 The Department Company of Wilmington, Delaware, makers of better things for better living through chemistry, presents the Cavalcade of America, starring Walter Hamden as Dr. Benjamin M. Dugger in sequel at 70. Our story begins eight years ago, 1943. A small man, a scratch over five feet, a man with blue eyes that snapped and sparkled, walks down the steps of a building on the campus of the University of Wisconsin in Madison and heads for home. Dr. Dugger. Hello, Ed. No, no, no. Wait. That's hardly the way to address a new doctor of philosophy. I'll do that over again. How do you do, Dr. Ball? I still like the Ed better. See, I'm glad I didn't miss you. They told me at the faculty club that you were leaving this afternoon. Now, the leaving, Ed, I've left. Having reached the age of compulsory retirement, as duly set forth by state law, I now gracefully retire to what the poets have called the gentle twilight of repose. Now I'm merely emeritus, a mild Latin phrase, meaning I've served out my time with good behavior. You're not giving up your biological research are you, sir? No, no, of course not. I still have the freedom of the University, the library, the labs. I can even get my mail at the faculty club. So you see, all things considered, I'm in a state of remarkable preservation. But enough of me. And what about you? I'm leaving for the east today. For your job with the letterly laboratories? Yes, sir. That's splendid, splendid. I want to thank you again for recommending me to Dr. Subaru. Well, he's a remarkable man, Ed, and I know you're going to enjoy working with him. I was glad to recommend you. Thank you, sir. Gives me the feeling that some of my boys are in there pitching, opening up new worlds we, old folks, just dreamed about. Oh, well. Do you know what you're going to work on, Ed? Not exactly, but letterly is doing a lot of work on penicillin. So I have a hunch it'll be something along the line of the antibiotics. Wonderful, wonderful. I'll be sure and write me often. Tell me exactly what you're doing. I sure will. And if I can help him in any way, just let me know. I promise that. Good. I suppose you'll be catching up on your gardening and your golf and your fishing with Roy Smathers. I expect to, but at the moment Mrs. Duggar and I intend to emulate the example of the owl and the pussycat. You remember? Hand in hand on the edge of the sand. They danced by the light of the moon. Just listen to that, Ben. This rod will practically whip the trout out of the lake. Well, I ever know what Sam Johnson said about a fishing pole. I don't even know Sam Johnson. Well, he said the fishing pole was just a stick, with a fish at one end and a fool at the other. That old... I expect it's just as well. I don't know this, Sam Johnson. Ben, I was counting on you and you know you're a big disappointment. Well, come. Well, I mean, I was figuring that once you're retired, we'd have some fine times together. Golf, fishing, even some bowling. If my neuralgia let be. But here you've been working harder since you retired than before. Trouble with you is you don't know how to relax. Like you? I do right well at it. Now, look here, Ben. Are you going to play golf with me tomorrow? Sure thing. I can depend on it. Absolutely. And you're sure you can't go fishing today? No, I've been digging up some information at the school for some of my boys and I've got to get it off. What kind of information? Well, Roy, a little something on the effects of sublethal doses of monochromatic ultraviolet radiation on the growth properties of bacteria. You don't say. That's right. What'll I think of next? Well, if you're going to play golf tomorrow and we are aren't we? Absolutely. Then I've got to go fishing today. So I'll see you at the first tee, nine sharp. I'll do that. See you then, Roy. Get a good rest now. I don't need it to beat you. I beg your pardon. Well, what for? I seem to have mislead the address. I had it on a piece of paper. Whose address? Dr. Duggar, Dr. Benjamin Duggar. I had it written down. Oh, well, you ain't so lost as you think you are. Just write up those steps, ring the bell, and if a little fellow with no talent for relaxing whatsoever answers the bell, why, that'll be Dr. Duggar. Well, thank you. Thank you very much. Don't mention it. Yes. Dr. Benjamin Duggar. Yes, sir. I am Dr. Duggar. I am Dr. Subaru. Dr. Subaru of Lederley Laboratory. Yes. Well, what a pleasant surprise. I'm so glad to meet you, sir. Come in, please. It is so lovely out here. I wonder if we could just sit here on the porch. By all means. Now, please, sit down. Thank you. What a charming place. And such a fine-looking flower bed. Ah, that's my pride and joy. I don't know why I get such a kick out of it. It's no better or worse than a thousand other gardens here in Madison. I suppose it represents some kind of psychological outlet. Oh? You can't retire the instinctive urge to work and create something within you. You can't hold it down. Why should you suppress a desire to create? Matter of age and state law. I've been piped over the side, Dr. Subaru. Retired to a snug harbor of peonies and hollyhocks. There, mine. I grew them. And as your illustrious countryman, Duggar, said, with the wisdom of India, I do not love him because he is so good, but because he is my little child. Now, what brings you to Madison, Doctor? Looking for a new talent? I don't know. Do you consider yourself a new talent? Who? Me? Dr. Duggar, what would you say if I told you that I came here today to ask you to come to Lederli Laboratories? What? Oh, no, no, that's impossible. Oh, no, wait, wait. Let us run a few tests before we mark this down as a negative. No, well, no, I... We have begun a series of important research projects at our laboratory. A number of these studies are in your particular field, Dr. Duggar. Investigations into the nature of microorganisms. We have some brilliant young men and our staff. Yes, I can vouch for that. Yes, but none of them have the experience needed to cope with the problems that come up day by day. They need a guide, a counselor, someone to talk to, or rat, as the case may be, someone like yourself. No, no, I'm very happy as I am. Will you think about it anyway? Of course. And let me know. Oh, certainly. I'll think it over very seriously. But not tomorrow. I've retired and I'd rather look forward to my twilight hour. All right. Hello, Doc. I hope you don't mind my making myself at home in your parlor. I've been reading this magazine I found on the table, Journal of Physiology. Got a story on you, do you know it? My wife told me. Didn't you read it? Oh, I haven't had a chance yet. Lots of nice things they say about you, about your schooling and your career, right up to how you finally retired. Now, this last part here is especially nice. Listen to this. Dr. Duggar will probably best be remembered for his noteworthy inquiry into the physiology of mushrooms. As a result of Dr. Duggar's investigations, mushroom cultivation in the United States has become independent of European spawn. Now, that's nice. Now, that's wonderful, isn't it, Roy? To be best remembered for an inquiry into the physiology of the mushroom. That's great. Well, no, there's nothing like a good mushroom. Especially if there's a thick steak under it. Every day, men are unlocking great news doors of science. Men in my own field finding wonderful new methods of curing disease and preventing death. And I, I'll be remembered for the mushroom. By golly, that does it. Does what? I'm going to wire Dr. Subaru that I accept his proposition. I'm going back to work. But you can't do that. You're retired. I'm retiring from retirement. Is that against the law? Maybe it ain't, but it sure as heck ought to be. You wanted to see me, Dr. Subaru? Oh, yes, Dr. Duggar. Come in, please. Let's sit down. Thank you. Dr. Duggar, I have a problem. Well, this is the house that problems built. That's what the letter of the research laboratory is for. Habitory research is only part of this problem. Possibly the smallest part. Well, can I help? Yes, I think you can. I need advice. Lately, I've become very proficient in the questionable art of giving advice. Dr. Duggar, you have done wonders for our staff in the time you have been with us. The value of your advice has been anything but questionable. Now, I need some myself. Oh, all right. We are thinking of undertaking a new series of research projects here at Lederle. Possibly the most important, most far-reaching study we have ever attempted. Sounds interesting. In the past few years, the world of medicine has found a sharp new weapon against disease, the antibiotic. First, the sulfur drugs, then penicillin from the large moles, and this year streptomycin from the small moles. Our feeling is that we have not even approached the full potential of these small moles, and we want to get into them. Why not? I think that's a splendid idea. Now, if these were normal times, I would set a whole string of investigators at work, teams of men, but we are at war. You men available to us with proper training to head up this program are unvital war projects. They can't be taken off. That is my problem. Who is going to do this job? I see, yes. That sounds like a long-term project. It will be. Should be headed up by a man with a fresh point of view. It needs a young man's approach. It surely does. What do you think? Have you any suggestions? Well, yes. Yes, I think I have just a man to fill the bill. Who? Fresh point of view. Young man's approach. Yes. I'm sure I have your man, Dr. Sivaro. His name? Duggar. Duggar? Now, why didn't I think of that myself? And I think he'll take the job. Well, if he will, he has it. He will. And he's darn glad to have it. Good, good. You know, Dr. Sivaro, I was beginning to get worried. Giving advice is all right enough, but you never know what to do with your hands. Now, this is more like it. Just keep a man busy, doing what he loves to do, and believe me, he'll never find time to grow old. Dr. Duggar? Oh, hello, Pete. What's it got for me? Another shipload. Fine, just load the boxes on this table here. Yes, sir. Say, Dr. Duggar, what's in these boxes? They come from all over. Shoe boxes, cigar boxes, coffee containers. What's in them? Dirt. Oh, dirt. Dirt? Uh-huh. Plain dirt? Common garden variety. You're kidding. No. But this I don't understand. Dirt is something you get rid of, not collect. What do you do with it? The dirt? Yeah, the dirt. Well, I put about three grams into a test tube, add about 25 cc of water. Oh, come on, Doc. Cut it out. I mean, what are you looking for? Oh, what am I looking for? Well, now let me see. Pete, you know what germs are? Sure. Would you ever stop to think how many germs fall to the ground every day? Billions and billions of them. Isn't that right? I guess so. Now, what happens to them? I don't know. Well, something happens to them. If they just stayed nice and healthy, pretty soon the soil would be so loaded with disease-producing germs, everything that grew in the soil would be contaminated, not safe to eat. And nothing to eat. The world would just starve to death. Gee, I guess that's right. But we know that isn't so. We know that something in the soil kills off these germs before they can get to do much harm. Gee. Now, that something is produced by tiny little molds, by fungus growth so small most of the time you never see them. One of these molds produces penicillin. Another type produces streptomycin. Well, we're testing soil from all over the country to see if we can find other molds that will give us new drugs to fight disease. Understand? Sure. But if what you say is so, doctor, then there should be an easier way to keep healthy. Well, how could that be? Any kid could tell you. Just don't wash. You're listening to the Cavalcade of America starring Walter Hamden, sponsored by the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware, makers of better things for better living through chemistry. Tonight on the Cavalcade of America, Walter Hamden is appearing as Dr. Benjamin M. Duggar in Sequel at Seventy. 1945, the year that will bring an end to World War II. Dr. Benjamin M. Duggar rather definitively celebrates his 73rd birthday. Normally it would have been quite an occasion, but not this year. Dr. Duggar has a new job at letterly laboratories at Pearl River, New York, and he's much too busy. If you have a minute, Dr. Cibero, I'd like you to take a look at some of these culture plates. Why, of course, is something interesting? They're all interesting. Every soil sample we've tested has shown us something different. Oh, pardon me, Dr. Duggar. Dr. Cibero here. Dr. Cibero, this is Ed Ball. Is Dr. Duggar with you? Yes. Just a moment. For you, Dr. Duggar. Oh. Hello? I hate to bother you, Dr. Duggar, but I wonder if you could come back here to the lab. I, uh, something wrong? No. All right. Ed Ball wants me in the lab. Trouble? I don't know. Come along, I will go with you. I was just doing a routine check on our isolate 377. Here's the plate. Now, take a look at it. Not a sign of a bacterial culture. Plenty of mold. No bacteria. Very odd. Let me see. Are you sure the plate was seated with bacterial culture? What's done routinely? No strep colonies, none at all. Probably a sterile plate got in by mistake. Might be. It might, but I doubt it. Well, let's not try to guess. Run another series on isolate 377. Let's just make sure. Well, Dr. Duggar? Not a sign of bacterial growth. The whole plate is clear. Then it wasn't a sterile plate the first time. No. But even penicillin doesn't show that much inhibiting power. No, it doesn't. And look at the mold. Well, what about it? Well, the color. Gold. Pretty, but at the moment a little beside the point. I think we need a lot more evidence before this qualifies before it knocks. Now, let's get a pure sample. Run some vitro tests. See what the chemists, the biologists, the pharmacologists have to say. I need to remind you, young man, that the... I know. All the clitters isn't taxable. You take it. When I was just about your age, Ed, the Klondike Gold Rush was in full swing. And I remember a lot of men who went into the Yukon after Gold and came out with nothing but frostbite. Here are the first vitro reports on A377. In the test tube, it shows a range of activity that overlaps penicillin and streptomycin. But the great thing, Dr. Duggar, is that it extends over into the regions that the other drugs can't touch. Good. That's good, Ed. Can we start testing with mice? I think so. Make up a broth of A377 and get it to the labs. Let's see how it works within the body. Dr. Duggar, I have just been sent the lab reports. Yes, how does it look? In a number of cases, it produced some remarkable cures in mice that were infected with disease-producing microbodies. Say, that's great. But in others, a number of others. A377 proved highly toxic. Dr, it did not cure the animals. It killed them. Yes? It's that ball, Dr. Duggar. Oh, Ed, come in. I'm sorry to bust in on you this way, Dr. After I left Dr. Subaro's office, I shot over to the animal lab. I checked and rechecked the tests. The head of the lab worked for hours with me, and he's as sure as I am. I'm sure of what I did. It had nothing to do with killing those mice. It was some impurity in the broth that contained it, not A377 itself. But how can we be sure? The chemistry department is going right to work on a method of getting pure crystals. Absolutely pure. And I'm telling you this, what we've got is 14 carat gold and not frostbite. Dr. Duggar, look at that. Have you ever seen a healthier batch of mice? Yes, yes. Did you believe that a couple of days ago they were sick to death with a dozen different diseases? It's wonderful, Ed. If we can get A377 to show the same response in humans as it has obviously done in these animals, we'd have something, Ed. Something good. Well, that'll take time to find out. But at least we know we're on the right track. There we are. Ed, you know, I think we'll have a christening. Right here, now. A christening? Sure. I think A377 rates a name. Oh, good. Have you thought of anything? How about, um, let's see. It's color is gold. Oreo, from the Greek, having the appearance of gold. Oreo mycin. I like that. Oreo mycin. You know, Ed, all along I felt that this was my special baby and, uh, becoming a father at my age is, well, it's rather a nice experience. Here on the case wants to use Oreo mycin. But we've never tested it on a human with a rickettsial disease. I know. The mission will have to come from Dr. Cox. He's director of rickettsial research at the laboratories. Doctor? Well, I'll come right away. Dr. Dugger. Yes? I'm Dr. Lefkowitz, Albert Fishbind's physician. I'm glad to know you. This is the boy's father, Dr. Fishbind. Well, how do you do? Thank you for coming, Doctor. Well, I have the Oreo mycin here. It can be given by mouth. Oh, yes. How many capsules? I think, uh, one every four hours would be about right. At least, uh, Dr. Cox suggests that dosage. Fine. Now, you gentlemen understand that we've never tried this antibiotic on a human being suffering from rickettsial disease. Yes, we know that. It's true that it's been shown to be effective on laboratory animals, and I'm sure I don't have to point out that that's no guarantee it will work to any degree with humans. Dr. Fishbinder, I want you to understand that clearly. This is the first time that Oreo mycin is being used under these conditions. I understand, Dr. Dugger. Everything else has failed. Everything that's been tried. Let's try this. All right, let's give it a try. Hello? We'll be there in 30 minutes. Come on in. Here's the story, Dr. Dugger. As you know, we began treatment with Oreo mycin Wednesday night. Then something happened. Thursday, Albert came out of the coma and his temperature began to drop. Friday, his temperature was down again. Then this morning, well, uh, suppose you look at the patient. May I? By all means. He's, uh, right in this room. Hello, Dr. Dugger. Oh, hello, Dr. Fishbinder. This is my associate, Dr. Ed Ball. How do you do? Uh, how's the boy? Ask him. Albert, this is Dr. Dugger. He's the man who found the medicine we've been giving you. Uh, how do you feel, Albert? Not so good. Not so good? No, I'm starving. When does a guy get a square meal in this place? I guess you're going to be all right, sonny. Yeah. Gee, it was lucky you found that medicine, Dr. It wasn't luck that found that medicine, Albert. What was it then? It was something called experience, Albert. Experience, Dr. Dugger? Yes, boy. It's, uh, a little something, a characteristic most commonly found among people of, uh, advanced age. On the Cavalcade players for tonight's DuPont play, sequel at 70, the story of Dr. Benjamin M. Dugger, discoverer of Oreo Mison. Next week, the DuPont Cavalcade will present the famous hero of World War II, now a Hollywood star in his own right, Audie Murphy. Our play, The Fields Are Green, is a story of the land of a small farm and two young men who redeemed it and were honored by a great organization of American youth. Be sure to listen. Tonight's DuPont Cavalcade, sequel at 70, starring Waldo Hamden, was written by Irv Tunick, George Petrie was Dr. Ball, Guy Repp was Dr. Subaru, and Parker Fennelly was Roy. Music was composed by Arden Cornwell and conducted by Donald Boris. The program was directed by John Zoller, to Ceci Harris speaking. Don't forget next week, our star, Audie Murphy. Our play, The Fields Are Green, The DuPont Cavalcade of America comes to you from the Velasco Theater in New York and is sponsored by the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware. Makers of better things for better living through chemistry. Next, it's Hollywood Theater with Deborah Carr on NBC.