Comments on: The Mike Wallace Interview(s)

The Mike Wallace Interview(s)

steef — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 13:27:31 -0800

"My name is Mike Wallace. The cigarette is Philip Morris." Before there was 60 Minutes, there was The Mike Wallace Interview. Thirty minutes with Steve Allen, Frank Lloyd Wright, Kirk Douglas, Pearl Buck, and Salvador Dali, to name just a few.

By: OmieWise

OmieWise — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 13:50:35 -0800

Pearl Buck...a lesson in Nobel ephemera.

By: Dizzy

Dizzy — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 13:52:40 -0800

Nice find, steef!

By: briank

briank — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:30:43 -0800

I'm very excited about this and am seriously looking forward to watching many of them.

By: dov3

dov3 — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:41:55 -0800

"The logarithm of the curve of cauliflowers" S. Dali

By: mattbucher

mattbucher — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:09:30 -0800

Pearl Buck...a lesson in Nobel ephemera. Eh, she had one great novel....and she's probably not even the worst (or least significant) writer to receive the award. The Nobels in the hard sciences are much more accurate in consistently rewarding achievement.

By: any major dude

any major dude — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:10:09 -0800

That Frank Lloyd Wright interview is an embarrassment. I never liked Mike Wallace. I think of him as the godfather of "gotcha" journalism that spawned empty shell talking heads like Russert and Matthews.

By: Substrata

Substrata — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:22:19 -0800

The Aldous Huxley interview is fresh as ever. Great find, thank you.

By: Huplescat

Huplescat — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:53:12 -0800

Thanks for a nice post, Steef. This stuff first aired when I was too young to appreciate it. Wallace, back then... in white-bread America, was considered a blatantly provocative interviewer who, more often than not, stomped all over the line that separated good taste from bad manners. He had to re-invent his TV persona to do the Sixty Minutes gig.

By: paulsc

paulsc — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:53:26 -0800

I've never much cared for Mike Wallace, either. But I did smoke Phillip Morris for a while, and they were good, smooth, full flavored cigarettes, as I recall. Wish I had one now, kinda.

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 16:06:44 -0800

I love MeFi. Thanks Steef. =)

By: timsteil

timsteil — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 16:14:23 -0800

The Rod Serling was espcially good

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 16:47:50 -0800

I'd forgotten that Steve Allen was essentially the Arsenio Hall of his day. To go up against Ed Sullivan must have seemed the kiss of death. Allen did his best under Wallace's hot lights to appear calm and cool.

By: empath

empath — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 17:12:25 -0800

Mike Wallace was a douchebag before he was even old. Wow. Like father like son.

By: IndigoJones

IndigoJones — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 17:13:41 -0800

Hmph. Ben Hecht, whom I would have loved to have seen interviewed, is transcript only. Interesting how many of these are now trivia questions, suitable for final Jeopardy. Fun to see Peter Ustinov described as a Boy Wonder. Which leads us to the next desideratum - Mike Wallace in his Game Show Host days

By: indigoskynet

indigoskynet — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:16:06 -0800

one of my favorite mike wallace interviews was Ayn Rand. Its not in this collection but available in three parts on youtube (1,2,3).

By: noway

noway — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 06:06:34 -0800

If the interview with Mary Margaret McBride doesn't make you teary-eyed, you're not paying attention. (Wink.)