Yes, back when females were "ladies" and males were "gentlemen," and both genders had class!

@SavageArfad Excellent point! And quite correct .. journalists know how to furrow out & bring together all the bits of information!

I noticed that.

Back when people had manners and class!

Indeed agree with you 1000%, It's a mad,mad,mad,mad world is best comedy ever & to THIS day in 2023 it still is so! So many awesome comedian/actors at that time in it but, Ms Merman was just brilliant lead from her first lines with "...things that just happen!!" to her being the butt, literally joke at the end, you'll not stop laughing being amazed at the dialog & talents, comedic actions that situations all get involved within Just to find what's below the "Big W"in IMMMW!! All have sadly passed on now & that talent amongst so many does not ex8st today & maybe never! This WML is an exciting episode just before this movie opened in 1963, WOW!

Yes, indeed! Whenever I need a good laugh I watch that particular film. The fight scene at the garage is hilarious.

Love that movie!

She would appear 15 years later in the Match Game panel as well.

Me too

Me three

I’m not sure I ever left. 🤷‍♂️

Me makes four.

I'm with you Steve E. Especially, the early 60's (the JFK years), when the clothes, cars, and music had class!

They did that for showing respect to elders most of the times

@@lopa2828 And also to clergy, I've seen

​@@lennypearl Yes, in particular, Ven. Bp. Fulton J. Sheen.

Yes. Dorothy and Arlene always stood for gentlemen and ladies older than themselves.

Yes, I'm sure they stood out of deference to an elder the way they did for the elderly woman who was a department store detective. Bennett Cerf's guessed her occupation both Arlene and Dorothy stood to shake her hand with poor Dot having to practically push her off the set because she wouldn't let go of her hand. Oh that right: her name was Emily V. McAvoy and she enjoyed talking to the panel particularly Joey Bishop and Dot so much. She had worked where she was employed for 64 years. Wow!!

And talent !

Not sure what you watched..Dorothy barely stood up and Arlene clearly did not!

@@donnalthood3102 I'm wondering what YOU watched. Dorothy actually stood up completely before the elderly gentleman even stood to the front of herself.

Yes Betty White lost her soulmate to cigarettes. No doubt he's in heaven waiting for her.

I agree, very lovely man. And so was John Daly.

Classy guy with a great sense of humor, that was Allen Ludden.

A true class act.

​@@tabithawest3874 God willing, they've been reunited.

Ironic that when a man is accused of cowardice, he is compared to a mouse (as in this exchange from "A Day at the Races"): Gil : Are you a man or a mouse? Dr. Hackenbush (Groucho) : You put a piece of cheese down there and you'll find out.

Ester Williams was the swimmer

Yes, I agree, the producers were brilliant. Same can be said of John Guedel, producer of You Bet Your Life and all of Art Linkletter's big programs. No matter how talented the cast-- and they were the best of the best-- shows absolutely require the guidance of an intelligent, committed producing team to really succeed, especially for such staggeringly long runs.

I heard the title of that in Stewart's voice. :)

I really didn't like her voice. But as you say loud and clear.

@@sandrageorge3488 A result of the era in which I grew up, all I can think of is her belting out ♪ You'll be swell, you'll be great , gonna have the whole world on a plate ♪ in Airplane!

She'll always be Lieutenant Hurwitz to me.

Indeed. She was Broadway's all time greatest star.

By the time this WML episode aired, Ms. Merman had already made Mx4W. It premiered just a few weeks later on Nov 7, 1963. [By the way, it's one of my favorite movies, too.]

The 19th century was only 64 years ago.

Not to mention all the cameos. It's the very definition of an "overstuffed" film. Lots of greatness in it, but while I was happy to see that much lost footage has been restored, it was already way, WAY too long for a comedy film as it stood!

Watching it is like running a marathon.

Aritosthenes Shame that Groucho wasn't one of the cameos!

Aritosthenes I haven't seen the film for probably 15 years, so I'm not a good one to ask. But Buster is definitely in it. The imdb lists his part as "Jimmy the Crook". I don't know if that helps much, considering that it's probably just a short cameo. Jack Benny's cameo lasted all of 27 seconds. Jack Benny cameo in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) [clip]

***** One of my favorite gags from that movie.

He started painting in the 1800's!!

That's actually one of the "inside games" many of us play, noting who acknowledges the audience. It happens a decent amount of times - always nice to see. Then there's the "For whom do Arlene and/or Dorothy stand?" game, which was also played tonight. ;) I think there are so many fun aspects to watching these shows, I cannot fathom how any episode gets a thumbs down.

@@robbob1234 I wonder how many mystery guests had Arlene and Dorothy standing for them, AND also acknowledged the audience? :)

John Wayne acknowledged the audience and camera.1961 year I think.

Lieutenant Hurwitz "He thinks he's Ethel Merman."

Her real name is ETHEL ZIMMERMAN.

+Joe Postove Hmm, I thought it was optical, cordless, track ball, 2-button, 3-button and Soupy Sales.

"Oh, Don!"

tabitha west Sadly cigarettes used to be heavily promoted back in the '60s and many, many entertainers were heavy smokers like Johnny Carson, Bette Davis and even Jazz icon Oscar Peterson. May they all RIP and Ethel Merman too though I don't recall her being a smokers.

As a side note my grandfather and uncle taken out by cigarettes. Lung cancer. Both stopped smoking to late.

@@jimboy819 Sad that cigs are ok but put down pot that is at least helpful to many. Snoop Dog and Willie Nelson are still around I see.

tabitha west They can enjoy it in food, also lessoning lung damage. In smoke form, also very bad for lungs.

Geez louise..... Mommy!

No way, the original 1950 music worked best

Yes, I prefer this Kennedy-era post-Brubeck, pre-Beatles cocktail party jazz theme best. I love Brubeck and the Beatles, I'm just indicating the niche into which the spirit of this composition goes. Sometimes I try to think of lyrics for it, but all I've got so far is "🎶....play What's My Line 🎶" for the last four notes of the melody, which is about as cheesy as a French fourth course.

And what did Bennet say. . . ?

I hate to ruin that episode for you with a spoiler.

soulierinvestments Fair enough! With my memory, I'll never remember it when we get to the later appearance. But assuming other folks actually have some functioning memory capacity unlike me, maybe better not to spoil it.

Maybe this old guy's method is what kept him active at it for 65 years, which means he started in the 19th century. And just to further blow your mind, think on this: here we are in the 21st century, reminiscing about a show many of us were alive to watch in the 20th century, that featured a gentleman who worked as an adult in the 19th century! We're talking about experiencing a separation of three centuries!

There was at least one example, where they got Louis Armstrong to sing a bit of "Hello, Dolly" (a huge hit for him at the time), despite the fact that it had been made clear to the producers by his manager that they were *not* to let him sing the song, which was set to debut on TV on a variety show later that week. But Louis was Louis. He wasn't a business person, he was an angel sent from the heavens, and when they asked, he gave them a few bars acapella. His manager, Joe Glaser, reportedly almost ruptured a blood vessel when he saw what was happening. They couldn't have paid for rights for songs on a live broadcast because the few times it happened (if there were any outside of this example with Louis), it wasn't preplanned, though it might have caused ASCAP to demand royalties after the fact, I think part of the reason the performers never performed is that John was against that sort of thing (he's usually the one who squashes the requests). Whether there were legal/financial ramifications or not, and as well intentioned as the requests were (usually from Arlene), I always considered this a bit like inviting a plumber to dinner and then asking him/her to repair your toilet for free after dessert.

What's My Line? Agreed. I love Arlene, but I wonder how she would feel if someone asked her to "host" for their entertainment. When I began in radio, friends and acquaintances would ask me to "do" some radio for them. I was young and stupid and sometimes would until I figured out that the best response would be to ask to be paid.

What's My Line? I think that there were a couple of times that Mystery Guests did sing a little "Thank You" or "Goodbye" to the panel; the De Marco Sisters in February of 1953 comes readily to mind (and maybe the Andrews Sisters on one occasion). But no more than that..... And I think that, among "regular Joe/Jane" contestants, there was a pair of male college students who were singing deliverymen who gave a sample of what they did. But that's the only one that I can think of.

jmccracken1963 There was also the little girl, Marilyn Patch, from a few episodes back, who sang a song composed by her parents, which she had apparently also sung on her own television show. John was very indulgent with her and encouraged her to sing -- I think at least partially because he felt bad for her for having had her "line" guessed in one turn by Dorothy, and the game ended so quickly that they had enough time. P.S. The singing college students were great, but I think they were garbage men. :)

jmccracken1963""regular Joe/Jane"...Who?

she's about to hit 96 & still vibrant as ever

@@orgonkothewildlyuntamed6301 She hit 99 and counting....

Where would the producers most likely use this tape? -- the Sunday before Thanksgiving vacation, or the Sunday after Thanksgiving vacation?

soulierinvestments Well, assuming what I said is true, that episode would have aired on the Sunday before Thanksgiving vacation. In 1963, Thanksgiving was on 11/28/63.

+Joe Postove Mundy, Mundy, he was all I hoped he would be ...

He used a bosun's chair.

Oh great! Now I have the Old Spice jingle as an ear worm. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rppioKqhrt2nl5s.html

They dealt in very general categories on the show--animal, vegetable, mineral--lumping insects under animals and arachnids under insects, so it doesn't surprise me that they would lump mink and ermine under rodents.

The entire panel, including Daly, were abysmally ignorant of animal life.

​@@kentetalman9008What's My Genus?

Alan Follett I assume the pole lies on its side for painting. after it dries, flip it and do the other side

The painter said that he uses a bosun's chair, that pulley arrangement used over the sides of ships holding just one person. Somehow it's attached and then removed so as not to smear the paint - he has my admiration to work at 85 y.o.!

You start at the bottom and go up to the top only if you paint Helter Skelter.

@@loissimmons6558 Only they spelled it, "Healter Skelter", so not only were they very bad people, they were very bad spellers, as well.

@@kennethlatham3133 Manson and his followers did, but not The Beatles. I was. of course, quoting The Beatles lyrics.

I see you've rectified that. :) The FB group is blowing my mind already. I can't keep up!

What's My Line? But you must keep up, sir. Who will guide us? Where shall we go? "What's My Line" must have it's Dear Leader!

Joe Postove Well, Mr. Postove! To you it hasn't been such a huge leap, 'cause you already were on FB. As long as *Gary* stays here as *Our Host of Honour* I'm (so far) fine. The problem might be, that most of you regulars are posting your comments on FB, instead of here on Y.Tube, and there will not be so much left to say for us who are *not* that thrilled by the thought of getting an account on FB. Hm...

Joe Postove What's My Line? As I guessed. Everyone is on FB. No answer to my comments, not here, not in the previous WML, and The Bell is mute. I'm going back to my Sanskrit Lessons. Namaskar guys! :)

SuperWinterborn I don't think it's going to go that way. FB is best, I think, for related posts and general discussions. Discussions on the videos themselves I think are still going to be mostly made on YT. There are far fewer comments directly on today's posted show on FB than there are on YT, yet the activity in the group as a whole is so high that I'm already having a great deal of difficulty keeping up (which is not a complaint!) I'm not going anywhere-- I can't, if for no other reason than to make sure the comments on YT remain respectful. But it's going to take me longer to catch up than it used to! I'm working on setting up a different way of handling notifications so I can be a bit more systematic about it. I feel like I'm just jumping around from place to place with no rhyme or reason at this point.

Actor was considered an acceptably gender-neutral term, as was comedian. But if the guest was male, they certainly wouldn't get a "yes" to "are you an *actress*".

Perhaps, Milton Berle?

I have noticed that contemporary women in the acting profession seem to disdain the word "actress" and insist on referring to themselves as actors. I don't really understand why, as I don't think there's anything demeaning about the "ress" suffix -- just differentiating. But back then, I think it was still clear from the question, "are you an actor?" that the questioner thought the mystery guest was male, so "no" was a proper response. The "comedienne" distinction has not been common for a long time, but I have also noticed on previous WML episodes that the panel, mystery guests and audience seemed to make a definite distinction between "comedienne" and "comedian." I can't remember who was involved, but on at least one occasion (and perhaps more), the audience laughed when a woman known for comedy was asked if she was a "comedian," because it was obvious that the panel thought she was a man. And if I'm remembering correctly, Shirley Booth was careful about that distinction in one of her mystery guest appearances.

ej flashfold We finally got him, ej! You should have seen him at the funeral, all decked out in a maroon dress suit, purple heels, and a hat to give Hedda fits. And for those that need to know; its on the left.

+What's My Line? This is not so: you did not call a female an actor.

There was NO shouting. Your TV must have bad volume

Joe Postove Watch closely and you'll see he didn't flip a card. Right before Arlene, Alan got a "no" for "Is it Buddy Hackett" and John states "that's 5 down and 5 to go" and then after Arlene gets a "oui" he starts to say "6 down 4 to go", but corrects himself and simply restates that it's "5 down and 5 to go". He didn't flip a card or change the score.

I noticed that. I also noticed Carol Channing also did (on one appearance, she takes a few seconds to get to the board to sign in, and I realized she was acknowledging the applause). Maybe the stage stars were more used to this than film people?

Carol Lawrence did it as well after shaking hands with the panel she turned to the audience and waved.

John Wayne and Lana turner did. I think real old timers like Gloria Swanson and Tallulah Bankhead did also .

Lucille Ball always acknowledgement the audience too.

They'd probably wear black face shields instead of masks.

@@lauraatkinson4790 what?

@@hizgrase If WML was running today, with covid protocols in place, the panel members would have probably worn opaque face shields for the Mystery Guest sequence to allow them to speak audibly when asking questions. Face shields, although not opaque from the wearer's point of view, are worn during rehearsals and other pre-show activities on a lot of shows right now, Fox's The Masked Singer being one that comes to mind.

Why the hell don't you escape to the UK to watch the British version of WML.

You clearly need to grow up.

I met Bennett Cerf. He was absolutely delightful.