 Beck and Robert Bailey in Sawdust Underground on the DuPont Cavalcade of America. Stars tonight are John Hodiak, who may soon be seen opposite Judy Garland in Metro Golden Mayor technical musical Harvey Girl, and Robert Bailey courtesy of 20th Century Fox. Two American soldiers escaped from a German prison camp, a sergeant from New Jersey and a corporal from Texas pitted against the Gestapo. This is the incredible story of Sawdust Underground on the Cavalcade of America sponsored by the DuPont Company. There are better things for better living through chemistry. In these next few weeks, housewives everywhere will be busy getting their homes ready for fall and winter, and we have a suggestion for home decoration. It's DuPont's speedy wall finish. This wonderfully easy to use wall paint is especially prepared for redecorating tiresome and drab walls. All you do is thin DuPont's speedy wall finish with water and apply with a large brush or roller. In less than an hour it is dry, and it will cost less than $3 to do the average room in one color. So choose speed easy in any of 11 soft beautiful colors to make your home cheery and lovely. It's speed easy, and it's one of DuPont's better things for better living. Tonight's Cavalcade drama tells of two American infantrymen in occupied France who found out what the Germans already knew, that guns and whips and torture cannot destroy the hearts and courage of a great people. DuPont Company presents the astonishing story of the sawdust underground. Starring John Hodeac is Sergeant Haskins, and Robert Bailey is Corporal McCool on the Cavalcade of America. This is November 1944. This is France. We are with the Third Army. Beyond past the naked trees of the Ardenne Forest, General von Rünstedt is perfecting his plans for a breakthrough. In American G2 headquarters, five o'clock this bitter dawn, Lieutenant Lewis makes his way to the desk of white-faced, exhausted Captain Miller. I hate to add to your load, sir. What is it, Lewis? We got a lulu outside. I've got a few lulus right here. Nothing can surprise me. Well, this will. Suppose I brought in a couple of GIs dressed up as an acrobat and a clown. Would you say I was bucking for a section eight? I'm getting a little tired of your jokes, Lewis. This is no joke, Captain. One of the guys is in an orange clown suit with black pom-poms and ruffles, and the other is all done up in green tights with purple spangles. Bring him in. Okay, sir. Here comes the circus. All right, you men, front and center. Here they are, sir. Corporal McCool and Sergeant Haskins of the 10th Army Group. You men seem to be slightly out of uniform. Oh, well, sir, it's a long story, sir. I think you better let me tell it, sir. You can both tell it, and it better be good. Well, we got captured, sir. Yes, sir. Who else could we have got captured by? Let's have no more arguments. Go on, Sergeant. Well, we escaped, sir, but that part was easy. We hid out from the Jerry patrols all day. And when it got dark, we were kind of curled up in a ditch just off the road. The corporal here wasn't any too happy. Oh, we shouldn't have done it, Mr. Buck, Sergeant. We're free, ain't we? Free. Any minute now, those crowds could come along and we're a couple of dead heroes. So what? This way we got a chance. Yeah, some chance. It can't be more than five miles to our guys. We'll better get stuck and try it. Don't look now, but in those five miles there are howitzers, tanks, and, uh, pardon me for pointing. Germans? There's also quite a few French people. They've got quite an underground here. Yeah, for myself. I don't see no signs of no underground. Be quiet. It comes across like a duck. Looking for us? We sure are. That sidecar was bristling with Mousers. Hey, Mac, you know something? We're really in a jam. Yeah. Well, uh, what are we going to do? We've got to get somebody to help us, that's all. We've got a great case we have. Personally, I wish I was in Dallas. You know what I'd do if I was in Dallas? What would you do if you was in Dallas? I'd go dancing. If I was in Newark, I wouldn't go dancing. I'd sleep. Me? I'd rather dance most anything. Ain't that ridiculous? Right this minute, I feel like dancing. Hot side brawling on the river, I am the brawler. What are you making with that broken down old song again? Well, it so happens I like it. It so happens I don't. Just because you can't sing? I hear it so often from you, I could sing it standing on my head. What would you like to sing and do at, maybe? Quiet. There's somebody coming. The Jerry's? I don't know. It's a lot of wagons. It's a circus, Mac. Oh, man, you're crazy. Mac, I tell you, it's a circus. See them animal cages and them wagons? Well, now how about that? What's a circus doing in the middle of a wall? You think it's German? How would I know? Maybe they'd... Maybe they'd what? Maybe they'd help us. Are you crazy? If I ever get your 10, then that's it. We can't just sit here in this ditch. They're going by. Do I do it? You're local or something. Stay where you are. It's our only chance. Maybe they'll help us. And maybe they won't. But go ahead. You're the sergeant. Hey! Hey, you! Hey, mister! Are you a great big moron? If he's French, he talks French. I'll handle this. Oh, what's with you suddenly with a French-type language? Well, I had two years at Dallas High. I got up to the part about my grandmother's umbrella and my grandfather's garden. I don't want a lesson. You're all right. Hey, monsieur! E.C., here! Paula Ditch! Kiss you! Oh, that's French all right. What is it? French, French or German French? That's what I want to know. Well, they didn't teach that at Dallas. Yeah, la! Yeah, la! Oh, hey, sergeant. The only French I can remember is about that umbrella. Well, say that. Oh, all right. What's he saying? Well, he talks too fast. They all talk too fast. Ne bougez pas. J'ai un fusil. What does that mean, Mac? You don't have to understand French to recognize a guy. Oui, vais-moi. Dépêchez-vous. Oh, we're in the soup, Mac. He wants us to start traveling. So we make a run for it? Silence. Suivez-moi. Vite, vite! I mean, he wants us to get into that circus wagon. Let count three and make a die for the ditch. Pardon me for pointing. But there's another guy with a gun. Vite, vite! Dépêchez-vous, Vassan. There we go. Well, at least we go back to sing-sing on wheels. I never been inside one of these jazz before, Mac. Kind of cozy, huh? Yeah. How do they get six of us into this trailer? And who are these people? Silence. Vous avez spécu une grande l'urbe, Négo. Vous avez tort du chèste. Ce sont des Américains. Vous en êtes sûr? Absolument, copochin. Que pensez-vous? Vous pouvez les aider. Il le faut. Oui. Sergeant and Corporal. Oui, aye, your friend. Hey, he speaks English. Yeah. I am sorry to have alarmed you, but I could take no chance. Wow. I'm some relieved sergeant. Yeah. Well, I hope he ain't bluffing. No, monsieur. I am not bluffing. You are escaping prisoners, Americans. And I love America. I told your country, with Barnum and Billy, for two years. Yeah. Hey, did you ever get to Dallas? Dallas, Dallas. Oh, Texan. Yeah. Oh, certainly. C'est long, Lucette. Now, I must introduce myself and my company. I am Vinegg, ringmaster de Sept Artus. This is copochin, de l'Irientema. Madame Labelle Duchesse, Francis Gratis Acrobat, and Lucette Equestrienne Supérieure. Our star. Enchanté, messieurs les Américains. You're glad to meet you. We will do whatever we can to help you. Je vous assure. But first, we must get off your uniform. Yeah. Well, we ain't got much underneath. We make him the corporeal acrobat. He has good muscles. He looks like an acrobat. The surgeon will be a clown. C'est ça. Duchesse, allez chercher des costumes. Hey, Mac. We're not going to be able to get off your uniform. We're not going to be able to get away with this. I don't know how to act like no clown. Just act natural. Hey. Mr. Venager, do you mind if I ask a few silly questions? Whatever you like. Well, how is it a circus can travel during the war? Why do the Nazis permit it? Oh, Monsieur Gabriel is a master of psychology. He feels the poor people of France must have a little heart. And so he gives us passes with the seal of the Gestapo. You are very grateful to Monsieur Gabriel. Very grateful, Monsieur, because he makes it possible for us to work for General de Gaulle. For us, the circus is the instrument of liberation. Hey, you. You mean this? This is the underground? Yes, but I must warn you that while we will make every effort to help you, we are under orders. We have a timetable. More silly questions. What's on that timetable? Or shouldn't I ask? Shall I tell them, Venager? Why not? Eh bien, we distribute resistance newspapers. We operate a shortwave radio. Also, we delay troop movement. Oh, in that trunk you are sitting on, Corporal. There are many high explosives. You folks sure are... Yikes! I tell you, because we must exercise precaution. Oh, I guarantee you never saw so much precaution like I'm going to exercise. But how do you get away with all this? Everything has its price. And our price is that we are collaboration. That we work with the Germans. That we have a deep allegiance to Papa Pétain Vichy. Oh, you are a fine lost, Monsieur. I heard about it, but I didn't think it was possible. How do you get away with it? The rest we do not. We never know. Voilà. Voici le costume gymnastique pour lui et le pire au pelour. Merci. Eh, what's she talking about? I thought you understood French. These are our costumes. Oh, well, that sure enough does it. When I got drafted into this man's army, I never thought I'd wind up wearing a set of green underwear. And sergeant, with beads. Made in my dressing room. Now that the performance has started, sergent. Well, when do I go on? After the high-wire act. How about the corporal? He's with the acrobat troupe. All he does is pretend. I hope he gets away with it. I hope I do. You win. You look very comical. I look pretty comical, even without this red and white go on my purse. He's not true. You are handsome. Oh, this I gotta tell him back in Newark. Perhaps someday I will see you in Newark, eh? Newark never saw anything like you. You're awful gorgeous. I am glad. Because it helps me to help my friends. You're quite a dame, Lucette. Lucette! Lucette! Lucette! Oui, Cobochin? Le Gestapo, ici. Quatre. Trône-garde. What's up? Nadi, quickly. Go with Cobochin. Take me. What is this? Underground newspapers. I'm in the lion's cage. They will not go there. Is it done? Yeah. Even the lions hate the crows, don't they? Of course. These are French lions. Yeah. Come back into the shadow with me, eh? We can watch the ring from here. Where's the Gestapo? Two are watching the performance. Two more are prowling. Hey, Lucette's gonna do her act. Yes, it is important that she do it now. Why now? Because under the platforms where the horses do their tricks, there is a radio. What are you giving me? Oh, we have to be clever. The horse's reins are the antennae. Well, suppose those guys start searching? Then Madame Le Duchesse will fall from the trapeze into the net. It will cause quite a disturbance. Oh, you sure got everything figured? Mostly everything, I think. It is necessary if Monsieur Hitler is to have his present on time. Uh, what are you giving, Hitler? A little remembrance from the decadent French. Our people in the north have sent us a postcard saying that their fur is massing munitions for a major offensive. We shall make it as difficult as possible for him. I guess you've got a little TNT in mind? Precisely. We have many friends. Members of the underground will be in the audience tonight. They wait for a signal. Madame Le Duchesse will give it shortly. But how do you give the signal? Watch. See her now? As Lucette rides around the ring, Madame is far above her, performing on the trapeze bar. She's doing her most famous specialty now. You see? She twists back on her arm and she swings her body around the bar. One, two, three, four, five. There it is, Sergeant. Five. Five? Five o'clock tomorrow morning. It is the time. Oh, now I've seen everything. Not everything. Welcome to Germans. Say nothing. Ah, good evening, Monsieur. Good evening. I hope you are enjoying the show. I've seen it before. You have a new clown here, eh? Oh, an excellent one, Monsieur. You must have seen him in Berlin at the Winter Garden. So? He's German? Hungarian. He does not look Hungarian. Oh, from the north. Yeah? I would like to see him perform. Certainly. Go on. Oh, you're at. This is your first performance. Make it a good one. You are listening to John Hodiak as Sergeant Haskins and Robert Bailey as Corporal McCool in the amazing adventure of the Sawdust Underground under Capulcate of America sponsored by the DuPont Company, maker of better things for better living through chemistry. As the second half of our story opens, Sergeant Haskins has been ordered to perform as a clown with a French circus troupe, which is really part of the secret underground. Corporal McCool is standing nervously in the wings. I'm here behind his fat. You must not be seen. That crazy lunatic of a sergeant's out in the ring. Vinegar made him go, I saw it. The Gestapo is here. Yikes. Everything is up to your friend. What's he gonna do? He ain't no clown. He had better do something. Our lives depend on it. Hey, look. That's quite a somersault. Oh, it was indeed. Uh-oh. What's he up to now? I do not know. Perhaps he sings? Oh, no. If he does, we're dead. He stands on his head. Stealing my stuff. That's my song. They are applauding for more. Yeah, the guy's a sensation. He's wonderful. And he sings again. Sergeant, I think I have got the words now. It's a role soon-seeking on every era. That's all. This kind of English I do not understand. I'm gonna tell you, it's what we call double talk. It does not matter. It is a song I should never forget. I can only say, Vive l'Amérique. Thanks. Oh, uh, ever think, Lucette, of, uh... Well, uh... Going steady with an American? Going steady? What is that? Well, he's practically ashy an American. Another word out of you, Corporal. I'll break your ears. How in solid can you get? They blush. Well, we just sold our motorcyklet. You see? You are not yet out of danger. There are many more Germans between you and safety. Yeah, I guess I forgot. No, it's me with my head that somebody dropped on the floor. We are near the sea now. It is time for me to go. You must be careful, Vinaigre. Very careful. I am always careful. Where are you going? To L'Oberge des Deux Magaux. It is an inn on the coast where the fishermen used to gather to celebrate the catch from the sea. Now they gather to take Americans and British to England. You will join them. You will smell of herring, but you will be safe. You make it sound like a cinch. Which is a risk, of course. I do not deny it, but so far we have been lucky. Hey, look, we kind of followed you up. Why not let us try this on our own? You would be dead in an hour. Let us have no more talk, please. Lucette, we leave the wagon hidden in this side road. You wait exactly one hour. If I do not return, you know what to do. Oui, papa, je sais bien. Va. Continue entre les mains du bon Dieu. Adieu. Can't you stop that whistling or feel it, Mati? What are you supposed Vinaigre is? He has been gone two hours. More. Soon we go. To get him? No. We leave him. Are you crazy, Lucette? You can't take off without him. What we are to each other is not important. He is one man. We are fighting for many. If he is safe, he will find us. If not, we go on. Those are his orders. We got to go after him. Well, what are we waiting for? You go no place. You do as I say. You're quite a dame, Lucette, but I'll cut my own orders for this mission. Thank you very much. Lucette, Lucette. Il vient. Deux hommes. May papa Vinaigre. Debâche. Je crois que oui. Sit here. All of you, quiet. I will handle it. Can we come in? But of course. You are always welcome. Good evening. A little perno, perhaps? Thank you, nine. It's a strange night. Frog and damp, is it not? Yes, but it will clear. You must come to see our performance tomorrow. Perhaps there will not be one. Oh, there will be one, monsieur. Not with Vinaigre. This I can assure you. Why not? He's dead. Dead? Dead. Dead. Because tonight, by accident or design, he was at Rebaire's, the Dermago. We've known of its activities for a long time, so apparently that Vinaigre... He went for bread. For bread, I tell you. He went to visit his friends of the underground. You, of course, know nothing of this. Nothing. We shall see. You all come with us. Perhaps if you and I talk this over alone, we shall have plenty of time to talk. Now we start. Get up. All of you. Here we go. One, two, three, check. I'm picking it up from there. Grab his pistol, Mac. Look out! Why, you fat jerk! You can choke one of us outside, Sarge. Give me a hand with this guy. Oh, no, Superman. Let's do it my way. It takes care of that. They both dead. Couldn't be deader. You are wonderful. Both of you. My father would have left. Let's get rid of these bodies, Mac. Wait till we get underway. Come on, let's go. We'll dump these carcasses out the back of the wagon on the road. Well, Corporal McCool, we're really in the soup now. Who said it, Sarge? Hey, hey, not so fast. There's dynamite in this soup. This is as far as we can go, Sarge. What do we do now? This is the Chateau-Mer bus. It has passengers which lead into the forest. From there, you can make contact with your patrols. You mean you're brushing us off? I mean you must go. What kind of a jerk do you figure me? You think I can walk out and leave you after what you've done for us? I know what you are trying to say, but you must believe me. I am a soldier like you, under orders. I must now do vinegar's share as well as my own. Not many women at Runder Risks you do. You are wrong, Sarge. Women like myself are working all over France. When we cannot kill the Nazis, we can at least irritate them. The niggers sure irritated them. Yeah. We owe him a lot. More than we can ever pay. So do a bunch of other Americans. How does France? And, uh, what's going to happen to you? We will do what we have to. Then we will make our way back to Paris. She, uh, I sure hope you'll make it. She will, all right. I got to see you again sometime, Lucette, after the war. We meet in Paris, in front of the opera, on the day of liberation. I will wait. I'll be there. Well, uh, do we talk or do we move? Oh, I guess we move. Lucette, tell them all that they're pals, huh? The French and Americans are always allies, Mrs. I'm, uh, I'm much obliged to you for all the hospitality. God be with you both, adieu. Ahem. Au revoir, mademoiselle Lucette. Au revoir. Lucette, if I miss you in Paris, write me a 327 Chestnut Street, Newark, New Jersey. And remember that address because someday you may be living there. So that's how it was, Captain. We snuck her on until one of our patrols picked us up and here we are. I wouldn't have believed it possible. I don't think anybody's going to believe it. I hardly do myself now. Why, you don't think we ran up those costumes ourselves, do you? Yes, sir. What's that? It's not our artillery. It was a big explosion, sir, behind the enemy's lines. Your mission's convoy, I think. You know what I think, sir? I think it's Lucette and the circus people delivering Venegas present to Hitler. That's what I think. And that's what I think, too. You can't stop them. The French are using anything for a weapon. Even sawdust. They use something else, Captain. They use their heads, and they use their hearts. Maybe that's why, for the first time, this war makes sense. Our thanks to you, John Hodiak and Bob Bailey, and to all members of tonight's DuPont Cablecade cast. John Hodiak will return in just a moment. Now, here is Gain Whitman. Now that the war is over, we can tell you in detail about an invention which saved the lives of many fliers forced down at sea on the Pacific. In the final months of the war, a flier's worst enemy often was not the Japs. It was salt water. Hundreds of thousands of square miles of salt water. Over on the sunset side of the earth, there's a lot more water than land. And if a plane was forced down, it was apt to be at sea. And men can't drink salt water. So life rafts used in the Pacific had three ways of providing drinking water. The first was water in cans. Then there was a plastic coated bag in which salt water could be turned into fresh by adding chemicals. The third method was the most unique of all. It's a gadget called a solar steel. It comes folded into a package not much bigger than your hand. Unfolded, it's a couple of feet long. And when inflated, it looks like a miniature blimp. Inside, there's a plastic screen covered with little six-sided DuPont cellulose sponges. The man on the raft pours about a quarter of sea water into the solar steel. As much as the sponges will hold, blows up the bag and lets it float on the water. It's tied to the raft by a string. On a sunny day, the DuPont sponges steam. They give off water vapor. The vapor collects on the inner surface of the miniature blimp and trickles down the sides into a container underneath. Fresh drinking water distilled by the heat of the sun. It took many scientists working as a team to solve the problem of manufacturing fresh water in the middle of the ocean. Men of the Air Technical Service Command at Wright Field, the AAF Proving Ground Command, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Gallagher Chemical Corporation of New York, and the DuPont Company. DuPont cellulose sponges were used for many things during the war. Airplane wings were stuffed with them, for instance, to cut down the chance of fire when the wing was pierced by incendiary bullets. But soon now, they'll be on their way back to you. And we know from the many letters we've received that you'll welcome them as old and trusted aids in your home. Whether you use them in your bath, to scrub the floor, to wash the car, or to dry your photographic films. Sponges of cellulose, products of modern industrial chemistry, are among the many DuPont better things for better living through chemistry. And now, John Hodeac, who starred in tonight's DuPont cavalcade. How many of you know that Nellie Bly wasn't just a song? There was also a real Nellie Bly, and she was a young lady worth knowing. In fact, she was one of the most dazzling and surprising characters in America's elegant 80s. In those days of stiff bustles and stiff collars, there was nothing stiff about Nellie. Next Monday night, Ida Lupino will make Nellie live again when cavalcade brings you Nellie was a lady. Be sure to be on hand for a riotous time when Ida Lupino plays Nellie was a lady on next week's DuPont cavalcade. Cavalcade programs of particular interest to servicemen and women are broadcast overseas through the worldwide facilities of the Armed Forces Radio Service. The music for tonight's DuPont cavalcade was composed and conducted by Robert Armbruster. Our cavalcade play was written by Leonard Stiegelgas and Walter Raleigh. The part of Lusette was played by Nanette Vallone, and Ramsey Hill was Venegra. This is Tom Collins inviting you to listen next week to Ida Lupino in Nellie was a lady. And the cavalcade of America, brought to you by the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware. This is the National Broadcasting Company.