To Tell the Truth is an exceptionally long running TV game show aired exclusively on CBS Television network from 1956-1968, before syndication. The money quote at the end of each occupation challenge game is the signature phrase: Will the real Mister or Ms X please stand up?*

After the stunning events of last night in the 2016 Presidential election, about 3 AM Eastern Time Trump appeared on stage at the Hilton Hotel in New York in front of his supporters at the Victory Party. Trump appeared rather subdued until he started to speak., when his energy level amped up a bit, entirely expected after an incredibly long and anxious day waiting for the results of an election nearly all the Press and Pundits thought he would lose, while even some on his campaign staff had diminished hopes early in the evening, until Florida and the former reliably Blue Midwest Rust Belt state results started percolating.

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Trump’s Raised Fist Victory Sign at the End of His Post-Election Remarks

Trump immediately got down to business in his 15 minute address. He was flanked on the stage by a solo Mike Pence behind and to his right, and a reception line like array of numerous Trump wives, children, and grandchildren set a little way apart to his left. His opening lines got straight to the point, with little of the usual Trump stump side trips.

From the remarks transcript:

TRUMP: Thank you. Thank you very much, everyone.

Sorry to keep you waiting; complicated business; complicated.

Thank you very much.

I’ve just received a call from Secretary Clinton.

She congratulated us — it’s about us — on our victory, and I congratulated her and her family on a very, very hard-fought campaign. I mean, she — she fought very hard.

Hillary has worked very long and very hard over a long period of time, and we owe her a major debt of gratitude for her service to our country.

I mean that very sincerely.

Now it’s time for America to bind the wounds of division; have to get together. To all Republicans and Democrats and independents across this nation, I say it is time for us to come together as one united people.

It’s time. I pledge to every citizen of our land that I will be president for all Americans, and this is so important to me.

For those who have chosen not to support me in the past, of which there were a few people.

Watch the complete video here.

Given the nasty and grudging tone of most of the campaign back and forth led by Trump and his Twitter crusade, these remarks sounded rather gracious and genuine. They provided an apparently marked cintrast to what we have seen and come to expect, particularly in the last three week barrage of incessant public rallies, as Trump flew back and forth and back again across the country, in a frenetic burst.

One aside before we continue this point. If I have listened and watched accurately, Trump does not mention Pence a single time for the first 14 minutes and 45 seconds of the entire complete 15 minute and 22 second video Nor was Pence’s wife, parents, or three children anywhere to be seen on stage.

Of course it was 3 AM after a 20 hour day. On the other hand, this was truly a once in a lifetime moment for everyone involved, and one could forgive just a tad of high fiving, bold hugs, smiles, and general merriment.

Trump concluded his remarks and thanked the audience as he turned to leave at 14;45 on the tap. He turned and reached out to Pence for what appears to be an awkward handshake, with no shoulder clasp, and no bringing him center stage for a team photo shot, or an expected inverted-V. double raised-arm joint hand clasp in a Victory pose for posterity.

Just reading tea leaves here, but the body language said Team Trump Pence was looking like Team Trump with a skin tag. Maybe it was only fatigue and the late hour.

Trump’s Treatment of Clinton All Campaign Long: Morning, Noon, and Night

Anyway, to return to the Real Trump, Please Stand Up theme, there is a veritable boatload of media entries documenting in exhausting and repetitive soporific detail Trumps allegations, dismissals, insults, charges, slights, and personally derogatory comments since June 2015, right through to the afternoon of Election Day itself.

Here is a small selection of relevant sources, in case you have been spending your time on a remote island with no telephone or internet service for the last year. Amazing, worth a quick scan.

Selected Sources:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/01/us/politics/donald-trump-interview-bill-hillary-clinton.html

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/cp/opinion/clinton-trump-second-debate-election-2016/trump-twitter-loved-it

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/01/28/upshot/donald-trump-twitter-insults.html

http://www.vox.com/2016/11/7/13550796/clinton-trump-twitter

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/08/26/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-insults/89406256/

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/249102-trumps-most-notable-insults

http://www.pressherald.com/2016/09/26/clinton-trump-poised-for-must-see-debate-showdown/

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Typical Trump on Clinton Insult Tweet

To sum up, here is a choice of eight items from the never ending steam tray of dishes in Trump’s 24-hour insult buffet about Hillary Clinton::

  1. “She doesn’t have the look. … She doesn’t have the stamina,” Trump said.
  2. Our country is suffering because people like Secretary Clinton have made such bad decisions in terms of our jobs, in terms of what’s going on.”
  3. Clinton is a “bigot”
  4. Clinton is shameful
  5. “She’s nasty, but I can be nastier than she ever can be,” Mr. Trump said.
  6. “Because you’d be in jail.”
  7. “Hillary Clinton was the worst secretary of State in the history of the United States,”
  8. If Hillary Clinton can’t satisfy her husband what makes her think she can satisfy America?”

The New York Times has produced a once in a generation compilation of all Trump’s personal Twitter attacks on 281 people and institutions since June 2015, including Clinton, which they published on October 1, 2016. This project has almost risen to the status of electronic word art. It only needs a cloud based frequency variable sizing filter and a little color to be ready t hang on a Political Museum wall somewhere.

Here is the Times Clinton corpus, though only in black and white (not fully transformed into word art).

Hillary Clinton, Democratic Presidential Nominee

“Just can’t read speeches!”“100% CONTROLLED”“the trade deal is a disaster, she was always for it!”“her record is so bad”“she looked lost”“totally incompetent as a manager and leader”“no strength or stamina”“corruption is what she’s best at”“weak”“SHE HAS NO STRENGTH OR STAMINA”“afraid of Obama & the emails”“won’t call out radical Islam”“will be soundly defeated”“does not have the STRENGTH or STAMINA to be President”“weak and ineffective”“no strength, no stamina”“disloyal person”“lied”“We need a #POTUS with great strength & stamina. Hillary does not have that”“LIED at the debate last night”“SAD!”“pathetic”“stupidity”“totally flawed candidate”“lied last week”“such bad judgement”“a major national security risk”“not presidential material”“has been involved in corruption for most of her professional life!”“Who should star in a reboot of Liar Liar- Hillary Clinton or Ted Cruz? Let me know”“incompetent”“unqualified to be president”“Crooked”“Crooked”“perhaps the most dishonest person to have ever run for the presidency”“one of the all time great enablers!”“Crooked”“Crooked”“said she is used to “dealing with men who get off the reservation.” Actually, she has done poorly with such men!”“Crooked”“ZERO leadership ability”“bad judgement”“Constantly playing the women’s card – it is sad!”“corrupt”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“pushing the false narrative that I want to raise taxes”“Crooked”“Crooked”“has bad judgment!”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“can’t close the deal on Crazy Bernie”“Crooked”“Liar!”“Crooked”“Can’t believe she would misrepresent the facts!”“Crooked”“Crooked”“can’t close the deal with Bernie Sanders”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“a fraud”“Crooked”“Crooked”“zero imagination and even less stamina”“ISIS, China, Russia and all would love for her to be president”“has no chance!”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“very dishonest”“Crooked”“reckless and dangerous”“Wrong!”“not qualified”“her judgement has been proven to be so bad!”“Would be four more years of stupidity!”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“suffers from plain old bad judgement!”“Crooked”“CROOKED”“Crooked”“Crooked”“bad judgement and temperament”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“fraud”“very stupid use of e-mails”“Crooked”“zero natural talent”“temperament is bad”“decision making ability-zilch!”“Crooked”“BAD judgement!”“Crooked”“has made so many mistakes”“Crooked”“Lyin’”“Crooked”“no longer has credibility”“too much failure in office”“Bad performance”“Crooked”“Reading poorly from the telepromter!”“doesn’t even look presidential!”“Crooked”“Not honest!”“unfit to be president”“bad judgement”“poor leadership skills”“very bad and destructive track record”“Crooked”“record is so bad, unable to answer tough questions!”“Crooked”“total fraud!”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“will be a disaster”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“totally unfit to be our president”“really bad judgement and a temperament”“failed policies”“bad judgment”“Crooked”“judgement has killed thousands, unleashed ISIS and wrecked the economy”“defrauded America”“Corrupt”“dangerous”“dishonest”“Crooked”“will be a disaster for jobs and the economy!”“may be the most corrupt person ever to seek the presidency”“Crooked”“would be a disaster”“Crooked”“All talk, no action!”“Crooked”“bad judgement”“Disgraceful!”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“no sense of markets”“such bad judgement”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Lying”“Crooked”“Presidency would be catastrophic”“ill-fit”“bad judgment”“sellng out America”“Not capable!”“As Bernie Sanders said, Hillary Clinton has bad judgement. Bill’s meeting was probably initiated and demanded by Hillary!”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“will NEVER be able to handle the complexities and danger of ISIS”“guilty as hell”“Crooked”“A total disgrace!”“As usual, bad judgment.”“Crooked”“Crooked”“unfit to serve as President”“Her temperament is weak”“BAD JUDGEMENT!”“Crooked”“Not fit!”“Crooked”“dishonest”“incompetent”“very bad judgement”“Crooked”“lied to the FBI and to the people of our country”“sooooo guilty”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Lyin’ Crooked”“lies”“Crooked”“WEAK leadership”“Crooked”“Crooked”“not qualified!”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“not qualified”“Crooked”“Lyin’”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Having ZERO impact”“Sad!!”“Crooked”“negative ads are not true”“email lies”“fraudulent”“Crooked”“Crooked”“embarrassed herself and the country with her e-mail lies”“a DISASTER on foreign policy”“has made so many mistakes”“Crooked”“Crooked”“bought and paid for by Wall Street, lobbyists and special interests”“will sell our country down the tubes!”“Crooked”“led Obama into bad decisions!”“Crooked”“look at all of the bad decisions she has made”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“destroyed jobs and manufacturing”“Against steelworkers and miners”“killed jobs!”“Crooked”“Crooked”“BAD JUDGEMENT”“Crooked”“not at all loyal”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“judgement so bad”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“betrayed Bernie voters”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“incompetent”“a liar!”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“wants to flood our country with Syrian immigrants that we know little or nothing about”“Crooked”“unfit to lead the country”“owned by Wall Street!”“no one has worse judgement”“corruption and devastation follows her”“Crooked”“Crooked”“very long and very boring speech”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“a lose cannon”“extraordinarily bad judgement & insticts”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“a formula for disaster!”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“has very small and unenthusiastic crowds in Pennsylvania”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“100% owned by her donors”“Crooked”“A PATHOLOGICAL LIAR!”“Crooked”“Crooked”“incompetent”“bad judgment”“unfit to serve as President”“Crooked”“Very dangerous!”“Anybody whose mind ‘SHORT CIRCUITS’ is not fit to be our president! Look up the word ‘BRAINWASHED.”“Crooked”“not fit to be our next president!”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“not a talented person or politician”“Crooked”“LIE!”“crooked”“lies”“fear-mongering!”“pandering to the worst instincts in our society”“She should be ashamed of herself!”“using race-baiting”“all talk and NO ACTION!”“using the oldest play in the Dem playbook”“only knows how to make a speech when it is a hit on me”“No policy”“CORRUPTION”“SABOTAGE OF THE INNER CITIES”“Crooked”“will NEVER be able to solve the problems of poverty, education and safety”“called African-American youth “SUPER PREDATORS””“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“brainpower is highly overrated, decision making is so bad”“has BAD JUDGEMENT”“Crooked”“doesn’t have the drive or stamina to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”“doesn’t have the strength or the stamina to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Lyin’”“just gave a disastrous news conference”“totally confused”“Unfit to serve as #POTUS”“very dumb”“Crooked”“SO INSULTING to my supporters”“said horrible things about my supporters”“Crooked”“Crooked”“copying my airplane rallies”“puts the plane behind her like I have been doing from the beginning”“taking the day off again, she needs the rest”“a typical politician”“all talk, no action”“failed all over the world”“Crooked”“failing for 30 years”“not getting the job done”“Crooked”“terrible!”“Crooked”“suffers from BAD JUDGEMENT!”“Crooked”“Crooked”“nasty to Sanders supporters behind closed doors”“Owned by Wall St and Politicians”“Crooked”“has only created jobs at the FBI and DOJ!”“Crooked”“If I win-I am going to instruct my AG to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation”“there’s never been anything like your lies”“nothing Hillary has said about her secret server has been true”“Hypocrite!”“Hypocrite”“Crooked”“disgraceful behavior”“unfit to run”“Crooked”“Fraud”“Crooked”“Crooked”“PAY TO PLAY POLITICS”“Crooked”“Crooked”“should be in jail”“Crooked”“Crooked”“SO CORRUPT!”“Crooked”“Crooked”“crooked”“Crooked”“Such a dishonest person”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“So CROOKED”“If we let Crooked run the govt, history will remember 2017 as the year America lost its independence”“the most corrupt person to ever run for the presidency of the United States”“too weak to lead”“no solutions, no ideas, no credibility”“you have failed, failed, and failed”“a foreign policy DISASTER”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“has never created a job in her life”“Crooked”“a Wall Street PUPPET!”“She’ll say anything and change NOTHING!”“loves to lie”“FAILED ALL OVER THE WORLD”“Crooked”“Crooked”“Crooked”“doesn’t have the strength or stamina to be president”

This was Trump on Clinton until late yesterday evening (November 8, 2016).

O.K., so what? Of course, it is crude and offensive, and has never been done before by the nominee of a major party, who might be elected President.

Simple observation casts in stark relief the 180-degree complete change in tone, over a period of literally a handful of hours on a single day.

A normal person could only pull off such a feat if one or the other attitude skins showing was a fake front, a stage role. Is Trump about to shed a theatrical costume, donned every day for a year just to  excite an emotional response from his crowds? Is this some sort of elaborate joke on the country, especially his devout followers.

Make no mistake, the Trump crowds shouting and sometimes screaming Lock her Up, and Crooked Hillary in guttural waves of sound are not playing, and they are not joking. They are fully invested in the Hillary Hate, all in. And they do not expect their leader to stop now and say, “Listen, it was just a joke to get you folks fired up, I don’t really believe any of that personal stuff. Put away your pitchforks.”

On November 9 (early AM) Trump said, as far as he’s concerned: “Hillary has worked very long and very hard over a long period of time, and we owe her a major debt of gratitude for her service to our country.”

The discrepancy is too jarring, the bitter blood bile in true believers is running too high, for them to just turn it off in the blink of an eye, after they have gotten stoked up for months to a fever pitch.

Trump may slip out of his assumed costumes readily, his followers will trip and stumble. Confusion turns to disbelief. A mob force will be unleashed if Trump stops dead on his charges.

But if he continues, he is false to his first and only pre-presidential behavior modeling on display for the absolute  majority of Americans who didn’t vote for him. He has promised over and over again, “I will not lie to you”. Trump fervently declared he wants to be President of all the people. All the people includes the 53% of those who did not vote for or support his candidacy (52.5% of actual voters said no to Trump, remember).

Here is a rock and a hard place choice for Trump. His supporters are not ready to back down; he can’t govern the nation just relying n them. He cannot force everyone else to accept his unilateral decision making. That’s not how American democracy works.

Which is it to be?

This artificial situation triggered by Trump’s own virulent personal attacks starting last in June 2015 brings on a 360-degree complete head twisting image forever etched into your imagination, if you ever saw the 1973 classic horror movie, The Exorcist. In general, I’m personally am not a big fan of horror films, but this image is so striking it has become a cinema icon, whatever kinds of movies you prefer to watch.

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You’ve Got My Head All Turned Around. The Exorcist (1973)

Watch the Head Spin.**

So a primary question pending an answer for America’s citizens is, ”Will the Real Donald J. Trump, please stand up?”

Trump’s dilemma hearkens back to a classic cinema legal drama, Witness for the Prosecution, based on an Agatha Christie play.*** Here is the famous quote from the 1957 movie, as he cross-examines the main witness.

Sir Wilfrid: [getting progressively more agitated] The question is whether you were lying then or are you lying now… or whether in fact you are a chronic and habitual LIAR!

Watch the Video Clip here

It is a skillful ramping up a line of questioning, and progressively cutting off lines of retreat and prevarication and dissembling, until the truth is forced to the surface.

The advantage the lawyer in the movie has is that even the most seductive Marlene Dietrich is under oath, and can lie only by drawing down drastic consequences on herself, wriggle out though she tries.

Trump is still not under oath. But he has certainly assumed a moral obligation to tell the truth and nothing but the truth on serious matters of state and political importance to all of us. The governing consent of about half the country either way will be forfeit until he resolves this primary discrepancy.

Early Trump on Clinton, Before the Campaign Middle Trump on Clinton Lasting Until Yesterday

Before Trump excoriated Clinton with nearly every breath he took for the last 17 months, he had a decidedly more benign attitude for years from at least 1995 until 2005.

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Clintons and Trumps at Trumps Third Wedding 2005

Many people have already seen the entirely sociable picture of Trump and his third wife Melania in 2005 in a festive mood, posing alongside the Clintons, who attended the wedding ceremony at Trump’s invitation. Here is a refresher.

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Trump Met Hillary Clinton with His Two Sons (circa 1995)

Here are two additional examples, with pictorial evidence. While she was First Lady, Hillary Clinton met with Trump and his two oldest sons as teenagers. Trump later praised her in an interview, with trouble-seeking reporter Geraldo Rivera in 1999:

“I don’t view it as that,” Trump advised Geraldo Rivera on CNBC in November when requested if he thought Clinton was a carpetbagger. “I truly assume she’s a really, very good girl. I— met her quite a few instances. I met her with my son. She couldn’t have been nicer. I believe she’s a really, superb particular person.

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U.S. Open Tennis Championship, June 2000: Trump & Clinton & 2 Models

In June 2000, while he was President, Bill Clinton met Trump in his private box at the U.S. Open Tennis Championship. Here is a photo from official Presidential archives. Trump and Clinton stood next to each other, flanked by two models, a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model, Kylie Bax, casually dressed on Trump’s right, and on Clinton’s left, the model Melania Knauss, who later became Trump’s third wife. **** No evidence of tension here. Presumably just an innocent social encounter, and not a Boys’ Day out.

The Wind Up

Should we believe in the New Donald Trump, the Old Donald Trump, or the Pre-Old Donald Trump?

Is he Lying Now, or Was he Lying Then? Does he know the difference? Is he is , or is he not, or is he is again? I can’t keep it all straight. Does he want to govern for everyone, or stoke division and discord with fully half the country?

We still have seen no concrete actions from Trump to benefit America beyond his not-under-oath political promises, nor can we in the meantime, since the election results are not official or binding for the country until the Electoral College meets on December 19, 2016. Even then Trump will have no legal authority to act on behalf of the country as President until he is actually sworn in on January 20, 2017. The day will come soon enough, too soon for some, not soon enough for others, but it is not now, There’s many a slip, etc., etc.

The musical meditation for the day is the 1971 Motown classic, Smiling Faces Sometimes, released in two official versions by the fabulous Temptations, and also the lesser known Motown group, Undisputed Truth.***** Listen to both.

The Temptations (1971) extended version with instrumentals, about12 minutes long.

Here is the Motown standard single version from The Undisputed Truth (1971).



*From the Wikipedia entry for the show, To Tell the Truth

To Tell the Truth is an American television panel game show created by Bob Stewart and produced by Goodson-Todman Productions that has aired in various forms since 1956 both on networks and in syndication. As of June 14, 2016, the show is one of two game shows in the United States to have aired at least one new episode in at least seven consecutive decades, the other game show being both incarnations of The Price Is Right. As of the 2016 version, a total of 26 seasons of the various versions of To Tell the Truth have been produced, surpassing the 25 of What’s My Line? and the 20 of I’ve Got a Secret.

The show features a panel of four celebrities whose object is the correct identification of a described contestant who has an unusual occupation or has undergone an unusual experience. This “central character” is accompanied by two impostors who pretend to be the central character; together, the three persons are said to belong to a “team of challengers.” The celebrity panelists question the three contestants; the impostors are allowed to lie, but the central character is sworn “to tell the truth.” After questioning, the panel attempts to identify which of the three challengers is telling the truth and is thus the central character.

To Tell the Truth was to have premiered on Tuesday, December 18, 1956, on CBS in prime time as Nothing But The Truth, but the program title was changed to To Tell the Truth the day before the show’s debut. (There was one pilot episode titled “Nothing But The Truth”, and the pilot / planned title, and the eventual title, both derive from the standard English court oath “to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”) The series was recorded in New York City; initially at CBS-TV Studio 52, moving to Studio 50 late in its run. The existence of an audience ticket for a taping indicates that the show originated in color at the CBS Broadcast Center in late 1966.

Bud Collyer was the show’s host (Mike Wallace hosted the pilot); recurring panelists by the 1960s included Tom Poston, Peggy Cass, Orson Bean, and Kitty Carlisle. (Cass and Carlisle stayed on as panelists for most subsequent editions.) Earlier regular panelists had included Johnny Carson, Polly Bergen, Jayne Meadows, Don Ameche, Hy Gardner, Dick Van Dyke, Faye Emerson, Hildy Parks, John Cameron Swayze, and Ralph Bellamy. Bern Bennett, Collyer’s announcer on Beat the Clock, was the inaugural announcer of To Tell the Truth in the 1950s. Upon Bennett’s transfer to CBS’s Los Angeles studios, Johnny Olson, who in time became the best-known of all Goodson-Todman Productions announcers, joined the show in 1960 and remained through the end of its CBS runs.

Here are some of the more entertaining guests from the first 12 years of To Tell the Truth on CBS (as various as a butcher, a baker, a candlestick maker, a pirate, a poet, a pawn, and a King):

West Virginia governor Cecil H. Underwood was To Tell the Truth’s very first central character. He was the youngest person ever elected governor in West Virginia. He would go on to be not only the oldest person elected governor in West Virginia in 1997, but also the oldest person ever to be elected governor of any state in US history. He appeared as a challenger again five years later.

British crime reporter and author Percy Hoskins appeared in 1957.

Teen star Luke Halpin appeared first in March 1964 soon after his starring role in the Flipper and Flipper’s New Adventure movies only months before NBC began filming the popular TV show version of the movies Flipper for which he was best remembered.

Berry Gordy Jr., founder of the Motown Records label, appeared in 1965 and fooled the entire panel. The Supremes were there as well.

John E. DuPont, the heir to the DuPont fortune, appeared in 1966. He was training in the sport of modern pentathlon and hoping to make the 1968 Olympics team that was to compete in Mexico City. He later gained infamy for murdering Olympic wrestling champion Dave Schultz in 1996.

Rock and roll impresario and deejay Alan Freed was correctly guessed by two of the panelists, including Polly Bergen, in a 1950s episode.

Famed ice hockey player Jean Beliveau appeared on November 19, 1957.

Irish sports commentator Eamonn Andrews made two appearances in 1957; his first was as a subject. Shortly thereafter, he appeared again as a guest panelist. He was selected as the host of the British version of the show, as well as one of the hosts of the British version of What’s My Line?

Penelope Anne Coelen, winner of the Miss World 1958 pageant, appeared as a contestant on November 25, 1958.

Famed aviator Douglas Corrigan appeared in 1957, one day shy of 19 years after his famous flight “the wrong way” (to California) via Ireland.

Australian entertainer Rolf Harris appeared as a contestant on December 9, 1963 and performed a verse of his hit song “Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport” while playing his wobble board.

Singer and future Sesame Street actor Bob McGrath appeared in 1966 due to his fame in Japan at the time. He was correctly guessed by all four panelists.

Bud Collyer’s son Michael appeared as an impostor, along with the daughter of baseball great Phil Rizzuto. His brother Richard V. “Dick” Heermance appeared as a central character.

American author Hunter S. Thompson appeared on the show shortly after writing his book Hell’s Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (1968).

Poet Rod McKuen appeared as an impostor for a gambler who never lost.

In a 1962 episode, the panel was informed that the subject was Bob Miller, a pitcher for the New York Mets. At the conclusion of the game, the panel was surprised when two subjects stood up, leaving just one impostor. The Mets at the time had two pitchers with the same name – Robert Gerald Miller and Robert Lane Miller.

Blues harmonica player Paul Butterfield, who played with the Butterfield Blues Band. He later became famous for playing at the 1969 music concert Woodstock.

Songwriter/record producer Ellie Greenwich was the subject in a summer 1968 daytime show.

NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Y.A. Tittle appeared as an impostor on the October 9, 1961 edition of the nighttime series. He identified himself as an insurance salesman, which was his trade during the football offseason; Bud Collyer mentioned offhandedly afterward that Tittle was also the quarterback for the New York Giants.

Cartoonist Hank Ketcham, famous for drawing Dennis the Menace, appeared as the subject in a 1962 primetime episode.

**From the Wikipedia entry for The Exorcist:

The Exorcist is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin, adapted by William Peter Blatty from his 1971 novel of the same name, and starring Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Max von Sydow, and Jason Miller. The film is part of The Exorcist franchise. The book, inspired by the 1949 exorcism of Roland Doe, deals with the demonic possession of a 12-year-old girl and her mother’s attempts to win back her child through an exorcism conducted by two priests. The adaptation is relatively faithful to the book, which itself has been commercially successful (hitting the New York Times bestseller list).

The film experienced a troubled production; even in the beginning, several prestigious film directors including Stanley Kubrick and Arthur Penn turned it down. Incidents, such as the toddler son of one of the main actors being hit by a motorbike and hospitalized, attracted claims that the set was ‘cursed’. The complex special effects used as well as the nature of the film locations also presented severe challenges. The film’s notable psychological themes include the nature of faith in the midst of doubt as well as the boundaries of maternal love as a mother has to do whatever she can to save her child.

The Exorcist was released theatrically in the United States by Warner Bros. on December 26, 1973. Though booked at first in only twenty-six theaters across the U.S., it soon became a major commercial success. The film earned ten Academy Award nominations, winning two (Best Sound Mixing and Best Adapted Screenplay). It became one of the highest-grossing films in history, grossing over $441 million worldwide in the aftermath of various re-releases, and was the first horror film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

The film has had a significant influence on popular culture. Several publications have regarded it one of the best horror films in history. For example, it was named the scariest film of all time by Entertainment Weekly in 1999, by Movies.com in 2010, by viewers of AMC in 2006, and by the editors of Time Out in 2014. In addition, a scene from the film was ranked #3 on Bravo’s The 100 Scariest Movie Moments. In 2010, the Library of Congress selected the film to be preserved as part of its National Film Registry as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”. On January 22, 2016, 20th Century Fox Television announced they were developing a television series of The Exorcist. It premiered on September 23, 2016.

How did The Exorcist artists create the Magical Evil Head Spin special effect?

***Witness for the Prosecution (!957):

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Witness for the Prosecution (1957) Movie Poster (Woman on Top)

Witness for the Prosecution is a 1957 American courtroom drama film with elements of Film Noir set in the Old Bailey in London. The film, based on a play by Agatha Christie, deals with the trial of a man accused of murder. The first film adaptation of this story, it stars Tyrone Power (in his final screen role), Marlene Dietrich, and Charles Laughton, and features Elsa Lanchester. The film was adapted by Larry Marcus, Harry Kurnitz and the film’s director, Billy Wilder.

Producers Arthur Hornblow and Edward Small bought the rights to the play for $450,000. The play was adjusted to build up the character of the defense barrister. Billy Wilder was signed to direct in April 1956.

The first adaptation of the Agatha Christie story was a BBC television production made in 1949, with a running time of 75 minutes.

Laughton based his performance on Florance Guedella, his own lawyer, an Englishman who was well known for twirling his monocle while cross-examining witnesses.

Vivien Leigh and Marlene Dietrich were leading candidates to play the female lead.

In a flashback showing how Leonard and Christine first meet in a German nightclub, she is wearing her trademark trousers. A rowdy customer conveniently rips them down one side, revealing one of Dietrich’s renowned legs, and starting a brawl. The scene required 145 extras, 38 stuntmen and $90,000.

The film received extremely positive reviews, and currently holds a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. In TV Guide’s review of the film, it received four and a half stars out of five, the writer saying that “Witness for the Prosecution is a witty, terse adaptation of the Agatha Christie hit play brought to the screen with ingenuity and vitality by Billy Wilder.”

The film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Charles Laughton), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Elsa Lanchester), Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Picture, and Best Sound (Gordon E Sawyer).

Dietrich’s quote “Wanna kiss me, Ducky?” became particularly famous.

American Film Institute included the film in AFI’s 10 Top 10 as #6 in the Courtroom Drama category.

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Witness for the Prosecution (1957) U.K. Video Cover (Woman on Bottom)

Here is the complete dialogue from the famous cross-examination scene in Witness for the Prosecution:

[Sir Wilfrid is cross-examining Christine Helm.]

Sir Wilfrid: Mrs Vole. Or Mrs Helm; which do you prefer to be called?

Christine Helm: It does not matter.

Sir Wilfrid: Does it not? In this country, we are inclined to take a rather more serious view of marriage. However, Frau Helm, it would appear that when you first met the prisoner in Hamburg, you lied to him about your marital status?

Christine Helm: I wanted to get out of Germany, so—

Sir Wilfrid: You lied, did you not? Just yes or no, please.

Christine Helm: Yes.

Sir Wilfrid: Thank you. And subsequently, in arranging the marriage, you lied to the authorities?

Christine Helm: I, um, did not tell the truth to the authorities.

Sir Wilfrid: You lied to them?

Christine Helm: Yes.

Sir Wilfrid: And in the ceremony of marriage itself, when you swore to love and to honor and to cherish your husband, that, too, was a lie?

Christine Helm: Yes.

Sir Wilfrid: And when the police questioned you about this wretched man who believed himself married and loved, you told them—

Christine Helm: I told them what Leonard wanted me to say.

Sir Wilfrid: You told them that he was at home with you at 25 minutes past 9, and now you say that that was a lie? [beginning to chuckle now]

Christine Helm: Yes, a lie!

Sir Wilfrid: And when you said that he had accidentally cut his wrist, again, you lied? [chuckling again]

Christine Helm: Yes!

Sir Wilfrid: [chuckling further] And now today you’ve told us a new story entirely! [serious now] The question is, Frau Helm, were you lying then, are you lying now, or are you not in fact a chronic and habitual LIAR?!

****Trump and Clinton at the U.S. Open Tennis Championship in June 2000:

The Clinton Presidential Library has released nearly two dozen photos of Donald Trump socializing with President Bill Clinton — including one that shows the two men with their arms around Trump’s then-girlfriend, Melania, and Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Kylie Bax — images from a collection that underscores just how chummy Trump once was with the president and his wife Hillary.

The 22 pictures were taken by official White House photographers in June 2000 during a visit the president paid to Trump Tower in New York City for a political fundraiser, and in September 2000, during the U.S. Open tournament in Flushing Meadows, New York.

Bax, described as Trump’s ex-girlfriend in press accounts from mid-2000, confirmed on Twitter that it’s her in the photos. She appeared to take umbrage at a POLITICO reporter’s tweet noting that she was not immediately identified.

“Unbelievable that I’m now a ‘random woman’, no one was random in that Tennis Suite/corp box,” Bax wrote. Later, she added she might have not been as recognizable because she has black hair in the U.S. Open photo but was blonde in most of her modeling work.

In an email exchange with POLITICO via her agent Michael Hooker, Bax said she recalled Clinton dropping by Trump’s box at Flushing Meadows. “I actually think Bill was in another box and he came by to say hello to Donald,” she said. “Melania is also a friend and we all went to tennis together and had a great day … Donald was always a good host and close friend. And his wife Melania is equally as kind. “

Bax said she’d met both Clintons before, running into Bill Clinton at a “charity event.” She also said she was “never” Trump’s girlfriend, but was a “close longtime friend” of his.

Bax, who was featured in Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue in 2000 and on the cover of Playboy in March 2001, also said she’d tried to reform Trump’s infamous combover. No luck.

“I did try to fix his sweepover once, but he wasn’t having a bar of it,” she told Fairfax.

*****The Motown song, Smiling Faces Sometimes:

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“Smiling Faces Sometimes” is a soul song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for the Motown label. The song was originally recorded by the Temptations in 1971. Producer Norman Whitfield had the song re-recorded by the Undisputed Truth the same year, resulting in a number-three Billboard Hot 100 position for the group. “Smiling Faces” was the only Top 40 single released by the Undisputed Truth, and was included on their debut album The Undisputed Truth.

Both versions of “Smiling Faces Sometimes” deal with the same subject matter, “back-stabbing” friends who do their friends wrong behind their backs (“Smiling faces sometimes…they don’t tell the truth…smiling faces sometimes tell lies”), but in different ways. The Temptations’ original uses an arrangement similar to a haunted house film score to represent feelings of fear and timidness. Included on the 1971 Sky’s the Limit album, “Smiling Faces Sometimes” runs over 12 minutes, most of which is extended instrumental passages without any vocals. An edited version was planned as the Temptations’ summer 1971 single release, but this plan was dropped when lead vocalist Eddie Kendricks, frustrated by personnel problems within the group, quit the Temptations and signed a solo deal with Motown in March 1971.