 Remember, a hallmark card when you carry enough to send the very best. Distinguished novelist. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, this is James Hilton. Around the world in 80 days by the great French novelist Jules Verne is the story we shall dramatize tonight. A story so famous and delightful that I'd like to offer just a personal comment on the title. Around the world in 80 days was a very quick time for Jules Verne's hero, who lived nearly 80 years ago. Long before the first flight of the airplane. Nowadays, of course, the round the world trip has been made in 73 hours, 5 minutes and 11 seconds. But there's one other thing worth remembering about Jules Verne's hero. He didn't need any passport or visa or permits of any kind. He just went round the world freely in those 80 days. Wasn't that wonderful? Personally, I think it's the most wonderful thing of all. Well, to star in this charming story tonight, we're happy to welcome again to our hallmark playhouse that very distinguished actor, Mr. Ronald Coleman. And now a word about hallmark cards from Frank Goss before we begin the first act of Around the World in 80 days. Hallmark cards have a magic carpet quality about them. They take you visiting however great the distance to help celebrate a birthday, an anniversary, or just any day when you are thinking of someone. There is a quality about hallmark cards that whispers good taste, and you'll send them with pride for that identifying hallmark on the back adds meaning. It says you care enough to send the very best. Now hallmark playhouse presenting Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 days, starring Ronald Coleman. Seven Savile Row Burlington Gardens. My tastes are moderate as pastimes I enjoy reading the papers and playing twist. I insist on cleanliness, sufficiency, and punctuality at all times. I once dismissed a servant because he brought my shaving water at 84 degrees Fahrenheit instead of 86. On the morning of October the second, I shut the door of my house at exactly half past 11. And having put my right foot in front of my left 575 times and my left foot in front of my right 576 times, I arrived at my club in exactly the number of minutes and the number of steps required. I had my usual lunch and joined my customary partners for a game of wits. I say, you all read about that robbery today? The blighter had a lot of cheek, didn't he? Taking 55,000 pounds in bank notes right from the cashier's table. As one of the directors of the bank, I can tell you he won't pay it large very long. We've offered a sizeable reward. Well, I think the chances are in favor of the thief. Obviously a shrewd fellow. No photographs of him. We have a good enough description to get him without photographs. And where would he go? No country's safe for him? I can't agree with you. Then tell me where he would go. Well, I don't know that. The world's a big place. It was once. Cut, Thomas. Just because you can go around the world in a hundred days doesn't mean it's smaller. You can go around the world in eighty days, Mr. Stewart. Eighty days? Hardly seems possible. I have estimated it most carefully. From London to Suez, from Suez to Bombay to Calcutta, Hong Kong, Yokohama, San Francisco, New York and back to London. It can be done in eighty days. Well, that's all very well and good. But what about bad weather? Contrary winds. Suppose the Hindus or the Indians pull up the rails and pillage the luggage vans and scalp the passenger. That all included in the estimate. Two trumps. I'd like to see you do it in eighty days. How would wager four thousand pounds in such a journey under these conditions is absolutely impossible. I am willing to wager twenty thousand pounds. But I will make a tour of the world in eighty days or less. Do you accept? Don't accept. Don't accept. Don't accept. Don't accept. Don't accept. Don't accept. Don't accept. Don't accept. Don't accept. Don't accept. Don't accept. Don't accept. Good evening, gentlemen. My servant, Passepartout and I were seated in a first-class carriage. A few minutes later, the whistle screamed and the train moved slowly out of the station. We were on our way to Dover on the first lap of our journey. Around the world in eighty days. Oh, I can't believe it. I just can't believe it. We will have to purchase clothing as we need it. The less we are burdened with, the faster we can travel. Around the world in eighty days. Oh, Monsieur Fogg, something terrible has happened. Something catastrophic. I'm ruined. What has happened? In my hurry. I completely forgot. I completely forgot. You completely forgot what? To turn off the gas in my room. Very well, young man, it will burn. Until we get back to London at your expense. Over on our way. On Wednesday, October the ninth, we saw the minarets of Suez and the pale rays of the sun. That same afternoon, we started across the Red Sea for Bombay. We were four and three-quarter days out when I observed that Passepartout and I appeared to have been joined by another person who was never quite out of sight. Finally, I decided to question him. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. My name is Fogg and you are... Fix, Mr. Fix. Well, Mr. Fix, to come directed to the point you seem to be following me about rather closely. Will you be good enough to tell me why? Sorry, no offence, men. Man gets lonely and you are a fellow Englishman. Indeed. Somehow I would have expected a far more clever answer from a detective. You couldn't be a very good one. I'm good enough to recognize that thief when I see one. I beg your pardon? I suppose you don't know anything about the 55,000-pound bank robbery in England. Of course I know about it. I thought so. Everyone in England knows about it. It was all over the papers. There's no use trying to conceal the truth now. I recognized you and Suez. That's why I'm on this ship. You recognized me? We were telegraphed a description of the bank robber. But if you thought I was the bank robber, why didn't you arrest me and Suez? I had to wire London for a warrant. I expect to receive it in Bombay. You, of course, expect me to deny these ridiculous accusations. I do. Well, I shall not disappoint you. I do deny them. However, you think me a liar and I think you a fool. So there is no further point in continuing the conversation. Good day. Mr. Ford, how did you know I was a detective? My dear fellow, you look like a detective. We stepped off the boat into the mystery and wonder of Bombay. Bazaars, mosques, temples, pagodas, all waited like a silent invitation, but there was no time to linger. We went to the railroad station and boarded a train bound for Calcutta. Mr. Fix the detective had disappeared. But as the train left the station, we saw him rush across the platform and shake his face angrily as we pulled away. At eight o'clock that evening, the train came to a stop in the midst of a glade some 15 miles beyond Rotal. From there to Calcutta, we had to make our way by elephant. We purchased an animal and required the services of an intelligent young Parsee as a guide. Passepartout and I sat in, in how-does, on either side of the elephant, and we were on our way. Our journey passed without incident until exactly 12 minutes past four in the afternoon, when our elephant suddenly turned off into a thicket and stopped. Why have we stopped, boy? The procession of Brahmins is coming this way, master. They must not see us. Mr. Fong, look at that woman marching between those men with the sabers. That is the funeral procession of the Raja of Wunderkund. The woman is his wife. She is to be sacrificed. Burn that daybreak. Sacrificed. Where are they taking her? To the pagoda of Pilaji, two miles from here. It is there that the sacrifice will be performed at dawn. Passepartout, I think we should make an attempt to save this young woman. I have exactly 12 hours to spare. I can devote them to that purpose. This is a very dangerous undertaking. Danger does not frighten me. Mr. Fong, you are a man of great heart. Sometimes when I have the time. Come, let us go to the pagoda of Pilaji. After a moment, we'll return to the second act of Around the World in 80 Days, starring Ronald Coleman. Have you ever thought of this unique fact about the greeting cards you buy? When you buy greeting cards, they are never for yourself. You buy them only for others. That is why greeting cards are always selected with such care. People naturally want the finest for their friends. And I am sure if you will ask any group of your friends, as I have, what name they think of in greeting cards when they want to send the very best. They will answer immediately, hallmark cards. For people have found that hallmark cards reflect their own good taste. They've learned from experience that there is always a hallmark card to say just what you want to say, the way you want to say it. Whether you want to send warmest greetings to old friends who have moved away, or a cheery hello to someone in the hospital, for every occasion you find a hallmark card so right, you feel a glow of satisfaction when you choose it. So it is easy to remember, it would be difficult to forget. To look for that hallmark on the back of every card you choose, when you carry enough to send the very best. And now here is the second act of Around the World in 80 Days, starring Ronald Coleman. We tethered the elephant a safe distance away from the pagoda of Bellagy. I then borrowed the turban and robe of the Parsee. And while it was still dark, I made my way out along the limb of a tree, and then dropped down onto the funeral pyre. I was hoping that in the darkness they would take me for the corpse. The Brahmins were all in the temple, and the sky had only just begun to lighten when they brought the unconscious girl to the pyre and placed her beside me. As soon as they touched their torches to the wood and the flames blazed up on all sides, I picked up the girl and descended. The watching mob cried out in terror and prostrated themselves before me. Only between them, 300 steps, 500 steps, 900 steps, then I was in the woods. I placed the girl in one howder and jumped into the other, while Pasbatou mounted the elephants back, and we then lumbered away from the pagoda of Bellagy, stationed at Allahabad at 10.21.5. I presented the elephant to the Parsee who had served me well. O Saib, you have given me my livelihood for the rest of my days. My thanks will follow you as long as I live. The girl is recovering consciousness. Master, what do you mean to do with her? Well, I hadn't really thought about that. Why? If you leave her in India, she will be captured again and put to death. Well then, I shall not leave her in India. A shame she does not speak English or French. But I do speak English. I was educated in England. I lived there until my parents ordered me to come home to marry the Raja. Where are your parents now? My parents are dead. Have you any people at all? I have a brother in England. Well then, my duty is clear. I will take you to your brother in England. Quickly upon the hour. The packet for Hong Kong left at noon, and we boarded her at once. Since Hong Kong was the last British port on my route, I was not surprised to see Mr. Fick's up on the dock when we left the ship. Good morning, Mr. Fick. Did your warrant arrive? You're a tenderer man here a few days. I'm sorry to disappoint you, my dear fellow, but we hope to leave for Yokohama practically at once. There aren't any ships to Yokohama for a week. No ship for a week. Mr. Fock, we are lost. Ridiculous. Come, Patpatu. Come, Houda. My good fellow, would you be so kind as to give me a moment of your time? What is it? I am looking for a boat to take me to Yokohama. Well, I have a pilot boat, Your Honor, but she's not big enough for a sea voyage. I must get to Yokohama by the 14th of the latest to take the boat for San Francisco. I'll give you 100 pounds a day and an additional reward of 200 pounds if I make that ship. Well, there is one way we might arrange it. I could take you to Shanghai. The San Francisco steamer starts from there on the 11th. With good luck and a south-west wind, we could make it. Very well. You are hired. Did you find a ship? I am hiring one. Thank you, who we sail within the hour. I suppose it would be asking too much to ask you to take me on as a passenger. Not at all. Join us, if you like. Mr. Fock, he will arrest you as soon as he gets his warrant. He can only arrest me on British soil and by the time I reach British soil again I shall have won my wager. And I have the greatest respect for any Englishman who is trying to do his duty. Have you washed over, Fock? I am holding on. If the ship top-sizes, I would rather be on deck. Very well. Suit yourself. Mr. Fock, have you ever loved anyone? What was that? What did you say? I said, have you ever loved anyone? Certainly. I was devoted to my mother and father. And you're white? My dear young woman, I have no wife. Did she die? I never had a wife. No wife? Was there never any woman that you cared for? I was once engaged to a young woman for precisely six weeks and two days. What happened? She was laid for an appointment. I can't abide cardiness in anyone. You must be very lonely, Mr. Fock. Why do you say that? It must be very lonely to be the only perfect human being among so many imperfect creatures. If you will excuse me, I think I will go below. Dear, dear poor girl. Obviously ceasing through the rest of the night. And now and then I thought of Aouda, how she had looked with the wind and the salt spray flowing about her. I thought of the things she had said, and once I thought of her eyes and once of her lips. And for a fleeting moment I found myself thinking, this is the woman that whom all men dream. On the morning of November the 11th at 9.49, we arrived at Shanghai. Passpartout, Aouda, Mr. Fix and I boarded the Americans' team at the General Grant bound for San Francisco. On the 23rd of November, at 12 noon, we passed the 180th Meridian. And on the 3rd of December, we entered the Bay of the Golden Gates. By early afternoon we were on our way across America, past the fields of Buffalo, past the majestic homes of the mountain eagles, the well-worn paths of Indians and covered wagons. One ocean was behind us, another ahead of it, and beyond that, victory. But when the train stuck to the New York station before the pier at the Cunard Line, it was one hour and 35 minutes late. On the ship I had counted on taking, the China had sailed for Liverpool three quarters of an hour before. I found there was no other ship sailing of sufficient speed to get me there in time, but I was directed to a trading vessel in the harbor that was bound for Bordeaux. I went and had a talk with her captain. You are the captain of the Henrietta? I am Andrew Speedy of Cardiff. I am Philius Fogg of London. You are going to put a C? In an hour, bound for Bordeaux, no freight going ballast. Any passengers? Never have passengers too much in the way. Carry me and three other persons to Liverpool. No, I'm setting out for Bordeaux and I'm going to Bordeaux. Very well. Will you take us to Bordeaux then? I'll give you $2,000 apiece for the forest. I start at nine o'clock. We shall be on board at nine o'clock. That's by two. Here's something I want you to do. Talk to the crew as soon as the ship gets underway. Promise them whatever money you must. Tell them I want them to lock up captain Speedy in his cabin and then to help me sail this ship to Liverpool. Oh, Monsieur Fogg, I did not think you had it in you. Who is going to captain the ship? I am. You are a pirate, Monsieur. An out-and-out pirate. I am simply what the hour demands of me. Pass on through. Carried it out according to plan. When the ship was 11 hours and 15 minutes out, the crew mutinied, locked captain Speedy in his cabin, and I was in command. We set out immediately for Liverpool. I ordered the engineer not to let the fires go down and to keep the valves filled. We were 770 miles from Liverpool when I was obliged to send for captain Speedy. How dare you take over my ship? You private tell you thief. Where are we? 770 miles from Liverpool. I'll have you before the authorities for this, you. I have sent for you, sir. You pick a room. Ask you to sell me your vessel. No. By all its holy, no. Then I shall be obliged to burn her. Burn the Henrietta? Yes. At least the upper part of her, the coal has given up. Burn my ship a ship worth $50,000? Here are $60,000. Now that puts a slightly different face on the matter. I'll still own the iron hull. The iron hull, yes, and the engine. Is it agreed? Agreed. The ship now belongs to me? It does. Very well. Then have the interior seats, bunks and trains pull down and burn them. I must be in London by December the 21st. Liverpool Key. At 20 minutes to 12, December the 21st. I was then six hours distant from London. However, as I set foot upon the wharf, Mr. Fix, who had gotten off the ship just ahead of me, turned and said, Are you really Philius Fogg? I am. I have a warrant for your arrest, Mr. Fogg. It was waiting for me in New York. I arrest you in the Queen's name. I sat in prison for the rest of that night. I had lost my wager. I was soon to lose my temper, however, for in the morning Mr. Fix came in. Mr. Fogg, I owe you an apology. It's been a most unfortunate error, but it was because of the resemblance that I fought. Well, the robber was arrested three days ago. You are free. Oh, I'm free and I... Mr. Fogg, he's out cold. You've knocked him unconscious. Power, blue, water, blue. Eh, pass, Patu. Go to the hotel and get Aouda. And meet me at the railroad session. I'll see about our tickets at once. Hope you'll forgive me for bringing you to England. Forgive you? I thought when I brought you here that I would be able to place my fortune at your disposal. But now I'm ruined. Mr. Fogg, what will become of you? Surely, you will not be in one. Your relatives? Oh, I have no relatives. Oh. Mr. Fogg, no man can live happily without someone to comfort him. So I have read Aouda. And when I read it, I doubted it, but it's true. Since knowing you, I have come to realize that. Mr. Fogg. And since knowing you, I have come to realize something else. A man who lives and moves according to schedule isn't as wise as he thinks he is. If he arrives each place on time, that misses something lovely on the way. I... I wanted to tell you this, since in a few hours we'll be saying goodbye. Mr. Fogg, do you wish at once for a kind woman and a friend? Will you have me for your wife? Will I? Will I have you? Miss Aouda, this moves me deeply. From the moment I first saw you, I knew you were as good and noble as you are beautiful. And though I appear to have a heart shaped like a clock, it ticks only for you. In five minutes the time agreed between Mr. Fogg and ourselves will have expired, and he will have lost his wager. At what time did the last train arrive from Liverpool? At 23 minutes plus seven, and the next does not arrive until after 12. Four minutes to nine. Pleaded my trip around the world in exactly 80 days. Gentlemen, I must confess to you that I thought I had lost the wager myself. I thought I was a day late, but I failed to take into account the fact that I had travelled constantly eastward and that I was ahead one day. Gentlemen, I shall gain nothing from the money I have won, except the expenses of the journey. But I have brought back from this long and weary trip what was never mine before. Peace of mind, joy of heart, and a charming woman. In short, gentlemen, happiness. The happiness of every man that at last finds what all men seek. Gentlemen, for that happiness, would you not make a trip around the world? Donald Coleman and James Hilton will return in a moment. Some friends at lunch recently were joking about how many things a woman carries in her handbag. One of the women laughed as she looked in her bag and said, but I need all these things. Take my Hallmark date book, why I wouldn't know what to do next without it. And judging from the experiences of many other friends, that's typical. Many women rely on their Hallmark date book to remind them of every engagement and appointment. Use this helpful little book constantly. It's so easy to jot down your weekly schedule and this convenient little book that you can carry with you everywhere. And it will help you to be thoughtful of your friends, remember their birthdays and anniversaries. There's space for notations beside each day, extra pages for names and addresses too. And this useful 1950 Hallmark date book is yours for the asking, absolutely free. It's a present from the friendly store where you'll find Hallmark cards. Just stop in tomorrow and ask for yours. Here again is James Hilton. Donald Coleman, it's been a great pleasure to have you back with us again in the Hallmark Playhouse. And thanks for taking us along on Jules Verne's memorable world tour. I enjoy being here, Jimmy. Your Hallmark Playhouse has set such high standards that coming over to visit you is always a very happy experience. You present each week the best stories and the best characters in literature. And all of you at Hallmark are bringing great pleasure to many listeners at home. Well, Ronnie is gratifying to know when we succeed in upholding a tradition. And like our Hallmark friends, we hope our program contributes to the happiness of many. What story have you selected for next week, Jimmy? Next week we are bringing to the Hallmark Playhouse another of the ever-popular Mario Harrow novels, Green Grass of Wyoming. This is a story of men and horses in the ranch country. A story as invigorating and spirited as the great state of Wyoming itself. Lawn McAllister will take the leading role, and I hope you'll be one of our listeners at that time, Ronnie. Until next Thursday then, this is James Hilton saying, goodnight. There are so lonely 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. This is Frank Goss saying goodnight to you all until next week at the same time. When James Hilton returns to present Lawn McAllister in Mario Harrow's Green Grass of Wyoming, and the week following, John Fenty's Wine of Youth starring Ida Lupino. And the week after that, we shall commemorate the birthday of Abraham Lincoln by dramatizing a true story of an incident in his life on the Hallmark Playhouse. This is CNBC, Kansas City, Missouri.