 Dedicated to the strength of the nation, now heard of more than 1,300 radio stations. Proudly, we hail. Yes, proudly we hail, starring Martha Scott in Fagabond Dream, the United States Army and United States Air Force presentation. And now here is your producer, the well-known Hollywood showman, C.P. McGregor. Thank you, thank you, and greetings from Hollywood, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to your Theater of Stars, where Hollywood's glamorous and capable motion picture personalities appear in plays we know you'll enjoy. Two birthdays have now gone by for Proudly We Hail, and this program commences our third year on the air. And the celebrate, delightful Martha Scott is our Proudly We Hail star. She portrays a somewhat cynical miss, who is cast afloat in an unfriendly and gregarious world. A single dream seems to hold the key to her happiness, but with each dream comes the reality of awakening to further struggles. We'll have the curtain for act one in a moment. Here now is a brief message from Wendell Niles. Friends consider the soldier, the regular Army soldier. He has an interesting career of his own choosing. He is skilled in one of many trades or specialties. He can perform interesting work in interesting foreign countries. He receives the highest Army pay in history. If he wishes, and a large number do, he can continue his education through the Armed Forces Institute. And above all, he's helping keep America safe and at peace. Now once again, our producer. It's curtain time, and here's act one of Vagabond Dreams starring Martha Scott as Ruth. The scene is a small, all-night cafe in midtown Manhattan. The time is a little before midnight. The cafe is empty except for Charlie, the night cook and a girl who sits by the jute box and stares intently at the spinning record. The music seems to be having an almost hypnotic effect on her as if it were more than a mere combination of notes and rhythms as if it were contained some secret, some final answer to man's eternal quest. But New York is full of the unusual, and Charlie watches her with only a bored indifference when finally she turns to him and... Hear that tune, Charlie? Yeah. Like it? I guess so. Why? No reason. Except that I was playing that same record one night about a month ago in a little gypsy like this. Only it was in Ohio instead of New York, and the man behind the counter was named Tony. You know, one of those spots where all the truck drivers stopped for coffee? Only on this particular night I was the only customer. Then about 1130, he came in. I watched him. He seemed younger and thinner than most of the truck drivers I'd seen. When he got his coffee, he drank it in quick gulps as though he'd been waiting a long time for it. Then I walked down to his end of the counter and sat down beside him. Finally, he said... You want something? No. I just wanted to know how you liked this number. I wasn't listening. That's well. I spend my last nickel all the money I've got in the world for a song you're not even listening to. Why don't you tell me how you like it? Frankly, I wasn't listening either. That's what I thought. Say, I was watching through the front window when you pulled your truck in, driving alone? Yeah. New York? That's right. Must get kind of lonesome driving all night, alone. Look, I know what you're leading up to, but it's no good. Company rules. Oh, please, Mr. Give me a break. I know, and I just had to get to New York. Sorry. Sure. Sure, that's okay. Hey, where are you going? I don't know. What's the difference? Well, you can't walk to New York. That's right. I can't. So long, Mr. The next time you meet a girl playing a song with her last nickel, listen to it, will you? It may be her last song, too. Hey, wait a minute. What made you change your mind? I don't know. Maybe I thought that crack about a last song sounded a little too final. What's your name? Ruth. I'm Joe, Joe Clemens. Where's your home? Where's my home? That's a great question. Why? Because home is wherever I happen to be, that's why. Only I don't think home is quite the name for the places I've lived. You must have had a real home once. Where'd you start? Some place in the Middle West, I think. I don't know. It was so long ago, I can't remember anymore. What happened? Same old story. My folks had a fight, so my mother left home and took me with her. I was just a kid, maybe five years old. Go on. Well, a few months after that, she died. Nobody knew who I was, so they stuck me in an orphanage. Ten years of that life was enough for me, so I ran away. I've been on the move ever since. Well, that's it, Joe. You sound kind of bitter about it. Are you still young? You'll settle down someday. Oh, sure. I mean it. There's a place somewhere for you. It's the right place in this world for everybody. Didn't you ever have a dream? You know, sort of an ideal you could look forward to and believe in and work for? Such as? Well, take me, for instance. I want to have a home someday. A place of my own with some land around it and a garden. I suppose there's a girl in the picture, too. Well, I haven't found her yet, but I'll know her when I do. Yes, she'll be kind and gentle. She'll believe in things the way I do. Yeah. Yeah, I guess I know what you mean, Joe. You do? Sure. I used to think the way you do, Joe. I believed there was a place waiting for me, a place where I belonged. I used to dream about it almost every night. It was out in a country like this. A place like that shouldn't be tough to find? Yes, but this was a particular place. I could see it so clearly I could draw it. There was a house, a small white one, and a winding gravel walk, and in front of the house there were three tall oak trees. I used to say when I found it, I'd settle down and spend the rest of my life there. Alone? No. No, there seemed to be somebody else. I can't quite... Oh, listen, let's cut this out, Joe. Dreams are for dopes. Not if you have hope. Hey, Joe! Joe, look out! Get your head down! Ruth. Ruth, are you all right? What? Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay, are you? Yeah, I'm still in one piece, I think. What was it? Some farmer left his plow stick and hung it over the edge of the road. The truck was too wide to clear it. Well, there's no sense sitting here. No, let's get out and start hiking. Here, here, I'll give you a hand. Thanks, sir. I guess we'll head back to the cafe and phone from there. Oh, for quiet out here, isn't it? Sort of spooky. Yeah, maybe we ought to tell ghost stories. Ghost stories are just what we don't need. Let's hurry, Joe. Oh, oh. You hear that? Sounds like we're gonna get wet. Hey, look, up there on the left, that light. Let's run for it. Oh, if it's got a roof, it's good enough for me. Oh, boy, I hope whoever lives in that house has a fire going and a pot of coffee on the stove. Joe. Oh, don't stop. We're almost there. Joe, look at it. What about it? It's a small white house with a winding gravel walk and three tall oak trees in front. The house I was telling you about. That's just a coincidence. Come on. No, no, no, that's the one, Joe. I'm sure of it. I've dreamed about it too many times to be mistaken. Oh, Rose. Everything is just the way I used to see it, every detail. Joe, I have the strangest feeling. You mean you really believe that? Yes. Yes, I do, Joe. I feel as if I finally found a place I've been dreaming about all these years. As if my dream has suddenly come true. Oh, Rose, you're trembling. I'm frightened. Please don't leave me. Don't leave me, Joe. I sure feel it's good. Practically dry already. I don't know what we'd have done if we hadn't seen you like, Mr. Mason, or if you hadn't let us in. Well, in this house, anyone is welcome. As a matter of fact, I'm going to invite you two to spend the night with me. That's very kind of you. Oh, no, please. We don't think you're imposing on me. Well, is it okay with you, Rose? Oh, yes, Joe. I'd like nothing better. Good, good. It's all settled then. You know, before we came in here, Ruth had an idea she'd seen this house in her dreams. Oh, oh, really? Maybe it sounds silly, but... Well, I'm almost sure this is the one. The longer I stay, the more certain I become. Hey, listen, I think it stopped raining. Sure. Look out through the window. You can even see the moon. Come on, Ruth. Let's go out on the porch. All right, Joe. When do you think it'd be so perfect? It's like a picture from some enchanted fairy land in a children's book. Just look at the raindrops in the moonlight, Joe, glittering like millions of sparkling diamonds. This air is so clean, fresh and cool. The hills over there, half in moonlight and half in shadow. Everything is so quiet and peaceful and beautiful and I... Oh, no, Joe, no. Ruth, what is it? I should have known it wasn't real. Dreams don't come true, Joe. Don't you see? The house that trees you with... This is the dream, Joe, and it won't last. But, Ruth, you're not dreaming? Do something for me, Joe. Sure. I like you. You're kind and decent and full of hope. Everything, I'm not. And when I wake from this dream, I want to remember you. So kiss me, Joe. Kiss me and make that part of my dream, too. Ruth. Please, I won't forget now. Will you stop talking like you're going to disappear in the night like a ghost or something? Remember what I said, Joe, about dreams being like movies? Yeah. Sooner or later they end and then someone turns on the lights and we're right back where we started. That's where I'll be in the morning, Joe. When the lights come on, the dream will be over and I'll be right back where I started. We'll pause briefly from our story, Bagobon Dreams starring Martha Scott to bring you an important message from your government. A lot of this year's high school graduates want to continue their education, but many can't afford it or are unable to enter school due to overcrowding or have to go to work. If you are one of these, the U.S. Army is your answer. Yes, in the Army, you will find all sorts of opportunities for further education. Take the Armed Forces Institute, for instance. For nominal fee, you'll be able to study all types of courses, from accounting to journalism, to mention just a couple. And many of these courses carry college credit. Thousands of servicemen have earned high school diplomas or equivalency certificates throughout the Armed Forces Institute. Yes, high school graduates, the Army offers you a valuable career with plenty of chances for education. But you get all of the facts at your local recruiting station right away. It will pay you to do so. Our curtain rises on Act 2 of Bagobon Dreams starring Martha Scott as Ruth. In a small all-night café in New York, a girl sits listening to a record on a jukebox. As she listens, she tells a story, a story of a dream, and a house in the country, and a man named Joe. So that's the way it was, Charlie. I hitched a ride with a truck driver and ended up detouring right into a dream. Well, what happened after that? Was it a dream or wasn't? That's what I asked myself the next morning. Because, you see, Charlie, when I woke up, I wasn't back where I started. I was still in that little house in the country with the winding gravel walk and the three tall oak trees in front. The sun was just coming up, and I went outdoors and sat on the front lawn all alone. And I began to feel happy. Really happy for the first time in my life. Then, about an hour later, Joe came out. Well, morning, early bird. How long have you been out? A long time. Sit down, Joe. Here, beside me. Okay. Oh, this is the life. Oh, perfect life. You still think it's all just a dream? Oh, I don't know what it is, Joe. Ruth, I've been doing some dreaming myself since last night. Now, after seeing you again this morning... Yes? If only I could describe to you how much you've changed since we've been here. Your face, the way you talk and smile, everything about you is different. You're nothing like that girl I met last night in the cafe. Say, how long do you think we'll stay here? I mean, how long until your truck is fixed? Well, it's hard to say. I'm going to call the company in a few minutes. I suppose it'll take the rest of the day to get the truck running. Why? Do you see that hill over there, the highest one? Yeah. Let's climb it, Joe, just you and I. We could start right after you make the phone call. Well, if you really want to. I do want to, Joe. I want to find out what it feels like to be on top of things for a change. Way up on top. I can't run another step. This was your idea, remember? Come on. Just up over this little ledge now. There. I think we made it. Oh, just look down. Standing on top of the world. Oh, it's even better than that. I feel almost as if I own the world. Oh, you do own the world, Ruth. I'm giving it to you. Every hill and river and tray in sight. Then we can do anything we want, can't we, Joe? We can sit up on top of this hill for the rest of our lives and do nothing but rule our kingdom. We'll have to be a thousand years old. And everyone will love us because in our world there'll be nothing but peace and laughter and dreams come true. Oh, Joe, it's almost too much for me to bear. Are you happy? I never knew the word until today. It's a wonderful feeling, isn't it? Hold me, Joe. It all happened so fast. So very fast. No, Joe. Ruth, what's the matter? I don't know. There must be something. Why'd you pull away from me? It was like a sudden cold wind. A feeling that came over me. Joe, I'm frightened. What are you talking about, Ruth? What feeling? The same one I had last night, but that this isn't going to last. Ruth, you've got to stop thinking that way. Nothing's gonna happen. Let's go down, Joe. I don't like it up here anymore. Sure, that's what you wanted. We'll go down. Are you sure you're all right now? Of course. I'm sorry I spoiled our day. I just don't know what makes me fall into these moods. Well... Welcome back. How was the hike? It was swell, thanks. There was a repair crew from your company here a few minutes ago, Joe. They're down working on your truck now. I better get down and give them a hand, then. You wait here, Ruth. Don't be too long, Joe. I do my best to entertain them. If all else fails, there's always a family album. That would keep anyone out of trouble. I'll be back as soon as I can. It shouldn't take more than an hour. Oh, Mr. Mason, the job took a little longer than I expected. Where's Ruth? She's gone, Joe. Gone? Gone where? Wherever she was headed last night, I suppose. That doesn't make sense. What did she say? What reason did she give? Well, she only said that someone finally turned on the lights. Does that mean anything to you? Yeah. That's like she said. When the lights go on, the dream is over. We're all right back where we started. Well, that's the story, Charlie. When Joe came back, I was gone. Now, here I am in New York talking to you while you wonder why I even bothered to waste my breath. Maybe I'm dense or something, sister, but I still can't figure out why you ditched a guy. Well, let's just say that I figured out that dream I used to have. And that when I found out, well, everything was gone, see? No. I don't see. You've heard of love, haven't you, Charlie? Love? Now you're talking about love. Now you're talking in riddles. For some people, it means staying with the person you love no matter what happens. For others, well, I'm one of the others, Charlie. This is the way I have to show my love. Well, so long, Charlie. Well, how about a cup of coffee for you? Go on the house. No, but thanks anyway. Well, where you going? I'm going out and bury myself in the night, Charlie. Bury myself so deep that maybe I can forget what has got to be such a thing as another day. But I guess that doesn't make much sense to you either, does it? Joe, I couldn't have stayed a dream. Why did I have to find out, Joe? Why? We were going to sit on top of a hill and rule the world, remember, Joe? Just you and I. But I should have known those things aren't for me. I haven't even got a right to dream. But there's one thing I have got a right to do. Only one place I can go now and nobody can stop me. Nobody can stop me. Sure, there's nothing more you can do, Doctor. We've done everything we can, Mr. Clemens. Everything. But she does have a chance, doesn't she? If she wants it, yes. But it's all up to her now. Well, here's her room. Can I see her along, please? For five minutes. I'll call you. Thank you, Doctor. Well, you've been so long ever since the day you left. I might never have found you without your accident in the papers. Why? Why didn't you just forget me? Ruth. Yes? I found out why you've always dreamed about that house. Why you felt so strangely when you were there. What do you know? That you used to live there before your mother took you away. That house was your home, wasn't it, Ruth? Yes. Yes, it was my home. I might never have known if I hadn't looked through the family album that day and recognized some of the pictures. Does he know? Your father? Yes, he knows. I didn't want him to find out. I wanted him to go on believing that maybe I'd made something in my life something worthwhile instead of this. That's one of the reasons I ran away that day. Was the other reason me? Remember that night in the truck when you told me you wanted a home and a wife who was kind and gentle and who believed in things the way you do? That's not for me, Joe. It never could be me. It's not what you've been. It matters. It's what you can be. Don't you see, Joe, as long as it was a dream or even a dream come true, it was all right because it would have been a miracle. But then there would have been a chance for me to change too. It doesn't take a miracle to change a person, Ruth. We can all be whatever we want to be. I don't know what to believe anymore. We all have our dreams, Ruth. Your father's has been to find you again. Mine's been to settle down with the kind of person you can be if you try. You don't want to smash our dreams, too, do you? No, but... Well, then get well and come back. Do you really think there's a chance for me, for us? Of course there is, darling. Well, you've got a wife. I do, Joe. I do. But don't you see, you've got to have faith and work for your dream. It's all up to you, Ruth. I do see what you mean now, Joe. You do understand. Yes. Dreams can come true. But only when we make them come true. The Kirkland Falls and the final act for Bagobon Dream. Our star, Martha Scott, will return for a Kirkland call after this timely message from Wendell Niles. Next time you see a U.S. Air Force man, look him over carefully. Note how he carries himself in his trim-fitting uniform. You'll find he's a clean-cut intelligent young man with a definite aim in life. He's out to make a worthwhile career for himself in an important work, the work of keeping America free from aggression. He's skilled in one of many specialties connected with aviation. He may be an airplane mechanic, a radar man, a specialist in radio, or one of many others. The Air Force man likes his job and he's constantly working for the advancement open to the ambitious. He's well-clothed and well-fed, has good quarters, all provided by the government, and he receives good pay. He's taking advantage of the Air Force's many educational facilities. Yes, the U.S. Air Force is one of the finest of careers today. So, you young men who want to get ahead, why don't you get all of the facts at your recruiting station now? And I'll back at the microphone our star, Martha Scott and our producer. Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to have you meet our delightful and most interesting star in person, Martha Scott. Martha, take a bow. Thank you, C.P. But congratulations are in order for you. I heard your announcement at curtain time. This is the first show starting the third year for Proudly We Hail. We are very grateful to the more than 100 stars like yourself who contribute their services and the 1,300 radio stations which air this program free. And believe me, I'm proud to be here on this auspicious occasion. Just think if I'd appeared when scheduled last week I would have missed it, but you know, my little boy's measles. We were all sorry to hear about that, but glad that you can be with us now since he's all right again. Oh, now he has the chicken pox. Oh, no. Mel, my husband, stayed home. He's assistant nurse in charge of the liquid diet. Well, I'd like to see Mel Powell music savant, doubling in liquids. Are you still digging up those old Dixieland records of Mel? Yes, and I'm getting plenty of resistance from him on that. But listen, C.P., I'm really doing it just tease him a little, see? Why, they are valuable. And by the way, I've been wanting to talk with you about the play you and Gregory Peck did in the East, Willow and I. I understand that you both plan to do it again at the La Jolla Playhouse this summer. You see, we opened before Christmas and during the newspaper strike in New York and those conditions really ruined us. The play is very beautiful, and we're so anxious to play it again. Success is a foregone conclusion, Martha. And I'll be down there first row center to catch it. And I'll be in my easy chair listening to you next week, C.P. What's the play, Bill? Well, next week, Martha and ladies and gentlemen, Angela Lansbury stars in our play The House on Lakewood Drive. And our literary jackpot provides some surprises and supplies us with a grand plot and some fine comedy situations. I'll be listening. And again, good luck, C.P., for your third proudly-we-hail year. Goodbye. Goodbye, Martha. And thank you. Please join us next week, ladies and gentlemen, when we present Angela Lansbury in The House on Lakewood Drive. Until next week, this is C.P. McGregor saying thanks for listening and Cheerio from Hollywood. Martha Scott appears with the courtesy of the Hollywood Coordinating Committee, which arranges for the appearance of all stars on this program. The story was by Harry Trelevin Jr. with orchestra under the direction of Eddie Scravane. This program is rebroadcast The Armed Forces Overseas through the worldwide facilities of the Armed Forces Radio Surface. Remember proudly we hail next time presents Angela Lansbury. This program was transcribed in Hollywood for release at this time.