 Remember a Hallmark card when you carry enough to send the very best. To outstanding stories chosen by one of the world's best known authors, the distinguished novelist, Mr. James Hilton. Ladies and gentlemen, this is James Hilton. Tonight on our Hallmark Playhouse, we give you a dramatization of a story by Jesse Lynch Williams, entitled Not Wanted. Mr. Williams had a successful career in the newspaper and magazine world, and from one of his novels, a Pulitzer Prize play was adapted. He was also the founder of the Triangle Club at Princeton, together with his close friend, Booth Tarkington. All of this makes him the kind of American whose view of life, fixed in an age less troubled than ours, is good and nourishing to go back to. And here, in a story called Not Wanted, we have a problem that always has meaning in any age and in any country, that of the relationship of a boy to his father. We are particularly happy to have starring with us in this boy's role that talented young actor, Dean Stockwell. And now a word about Hallmark Cards from Frank Goss, before we begin the first act of Not Wanted. May we remind you once again that for every occasion important to your friends and loved ones, there are Hallmark Cards to carry your thoughts across the miles, across the years, or merely across the way. A Hallmark Cards says what you want to say, just the way you want to say it. And that identifying Hallmark on the back says that you cared enough to send the very best. Our star, Dean Stockwell, is appearing tonight by arrangement with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, producers of To Please a Lady, starring Clark Gable, Barbara Stanwyck, and Adolf Maju. And now Hallmark Playhouse, presenting Jesse Lynch-Williams' novel, Not Wanted, starring Dean Stockwell. To be that of a grown-up boy, father and son therefore have that much in common, and they so often don't realize it. They stay at odds and never know what's in the other's heart. So this then is the story of Phil, Jr., a son who loved his father, and a Phil senior, a father who loved his son, but really didn't know how. Yes, Aunt Mary, your father wants to talk to you. We're in the study. I'll be right down. I've got the big bag all packed and most of the little one, too. All right, dear. But hurry. Well, Phil. Well, I'd like to take him myself, naturally. My old school, it would be good to see old Fielding again after all these years. Introduce my son to him, you know. But. There aren't any buts, Mary. There really aren't. I'm thinking of the boy. This is a new experience for him, a new world. And you think you'll be more at ease if I take him? Is that it, Phil? Frankly, yes. Oh, well, we've been all over this before, Mary. I thought it was settled. Well, I hope at least that you'll write to him while he's in school. Of course I will, when I can. They have post offices in Peru or Brazil or wherever you're off to this time? Brazil. Oh, Phil. That boy adores him. He doesn't know me. He wants to. Phil, do you remember what you said to me when Junior was born? I don't know. You said he's come between Nell and me. You said that you and Nell had been happy together until Junior came along. But now he'd keep you apart because Nell wouldn't be able to go along with you on your trips. Not until Junior was big enough to stand trips to the wiles of Alaska or Africa, wherever else your mining engineers have to go. It was nine years ago. Three years ago after Nell died when he brought the boy to me. You didn't say it, but there was no doubt about what you were thinking. I told you so. Are you thinking to feel a lot of foolish things at a time like that? Junior's my son. I feel about him like any father. He's all I've got, Mary. Oh, Phil, be honest with yourself. You've never really wanted the boy. What? You didn't want him when he was born. You don't want him now. Oh, that's not true. I'm Mary. Junior. Junior. Oh, Phil, I'm sorry. Junior, wait. Junior. Wait, boy. Look, son, you're right. Mary didn't mean what she said. You know that, don't you? Well, surely you know that she loves you and that I... I love you, son. Good gosh, you're my son. We've got to stick together, don't we? Oh, come on, son. I want to talk to you. Well, I can't if you go on crying like this. You wouldn't be able to hear what I'm saying. It'd be like I was talking to myself. It's no good talking to yourself now, is it, huh? No. That's better. Now, look, look, son, we'll forget what Aunt Mary said. We'll forget that she even said it. You think we can do that? Yes, sir. Because, well, it isn't true, anyway. Deep down in your heart, you... you know it couldn't be true, don't you? No, only... Only what? Well, gee, I never see you. You never write to me. Well, now, wait a minute. One accusation at a time. I wish we could be together all the time, but... well, you know that an engineer has to go where he's sent to faraway places, and sometimes it isn't too easy to get a letter out of some of those jungle places where an engineer works. But I, uh... I'll mend my ways. I promise. I'll write to you at school. I'll try to write every week. How's that? Well, that'd be swell. Yeah, and I'll tell you what. Next summer, when I come back from Brazil and you've got your summer vacation, we'll spend a lot of time together, up in the Northwoods where no white man has ever been. Oh, I'd sure like that. Oh, good. And that's settled, huh? Oh, uh, one more thing, son. About the school business, that's my old school, you know, so... maybe I better take you up there myself, huh? Well, that'd be great only. Well, that's all right, son. You'd rather have your aunt marry you. No, I just don't know if you could spare the time. I don't want to be a nuisance to you. Nuisance? Oh, I should say not. Just wait till you meet old Philly. He was my housemaster, you know. Old Philly? Sure. Maybe we can fix it so Alec will be your housemaster, too. Only, uh, you mustn't call him old Philly into his face. Remember, it's Mr. Philly. Mr. Philly. I'll remember that. Good. Well, come on, son. I'll give you a hand with the bags. This is young Phil. Can't say I see any great resemblance. He looks like his mother, Alec. And, uh, we call him Junior. Junior, eh? Yeah. Well, we'll soon build him up. Make a football player out of you like your dad, eh, Junior? I'll try very hard, Mr. Philly. Oh, Alec. Alec, I want you to take good care of this fellow. He's all I've got, you know. Oh, I'll keep a strict eye on him. And if he gets brave, I'll bat him over the head. Uh, time for your train, isn't it, Phil? Yes, I suppose it is. Oh, goodbye, son. Work hard and you'll have a good time here. I will, father. Well, goodbye. Goodbye, Alec. Have a good trip. I've been right to the boy. Lower form boys get lonely, you know. Oh, I will. Goodbye, son. Goodbye, father. Get you located. Put you up with Blackie, I guess. He's been here a year and is under the ropes. He'll show you around. Name's George Black, but everybody calls him Blackie. I'm sure that'll be fine, Mr. Philly. In a couple of weeks, you will have forgotten you ever lived anywhere else. Come along. Oh, Blackie, male? Yeah, nothing for you, though. I got a letter from my mom. Worried about all this snow and me and my rubbers. Aren't mothers funny? Sure. Always worrying about you. You know how it is. Sure. I'll bet your mother's this about the same way. My mother's dead. Gee, that's too bad. And your dad, where's he now? In Brazil, I told you. In the jungle, where no white man's ever been. Jeepers, I wish my dad was like that. He's got an old bank. It's to come after me and take me home for the holidays. From Stanford, Connecticut to New York. One hour on the train. Can you tie that? I got a letter from Pop. A check for 100 bucks. Just in case I wanted to buy him a Christmas present. Boy! My kid's sister, right? He's got his world present for me. When am I gonna give her? Hey, listen, this guy is for my brother. He's a Yale, you know. It looks like I'll be anchorman on the relay team. Besides swimming the 50 and 100. Isn't that so? My father was captain of his 11 and his senior year. Was he junior? Sure. Jeepers, junior? I can't see why you don't get any letters at all. Jeepers. They don't have post offices in the jungle. That's where my father is, remember? He's ought to hear about Junior's father. He's really something. He's led expeditions into Africa against hostile tribes. Almost got killed by a hostile tribe. That was a long time ago, Blackie. Where is he now, junior? Oh, in Brazil. Working on a mine somewhere. Brazil? In the interior? Who all the savages are? Gee, I don't know. I guess there's savages there. Yeah, I guess that's where my father is. Hey, summer vacation's only 18 days away. Hot dog. Well, how's it feel to be out of the first form, junior? OK. Go camping with your father this summer, up in the North Woods? No, he had to go to Mexico on confidential government business. Then you didn't see him at all, did you? He couldn't help it, could he? He never writes to you at all? In almost a year and a half. He writes to me during the summer, lots of times. Well, I just wondered. Some of the fellas think you're just bluffing about your father. Well, they do. Well, we'll take a look at this. Keepers, a telegram, eh? From your dad? It's a cablegram. Read it. Land Friday. Coming to see you Saturday. Gosh, you'll be here for the big game, won't you? Sure. Then you'll see what our real explorer looks like. The telegram for you, junior. Probably from the president. What is it, junior? You can't come. You can't. Junior's father was coming to the big game Saturday. Well, that's a lot of baloney. I'll bet you haven't even got a father. Whatever if you have, he sure doesn't want any part of you. Why you... Now get out of here! Get out! I'll show this smithy guy. And blackly, too, and all that guys. I'll show him how real my father is. I'd like to order some stationery, please. With this letterhead. Philip Steven Sr. Manning engineer. Explorer adventurer. I'd like to rent a typewriter, please. Do you have any available right now? I'll take these two copies of the National Geographic. How much are they, please? I'll read those guys some letters. Real letters. I'll show them what my dad thinks of me. Don't write on show. In just a moment, we'll return to the second act of Not Wanted starring Dean Stockwell. This Christmas, you have an opportunity that is truly extraordinary. The opportunity to send the paintings of Winston Churchill in glorious full-color reproductions as personal Christmas greetings imprinted with your name. For all Christmas cards this year on Hallmark Cards, you will find paintings by the right Honorable Winston Churchill, the world's most famous amateur painter. Chartwell in Winter, his own country estate. Deep in drifted snow, jeweled with evergreen trees. The fox hunt bright and merry as Christmas Day. The mill pound in cottage with its message of peace. And in these paintings somehow you will feel the magic quality of greatness that has made Winston Churchill belong to the world and to all history. Winston Churchill's paintings appear only on Hallmark Cards. Ask to see the Hallmark Gallery Artist album. You will also find many other celebrated names. For example, there are colorful Christmas cards by Norman Rockwell painted with the kindly understanding for which he is so famous. There are quaint winter scenes by Grandma Moses that recapture childhood memories. These are but a few of the foremost artists who have painted Christmas cards, especially for you in this year's Hallmark albums. In selecting Hallmark Cards, you have the added pleasure in knowing that Hallmark on the back will be instantly recognized by your friends. Like the Sterling on Silver, it carries its own high tradition. It says you cared enough to send the very best. Now back to James Hilton and the second act of Not Wanted, starring Dean Stockwell. His own strange way of loving him and blaming him. This is his secret, but he'll fight the outside world about it with boasts, with fists, and sometimes if necessary with a lie. Well, another summer has gone by for our boy and another school year or nearly soon he's been able to read a letter each week to his astonished cool boy friends. Dear Junior, my work here is going fine. I have 3,000 natives that work under me not to speak of 100 engineers on my staff doing technical work. I'm terribly busy, but of course I won't let that interfere with my regular weekly letter to you. Where's your dad now, Junior? This letter came from Bombay. That's in India. India? Gee! Let's see the stamp. Will you, Junior? Well, I haven't got the stamp. He sends all my letters and the ones he writes to my aunt. Sheepers, Junior. It sure is great the way your dad's writing to you all this year. Each week and long letters. I told you he was going to write, didn't I? I guess when my father says he's going to write, he writes. This ought to be good! Yeah, go ahead, Junior. And then he writes, It was in the heart of the African belt that I witnessed perhaps the greatest struggle for survival ever observed by man. A safari had just emerged from the bush when the unforgettable sight of a giant python locked in deadly combat with a screaming, clawing lion greeted my astonished eyes. The gladiatorial spectacle gave my heart pause and my spine a frightened tingle. Pretty fancy letter writing, if you ask me. Shut up, Smithy. Go on, Junior. Oh, that's enough. I'm tired of reading anyway. Now, see what you did, Smithy. It's just that we were getting to the most exciting part, too. We'll get another letter next week. Won't you, Junior? You mean Mr. Fielding? Oh! Oh, yes, Junior. Sit down, won't you? What do you hear from your father these days, Junior? Oh, he's quite well, thank you, sir. Do you hear from him regularly? Well, not as often as I'd like, of course. I see. Junior, I don't think your father would want you to lie, even to protect him. Well, sir, you don't think my father is the kind who wouldn't write to his son, do you? I mean, well... Did your father write the letter about the fight between the python and the lion? Sounded very intriguing, as Smithy told it, secondhand. Oh, gee, Mr. Fielding, you just don't understand. And neither do the guys. I'm better friends with my father than those boys, you know? And with my mother dead and all that, he sort of takes it out and writing me long letters. He thought that stuff about Africa'd give me a kick. Does your father take the National Geographic, Junior? I... I don't know, sir. Junior, I know you won't accuse an honorable man like your father of stealing another man's writing, passing them off as his own. There's an ugly name for that. It's called plagiarism. I... I wrote those letters, Mr. Fielding. I knew that. You won't do it again, though. Will you, Junior? Oh, no, sir. That's all. You may go now. Thank you. Mr. Fielding, it won't be necessary for you to tell my father, will it? I won't tell him, but you will. Oh, no, sir, I couldn't. I could never do that. Well, we'll see. Good night, Junior. I'm writing the stuff for the magazine. Oh, I see. And if he could write to me, if he did, I couldn't read it to you guys anyway. It's confidential, just for me. Besides, he isn't allowed to write from where he is, not for me to read to you guys anyway. It's confidential, just for me. Look, Junior, who do you think you're kidding? What? Well, Jeepers, I'm your roommate. I'm on your team. Give me a chance, will you? Oh, get out of here and quit interrupting me, will you? You're darling son. You don't care what old Fielding thinks about you. You made it all right, and I like you just the same. I believe you'll be a great writer someday, son. And you know how proud I will be when you are a great writer. It's great to have a son who has a good business judgment, coupled with literary ability. A father needs this kind of help from his son. Your classroom work and your work on the magazine, Junior. As a matter of fact, you've been elected to be one of the editors next year. What? Oh, Mr. Fielding. Of course, you'll have to straighten out that little matter with your father before your appointment can be confirmed. An editor has to have a clean literary record. You mean I can't make the mag unless I tell him what I did? Do you want me to tell him? If you do, I'll run away and never come back. Can't you get the courage to do it, Junior? I know you didn't mean to do wrong. Your father will, too, when he understands. He'll be here in a few minutes. A few minutes, here? Yes, he landed yesterday, saw it in the papers. I telegraphed him to come at once. His train is in already, I imagine. No, no, I can't see him. I can't see him, not ever. You may not think it too important, Field, but I caught the boy in a lie. What? It's a likable lie, Field. It's a lie all the same and I'll give him the devil. Oh, no, you won't. The kid lied for you, Field. Perjured himself like a gentleman. Now you go and get it out of him. I am just crazy about you. They say I neglect you, but you know better. All these letters prove it. I... Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you've seen them. Well, anyway, no one else has. So you won't be compromised. Compromised? I felt that way about you. What way? Those letters. I wish to God I'd written them. You're going to forgive me for lying about you? Lying about me. Oh, the truth about me without ever knowing it. I didn't know how. But you've taught me. Oh, son, son. You wrote it for me. Why didn't you ever tell me? I don't know. I thought I was too busy, I guess, or too far away. Or maybe I just never realized how important a father is to his son. Or they have to understand each other and be close. But you've shown me the way, son. So it's all right now. It is all right now, isn't it? Sure. Gosh. And it will be from now on. You can count on that. Look, you've got one more year here at school. But you won't ever have to lie to me again, son. Because I'll write to you every week. Gee, Dad, I know you're busy in there. No, I'll be busy, all right. Thinking about you. I know that we both know how we feel. Well, we won't have to be together. Not really that is because two guys feel about each other like we do. They just can't be apart, can they? Christmas time in those last crowded hours of shopping, what a satisfaction it can be to know that your Christmas cards were chosen long before with care and with pride because they're Hallmark cards. If you like your name imprinted on the cards you send, tomorrow isn't a moment too soon to make your selections from the Hallmark albums. See them, let them weave their enchantment around you. Lights sparkling on the family Christmas tree, the little village church knee-deep in snow. Yes, all the charm and excitement of Christmas as you know it and love it comes to you now in these delightful new Hallmark creations. Look for them in the friendly store that features Hallmark cards, the quality store that serves you the year-round. Like other distinguished products that have won social preference, Hallmark cards can be obtained only at fine stores. And you have that comfortable knowledge they are correct. You have added pleasure too in sending Hallmark cards because that Hallmark on the back is so instantly recognized. It says you cared enough to send the very best. Here again is James Hilton. Thank you, Dean Stockwell, for an excellent performance tonight. You got inside the character like a real trooper. Thanks, Mr. Hilton. I guess it wasn't really hard to do because you know how Junior felt about his dad. Well, we always try to choose stories for the Hallmark Playhouse that do have that ring of believability and humanity. Although we are deviating a bit next week when in keeping with the Halloween spirit, we shall present the Washington Irving classic The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Lionel Barrymore will be our star. That sounds wonderful. Gosh, I didn't realize Halloween was so close. Are there Hallmark cards for Halloweens to help me? You bet there are, eh, Frank? Yes, Dean, there are Hallmark cards for every occasion. And for Halloween, there are cards with pumpkins and ghosts and flying witches. Cards you can send your friends and every member of your family. It's a cheery way to say hello on Halloween. Thanks again, Dean Stockwell. Our Hallmark Playhouse is every Thursday. Our producer director is Bill Gay. Our music is composed and conducted by Lynn Murray and our script tonight was adapted by Axel Grunberg. And now a special credit this week to our good friend and announcer, Frank Goss, who has just become the father of a seven-pound baby girl. Until next Thursday, this is Dean Hilton saying good night. There are sold only in stores that have been carefully selected to give you expert and friendly service. Remember Hallmark cards when you carry enough to send the very best. The part of Phil tonight was played by Gerald Moore. This is Frank Goss saying good night to you all until next week at the same time, when James Silden returns to present Lionel Barrymore, who will tell Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. And the week following, Helen L. Morgan's The Mistress of the White House starring Teresa Wright on the Hallmark Playhouse. This is CES, the Columbia Broadcasting System. This is KMDC, Kansas City, Missouri.