 Cavalcade of America, starring Kenny Delmar in the homecoming of Sue Chan, presented by the DuPont Company, makers of better things for better living through chemistry. Good evening and welcome to Cavalcade. This is Bill Hamilton. One of the DuPont Company's better things for better living through chemistry is nylon. And I'd like to take just a moment to tell you briefly about an extra tough job that nylon does. In the oil fields of Louisiana, there is a trucking company that makes a specialty of hauling the giant tools used in drilling oil wells. It's all in the day's work for this He-Man outfit to haul a 19-ton drag line shovel a couple of hundred miles over rough shell roads. The hauling is done on an underslung trailer called a low-boy. But this low-boy has no springs. Its tires must take the gouging, bruising impact of tons of dead weight at every bump and jolt of the road. But the four rear tires of this giant low-boy have now traveled more than 75,000 miles. Their tire cords are made of DuPont nylon. Not long ago, the foreman of this trucking company told us, and we quote, the temperature of the tires builds up to about the temperature of boiling water. Before we got tires with nylon cords, we had blowouts from bruises, cuts, and especially from the heat. Our tires lasted only about a year, but these nylon cord tires have been on the wheels for more than a year and a half, and we haven't had a single blowout, unquote. Yes, it's hard to believe that the same material, nylon, that is used to make filmy, sheer stockings, can take such punishment. That's why nylon is one of the DuPont company's better things for better living through chemistry. The homecoming of Soo Chan, starring Kenny Delmar as Soo Chan. 21 years ago, I, Soo Chan, took a boat from China. I arrived in Portland, Oregon, 18. I got $9 Chinese money in pocket and speak no English. I got cousin and live in Portland, but it's tough to find him without I speak English. Big problem. So I asked policeman, What? Talk English. Well, you know, speak it Chinese. It is not very successful conversation. Policeman finally grabbed me by arm and pulled me along street. I think, oh boy, I'm pinched. But he only take me to nearest Chinese laundry, where laundry man named Afeni Hen told me how to find my cousin, Pinchan. Pinchan has good-looking restaurant, and I am very pleased when I walk in and ask waiter for him. We speak in Chinese, naturally, but this is what it sound like to me. A capable waiter, is this the establishment of the illustrious Pinchan? It is. What the heck are you selling? Oh, please be so kind as to conduct this unworthy person to Pinchan. I am his cousin. What is so fun making? Impossible. You are his cousin. I am Chan and Pinchan's cousin. Chan may have many cousins. A dog has more than one flea. I do not like your comparisons. You are no cousin to Pinchan. Oh, I am. Let me see Pinchan. No, no, no, get out. I will not. I must see Pinchan. Pinchan, who calls my name? This rustic say he is our cousin. It is true, Anat Sir. My father is the son of Jinshin, who is the cousin of your more than Anat Uncle for Thrimu. He could be inventing this. Tom Chan here is anxious to be my only relative. He counts the dishes every night, figuring how much he may inherit. I try only to protect Pinchan from wiles of strangers. How do we know he tell the truth? Do you, boy? I have here a letter for the Honorable Pinchan. Let me see it. Did your father write this letter, boy? He dictated it, Anat Sir. I wrote it down. Father is a farmer. He does not write. How is it that you write, boy? When I was ten, I was climbing for a bird's nest. I fell out of tree and for two years could not work. So father sent me to the village school. Oh, and why have you come to me? I hope perhaps the Honorable Pinchan may have some small bit of work for his unworthy cousin. Times are hard, home, and I am very anxious to take some American dollars back to China. I suppose they told you at home that here these streets were paved with gold? I did not see any such street coming from the boat, Anat Sir. I will work very hard, Cousin Pinchan. For me, you will have to. Welcome to America, Cousin Su. Cousin Pinchan is very kind to me. He give me job as dishwash man at $65 every month. Only bad feature. I'm terribly homesick. I miss my father and mother and brothers like anything. Even when I wash my dishes, I think about them. One day I hear boat whistle outside in harbor. By the way, I have daydream. I am going back to China. Pretty soon, I think I walk in street of my own village. Then everybody in town come running and shouting. It's Su Chang! Little Su Chang of Amazon. Everybody, Su Chang go to America. Make a million dollars, American money. They start following after me. Pretty soon we are having fine parade. Everybody march along with me out to my father's farm. I see my father plowing. My two brothers are pulling the plow. They look up to see who all the people are. Father, it is Su. Honorable father, I have made a million dollars, American money. I'm going to buy you an ox for your plow. You are a good son. Now I go all alone to find my mother. She is washing clothing in stream near our house. She look very tired and old. I say, hello mother. She do not say anything. She only look at me and she don't believe what she see. Then she hug me and start to cry. Mother, I have a million dollars, American money right in my pocket. I'm going to hire servant for you. Not only that, but I brought you some wonderful warm wool for dress. Yes, and whole carton of American soap and boxes and boxes of American candy. Nothing is too fine for the honorable mother of Su Chang, the millionaire. Then I unfortunately knock over a big stack of dishes. And that is all the daydream I have that day. What was that crash? Ah, cousin Su broke some more dishes, I see. Pin Chan will take those out of your salary. And Pin Chan did. And I begin to see it are not so easy to become millionaire, even in America. Now for two, three years I work hard at Pin Chan's place. Always I got only one idea, making up money to go back home. Pretty soon I have five hundred and five dollars in savings bank. Then I don't come Chinese New Year. My cousin Tom and I wonder what we buy for cousin Pin for New Year gift. I think I will get him rattlesnake wine. Oh, you gave him that last year? Well, what of it? Cousin Pin, he like rattlesnake wine. He say it very beneficial. Well, if you wish, give him that then. I like something different this time. Something elegant, but inexpensive. Tom, Su, go quickly. It is cousin Pin. Oh, what's wrong, cousin? Are you really? One does not call a doctor to print a house. Oh, I have a pain in my stomach like it rats snoring there. Is it really bad? Oh, do you think I would pay Lee Su's exorbitant prices if I were not in agony? Call him, call him. Oh, yes, yes, I will, cousin, I will. Is the place where I press sore on itself? Oh, it is like fire there, Dr. Su. Ha, ha. It is your appendix, Pin-chan. Oh, what can you prescribe for appendix? The rattlesnake wine does not help. It is with this taste. I tell you that we must operate, Pin-chan. How much will this cutting cost? I think it's necessary we get the most superior surgeon possible. The one I recommend will charge you probably five hundred dollars. Five hundred dollars? I will not do it. I will cure myself with rattlesnake wine. An operation is your only hope, Pin-chan. Never, never, five hundred, never. Then, then there is nothing I can do for you. Oh, cousin, certainly your honorable person is worth five hundred dollars. No, cousin Su, no, no. Oh, we beg you, cousin Pin, have this operation. At that price, I would rather die. Doctor, is there no suitable operating man who would do this cutting for less money? None that I would recommend for anyone in your cousins' conditions are. Then I can see only one thing to do. Cousin Pin, if you will deign to accept it a few days early, I should like to present to you as my new year's gift, this fine, expensive cutting. So, Doctor, take away Pin-chan's appendix and my five hundred dollars. That leaves me exactly five bucks in bank. But operation turned out down good investment for me, as Pin-chan teaches me how to cook. Pretty soon I could cook, no kidding. Make more money than waiter. But year or two later, Pin-chan close up restaurant. No job. To become millionaire and go home to China, seem as far off as ever. But I try everything to make a buck. 1931, I cook in state of Washington, lumber camp. Come on, get him. Come on, get him. 1933, I a houseboy to rich man in Denver, Colorado. Su, my shirt. Here, your dress shirt, sir, studs and cuff-rings in. In 1935, I sell firecrackers in Louisville, Kentucky. Oh, these firecrackers are an unbelievable bargain, sir. In 1936, I even sell Chinese people red-o-snakes for red-o-snake wine. What a racket they make. You know, sell for one dollar foot, make fifty cents a foot profit. By year, 1939, I have a wide experience in American business and got forty-eight hundred bucks in savings bank. I am thirty years old now, and I figure if Sue ever going to be rich man, Sue better get going. I work in New York City now in laundry supply business. One day, I walk by Chinese restaurant on 7th Avenue, sign on front say, place go out of business. Next thing I know, I'm at a bank who own building. I'm sorry, Mr. Chan, but I don't see how the bank can help you out. Oh, all I want, Mr. Livingston, is lease on restaurant and small loan from bank. You need a good size loan, Mr. Chan. The equipment in the place alone will cost you about ten thousand dollars, and you have only about five. Oh, can raise other five from Chinese friend. But you're bound to have heavy losses at first. Ah, sure. That's why I want loan from bank. Oh, pardon me, Mr. Chan. Hello. Oh, hello, dear. No, we can't postpone the dinner. You know how important this is for me. Well, tell the employment agency they've got to get you a cook today. Well, then call another agency. Well, somebody must have a cook. We're getting back to you, Mr. Chan. The bank can't take a chance on this loan. Oh, I have the best security for restaurant in whole world. Really? What's that? My cooking. You have a taste. You know what I mean. I'm sure you know your business, Mr. Chan. You like Chinese cooking? Very much. But the bank could hardly grant a loan on that. I'm sorry. Now, goodbye, Mr. Chan. Yes, excuse me, Mr. Livingston. I'll hear your conversation with the wife. You need cook. I'll get you best cook in United States for tonight. You can. Me, Su Chan. I'll fix you dinner. Same time, demonstrate personal how it are impossible I'd be failure in restaurant business. You see, my cooking 100% security. What glorious food, Mr. Livingston. The finest Chinese meal I've ever had. You Livingstons are so lucky to have such a cook. Yes, but I'm afraid we're losing him. What? Mr. Chan is opening up his own restaurant. You are listening to the Cavalcade of America, presented by the depart company, makers of better things for better living through chemistry. Tonight in our play, The Homecoming of Su Chan, our star is Kenny Delmar. As Su Chan, a Chinese immigrant, he's telling the story of how he made his way in America. So I get a loan from bank and very quick open up restaurant. Business slow at first, but keep getting a little better every day. So I feel everything will be all right. Then I got new problem. Big problem. Got to have advice. Best food in New York you have here, Su. Happy you like it, Mr. Livingston. Mind if I sit down one minute, got the problem. By all means, Su. What's the trouble? My mother in China have a school teacher, right? Give me letter. Well, that's fine. No, no. Mother say I am causing Chan family to lose much face. You? How can she say that? Well, my mother, she say I'm getting to be old man of 30 and still not married. She want me to get married right away before it is too late. Chinese people marry very young. Is there any particular young lady your mother wants for you, Su? No, no, no, no, no, no. She want me to go to marriage broker like most Chinese people. What you think I ought to do, Mr. Livingston? Aside from what your mother thinks, do you want to get married? Oh, like idea of marriage, fine. Only marriage broker woman pain in neck. Oh, you've talked with one already? All she want to do, want to show me picture of girl. I don't want to get married from picture. That's the Chinese custom, isn't it? Yeah, but we in America now. Well, there must be Chinese in this country with a more modern point of view. Yeah, yeah, but I don't want any too modern. One Chinese girl raised right. But to Donut, I want to meet her before get married. You certainly have got a big problem, Su. Finally, marriage broker woman come to me and tell me about family in Boston who have marriageable daughter who sound like excellent wife for me. And, Mr. Chan, this lovely girl's name is Viola Eng. Oh, Viola, can it be arranged I meet the young lady before I make my decision? Miss Eng feels exactly as you do in this matter, Mr. Chan. She desires to meet you before making up her mind. Good. I'll go to Boston as soon as you can make arrangement. You will be permitted 10 minutes with Mr. and Mrs. Eng. If they approve of you, on the next day, there will be further interview of 10 minutes with Miss Eng and mother. Yes. Can I see her along at all? On the third day, if Miss Eng desire it, you may speak to her privately at her home for six minutes. Six minutes. The Eng you see are somewhat modern. I hope she looks as nice as her picture. Very pretty. It would be most desirable match on both sides, especially as Mr. and Mrs. Eng, because of your otherwise excellent qualifications, are willing to overlook your rather advanced age. So, I go to Boston and everything come out even better than I dreamed for. And before I know it, I'm a happy married man. It's good thing to have wife to share life with. Only thing wrong is, all of a sudden, what I have to share, mostly with Viola, is trouble. Customers like food, but not enough come. We lose money. A whole lot of money. The bank doesn't like to be unreasonable, Mr. Chan, but aside from your note, there's a matter of three months back rent. I'm afraid if you can't pay us something soon, say, $1,500, we'll have no choice but to look for another tenant for the property. Hard pay, somehow. Well, hear your change. Call again. Thank you. Aye, certainly well. That's a good meal. Hello, Sue. Oh, hello, Mr. Riley. Think you'd lost me? I've been on the road with the show. Yes, sir. Your French tell me. Oh, Sue, there's a little matter of $38. I owe you for some meals. Here it is, and thanks for carrying me when I needed it. A pleasure to do it, Mr. Riley. I don't know if you realize how nice you are to people, Sue. All the regulars here feel it. It isn't that you let me run up a tab. It's the way you made me feel about it. As if you knew what it was like to be down on your luck sometimes yourself. Nobody luck you always. Yeah, yeah. Why the sigh? Well, I and Doghouse with Bank. What? I thought business was picking up okay. Oh, picking up, getting okay, okay, better, but oh, so much money. If I could hang on a month or two more, I think would be all right. Are you really in a jam? Gotta have $1,500 by tomorrow or lose the restaurant. Gosh, I wish there was something I could do. But I never even saw $1,500. Well, good night. Yeah, good night, Harry. Early next morning was sitting in office when waiter come in. Boss, Mr. Riley and some men once see you in office. Or tell them to come in. All right, all right. Mr. Riley. Good morning, Sue. Oh, good morning, Bill. Hello, Homer. Hello, Mo. Are you too often? We're a committee come to make a complaint. Oh, what you mean? Sue, we can't have this place closing up. That's right. Where else could we run tabs up and make free phone calls? Yes, we decided something had to be done about it. We got hold of as many of your regular customers as we could to see how many of them would let you run a little tab on them for a while. Oh, yes. I don't understand. Here, Sue, here's the $1,500 you need. Oh. You see, us guys, and about 15 more, the names and how much they shelled out for down here on this paper. Anyway, it adds up to $1,500 cash money. That's what you needed, wasn't it? $1,500? Go ahead. Take it, Sue. It's real. I... See... For God's sakes, it's nothing to ball about, Sue. It's only money. Only money, no. What we call in China, lucky money. It wasn't lucky money, too. Almost right away, business gets better. Pretty soon, it's very good, and I'm out of woods. In a couple of years, I have paid off debts, own a whole place, and have good profit for myself. Also, I am father of a fine baby boy named in English, Stanry, in Chinese, Su Chu, which mean intelligent little sailboat. Then there's Papa. Then the little bear say, somebody been sleeping in my bed, and here she is. And what did Goldilocks do? Then Goldilocks ran home. Papa can't, Stanley. Not when the book says Goldilocks ran home. Oh, oh. Hello. Sue? Oh, hello, Mr. Livingston. Still keen on going back to China when you've made your pile, Sue? Oh, boy. Well, on your restaurant now, I can get you a dandy. Oh, you mean sell it? Sell what, Sue? At the restaurant. I can get you an excellent price for your restaurant, Sue. Oh, that's wonderful, Mr. Livingston. Come in tomorrow. That's wonderful, Sue. Oh, Mr. Livingston, get us big money for a restaurant. Oh, you could have everything you want in China then, Sue. Oh, yes. Live like a millionaire. Sue, why have you that funny look on your face? I try to think about home. Can I remember much? I keep thinking of a portrait and being a dishwash ball for my cousin and learning English. The first time I depart at Silver Dollar in Bank. I think of friends I make in this country, the work and trouble I have with restaurant and how friends help me out of trouble. These are things I think of, not the China. You don't have to sell the restaurant, Sue. We don't have to go back. I know, I know. But for so many years, I keep thinking all I want is to go back to China. Now I don't know. Don't you want to go home, Sue? Oh, sure, sure. But joke's on me. For years, right here in America, I've been home. Fowler, we are home. Now Kenny Delmar, not as Senator Claghorn nor Boris Stroganoff of the Fred Allen show, not even as Sue Chan of Cavalcade, but as himself, a former Cavalcade player returning as star of tonight's show. Kenny Delmar. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. If you enjoyed tonight's Cavalcade play about Sue Chan, I think you'll enjoy even more meeting Mr. Chan himself, and here he is in person, Sue Chan. Thank you, thank you very much, everybody. It's a wonderful thing to have one's life story, especially when life is not finished. That way it has real suspense. Sue, what did you think of the way I played you, Sue? It was fine, Kenny, but only once or twice I was bothered with your accent. Well, you mean, you mean there wasn't enough accent? Too much accent. I couldn't understand you. Pardon me, Sue. There's someone out there who wants to see you, says he's a friend of yours. Who's that, that? Well, he also says he's one of your good customers. Well, I better see him, Sue, only in radio once, like going and going in restaurant business for a long time. Oh, here he is now. Hello, Sue. Hello, Kenny. Oh, Fred. Fred. Yeah, Fred Allen. Fred, did you have my program? Yes, it was fine, Sue, but I wish you'd get back to your restaurant. If I get you away, I can't get a table over there. Well, I understand Chan has quite a following of theatrical and radio people, Fred. They're quite clannish. Oh, yes, Kenny. You know, there's a rumor around that once a week, the mice, all of the mice at Lindy's go over to the house of Chan for Chinese food. There's a mouse over there who eats with chopsticks. Here's a what-a-smart mouse, too. Chinese food tastes better that way. Well, you know, Sue, every time I try chopsticks, I realize why Chinese people are so thin. You can't pick up any food with those things. Oh, you're wrong there, Fred. But, you know, when I first come to America, I had a lot of trouble with knife and fork, but okay now. You're all right now. Sue, do you realize that we've been friends for more than 10 years? I know, Fred. It is a wonderful, how many friends I've made in this country. When I arrive here, the first thing I want to do is learn English. I'm ashamed to go to public school, first grade, with little kids. So, finally, I met a retired school teacher who, by the name of Mrs. Ephemio Dimmick, a wonderful person. She taught me English for $5 a month. She taught me how friendly American people are. The very first word she taught me was hello. Well, it must be tough learning English when you're growing up, Sue. I had trouble enough as a child. I couldn't speak a word when I came here. By the way, where do your folks come from, Fred? Ireland. I was born in Boston to save the fair. And where did your mother and father come from, Kenny? Greece. Fred, Iris, Kenny, Greek, Sue, Chinese, all here in America together. What do they mean by, United Nations won't work? Well, you're right, Sue. My father always said that we had quite a country here. No place else in the world like it. When I was born in China, we called this country Gumsun, which means Golden Mountain. Not gold meaning just money, but wonderful things, chance for free school, opportunity for jobs, and most of all, chance to be free, man-owned boss, not only for myself, but for my son Stanley and my daughter Barry. Such chance only happened in Gumsun in America. A very great thanks to you, Fred Allen, for coming to Cavalcade tonight with your friend Sue Chan, who, like so many others, made the American dream come true. Tonight, our original play, The Homecoming of Sue Chan, was written by Frank Gabrielson. Music was composed by Arden Cornwell, conducted by Donald Brian. The program is directed by John Zoller. This is Ted Pearson speaking. As tonight's Cavalcade curtain falls, we're going on vacation. We'll be back in the fall, and we hope you'll be listening then. Thanks for tuning us in these Monday evenings, and thanks too for the letters you've written us. You found our plays enjoyable and our stores of chemistry interesting. So until we return to the air in the fall, this is Bill Hamilton speaking for the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware. Makers of better things for better living through chemistry. This is NBC, the national broadcasting company.