 Remember a hallmark card when you carry enough to send the very best from Hollywood the makers of hallmark greeting cards bring you mr. Ronald Coleman in James Hilton's goodbye mr. Chips on the Hallmark Playhouse Each week Hallmark will bring you Hollywood's greatest stars in outstanding stories chosen by one of the world's best-known authors The distinguished novelist mr. James Hilton Good evening ladies and gentlemen, this is James Hilton tonight on our Hallmark Playhouse We have both pride and pleasure in welcoming one of Hollywood's most distinguished personalities mr. Ronald Coleman Thank you Jimmy and may I add the pleasure that I have in being here too You know you and I have had a lot of contacts one way or another I Played the part of your hero in Lost Horizon and then again in Random Harvest and tonight in your goodbye mr. Chips I shall complete the trilogy. I'm really very happy about that. So am I Before we begin. I wish you'd tell me one thing Was there any particular school master you ever knew from whom you modeled the character mr. Chips? Well, there wasn't one school master. There were several among them my own father But you know the odd thing is how many letters I have had from people all over the world Claiming they knew of someone who really was the one and only hundred percent mr. Chips. I Wondered about this, but now I've come to the conclusion that my tribute to a great profession has fitted very many members of it And now that's enough for me before we raise the curtain here It's Frank gas who has a brief message from hallmark There are hallmark cards for every memorable occasion on your calendar for birthdays anniversaries holidays Yes for every occasion that calls for remembrance for a friendly greeting a word of good cheer an expression of sympathy There is a hallmark card that says just what you want to say the way you want to say it and that Identifying name on the back hallmark. Well, that says you cared enough to send the very best Hallmark Playhouse starring Ronald Coleman in James Hilton's goodbye mr. Chips At this moment that venerable white-haired school master is in his bed at the outrageous hour of four in the afternoon Beside him are his doctor and Cartwright the headmaster of Brookfield Innsworth at what's he's saying doctor and names of boys. He's been a great teacher the most popular master Brookfield ever Yes chips has always known how to get along with boys the most popular master It's a good thing their memories aren't as long as mine New how to handle boys did I Mr. Chipping when you came to us from Melbury, I gathered that discipline was not always your strong point No, I suppose not sir. Well, it's largely a matter of experience. You have another chance here Take a firm attitude from the beginning. That's the secret of it. If I could if I could only Only make friends with them. You will mr. Chipping. Well, there's the class. That's all mr. Chipping. Yes, sir Knees were shaking as I faced them that day, but I managed it wasn't difficult to learn to be a disciplinarian All you had to do was set your jaw and speak firmly But that was about all You could command their respect, but not their friendship. No, I was lonely those early days at Brookfield You coming down to see the boys off on the four o'clock train Chipping No, I have some packing to finish Oh, most of the other masters are going down after all the summer holidays are a big event can't the packing wait Well, I have all these books. Are you taking all those books to the mountain? Yes I thought I'd spend the summer studying. Well, you'll you'll have a little recreation too, won't you? Oh, yes, I'll go for walks in the woods. Do you know anyone out there? No, no I like to get away from books for most of the summer at least textbooks I get a feeling moldy this time of the year the the dry wrought sets in my brain really don't you feel it Don't you want to get out and maybe fish and hunt and then flirt with a girl? Forget the such a thing as Cicero and calculus. Well, I you may be right Robinson I I might enjoy a lighter moment come to think of it Yes, I'll put a novel or two in my bags. Well, we better get down to the train. Are you coming to me? Oh, no, you hurry along. They won't miss me a pleasant summer to your Robertson Well, that's the last time we'll be hearing that for a few months pleasant holiday to you too chippin I started that night for the mountains It was the summer of my life, but I didn't know it. I've been there. Let me see. Was it a week? Yes, it was just about a week Late in the afternoon I was climbing on Great Gable and I saw a girl Waving excitedly from a most dangerous-looking ledge. I made my way towards her and then as I came Close to her. I saw that she was laughing I see here young woman. I don't know what you're laughing at I climbed all the way up here because I thought you were in difficulty. Oh, well It was very gallant of you and please don't think me unappreciated But if you could just see the expression on your face What on earth are you waving your arms about for it? Nothing was wrong with you I was waving at a friend of mine just below you In that case good afternoon What's wrong I'm afraid I shall have to sit down for a minute. Is it your angle? I twisted it on the last incline Oh, let me see it. Oh, please don't bother. I'll just sit down for a minute. Be careful What's your name? Chipping well Mine's Catherine mr. Chipping, but my friends call me cat What are your friends called you? Chipping What would you expect him to call me? Oh Something a little less formal than chipping and a little more friendly and what might that name be? Oh That name might be Chips mr. Chips There's a jaunty name with a dash to it and a sense of humor chips Chips well tell me about yourself mr. Chips tell you what What do you do? Are you a butcher? A baker or a candlestick maker? I'm a schoolmaster a schoolmaster How wonderful wonderful yes to stand in your classroom and see youth looking up at you to know that you're Influencing those who are going to grow up and matter to the world. I never thought of it like that I do my best and that's about all anyone can do in any job. What's your school Brockfield? Oh, yes, I've heard of it. It's very well thought out. Yes, it is Well the Sun's going down. I'd better be starting back where you stay at the hotel. Oh, I'll help you I'm afraid this may be rather painful for you. You lean on me or you can't here. Give me your hands. I'll help you up Thank you, mr. What was it you said your friends called you may I? I Should be honored Mr. Chips never was able to remember which ankle it was I sprained and I was sorry because I should have liked To have honored the one that had performed so signal a service The hours of that summer were gold and silver and each one is still a coin that I can hold in my hand and dream over I never paid much attention to the cello before it's rather a fine instrument, isn't it? I've played it ever since I was a child. What is the piece you're playing? It's a love song It's been one of my favorites for a long time When I was a little girl dreaming about a prince who had come riding on a big charger. I Always heard this music in my heart and did the prince ever come? Yes, he did. Oh, I see and everything was as I dreamed it the music and the day And the way he looked at Only one thing was different. He didn't come on a charge He came limping up a mountain and walked straight into my dreams and said his name Kathy my dear, I don't know quite what to say confounded. What do you want to say what I want to say seems altogether to prosaic and old-fashioned. It's just Catherine my dear will you do me the honor of being my wife? Oh Darling, I've been so frightened. I'm sorry. Of course. I've been too impulsive. That's why you've been frightened Dearest, I've been frightened to death. You wouldn't ask me to chips. Look a falling star. Let's wish on it What did you wish that we'd always be as happy as we are this moment? What did you wish that you'd never leave me? He stood beside me in her mother's wedding dress Wearing a veil that five Irish grandmothers had worn before her And then those words that I was to be proud about forever. I Catherine take the Robert to my wedded husband to have and to hold from this day forward for better for for richer for poor in sickness and in You look so handsome. Well, I can found it. It's warm tonight. Oh, I'm going to love it here at Brookfield We must have some of the boys over every afternoon fatigue the boys Fatigue of course you can get acquainted with them much better in your own home than across the desk Possibly we'd better be starting Kathy. We don't want to be late for our own reception. Whatever you say, mr Chip. Oh and Kathy, please don't don't call me that in in front of anyone. Will you it wouldn't be Dignified all right, darling But I do think it's a very becoming name Well, you know in front of everyone my dear, I'll try my best to remember Kathy I feel like a schoolboy instead of a schoolmaster. Oh Kathy. I don't deserve you never have never shall I Love you too, with all my heart Come on my dear. There's a reception waiting for Actually all Robertson, I'm glad to see you my dear. This is mr. Robertson one of the masters. How do you do Mrs. Chipping I I hope you'll be happy here with us. Thank you Good evening, mr. Collins my dear. I'd like you to meet another of the masters mr. Collins How do you do mr. Collins? I've heard my husband speak of you so often. I'm very happy to meet you I say how did old chipping ever get you? Oh, mr. Collins if you only knew the trouble I had getting mr. Chipping good evening chipping and this is mrs. Chipping I suppose good evening, sir This is mr. Weatherby dear the headmaster of Brookfield. How do you do mr. Weatherby? Mrs. Chipping welcome to Brookfield We are happy to have you with us and very glad indeed to see you both so happy. Thank you, mr. Weatherby. You know Mrs. Chipping I've known your husband over 20 years and I've never seen him looking better. Yes You're a very handsome man mr. Chips Kathy Will you do me the honor of this dance Mrs. Chipping with pleasure mr. Will you excuse us mr. Chips, of course mr. Weatherby, you know Chipping yes, Robertson. I'm glad old chipping couldn't return this autumn. You're glad what? Mr. Chips is going to be a lot more popular. I like mr. Chips a great deal more than mr. Chipping Well, you know so do I Robertson so do I In just a moment we'll return to the second act of tonight's story James Hilton's goodbye mr. Chips, but first I'd like to tell you the story of Angelo the man with the green thumb Well, you see anyone who has the knack of raising flowers and plants is thought to have been born with a green thumb Angelo's little house was in the poorer part of town where factory smoke and soot sometimes hid the sunshine But his garden was always a riot of color He used no fancy garden tools no expensive sprays no costly plant foods his secret lay in something else As he explained it to a passerby one day in his quaint old-world way You see mr. Long time ago. I think flowers are like people So I make friends with them. I learn what they like. I give them affections affections make flowers very happy just like people Knowing what people like knowing how to make people happy has been the basis for the success of hallmark cards For those who make these fine greeting cards believe that anything so personal Must have something special in the way of warmth and understanding That's why you'll notice that hallmark cards always seem to say just what you want to say the way you want to say it That's why you'll be able to find just the hallmark card You want no matter what the occasion and that's why you can be so sure your friends will receive them with so much extra pleasure and Remember you with so much extra affection for when they turn the card over as you did and see the name hallmark They'll know you cared enough to send the very best And now we return to James Hilton and goodbye mr. Chips starring Ronald Coleman All mr. Chips lies quietly on his bed under the anxious eyes of his doctor and the headmaster of Brookfield But his mind and heart are not on them his mind and heart have raised back almost half a century to the days of his great love Chips darling. I've something to tell you We're going to have a baby Did you ever hear of anything more exciting or more beautiful? Mr. Chips he'll have your hair and your eyes and your love and fat rosy cheeks He'll be the most beautiful baby there ever was and he'll be very bright, too. Won't he? Yes, the brightest boy in the school. Yes, he'll captain the team. He'll marry the prettiest girl in England. Oh Chips was there ever anything in the world so wonderful as having a baby. No my dear nothing Mr. Chips I Love you so much Kathy I Kathy dearest I know my dear. I know Seemed we had everything in the world you and I all the dreams you gave me that year I Could see myself headmaster at Brookfield and on our own sons growing up beside us At first you shared the excitement in the plans and then Gradually I began to get the uneasy feeling that though you smiled and said the right things you didn't believe them My heart grew cold with a fear that prowled restlessly inside me and would not be still and then one day Mr. Chipping you're wanted right away at home. I'll take your class for you hurry man. Hurry. I don't understand doctor I don't understand for mr. Chipping. We've done everything possible. There must be something you can do There must be something if only there were Her child was born dead. She should not have tried to have this baby. I warned her She wanted a son so much What shall I do? What can I do you can come in with me now and Sit with her and try not to let her see what you are feeling Yes, doctor Come in Kathy my darling Hello, mr. Chips You look tired. Did you have a hard day? Yes, I Yes, it was a bit difficult. I told them not to call you until the last moment. I Didn't want to worry you when there was nothing you could do I'm Very tired I know darling you must rest. No No, I plenty of time for resting You see I know Kathy I'm glad I know because Otherwise it Might not occur to me to say thank you. Thank you for so many lovely things mr. Chips. I Love you. I've never loved anyone else. I never shall have You've made me very happy. Goodbye mr. Chips. Goodbye mr. Chips Kathy don't leave me. Oh Kathy don't leave me. Don't leave me. I walked out into the sunlight days shocked People passed me on the street and spoke And it seemed unbelievable that the day could go on and people could go on as though she was still part of the world And then young Forkner came up to me on the street Please sir. Yeah, I have the afternoon off my people are coming up. What's that? Oh? Yes, yes, may I miss chapel too, sir? Yes. Yes, and may I go to the station to meet them? I nodded and stumbled on I Took my fourth form as usual Setting them to learning grammar by heart and and I sat there staring at them wanting to shout She's dead. What do I care for verbs and adjectives when she's dead And finally The class was over and as they filed out someone stopped by the desk Please sir, there are a lot of letters for you. I looked and so the where I Taught them open one by one But each one contained only a blank sheet of paper Then I realized it was April 1st and This was a piece of April foolery. I began to laugh at the top of my lungs I sat there laughing until I was completely worn out and I fell asleep with my arms on my desk and The pain dimmed and flickered and went out And there was nothing but silence and then once Oh a long time after she had left me Someone spoke her name It was a boy who came back for a visit. How is Mrs. Chipping sir? I remember her very well. She had me in for tea one day. Oh, is that so? If you remember her. Oh, you don't forget people like her. Oh, I suppose not There's no one here now. Whoever knew her. Oh boys come and go and even masters don't stay forever She died, you know less than a year after you left in 98 Sorry to hear that sir. She was a wonderful woman That tea was one of the best afternoons. I can remember I Wish it were then and not now I'm off to France tomorrow. Oh Oh, well God speed my boy God bring you safely home a month later I heard that he'd been killed on the sum and then there was no one who remembered But I remembered through the years that kept step with me. I remembered When I became acting headmaster. She was there beside me When there was a boy to be reprimanded I saw her face looking back at me from a mirror pleading for him When I saw young people Finding their own happiness. I saw her Smiling at me. I Loved her very much Yes, the most popular master Brookfield ever had must have lived a lonely sort of life all by himself Not always by himself he married you know, oh did he oh, I never knew about that. She died It must have been all quite 30 years ago more possibly pity. He never had any children. What's that? Did I hear one of you saying it was a pity? I never had any children But I have you know I have thousands and thousands of them and all boys Is Pettifer Boston pots. Oh, yes, and Pullman You too purpose come round me now all of you Harper has lives That field and heavily Wherever you go, whatever has happened. Give me this moment with you my boys bone Close your eyes chips try to rest. Hey, what's that? What are you doing here? Good night chips. Good night. Goodbye. Mr. Chips. What's that Kathy? What's that he's saying? He was a But you won't say it will you? You won't say it. No, Mr. Chips. I Won't say it Ever again And we'll return to tell you about next week's story Meantime, I'd like to remind you that there's nothing like one of those colorful hallmark dolls from the land of make-believe To make a child's eyes light up with joy There are 16 dolls in all including little Miss Muffet Cinderella little boy blue and other childhood favorites Each one wears a hat topped off by a jaunty plume. That's a real feather each doll stands up by itself And each one has a clever rhyme story about the doll inside Children really love them you couldn't ask for nicer favors or more appropriate place cards than these unique hallmark dolls And these colorful feather-hatted hallmark dolls are just as grand for children who live far away from you as for those in your own home Hallmark dolls you see are just as easy to send as any hallmark greeting card and they cost only 25 cents each see all 16 of the charming and colorful hallmark dolls Tomorrow at the store where you buy your hallmark greeting cards Now here again is James Hilton After that performance Ronald Coleman It doesn't surprise me at all that you won the Academy Award last year and for the makers of hallmark greeting cards I would like to thank you for giving us such a memorable evening or the pleasure was mine And I think you know chips has always been one of my favorite characters You know you're lucky Jimmy to be able to present each week the best in literature Working with such nice people as those of hallmark who bring added pleasure to so many listeners at home Yes, and like our hallmark friends We hope the program contributes a great deal to the happiness of many and just as the doors of the hallmark playhouse Are always open to you Ronnie? I hope your doors will be open to us next week when we bring you captain January Starting Lionel Barrymore and Luana Patton and so until next Thursday. This is James Hilton saying good night Tonight's story was adapted for radio by Lynn Murray With music composed and conducted by Lynn Murray rather the adaptation by Gene Holloway our director producer is the angle back Look for hallmark cards that 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 next week James Hilton returns to present captain January starring Lionel Barrymore and Luana Patton this program came to you from the hallmark playhouse This is CBS the Columbia board casting assistant