You Bet Your Life - BEHIND THE SCENES (Apr 7, 1952)

Special film made for a gathering of DeSoto-Plymouth dealers showing how YBYL was put together. Features on camera appearances by producer John Guedel and directors Bernie Smith and Robert Dwan, plus some interesting shots showing how the program was filmed, and an excerpt from an early episode not in circulation, the premiere of the 6th season (including an outtake not included in the YBYL stag reels).
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Click here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else, as well as some rare Burns and Allen material that doesn't really belong there:
/ @grouchomarx-youbetyou...
Facebook group for You Bet Your Life and Groucho's other game shows! groups/16432...

[@ErectedGasCan]

Fennemans voice blows my mind every time. As well as Groucho, he was unique. Sensational. Brilliant. Phenomenal. Sitting down.

[@donaldcrabbe7404]

This is a brilliant comment.

[@giorgikvatchadze4928]

Having now watched all the Groucho shows uploaded on this channel, I feel strongly urged from time to time, to come back and rewatch them. One can never get enough of Groucho - one of the most brilliant comedians and men that ever lived. Needless to say that I am endlessly grateful to the uploader for bequeathing this great opportunity to us. You have done a great service to the history of your country and each and every one of us. Thank you!

[@grouchomarx-youbetyourlife7476]

I'm so glad you enjoyed them, Giorgi! I wish I had more episodes to post, but I'm bone dry. I'm working on getting a few more, though. . . stay tuned!

[@williamanthony9090]

@@grouchomarx-youbetyourlife7476 - Well, as long as someone is thanking you, maybe I should take a second to do so as well. These shows are a rare glimpse into America's past; A sociologist's dream, really. Anyone wondering about society today, need only to watch these episodes with Americans of the immediate post WW II era, to help understand how we developed into who we are now. Education aside, Groucho Marx is hilarious, his interaction with the guests highly entertaining, and the actual quiz part of the show is still fun to watch. Even with a thousand cable channels available, there's no guarantee any of them will be playing You Bet Your Life. If not for uploaders like yourself, we might not ever be able to see these great shows. So... ... Thankyou for uploading these episodes here on KZbin. Entertainment is changing faster than Hollywood can keep up, and you're one of the people making those changes possible!

[@aaronsmith5433]

@@williamanthony9090 Hollywood can't keep up ,they are kaput! KZbin is the algorithm now. Once you get used to seeing exactly what you love exactly when you want under your control, what can I say other than bye bye, it was nice while it lasted. That goes advert ladden cable/satellite too!

[@frederickcombs8661]

This was quite a production for something that appears light and simple. I bet DeSoto Plymouth enjoyed this relationship.

[@patrixspringer2753]

Filmed with 8 cameras! WoW! Thanks for posting this gem!!!

[@quantumleap359]

This is such an amazing piece of film. My father and I never missed watching Groucho. This was really a treat! Thank you for sharing.

[@donaldcrabbe7404]

#1 Now, finally, I've seen John Guedel #2 Mr. Fenneman is one of the finest announcers, ever. #3 Thank-you, for uploading this. I'm loving it!

[@keithnaylor1981]

So basically what they all said was that they have a number one show enjoyed by millions and its mainly due to the incredible wit and spontaneity of Groucho Marx. What a tribute! Just starting my second viewing of all the episodes.

[@samsum3738]

I was 3 months old when this was first broadcast .

[@edsmith651]

This show is better than going to a comedy club. The contestants are respectful and repectable and Groucho is a hoot! Love this show. Groucho has a very quick wit. Lol. Groucho once said: If a comedian has to be dirty to be funny, he's no comedian. In all my years of listening to comedy, I found the funniest comedy is clean and usually about everyday goings on or people. I'd give Groucho 5 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

[@ManInTheBigHat]

This PR stuff is great. Thanks so much to you for uploading this series. They really make my day.

[@grouchomarx-youbetyourlife7476]

I'm happy to hear that-- and thanks for leaving the comment!

[@auletjohnast03638]

ManinTheBigHat, Are you sure is Puerto Rican stuff? Could be true, Puerto Rico has some good shows and soap operas.

[@tjk247]

Thanks for uploading YBYL episodes. I believe the girl posing as Grouchos secretary is Eden Hartford. She was married to Groucho in 1954 and they divorced in 1969. She also appeared as an indian squaw with him in The Story Of Mankind.

[@grouchomarx-youbetyourlife7476]

tjk247 You're very welcome. That's not Eden, though. Definitely not. :)

[@grouchomarx-youbetyourlife7476]

tjk247 I've since had a comment from someone on Facebook who also says that the "secretary" was Eden, so I may have been too forceful in my disagreement! It just doesn't look at all like her to me, though. Must be the hairdo!

[@grouchomarx-youbetyourlife7476]

tjk247 Okay, I'm rescinding my disagreement, and embarrassed over my over-certainty! People who know better than I would have weighed in on this and agree with you that it was Eden. My apologies-- and good catch!

[@suzuki1000ish]

+tjk247 Definitely Eden

[@karltiedemann9329]

+David Noll Sure it isn't Dee Hartford, Eden's sister (who worked w. Groucho on HOLLYWOOD PALACE)?

[@martyhoffer4217]

What a great comedian. His timing was unbelievable.

[@thebiglittlestore7137]

23 million listeners & viewers per week. A great testament for a great mind.

[@chrislawson7983]

Watched bunch of em and what talent he had thanks for the post, so great, enjoyable.

[@HolgerRuneFan]

God, was George absolutely gorgeous!

[@edsmith651]

Lol, spoken by a woman😂

[@MarcBrewer]

Kinda wanna go buy a 53 DeSoto now

[@chevydude658]

I totally agree. I been wanting a DeSoto pretty bad myself. my Dad was a mechanoc and he said they were pretty nice car.

[@boggy7665]

@@chevydude658 No 1953 car is as maintenance-free as a modern car, but for the time, and for overall repairability, the 1953 Desoto was a great car. Personally, I'd take the big 6 with overdrive.

[@gregk.6723]

Especially at 1953 price.

[@crispincain5373]

Thank you for posting this video which we may have never seen otherwise!!

[@grouchomarx-youbetyourlife7476]

A YBYL extra I neglected to post earlier, mainly because I thought someone had already posted this to KZbin (if so, I can no longer find it!) --------------------------------- Click here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else, as well as some rare Burns and Allen material that doesn't really belong there: kzbin.info/door/UIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w Facebook group for You Bet Your Life and Groucho's other game shows! facebook.com/groups/1643223392577688/?ref=bookmarks

[@SheilaB]

Thoroughly fascinating, many thanks for sharing.

[@charlesbrooks9577]

Groucho was a hell of a good car salesman

[@johnnyballenatl]

You Bet Your Life was the first and perhaps only game show that was shot on film, since all other game shows at that time were live from New York and preserved on kinescope (this was before videotape). By the way, Chase Bank currently occupies that spot where YBYL was filmed.

[@altfactor]

I think "People Are Funny" was also filmed.

[@Groucho-tg1tx]

That Doctor is still trying to explain why he became a Doctor today.

[@henningandersen9027]

I will never get it how uncomfortable they let the poor contestants stand - while Groucho is sitting down comfortably. And the women never know where to put their hands, letting them hang awkwardly down. .

[@LaFlaneuse0]

Wow! That secretary

[@fromthesidelines]

At the time, Groucho was on radio [Wednesdays, 9pm(et)] and TV [Thursdays, 8pm(et)]. Both versions were tailored for each medium......so the show you heard on radio wasn't EXACTLY the one that was edited for TV.

[@scottthrower7637]

i wrote groucho a fan letter in 1976. he sent back an autographed and personalized 8 x 10. i sold that pic a few yrs back for $500. and i regret selling it. thanks for posting.

[@yogibeer9319]

Did you keep the shovel?

[@jimirsmith6247]

Groucho dominates in '53

[@highvelocity6529]

Groucho Marx is the greatest verbal comedian ever . No one can touch him .

[@martyhoffer4217]

George Fetterman was an actor in the original The Thing.

[@henningandersen9027]

I still don't have an explanation of how "our studio audience chose ........ " contestants? Actually here Fenneman goes around and picks 4 who are then examined by the "team"....!!!!!

[@ed3432]

Love YBYL. Best thing Groucho ever did on T.V. Do you have episodes with Johnny Weissmuller and a young Candice Bergen with Melinda Marx. Could you upload, if possible. Thank You.

[@grouchomarx-youbetyourlife7476]

ed3432 Sorry, I can't post those episodes because they were released in DVD sets by Shout Factory where all the episodes had a brand new 2003 copyright notice from NBC. Uploading any of those episodes will put this entire channel at risk of being deleted. It pains me to have leave those 36 episodes off the channel, believe me-- some of them are all time favorites!

[@quantumleap359]

+Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life I remember when one of our local stations used to strip some of the You Bet Your Life shows. On many of them, they had burned out the call letters on the microphones. Why was that?

[@grouchomarx-youbetyourlife7476]

Quantum Leap That was done when the shows were FIRST put into syndication in way back in 1961. The thinking was that they wouldn't be able to sell the shows to non-NBC affiliated stations otherwise. Far worse is the fact that they zoomed and cropped wide shots to obscure the Desoto logo on the back wall. This often makes the camerawork look like it was framed by someone who's legally blind. One of the things that makes the Shout Factory DVDs so good is that, for the most part, they were able to use original 35mm prints from BEFORE this tampering was done.

[@quantumleap359]

+Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life Framed by someone who's legally blind! LOL! So they shot that on 35mm? Wow, with four cameras running, that must have burned through some film!

[@grouchomarx-youbetyourlife7476]

Quantum Leap Yes, it sure did eat through a lot of film. Since the recording sessions were about an hour long and there were always supposed to be three of the four cameras rolling at any given time, they were essentially exposing 3 hours of film for every 25 minute episode. No other game show was ever produced this way. All the syndication prints were reduced from 35mm to 16mm (and semi-mutilated in the process). Most of what survives from YBYL are these 16mm prints.

[@martinjones5965]

How Groucho could manage to still be funny amongst such a boring crowd is a tribute to his craft.

[@robertstrugnell7842]

shame,..we DIDN'T get to see back stage after all

[@bobdownes162]

It surprises me how the voices of the contestants are picked up considering that the Mikes are positioned so low down on their stands.

[@harrykargenian4887]

Those studio mikes were pretty powerful, they could pick up just about everything.

[@pjriverdale8461]

The RCA 77B's for the guests and the RCA 44BX in front of Groucho both required fairly robust preamps which enabled sufficient power for the mike's pickup patterns. Both being " ribbon" microphones, the speaker, vocalist were instructed to maintain a bit of distance from the pickup element as the ribbon could fail if the mike was " eaten". Out of frame is at least one overhead boom microphone, likely a 77DX covering all three mikes if a failure occurred as well as enabling the audio engineer to mix the output of all three microphones for a consistent level. Groucho's 44BX is the " classic" radio mike used into the TV era until the mid 1950's. Although, it is seen on "YBYL" episodes until 1961. It was invented c.1930 for film audio. The 77DX is an improved version which debuted in 1937. Examples were seen on TV through the early Carson Tonight Shows and later as David Letterman's podium unit on the early NBC Late Night Shows. Both are iconic microphones with the pill shape of the 77 now essentially a universal visual icon to designate " microphone"....

[@bobdownes162]

@@pjriverdale8461 WOW ! Thanks for that info. I would have never dreamt, what you have stated, would have been so. Guess your a sound engineer of some sort.

[@martinjones5965]

6m37s after the producers 'performance' the audience number dove to only statisticians.

[@kellyjustus]

that was a lot of money 6,000 could buy a nice house.

[@maryperez1235]

Kelly Justus Not really. Now it's equivalent to almost 8x. Couldn't buy a nice house for $45,000.

[@martinjones5965]

8m49s More statistics ... please please please Groucho, interrupt him and save us from him and himself !!!

[@phillipwarlick239]

Was George the father of Jon Hamm

[@paulaharrisbaca4851]

How odd the shows sound before laff trax are put in. Although it's only the promotional pieces and ads that didn't have a live audience, as far as I know. After all, advertisers are very serious because they are spending money to run these shows. So I guess, they can do that.

[@kevinbanks6855]

In today's money how much was he making per show? Think he had lots of respect for the crew and enjoyed working with them. There will be only Groucho Marx!!!!!!

[@marymarysmarket3508]

He made $16,000 per week. Money value in 2022 would be that amount times 8.5. Or $136, 000

[@Really658]

Nebulous? I lost all credibility for this guy he's a doctor.?

[@martinjones5965]

6m19s boooooooorrrrrrrring ... get on with the behind the scenes instead of this advertising.