On this edition of TV Tuesday, we feature another episode of one of my favorite shows "What's My Line?". This episode from the sixth season happens to be one of my favorites. Let's meet our panelists!
They are popular newspaper columnist Dorothy Kilgallen, television personality Robert Q. Lewis, theater actress Arlene Francis, and publisher Bennett Cerf. All very qualified for their prescribed function on this episode.
Our host, as ever, is Mr. John Charles Daly, who moderates the panel with extreme verve.
We get to our first guest. The panel takes a look and then makes their guesses as to what his line is. Their responses? A department store Santa Claus, a college professor, a happy second hand car salesman, and a dentist.
We find out that he runs a Santa Claus school. Dorothy Kilgallen got the closest with her guess.
He doesn't get very far. Dorothy sticks to her hunch and is very pleased when she guesses it after the man has won only $5.
The next guess is a lady from Scotland. Instantly, John and the panel launch into Scottish accents with varying degrees of success. The panel makes their guesses. They believe she either writes poetry, plays a hot bagpipe with the Edinburgh Jazz Fife, makes Scotch scones, or is a gardener.
None of them are even close. This lady destroys obsolete bombs from World War II!
The panel has the hardest time with this one. Robert Q. Lewis has worked out that she has something to do with a thing that is metal, has moving parts, and is unpleasant. He says, "I know nothing of metal with unpleasant moving parts, and I pass to Miss Francis." After which, the entire panel and audience erupts with laughter.
Robert further works out that it's a bomb. John mentions that it's now the panels job to figure out what she has to do with bombs. Robert looks confused and says, "Oh, I do hope little or nothing." More laughter from the audience. Nobody can guess. So, the guest wins the full $50.
Then, it's time for the mystery celebrity. With the panel blindfolded, Mr. Louis Jourdan walks in to general cheers from the audience. He proceeds to put on quite the accent and thoroughly confuses the panel. It is quite fun to watch.
Eventually, Arlene Francis comes to the conclusion that it's Louis Jourdan. Her shock and delight at the way he was able to fool the panel is priceless.
You can watch Louis's section of the program here. You really wouldn't believe he was a Frenchman if you didn't already know.
Following the mystery celebrity segment, the panel has time for a quick round with another guest. They decide she either teaches the mambo, makes a wonderful Pasta Fazool ("and if she does I wanna marry her!" exclaims Robert Q. Lewis), or is a double for Mamie Eisenhower. Arlene makes a joke during her guess which I don't catch.
They are all wrong. This guest is a physical instructor at the Y.M.C.A.
Dorothy is in fine form. When it's her turn, she gets to the right answer within a couple of questions, which results in the guest winning $10.
However, before the broadcast, the guest told John that whatever she wins will be donated to charity. He declares himself in a flipping mood and flips the rest of the cards over, giving her the full $50 prize to end the evening.
Cast rundown:
John Daly..........................................Himself
Robert Q. Lewis..................................Himself
Louis Jourdan....................................Himself
And that's it for What's My Line?. This entire episode is delightful to watch. At the end of this episode, John mentions that Dorothy will be traveling to Cleveland, Ohio, to continue reporting on the Dr. Sam Sheppard murder trial. Sheppard was eventually convicted of murdering his wife. However, Dorothy did not believe the story and worked for years to overturn the verdict. She released a crucial piece of testimony in 1964, and Sheppard was released from prison. Shortly after Dorothy's death, Sheppard was retried and acquitted of the crime.
You can watch the episode in its entirety here. It's well worth your time. The episode also references the film "Three Coins In The Fountain", which featured Louis Jourdan and had been released earlier that year.
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