 From Hollywood, California, the Lux Radio Theatre presents Barbara Stanwyck in So Big, with Preston Foster, Fay Rae, and Otto Kruger. Lux presents Hollywood. Tonight we journey through a lifetime, the life of a brave and simple woman, her loves, her struggles, her ultimate victory, told under the title, So Big. You'll hear Barbara Stanwyck, Preston Foster, Fay Rae, and Otto Kruger. Our special guest is Mrs. Sarah Delano Roosevelt, the mother of our president. The music of the Lux Radio Theatre is conducted by Louis Silvers. But first, just a word about the splendid product behind this theatre. Our lovely Spene stars have found that their complexion soap, Lux Toilet soap, makes a wonderful beauty bath too. Just a few minutes in a warm tub in a generous lathering with Lux Toilet soap leaves you refreshed and sure of daintiness. The fragrant white Lux Toilet soap has active lather, you know, that removes thoroughly every trace of dust, dirt, and perspiration. Try it for your daily beauty bath. You'll love the delicate clinging fragrance it leaves on the skin. And now, the producer of the Lux Radio Theatre, ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Sassel B. DeMille. Greetings from Hollywood, ladies and gentlemen. One of the exciting things about writing is that writers never know how the public is going to receive their work. For example, Edna Ferber thought so little of her first novel, Dorn O'Hara, that she threw it away. It was published only after her mother dug it out of a wastebasket. Of so big, Ms. Ferber said, I thought I'd written a complete non-seller. I didn't think anyone would ever read it. She was wrong. Hundreds of thousands were fascinated by the book. And tonight, millions more will meet her characters, as Barbara Stanwyck, Preston Foster, Faye Ray, and Otto Kruger bring so big to the air. Barbara Stanwyck was about to play a small part in one of Willard Mac's productions, when he decided that he didn't like her real name, Ruby Stevens. So he and David Belasco created a new one, taking it from all theatre programs pasted on the Green Room Wall at the Belasco Theatre. On these programs were the names Barbara Fricci and Jane Stanwyck. They served to change more than Ruby Stevens' name. They changed her luck. Barbara's, whose home was once an orphan asylum, and who at 13 was wrapping bundles in a Brooklyn department store, was on the high road to brilliant success. For the past several months, she's been working with me in Union Pacific, in which she plays the role of a little Irish postmistress, and proves again that she's one of the really great women of the screen. Barbara starred in the picture so big, and plays the part of Selena again tonight. And we're happy to welcome Preston Foster, a newcomer to our microphone. Preston's boyhood ambition was to become six feet tall and sing in opera. He achieved both. He's six feet two and sang for a time with the La Scala Opera Company in Philadelphia. Preston's new paramount picture is Geronimo. And tonight, we hear him in the role of Dirk de Jong. Faye Ray, one of the loveliest of the screen's lovely ladies, is no stranger to our stage. The last time she was here, we almost prevailed upon her to recite some of her own poetry. Perhaps we'll have better luck tonight. Faye is heard as Dallas O'Mara. Otto Kruger, one of Hollywood's famous importations from Broadway, plays Purvis de Jong. And now for the play. The Lux Radio Theatre presents Barbara Stanwyck in So Big, with Preston Foster, Faye Ray, and Otto Kruger. It is Chicago, 1908. Here in the sprawling, rapidly growing city, Simeon Peake has brought up his motherless daughter, Selena. But Simeon has been shot in a gambling house brawl. Alone in the world, Selena occupies a dreary room in a cheap boarding house, bravely trying to face the blank future, when a schoolgirl friend, Julie Hempel, her only friend, comes at last to see her. So terribly sorry about your father. I came as soon as I could. I know, Julie. And I think it's horrible what the newspapers are saying. Horrible? No, Julie, it's only the truth. My father was shot and killed in a gambling house. But Selena... I never knew he was a gambler, Julie. When he sent me to school and gave me so much, he always told me he was in the market. And he was good to me. I don't care what he was. He was good to me. But Selena, what are you going to do? Did he, uh, did he leave you anything? $70 in a ring? Well, it's not a very big diamond, but I'll never part with it because it was his. But Selena, you've got to live. I can work. Oh, you can't. What kind of work could you do? I can teach. I've already got a position. Where? In High Prairie. I'm to live with a foreman, his wife. A foreman? A class pool, his name is, and, well, I think it should be fun teaching in a country school. Oh, Selena, I think you're being very brave. I'm trying to remember what my father said. That life is just one big show, and the trick is to act in and look on at the same time. And no matter what happens to you, good or bad, it's all velvet. I hope it will be for you, Selena. Thank you, Julie. I hope so, too. Most there now. You can see the house up ahead there. Oh, Mr. Pool, how beautiful it is here. Beautiful? What is beautiful? This, the, the fields, the cabbages. Cabbages is beautiful. Cabbages? Cabbage? But they are, they are beautiful, they're, they're like jade and burgundy. Cabbage. Cabbage. I believe you said you had three children, Mr. Pool. Will they all be my pupils? Eh, no, no, not all, teacher. Why not? Which ones won't? Gertje goes to school, Yozina goes to school, Rolf works by the farm. How old is Rolf? Rolf is twelve. Only twelve? I'm no longer in school. Rolf, he works by the farm. Doesn't he like school? Sure. Well, then why doesn't he call for pity's sake? Rolf, he works by the farm. Well, this is my house. Oh, it's a very comfortable-looking house. It's not very fine. Farmers is poor. Marcia! You're the teacher. Eh, you go in. Supples ready soon. Cabbage, this is beautiful. Cabbage. Would you like it here with us, teacher? Oh, yes, thank you, Mrs. Pool. Sure. Gertje and Yozina, they make good pupils for you. More to eat, Klaus? No, too tired. The best field tomorrow. Well, time to bed down the horses. Oh, teacher, you still think cabbages is beautiful? Cabbages. That's good. He told me what you said. Rolf. Rolf, stop the reading and go to the chores. They're needing good. All right. All the time he is reading like anything. Harry, Rolf, you here and bring in the water. Getting late? What are you reading, Rolf? A book. The last teacher gave it to me. May I say something? Wait, it's a dictionary. You're reading the dictionary. It's got more than a hundred thousand words. All different. Rolf, your father tells me you're not coming to school. Yeah, Pa needs me by the field. Oh, I suppose so, but it's too bad. Are you going to be a former tool, Rolf? Well, Pa wants me to be, but I don't like farms. What do you like to do? I like to make pictures. Pictures? Yes, draw things. Oh, how nice. Could I see one of your pictures sometime, Rolf? I don't show them to anybody, because they might laugh. I wouldn't. I love pictures. Someday you might be a great artist, Rolf. Yeah, but farm work takes all the time. I don't get much chance. Rolf, I have a book called Ivanhoe. Would you like to read it? Well, I don't get much time. Rolf, you work all the time. Don't you have any fun at all? Sure. I'm going to the church sociable next Wednesday night. Are you going? I haven't heard about it yet. Well, the women bring the supper in baskets, and Adam Ohms raffles them off, and you eat with whoever buys your box. Oh, that sounds like fun. Well, I guess I'd better get the chores done. Good night, Rolf. Teacher. Yes? Cabbage. Fields of cabbages. What you said. They are beautiful. Bath to my feet. Bath to my feet. Remember, the lucky gent gets the fair owner of this basket as his supper partner. Goodness, I had no idea there'd be so many people, Rolf. Better give your supper box to Adam Ohms. All the others are up there on his table. Oh, and look at the size of them. Baskets full, and wine's just a shoe box. Oh, Rolf. Oh, don't you care? It looked pretty the way you fixed it. Oh, excuse me, please. Oh, I'm sorry. That's all right. Rolf, who was that? Well, his name is Purvis de Jong. Oh, I saw him in church the other day. Is he a farmer, too? Well, everybody's farmer's here. I guess he'll buy the widow Parlenberg's lunch basket. She makes eyes at him all the time. She's stuck on him. What about Purvis de Jong? Is he stuck on her, too? Well, I don't know. But all the girls make eyes at him because they say he's good-looking. I bet you make eyes at him, too. Oh, Rolf, don't be silly. I better take my lunch box up. If I can never get through this crowd. Excuse me, please. Couldn't I get through? Oh, would you please let me through? Here, what the... Oh, I'm sorry, but I want to get my lunch box up there. That? Is that a lunch box? Yes, for the raffle. I'm the schoolteacher, Selena Peake. Yeah, I saw you in church Sunday. I'm Purvis de Jong. Oh, did you see me? I didn't think you... Wait here. I'll take your lunch box up. Look what we have here, folks. The Fito Palin Folk's basket. Well, what am I bid? What am I bid? What? Speak up, young men of high prairie. What am I bid? Seventy-five cents. Your hand is on four, so it's seventy-five cents. Who'll make it eighty? I put your box on the table. Thank you. Did I hear you, Pitchette Purvis de Jong? No, he ain't going to. You're not going to bid? Why, I thought you... Eighty cents! Did I hear you say a dollar, Purvis de Jong? Don't miss a chance like this. Are you going to let Roast Doggo for a mere eighty cents? Going, going, soul. The glory of our fallen for eighty cents. Oh, you've lost it, Mr. De Jong. Yeah. How goes it, schoolteaching? Oh, it goes pretty well for the first few days. You're little to be a schoolteacher, aren't you? Well, I didn't know teachers were judged by their size. Now, he is a dainty little tit-pit, folks. If the pitot's basket was too much for you, maybe this box will do. Oh, dear, it's mine. If you like little ribbons and you ain't feeling specially hungry, it may be all right. But the lady herself goes with it, gents. Miss Selena Peake, that's who. Miss Selena Peake. Well, what are my bid with these lovely little toad-full chains? Five cents. One dollar. Purvis the young bid's one dollar. Purvis seems to be making up. Dollar and a half. Oh, that's Ralph. One sixty. Three dollars. Oh, no, Ralph shouldn't do that. He's only got four dollars, and he's been saving it for a set of paints. Five dollars. Oh, please. Purvis the young bid's five dollars. And ten cents? Six. Six fifty. The cupcakes fell a little. Ten dollars. Ten dollars, gents. Ten points and twice. Go on to Purvis the young. Come on, teacher. Let's get out of here. All that money when you might have been eating roast duck. I don't know. You look so little. They were making fun of you. That's a very foolish reason for throwing away ten dollars. So, you're a schoolteacher, huh? I thought we went all over there. I can't hardly write at all. Only to sign my name and like that. Oh. Can you read? Oh, only to spell out words. I don't get time for reading. But figurine, I wish I knew. Rhythmic, I can figure some. But, oh, those fellas in the market, they're too sharp for me. They do numbers in their head, like that, so quick. Would you like me to teach you? Huh? How do you mean, teach me? Evenings. Well, what would you take for pay? Pay? I don't want any pay. Oh. I'd tell you what. My farm is near the school. I could start for you to fire mornings this winter and tour the pump and bring in water. And I could come maybe, well, three times a week, evenings to pool's place. Three evenings a week? Well, I'd love to do it. I'd love to. All right, teacher. Thanks. You did all those examples without one mistake. Yeah. It's easy when you know it once. Your English is getting better, too. But you shouldn't say, know it once. Oh, yeah. Once, know it. That's right. Oh, it's you, Ralph. Aren't you going to study with us tonight, Ralph? I've got things to do. Oh. All right, Pervis. We'll go on now. Now, let's see. The square root of 576. It must contain twice the product of the tens by the unit. Ralph, please. I don't know what's the matter with Ralph. It seems that every time we're having a lesson, he... I know. I think maybe he doesn't like it that I come here to study. Oh, that's silly. Why shouldn't he like it? I don't know. Maybe, you know, he won't be mad much longer. Two more weeks is the last lesson. Two weeks? Oh, let's get on, shall we? I'll be sorry. Will you be? Well, yes, I suppose, sir. I've liked the lessons here. In my house, always it's a quiet. Too quiet. Selena... Well, now let's see. Twice the tens, time the units. Add four units to the 40 and multiply the result by four. Selena... Yes? Selena... I don't know how to tell you. Oh, don't look so frightened, Purvis. What is it? I... I want you to marry me, Selena. Purvis. Do you think I'd make a good farm, his wife? A good one for me? I... I don't know very much about farms. I've always lived in the city. You will learn, little Selena. I will be teacher this time. You will keep the house for me while I work the land. Oh, my house, it sort of run down, but I would fix it. Oh, we could paint it, why, Purvis? With green shutters. And I'd put pretty curtains at the windows and plant hollyhock. Go all around it. Selena, you mean you will marry me? Oh, I want to, Purvis. Very much. Oh, little Selena. Little Selena. There's not a farmer in high prairie who will have such a pretty wife. Barbara Stanwyck, Preston Foster, Faye Ray, and Otto Krueger have completed the first act of So Big. They will continue with act two shortly. But first, in this brief intermission, we would like you to meet Betty Gray, a young lady who is going to have a starring role in a June wedding. Right now, Betty is talking to her future sister-in-law, Marion. Honestly, Marion, I'm so happy I could burst and so much in love with Tom. Tom says the same thing about you every five minutes. I ought to be used to it. It's been going on ever since he and you ate your ice cream together at the sixth grade party. Isn't it wonderful? Wait, I'll get my diary. I'll give you a real summary. Look, this is 11 years ago, September 18, 1928. I bet the sixth grade is hard, but I don't care. Tom said he'd help me with my arithmetic. He teases me, but I like him. You had one setback, Betty, in high school. Remember Nancy Allen? Ooh, do I? She's writing this diary. Here, listen. May 15, 1935. I hate Tom. He hangs around that Nancy Allen all the time. I wish I had curly hair like hers. Oh, and Marion, the next day I wrote, I feel better today because I talked to Tom's lovely big sister, Marion. Why, you little flatterer. And she says, with your nice complexion, you don't have to worry about not having curly hair. Oh, dear diary, I certainly hope she's right. I certainly was right. You had beautiful skin then, and you still have it. Congratulations, Betty, on your engagement and June wedding. And congratulations on your lovely complexion. A really beautiful complexion is a priceless possession that every girl should cherish. Luxe toilet soap, the soap nine out of ten screen stars use, helps you keep the priceless loveliness of your complexion, the loveliness that means romance. And remember this. It's foolish to rob yourself of complexion beauty by allowing your pores to become choked with dust, dirt, and stale cosmetics. That's when cosmetic skin develops, with its dullness and large pores and little blemishes. Use rouge and powder all you like, but be sure to remove them thoroughly with Luxe toilet soap's active lather. Use this fine, gentle care before you put on fresh makeup during the day, always before you go to bed at night. Our producer, Mr. DeMille. We continue with a second act of So Big, starring Barbara Stanwyck with Preston Foster, Faye Ray, and Otto Kruger. Three years have passed since Selena married Pervista Young. For her, each day of those three years has begun in the darkness before dawn, and plodded relentlessly through broiling suns and icy blasts with life, love, everything, subservient to the cruel, unending demands of the farm. Selena's dreams of beautifying the place have been forgotten under the crushing burden of daily living. When she can, she helps perverse in the fields, her young son, Dirk, playing at her side. Look, darling, look how big our carrots are and how golden. Aren't they pretty? There we are, a nice, fat one. Oh, how big is my baby? How big is my man? Oh, stretch your arms wide as wide as you can. Now, how big are you? Oh, a big, little man. Lena. Yes, Purvis? Lena, I've told you I don't like you should work in the fields. Oh, but Purvis, why not? You and one hired man can't do it all. The women of our family never worked in the fields, not even in Holland. But the vegetables will rot in the ground. Let them rot. Oh, can't things ever change, Purvis? Putty, putty. Look, look, he pulled a radish all by himself. Already he's a farmer. No, no, no. What? Nothing. Well, tomorrow we must start pulling the beets. They're ready. You look so tired, Purvis. Why don't you rest? You haven't stopped a minute since four this morning. Vegetables must be picked when they are ready. I suppose so. Purvis, I've been thinking about that West 16 section. Can't we drain it and plant there? Oh, that's clayland. Drain and you have yet got clay. I know, I know. You've got to use tiled drainage and humus, then with potash and fosbrick acid. Well, well, well. The schoolteachers are farmer now, huh? Tell me, little Lena, from where did you learn all about this stroke farming? Out of a book. I sent to Chicago for it. Huh? A book? A book? A stroke farmer out of a book? Why not? The man who wrote it knows all the new ways to farm. Oh, you're running the farm just the way your father ran it. Yeah. But what's good enough for my father is good enough for me. It isn't, it isn't. We're not getting anywhere, Purvis. And Dirk is growing up. He's going to need things. He'll be going to school. Oh, there'll be so much. No, fine talk. A farmer must take what God sends, Lena. And all your books can't change that. Oh, all right, all right. If you won't listen, you won't. Come in, Ralph. How are you? Oh, all right. Wait. You have your best suit on. What is it? I'm going away. Away? Why? I'm going away. There's nothing for me to stay for here. Everything I do, they say it's dumb. They laugh. I know. Where are you going? I don't know. Chicago, maybe. I brought you this picture you always liked, the one I made at the hay market. Oh, thank you, Ralph. I'll always keep it. Oh, but, Ralph, you'll need some money. I have a little saved. Let me get it for you. You must write to me, Ralph, and let me know how you're doing. You know, I want to hear. Oh, and you must work so hard at your drawings. You have a great talent. Here, Ralph, it isn't very much, but... Ralph, where are you? Ralph! Oh, he's gone. He's free. Yes, so big. Isn't it time Pop was home from market, Mom? Oh, it's way past time, and it's such a bad night. I do hope he didn't sleep out in the wagon last night. I told him not to. There's a light, Mom, in the barn. Is that you, Purvis? It's me. Purvis, dear, you're so late. What happened? I had to go by new haram. The bridge was washed out already. Geez, is it that bad, Pop? Oh, you're soaked. Get your wet things off your shivering. Dirk, put more wood in the stove. Did you manage to sell out, Purvis? Oh, less than half the load. So sick I am of this crazy... Oh, I know. I'll make it and sit here by the fire while I get you some dinner. Oh, I don't know if I can eat. Oh, but you must. It will do you good. What was the matter at the market? Oh, I don't know. When I have carrots, everybody by the market has them. When I have radishes, they have them, too. They rot in the wagons. You remember once you say farm work is grand? It isn't, but I think it could be. Farm work is slave work. Our last night we load the wagon with carrots. From four this morning I drive. I don't make enough. I should buy tomato plants for summer. Oh, Purvis. Why won't you put in asparagus? Oh, asparagus. And wait three years for a crop? Planting is good for ten years. Once it's started, I've been reading up on it. Reading up, reading up. Schoolbook farming, that's no good. It is, Purvis. If you'd only give it a chance. I've tried and tried to show you some new ways. Don't want new ways. The old ways is the best. How can you say that? They are. The old ways is the best. Purvis, you're sick. I feel... bad, Lena. You did sleep in the wagon last night and all the rain. Yeah, yeah. I wanted to... save the money. I beg your not to. Dirk, run and get the doctor. Now go to bed, Purvis. Come. I'll help you. Lean on my arm, darling. Lean on me. Try to get some rest, Mrs. De Jong. I'm all right, doctor. Really, I am. It's been hard on you. I still can't believe it. pneumonia comes fast and it needs a strong heart. And he was so tired. He worked so hard. He worked so hard. Oh, sometimes I hate the earth. It takes and takes until you have no more strength to give. What do you get for it? What the... Dirk, come here. What is it, Mom? What's the matter? I... I just want you by me. We're alone, Sophie. You're the only man I have. Get up, Ann. Get up, Maude. Are we going to Market, Mother? Just you and me? Well, I can't let my little man go alone. Soon I'll be big enough. Oh, look, Mom. It's the Reverend Decker. He's waving at us. Good afternoon, Reverend Decker. What's this I hear, Mrs. De Jong? That you are going to Hay Market with the garden stuff? A woman alone? No. Dirk is going with me. Mrs. De Jong, the Hay Market is no place for a decent woman. There is card playing, drinking, all sorts of wickedness. Really? But what can I do? Dirk and I must live. Better to stay home. Let the men folks go. But, Reverend Decker, my men folks are going. Get up, Maude. Get up. Dirk, wake up. This is Hay Market. Look at all the people. Oh, wake up, darling. Wake up. Oh, it's like an army, isn't it? An unarmed army bringing food to feed the great city. Oh, now if we can only find a place on the curve for the wagon. Well, right ahead. If I can just beat that other wagon to it, get up. Oh, yes, I can. Yes, we can. Where's your man? Here, right beside me. Well, I'll be... Now, women ain't got no business here in Hay Market anyway. Better you stay at home in your kitchen where you belong. Don't you talk to me like that, you great stupid. What good does it do to stay in my kitchen if I'm going to starve there and the boy with me? I'm here to sell vegetables I help raise and I'm going to sell them. Now, get out of my way or I'll report you all right and what a woman what a woman. He was mad, wasn't he, Mom? Oh, I was much right to this spot as he has. Oh, now, Dirk, we're going to sell. I don't know, darling. They just stare at me and go on. You're making out, Mrs. De Jong. Oh, not very good. Well, no place for a woman here. Morning. Oh, they won't buy. Everything will wilt. Come on, Dirk. Where are we going, Mom? We'll go to Prairie Avenue where the rich people live. Do you remember those big stone houses we saw driving in? Oh, maybe somebody there will buy something. This is the last house so big. The very last one. After this, we'll go home. Hand me my basket, darling. Now then, where's your license? License? You heard me. Where's your peddler's license? You got one? Wait. No. Well, where do you think you are peddling without a license? You know, I've got a good mind to run you in. Now, go on. Get out of here. What's the trouble of? Oh, a woman peddling without a license, Mrs. Arnold. You know, you've got to watch them like a hawk. Get along with you now. Take your hands off me. How dare you touch me? Why are you? How dare you? You take your hands off me. Wait. Selena. Selena. Why, Julie? Oh, Julie Hampton. Oh, Selena. Oh, my dear. Oh, there, there. It's all right, Julie. It's all right. Oh, my dear. Oh, don't cry. What is it a cry for? Oh, Selena. It's all right. Oh, Julie, it's good of you to take so much interest. Nonsense, Selena. Father always has good ideas. He might have one for you. You want to sell this farm, Selena? No, Mr. Hampton. Good. A few years from now, this land will be worth money. Well, what do you want to do? I want to stay here and make my farm pay. My next bring, my asparagus, is going to bring in money. And I want Dirk to have things. I never want my son to go to hay market. Never. Yes, but what about you, Selena? Me? My life doesn't count except as something for Dirk to use. I want him to have all the worthwhile things in life, all mixed up. Rooms and candlelight, leisure, travel, books, music, people. Work that he loves. Work that's worthwhile. That's what I want for Dirk. And a farm can give it to us. Well, how much money do you need to start the improvements? Oh, Mr. Hampton, I didn't mean to be silly, Selena. Father can well afford it. Well, I... I do need it. But I'm borrowing the money, not taking it. I want to give you an eye on you, Mr. Hampton. A promise to pay you back. That's business, isn't it? Sure, that's business. Well, that's the only way I'll take it. I hope you won't have to hold it very long, Mr. Hampton. You just forget about it, Selena. You deserve a few things for yourself. I'm doing it for Dirk. Only for Dirk. So he can go to good school, so he can do big things in the world. That's what matters. Giving something that will live after you. Building something, creating. Oh, I... I want his life to be rich and full. And I'll work, I'll... I'll do anything. So I can give him all these things myself. And I want to do it all myself. For him. We call this for station identification. This is the Columbia Broadcasting System. This is the Lux Radio Theatre presentation of So Big, starring Barbara Stanmick with Preston Foster, Faye Ray, and Otto Krueger. In a few moments, the curtain rises on act three. Now it's intermission time. Time to hear from the evening's special guest. But just a brief word first about the product bringing you this program. Nine out of ten screen stars use Lux Toilet soap. Such popular stars as Joan Blondel, Madeline Carroll, Claudette Colbert, Irene Dunn, almost every lovely star you can think of uses this gentle, mild white soap to help protect the priceless beauty of her complexion. Screen stars win the hearts of millions. You want to win to hold the heart of one. The same gentle care that screen stars use for their million-dollar complexions will help you keep this smooth, lovely skin that wins romance and holds it. Now, Mr. DeMille. The story of So Big is one of mother love. A mother love so deep and true that no obstacle is too great to overcome in the struggle for her child's existence. There are mothers everywhere like the Selenor of our play. Mothers who, by their silent courage and patient understanding, make life worth living for their sons and daughters. As a tribute to mothers everywhere and deeply conscious of the honor which is ours, we bring you our guest of the evening, the first mother of our land, whose son achieved the goal of millions of American boys and is now in the White House. Speaking to you from New York City, Mrs. Sarah Delano Roosevelt. Thank you, Mr. DeMille, very much indeed. It is a pleasure to be here and a privilege for all of us to hear Miss Barbara Sandwick's lovely portrayal of a fine woman in American literature. As Mr. DeMille has so truly said, Miss Edna Ferber's story is a tribute to the mothers who make life richer and nobler for their sons and daughters by their courage and patient understanding. It is also a tribute to the mothers who make great sacrifices, sacrifices that no mother ever regrets. Without losing their own identities. Without giving up their own interests in life and living. Selina in this evening's play is, I think, a type of mother, a mother who, if I may use the expression, grows up with her children. Many mothers have given all for their children and in giving it sometimes sacrificed the very thing that has endeared the most to their families. In all lands, in all times, mothers have lived for their children. Our American mothers have been able to go beyond this ideal. They do not stop living in the full sense of that word when their children enter into life as independent individuals. For from their children they derive inspiration to make their own lives more beautiful and more interesting. Selina gave to her son the idea of beauty. As many another mother has passed on to her children, that's what she herself most cherished. But Selina also lived up to that ideal in her own life. So remaining young and vibrant and alive through the years and the tribulations of the years, she taught him to find happiness in the place where happiness must first be sought in the home. In a world troubled by conflicting theories of life, when sometimes we wonder what course civilization will take, it is good to encounter the common sense and humanity of a woman like Selina. And I like to think that she is a prototype of many mothers, a wise and tolerant guide, one who makes the world better not only by influencing the lives of her children, but also by living her own life fully and joyously. All of us may take new heart and courage from Selina. She is not only the symbol of American mothers, but a wonderful example of mothers in this day and generation. Thank you, Mrs. Roosevelt. Well, we have mothers like you that hope for the world. Back now in Hollywood, Barbara Stanwyck, Preston Foster, Faye Ray and Otto Kruger bring us Act 3 of So Big. More years have passed and Selina's son Dirk is now a man. Selina has made good her promise to Mr. Hemple to pay back the money he gave her. And with her farm running profitably, she has been able to give Dirk a college education and many of the fine things of life she always wanted him to have. Now he seems well on his way to a career as an architect. It's late afternoon and Selina is working in her room when Dirk arrives at the farm. At it again, are you? Going through that old chest? What a sentimental generation yours must have been, mother. So it was. Your father gave me the Sarbutas. Crest flowers. They went out with a tandem bicycle, didn't they? I suppose they did. And here's the picture Ralph Poole did when he was a boy of the Haymarket. And now he's one of the most famous sculptors in Europe. Oh, and here's your college diploma. Slave and sweat four years for that. And go into an architect's office at 35 a week. Architecture is the most thrilling thing in the world, Dirk. Is it? I've spent the past week drawing washrooms for a glue factory. Oh, but ten years from now. Who knows? Ten years. I don't want to wait that long for success. What do you mean by success, Dirk? To be rich. Make a lot of money while I'm young enough to enjoy it. Oh, no, Dirk. That's not success. Ralph, the thing Ralph does, that's success. Well, if you have money enough, you can buy the things he makes and have them. That's almost as good, isn't it? Oh, Dirk, you don't understand, do you? Listen, mother, I've got to do things my own way, and I'm giving up architecture. Paula Storm says that... Is that the young woman you've been seeing so much of? Well, I've seen her off and on. Anyway, her husband is in the bond business, and I'm going in with him. Bonds? Oh, Dirk, there's no fun in there. Well, it's good enough for me. Five years in the bond business with the right connections, and I'll clean up. You're sure that's what you want, Dirk? Yes, mother. Look, I'm sorry I can't have dinner with you tonight, but I've got an important appointment in town. I understand, dear. Run along. Goodbye, mother. Goodbye. Goodbye. So big. Selena, I'm so glad you came to see me. I got tired of the farm, and when I feel that way, I come to Chicago and just browse around. You look wonderful. I don't know how you do it. Your eyes are as bright as a baby. It's from seeing so many things, Julie. You know, you've got to have a vulgar curiosity about people and things to get the full flavor of life. That's the trouble with Dirk. He keeps revolving in the same circle of friends, over and over and over. He's doing very well, I hear. He's making money. And very popular. Invited everywhere. I suppose so. Don't be unhappy about him, Selena. If that's what he... Oh, but it isn't good enough for him, Julie. Yesterday that society editor in the Tribune called him a playboy. That isn't what I worked in the sun and cold for, pulling vegetables, planting. Oh, I'm not reproaching him. I don't mind the work, but I don't want my son to be known as the playboy. Not my son. He ought to be a little more careful. He's seeing too much of Paula Storm. Paula Storm? People are talking. Oh, that's the woman who got him to give up architecture. I asked her the other day if she was going to divorce Storm and marry Dirk. She said no, she hadn't enough money of her own and Dirk wasn't making enough. Dirk's salary is thousands. But she's used to millions. Oh, Julie, he's on the wrong road all the way, isn't he? A dead-end street. I can't stop him. He won't listen. I can't do anything. All these years I've always found a way and now I... I can't do anything. Well, the deal's as good as closed, Dirk. I played golf with Jackson yesterday and sold him solid. Good work. A whole hundred thousand? All of it. My hat's off. Miss O'Mara is here, Mr. Deong. Oh, yeah, send her in. Hell, I'll run along. You don't have to. Just an artist to do an advertising picture for me. Probably some crazy female of 40 with a bundle of drawings under her arm. And I know I'm going. I'll see you at the club. I'll be around Saturday. Going to try polo. Good boy. Mr. Deong, Miss O'Mara. You're Miss O... Well, please sit down. Thanks. Now, Miss O'Mara, this drawing we want is for a national advertising campaign to get women more interested in bonds. Appealing directly to them. I see. Now, my idea was something like this. Aren't you hiring me to get an idea for the drawing and to draw it? I suppose I think about it for a day or two and work one out. I think you'll like mine better. Oh, I see. How much do you... How much would you expect to get for a drawing? $1,500. Well, that's ridiculous. I'm sorry. But that happens to be my price. Anyway, it's been nice meeting you, Mr. Deong. Now, wait a minute. Of course, if that's your regular price, I suppose we could pay it. Could you? Still, $1,500 is a lot of money. I think so, too. I remember when I used to get 25 cents for sketching hats. And now you've arrived. Your success... Arrived heavens, no. I've just started. Who gets more money for a drawing than you do? Nobody. I suppose. Well, then? Well, then, in another minute, I'll be telling you the story of my life. Goodbye, Mr. Deong. When you get something definite worked out, may I see it? Sure. Drop around to my studio in about a week. I'll be there. Thank you. Mother, sit down. Well, this is an honor. At last you visit my office. I hadn't seen you for so long. I thought I'd see you where you work. Well, how do you like it? Oh, it's very fine, isn't it? How are you, Dirk? A bit all in at the moment. The boys at the university club are trying to make a polo player out of me. I know. You ache all over. A nice kind of ache. I used to feel like that when I'd worked in the fields all day. Oh, Mother. Oh, you didn't like my saying that. I'm sorry. I didn't say it to annoy you, dear. I know you didn't. Oh, Dirk, I saw in the paper that Ralph Poole is in America. He's coming to Chicago. Yes, Paula. Mrs. Storm's giving a big reception for him. He's doing all right, I guess. Yes, he is. Dirk, just what is it you sell behind this big mahogany desk of yours? Bond's mother, you know that perfectly well. Dirk de Jong. Bond salesman. The way you say it, it sounds like some low criminal pursuit. I make more in a month than I made in a year as an architect. And what are you going to do with all this money, Dirk? Why don't you marry? Well, there's no one I want to marry. No one who's free, you mean? I mean no one. I see. Well, I must go, dear. Goodbye, so big. You haven't called me that in ages. Oh, Dirk, are you ever going back to architecture to your profession? No, mother. And I'm a failure. Oh, that's nonsense, mother. I'm happy, and after all, it's my life. I know, I know. But, Dirk, you can't deserve it like that. To deserve what? Beauty, self-expression, whatever you want to call it. You wait, you'll turn on you someday. Someday you'll want her, and she won't be there. You wait, too, mother. Someday your wayward son will be a real success. Wait till the millions roll in, then we'll see. Yes, Dirk. We'll see. Like it? Oh, it's grand, Alice. Well, now that the picture's finished, I won't have any excuse for hanging around your studio. But maybe you'll still have dinner with me. Go places. Of course, Dirk, why not? Dallas, you know I'm in love with you. I could give you a lot of things you haven't got. Sorry, Dirk, but you'll have to send them by express. I'm going back to Paris in a few weeks. Paris? What for? To study. I want to do portraits in oils. Dallas, is it because I'm a successful businessman that you don't like me? But I do like you. You know what I mean. Must a man be an artist to interest you? Oh, good heavens, no. No, someday I'll probably marry a horny-handed son of toil. And if I do, it'll be the horny hands that'll win me. I like them with scars on them. You know, there's something about a man who has fought for it. A look in his eye, the feel of his hand. And I haven't got that. There isn't a mark on you, Dirk. You quit being an architect because it was an uphill, disheartening job at the time. Or I'm not criticizing, but... But if you'd loved it enough to struggle, to fight for it, why, that fight would show in your face. But you're all smooth. I like them bumpy. Now, that sounds funny. Oh, never mind. I know what you mean. Oh, that must be Rolf. Rolf Fool? But he's supposed to be at Paula Storm's reception this afternoon, right now. I am myself. But I'd much rather see you. Well, so would Rolf. Hello. Oh, Rolf, it's so good to see you again. Same Dallas. You haven't changed a bit, even to the smudge on your face. Well, I've been working. Rolf, this is Dirk De Jong, Mr. Pool, Dirk. How do you do, sir? Dirk De Jong. Why, say, don't you know me? I'm Rolf Pool. I've heard a great deal about you. Oh, but I mean I'm... I knew you when you were just a kid. You're Selena's Dirk, aren't you? My Selena. That's right. Where did you and Dallas get to know each other? In Paris. Rolf and I took the town apart and put it together again. We certainly did. Do you remember the time we crowed the sun up under the octet hill? Oh, what idiots we were. What grand idiots. I thought you were to be at Paula Storm's reception this afternoon, Rolf. I couldn't go it. Hate that sort of thing. I'm taking Dallas out to meet your mother. Yes, Rolf told me all about her in Paris. She must be wonderful. I've asked you to let me meet her, but you never did. Oh, I meant to, but I just never seem to get around to it. Come with us, Dirk, will you? Sure I won't be intruding. No sense. It'd be grand. Come on. The White House with green shutters. That was always Selena's green. It smells clean and earthy. Somehow it makes me feel as if I were in a church. Look, here she comes. Just as I've imagined she'd be. Still slim and straight. Plodding across the field in that old gray sweater and that battered felt hat. Isn't she magnificent? Mother, I've brought company. Dirk, I'm so glad you came. She recognizes me. Only she can't quite believe it. Yes, Selena. It's really me. Rolf. You did come to see me. I came to America mostly to see you, Selena. And why wouldn't I? Everything I know about beauty, you taught me. I only helped you find it. But, oh, I'm so proud of you, Rolf. Selena, this is an old friend of mine, Dallas and Merah. I've been waiting a long time to meet you, Mrs. De Young. I'm so glad you came. Dirk has told me so much about you. Rolf, let me look at you. The little boy I used to know. A famous sculptor. You've done all the big men in Europe, haven't you? Well, there are a few left. Do think of it. You've seen the world and you've got it in your hand. Little Rolf pool. And you did it alone, in spite of everything. What are you smiling at? I just remembered... cabbages are beautiful. I still think so. Oh, Rolf, I must show you something. Your picture of Haymarket. Do you still have it? Do you want to go to Dallas? No. Let her have it all. Oh, Dirk. She's what I mean when I say I want to do portraits. Character portraits of great people. Like your mother. Like mother. Yes. Her fine, splendid face, all lit up with the light that comes from inside. The jawline, like that of the women who came over in the Mayflower or crossed the continent in a covered wagon. Her eyes. And that battered, gorgeous old hat she wears. And her hands. She's beautiful. Yes. She really is, isn't she? And I see what you mean about me. Do you, Dirk? I suddenly feel very empty. It's not too late. Dallas? Shall we go inside now? I want to say goodbye. I knew somehow that you would reach the high places. For a fine life you've had to Selena. A full life and a rich one. And successful. I? Why, Rolf, I've been here all these years just where you left me when you were a boy. I, well, I think the very dress I'm wearing might be the same I wore then. I've been nothing. Done nothing. Seen nothing. When I think of all the places I was going to see and all the things I was going to do. You've been everywhere in the world. You've seen all the places of great beauty and life. You remember you told me your father had once said when you were a little girl that there were only two kinds of people who really mattered in the world. One kind was wheat. And the other kind was emeralds. Your wheat, Selena. And your emeralds? Goodbye, Selena. Goodbye, Rolf. I'll see you soon again. Yes, Dirk. Mother, I've made a decision. And I want you to know I'm going back to architecture. Oh, Dirk. There's something you have, mother and Rolf and Dallas too. I never realized till this afternoon just how much I'm missing. Oh, so big. I'm so glad. But I need your help, mother. It's going to be a long, long road. But a good one, Dirk. Full of beauty and living. And in the end, you'll find that you possess all things for you will have carried them with you all the way. After hearing Edna Feber's story and the performances of our cast tonight I think another appropriate title for the play might be so great. My compliments, Mr. Foster, Miss Ray and Mr. Kruger. And I can pay you no greater tribute, Barbara, than to say that you reached and held our hearts as surely and so big as... well, as you do in Union Pacific. And having pulled the pin in our play, shall we hit the stovepipe? What? What is this all about? Oh, you'll have to humor, Mr. Demille Preston. We've been so immersed in that picture of his Union Pacific that you can't help giving up now, and then in railroad lingo. You recognize it, but can you translate it, Barbara? Certainly. It simply means that the play is over, but let's go ahead without stopping. Correct. Now I suppose I owe you another nickel. Well, now it's my turn to ask questions. What's going on? Well, let Mr. Demille explain. You see, Fay, since Barbara's been working for me in Union Pacific, I've spoiled her by giving her one of the new Jefferson nickels every time she plays a scene flawlessly. And it's cost me a fortune. I'm applying all your beautiful nickels, Mr. Demille, to the purchase of a pair of skis. Skis? Well, I know you ride a horse, Barbara, and since Union Pacific, you obviously can ride a railroad. Yes, I've heard that you once rode an elephant for Ziggfield, but how good are you on the mahogany runners? Well, I'll let you know after I get back from a trip to Sun Valley. Skiing will be practically tobogganing for me. What are you planning, Fay, an epic poem? Who? Me? Well, you are a poet, aren't you? Oh, let's hear some. Don't let them gang up on you, Fay. Just a line or two. All right, here it goes. Of the sea, of the soul, of the stars, I love to sing. But I've got no poem for you tonight, which is probably a mighty good thing by Fay Ray. You're an ornament to literature, Fay. But Fay would be ornamental if she never wrote a line. Oh, now, thank you, Preston. And I want to thank you, Mr. Demille, for asking me back to the Lux Radio Theater again. This theater has become more than a radio program, Mr. Demille. It's become a definite part of Hollywood. And so has the product that's responsible for our being here tonight, Lux soap. About every actress I know uses it, Mr. Demille, and that speaks volumes and praise of it. Screen stars just have to keep their skin smooth, and I'm very grateful to Lux soap, Mr. Demille, to its makers and to you. Good night. Good night. Good night. As we say on the radio, Fay will line the lines. Louis Silvers appeared through courtesy of 20th Century Fox Studios. Music for their new film, The Little Princess. Be sure to listen to the new Lux daytime radio program, The Life and Love of Dr. Susan, the story of a courageous woman in search of her destiny. You can hear it over most of these stations in the United States every afternoon, Monday through Friday, at 2.15 Eastern Time, 1.15 Central Time, 3.15 Mountain Time, and 2.15 Pacific Time. This new daytime program, The Life and Love of Dr. Susan, comes to you in addition to the Lux Radio Theater. Mr. Demille. In the screen's entire history, only a handful of pictures can match the tremendous popularity of our play for next Monday night. That great romantic comedy, it happened one night. It won more Academy Awards than any film before or since, for production, direction, and for the performances of both its leading lady and its leading man. And these two superb stars will repeat their classic roles for us a week from tonight. Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. And with them, Walter Connolly and Roscoe Carnes. Our sponsors, the makers of Lux Toilet Soap, join me in inviting you to be with us again next Monday night when the Lux Radio Theater presents Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable in It Happened One Night with Walter Connolly and Roscoe Carnes. This is Cecil B. Demille saying good night to you from Hollywood. This is the Columbia Broadcasting System.