THE VIDEO COPY of the 1960 show that I received displays a black box screen with a timer. Three years ago, a pageant friend who sent me a copy of the 1969 show had told me that the black box screen indicates that the show was taped directly from the original CBS feed. I'm not sure whether what he said is true or not, but I know for sure that the black box screen could be very annoying. Equally annoying is the host himself, Arthur Godfrey, who lacks appeal of some sort. We first see Arthur backstage interviewing the current titleholder Akiko Kojima of Japan garbed in kimono wearing her pearl-studded crown and carrying her scepter. Arthur attempts to impress the audience by complimenting Akiko on her beauty. She replies back in cautious English. This whole scenario lasts about three minutes.

     Still from backstage, the camera pans on Jayne Meadows and Charles Collingwood who discuss about the pageant from its inception to the present time. The actual show begins as the camera (from the backstage's perspective) pans on the curtain as it opens. Quickly, a camera from the audience's perspective gives us a frontal view of the stage. The master of ceremonies (emcee) is a young man wearing a tailed tuxedo. I didn't quite grasp his name. He presents the Parade of Nations comprised of delegates who were not chosen as semi-finalists. The candidates do not say anything at all, while the emcee says the name of the countries twice. Little do we realize that mute introductions would be revived during the productions of 1998, 1999 and 2000.

Argentina	Ecuador	Morocco
Belgium	Finland (no sash)	New Zealand
Bolivia	France	Paraguay
Burma	Holland	Peru
Canada	Hong Kong	Portugal
Chile (no sash)	Iceland	Surinam
Costa Rica	Jordan	Sweden
Cuba	Lebanon	Tunisia
Denmark (no sash)	Luxemburg	Venezuela (no sash)

     We learn from a background comment from Charles Collingwood that the fifteen finalists who were not in the Parade of Nations had been announced during the previous evening. The Parade of Nations is followed by a brief collective presentation of the American candidates. Afterwards, Godfrey interviews three beauties (Terri, Gladys and Zoe) while plugging in the sponsor, Lilt Curls. The "commercial" lasts about three minutes. Then Godfrey asks the girls, "Who among you is a former Miss Greece?" He then approaches Zoe.

     Meanwhile, backstage, Jayne and Charles comment briefly on the fifteen semi-finalists who subsequently appear and greet the audience in their native tongue. The greetings are fairly lengthy averaging about a minute and a half:

Austria	Greece	Norway
Brazil	Israel	South Africa
Colombia	Italy	Spain
England	Japan	Switzerland
Germany	Korea	USA

     A "real" commercial follows for Push Button Lilt Home Permanent, followed by more promotion from the host himself. The camera zooms on Charles who chats with Miss Brazil who is fluent in English and tells Charles that her father is Scottish (last name is McPherson). Charles chats also with Miss Greece who is also fluent in English (having studied in England) and with Miss Israel whom he calls as a crowd favorite. Meanwhile, Jane chats with Misses England, Korea (who wants to be an actress and and a professor) and Austria who thinks American food is wonderful. Back to Charles again who chats with Miss Switzerland in French; Charles speaks decent French and translates for the Swiss beauty. Now it's Miss Colombia's turn. Guess what? She may not have won Miss Universe, but she would eventually become the first Miss International! Yes, folks! It's Stella Marquez who describes her beautiful costume and informs us that she attended Marymount College in Los Angeles. Miss Italy's chaperon translates for her. Back to Jayne again. This time with Misses USA and Norway ("U.S. men are okay!"). Charles chats with Miss South Africa and Miss Japan who relies on an interpreter and tells Charles that she is a "housewife". Charles, puzzled, exclaims that there are certain regulations in the contest! Back to Jane again who chats with Misses Germany and Spain (in good English, "they don't allow women in Spain to walk around in swimsuits.")

     Camera pans to Godfrey who rambles on how he knows a few Japanese expressions. Then, he plugs in Lilt again and Crest Toothpaste. The emcee now introduces the candidates (American and foreign) who sing "Getting To Know You" and he discriminately selects some to sing a verse or two. One American candidate looks unhappy. Miss Denmark passes ("I missed the words!") After this slice of entertainment, the emcee now announces the winner of the Miss Amity award which is given to the young woman who manifests "further international understanding through appreciation of beauty." This year, it's a tie between Miss Burma and an always cheerful Miss Lousiana. Miss Burma gives a good thank you speech in English, whereas Miss Louisiana starts her statement by saying in her cute Southern accent, "May I tell y'all..." The audience laughs. Then the Southern belle alternates to, "you all."

     The judges are introduced rather very abruptly: Miyoko Yanihito of Japan, Maxwell Arnold, architect Russell Patterson, Mrs. Jane Fisher (wife of the founder of Miami Beach), Roger Zeiler (organizer of art shows), Erwin Hazen (comic artist), Fernando Botero (Colombian painter), Dr. M. M. Hollander (surgeon), Mr. Buch Bucinich (sculptor), and another one whose name was difficult to understand. (NOTE: I am not entirely certain of the spelling of the judges's names as I scribbled them down roughly as I heard them.)

     Arthur plugs in Lilt with Gladys Zender (Peru, Miss Universe 1957). "No dabbing and dripping", the slogan goes. The camera pans to Charles who is showing a board where the fifteen names of countries (semifinalists) are listed. He mentions his own favorites - Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Israel, Spain and Switzerland.

     The camera pans back to Arthur with Akiko Kojima. Lee Phillips, a former beauty queen, goes to the dressing room and plugs in Secret Deodorant. The emcee introduces Akiko on her throne that is set on a platform that is wheeled onto the stage. The emcee then reintroduces each finalist by addressing her as "the delegate from...". He never uses the word "Miss". Interestingly, the candidate reappears in her evening gown and curtsies in front of Queen Akiko (now this is a tradition that I'd like to see revived in future productions!). All the finalists, including the not so lucky ones, gather on stage for the announcement of the winner.

     Unlike in later shows, there is no final question and answer scene. The emcee announces the final placements beginning with the 4th runner-up (Miss Spain), followed by the 3rd runner-up (Miss South Africa), and then by the 2nd runner-up (Miss Austria) and then, the 1st runner-up (Miss Italy) - a striking and elegant blond. Finally, the winner is announced - Miss USA, Linda Bement. Akiko passes the scepter and crown and kisses Linda very gently on the cheek. Linda does her victory walk. From Jayne's voiceover, we learn that Linda is 18 years old, 5'6" and 120 lbs. Jayne also paraphrases Kerry Huntington, Miss USA 1959 who says that Linda "has the most beautiful walk" and "even though the foreign girls are beautiful, they don't walk as well as the American girls."

     Just before the show ends, Jayne plugs in Lilt with Kerry, Miss Greece and Gladys Zender; Arthur interviews Linda (more like a boring chat) - he calls her "lovely little thing". Aside, Charles refers to Linda as "an awful pretty girl". Arthur escorts Linda away and finally Jayne and Charles say goodbye to the audience.

     I managed to scribble down the credits:

• Executive Producer - Paul LEVITAN
• Producer - Burt SHEVELOVE
• Director - Vern DIAMOND
• Writer - Craig GILBERT
• Musical Director - Jacques DONNET

Photo courtesy of G. Ganeroni

Text by Rafael Robert Delfin.

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2006 CRITICAL BEAUTY. All rights reserved.