 proudly we hail. Ladies and gentlemen, this is C.P. McGregor speaking. Welcome to another performance of Proudly We Hail, a program of your war department. Through the courtesy of the Hollywood Coordinating Committee, we present the popular actor Mr. Dennis O'Keefe, who will star in our play A Question of Eligibility, written by Richard Hall with music by Eddie Skravanik. Midwest University had pulled out all the stops for the big homecoming game with state. With all American Biff White, a one-man pigskin riot, Midwest was rightfully optimistic. I guessed there was only one man on campus who didn't join in that optimism, Professor Everly Gilmore. Professor Gilmore was worried, but let him tell the story. He knows it better than anyone. Yes, yes, I guess I was worried. I hadn't been away from college and football too long myself, and Biff was really a swell kid, likable and friendly. I didn't want to hurt him if I could in any way, but I guess it was inevitable. I'd return to my little office in Barker Hall that afternoon. My girl Friday at the time was Betty Walsh, major in the department, worked for me a couple of hours each day. She looked up as I entered. Oh, hello, Professor. Hello, Betty. How are you coming? I'm all through. Gee, what a huge stack of papers. Have them all graded? All graded. Every last one of them. Uh-huh. How was Biff White's paper? Oh, well, let me see it. 35. 35? Well, that's an excellent score for a nine-hole golf course. Professor, what about this eligibility slip of Biff's? Oh, well, know that. Well, um, can't we hold that up a little while? Oh, look, they've been calling all afternoon from the ad building. Oh, they have? Well, there's only one thing I can do, Betty. Call the ad building and tell them Biff is down and Chem won. I can't sign his eligibility slip. Oh, but Professor, that means Biff won't be able to play in the homecoming game Saturday. No, he could. But you know as well as I do what chance he'd have of passing a make-up. Yeah, I know. Well, I've got a class. Be back in an hour or so. I went to my class, but I must admit I didn't give much of a lecture that day. I had Biff's situation on my mind. I wasn't worried about the university authorities backing me up, but I was worried about Biff. I get a habit of taking advantage of you and, uh, well, making you like it. But there had to be a limit someplace, and so I adjourned my class a few minutes early and walked back over to my office. Oh, hello, Professor. Hello, Betty. I'm glad you're back. Huh? What's the matter? Matter. I've been answering telephone calls all afternoon. Well, good. I'm getting popular. Oh, hell, I'd say unpopular. Look, Coach Adams, the graduate manager, and the president of the Alumni Association all want you to call them. Mm-hmm. The pressure groups. Mm-hmm. Uh, we'll take care of them. Oh, uh, yes, and, uh, Biff White's here to see you. Oh, he is. Mm-hmm. All right, you, uh, you scamper along, Betty, and send Biff in. All right. The professor will see you now, Biff. Thank you. Hiya, Prof. Sit down, Biff. Sit down. Thanks. Well, how did I do, Prof? You don't have to ask me that, do you? No, I guess not. Biff, that was a pretty miserable midterm, you wrote. I know, Prof, but that was a tough quiz. You threw us an Einstein special. Yeah, not so. Sure. Well, the guy who wrote the book couldn't have passed that quiz. Quite a few in the class managed to pass it, Biff. Quite a few. But they're all geniuses. And besides, Prof, I haven't told you until now. The day I took that quiz, I didn't have my five-baked key in my pocket. Oh, now look, Biff. Listen, this is, this is no kidding matter. You're telling me, Prof, I want to play in that homecoming game Saturday. Give me a break. Oh, I'm sorry, Biff. You should have thought of that when you were cutting all those classes. I warned you a long time ago that you'd have to dig in. Chemistry is no pipe course. I'll turn over a new leaf, Prof. I promise you. Oh, I wish I could, Biff. I wish I could. But you've said that before. Yes, so I did. Well, could I have a make-up? Oh, if you want one, yes. I can give it to you. We'll say tomorrow afternoon. But it'll be tough, Biff. Just as tough as the other one. And it doesn't give you much time, either. Why, Prof, you underestimate me. Why, I might come in tomorrow and amaze you with my knowledge of the fact that H2O is water. Are you sure of that, Biff? I couldn't help feeling sorry for him. Especially that night. I could see him sweating it out, burning the midnight oil, cramming for an exam, which, though I didn't tell him, I knew he couldn't pass. It's no use, Johnny. I'll never make it. I'm going to give it up and get to bed. But, Biff, I keep telling you it'll be a sense if you'll do it my way. Yeah. Sure. Prof Gilmore never procters a quiz. You'll be all alone. All you have to do is crib it. A few crib notes. That's all. Maybe you're right, Johnny. Maybe you're right. We pause briefly from our story a question of eligibility starring Dennis O'Keefe to bring you an important message from your War Department. Yes, dear. Before I leave Paris this afternoon, I'll get some of that perfume you like, and I'll have to pay the power bill in New York. Oh, yes, I might be late for supper. I'm going to stop at Chicago on my way home. See you tonight. What is this? An H. G. Wells book? Buck Rogers? Flash Gordon? Not at all. Such world travel is a possibility well within the lifetime of everybody listening to me now thanks to the Army. Already the Army has developed a plane that flies over 600 miles per hour in the transonic range at a rocket that hurtles through space seven times as fast. In countless other fields, regular Army technicians are experimenting and making new improvements in medicine, atomic energy, supersonics, radar, television, engineering, communication, all branches of scientific knowledge. A career of technical training and education in the new regular Army is available to all ambitious young men between 17 and 34. See your local Army recruiting officer now. Act two of a question of eligibility starring Dennis O'Keefe as the unprofessor of chemistry, Eberlea Gilmore. Midwest University's hopes for victory in the homecoming game Knows Dived with the declaration of Biff White's ineligibility. And most everybody in the campus spoke of Professor Gilmore as the traitor to the cause. Yes, they didn't like it. And I can't say that I blamed them. They wanted to win that homecoming game and they knew what Biff's presence on the team meant. The news that Biff was to take a make-up got around and that helped a little. But still on campus I was referred to as what's that uncomplementary word that rhymes with mouse? That is, of course, to everyone except the Dean. Eberlea, I called you in. I wanted to complement you on your stand in this situation with Biff White. Well, I hardly deserve any credit, Dean. I should go to the conference committee which makes the rules. Nevertheless, we don't want athletic bums in this university. Biff White is no athletic bum, Dean. As a matter of fact, he's quite a confident student when he decides to be one. But that's just the point. We must at all times emphasize scholastic standing, mind you. And this is an excellent case in point. Scholastic standing. I remember now the Dean's Adam's apple barbed up and down as he said it. And I almost wish for a moment that I hadn't decided against Biff. Only I knew the Dean was basically right. That afternoon, Biff came over to take the exam. Poor kid. Looked like he'd been drawn through my landlady's ringer. Well, Prof, give me the list with the bad news on it. Here you are, Biff. Only 10 questions. Take as much time as you want with them. Thanks, Prof. And come into my office when you're finished. Okay. Well, Biff, it's not like you. You're nervous. I was up a little late last night, Prof, or didn't you know? Back in my office, I got the wondering about Biff. He was nervous, edgy. Suddenly, a thought struck me. I tried to kick it out of my mind, but I couldn't. And then I acted on impulse. I had to be sure. I walked quickly out of my office, across the hallway door. It led to a little used alcove above and next to the chemistry classroom. I opened the door, hurried quietly up the stairs, pulled back the dusty curtain just enough to reveal the classroom below. My fears were justified. Biff was there, working feverishly with the crib note spread all around him. I was thunderstruck. I returned to my office to wait for him. Thank you, Biff. Well, this is very interesting. From the looks of this, you must have really crammed last night. Sure. Just ask me anything, Prof. I've got all the answers. Yes, I think you have. Matter of fact, Biff, I'm darn proud of you. You must be kidding, Prof. That's a blank sheet of paper you're looking at. Yes, Biff. But at the same time, it's the finest examination I've ever read. Let's go over to the ad building and tell them you're up in Chem One. Really up. This is CP McGregor speaking. I hope you've enjoyed our proudly we hailed story starring Dennis O'Keefe. Before leaving you, Don Forbes has an important message for all of us. How many of you know the work of the new regular army? Yes, it is an instrument of national defense, but it is also an organization devoted to scientific research and development. Your life today and in the future is being made easier as a result of army achievements. Our army is engaged in a program of development pioneering new fields in a scale previously unknown. Medicine, electronics, supersonic, aviation, physics. These are but a few of the fields in which army technicians are carrying on their work. Energy particles 100 million times as powerful as those released by the atom bomb are the subject of present experimentations. This is in conjunction with the current study of cosmic rays by army air force technicians. A parachute that will enable an aviator to bail out of a plane at supersonic speeds and a projectile that will go seven times as fast are two more army projects. You've heard of the push button airplane that takes off flies up to 400 miles and lands with no human hand at the controls. You've heard of the sniper scope, an instrument enabling one to see in the dark with no visible light. You've heard of the eniac, a complicated machine that can tell within a few feet exactly the spot where a rocket fired 120 miles into the stratosphere will land. These are all army accomplishments. To carry on this work, the army needs intelligent young men, ambitious men who see the value of this work and want a career in such a field. There is an opportunity for personal advancement, the chance to learn a mechanical skill or trade as well as other educational benefits. If you are a young man between 17 and 34, go to your army recruiting station. The recruiting officer there will tell you more about benefits available to you in a worthwhile job in the new regular army. Thank you Dennis O'Keefe for appearing on this program. Proudly we hail will come to you again over this station next week. Listen in.