 Remember a Hallmark card when you carry enough to send the very best. Tonight on our Hallmark Playhouse we present a story by Blanche Henry Perrin called Deepwood. This story appealed to me because I like old houses and in so many towns throughout the country there are houses that have a history if only someone remembers and makes his business to take care of them. Ms. Perrin's Halloween was concerned about this in her own town. And Deepwood not only portrays a spirited woman, but shows us just what a woman can do when she makes her mind up. To play the part of such a woman who could be better than our choice tonight, an actress who has endeared herself to millions in many a lively feminine role, Ms. Rosalyn Russell. And now a word about Hallmark cards from Frank Goss before we begin the first act of Blanche Henry Perrin's Deepwood. There are Hallmark cards for every memorable occasion on your calendar. For birthdays, anniversaries, holidays. Yes, for every occasion that calls for remembrance, for a friendly greeting, a word of good cheer, and expression of sympathy. There is a Hallmark card that says just what you want to say, 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 Blanche Henry Perrin's Deepwood, starring Rosalyn Russell. The world were once small towns. And if a town remains small, this doesn't mean that it lacks greatness. Shelby, the scene of tonight's story, is barely a fly speck on the map. And Janie Oliver, who lives there, may never win a medal or see her picture on the cover of time. But the Janie Oliver's in the small towns of this world are apt to be the people who get things done. What things? And how do they do them? Well, that's the story of Deepwood. Over the rail fence on the top of the hill, in the grove where eucalyptus trees. Why, that's just Deepwood. Exactly. Janie Oliver, did you traipse me out here over three miles of Dight Road just to look at that old wreck? It looks like it would blow down in a march wind. Charlie, how much do you know about Deepwood? I know it's an eyesore, and to hear the tenants are breeding poultry in the parlour. Do you know who built that house? Oh, Thomas Jefferson. Well, I never. He'd certainly be ashamed of it if he could see it now. He'd be ashamed of us. Why, every beam and rafter in that old house is just teeming with history. Now it's teeming with poultry. I'll bet that old place would just march off of all the termites decided to walk in the same direction. That'd be a good idea. Lily, I've got a plan. Janie Oliver, as soon as you get a plan, I start getting tired. I want to fix up Deepwood. Restore it to the glory and beauty of Thomas Jefferson's original plan to make Deepwood look the way he intended it should. A monument to a gracious way of life. A reminder, Lily, of the splendor of the past. A show place, the way it was in the days when they entertained the whole county at strawberry festivals on the lawn. When the blades of shell became the Deepwood to dance with young girls and crinolines. And a whole mansion echoes of music and laughter and the joy of being alive. Point of all this. Oh, Lily Marbles, you've got no imagination. Has it ever been over to Williamsburg? They restored the whole town, exactly the way it was in colonial days. But that takes millions of dollars. Oh, we could just restore Deepwood for just a few thousand. No, thousands, millions are all same to me. Hard work, Tim, and time. Lord knows I've had plenty of time since Jim died. Now, Lily, Lily, would you ask your husband to just tear up the mortgage on Deepwood? Why, he divorced me. We've got an understanding. I don't tell him how to run his bank, and he doesn't tell me how to run my bridge club. Well, work on him, Lily. I've got a hunch where we can get a good builder who won't charge us a dime. Where? At the State Penitentiary. I did expect you to come call on me here at the pen. George Miller, my husband always thought a lot of you, and I don't... I had to tell him that at the trial, Mrs. Oliver. I'm a good contractor. I just put a little extra sand in the concrete mix to see if those inspectors are nervous. Wouldn't hurt the highway any. I was just frolicking. Frolicking, huh? Well, George, if we could get you paroled... What do you mean, Mrs. Oliver? So you could do a construction job for the city of Shelby, free, understand? How much frolicking do you think you'd do? None, Mrs. Oliver. No, ma'am, I'm through with that. I've learned my lesson. What do you want, a new city hall, a railroad station? We want you to restore Deepwood. That old pile of rotten timber? George Milloy, that old pile of rotten timber was designed and built by the third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson, huh? Rail seems right and proper to get loosed out of jail by the man who wrote the Declaration of Independence. I'm not supposed to be walking down in the exact middle of the highway. I need a ride. I don't pick up hitchhikers. Now, you get out of this car. I'm a doctor. My car's stuck up deep in the mud on one of your fine country roads. Men drivers. Take me to the stillwell place. This is an emergency. Frank stillwell fell off his hayloader and broke his leg. Oh, no. That's what his wife thinks anyway. Now, step on it. You don't talk like a doctor. And you don't look like a doctor. What do you want me to do? Put on a grey wig and have a stethoscope dangling from my ears? How do I know you're a doctor? I carry a little black bag. So does the safecracker. Madam Tropolis of Shelby. Now, will you take me to the stillwell farm or shall I be obliged to walk? I'll take you. Not as a favor to you, but to help Frank stillwell. You're a veritable Florence Nightingale. Don't you be sarcastic. Can't understand why the stillwells would call on you instead of somebody dependable like Dr. Cushing. We're in the same office. I'm Ed Cushing's nephew. And you're going to take over Ed's practice when he retires, huh? Pity the poor community of Shelby. I spent eight years at medical school. Oh, had trouble getting through? Plus two years as an intern and four more in the Army Medical Corps. I'm prepared to handle any diseases you can dream up in this work. Humility. Oh, it's so becoming in a man. Like graciousness in a woman. I'll have you know I'm missing the first meeting of the Deepwood Memorial Association just to oblige you. I should have guessed it. You would be tied up with a silly deal like that. I'm the president of the Deepwood Association. And what you turn a silly deal is actually an important and worthwhile civic project. Oh, you must be Mrs. Jane Oliver. I've heard a lot about you. Oh. Got you tagged, Mrs. Oliver, simple neurosis. Oh, thank you, pardon. Sublimating your frustrations with syndromic hyperactivity. Don't you give me any of your free psychiatry, Dr. McDowell? Is that your name? I assure you I would perish on a bed of pain before I let you give me so much as a sugar pill. Now this is still well farmed. Now you have a report to make. Wept over the mortgage thing with my husband. And Willie says there's $2,000 old on the Deepwood play. Is the bank willing to tear up the mortgage? Willie about went through the roof when I suggested that. Well, I'll pull them back down again. Suppose the bank gives this Deepwood. How do we raise the money to build it up again? I've got a contractor who'll work for nothing. Oh, Janey. Well, he's in the state penitentiary now, but if we can get him out of the role of any youth project, I cannot possibly sit down through the steps and get off. There aren't many contractors who'll work for nothing. And George Malloy has promised me not to do any frolicking on this job. And I believe him. And while we're restoring Deepwood, we may be restoring a man too. Giving him a chance to win back the respect of the community. Anybody have any appoint you chairman of a committee to petition the patrol board there and get George Malloy out of the state penitentiary? How will we get the rest of the money? Even with a contractor who won't charge, materials are still so high. Congratulations, Lily. All of us are going to canvass this town from top to bottom, from South Park to the reservoir. As well we keep it from going back to ruin again. That'll take money. Well, how do they keep up Williamsburg? They charge admissions. Why, do you know thousands of people will want to see the house that Thomas Jefferson built? Tours will come to Shelby from hundreds of miles around. Over hours at roads. We'll build a new road. And will they stay once they get here? It's Matt Carey's rare rat Carey to fix up the hotel. I tell you girls, Deepwood can be more than a piece of the architecture of history. It can be a symbol of a new way of life to our little town. Or I met a certain newcomer to Shelby. In fact, he was the cause of my being late to this meeting. And he seemed to have nothing but contempt for our little backward town, as they called it. Well, I want to show him what kind of energy and spirit there is in Shelby. I want this smart aleck new doctor to see what a handful of silly women can do. In just a moment we'll return to the second act of Deepwood starring Rosalind Russell. Sometimes we catch a bit of conversation that starts us off on a whole new trend of thought. It happened to me the other night. A dear little lady of 80 or so had just returned from a trip around the world. And someone asked her how she managed to be understood in those countries where English is not common. And her eyes twinkled as she said why you know a smile is the same in any language. Now isn't that a wonderful recipe for friendship? And when you start to think of it, isn't that exactly what you do when you send a greeting card? Send a smile to a friend. Folks who cannot be there personally to see and receive your smile can share its benefits when they know you're thinking of them. You can't let them know with a hallmark card. That's why these days when families are separated and friends see each other less frequently, more and more people are gathering around the counters of fine stores where hallmark friendship cards are sold. Here you'll find cards that commemorate no special occasion, no birthdays, weddings or the like, merely beautiful hallmark cards beautifully designed to let someone know you're thinking of them, to send your smile across time and space. And for the card you send to receive an even warmer welcome, be sure it has that familiar and friendly hallmark on the back. For that tells your friends you cared enough to send the very best. Now back to James Hilton and the second act of Deepwood starring Rosalyn Russell. The leadership of Mrs. Jane Oliver. Faith and femininity can move mountains, and Janie has the entire town of Shelby working on her pet project. George Malloy out on parole has already done wonders with Thomas Jefferson's old mansion. Shelby's only hotel is being rebuilt and enlarged to accommodate the expected flood of tourists. And Janie has even weaned money from the counter commissioners for a new paved highway. Only one person seems to be skeptical about the whole affair. Dr. McDowell? Why, Mrs. Oliver? Here's your dollar, which you so generously contributed to the Deepwood Memorial Fund. I think we can finish the job, doctor, without your snickering gifts. I'm sorry, Mrs. Oliver. I don't mean to be a smart alec doctor. Oh, you heard about that. Well, you had it coming. Yes, I suppose so. But, uh... Well, it just makes me mad to see a powerhouse going to waste. A powerhouse? You! To see this great energy and organizing ability of yours wasting itself on a dead monument. Deepwood is more than a monument. It's a symbol. It's the past. The past is the foundation of the present. If we're civilized today, it's because we're extending the visions of men and women before us. If we forget what we owe to men like Thomas Jefferson, we've slipped backwards. Yes, I know. As a doctor, I admit a great debt to Lord Lister. Who? The man who discovered antiseptics. But I don't have his bust on my desk or his picture on my wall. I think the best monument to Lister is a bottle of carbolic acid alongside the surgical table. That's no argument for letting Deepwood go to ruin. Of course not. But with all this energy you've got, all this drive, why don't you use it to give this community something it really needs? Something that would make life better for people like Frank Stowell. What's happened to Frank? Was his leg broken? Amputate? Do you know what that means to a farmer? I know what that means to anybody. It's all because of foolishness and stupidity. Why? Do you know where the nearest X-ray machine is? 30 miles away. I couldn't move Frank Stowell that far. Without X-ray, I had no way of knowing that the bone was splintered into the joint. You need a hospital in this town. Why don't you busybodies get steamed up over something that'll save lengths and lives instead of your plain, full Deepwood? I think you're doing marvels with this place. Well, thank you, Mrs. Oliver. At least it's beginning to take shape. Of course, I don't know very much about building and construction, but I think even Thomas Jefferson would be proud of Deepwood now. You're the one who's done it, Mrs. Oliver. Mrs. Oliver, Jeannie, there's something I've wanted to say to you. What is it, George? Well, I don't suppose you'll ever know how much I appreciate you giving me a fresh start, Norris. George, I was... Let me finish, please. Well, I think I know why you did it. You see, I've been pretty lonesome too. And if you cared enough about me to get me out of jail, I guess maybe you could care enough to marry me. What? George Malloy? We're too lonely people, just like the songs. Isn't that true, Jeannie? Don't call me Jeannie. Well, after all the encouragement you gave... I'd be sorry for you. I wanted to help you. But if you're foolish enough to take that as a romantic encouragement... I'm a jailbird, is that it? No, no, it is. It's only... I'm good enough to do your day labor, but I'd better stay in my place. Keep my distance from the precious, untouchable Mrs. Oliver. Please, please. Let's forget we ever had this conversation. Or would you rather not continue with Deepwood? Well, not continue. Well, see here, Mrs. Oliver, you've got to let me complete my work here. And maybe I did overplay my hand. You wouldn't ought to throw me out of the game. What's so funny going on at Deepwood? What's funny, Lily? Remember that real purdy woodwork that used to go around the manful piece in the parlor? With all the scroll work and do-dads on it? What about it? It's gone. A lot of the old things have just been torn out. Oh, that's part of the restoration, I guess. I wish I had more faith in George Malloy. If we could only find somebody dependable to check up on things. How about the new doctor? What does he know about building? Well, his father was in the lumber business and he's very good about construction and things. I'd sooner trust a tender foot from the beaver patrol. You should hear some of the things he says about you. I think he admires you very much. Certainly has a very peculiar way of showing it. Janey, why don't you take him out to inspect George Malloy's work? Not on your life, Lily. I won't have anything to do with your doctor, Nicholas McDowell. What kind of you to inspect the progress of Deepwood, Dr. McDowell? I'm no contractor, but I've learned a lot from my dad. He knew how to build things that had last. I hope Deepwood will last another century or more after we've restored it. Deepwood means a lot to you, doesn't it? I can't explain why. The last time we talked about it, you made me feel it was a waste of energy. Where I sit, I get a different idea of what's wrong with the world. I've got a blind spot about a hospital. To me, it seems so important that nothing else could possibly matter. A hospital is important. So is Deepwood. By the way, that dollar you refunded to me, I put 99 more with it and sent it to your fund. I don't remember seeing it. I put it in Uncle Ed's name. I was afraid you wouldn't accept it from old Karbalic acid McDowell. That was very sweet of you, Nick. For what? Calling me Nick. Let's go and see what kind of a job your contract is doing. It's not seasoned. All this woodwork is cheap, run-of-the-mill stuff. He gave me his solemn word. No Frolicking. Well, with some people, it's a psychological disease. They can't help skipping if they think it won't be noticed. It's my fault, too. I had a big argument with George Maloy a few weeks ago. This sounds funny now. He asked me to marry him. I suppose I was rude in the way I turned him down. Well, then nerve that guy. What do we do about it, Nick? If the whole Deepwood memorial should be a fiasco just a swindle, I'd be to blame. I'll strike the fear of the angel Gabriel into him. When I'm through with Maloy, he'll make every important theme as sound as a day Deepwood was new. Ladies and gentlemen, as Lieutenant Governor of this state, I am proud and honored to be present at the formal opening of the Deepwood Memorial. I understand that all of the citizens of Shelby have cooperated in the Deepwood Association, but that the leader of this work has been Mrs. Jane Oliver. Mr. Governor, I can't understand it. Well, should we continue the ceremony without her? Do you wish me to unveil the... You drive me here to Deepwood. Along the new highway that we're all so proud of was Tommy the Windfield Boy. They thought he just had a stomach ache, but it was appendicitis. The doctor had to operate on Tommy on a kitchen table. And I tried to help him. I'm afraid I wasn't a very good nurse. But while Dr. McDowell was saving Tommy Windfield's life, I realized something. This house, Deepwood, can be more than just a museum piece. More than a memorial. Maybe when Thomas Jefferson laid out the plans a century and a half ago, maybe he had a vision of some kind. This town would need a hospital. Well, it's almost perfect. The parlor could be a cellarium and an operating room upstairs. Dr. McDowell says it's hundreds of people in Shelby. Both funds to raise instead of the end of our job. This is really just the beginning. I'll eat my heart in a history book. But it hadn't been for our new doctor, Nick McDowell. He made me see that that the real needs of the present are more important than the sentimental memories of the past. Say one thing more. Ladies and gentlemen, I wish we had some of the genealogy of this world. That's the best kind. Hospital, it doesn't look like a hospital. Look. The long march of stars above the colonies. I ordered them special for tonight. I'm afraid they wouldn't get here. Am I really a powerhouse? Yep. Yes, I should be glad. It was nice what the governor said and everything. But I don't think people much like powerhouses. They're glad they've got them when they flip on a light switch. I like powerhouses. I like to marry one. Yes, sure. I'm a fighter. Toya, I'm a fighter too. The happiest marriages aren't all whipped cream and sunshine. The lucky ones have something to fight for. Our first fight over this old house. We could be married right here. Janey. Jefferson will give the bride a... We'll return in a moment. In the springtime, most of us smile more often and more gaily. Perhaps is a welcome to this loveliest of seasons. And like all happiness shared, our own enjoyment increases when it includes our friends and loved ones. When we can tell them our thoughts and feelings. Then you know the hallmark Easter card because hallmark cards are designed to say what you want to say, the way you want to say it. You can find one that expresses all the joys you feel at this time. The wishes you'd like to make for each and every friend on Easter day. You'll find hallmark Easter cards from mother and dad for all the family, for friends you haven't seen all year and friends you see every day. There are ones to send to children and ones for the children to send to others. And when you sign your name and drop the card in the mailbox, there's that comforting feeling of knowing that it will be well received. Because it's from you, because the message expresses your thoughts. And because that hallmark on the back tells the person who receives it that you cared enough to send the very best. Here again is James Hilton. Rosalind Russell, it's a real pleasure to welcome you back to the hallmark playhouse. Your roles on the screen have always been captivating and tonight your portrayal of Jane Oliver was exactly that. You know, that's about the nicest tribute an actress can receive, Jimmy. Thank you very much. You know, you hallmark people certainly have the knack of saying the right thing at the right time. And Frank Goss mentioned sending a smile to a friend. I said to myself, what a wonderful way to describe the thoughtfulness of sending a card. Well, thank you, Rosalind. Tell me, Jimmy, what are you planning for next week? Next week we shall present Laura Ingalls Wilders the Long Winter, the story of a brave American family. As our star, we shall have one of Hollywood's most popular actors, Edward Arnold. And now I wonder if you realize that within six days after it was asked for, blood from the Red Cross Bank was in career. And whenever disaster happens at home, the Red Cross is always on the spot to give aid and comfort to the victims. Remember, in peace and war, the Red Cross never delays. So don't you delay your Red Cross contribution. Our hallmark playhouses every Thursday, directed producer is Bill Gay. Our music is composed and conducted by Lynn Murray. And our story tonight was dramatized by Lawrence and Lee. Until next Thursday, then, this is James Hilton saying, good night. Remember hallmark cards when you carry them up to send the very best. Watch for Rosalind Russell in the independent artist production, Teach Me to Love. The role of Dr. Nick tonight was played by Whitfield Conner, Eleanor Audley was Lily, and Ted DeCorsia was George Malloy. This is Frank Goss saying good night to you all until next week at the same time when James Hilton returns to present Edward Arnold in Laura Ingalls Wilder's The Long Winter and the week following, John Sedges The Long Love starring Van Johnson. And in the weeks after that, Princess Parkinson Kai's Joy Street on the hallmark playhouse. This is CBS The Columbia Broadcasting System. We see Kansas City, Missouri.