 Remember a Hallmark card when you carry enough to send the very best. Hallmark greeting cards bring you Robert Walker in Gene Holloway's wedding morning on the Hallmark Playhouse. Hart will bring you Hollywood's greatest stars in outstanding stories chosen by one of the world's best known authors. They distinguish novelists- Gentlemen, this is James Hilton. Tonight on our Hallmark Playhouse, we depart a little from our tradition by presenting a story written for radio by one of our own valued writers for the Hallmark Playhouse, Miss Jean Holloway. Miss Holloway has done such fine work during the past year in adapting other people's stories to the radio that we thought it would be an excellent idea to have her give us this evening a story of her own called Wedding Morning. A romantic comedy, but more than that, a love story. And we've been additionally fortunate in getting a very fine actor to star in it, Mr. Robert Walker, whose engaging personality has given him such wide and deserved popularity. And now a word about Hallmark cards from Frank Goss before we begin our first act of Wedding Morning starring Robert Walker. At Christmas, as on every memorable occasion, you'll take special pride in sending Hallmark cards. Because just as for hundreds of years, the word Hallmark has been the distinguishing symbol of quality. So today, the Hallmark on the back of your greeting cards is your assurance of perfect taste. It's a symbol of quality. All who receive your cards will quickly recognize and realize you cared enough to send the very best. Now Hallmark Playhouse, presenting Jean Holloway's Wedding Morning starring Robert Walker. Special morning. It's been referred to in poetry, in stories, in advertisements as the happiest morning of a girl's life. No one ever says much about what it is in the groom's life. You're going to meet the groom before you meet the bride. You'll hear him snoring, but he isn't really asleep. Christopher, wake up dear. It's time to get up. That's the groom's mother who just spoke, Mary Thayer, and that's her husband, Frank Thayer, standing beside her. Now, we let you hear what's going on inside the groom's mind while he's lying there pretending to be asleep. You don't move. You snore as loud as you can. You figure that if you keep snoring, maybe they won't have the heart to wake you up. Look at him snoring. This is the last morning I'll be coming like this. I'm sorry. Now, Mother, hold on to the water. Completely defenseless. He's too young for that. Well, let's get him out of bed and prepare him for the kill. Come on, Christopher, get up. This is warning. Now, dear, you must get up. I've fixed you muffins and all the rest of your favorite things. Oh, Mother, for Pete's sake, I'm getting married, not buried. Don't you go put the muffins in the oven, Mother. Oh, sure. Keep your chins up, Mom. Christopher. How do you feel, son? Oh, I... I don't know. Well, you stand this morning where your father and your grandfather stood before you, facing a lifetime sentence. Oh, gee, Pop, I... you know, marriage is a pretty serious step when you get right up to it, isn't it? You can say that again. Now, you better get into your shower. You haven't any too much time. Go on, son, go on. Yeah, yeah, sure. Go on, go on. Walk across the room thinking about it all. You get in your shower. You stand there with a cold spray biting you, thinking to yourself, how did I get into this? All I said was, that's a pretty girl. And then darkness set in. You see your father walking up and down outside the shower, and you think, well, marriage is all very well for people like him and your mother, but their life's over. And once more you think, how did I get into this? And you grope your way back through the months until you remember the first date that you ever had with Connie. You went to the movies, and on the way home, you stopped and sat in the park. You remember the way she looked. You remember every word she said. Gee, that was a good picture. Had such a nice, happy ending. Do you like all your pictures to have happy endings? Of course. I always want Cinderella to get the prince. Oh, there's so many things I want to know about you. What kind of things? Well, the things you like to do, the people you like, places you like. I like the gay things, the happy things. I like roller coasters and barbecues and dances. I like Christmas and the fourth of July. That's funny. So do I. I like what almost everyone likes, I guess. How about people? I like people who have a sense of humor. How about insurance salesmen? Is that what you do? I got a job in my father's office today. But it's wonderful. Maybe you can tell me a policy someday. I hope I can. Gee, it's so hard to believe that we only met a few days ago. Isn't it? Hello, Connie. Hello, Chris. What a prize jump you were. You stand there in that cold gray shower remembering how she said, I always want Cinderella to get the prince. And you break out in a sweat. Hey, son, how many layers of skin are you washing off in there? Say, Dad, do you suppose there could be anything wrong with a license? Not a chance. No. They know what they're doing at the courthouse and they're completely on the woman's side. Around the morning I got married either. But your grandmother told me her mother ate a breakfast fit for a stevedore. When they say, do you take this woman, has anyone ever been known to say no? Not that I know of. Friendships. Connie's probably eating her head off right now. Yeah, an old man Martin's probably complaining about his breakfast. I can just hear him. That's what he's saying. I'm using them as fast as I can. How can you be hungry on a day like this? I can be hungry any day. I want to get married. Here are your picking on the child. Every girl feels like this on her wedding day. Well, I don't know the things she was put on earth. It's hard to be funny. We have too much to do. Oh, that must be the flowers. You may postpone the wedding for a week or two. I'm not ready to get married. I want to think about it. Is that a whole year to think about it? Pop, I'm afraid I've changed my mind. You can't change your mind. Why not? Because the church and the minister and the dress and the shoes and the reception and the veil and everything else has been paid for. No! You get that way after paying bills for years. Don't want to marry that young man then telephone him right now and grant him a... I don't know why you're acting like this. You've got that lovely dress that cost $79.20 and that beautiful veil that cost $10.95 and that fine young nincompoop that you don't have to get married today. You don't have to marry that idiot or any other idiot. As far as I'm concerned, I'll buy you some cats and some knitting and you can be an old maid. When you get me out of it, you'll talk to him. Well, you'll have to get over to the stairs right away. Hurry, it's getting late. All right, I don't mean to call it off. I'm positive. Well, you stay right here in this room until I get back. Oh, you're the most wonderful father that ever lived. I'm also the one with the fattest head. Well, I should be received with rejoicing in the other camp. It's out the door and you're alone. You slip Chris's engagement ring from your finger and your hand feels so light. I wonder why your heart feels so heavy. You think to yourself you're free again. Your life is your own. You can go out with anyone. But not with Chris. You'll probably never see Chris again. You sink down on the window seat. You close your eyes and you begin to remember. You remember the night you and Chris went to the carnival. It was a night of candied apples and merry-go-rounds and shoot-the-shoots and cupidolls. It was a night of stars seen beyond the fairytale rim of a ferris wheel. Have some more popcorn. Thanks. Oh, this is some ferris wheel, isn't it? Oh, thank you. Connie, you're so doggone beautiful. You did say you like baseball, didn't you? Love it. Football? Peanut gold? Absolutely. The doggone just coincides. Do you like spinach? No. Me neither. Cat. I like dogs. So do I. See, it is the darndest coincidence, isn't it? Oh, Chris, isn't it beautiful out tonight? Connie, ever been proposed to in one? No. Well, get ready. You're going to be. For how you came home, feeling that some of the stars must have stuck to the candied apple on your feet and that you must have swallowed the ferris wheel. Then you remember another night and Chris, all dressed up and perspiring, facing your father. You remember exactly what your father said. Well, she, uh, I... Well... It's perfectly ridiculous. Other than when you got engaged. Doesn't that frighten you? I love Connie. How do you know? Gee, I'm sorry. You don't like me, sir, but... Who said anything about not liking you? I just don't think that you know what you're doing. Well, I... I do know that I love Connie, Mr. Martin, and I'll do everything I can to make her happy. Okay. Put her there. Turn to the second act of Wedding Morning, starring Robert Walker. Half the fun of sending Christmas cards is picking out just the right card for each person on your list. The fine stores that feature hallmark cards have an inviting selection of new hallmark creations. To help you make your person-to-person exchange of the good feeling the Christmas season always brings. You'll find gay cards and serious. Cards made with such artistry, you seem to hear Santa's jolly chuckle. The merry tinkle of sleigh bells. Like this bright-with-holly card, from our house to your house, which reads, to our way of thinking, there's nothing we do that's any more pleasant than thinking of you, and sending good wishes for joy and good cheer from our house to your house at this time of year. Yes, whatever your taste, whatever your budget, you'll find hallmark Christmas cards that seem especially written and created for each one on your list. As you make your selections, look for the hallmark on the back of each card. It's a symbol of quality. All who receive your cards will quickly recognize, and they will realize you cared enough to send the very best. And now here is the second act of wedding mourning starting Robert Walker. Here's, uh, Connie's father coming up the front steps. Oh, hold still, Chris. If you want this, die, died. Ah, probably have some more instructions for us. If Martin tells me once more, I'll sit on. Here, now, uh, let me straighten your coat there. I look peculiar. Well, maybe you better put on your trousers. Oh, well, I thought something was missing. Good morning, Mr. Martin. Good morning, sir. Good morning. I know that pile up to you. The knot's too big. The knot is not too big. Well, maybe it is just a little too big. I think it's a little small. Well, what do I do? Oh, leave it alone. It's not very important. Not important? Everyone will be looking at the bride anyway. Oh. Mr. Thayer. I imagine someone will be looking at me or there wouldn't be much point in my being there. Uh, Mr. Thayer. The bridegroom surely has some importance during the ceremony. Mr. Thayer, I'd like to speak to you a moment in private, sir. It's a wonder they even allow the groom to attend the ceremony. Mr. Martin, I know where I'm supposed to stand during this ceremony. And furthermore, I want my chai-chai right. This concerns another matter, Mr. Thayer. Oh, all right, Mr. Martin. Let's go downstairs. How do you feel, son? How do I feel? Feel? And a white-faced stranger stares back at you. You can't hold your hands steady. Your heart is beating frantically in your chest. And you think, oh, if I could only get out of this. And suddenly, you remember the week before, you and Connie were on a picnic at the lake with both your families. And you remember how, at sunset, you, too, stood alone looking out across the water. You felt solemn, as though for a moment you stood very close to something infinite. And then suddenly, Connie said, It's been a wonderful day, hasn't it? Yes. I think, Connie, when you reach the end of your lifetime, it must be the moments like this that you find that you remember forever. Yes. A lot of things come in between laughter and tears and worries and anger. But at the end of it all, the things like this would have to stand out. You and one special girl beside a lake watching the sun go down. Gee, I don't know why I should be thinking of the end of our lives when this is just the beginning. Maybe that's why. Chris, let's come back when we're old. Let's come back and stand right here hand in hand the way we are now. And I'll say, thank you. Thank you for a very lovely lifetime, Mr. Thayer. And I'll say, thank you, Mrs. Thayer. It was my pleasure. Have I told you I love you very much? Not recently. Not for at least five minutes. Are you too interested in lunch, or are you above that sort of thing? Oh, Mother, Chris and I are in love, isn't it wonderful? Oh, it is wonderful. Don't let anyone ever tell you different. Love is the thing of the greatest value that can come into your life. It's the thing that can make every day beautiful, every year something to look back on. When you've found it, you've found the best that life can offer you. I don't know if you want to keep it, you must cherish it and guard it. You mustn't hurl words and anger and unpleasant scenes and arguments against it. There's great strength in love, but not the strength to withstand abuse. I'm telling you this now when you're young, so you'll not have to learn it to your sorrow when you're no longer young. Once you're sure you've found it, hold on to it. Oh, we're very sure, aren't we, Chris? I don't know how you could be more sure, Mother. Now, I've got to start getting dressed myself. Mother, don't you think you ought to see what Mr. Martin wants with Dad? Well, Mother's a little boy. Oh, now, don't worry about anything. Mother, everything's going to go off in fine shape, I hope. And if I don't get a chance to say it later, Mom, thanks for everything. Nobody ever had a greater mother. It's the thing all morning that he didn't want to marry Connie. He doesn't want to marry Connie. You listen to me, I've had just about enough of yours. We've got enough problems on our hands. There's going to be a wedding. The children are just a little nervous. Just run along home, Mr. Martin. All right. Your son to go down and wait at the church? It's wrong with you. She's going to get married. You know that. Now, come on. You almost made everybody late. All right, dear mom. Now, Connie, hold up your skirt and be sure not to sit on it in the car. And Walter, for heaven's sakes, fix that tie. Connie, do I look all right? Oh, you look beautiful, Mother. Oh, golly. I feel like you feel at the top of a roller coaster. I wonder how... How do I say when the minister says, do you take this woman? Do I say I do or I will? That's what most people say. Maybe I will is more original. All right, then say I will. Original. I'd like to see a boy have a mind of his own about things. I guess I'll say I do. No, your father wants you to say I will. Oh, I don't care what he says. On the block once. We haven't got time. Now, we're to hurry right through the side door. Come on, come on. Besides your best man, you're waiting. There you are. At the end of the last mile, you stand there going over and over, the whole thing in your mind, thinking all I said was, that's a pretty girl. And now look at me. One good man down, one husband coming up. And then, as you stand there, the music starts. You hear the music, and you turn your head, and there she is, coming down the aisle towards you. She's staring straight ahead of her, and you wonder what she's thinking. You walk down the aisle. You hope you won't trip on your train. You hope you'll be able to hold your hands steady, and you hope you'll be able to answer when the time comes. And then, then you look up, and you see... She looks at you, and she smiles, and your heart drops down to your knees and comes back up again. And you think, oh, honey, somewhere in the past 24 hours, I almost lost you. But thank heavens I didn't. It's been you from the first moment I saw you, and it will be forever. And then, Chris takes your hand, and you stand together, listening. Dearly beloved, we are gathered together in the sight of God and this company to unite together this man and this woman in the bonds of holy matrimony. You stand there listening to the old, loved words, and as you stand there, you find yourself thinking of your mother and father standing like this and their fathers before them. And you think of your children who will come after you. And for those few moments, you have a oneness with the ages. And then you turn to Connie and you kiss her. And bells start ringing in your ears, and the world opens in front of you, and it's your morning, your wedding morning. James Hilton will return in a moment. I was just thinking how good life seems during these days in preparation for Christmas. And wouldn't it be wonderful if only we could keep this spirit all through the year? We're thinking of others instead of ourselves. And so I want to remind you of a little present that will help to carry the spirit of Christmas right through the year ahead. The new Hallmark date book. The fine stores where you choose Hallmark cards have one for you, and it's free. Their Christmas remembrance to you. There's space on each calendar page for dates you want to remember, room for names and addresses, and particularly important right now, a big section for your Christmas card list. With all its usefulness, this little book is so cleverly arranged, it's small enough to slip into your purse, and so beautiful you'll be proud to carry it everywhere. I hope you'll ask for your Hallmark date book tomorrow. It's yours from the store where you buy your Hallmark cards. Here again is James Hilton. Mr. Walker, I'm sure many of our listeners relived their own wedding mornings in your portrayal of Chris. Thanks for being with us. Well, I certainly like being here, Mr. Hilton. The Hallmark playhouse always adds up to a pleasant evening for the guest as well as the audience. Thanks for those kind words, Bob. We hope you've taken care of purchasing your this year's Hallmark Christmas cards. I certainly have, Frank, and I must say I was impressed with the wonderful selection of Hallmark cards this year. And if you're in New York during this Christmas season, Bob, we'd like to invite you to attend the Hallmark Art Award exhibit at the Wildenstein Galleries during the month of December. Well, thank you, Mr. Hilton. I've heard about it, and I hope I can attend. Next week is your Christmas show, isn't it? Yes. The festive season is on us, and next week we shall present a dramatization of The Story of Silent Night, a story so warmly received by our listeners last year that we'd like to think it's already become a Christmas tradition of our Hallmark playhouse. And the following week, to celebrate New Year's Day, we shall give a truly New Year message by telling the story of Father Flanagan of Boystown, starring Dana Andrews. So please be listening. Our Hallmark playhouse is every Thursday. Our director-producer is Bill Gay. Our music is conducted by Lynn Murray, and our script tonight was by Jean Holloway. Until next Thursday then, this is James Hilton saying good night. Here are the directors of Dory Sherry's Battleground, starring Van Johnson, John Hodyak, Ricardo Montalban, and George Murphy. This is Frank Goss saying good night to you all until next week at the same time, when James Hilton returns to present our special Christmas program, Here to Paul is The Story of Silent Night. And the week following, Hilton Arsler's Father Flanagan of Boystown, starring Dana Andrews. And the week after that, Claudette Colbert in The Egg and I on the Hallmark Playhouse.