 presents Vic DeMone, Richard Denning, and Jean Cagney. From Hollywood, the Mutual Network in Cooperation with Family Theater presents Beauty and the Brain, starring Richard Denning and Jean Cagney. Now, here is your host, Vic DeMone. Thank you, Tony LaFranco. Family Theater's only purpose is to bring to everyone's attention a practice that must become an important part of our lives if we ought to win peace for ourselves, peace for our families, and peace for the world. Family Theater urges you to pray. Pray together as a family. Now to our transcribed drama, Beauty and the Brain, starring Richard Denning as Cliff and Jean Cagney as Amanda. Just one more question, Mrs. Levin. All right, all right. Just one more. How was it that you were selected as a member of this expedition? That's a pretty good-sized question. I suppose you could say I just happened to know something about Rawalphea. The plant we're going to investigate. That's the plant that's supposed to have great medicinal qualities. That's right. Isn't it true that you know more about it than anyone else in the world, and that's why you're going to India? You said one question. Madame Levin, madame. Je suis ici, Thérèse. Would you excuse me a moment? Yes, of course. Madame, nous avons encore temps d'affaire. Attendez un moment, s'il vous plaît. Oui, madame. Just for my own information, Mrs. Levin. Yes, but please make it brief, huh? You are the same... Well, I mean, before you were married, weren't you Amanda Gray, and weren't you a rather well-known dancer? If you mean, was I a chorus girl? Yes, I was. And my name was Amanda Gray. Now, if you'll forgive me, there's so much to do before we sail. Yes, of course, and thanks for the story. I'll write you a letter. Let you know what we're doing. I'm fine. Yeah, I'll bet you'll write me a letter. She really will, you know. Oh, I didn't see you there. Not being noticed is my specialty these days. So you think she'll write it, huh? I'm sure of it. You know, it wouldn't surprise me at that. She's quite a woman. You don't have to tell me. Say, wait a minute, aren't you... Well, ladies' husband, that's right. Then you're Clifford Levin, the drama critic. I am Clifford Levin. I was a drama critic. Better hurry, unless you're sailing. No, that's only first call. Plenty of time yet. My name's James Dyer. I'm with the New York Sun Telegram. Your column appeared in my paper, didn't it? Yours and 51 others. Then you probably know newspapers. I wouldn't get lost in one. Okay, now, mine sends me to cover the sailing of a little party of medical researchers. No stuff for the inside pages. But you know, I've got a feeling there's much more here. You want a bigger story? Take Amanda. You took her. Yeah, for better or worse. And sometimes I can't tell which is which. She was a showgirl, wasn't she? Mm-hmm. Now tell me about it. She was in a show when I first saw her. A show called Nothing Much. Terrible thing. One of the worst shows I'd ever seen. But I couldn't take my eyes off Amanda. Gave the production a top review in the hope that it wouldn't fold before I got a chance to meet her. Well, did it? It lasted two weeks for a show like that. A very long time. But I met her and started taking her around town. I'd say you were pretty lucky. No, she was a different girl then. Amanda was very beautiful, yes, but definitely the stupidest, emptiest, most uninformed young thing the world had ever seen. She has changed. No, I'd known her about three months before I proposed. She accepted, of course. We were married and I gave a little party to celebrate the occasion. Two or three hundred people. Rented one of Manhattan's better places for the thing. And, well, we all had a few drinks. Well, I think everybody ought to make a speech. Amanda first. Come on, Amanda. Speech, speech. But I didn't know how to make a speech. How do you know? I'll bet you've never tried. Well, you'll have to say something. Oh, Clifford. You know, in the past three months, I don't think she's said two complete sentences in the same evening. Good. She ought to have something saved up then. But I don't. Oh, please, Floyd. Quiet, everybody. Quiet. Stop making like New Year's Eve. This is the start of a new era, sure. New York's nastiest critic, a man said by some to be the meanest, cruelest reviewer who ever dipped a pen in poison, has taken a wife. New era. From now on, the theatre should flourish. Well, I think we ought to have a speech. A couple of speeches. One from each of the principals in this marriage. I think we ought to hear from the bride. Formerly Miss Amanda Gray. And now Mrs. Clifford Levin. Come on, kid. You'll knock them dead. Just stand there and look beautiful. What'll I say, Cliff? Just say what you think. Think. Quiet, everybody. Quiet. We are going to have an address by the bride. Try, ladies and gentlemen, for a starter. Ladies. Ladies and gentlemen, I've never made a speech before, and ideally don't know what to say. Say thanks for coming. That's enough. I suppose I'll just say thanks for coming. That's enough. Very good, my dear. Friends, friends, you have just heard Amanda Gray in her last American appearance before an audience. For, right after this party, we're boarding ship to spend our first year of married life in Paris. This, my friends, will be the perfect marriage. The perfect union of brains and beauty, since neither of us possesses that for which the other is famous. That is, I am certainly not beautiful, and Amanda, well, you follow me. Charlie Clifford, wasn't that a little crude? I mean, she's right here. Don't worry, she didn't understand a word of it. I'll prove it. Dear, I hope I didn't say anything to offend you. Oh, I'm smart enough to know I'm not very smart. You didn't offend me, Clifford. It was a crude thing to say, but then it was natural. I am a pedant, and I had had a few drinks, but perhaps not few enough. The change in Amanda began on the boat to Europe. The day out, as a matter of fact, I lost her on shipboard. Spent about an hour walking around the decks, and finally found her in a deck chair. Amanda! Oh, hello, Clifford. I've been looking for you for hours. I found these deck chairs with our names on them. Come on, sit down. What are you doing? Oh, studying. Studying? Studying what? These books. Books? What are they, comic books? Let me see. They're all right, aren't they? I need days to a more powerful vocabulary. How to increase your word power. Now, what on earth are you doing with these? Reading them. An age of oneness. Why? Clifford, I'm so tired of being dumb. Then you're going to change all that with these books? I gotta start somewhere. Am I going about this wrong? Well, this is one way, I suppose, but why? Oh, people tell jokes and I laugh in all the wrong places. Sometimes I talk and I just laugh just in case it's a joke. And it comes out all wrong. And then they give you that look. What look? Well, I don't even know how to say it. It's just a look. If it came out in words of the beat, you're too stupid to be alive. Or it's a good thing you're beautiful because you sure are dumb. You're such a wonderful man, Clifford. I thought you'd understand. And even if I can't understand you half the time, please try to understand me. All right, Amanda. I'll try very hard. Now, suppose you tell me all about it. Well, what you said at the party last night, I don't think you were right. What do you mean? I mean, I think I really do have some brains. It's just that I've never had a chance to use them. I haven't, you know. But surely in school... I only went as far as the sixth grade. We were always moving from town to town, so even those first sixth grades were all... all balled up. Mixed up. There. See what I mean, Clifford. I just have to learn how to say what I think. If you're really serious about this, we'll hire you a tutor, a private teacher. As soon as we get to Paris, how would you like that? Would you do that for me? Certainly. You're my wife, aren't you? Oh, you're such a wonderful man, Clifford. Now, let's put away these books. Oh, no, no, no. No, I better study them. But this is our honeymoon, Amanda. And besides, didn't it ever occur to you that I like you just the way you are? I don't think you would for very long, Clifford. And then, well... And then, well what? And then, I don't like me just the way I am. During my literary career, I've lived and worked with entomologists, plexicographers, philologists, even cementisists. But I've never seen a human being put so much concentrated effort into the study of words. She was at it all the way to Lahav. In the morning, she'd study. At lunch, she'd try her new words on me in the afternoons. Well, and she'd wedle me into giving her a quiz on what she'd studied during the morning. When we got to Paris, I hired her a tutor, almost out of self-defense. But the first one I employed didn't turn out too well. Middle-aged fellows started out by taking her to all the culture spots. I remember they were going to spend the morning in the Louvre and meet me for lunch. When I went to the café, Amanda was waiting alone. Hello, Clifford. Amanda, have a nice morning at the Louvre? Mm-hmm, I suppose. You don't look it? Getting a little weary of education? Oh, no, no. The Louvre was very illuminating. I enjoyed it. There's so many beautiful things. Well, didn't, Monsieur Bedot. Say, where is Bedot? Is he joining us later? I, uh... I discharged him. You fired him? Oh, did I use the wrong word? No, no, no. You used the right word. Why did you fire him? Well, he made an un-gentleman leave him off. Oh, he did, did he? Oh, it's all right now, Clifford. I reprimanded him. I hope so. I chastised him right in the nose. It, uh... it really was not very funny. You know, he was such an intelligent tutor, Clifford. I could have learned a lot from him. Oh, Amanda, aren't you getting a little weary of all this? Weary? Well, I mean, there are so many interesting, exciting things to do in Paris. We haven't even been to... to Montmartre. We could be having a wonderful time. Aren't you having a good time, Clifford? Well, it's not that exactly, but... but Paris... It's one of the culture capitals of the world. Oh, you know so much more than I know. You're an expert about so many things. Oh, no. Now, if I was only an expert in something, maybe it would be different. All right, Amanda. We'll, we'll get you another tutor. Another tutor? Well, Paris is a large city. We might be able to find a replacement for Monsieur Bedot. Of course, it might take several weeks. Monsieur? Hmm? Did you speak to me? Did I understand Monsieur correctly? Are you looking for an instructor for Madame? Well, I, uh... Do you know one? Me voilà. That is my profession, Madame. Oh, Clifford, isn't that keen? I mean, isn't it splendid? Uh, won't you sit down? Oh, by all means, join us, Miss... Thérèse Dubé. I'm Clifford Levin. And this is my wife, Amanda. Enchantée. What do you teach? Botany and biology, Madame. Oh! Oh! Oh, it sounds wonderful. Doesn't it sound fascinating, Clifford? Fascinating. Of course, Madame, I have taught other subjects. Where are you employed, Miss Dubé? I am temporarily at liberty, Monsieur. Clifford. Oh, but Amanda, botany and biology... Oh, I'm really very interested, Clifford, please. If I employ Miss Dubé and you become bored with botany and biology... I'll never bother you about a tutor again. I promise. Agreed. Now, Miss Dubé, shall we talk terms? Perhaps you took botany in high school. Yes, I did. Well, and perhaps you remember how boring a subject it can be. Well, frankly, I thought Amanda would be bored with it in a week. And was she? Not in the least. This girl, Thérèse, told Amanda French was a better language to think in. Amanda learned French. And then went into botany with a vehemence. From there into biology and entomology, a study of bugs and things, you know. Mm-hmm. How did she do? Oh, I shudder when I think about it. I remember I was sitting in the study working on my column. I filed from Paris then. She came in with a sheaf of papers. Clifford. Hmm? Oh, oh, good morning, dear. How are the studies coming? All right. Something on your mind? Clifford, I haven't learned how to type yet. And I must remember to be grateful for small favors. Well, now that's just what I need, a small favor. What's on your mind? Well, I promised I'd have this paper ready by this afternoon, and it's only 12 pages long. 12 pages? Are you angry? You want me to type up 12 pages? What kind of a paper do you call that? That's two hours' work. Well, but I promised. Who? The Royal Society. The Royal Society in London? Oh, didn't I tell you I was doing a paper for them? No. A paper for the Royal Society. That calls for an expert, Amanda. But I am an exploit. On what? Well, it just so happens, Clifford, that I know more about the sugar beet leaf hopper than anybody else in the whole world. Hello. I think you must have the wrong number. No one here's got ergot poisoning. Oh, that might be for me, Clifford. How's that? You what? May I talk to them? Here. Yes. Yes, this is Amanda Levin. Oh, I see. The whole crop. Oh, my. All right. Well, I think so. Just a minute. Cliff. Yes. Do you mind if I go to Provence for a couple of days? Provence? It seems that this fungus has attacked a wheat crop and they want somebody to... You are an expert on fungus now? Oh, no, Clifford. Just ergot. It's really a very dangerous growth. It could demand or even kill a lot of people. That's enough, Amanda. We'll go to Provence. Golly, it's sure hard to believe. A former chorus girl. She certainly gave up her interest in show business. No, not entirely. At the end of the year, we came back to New York. Set up housekeeping and I went back to reviewing plays again. It was a pretty good season on Broadway, but I was in low spirits, so... I'm afraid most of the plays got pretty bad reviews. That is until the night Amanda lent a helping hand. Almost ready, Clifford? Don't rush me. Is something wrong? Is your tooth still troubling you? Let me see. Yeah. Don't touch the jaw. Oh, it looks violently inflamed. The jaw, I mean. So large. That idiot dentist won't pull it till the swelling goes down, and the swelling won't go down till he pulls it. I wish I could review the no-good... Clifford? Well... Maybe you shouldn't go out tonight. Somebody's got to see the play. Well, I could do it and take notes. Wouldn't that work? Take notes. Then after, I could come back and tell you all about it. Well, I would like to keep the ice pack on this thing. Oh, I'd be happy to do it, Clifford. No one will ever know the difference. Amanda had acquired a certain facility for being right, and to this day, I don't think anybody knows I didn't review that play. In fact, I didn't even hear about it until I awoke the next morning, and that was a rude awakening. Yes, yes, this is Clifford Levin. What? What review? Glowing. This is my byline. Thank you. Amanda! Oh, where's my robe? Here it is. Glowing review. How nice of me. Could ruin a man's reputation. Amanda! Just coming in to see you, boy. Hello, Floyd. Amanda! Say, Cliff, that was a fine piece of writing. Almost poetic. In fact, I've got a couple of offices. Later, Floyd, please. Stand still, will you? Thank you. Say, what's gotten into you? Somebody gives you a compliment, and you slam a door in her face. She must be hiding. Hiding, Clifford? Look, Floyd, you're a fine agent, and I'd like to talk with you, but right now I've got to find Amanda. How about giving you a call later this afternoon, huh? Well, I guess so. Now why don't you just waddle on downtown and... Hello? What's that? Yes, this is Clifford Levin. I'm giving you such a wonderful review. You're welcome, lady. Oh, wait till I get my hands on... Amanda! You call me, Clifford? Oh, there you are. May I have a word with you, my dear? You will excuse me, Floyd. Oh, yeah, yeah, sure. Call me this afternoon, huh? I'll see you. Shall we step into the study, my dear? Oh, yes, Clifford. I, uh, I hope your tooth is feeling better. Fine, fine. And you? Are you feeling all right? Oh, fine. Fine. No writers, cramp, I hope. Oh, I feel just fine. You didn't wake me up last night. Well, you hadn't slept in so long, the tooth, you know. I know. And when I came in and saw you sleeping so soundly and so peacefully, I didn't have the heart to... They didn't have the heart to awaken me. Well, I didn't know that... Don't play dumb with me. Don't ever use that phrase, didn't know, on me again. When I married you, you didn't know ditto marks from a whole note tied. You were so dumb you habitually squeezed the toothpaste tube in the middle, but not anymore. I don't know how you did it, but in the course of a little more than a year and a half, you've become about the most brilliant woman in Christendom. And you gave me a chance, Clifford, and I'll be eternally grateful. A chance? Well, I didn't know Christenstein, whether I'd created a thing of great beauty or a monster, but this, Amanda, trying to take my column away from me. Oh, no, Cliff. No, please don't think that. I'll do anything you ask, but please don't think I'd ever do anything to hurt you. Will you promise never to write anything about the theater again? Oh, yes, Clifford, yes. Would you promise to give up your foreign language in science studies? You... You want me just as you found me? Would you promise? Why? If you asked me to, Clifford? I wouldn't ask, Amanda. I believe your story. But promise me you'll never write another review under my byline. That was a glowing review. It made people happy. A couple of things like that could ruin a man like me. Of course, Amanda spent a good deal of time with her studies and in her laboratory, but she spent her share of time in the kitchen, too. And she was all a man could ask for and a wife. Things were so idyllic, it was beginning to sweeten my disposition. That is, till one day, not long ago, when Amanda and Therese returned from a scientific symposium. I saw Therese first. She came into my study, wearing an expression of mixed joy and pity. Oh, Monsieur, it's wonderful. Oh, and terrible. I mean, for you. Oh, mon pauvre petit, oh, comment pourrez-vous vivre sans elle? Oh, sa chance est votre malchance. Even I will miss you. Even though you are so méchant, et désagréable. Oh, but you will just have to learn for the good of the world. Therese, what are you jabbering about? What's going to be terrible for me? Good for the world? What are you trying to say? Oh, Monsieur, I cannot tell you. It is too sad. Hello, Clifford. Will you come in here and tell me what this is all about? Oh, please, Madame. Oh, Monsieur. Ease Therese, please be quiet. So, so sad. Amanda? You've done so much. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't even be qualified to go. Oh, go where? What's this all about? Some wonderful cures have taken place because of a plant. Rauulfia. It grows in India. And they're breaking it down for treatment and insanity and hard cases too. But so few people know anything about it. Except you? Except me. They want me to go to India and study the plant. India? How long would you be going? Oh, not long. Only two years. Two years? I won't. I won't let you do it. That's all there is to it. It means too much to the world, Clifford. I'll have to go. It's not fair. It's just not fair, that's all. I'm sorry, Clifford. No, Monsieur, you'll never be able to live without her. Oh. Well. Well, I managed it for quite a number of years before I met her. I think I'll be able to do it again. I am a man and a man can stand on his own two feet. Couldn't you come with me? Come with you to India. I can learn to live without you. Now, I'll stay here. Right here in New York, USA. Thank you. This will be goodbye, Amanda. Yeah, it's quite a story, Mr. Levin. So, I suppose I'll write a book or something. Yeah, I guess we'd better debark. You going uptown? Be happy to have you share my cab with me. Share your cab? Thank you very much. But, you see, I'm going to India. I'm sailing, too. Oh, I should have gone to shore. I'm going to shore. This is Vic DeMone again. Did you ever happen to be jingling some coins in your hand and get to examining the dimes and quarters and pennies? Well, you'll see on every one of these coins the words, in God we trust. Of course, it's something that everybody knows about. But it makes me realize that every time we exchange a coin, we are offering a silent act of faith in God. We realize that in all our coinage, there is inscribed the same conviction that we in Hollywood want to express through our family theater. It's a conviction that so many of us share and understanding that the simple, direct appeal of prayer to God can bring hope and happiness and God's wonderful help to us and our families. And we need trust in God and have faith in one another if we are to have a peaceful world. A prosperous nation and happy homes. You know, a world of happy homes would go a long way to a peaceful world. And here's a thought for a happy home. Pray together as a family. Yes, pray together tonight after your evening meal and every night. Because family prayer will keep your family together and happy. And you will find this true for every country and home. A family that prays together stays together. More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of. From Hollywood, Family Theater has brought you transcribed Beauty and the Brain starring Richard Denning and Jean Cagney. Vic DeMone was your host. Others in our cast were Gladys Holland, Herb Butterfield and Tom Holland. The script was written and directed for Family Theater by Robert Hugo Sullivan The music composed and conducted by Harry Zimmerman. This series of Family Theater broadcasts is made possible by the thousands of you who feel the need for this type of program. By the Mutual Network, which has responded to this need and by the hundreds of stars of stage, screen and radio who give so unselfishly of their time and talent to appear on our Family Theater stage. To them and to you, our humble thanks. This is Tony LaFranco expressing the wish of Family Theater that the blessing of God may be upon you and your home and inviting you to be with us next week when Family Theater will present Stopwatch finale starring Edmund O'Brien. Grace Kelly will be your hostess. Join us, won't you? Family Theater has broadcast throughout the world and originates in our Hollywood studios. This is Mutual, the radio network for all America.