Did Van Doren Throw His Final Game Unknown to the Producers? (Spoilers)
Or did they decide his time had come? Van Doren does give a smile when he incorrectly answers part of the Royalty category about "Kings." I think they were in on him losing at the time. At least in the movie, Charlie's Dad remarks that the Airplane questions given to Charlie were much harder than the questions given to Vivian Nearing.
Jack