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Bennett CerfBennett Cerf
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Session:         Page of 1029

we all registered great surprise. John said, “We seem to have reached the end of our time. I'll have to say good night for everybody.” We signed off and Bob never had a chance to say one word plugging his movie. He was furious. He went stamping out of the theater without saying good bye to any of us. He was furious for a reason. He had come on just to plug his picture, and we all knew it. We didn't mean to thwart him, but we fiddled around so long that we used up all of the time. He didn't forgive us for about two years.

Another time Errol Flynn was to be the mystery guest. He came in so drunk that he could hardly stand up. They had a hell of a time getting a last minute substitution for him. Of course we didn't know about this crisis until after the show was over. Judy Garland presented quite a problem, too.

Q:

Was she in the same shape?

Cerf:

Five minutes before the show went on, Judy wasn't even dressed yet. She was sitting in the dressing room in sort of a stupor, and Mark Goodson was preparing to substitute as the mystery guest. He was quite disappointed I think when Judy made it. By the time that the show opened, she responded like a fire horse. She came on stage full of pep and charm. Nobody would have known that five minutes before it looked as though she couldn't get on.

Of course increasingly this is Judy Garland's behavior pattern--hers is a tragic story.





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