 Remember a Hallmark card when you care enough to send the very best. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. This is James Hilton. Tonight on our Hallmark Playhouse we present our dramatization of a story called Patrick Calls Me Mother by Anne Barley. This is a story well-timed for the close of the old year and the beginning of the new. A story which expresses something of that eternal and even unreasonable hope we always have when the curtain rises on the future. For indeed the actors of our own future are now children. And this story tonight is about a child. A child rescued from the past and offered the chance of a new life. Starring as the mother tonight we have that warm and sensitive actress Martha Scott. And now a word about Hallmark cards from Frank Goss before we begin the first act of Patrick Calls Me Mother. For every occasion important to your friends and loved ones there are Hallmark cards to carry your thoughts. Help bring you closer to those you care for across the miles, across the years, often merely across the way. On birthdays, anniversaries, holidays or times when just the right word means so much. A Hallmark card says what you want to say just the way you want to say it. And that identifying Hallmark on the back, well that says you cared enough to send the very best. Now Hallmark Playhouse presenting Ann Barley as Patrick Calls Me Mother. Starring Martha Scott. Tonight is December 31st, nothing except in our own minds. Time like an ever rolling stream flows on. It is we who measure it who feel the drama of its passage at a special signal once a year. Tonight's story begins at such a moment early on in New Year's Eve. Ann Barley, the author of our story and also one of its characters is trying to put her husky five-year-old to bed. Now, Pat, it's way past your sleepy time. In you go. All right, Mother. Did you have a happy birthday? Oh, sure. Just like Christmas all over again. Not Christmas, you, if you don't get under those covers, young man. Oh, game. That's the way. Mother. Yes, Patrick? What's a birthday? Is it because I was born on? When you were born. Not exactly. You see, Mother went through the greatest adventure of her life trying to find you. Was I hiding? Well, I'll say you were. I remember that New Year's party right here in Washington. Everybody was celebrating the end of Mr. Hitburn, Mr. Tojo, but, but for me it seemed like the end of the world. Ann, you can't leave now. It's just midnight. Happy 1936. Hey, Mother, don't you understand? I can't put on a silly hat and blow a noise maker and pretend that the world is all peaches and cream. Oh, I know, darling. Everything stopped for you, didn't it, when Ted didn't come home from the war. But there's a whole new fresh year ahead. Like a new life. A new life. Happy New Year, Mrs. Barley. Oh, the same to you, Dr. Laos. Have you met my daughter, Ann? Yes, I believe we met Dr. Laos before the war in Amsterdam. Those were the days ended, but now food is very scarce in Holland. That's what brings me to your beautiful United States to find some milk for our children. Are the children... well, are they having a hard time? Bombs are not rich in vitamins. And the little ones with no parents, no families... Are there many orphans in Holland? Oh, thousands, my dear. The children who forgot to die with their mothers and fathers. These are the ones who trouble us. Yes, I see. Some more ice cream, Dr. Laos. If there are Dutch children who need mothers, perhaps I do. Ann, you wish to take one of my little countrymen and bring him to America? Yes, it could be arranged, Doctor. A guardianship... Ann is thinking of it as a generous gesture. It's no gesture, Mother. Would you help me, Dr. Laos? You understand you cannot pick out an orphan the way you might order a wheelbarrow from a mail or the catalogue. You would have to come to Europe in person to make all the necessary arrangements. Well, of course, that's out of the question. No, it's not. I'll go to Europe. It is not easy this winter. Everything is in turmoil. One cannot travel unless it is official business. But I can get credentials as a foreign correspondent. I used to write for the editor of a paper in Chicago. He'll get me in. Well, if you do. When you arrive in Holland, contact me through UNRWA at The Hague. And I shall help you find an orphan. I like to think that while I was talking with Dr. Laos on that New Year's Eve, somewhere in far off Europe you were being born. Is that why New Year's is my first day? That's right, Patrick. But, oh, what a hard time we had finding each other. I set out for Europe by troop transport, which crawled and rolled and pitched its way across the Winfrey Atlantic. I had to go to Paris first, and from there I had to ask help from the American Embassy. You're going to go to Holland, huh? Now, let's see. Ann Barley on writing assignment for the Chicago Press. That's right. Why do you want to go to Holland when your newspaper assigns you to Paris? Well, I thought it'd be nice to do a story for my paper from Holland. You know. The newspaper you work for, Miss Barley, does it come out in the morning or the afternoon? Uh, morning or afternoon. Yes. Well, you're going to think this is awfully peculiar, but I honestly don't know. Can it be, Miss Barley, that you're sailing under false colors? Oh, please, you can't just put me in a packing box and ship me back to the United States? Miss Barley, we can't authorize travel unless it's for important business. Well, my business is important. Maybe you won't think it is. Maybe I will. Oh, it's so hard to explain. Would you like to tell me about it? At dinner? Well, yes, I think that would be easier. I had to come to Europe, Mr. Arthur. Jim, huh? All right, Jim. Maybe it isn't official business according to the rule books, but children are the future. And if I can bring hope and warmth and love into one neglected life, then there'll be some purpose in my own living. But why do you have to go to Holland? You should be able to find a child here in France. Well, I'll certainly try. Now, look, why don't you try it over to the office of the French Assistance Public? It's right near the Étoire. It's the official agency which cares for often. Well, thank you, Jim. I'll go see them right away. It's certain that the Assistance Public can help you, Mlle. But why not? I'm prepared to give a child a good home and love and all the opportunities of life in America. But if we give you a child and you take him to your country, can you imagine the disappointment of the real mother if she should return? Oh, all the father are coming back from German prison. Also, we are thinking of you, Mlle. You want a child who is healthy, who would be at a joy and be comforted, of course, but so many of our babies come, you see, for yourself. In this home, all the babies not yet one year old. Oh, the poor darlings. What a mistake they have made these little ones to come into this world the first year after the great war. Oh, and this little wasted body, what's wrong with her? Oh, that is Collette. The father was killed in Germany. The mother was exhausted by grief. She bore little Collette and died. Oh, she looks starved and so pink. The first month of her life, the child had no milk. She was fed mostly on coffee. Hot drip. So many of our orphans are like Collette. Poor little one. Little hungry baby with the shining eyes. Can you hold on to my finger, Collette? Reach out. There. A month without food and still you can hang on to life. We're out of yourself. Ah, tell you, Jim, I see that baby's face in my sleep. That little undefeatable scrap of life with such magnificent eyes. Yes, but with a start like that, what chance does a child have? If Collette could live as long as this, she'll get well. You should have felt her little claw tugging at my finger. Use your head, Anne. Don't take a child because you pity her. I don't pity her. I admire her. Make your trip to Holland. Stick to your plan. Give yourself an even break. Don't take a child to America to die. It's good to see you, Dr. Lauer. I have asked one of our best social workers in the Netherlands to find a child for you. And he is waiting outside. The social worker? The child? Your orphan? Shall I have him come in? No. I'm not sure. Yes, I suppose so. You may as well. How can you explain the feeling of waiting in a cold-bear room, waiting to meet the child who may grow to call you mother? I can't imagine the childbirth as one-tenth as strange. For a newborn baby is part of the life it joins, but... but to become a mother by the opening of a door. Come in, Father. Father. Now before it, had that red and bleary look become too much cold and too little food? Won't you come to me? Can't you smile for the... It is as if I were a stone. Anyone who's ever gone through the ordeal of adoption knows that the parent doesn't select the child. It's the child who chooses the parent. And though I long for him to give the tiniest sign to come to me, let me take his hand, Paul would not choose me. I sent him outside and softly closed the door. Because am I cruel and selfish? I know that poor little boy needs someone, but if... Wicked. I want to love him, but I... Feelings. When we love or lack love, we must not blame ourselves. There's a little baby, a girl in a parasorfinage. Her name is Colette, and her eyes... Her eyes are full of love for you? Yes. What better language can children speak? There. You showed me a little girl, Colette. The little hungry one with the blue-gray eyes. I beg you, Madame Bunday, let me have her. Oh, I am so sorry. She isn't gone. You haven't given her to someone else, have you? Poor little Colette. She is dead. Oh, I've forgotten how. Great a gift, Colette. My daughter will be patient and depend on me. I will find you a child to call you Mama. Since you can't reach in your radio and grab me, I guess I'm safe in reminding you, it's about time to make your New Year's resolutions. If you're anything like me, you'll probably resolve to be more thoughtful about remembering anniversaries, birthdays, and such. If so, you'll be interested in knowing there's a little present waiting for you. It's a gift from the fine store where you buy Hallmark cards. It's the Hallmark date book. Here's a handy book to help you remember. In it, you'll find every day of 1951, arranged in calendar form, and plenty of space for writing in the names of the people you want to remember on that date. There's room for addresses, too, as well as lots of space for your Christmas card list, which you'll probably want to start now while you still have this year's cards. The Hallmark date book also has other information you'll find useful during the year, the appropriate gift for each wedding anniversary, the traditional birthstone, and flower for each month. Surely you'll find it a big help in being more thoughtful every day of the year. So tomorrow, when you stop in to get your New Year's cards, ask for the 1951 Hallmark date book. Your store will gladly give you one as a friendly gesture to convey his Happy New Year wish for you. Now back to James Hilton and the second act of Patrick Calls Me Mother, starring Martha Scott. Adventures full of heartbreak and disappointment. Even at best, adopting a child can be a terrifying process. But to a single woman alone in France during that first frigid winter after the liberation, it was almost too much to bear. You see, Pat, I knew that Europe was full of homeless waves who needed love yet, yet I couldn't find my baby. Then Jim brought me the wonderful news Madame Bondet had found a child for me. Jim and I hurried to the nursery, and as Madame Bondet led us in, I said to myself, I can't stand another disappointment. If God meant me to have a baby from the battle scars of Europe, this will have to be my child. Look out there, little baby. What I saw, lying there in a little crib, turned my whole topsy-turvy life right side up again. There was a real charmer, only a few months old, who rolled toward me in the crib and gave me what seemed to be a planned welcome. A flash of deep blue eyes and a smile that seemed to say, well, high time, I've been waiting here for you all my life. You are pleased, yes? What do you think, Jim? Yeah, well, it's a baby. Babies go, I guess she's fine. Jim, forgive me, but she is a he. Oh, it's a boy. We miss you. Oh, I'll get him out of that pink shirt. What do you want to do, warp his entire personality? Oh, Jim. How about his health? Is he strong? None of our little ones has strength to spare, and little Germain has an internal weakness, but it could... Oh, I'll take care of him. I'll make him well and strong. What did you call him? Germain. He's christened Germain Michel. Germain Michel? That's exactly the way I feel about your name, kid. What are you going to call a man? Well, I've always liked the name of Jonathan. You like Jonathan? You want the kid to be a sissy? His shoulders are probably pitched for the Yankees. No, no, he needs a nice short name. Him, Arthur. After all the trouble I've had getting a child, I think you could at least let me pick out the name. Yeah, but he looks kind of Irish, doesn't he? Why don't you call him Patrick? How can I take a French baby home to America with a name like Patrick? How about it, Pat? You like your name, Pat, do you? See, he likes it. Oh, Jim, I'm so happy and grateful. Do you realize all you've done? Oh, I'm a pretty swell guy, all right. But I'm doing all this for a purpose, you know. I expect to have some official status with regard to this baby. Jim, you do? Oh, yeah. I insist on being Patrick's godfather. Oh. Well, I promise nobody will be his godfather, but you, a precious airline reservation. And as the first real spring day warms the city of Paris, Jim decided we should all have a farewell picnic together. And it was there it happened. No, I just lifted him up. Well, he's in terrible pain. Jim, you suppose it's that trouble Madame Bondate. Don't get him going, doctor. Come on. At the hospital, they said it was serious. Immediate operation. The risk, the doctor found and muttered something in French I couldn't understand. Then through that dreary night of waiting, I realized that this tiny new life was more important to me than my own. At last, the nurse came to tell me that the operation was over. My son was resting and would recover. My son was well enough to travel, and by then I'd lost my space on the airline at New York. Travel's really tiny, Annie. Everybody in Europe's trying to get back to the good old USA. They say it'll be seven months at least before they have any transatlantic space. Jim, I can't wait that long. Well, look, you be ready to leave with Patrick Sunday night. I'll see what I can do. And by some miracle Jim got us the reservation. But at plane time, there was no familiar face to see us off. Stand it, can you pass? I can't understand why Jim didn't take us to the airport or at least come down to see us off. Can I have some seatbelt, please? Baby, mother'll hold you. Well, the Jim wanted to get rid of us well. When we get there, we'll find the ice cream cones and toy giraffes and vitamins and heating pads. And oh, we're lucky, Patrick. We're so lucky we found each other. And you have to live for all the children, Pat, for Paul and Holland, for poor little Colette, and for all the thousands who can never enjoy the chance you'll have. You've got to have fun for all the kids in Europe who don't even know how it feels not to be hungry. You'll have to rest up for some of that living. Now go to sleep, Pat. Go to sleep. Get out of the window, Pat. I wonder if there's anybody here to me. Jim, I was so surprised. Well, you should have known the only way I could get you on that plane was to say you were coming to the US to marry me. But you didn't tell me you were being transferred to Washington. Yeah, well, I'm a diplomat and diplomats are full of surprises. So put out because you weren't there to see us off. And, darling, has it really been five years? Look at your son. There's the proof. Patrick was asking me how it happened that his birthday comes on New Year's Eve. I was reminiscing and I guess he just went to sleep. Didn't even say his prayers. Maybe you should save him for a month. All right. Our father, Richard, in heaven, thank you for your many blessings. Bless my husband who helped me to find my son. And bless our son who helped me to find my wife. Help us to do thy work in the year ahead so that the world we make for our son and for all the world's children will be rich and fair and full. Grant us a child's enthusiasm so that we won't grow weary with our task. Let our family and all families be strong in faith that 1951 may be the year of light instead of darkness. Grant us peace and the wisdom to make the most of peace. Happy New Year, Jim, darling. Sweetness. Fortunately for us, we have a scale that balances the two. The scale called friendship lightens the sadness and allows the sweet memories to linger long in our minds. Surely friendship is worth some effort. The Hallmark date book I told you about a few moments ago is not very big. That's true, but it's a great big help to friendship. With it to remind you of the dates you want to remember, the friends you want to think of through the year, you'll find your friendships growing and growing through every passing year. So ask for your free Hallmark date book for 1951. It's a gift for you from the fine store where you buy Hallmark cards to thank you for your friendship and patronage and to wish you every happiness in the new year. Again, it's James Hilton. It's always good to see old friends this time of the year and Martha Scott, both as an old friend of the Hallmark Playhouse and also for your very fine performance in the role of Anne. It was particularly good to see you tonight. Thank you, Mr. Hilton. Hallmark and I really are old friends. Those grand Hallmark date books have helped to keep me in touch with my friends for many years now and of course I always enjoy seeing you and all the others of the Playhouse cast. Happy New Year to you all. And a Happy New Year to you, Martha. We'll be listening to our first broadcast of the New Year next week. It's an exceptionally fine story, Henry F. Pringle's Theodore Roosevelt, the story of one of the most colorful presidents in American history. And to play the title role, we will have that equally colorful Hollywood star, Broderick Crawford. I surely will be listening, Mr. Hilton. Good night. Good night, Martha Scott. Our Hallmark Playhouse is every Thursday. Our director-producer is Bill Gay. Our music is composed and conducted by Lynn Murray and our story tonight was dramatized by Lowlinson Lee. And now, for all of us here at the Playhouse and on behalf of the makers of Hallmark cards, may I wish you a very, very Happy New Year. Until next Thursday then, this is James Hilton saying good night. Have been carefully selected to give you expert and friendly service. Remember Hallmark card when you carry it out to send the very best. Martha Scott may soon be seen in the Horizon production when I grow up. The part of Jim tonight is played by Gerald Moore, Dr. Lois by Ted Osborne and Madame Born by Mary Lansing. This is Frank Goss saying good night to you all until next week at the same time. When James Hilton returns to present Roderick Crawford in Henry F. Pringle's Theodore Roosevelt and the week following, Edna pervers the farmer in the delt and the week after that, James Ronald's old soldiers never die on the Hallmark Playhouse. This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting Center. DC, Kansas City, Missouri.