 represents Jean Lockhart and Pat Crowley. The operation with Family Theatre presents The Wind is No Gentleman starring Jean Lockhart. And here is your hostess, Pat Crowley. Dear Larry Chatterton, Family Theatre's only purpose is to bring to everyone's attention a practice that must become an important part of our lives if we are to win peace for ourselves, peace for our families and peace for the world. Family Theatre urges you to pray. We get her as a family. And now to our transcribed drama, The Wind is No Gentleman starring Jean Lockhart as Avery McLemore. This isn't a story and it was mighty strange. Maybe you read about it in your newspaper, heard about it on your radio or television, but if your life wasn't affected by it, you must have been living in a hole with the top full down over you. I'm talking about the big calm naturally when the wind stopped blowing. Just about the whole world was in one whale of an uproar. Of course, the whole thing really began when Miss Keaton was a little girl, but I didn't know her then. I've only known her since I can believe in her boarding house ten, twelve years ago. But she used to tell me about the beginnings of it. More coffee, Mr. McLemore? Well, if you could just put a little shade just around the bottom of the cup. The whole wash, every sock pillowcase sheet. I was about ready to lose my mind. I reckon. Just picked up the whole clothesline and dropped it on the ground. All my life it's plagued me, Mr. McLemore. Since I was a little taught with curls down to here, blew me into the fish pond on my sixth birthday. Oh, I wish you could have seen me with my pretty little party dress. You told me about it. No respecter of persons just seemed to pick me up and throw me in, ruined the dress my mother worked on so hard. And been after you ever since. Ever since. If I waited a bus stop, the wind starts blowing. If I plant a tree, the wind breaks off the branches before they can bear. And when I die, it'll probably blow the grass right off my grave. Well, I suppose you get tired of hearing me prattle about the way I feel about the wind, Mr. McLemore, but don't you think it's just a little strange? Yes, ma'am, I sure do. And it was strange. Sure, she used to prattle a good deal about how she hated the wind and the way it looked to me, she had a case. The wind had given her a bad time. By the time there was that time kind of a nasty day it was and the wind tried to humiliate her right in front of the kernel. He just moved into the big house next door. Mr. McLemore. Yes, ma'am. Grocery. I was wondering if you'd mind coming along to help with the carry-in. Well, I'm glad to. Let me put on the coat. Want me to help, Miss Keating? No, I don't think so, Mary. The two of us should be able to handle it. Oh, isn't that new? A new umbrella, kind of snappy-looking, eh? I've never seen one quite like it. Oh, it's quite new. It's reinforced and guaranteed not to turn inside out. Oh, then it's windproof, isn't it? And this strap fits around the wrist so it won't get blown away. Do you want me to carry your bumbershoot, ma'am? No, I've got it, Mr. McLemore. It won't get away. Well, as I remember, there wasn't a speck of wind when we went up. Just the rain coming down, grass all wet, water standing around in puddles on the street. The kernel was standing on his front porch, smoking and pretending he was reading his newspaper. And Miss Keating means he was walking along beside me with her head in the air carrying the new windproof umbrella and pretending she wasn't seeing the kernel. Then it happened. I felt my hat leave my head. Then I looked down. There it was, skimming along the ground, and skimming along right beside it was Miss Keating. Flat on her back, being dragged along by a new umbrella, pulling up handfuls of the kernel's lawn with her free hand as she tried to stop. The wind was trying to humiliate her all right, but I guess they had to figure out the kind of a man the kernel was. Off I say! Here, you forget the hat. Let me hand it here. Let go of the umbrella, Miss. Come on. That's your chance. You've got to hook down. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got her. Unhook that umbrella. What a horrifying experience. Wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes. Are you all right, Miss? Any bones broken? Well, she's padded pretty good where she slugged. Are you all right, Miss? Deliberately. Deliberately. Big pardon, Miss. She means the wind. A minute ago there wasn't a speck of wind. Not a speck. It was a mean trick. A cruel mean trick. I assure you, Miss, if there were any way that kernel Wayfield Byrne retired could see that your revenge had been already done, it would be my pleasure to uphold the dignity as well as the honor of such a fine lady, the lady to whom I was just about to pay my respects for this unhappy incident occurred. Very kind of you, Kernel. I am Miss June M. Keating, and this gentleman is Mr. Avery Macklemore. He's also retired. My pleasure, Mr. Macklemore. Now, Miss June Ann, if I might assist you to your door, I imagine that puddle you're sitting in is getting to my chilly. Well, sir, you can imagine how Miss Keating fell after a thing like that. But that wasn't the end of her trouble with the wind. Christmas come along, couple of months after that, and it was a cold one. But not so much for Miss Keating. The kernel gave her a potted plant, Polly Hawk, I think it was, and about the ugliest thing I ever saw, but the getting of it sure warmed Miss Keating's heart. She was prouder of that plant than a fox and bee of a four-foot tail. So naturally, there was an area placed good enough for it, except right in front of the big window in the potter where it sat for all to see. She kept it there until the night of the storm. I can remember it like it was yesterday. The way the rain was coming down and the wind was howling around the house, but all the other folks in the house were asleep or were keeping a secret. Well, they inclined to be a Mike Leakey. Mary Turnbow hadn't left for work two hours before things started to happen. So you see, Miss Keating, it kind of makes newspapers more interesting. Even the odd little things about it, like this silly rumor that's going around about you having the wind locked up in your garage. Well, you can see how silly that would be. How impossible. Yes, it would be. As one would think it would come out the cracks and under the doors and such. Yes. As a matter of fact, I thought of that and sewed it up in bedsheets before I put it in the garage. Bedsheets before you put it in the... May I quote you, Miss Keating? I be flattered. You mean me, old timer? Yes. Now, why don't you put your ear to the garage door? Just for laughs. It's just around the corner of the house. Well, that's a good idea. That's a very interesting story of why you say you did it, Miss Keating. Well, you could say the wind started it. Goodness knows I never could have. And this is the garage. And you've got the wind in there. That's right. Lay your ear alongside the door here. All right. Oh, no. There weren't more than 15 or 20 people around for the first hour. They all seemed like nice folks, just coming out of curiosity. Miss Keating told her story over and over again, and she enjoyed it more every time herself. And the colonel just kept shaking his head and serving a kind of minty-flavored beverage that seemed to kind of ward off the heat of the day. Then the papers come out with a whole story, and things change suddenly. I mean business. In case some of you don't know it, you're trespassing, and this is the fowl in peace I've got here. That's more like a blunderbuss. Wait a minute. She's loaded with rock salt, and I don't want to have to use it, so just stand by y'all. That's all. I have to have a little lawn order around here, and right now, that's me. Making out all right, colonel? And I could do with a little less heat. If we could just get enough wind out of that garage, make a breeze. Want me to spell you for a while? No, sir. I shall not forsake my sacred trust, Mr. Macklemore. I had the situation well in hand. Well in hand. Now, the colonel was no youngster. No, sir, not by a long shot. And yet somebody had to stand guard. Seems like there was a lot of folks who were all for letting the wind out. Miss Keating wasn't around to see that happen, so she kind of arranged to have the colonel relieved. And the way she did it kind of surprised us all. But most of all, it surprised the sheriffs. But ma'am, I didn't come here to help you protect your property. I came to order you to release the wind. Release the wind, Mr. Sheriff? I got a writ of habeas corpus signed by Judge John Ames. You got to either release it or show just cause why it should not be interned, and then turn it over to duly constituted authority. Which is me. Ritz is for people. Yet makes no difference. Can you describe the subject you want released? Well, sure it's here. Well, it's what you might call a... Well, it's to say it is... Well, a wind disorder by you know I can't describe it. Well, it appears to me you don't know what you came for, Sheriff. Hello, Miss Keating. Mr. Macklemore, isn't this terrible? Just terrible. Maybe it's a disgrace. Oh, isn't it so? May I borrow a fresh blouse? The television people want to interview me about all this. Mary, I don't suppose you'd know how all this got started, eh? Oh, my goodness, no. Why, how should I know? The blouse, Miss Keating? My top euro draw in the area. Oh, you're a peach. And I won't forget you went on a star. Isn't this all terrible? Now, once and for all, Miss Keating, you've got to let the wind out of your garage. Once and for all, Sheriff. I demand protection from trespassers. Not in a thousand years. Better change your mind, Sheriff. Unless I miss my guests, the colonels begin to salt down some of the customers. Miss Keating got her way. The sheriff figured that he'd better put some of his boys in there to save wear and tear on the crowd, which was getting bigger every minute. Took a little while before the whole world had believed the story. In fact, nobody outside of the state believed it until about three in the morning, when one of them big radio networks come out and put a microphone right up against the side of the garage. Then a stir did come up. Why, the town was swamped with wires and phone calls from everywhere. And before noon the next day, people were flooding in from all parts of the country. Let me go, Madam. I've got no statement to make. Miss Keating, there's some gentlemen from the south who'd like to have a word with you, from a gentleman from Virginia, a tobacco man. Want to see me? Yes, ma'am. They say they want to talk terms. Whatever would tobacco men want with me? Smoking, ma'am. Not even possible to smoke a pipe, a cigarette or anything else. All the smoke you make just hangs their puffs and flies in front of you with no wind to blow it away. I didn't realize things like that would happen. Same things happen with automobile exhaust smoke while people downtown are walking around up to the waste in the stuff. That's terrible. I don't know why. Stand back and let this gentleman in, folks. Make way for the gentleman. Right this way, sir. Miss Keating, this gentleman is... What was that name again? Hastings, Bernard Hastings. Bernard Hastings, Miss Keating, Colonel Brown. He's from the United Nations. Yes, that's right. It was voted unanimously this morning by all participating members of the UN that I come here, Miss Keating. Even Russia? Even Russia. I've come to ask you to release the wind from your garage. I suppose I'll have to do something. You see, keeping it is working an untold hardship on the world. Already many thousands of industries have closed down, as you doubtless know, because of either inability to operate air-cooled equipment or their inability to get rid of their industrial smoke. Shortly now, the agricultural picture will darken too. Without wind, there can be no weather. And without weather, no rain. I don't think you have to say any more, Mr. Hastings. Now, I assure you that this country and all others concerned will do everything possible to see that you're no longer plagued as you put it by the wind. If you'll only... I didn't mean to work any hardship on anyone. I will release it, Mr. Hastings. Well, how about that, Mr. Mechlemont? Very wise move. All right, wait. I'll tell everybody. She's gonna turn it loose. Miss Keaton's gonna let the wind go. Miss Keaton stopped by the kitchen, got the keys to the garage out of a drawer and picked up a pair of knives. Then we all followed her out into the backyard. There were people everywhere. They were hanging off the telephone poles in the alley and on the rooftops all over the neighborhood. And there were a couple of television cameras on top of the Mildons, too. Miss Keaton. Oh, Miss Keaton, before you release the wind, is there any statement you'd care to make to our radio audience? Yes, yes, there is. Speak right into the microphone, please. Now, perhaps you could tell us how you managed to trap the wind in the first place. I think I'd better keep that to myself. But there is something I'd like to say. Just what would that be, Miss Keaton? I'd just like to tell everyone that I didn't mean to cause any trouble or work any hardship on anyone. I'm certainly sorry, and I won't do it again. Miss Keaton moved up, slipped the padlock out of the hasp and opened the garage door. We could see the big bag made out of sheets. The wind was in. Then she reached in with a pair of knife and smashed at the bag. Well, sir, the wind blew one of the garage doors clean off, trying to get out in a hurry. But outside of that, there wasn't a speck of damage. And the whole world was back to normal inside an hour's time. Well, now, maybe I went too far saying the whole world was back to normal. Some things changed. Mary Turnbull got some kind of a contract out in Hollywood out of it. I got invited to be on this year's radio program to tell a story. And Miss Keaton, well, she did get over her trouble with the wind after all. Nobody's been able to get the wind to come within a mile of her since she turned it loose. Scared to her, yes. And on the strength of that, she and the Colonel have been invited to the next march. Of course, if they don't want to wait that long, they've been invited to the middle west during the tornado season. And then there's another place that's worried about hurricanes where they wouldn't be unwelcome. Fine woman, Miss Keaton. Automate the Colonel a good wife. Well, that's my story. You know, Family Theater brings you this program each week for the one purpose of encouraging and promoting prayer throughout the world. We stress family prayer particularly for the family is the firm stone upon which a nation is built. In these days when the nations of the world are in a topsy-turvy state, prayer is more important than ever before. I'd like to read you a poem that appeared recently in one of our daily newspapers. We all have a secret weapon which can cure our deepest woes. It can tear down walls of hatred and confound our godless foes. It doesn't cost a billion dollars, yet can guarantee world peace not the A-bomb or the H-bomb yet it makes the war drum cease. It's not guarded from the millions each of us can do our share. It grows stronger as you use it for it's better known as prayer. Yes, prayer is the secret weapon which we all possess. And if we but use it, we can bring peace to the world, peace to the nation and peace to our homes. For the family that prays together stays together. For the family that prays together stays together. More things are up by prayer than this world dreams of. This series of Family Theatre 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 Theatre stage. To them and to you our humble thanks. This is Larry Chatterton expressing the wish of Family Theatre the blessing of God may be upon you and your home. And inviting you to be with us next week when Family Theatre will present where there's a whale starring Vincent Price. Rosalind Russell will be your hostess. Join us, won't you? And now we suggest you stay tuned for John Holbrook bringing you the latest news on the newspaper of the air which follows immediately over most of these stations. This is the Mutual Don Lee Broadcasting System. What about all this? Mary, I don't suppose you'd know how all this got started, eh? Oh my goodness, no! How should I know? The blouse, Miss Keating? You're a draw, Mary. You're a peach and I won't forget you when I'm a star. Isn't this all terrible? Now, once and for all, Miss Keating, you gotta let the wind out of your garage. Once and for all, Sheriff, I demand protection from trespassers. Not in a thousand years! In your mind, Sheriff, unless I miss my guests, the colonels begin to salt down some of the customers. Miss Keating got her way. The Sheriff figured that he'd better put some of his boys in there to save wear and tear on the crowd which was getting bigger every minute. It took a little while before the whole world had believed the story. In fact, nobody outside of the state believed it until about three in the morning when one of them big radio networks come out and put a microphone right up against the side of the garage. The word did come up. Why, the town was swamped with wires and phone calls from everywhere. And, before noon the next day, people were flooding in from all parts of the country. No, no, let me go, madam. I've got no statement to make. Miss Keating, there's some gentlemen from the south. I'd like to have a word with you. A gentleman from Virginia, a tobacco man. Want to see me? Yes, ma'am. They say they want to talk terms. Whatever would tobacco men want with me? Smoking, ma'am. Not even possible to smoke a pipe, a cigarette or anything else. All the smoke you make just hangs their puff size in front of you with no wind to blow it away. I didn't realize things like that would happen. Well, same things happening with automobile exhaust smoke. People downtown are walking around up to the waist in the stuff. That's terrible. Stand back and let this gentleman in, folks. Make way for the gentleman. Right this way, sir. Miss Keating, this gentleman is... His name again? Bernard Hastings. Miss Keating, Colonel Brown. He's from the United Nations. Yes, that's right. It was voted unanimously this morning by all participating members of the UN that I come here, Miss Keating. Even Russia? Even Russia. I've come to ask you to release the wind from your garage. I suppose I'll have to do something. You see, keeping it is working an untold hardship already. Many thousands of industries have closed down, as you doubtless know, because of either inability to operate air-cooled equipment or their inability to get rid of their industrial smoke. Shortly now, the agricultural picture will darken too. Without wind, there can be no weather. And without weather, no rain. I don't think you have to say any more, Mr. Hastings. Now, I assure you that this country and all others concerned will do everything possible to see that you're no longer plagued as you put it by the wind. If there's any hardship on anyone, I will release it, Mr. Hastings. Well, how about that, Mr. Mechlemont? Very wise move. All right, wait, I'll tell everybody. Hey, she's going to turn it loose! Miss Keating's going to let the wind go! Miss Keating stopped by the kitchen, got the keys to the garage out of a drawer and picked up a pair of knives. Then we all followed her out into the back yard. There were people everywhere. They were hanging off the telephone poles in the alley and on the rooftops all over the neighborhood. There were television cameras on top of the militants, too. Miss Keating! Oh, Miss Keating, before you release the wind, is there any statement you'd care to make to our radio audience? Yes, yes, there is. Speak right into the microphone, please. Now, perhaps you could tell us how you managed to trap the wind in the first place. I think I'd better keep that to myself. But there is something I'd like to say. Just, what would that be, Miss Keating? I'd just like to tell everyone that I... I don't mean to cause any trouble or work any hardship on anyone. I'm certainly sorry, and I won't do it again. Oh, hey! Miss Keating moved up, slipped the padlock out of the hasp and opened the garage door. We could see the big bag made out of sheets the wind was in. Then she reached in with a pair of knives and smashed it in the bag. Well, sir, the wind blew one of the garage doors clean off, trying to get out in a hurry. Outside of that, there wasn't a speck of damage, and the whole world was back to normal inside an hour's time. Well, now, maybe I went too far saying the whole world was back to normal. Some things changed. Mary Turnbull got some kind of a contract out in Hollywood out of it. I got invited to be on this year's radio program to tell a story, and Miss Keating, well, she did get over her trouble with the wind after all. Nobody's been able to get the wind to come within a mile of her since she turned it loose. Scared to, I guess. On the strength of that, she and the Colonel have been invited to spend their honeymoon in Chicago next March. Of course, if they don't want to wait that long, they've been invited to the Middle West during the tornado season. And then there's another place that's worried about hurricanes where they wouldn't be unwelcome. Fine woman, Miss Keating, ought to make the Colonel a good wife. Well, that's my story. You know, Family Theater brings you this program each week for the one purpose of encouraging and promoting prayer throughout the world. We stress family prayer particularly, for the family is the firm stone upon which a nation is built. In these days when the nations of the world are in a topsy-turvy state, prayer is more important than ever before. I'd like to read you a poem that appeared recently in one of our daily newspapers. We all have a secret weapon which can cure our deepest woes. It can tear down walls of hatred and confound our godless foes. It doesn't cost a billion dollars, yet can guarantee world peace, not the A-bomb or the H-bomb, yet it makes the war drums cease. It's not guarded from the millions. Each of us can do our share. It grows stronger as you use it, for it's better known as prayer. Yes, prayer is the secret weapon which we all possess. And if we but use it, we can bring peace to the world, peace to the nation and peace to our homes, for the family that prays together stays together. More things are up by prayer than this world dreams of. And as no gentleman, starring Jean Lockhart, Pat Crowley was your hostess. Others in our cast were Irene Tedrow, Charlotte Lawrence, John Daener, Ralph Moody and Howard Culver. The script was written by Robert Huell Sullivan and was directed and transcribed for family theater by John T. Kelly, with 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 Larry Chatterton 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 where there's a whale starring Vincent Price. Rosalind Russell will be your hostess. Join us, won't you? And now we suggest you stay tuned for John Holbrook bringing you the latest news on the newspaper of the air which follows immediately over most of these stations. This is the mutual Don Lee broadcasting system.