Take It Or Leave It

Posted by James on August 26, 2010 at 4:00am
"Take It or Leave It" began its run on April 21, 1940.  It was first hosted by Bob Hawk (1940–41), who once was called the “funniest ad-lib man in radio”. The shows second host,Phil Baker (1941–47), was also a vaudeville actor, composer, songwriter, accordionist and author. In 1947 the series switched to NBC, hosted at various times by Baker, Garry Moore (1947–49), Eddie Cantor (1949–50), and Jack Paar (beginning June 11, 1950). On September 10, 1950, "Take It or Leave It" changed its title to "The $64 Question". Paar continued as host, followed by Baker (March–December 1951) and Paar (back on December 1951). The series continued on NBC Radio until June 1, 1952.

On both "Take It or Leave It" and "The $64 Question", contestants were asked questions devised by the series' writer-researcher Edith Oliver. She attempted to make each question slightly more difficult than the preceding one. After answering a question correctly, the contestant had the choice to "take" the prize for that question or "leave it" in favor of a chance at the next question. The first question was worth one dollar, and the value doubled for each successive question, up to the seventh and final question, worth $64.

During the 1940s, "That's the $64 question" became a common catch phrase for a particularly difficult question or problem. In addition to the common phrase, "Take it or leave it", the show also popularized another phrase, widely spoken in the 1940s as a taunt but now mostly forgotten (except in Warner Bros. cartoons). Chanted in unison by the entire audience when someone chose to risk their winnings by going for the $64 prize, it was vocalized with a rising inflection: "You'll be sorrr-REEEE!"

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  • James August 26, 2010 at 4:25am
    The huge popularity of the radio program inspired a 20th Century Fox feature film, Take It or Leave It, about a man who needs $1,000 to pay his wife's obstetrician. When he is chosen as a contestant on the radio quiz show, the prize money is increased beyond the usual $64. His category choice, "Scenes from Famous Movies," leads to a parade of clips from 27 Fox movies. Released July 12, 1944. the film did not get high marks when reviewed in The New York Times:

    If you should like a rambling, catch-as-catch-can picture tied together, loosely, with a more or less infantile-story line, and if you have an attachment for Phil Baker's radio program, then the chances are you'll find varying degrees of entertainment in this picture. In addition to Mr. Baker, the picture features Edward Ryan, Marjorie Massow and Phil Silvers. Besides these cast members the show is also patched up with clips of old pictures starring Alice Faye, Sonja Henie, Al Jolson, the Ritz and Weir Brothers and Shirley Temple, the last-named at the intolerable age of 4 or 5, or whatever age it is in which child prodigies become peculiarly intolerable... The cold facts are Take It or Leave It is a short-order job capitalizing on Mr. Baker's radio-drawing appeal and is based primarily on a far-fetched picturization of the broadcast itself. Persons not fully acquainted with the broadcast likely will be astounded at the strange and unusual things going on in the studio. Producers of the radio program, for that matter, will no doubt be astonished too. Moreover, even in the picture trade there likely is a certain amount of astonishment that so many feet of film can be assembled with so little expenditure—so little expenditure both of money and of consideration for adult intelligence.

    Take It Or Leave It 42-11-08 First Category - Football Teams.mp3

    Take It Or Leave It 48-04-04 First Category - States With Women's C...

    Take It Or Leave It 48-07-24 Garry Moore Is Quizmaster.mp3

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