Aug. '64 show with Rita Moreno

[Ccook]

Johnny Gilbert: Backstage are some of the most exciting prizes on television. On our panel tonight is talented actress Rita Moreno! (crash zoom on her) Stand by for The Price Is Right! ("Window Shopping" starts to play) Brought to you by Polident, the special denture cleanser with active oxygen. Polident, denture cleaning and denture freshener no toothpaste can give.  And now, here he is, your host on The Price Is Right, charming and talented Bill Cullen!

Bill comes out to audience applause and welcomes Rita Moreno, multi-award-winning performer. Bill mentions that this is the third time he and Rita have worked together, having previously been on at the same time on Place The Face and Password. Rita had been overseas in London performing, which gave her and Bill the chance to crack this joke:

Bill: "Rita, I understand you've been abroad."

Rita: "Yes, all my life!"

The contestants:
Mellie Lewis is current champion from Modesto CA, having won the previous week with $8839.

Risa Palm is a schoolteacher from St. Paul MN.

Wally Benetter is an engineer from Massapequa, Long Island.

The drum of cards filled out by the audience is brought out and Rita draws four cards, placing them face down in the order they are drawn. Every time Rita wins a prize it goes to the person whose name was drawn for that bidding game. The first name drawn is Joan Ann Jordan of Elmhurst, NY. Joan is escorted down from the audience and brought to a proxy area nearby. Bill shows us the Price Is Right home edition (the card game "Bid It Right").

First item up for bids: Outdoor furniture by Vandicraft and Macon Umbrella of kiln-dried redwood including a barbecue cart. 17 pieces in all.

Mrs. Lewis opens and the opening bid is asked to be at least $250, minimums at $50:
(*--frozen bid; [bz]--last bid buzzer)
---------250 --------300 --------350 -------450
---------550 --------600 --------650 -------700
---------800 ------* 600 --------850 -------900 [bz]
------* 1100 ------* 600 ------* 850 -----* 900

Actual retail price: $912.95, with Rita winning for Joan Ann Jordan and she hit the bonus bell. Mrs. Jordan wins a collection of West Bend appliances and a Zenith Color TV/Hi-Fi console.

The next card Rita reads out: Daniel K. Clark from Memphis TN. Next item: a charm bracelet by Johnston Jewels Ltd., Waldorf Astoria, with each component representing the four seasons.

Mrs. Palm opens with the opening bid asked to be at least $250,000 (audience laughter), then Bill corrects it with an opening of at least $1000, minimums of $100:
------------ ------1000 -------1500 -------1600
------1700 ------1800 -------2000 -------2500
----* 1700 [bz]----* 1800 -----* 3100 -----* 2500

Actual retail price: $3100, with Mr. Benetter hitting it right on the nose.

The current sweepstakes is shown to home audiences: It's a 3-bedroom home in Coral Gables, Fla. from Gulf American Land Corporation, Sudden Change protein lotion, a 20-volume set of the World Book Encyclopedia, and Haggar men's slacks.

Third name from Rita: Irma Calatso of New York City. Third item up for bids: A washer and dryer
from Maytag, automatic ironer from Iron-Rite, and Lady Pepperel linens.

Mr. Benetter opens and it's a one-bid item:
-------------- ---------- -----* 675 ----* 2700
-----* 1100 ----* 1200

Actual retail price: $1202.27, with Mrs. Palm the winner.

Fourth name: Irene Richmond of Edmond, OK.  Final item: a 1964 Cadillac DeVille convertible, equipped with leather upholstery, hydromatic drive, automatic transmission, power steering, power brakes, air conditioning and more. Bidding on the Cadillac at its F.O.B. delivered price, point of entry Detroit MI.

Rita starts with the opening bid asked to be at least $2500, minimums at $100:
----------- ---------- ---------- ------3000
-------3100 ------3500 ------3600 ------4000
-------4200 ------4500 ------4900 ------5000
-------5200 ------5400 ------5500 ------6000
-------6400 ----* 5400 ------6500 [bz]---* 7000
-----* 6400 ----* 5400 ----* 6500

Bill takes an audience poll of who he thinks is the winner of the car with applause as the barometer.  The audience believes it's Rita. Actual retail price: $6599.05, with Mr. Benetter the winner.

Final scores:
Mrs. Lewis - $0 (but she won big previously)
Mrs. Palm: - $1202
Mr. Benetter - $9699
Rita Moreno - $2102 (all the others Rita played for receive a 17-piece Michael C. Fina tea service)

Mr. Benetter returns next week to defend, and Bill tells us next week the celebrity guest will be Georgia Brown.

[yksin]

JThe current sweepstakes is shown to home audiences: It's a 3-bedroom home in Coral Gables, Fla. from Gulf American Land Corporation, Sudden Change protein lotion, a 20-volume set of the World Book Encyclopedia, and Haggar men's slacks.

OMG! This is also where we got the World Book Encyclopedia set! In my mind's eye I can still see those neatly organized, white covers & spines with green trim, in the dining room bookcase right next to the dark brown volumes of Encyclopedia Britannica. (Which, knowing my folks, they probably also won in some sweepstakes. They also once won a mink stole worth $1,300 in an Ivory Soap sweepstakes.)

I don't remember the hand lotion, though.

I posted earlier in the thread about the second-to-last nighttime show (celebrity guest Jose Ferrer, 4 Sep 1964) about my dad's appearance on that show. I had always been confused about the relationship between the house in Florida and my dad's appearance on the show, because I didn't understand how the show worked back then, & the newspaper articles in multiple Montana newspapers on August 26-27, 1964 about "Montana couple wins house in Florida" didn't explain it — no doubt because all the people reading the paper in those days knew how it worked.

Well, now I do, & I thank you again, Ccook, for your full recap of the show that's given me some answers to this part of my family history.

— Melissa S. Green
youngest kid of Rial Green & R. Elizabeth Green, who sold the Florida house because our family already had a house in Columbia Falls, Montana

[Ccook]

My pleasure! My formative youth was formed on the Cullen show, so seeing them on GSN and Buzzr was a treat.