TV Tuesday: What's My Line? - Season 5; Episode 10 (1953)
What's My Line? - 1953
Coming up on this edition of TV Tuesday, we have that super popular game show, "What's My Line?", a show that saw a panel of judges guess the line of work of several people and also guess the identity of a mystery guest. Let's meet our panelists!
They are newspaper columnist Dorothy Kilgallen, television personality Steve Allen, actress Arlene Francis, and publisher and co-founder of Random House Bennett Cerf.
And the whole show is moderated brilliantly by Mr. John Daly, who along with the panelists provides us with no end of fun.
The first contestant is Mrs. Carin Clarius. She greets the panel and they form their first impressions of what she does for a living. They come to the conclusion that she either runs a very chic Finnish bath, runs a modeling
agency, is a golf pro for ladies only, or is a very expensive interior decorator.
The audience is in for a laugh when they find out what Mrs. Clarius really does for a living! However, the panel guesses rather well what she does, and she only racks up $10 out of a possible $50.
The next guest is Mr. Logan A. Gallagher. He also greets the panel so that they can size him up. They come to the conclusion that he is either a captain on something seafaring – maybe a
tugboat, a tuna fisherman, a backfield coach at some university, or a truck farmer.
Mr. Gallagher really manages an all-girls baseball team for a living. None of the panel can guess his line of work, so he wins the full $50.
Next, it's time for the mystery guest on the show. As the guest will be instantly recognizable to the panel, they are blindfolded. John makes the announcement, "Will you come in, mystery challenger, and sign in, please?"
The audience erupts into applause and cheers when the beautiful Lauren Bacall steps onto the stage. She takes her place beside John.
John takes obvious delight in being seated next to the lovely Ms. Bacall. He has to call for a time out so that they can put their heads together in a "small conference, awfully sorry". They do this a couple of times. Bacall is a good sport throughout the whole thing.
Bacall puts on a French accent to disguise her voice. Panelist Steve Allen asks her if she is married, has made a picture within the last year, and if she is over twenty-one. When she replies in the affirmative, Allen says, "You'll do". The audience laughs hysterically, and so does Bacall.
Arlene Francis correctly guesses Bacall's identity when she asks, "Are you here in New
York because you have recently finished a picture that is going to
tell all the women of the world how to marry a millionaire?" (Bacall was in New York to attend the premier of the film "How To Marry A Millionaire".)
She greets the panel warmly as she departs for the evening. The audience cheers wildly for the beloved star of the screen.
The final contestant for the evening is Mr. Howard Harris. Because of time constraints, he does not get to meet the panel. He goes directly to his seat with John. The panel does get to guess what he does for a living. They think he is either a casting director, an executive of some sort in television, a person who makes eyeglass rims, or an agent.
It turns out that Mr. Harris is quite familiar with the world of television. He is a TV gag writer for Jackie Gleason. He wins the $50 by default because the show runs out of time.
You can watch the entire episode of this show from start to finish right here.
Cast rundown:
John Daly.............................................Himself
And that's it for What's My Line?. In production from 1950 to 1975, it is on the list of longest running US primetime network television game shows. In 2013, TV Guide included it on their list of the 60 greatest game shows ever. It ranked #9.
The show was so popular that even Walt Disney was getting in on the action. 1961's animated film "One Hundred And One Dalmatians" featured a spoof of the famous game show. Entitled "What's My Crime?", a criminal sat before a panel who were supposed to guess his crime. If they were unable to answer after ten questions, the criminal would win an all expenses paid trip to some fashionable seaside resort after he had paid his debt to society.
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