of current (at the time) America.

[@EliF-ge5bu]

He might be from France but he lived in the US since his career was in Hollywood and he lived in the US until his death.

[@steffybabes]

They always have trouble with the chalk!

[@slaytonp]

Yep--It either breaks or the guest tries to keep it, and John takes it away. They seemed to be especially stingy about the chalk.

[@AllenMQuinn]

Wow, that has to be the first time Fred got it (unintentionally)!!

[@golden-63]

*Louis Jourdan makes my knees weak.*

[@drumbum3.142]

*YESSS* .., -SIR,!..

[@Enregardant]

"With our guest's permission..." but never actually asks permission beforehand.

[@preppysocks209]

there are people who think it is better to ask for forgiveness than permission

[@drumbum3.142]

Well.. ... that is perhaps a bit of a subjective misnomer, there Enregard. While Sure.. ...this speculation isn't ironclad; Perhaps (there were times when) permission WAS Granted prior to show ... . 🙏.

[@SnowWalker1]

I know that binge watching these videos as I am wouldn't account for correct timing at all since I'm jumping around on my YT suggestion page watching whichever episode grabs my fancy next but boy, every second or third video or so, lucky Bennett is on vacation, lol.

[@juanettebutts9782]

SnowWalker -- I used to jump around from months to years in difference. Then I discovered WML has chronological order collections available. I switched to those, have been binge watching in the correct order. Much more enjoyable experience for me.

[@shirleyrombough8173]

I thought you were going to say you were jumping around on your pogo stick like the contestant I was just watching. Actually I like Bennett. He adds a certain je ne sais quoi. And he added the best pun ever, when commenting about Lily Pons, famous soprano. Honi soit qui mal y pense/Pons, with Pons substituting for pense, the French word for "think." They both sound alike. It translates to "ill comes to one who thinks ill of it."

[@BrookeBullmasterStewart]

I wonder, though… maybe it was just easier to say they were vacations when they really weren’t. You never know what someone is dealing with in their life and maybe there were other factors involved. He was always great, that’s for sure.

[@robertjean5782]

Bennett was a millionaire didn't need the money from this show😊

[@tomitstube]

16:53, louis j. fuller (l.a.smog controller) says to john daly, "i understand you have it here and call it 'smaze', is that right?" it was daly's reaction that made me look this up. apparently in 1953 new york had a really bad problem with pollution that was attributed to some respiratory deaths, (they tried to call it smaze) and again in 1962 and 1966, both new york and los angeles's pollution problems led to the "pollution control act" of 1955, and the "clean air act" of 1963, both preceded the "environmental protection agency" proposed by nixon in 1970.

[@juliansinger]

+tomitstube Yah-- they mentioned it in passing in '53 on WML, actually. Couldn't tell you exactly when, but I looked it up when I heard it. (As part of an opening or closing comment, I think by Bennett.)

[@jaydock1]

Thank you! I couldn’t understand what he said. Seems like Daly wanted to keep the mood light.

[@neilmidkiff]

The Oxford English Dictionary tells us that "smog" was coined in 1905 to describe the combination of London fog and coal smoke. "Smaze" is first cited from 1953 referring to smoke and haze in Manhattan, New York City, but by 1958 was in use in Manchester, England, by 1960 in London, and by 1968 in Brisbane.

[@AaronHahnStudios]

Does anyone else EVER close they're eye's during the Celebrity segments to 'see' it from the panels point of view? ;-)

[@shirleyrombough8173]

I've done that a couple of times but I don't think I would have done as well as the panel.

[@jackkomisar458]

It would be a lot harder for us to guess the mystery guest than it was for the panel. Many of the questions were of the form, "has your name appeared in the newspaper in the last month?" or "Are you in a picture that is about to open in a first-run theater in New York?" or "Are you currently in a play on Broadway?" Even if you are very familiar with the career of the mystery guest, you are less likely than the panel to know exactly what was happening on the date of the broadcast.

[@anselmgolden8286]

No, but I shall now! 😊

[@lemorab1]

Oh yay! Fred Allen guessed the Mystery Guest! The panel with Dorothy, Fred, Arlene, and Bennett is my favorite. Louis Jourdan was good in everything he was in. I loved him young (1951) in "Anne of the Indies," "Gigi," "The V.I.P.'s" and he was excellent in "Dracula." I couldn't see him as someone evil, but he knocked it out of the park. I grew up in North Hollywood, so I liked seeing a guest from there. That was funny when they praised Mr. Fuller for licking the smog problem in Los Angeles in 1955. By the early 1960's, thanks to auto emissions from leaded gasoline, the smog was so thick in North Hollywood, if I saw someone across the playground at school, 30 feet away, the person was barely visible on some days.

[@tubularap]

Oh, if only John would have let the guests say one anecdote from their line of work. Like the Pogo-testing lady. Let her tell a funny story from her work, or at least half a sentence ... Ah well, we have to do it with how it is - a great show. i'm now in my third viewing of the whole lot. Time travelling is fun.

[@robertjean5782]

WML not a talk show😊

[@shirleyrombough8173]

Dorothy was so astute at this game. And fred Allen was witty and clever.

[@JoanO51]

Oh Dorothy! Can’t believe she took credit for “thinking” of a pogo stick when it was clearly Fred Allen’s rightful guess! He was such a gentlemen that he never corrected her. Arlene should have.

[@loissimmons6558]

Sen. John McClellan was the second person to appear on WML over a 4 month time period who eventually was a signer of the Southern Manifesto in 1956, signed by 19 Senators and 82 Representatives of Congress in opposition to Brown v Board of Education and racial integration in general. The other one, Iris Blitch (D, GA 8th District), appeared on the 11/7/54 episode, 5 days after being elected to the House of Representatives for the first time.

[@kevincramer9235]

Racist [expletives], both of them. And let's not try the "things were different then" defense. Hating and fearing members of other racial groups has been "racist" since Othello was a child.

[@taraxacum]

Also opposed to anti-lynching legislation.

[@preppysocks209]

it is likely that any Southern member of Congress at this time would have been a signer of the Manifesto. More interesting is that another WML MG was one of only three Southern senators who did not sign the Manifesto: Estes Kefauver.

[@519djw6]

@@preppysocks209 *Yes!* Kefauver had his faults. (He was known by Washington elevator girls as "the Claw.") However, he was one of the very few Southern politicians who did *not* solicit votes from his White constituents by engaging in racist rhetoric.

[@juliansinger]

Dorothy is awfully competitive; it's fun to watch. Also, Fred completely had a show-provided gambit in the 1st session and it stood out a bit. There are a bunch of 50s and 60s era articles that include mention of Mr. Fuller and his smog control, but I can't find out if/when he retired and/or what he went on to do. Alas. I'm a little dense because I couldn't figure out why they would want Senator McClellan on, but of course, he was one of the folks walking out on the McCarthy hearings.

[@shirleyrombough8173]

If he did, then bravo for him. I can see why Senator McClellan disapproved of Chang Kai Shek(I have no idea how tovspell his name. Sorry). He was as much a dictator as the Chinese government that replaced him.

[@shirleyrombough8173]

Bravo for him. Those McCarthy hearings were brutal towards anybody with even a hint of communistic sympathy.

[@ibnalhaytham]

The week I was born.

[@bettycogswell9851]

Televised the day and year I was born...

[@418-Error]

"It's not Senator McClellen then?". That would be a " no" wouldn't it?

[@gregoryh.3690]

Fred said: "It's not Senator McClellan, is it?" The "is it" is what got him the yes answer.

[@stevekru6518]

Correct Brian. It was a NO, but it was also sufficiently specific to win the game.

[@markjaws1]

The day I was born!

[@joncheskin]

I have an image in my mind of jumping up and down on pogo sticks for 40 hours per week. I don't think I could do the job.

[@troydante]

It has its ups and downs ...

[@robertjean5782]

Different employees took turn in doing this !😊

[@scottpardee6303]

Being a pogo stick tester must be fun for a while, but not all day long. Taking each one as it is made and jumping on it must be wearing after awhile.

[@MrJoeybabe25]

Were the expenses (meals, hotels, etc...) of out of town contestants paid for by "What's My Line"?

[@dalej42]

They aren’t even today. I was on weakest link and stayed with a friend in LA.

[@diamondstud322]

I noticed when they requested people to send in letters to be considered as contestants, they wanted a picture, his/her occupation, and the date(s) they would BE in NYC, so I’d say no. Though I did see some notice in the ending credits about air travel being provided by American Airline (I think), but that may have been limited to Mystery guests and/or guest panelists?

[@shirleyrombough8173]

@@diamondstud322 I've seen that announcement about American Airlines but I didn't think it applied to contestants' travel, but who knows?

[@robertjean5782]

$150 expenses for certain guests coming from afar😊

[@erichanson426]

Wow, the smog problem goes way back to the 1950's, I didn't know that

[@taraxacum]

Yes, in 1952 they were calling it "killer fog" which was first experienced in London where it actualy caused a number of deaths.

[@neilmidkiff]

The word was coined in 1905 to describe the combination of London fog and coal smoke.

[@diamondstud322]

I was more surprised that they thought the problem was resolved lol

[@typeface-um6kl]

The pogo stick lady was in pretty good shape.

[@vickihough6060]

Loved this show. I wasnt a fan of the contestants having to walk in front of the panel so they could "get a good look" at them. Glad they later ditched it. This show is back when people had class!

[@El_Ophelia]

Bennett seems to never spend much time at work. He seems to always, or at least extremely often, be away on vacation. Every few weeks as it were. I don't understand how someone can get their job done if they're always flying all over the world, most often to beachy resorts.

[@shirleyrombough8173]

I think Bennett's travel was work-related. He might have been publicizing newly published books or visiting various book stores or author signings.

[@robertjean5782]

He owned a massive company and was very rich. He didn't need the money from this show, but enjoyed doing it! 😊

[@El_Ophelia]

@@robertjean5782 Oh I know he didn't need money from the show. I was just observing how often he's away and taking vacations all the time.

[@Beson-SE]

Doctor Snuggles used a pogo stick... :)

[@anny1613]

Arlene’s heart shaped pendant is different here if compared to the one worn in previous episodes. She musta have had more than one. Which of the two will be the one to get stolen in the 80s I wonder...?

[@robertjean5782]

She had the first one stolen by a taxi driver getting out of his cab in the 50s. Martin purchased the 2nd one 😊

[@ericgoldfarb4870]

Fred Allen said that tv was the new medium because its rarely well done.

[@BrookeBullmasterStewart]

Anyone else know what that odd pause (that ‘P’) was for Mr. Daly just before 11:45? I can’t tell if it was intentional or not. 🤔

[@robertjean5782]

It was a L that he thought was a p.😊

[@keymaninmusic]

The senator segment was painful to watch. I almost fast forwarded.

[@jessicaphillips4542]

That guy seems like he’s trying to peek the French guy

[@gp10020]

John Charles Daily wears a wig, eh?

[@robertjean5782]

Toupee for many years😊

[@stevestites9762]

Great episode, no Bennett!

[@ChrisHansonCanada]

POGO STICK TESTER DIRECTOR FOR SMOG CONTROL OF LOS ANGELES

[@peternagy-im4be]

Please remove this moronic troll from the comments section. Unfortunately today's awful society is full of losers such as this infantile jerk that relish in spoiling people's enjoyment on this video. Thanks.