 The mutual broadcasting system, in cooperation with Family Theatre Incorporated. More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of. Isn't it wonderful when things go well, you know, when you make plans and they work out just right? Of course, having things run smoothly in any undertaking, whether it is football, baseball or business, needs understanding. Yes, and that's the secret of a happy home. Mother and father and children working, not at cross purposes, but together. Together with one another, and with God. Yes, in a home where a family works together with God's plans in mind, where there's the daily practice of family prayer, there's real teamwork. Because God will never let you down if you sincerely ask His help. That's why family prayer is so important in all our homes. Family prayer is teamwork with God. Don Amici will return later in the program. Now the Family Theatre presentation of A Rose by Any Other Name, starring Catherine Grayson and Johnny Johnston. Well, it's like this. You see, on a December night, I became the father of an eight-pound baby girl and let me tell you she's some baby. Naturally, I'm pretty proud and happy about the whole thing. So a few days later, I mosey over to the church and I give my friend the pastor the lowdown. Of course, Eddie. We'll arrange to baptize the baby on Sunday, but surely you're not going to inflict that name on the defenseless child. Why, I think it's a very nice name and that's what it's got to be. Well, you know the old saying, a rose by any other name. Now, wait a minute, Eddie. Couldn't you call her Mary or Margaret or Anne? Anne's a fine name. Or take Elizabeth. There's something saintly and feminine about Elizabeth. No, sorry. I've got my mind made up. Eddie, I don't know what's got into you. What in the world ever made you pick a name like that? Well, it's a... Well, let me explain it to you from the beginning. So there I was this day. See, down at the gas station where I work. I put in a new fuel pump and a jalopy when my kid brother Jackie comes walking up to me. His face is a mile long. Hi, Jackie. What's doing? Oh, nothing much. Say, you don't look so happy, kid. It's that new English teacher of mine. Who? Mr. Johnson. Well, what about her? She flunked me again, said my essay was no good. Oh, wait a minute. You mean the essay I helped you with? Yeah. The one on daffodils. She gave me a D minus. Why, the stupid... I wrote essays on daffodils myself and I never got no D minus. Oh, the trouble with her, she's young and dumb. Well, what's... What was wrong with the daffodils? I gave you a couple of corking good ideas for that essay. She said we left the daffodils with seven dangling particles and a couple of split infinitives. Ah, there you are, English teachers. I'll bet she don't know what a daffodil looks like. Why, I'll go up there and tell her a thing or two. It's no use, Eddie. It's too late now. They already dropped me from the basketball team. You mean you're not gonna play tomorrow night against Central? They're dropping you from the team on account of... On account of Miss Johnson and an essay on daffodils. Well, Jackie, you just gotta play tomorrow night. Everybody in town's gonna wonder why you're not on the squad. Keep your shirt on. Do you realize that they elected me to be honorary chairman of the Victory Dance Committee? All right, so what? The Victory Dance Committee. Without you and the lineup, the team's gonna fold up. We'll lose the championship. Sure, sure, but why don't you go tell that to Miss Johnson? Now, don't get me wrong. I mean about Jackie. The team really needed the kid. So something had to be done, and me, the honorary chairman of the Victory Dance Committee, is the guy who's gonna do it. You, uh, you Mr. Raymond Hunt, the principal? Yes, sir. What can I... My name's DeAngelo. Eddie DeAngelo. Yes, Mr. DeAngelo? I run the filling station down the street, Mr. Hunt. I used to go to school here. As a matter of fact, the whole family went to school here. Is that so? Yeah, well, all the DeAngelo's went to Tech High. Well, uh, do you know my kid brother? No, let me see. Jackie. Jackie DeAngelo. The name seems quite familiar. Oh, yes, John DeAngelo. Yeah, that's him. He's the basketball player, Mr. Hunt. One of the best, according to the newspapers, one of the best basketball players in the city, sir. Yes, seems I do recall something of... Top score, he is. Top score. You know him, Mr. Hunt. Jackie DeAngelo. Yes, yes, yes, I know. What exactly do you wish to see me for? Well, Mr. Hunt, my brother Jackie, well, he's been dropped from the team. Some dizzy dame of a school teacher you got here, flunked him for no good reason whatsoever. Well, now, Mr. DeAngelo, I'm afraid there's nothing I can do about that. You see, the scholastic standing of our students... Yeah, but Mr. Hunt, your school is going to get knocked for a loop without Jackie. Look, tomorrow night we play Central. Next week we play Warrington. If we win one more game, just one more game, we got the championship all sewed up. As honorary chairman of the Victory Dance Committee... Excuse me, please. Did you say... Yeah, sure. I'm the honorary chairman of the Victory Dance Committee. And you got to believe me, Mr. Hunt. Tech High ain't going to have a victory dance if my kid brother don't play. If you'll excuse me a minute, sir. I'm expecting a Miss Johnson. Miss Johnson? The English teacher? Yes. She's outside? I believe so. No, if you'll be kind of... Well, she's the one I want to talk to. But Mr. DeAngelo... Are you Miss Johnson? By... Yes, sir. Well, come right in. We've got to straighten out a couple of details here. Miss Johnson, this is Mr. DeAngelo, John's brother. How do you do, Mr. DeAngelo? How do you do? Now, let's get down to brass tacks, shall we? You don't mind if I ask you a personal question, Miss Johnson? Well, no. Not at all. Okay, well, what I want to know is this. Um... Well, why does a whole school have to suffer? Because one teacher doesn't like basketball. One teacher? Yeah. Who, Miss Johnson? Well, who said I didn't like basketball? Well, you flunked my kid brother, didn't you? The kid puts his heart and soul into the work, and you give him a D minus. Oh, are you by any chance referring to John's latest essay? A gruesome and incoherent piece of nonsense about daffodils? Well, now you're getting technical. Sure, the kid made a couple of mistakes, a couple of dangling infinitives. Dangling participles, Mr. DeAngelo. See, technical again, as if the whole world's going to blow up because... because something dangles. You've been fully the policy we follow here at Tech High School, Mr. DeAngelo. If you care to make an appointment for some other time, I would appreciate... Now, look here, Mr. Hunt. This is very important. The whole town is rooting for the team. But what's going to happen tomorrow night without Jackie DeAngelo in that game? We haven't got a chance, and you know it. You know it, Mr. Hunt, but you, Miss Johnson. Basketball doesn't make any difference to you. I know, you're an English teacher. You're not worrying about the citizens of this town. All you got to worry about is a couple of split infinitudes. Split infinitives, Mr. DeAngelo. Technical again, you see. No, Mr. DeAngelo... Excuse me, Mr. Hunt. I think I can straighten out this matter. Mr. DeAngelo, as a teacher, I'm not employed here to see that Tech High School wins basketball games. See, prejudice right from the start. And as for your brother, John DeAngelo, well, he's merely another student to me. M... merely the best basketball player in ten years, and he's only another student, she said. Merely another student. A teacher cannot afford to indulge in personalities. I have a specific work to do, regardless of any athletic ability of anybody's brother. The rules state explicitly. If any student fails in any subject, he shall be ineligible for school athletic act... activities. Well, listen to her. Listen to that. Look, I... However, since this basketball game means so much to you and to the citizens of this town, I'll do all I can to cooperate. You mean... you mean you're gonna forget about the whole thing? Well, tell your brother, John, that he's to write another essay. This evening. If the essay deserves a passing mark, he'll be eligible to play tomorrow night. You mean it, Eddie? Yeah, you got another chance, kid. Oh, boy, as well. But how am I gonna write that essay? Listen, when a thing's got to be done, your big brother is the guy who can do the doing. You mean you're gonna write the essay for me? Sure. I'll dash it off for you in no time, kid. Can you leave it to me? It's got to be on flowers. On flowers? Why flowers? Oh, she likes flowers. It's either the ocean or clouds or flowers with Miss Johnson. You know, crazy stuff. Okay, flowers, trees, shrubs, anything. Let me handle this for you, kid. You don't think I'm running that filling station on my good looks alone, do you? Now, let's see. Flowers. An essay on flowers. I'm back again, Mr. Hunt. Miss Johnson phoned me and asked me to come over to your office. Oh, yes. She'll be here any minute. I believe she wants to see you about an essay. Oh, yeah. That's right. It's about the little essay my kid brother polished off last night. Sure. Oh. Oh, hello, Miss Johnson. How do you do? See, how'd you like Jackie's essay? I bet you didn't find any of those little particles dangling around this time, did you? Well, the sentence structure was perfect. And the treatment was most coherent. Punctuation and spelling, well, they were excellent. Oh, well, I knew the kid had it in him all the time. As a matter of fact, the essay was so good, that I decided to have Mr. Hunt, our principal, read it to you in your presence, Mr. D'Angelo. Oh, that's a swell idea, and to think that Jackie was holding out on us all the time. Here you are, Mr. Hunt. Yeah. The roses. Roses are climbing shrubs, generally more or less copiously provided with thorns of various shapes and with glandular hairs, as in the sweet briar or in the moss rose of garden. That's very, very good if you ask me, huh? Thank you very much, Mr. Hunt. I think that'll be enough. Now, that's what I call the beginning of a corking good essay, huh? Undoubtedly, Mr. D'Angelo. In my books, an essay like that deserves at least an A-plus. As a matter of fact, I've already marked it an A-plus, Mr. D'Angelo. Oh, gosh, Miss Johnson. Say that's awfully nice of you. I guess I had you all wrong from the start. Boy, is Jackie gonna be surprised when I tell him he's eligible to play tonight? Your brother Jackie will not be eligible to play tonight. And boy, with him playing on the... What? What'd you say? I said your brother Jackie will not be eligible to play tonight. Now, Miss Johnson, a joke is a joke, and personally I like a sense of humor myself, but what you just said... I believe I made myself clear. I don't get it. He does not play. But the essay? Well, what about the essay? Well, you just gave him an A-plus. Mr. D'Angelo, I gave the Encyclopedia of Bricktanica an A-plus. Your brother without your assistance is merely incompetent, Mr. D'Angelo. And your brother with your assistance is... Well, he's not only incompetent, he's dishonest, Mr. D'Angelo. Well, what'd she say, Eddie? She humiliated me, that's what she did. In front of Mr. Hunt, she humiliated me. My character, my reputation, me, the honorary chairman of the Victory Dance Committee. Well, I... I told you to lay off that Encyclopedia of Bricktanica stuff. Okay, okay, so it wasn't on the up and up. Why does she have to make such a hullabaloo about it? Well, you'd think I murdered a half dozen women and children to listen to her. And in front of Mr. Hunt, she's got to put on that act. Who does she think she is? Okay, okay, forget it, huh? I won't forget about it. If Tech loses the game tonight, I'm going to fix her wagon, wait and see. Boy, if we can only keep that lead, we got the championship in the bag. Score, third quarter, Central 57, Tech 58. You see what I mean, Jackie, if you were in there, we'd be way out in front. Final score, Central 72, Tech 68. Well, you see, it was just like I figured it. In the last quarter, our team just, well, folded up. The kids were pretty miserable that night. Why, we should have beat Central by at least 10 baskets. But what happens? The Tech Quintet hailed as the smartest aggregation of basketball players in the state goes down to defeat. And why? Because a certain young boob of a school teacher happens to think that an essay on flowers is the most important thing in life. You should have heard the talk around town the next morning. Hey, Eddie, where was Jackie last night? Yeah, the angel just drops mysteriously out of line up. Yeah, everybody in town's talking about it. Well, let me tell you something. If he say that next week's game, Tech won't have a chance of winning the championship. Yeah, I know. Next week's game, huh? Our last chance to win the cup. Why do you keep getting so excited about it, Eddie? Look, Jackie, we got a dance coming up after this week's game with Warrington. Yeah, I know. And I'm supposed to make a speech. Well, what about it? You sit there and ask me what about it. What kind of a victory speech am I going to make if there ain't no victory? Don't ask me. All on account of one school teacher. Take it easy, yeah. Now, look, we got to figure out some way to get you into next week's game. Well, we might as well forget it. There was only some way of putting the pressure on Miss Johnson. You follow me? Yeah, but... Some way of putting her on the spot so we could get you back into the lineup. I tell you, you don't know Miss Johnson. Listen, there's nobody so high and mighty that they can't be pulled down a couple of pegs. Well, why don't you stand under her window and start calling her names? That'll pull her down a couple pegs. No, you got to be sensible about this thing. You can't just... By the way, what is her name or full name? Clementine Johnson. Clementine? Yeah. Holy mackerel, Clementine. Are you sure that's her first name? Yeah, I saw in the files one day. Say, with a name like that, I'm beginning to get ideas. Oh, boy, it really worked. We rounded up a gang of fellas over at Tech and they got the idea right off of the bat. For three full days we put the pressure on. Three full days, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Oh, boy, we fixed Clementine's wagon. The fellas marched all over the campus with big posters. Roses are red, daffodils yellow, Clementine's blue if she can't flock a fellow. Some people get headaches, some people get sinus, but Clementine suffers from a case of D-minus. Yeah, pretty soon everybody got into the spirit of the thing. They even had a quartet sing below her window on Tuesday night. Oh, my teacher, English teacher, what a creature, Clementine. Now, for three solid days they had demonstrations all over the campus. Then on Thursday afternoon it happened. I'm walking along the street near the high school, figured I'd take a little time off from the filling station just to see how things were developing. All of a sudden I see Miss Johnson come out of one of the buildings. Boy, she looked almost frightened, like a kid expecting to get hit with a snowball. Then a voice calls from somewhere across the campus. When she heard her name, she seemed to walk faster, pulled her coat tighter around her. It was on those cold gray days, leaves flying all over the street. She was heading toward me, so I waited for her to reach me. Oh, it's you. Yeah. Well, why don't you call me Clementine? Well, why don't you? I've become very popular around here. Why don't you call me Clementine? You know, the whole thing suddenly hit me like a rock between the eyes. For the first time I saw how it hurt. I saw her pale face and her eyes crying behind the glasses she was wearing. I saw the books she carried and that dull brown coat she wore. Well, tell you she looked sad, but that sort of a quiet sadness you find around old libraries at five o'clock in the afternoon. So, well, that night I... I felt sorry for her, so I decided to go see her. Uh, Miss Johnson, I came down here to apologize. I'm sorry. I admit I pulled some cheap stunts. I guess I lost my head. I know I hurt you and I'm sorry. Honest I am, Miss Johnson, and I'm asking you to please forgive me. She looked at me for a couple of seconds. I forgive you, Mr. DiAngelo? Oh, you can call me Eddie if you want to. Nobody around here ever calls me Mr. DiAngelo. You know, perhaps I'm being a bit over-emotional about it. I mean, my name, Clementine. But you see, all my life I've tried, but never quite succeeded in escaping it. The association's connected with it. Clementine. Well, when I was younger, I was afraid I'd grow up and have shoes that were number nine's. Herring boxes without topses. Do you remember the song, Clementine? Yeah, yeah, I know what you mean. Well, I used to shudder when people called my name. Even the children I grew up with ridiculed me. Well, innocently perhaps. But it hurt. And it drove me into a corner that I've never really gotten out of. I ended that sentence with a preposition. Well, that's nothing. Miss Johnson, there's going to be a basketball game Friday night. Yes. And after the game, we're going to have a victory dance. Yes, so I understand. Well, well, maybe, uh... Oh, well, would you like to go to the basketball game? Is this an invitation? Yeah, honestly. Well, yes. Well, yes, I'd like to go to a basketball game. Oh, good. Then don't forget. And after the game, there's the victory dance. Mr. D'Angelo. Are you sure there's going to be a victory dance? The teams are on the floor. The gym is packed with people. The last quarter and the place is going wild. The score is tied. Come on, Tech, just one more basket. 40 seconds left to play. 35 seconds, 25, 20. And then... That happens. With 10 seconds left to play, Waringdon shoots the winning basket. We lost the game 60 to 58. Oh, boy, when you get that close to the silver cup, it's kind of hard to see a drop out of your hands. Well, I could tell Miss Johnson doesn't feel so good about it. I can see it in her eyes. Mr. D'Angelo. Yeah? Well, if Jackie had played tonight, Tech would have won. Oh, that's what everybody says. Oh, there's no use crying over spelt milk. Mr. D'Angelo, if you don't mind, I'd like to go home. Oh, but the dance, you're going to stay for the dance. Please, I... I can't stay. Clementine? I said, Clementine, your name. You know, you got to get used to hearing me say it. Yes, Mr. D'Angelo. I'm supposed to make a speech tonight. Yes, I know. Will you do me a special favor? Oh? All right. Will you please stick around and see that I don't split any participles? Again, it's my pleasure to give you the honorary chairman of the dance committee, Eddie D'Angelo. Thank you. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Well, this is supposed to be a victory dance, and it is a victory dance. Tonight, we put a team out there on the floor, boys we were proud of, and on the basketball court, and in the classroom. They played a swell game, but they lost. Sure, we lost the championship, okay, but we lost it fair and square. We lost it honest. Thanks to one person here in the audience tonight, Ms. Johnson. Oh, we could have pulled strings, but we didn't. So we got nothing to be ashamed of. Now, I'd like to say something special tonight, but first, well, someone please escort Ms. Johnson to this platform. That's it, right? That's it. Come on, don't be scared, Ms. Johnson. Please, right up this... here. Mr. D'Angelo, what in the world? Take it easy, Clementine. Nothing to get excited about. As honorary chairman of the victory dance committee, it gives me great pleasure to extend to Ms. Johnson on behalf of the student body this token of our esteem a bouquet of flowers. Why, they're beautiful. Daffodils and roses for Ms. Johnson. Before everybody starts cutting the rug, let me say this. Shakespeare once said, a rose by any... Oh, I don't know. You know what I mean, but in this case, I don't think Ms. Johnson knows what I mean. I respectfully request her to listen. Will you play a little music, please? All the roses sing All the daffodils swing For sweet Clementine All the daisies play All the buttercups sway For sweet Clementine When she goes a-walkin' All the world's in tune Stars begin to bounce with rhythm Clouds begin to dance Across the sky with the moon All the flowers rhyme All the birdies keep time For sweet Clementine All the waves at sea Beat a symphony For sweet Clementine So if the birds and the bees The flowers and trees Think she's mighty fine Just imagine Just imagine What my heart thinks Of sweet Clementine You were wonderful tonight. I didn't know you could sing, Mr. DiAngelo. Oh, will you please call me, Eddie, huh? Did you write that song yourself, Eddie? Well, you can bet your boots I didn't get it out of the Encyclopedia Britannica. And you wrote it for me? Why, who else in the world's got a name like you? Oh, Eddie. So you see, Pastor, we got married six months later. You married? Clementine, the school teacher, of course. Good for you, Eddie. Now we've got a baby girl, and boy, is she gonna be a basketball player. Well, you should see the way she dribbles already. Congratulations, Eddie. That's the reason why... That's the reason why you want her to be baptized Clementine? Yeah. Well, for heaven's sake, why didn't you say so in the first place? Clementine's a wonderful name. Clementine is a beautiful name. Like what me and Shakespeare always says. A rose by any other... Oh, well, you know what I mean. A rose by any other name. Hestar, Johnny Johnston, and Catherine Grayson. Now, here is tonight's family theater host, Donna Michi. As parents, all of us have a special joy and happiness when we see our children growing up strong and healthy. We don't begrudge efforts or expenses for them because we want to do all we can to give them equal opportunities with others. We want to see them develop, not only physically, but intellectually, morally, and spiritually. Because men and women without moral strength and a spiritual outlook can find no worthwhile purpose or meaning or accomplishment in life. That's why family prayer is a necessary part of good home life. Our example as parents, our sincerity, our reverence and respect for God when we pray together as a family is the greatest inspiration we can give our children to live good and useful lives. There is a right spirit in a home where family prayer is a daily practice. A spirit of moral and spiritual growth. A spirit of unity and understanding. Because the family that prays together stays together. Before saying goodnight, I'd like to thank Catherine Grayson and Johnny Johnston for their performances this evening. Our thanks to Timothy Mulvey for writing tonight's play, to William McGuire for his song Sweet Clementine and to Max Tear for his music. His production of Family Theatre Incorporated was directed by David Young. Others who appeared in tonight's play were Norman Field, Rollin Morris, Herb Rollinson, Frank Gerstle. Next week our Family Theatre stars will be John Charles Thomas and John Nesbitt in Mr. Nesbitt's story of The Juggler of Our Lady. Your hostess will be Irene Dunn. This is Don Amici saying goodnight and God bless you. This series of the Family Theatre broadcast is made possible by the thousands of you and all the need for this kind of program. And by a friend of the New York Foundling Hospital which cares for homeless and motherless babies without distinction of race, creed or color. Tony Loprano speaking. This is the Mutual Broadcasting System.