What's my Line? Nanette Fabray & Robert Ryan

[observer9670]

I THINK Harry Belefonte was the only black WML guest panelist, at least on the Sunday night version.

[irish66]

Her's another vote for The set up and Mr Ryan's performance

[stickstr8up]

Harry Belafonte was HOT!!!

[JubalCalif]

Awww..what a shame they guessed the mystery guests so soon. What a dynamite duo! I only wish I could hear songs from the score of their Broadway show. "Mr President" was the last stage show Irving Berlin ever wrote. From what I've read, it didn't have a long Broadway run...not one of Berlin's better known nor more crititcally acclaimed productions. And Bob Ryan's only lead in a musical! THANKS for posting this utterly fascinating clip! :)

[filippolap11]

"What a dullard"? Are you crazy?! You didn't deserve Robert Ryan mr. Macready. He is a model of understatement , of elegant style.

[JuanMacready]

Robert Ryan, what a dullard.

[markedwardindc]

Harry Belafonte -- what a gorgeous man! And Arlene -- well, she's just as funny as always -- I love them BOTH!

[chalomirof63]

What the hell has Y.T. done to the comments!!?? There are no timelines anymore which tell us when the comments were posted! That just jumped out at me. Jesus Christ: These arbitrary changes are truly silly and disruptive: If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

[VeryFineWhine]

@chalomirof63 I couldn't agree more...I've been trying to figure out why YouTube took a comment system that was just fine and made it so much worse. I esp miss the star rankings so you knew to avoid a video that was spam/bad/misleading etc.

Improvements??!!! Um NO...more like downgrades if you ask me!!!

[chalomirof63]

@VeryFineWhine Tell me about it. The same happened with Time-Warner Cable. They took an incredible cable system, and gave their customers a piece of junk in its place. Change has to be an improvement, not a "downgrade".

[63utuber]

@VeryFineWhine Yup. It's like the spammers took over YouTube.

[giles422]

Tikilizzy and Chalomiro RULE! Robert Ryan was a great actor and a good man, simply put. And guess what? I'm a two fisted liberal. And that was not an anti-gay remark, you silly- whoever thought so. Obviously she was making a joshing reference- a man-hungry single woman of the period. Everything is not anti-gay all the time, you know.

[chalomirof63]

@giles422 - Oh Gil: Look at the new Y.T. setup! Yikes!  Anyway, thanks for the nice comment, on behalf of myself and "Tikilizzy"! And of course Arlene Francis was merely joking that she prefers that there be men - one, two, three, etc. - as opposed to women, in general!

[giles422]

so beautiful, at the end. RR and HB. They were buddies.

[giles422]

The play, however, was not a success.

[giles422]

THIS IS GREAT! Robert Ryan- always such a favorite. What a great clip. This is from 1962 or so, Mr President was a Broadway play at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis, I think.

[themarvnharryshow]

robert ryan was a class act

[rentatrip1]

getting back to the WML as atopic here people Is N. fabray related to shlly Fabray , from Coach ? - best role I think I have seen for R. Ryan was in the Professionals

[torchkit]

Shelly is Nanette's niece.

[myhighlanddream]

As for comments concerning clip: I adore Robert Ryan. I have since I saw Crossfire a million years ago. He and his wife aren't usually recognized as a Hollywood success story, which is sad. They were married in 1939. His wife, a Quaker, died of cancer in 1972. He died the following year, also of cancer. They had two sons and a daughter. They were in their 20's (I think one might have been very earliest of 30's) when they lost both parents. How tragic.

[furtherdefinitions]

I knew them both, and they were exceptional people. I knew(know) his daughter. Went to school with her. In fact, I keep getting in contact with her and then losing it again.

[myhighlanddream]

Not that it matters in relation to clip, but EVERYONE is entitled to their beliefs. There is no difference between calling someone homophobic because their faith disagrees w/the practice AND a someone saying all gay & lesbians go to hell. Both feed on fear...and that fear turns to hate....and Xphobia is born. When people can tell you have to believe (ie: homosexuality, living together, marrying out the faith, day of worship, how you pray, blood transfusions, etc.), we've lost a huge freedom

[HAZIDEAD]

I always get mixed up between Robert Ryan and Gary Cooper. I don't know exactly why.

[elvisnutkid]

hah me too

[ladynfsoffice]

Very interesting clip...and a very young and handsome Harry Belefonte!! :-)

[stickstr8up]

Why did Arlene say she was "always opposed to" two women? Was she homophobic? Very unusual and uncharacteristic for someone as involved in the theater as she was. I saw a most unfortunate and most disappointing side of Arlene through this clip.

[winndixiechick]

She was just trying to be witty. One did not make references, even veiled, to homosexuality on television back then. She was just saying that she preferred to see as many men as possible. Don't you?

[chalomirof63]

"winndixie...": Totally agree. Arlene wasn't making any reference to "gay" or "straight." - simply that she appreciated her men.

[gabsylv]

@winndixiechick  No, it was a homophobic slur.

[dmacmurray]

Why do people use the term homophobic when referring to people who do not like or condone homosexuality? A phobia is a fear of something. Being against something does not automatically make one afraid of that thing. The term homophobia is a nonsensical word invented to try to demonize and marginalize people who don't condone homosexual behavior. Islamophobia is another one of those words invented to mock people who criticize islam.

[LindaSetonCase]

I think it's because there's no reason to oppose somebody's sexual orientation, something that has no effect on you whatsoever, unless you're operating from a place of fear. Plus, we often use phobia more broadly to mean dislike or aversion.

That said, I agree that Arlene was just saying she likes a man around and not making any kind of anti-gay remark. She seems to have been pretty progressive. Her son's a CLS legal scholar, a real social justice kind of a guy.

[stickitupyourasteric]

here here i dislike homo's but it is not a phobia as they wish to describe it.

[livefortheday]

@dmacmurray Thank you. Someone else who loathes that ridiculous term.

[gabsylv]

@stickstr8up Me, too.

[lindy3812]

Tikilizzy and Chalomirof 63 or anyone else, what did think of Mr. Ryans acting in "King of Kings?" In my opinion he did an outstanding job.

[Tikilizzy]

Funny story about that is that when R.R. was told they wanted him for a part in the film he was so used to the fact that he played 'bad' guys he assumed they wanted him for the Judas Iscariot part!

[wmbrown6]

Mr. Ryan and Miss Fabray's appearance was in connection with the Broadway musical "Mr. President" - which was songwriter Irving Berlin's last Broadway musical. It became one of the major casualties of the 1962-63 newspaper strike.

[ormandy]

Robert Ryan was one of the GREAT actors. His performance in The Set Up MUST be seen!!!!!

[kermsroomy]

@ormandy I own over 30 of his films. As far as I'm concerned, he never gave anything short of a great performance. He's my favorite, with Holden as a close second.

[JubalCalif]

@ormandy

I second that emotion! The late great Bob Ryan was a MUCH better actor than most gave him credit for. His performance in "The Set Up" is indeed one of the best in cinema history. THANKS for your thoughtful comment! :-)

[TheTubePortal]

@ormandy Do you know if it is available on DVD? What kind of movie is it and what makes it a "must see" in your opinion?

[forsythia77]

Thanks for posting this, what a great and rare opportunity to get some sense of what Robert Ryan might have been like in everyday life. He comes across as very shy and reserved, with a lot going on under the surface, strong emotions that he found an outlet for in his acting roles. I could be completely wrong but what a fascinating guy - maybe it just shows what a good actor he was, and how much romantic appeal he has - to me anyway!

[grabit1]

You are absolutely right on all counts, and I remember when he died far too young.

The two-fisted liberals (e.g., Robert Ryan and, yes, Lee Marvin, no less) seemed to be best buddies with some of the two-fisted conservatives (e.g., John Wayne).

Maybe both fists held glasses, and they knew talk was a better solution than putting down the drinks.

[icecreamforcrowhurst]

Very perceptive comments. I couldn't agree with you more.

[chalomirof63]

mcq1974: from your videos, seems your tastes run to the pseudo patriots rather than the REAL thing.

[chalomirof63]

You go Tikilizzy! Take that, mcq1974.

[mcq1974]

A "Two-Fisted Liberal" ??? NO SUCH THING. R. Ryan Was A CONSERVATIVE DEMOCRAT !!! A Good Man Who Stood Up For His Convictions. No Way Could He relate To Today's Leftist Liberal - FACT !!!

[Tikilizzy]

Well, who said I say referring to "today's Leftist Liberal"? I was talking about the man in his own time but if you want to judge him by today's 'standards' let's do that. He founded the Oakwood school to offer an alternative to authoritarian teaching methods. After his war experience he became an avowed pacifist and was the founding chair of The Committee for a SANE Nuclear Policy. He worked in the Committee to Defend Martin Luther King and helped organize the Artists Help All Blacks group.

[Tikilizzy]

So, even though I was referring to the man in the context of his own time, I nonetheless think his political and social beliefs stand up remarkably well when compared to any mainstream (Liberal or Conservative)politics in the USA today. I'm not going to get bogged down in labeling his politics on thing or another but I do believe that we could all do with more individuals as socially aware and committed as R.R. in public life today.

[chalomirof63]

Tikilizzy: Tnx. This is fun! I see you've done the same research as I on Ryan. (Did you check out the 'R.R. Home Page'?). I'm sure if challenged, Wayne would have run away like a little girl! Haaaa! What a phony! When I read of Ryan's politics, he became even more appealing, if that's possible. (I just read up on John Daly also. Impressive!) I'm hoping to catch "Odds ..." again in the next day or so. Cheers, my "Ryan-athon" friend!

[Tikilizzy]

charlomirof63, Yes, let's stop there, otherwise it may look like we appreciate him for nothing other than his incredible sexual magnetism. Which isn't the case... not that it does any harm! Apparently he didn't like John Wayne at all cause of Wayne's pro-McCarthyism. He was the boxing champion at his college for the 4 years he was there. Probably could have knock Wayne out cold if he wanted to but he was a pacifist - a 2-fisted Liberal! I'm on a Ryan-athon at the moment too. Must be in the air!

[chalomirof63]

Tikilizzy: Yes - wasn't he gorgeous; he just oozed virility and sexuality! Let me stop there!! Did you see the YouTube video from "Odds Against Tomorrow" where he punches out Wayne Rogers lights in the bar? I've been on a Robert Ryan movie-thon the past few days.  Great movies; great actor! Check out my comment under "The Flying Leathernecks" trailer.

[Tikilizzy]

God, yes! I love Robert Ryan... The Set-Up, Clash By Night, Crossfire, On Dangerous Ground, Act of Violence... The man was incredibly gifted and yes, handsome too.

[chalomirof63]

Joelombrdo: You're right about many of Ryan's roles being 180 degree from what he was in real life. And right again: the mark of a great performer. I'm basically "dittoing" everything you said! LOL! Did you catch "Odds Against Tomorrow?" That's what made this "What's My Line" clip so cool. Cheers

[joelombrdo]

Yes, In my opinion, Robert Ryan was one of the best actors ever, if not the best. The roles he played were far removed from the real Robert Ryan -- the mark of a great performer.

[chalomiro63]

For anyone who's seen "Odds Against Tomorrow," what a treat to see the "real" relationship between Ryan and Belafonte at the end of this video - true friends (the total opposite of the film). Check out the movie. Ryan was a wonderful actor, and truly awesome and astonishing in this role. NorbertR33: thanks for posting this video!(Too bad it couldn't have just focused on Ryan, and that Bennett Cerf guessed so soon!)