 The mutual broadcasting system in cooperation with family theater incorporated presents. No man is a stranger Starring Otto and Otterly Krueger. Bob Hope is your host More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of Here is tonight's family theater host Bob Hope. I speak seriously tonight about something very precious Something very important to all of us our families in our homes Family theater is dedicated to our homes to all families It is dedicated with a simple conviction that a happy family is the most wonderful thing in the world And what America needs greatly today is a strengthening of the bonds of home life America needs family unity. I speak as just another father another parent about the ideals of family theater They're beautiful and believable because I know that family prayer is not of date in old fashion It's a vital and powerful force in home life today It can mean the difference between a happy and an unhappy home because there's loyalty in a family where there's daily family prayer Yes, there's loyalty and love and they go all the way towards making a happy home We will hear from Bob Hope again later in the program now the family theater presents No man is a stranger starring Otto Krueger as Gerard and Otterly Krueger as Carolyn Dear Karl Greetings from America. I regret this delay in replying to your last letter But if you have been following the accounts of the United Nations recently, you will understand how busy I have been Believe me old friend being a delegate to this august assembly is no bed of roses as they say here in America Such Interminable wrangling and discussion so little basis for agreement on matters of the utmost Importance to all the country's concern Well, I don't mind admitting I was fast-losing faith not only in myself But in my fellow man as well a most dangerous state of mind for one representing his government at such a crisis in World Affairs But you will note that I use the past tense Which brings me to the purpose of this letter. I Want to tell you of a series of events that happened to me recently a Series of events which I say in all sincerity has changed the course of my entire life It was voted to declare a two-week recess from the UN affairs To permit certain of the delegates to return to their homelands for advisory conferences There was no necessity for my doing this however, so when I decided to take a trip through the farmlands of New England Because of my own boyhood on the farm back in our country I've always had great respect for the soil and the people who till it and I felt perhaps it would help me to talk with these people and get again the feel of the land So I borrowed an American friend's car. I went north from Lake success Never following any definite route never staying longer than a day or two in one place And it was while traveling along a lonely country road in Vermont that a series of events I mentioned begin to happen Thus was falling. I was beginning to wonder where I would spend the night When suddenly I turned the sharp curve. I was blinded by the headlights of an approaching car I swirled quickly to avoid the collision and the next thing I knew My wheels were embedded in a sandy ditch, and I was unable to force my way out What oh, oh you startled me. I tried to dim my lights, but it happened too fast Oh, well, please don't feel badly. There's no harm done Now if I can just call a garage to come tow me out Doubt if our one garage is still open besides. There's no phone near here Perhaps I could push you out with my car. Oh, no, you you probably succeed only in becoming stuck yourself Can you tell me if there is an in nearby there's a tourist house in the village But it's always filled on weekends, and I'm quite sure you wouldn't be interested in what we laughingly call a hotel That does present a problem then By the way, perhaps we should introduce ourselves. My name is Jared Kobek. How do you do mr. Kobe? You do I'm Carolyn Marshall you you live near here miss Marshall. Yes only about two miles from here Say, why didn't I think of that before you can spend the night at my place? Well, really? I live with my father. We have a farm down the road You'd be very welcome to spend the night with all that's very kind of you I hate to put you to the trouble. Oh, it's no trouble at all. I feel responsible Please say you'll accept well. I must admit you're very persuasive, but fine. You just get your bag and out What are you staring at mr. Kobe? well Forgive me. I was merely thinking what a fascinating country. This is I mean one drives along a deserted road Feeling lonely and tired and when suddenly he's driven into a ditch by a lovely lady who asks him to spend the night with her family That's amazing But don't be too hasty. I Have an uneasy feeling you may change your mind when you meet my father Are you ready mr. Kobe? You're very quiet mr. Kobe bashful. Oh Oh Well, I know I've never been accused of that before No, I was observing how ominous the hills appear in shadow. Are you a professor of some sort? Well, why do you ask that then? I don't know just seen the type. Yeah, so quiet and serious I'm a teacher myself. I have the first four grades in a rural school and are they a problem? Oh, I can well imagine you know, I'm sorry to disappoint you though. I am not a professor I guess perhaps you would call me a student a Student of world affairs. I see Mr. Kobe in order to save you any embarrassment. I think I should tell you about my father Well, is he such an ogre? He's one of the sweetest most generous men. I know That's what makes his attitude so aggravating is what his attitude toward what may I ask? Well? Please don't take offense But his attitude toward foreigners. Oh, you mean he resents them or rather us, huh? Yes, he has a general dislike for anyone with an accent It all started about a year ago when the farm next to ours was up for sale Well dad wanted a few acres for pasture land But the owner didn't want to divide his property and before dad could talk him into what the farm had been sold Ah to a foreigner. Yes, and Italian named Rumberty bought it Mr. Rumberty has a son Pietro We became acquainted and began to see more and more of each other Of course father objected, but finally we realized we were in love. I Hope this would make dad relent, but it only made him more furious than ever He was so infuriated that a stranger and a foreigner at that should get the better of him But he's embittered against anyone with an accent No wonder you felt it necessary to warn me and do you think it wise for you to invite me to stay at your home? Perhaps not, but I can't go on giving in to him forever I know we never would have felt this way if it hadn't been for the farm That petty disappointment has affected him out of all proportion. Well, I assure you miss Marshall It is not an unusual circumstance. I have faced it many times in my work only on a larger scale Well, here's your chance for a little fieldwork This is the farm There's a light in the barn dad's probably mucking the cows Come on. I'll introduce you And please mr. Covec Don't judge him too hastily Basically, he's the sweetest old guy in the world. Yeah, well, I promise to withhold judgment But just let us hope he will do the same Dad may I interrupt from Oh Yeah, who's that with you dad? I'd like you to meet mr. Covec. How do you do mr. Marshall? I am very pleased to meet you How do you do mr? What can't say your name be Covec yard Covec Stranger in these parts a mr. Covec's on a vacation dad I forced him into a ditch a couple of miles down the road and his car got stuck So I I invited him to spend the night with us spend the night Oh, I was reluctant to accept mr. Marshall, but your daughter was quite insistent I do hope it won't inconvenience you. I shall leave first thing in the morning Well, I reckon we can put you up for the night better give it a fair warning though Yes About what if you're aim to leave first thing in the morning that'd be let me see now I'll be about 5 30 day starts mighty early around here Well, as you can imagine Carl, it was not a very restful night Despite the billowy feather mattress on which I slept The following morning when I went downstairs Miss Marshall had prepared a delicious breakfast. Her father was teetered there at the table. He greeted me Coolie as I'd expected and as the meal progressed however And I told him something of my own background on the farm and of my respect for farmers His attitude relaxed and he became quite civil I could see he was trying harder like me, but at the same time trying just as hard not to show it So after breakfast He offered to take a team of horses and pull my car from the ditch I tried to object but he and his daughter were insistent and so the three of us went to the scene And upon pulling the car out We found the rear axle had been broken Well, let's go back and don't look as if you're going very far over the broken axle Right, we'd better go back and call Pete Hammond's garage and have him come to fetch you Oh dad, you know how slow Pete is I was thinking that maybe No, perhaps we hadn't better. Well, what is it miss Marshall? What were you going to say? Well, Pietro, that's the boy I told you about is a mechanic and I was going to suggest we call him girl That'll be about enough Yes, I thought it would be but I think it's an excellent idea. Why not call Pietro? Let's go back. What you do is your own affair But if you call that Italian, I refuse to have anything more to do with matter Oh dad, why be so stubborn? What difference can it make? I don't need to argue the matter Which is going to be mr. Copec Uh, I think perhaps I will call Pietro mr. Marshall Very well Come along carlin not yet dad. I'm going to stay with mr. Copec. Oh, and I miss marcia. Please. Thank you to stay out of this Mr. Copec I'm beginning to see how things stand For a while they're talking with you. I was willing to admit I'd been a little hasty in my thinking about foreigners I can see that you're well that you're all alike bad influence No place for you around here not for any of you dad. Do you realize what you're saying? Yes, I realize all right I realize that everything that means anything to me is being Swiped under my eyes by folks who've got no business here You'd better make up your mind pretty quick daughter on which side of the fence you stand Of course it's got to be one of the other and it's got to be much quick So we got a lift to a farmhouse down the road and called rombettis Pietro came with a truck and he told my car to their farm Pietro was a tall dark-haired lad with lean muscles in the ready green His father on the other hand was short and wiry with the softest eyes I have ever seen Well, what do you think pietro? You you fix up a mr. Copec's a car sure pop I can fix it. It might take a few days though. Mr. Copec. I have to get some materials splendid pietro I will it will give me an excuse to remain here a little longer Mr. Copec you you like it here. Oh, indeed I do mr. Umberty. It reminds me very much of my homeland I shall see about getting a room in town until the car is ready I wish I could invite you to stay with us mr. Copec But I'm afraid under the circumstances. It wouldn't be wise. Well, you're very kind to think of it Thank you just the same mr. Copec. We like very much if you stay with us. There's a plenty room Sure, just pardon myself. Why don't you do that? Oh, no, no, that's very thoughtful of you But really not it is not necessary When one is long away from his homeland, it's good to be friends with someone who you got something in common How well I know this we would like you to stay with us In that case, I would be most happy to accept Perhaps I might even help to earn my keep by helping with the chores Hey, we'll have them help us haul water from the livestock out pop That'll keep them busy please my son. That's another subject for joking. What did you mean pietro? Why do you have to haul water for the livestock? Isn't there a stream running through your pasture? Yes, but it's only a small one we depend on it Now though it's going dry So pop and I have to haul water from well away from the well way up by the house It's quite a problem and it comes at a very bad time too Just as we are beginning to get a few wholesale markets for our milk Well, perhaps we could figure some way to pump the water down there My it's going to be expensive and there's not too much money Now the trouble is farmers like mr. Marshall and the rest have pretty well cornered the wholesale market Every obstacle on our way now just makes it that much harder. Well, excuse me, but I noticed A very large stream on your father's property miss margillie runs close to the rombetti farm Now couldn't some of that be diverted? Well, if dad would be willing to do it He certainly can understand how vital it is The stream on our property runs down from the north through several other farms before it reaches ours And dad knows how important it is to everyone. Do you think it would do any good to ask him honey? We could cut a channel through ourselves. It's so close Well, there's nothing like trying Will you and pH will come with me mr. Rombetti while I ask my father? Well, I don't know carolina Your father and I our neighbor Zima. He has not seen fit to accept me as his friend Mr. Kopek, uh, what do you think? Oh, please please. I would prefer not to become involved No doubt my answer would be yes Yet it is a matter of diplomacy And when it comes to that subject I am just beginning to realize how very little I really know I suppose if the mission had not been so serious We might have looked rather comical as we went nervously and in single file up to the marshal house Mr. Marshall He was sitting in his big chair by the kitchen stove and we entered and we stood waiting while Carolyn hesitantly explained the purpose of our visit when she had finished her father looked at each of us slowly And then addressed mr. Rombetti I reckon in a bad fix all right rombetti If you bad you didn't investigate the springs that feed your stream before you bought the property But there was no reason to be in doubt to mr. Marshall Do you think you would have felt so that's not the point so happens? I know that land as well as a normal very own That's one reason I felt as it did when you sneaked away from me. Hey, wait a minute. We didn't do any sneaking We bought that land fair and square. Please, Pietro. It's not important now. Well, it's a good thing. He's carolin's father I'd push that crack down his throat. No, all right. Maybe I didn't mean it exactly like sound But you know, I want some of that land for pasture So uh, here's what I'll do. I'll let you buy the land all you want Then I'll run my stream right into your property But we could not do that. We need that land for our own farming Well in that case, then there's no water. But dad think what this means to the repertas. What are they going to do? That's their fair I've made my offer. Well, that's the best can do Okay Come on pop. We're wasting our time. One moment. Pietro. There's something I wish you to say Mr. Marshall, yeah Maybe you're forgetting that the water is truly not yours to give or to refuse What do you mean? So my property ain't it? Yes, it's a new property My things like water and the air and the sunshine They're given to us by the almighty He expects us to share them in his name See here, I don't need anybody to tell me about god and certainly no foreigner Now get out all you and you, peter or whatever your name is stay with my daughter. Do you understand? I'll let carolin decide that mr. Marshall Come on dad. I don't like the year in here Pietro Mr. Rumberty, I'm sorry I guess I knew all along that it wouldn't work. It was worth a try. Yes. Yes Come on. Pietro. Mr. Quebec. We we go home and now And so I went to spend the remainder of my visit with the romburtis It was a simple life. They lived one of great sincerity and industriousness Without realizing it. They were helping me far more than anyone had in years Mr. Rumberty was a very religious man in a quarry at mortis kind of way And when I mentioned his difficulty with marshal and how tragic it was that neighbors must be enemies He would say to me Mr. Quebec It's a god's way It is not for us to to question him Every night I pray Pietro my son too that our trouble with our neighbor may be settled I I do not think he's as bad as he appears How could he be and have a daughter like carolin? But he needs to be shown Do we not all lose the way sometimes? We have to be shown that that's all very well my friend But how can he be shown when he insists upon keeping you a stranger in your own community? Well, one must be patient Mr. Quebec Have you thought how busy god must be with everyone asking him for help? Yet he finds a time for each one of us If we have just a little patience The days passed quickly I assumed regular duties around the farm. I took long walks through the woods with Pietro and carolin Listening to their youthful plans for the future Well At length my car was fixed My vacation period was about over And that was what great reluctance that I began to make preparations to depart The evening before the day I was to leave however Carolin came to the rumberty farm very much upset It's our cattle Yesterday they started acting very strangely and not giving milk And today they're all sick and one of the prize heifers isn't expected to live Yes, but what cause did miss marshal? Do you know? Well Levet said it's the water they've been drinking We investigated and found it was polluted by waste matter thrown into the stream north of us And you said the cows are not giving a meal only a little and that's contaminated Dad won't be able to meet his quotas and you're sure to lose his markets That's a no good Pietro come we must go to him go to him poppy you're crazy. What can we do? Well, we have milk more than enough than we need for our few markets We will offer to share it with him, but he'll throw us out of the house. Well, we must take that chance Mr. Kopeck will you come with us? Mr. Rumberty, I'm inclined to agree with Pietro, but frankly I wouldn't miss this for the world So once again we through single file up to the marshal's kitchen door and once again Miss marshal precedes us into the kitchen where her father was seated in the big chair by the store He was staring vacantly into space his eyes looked like those of a whipped dog Dad, I've I've brought some visitors How's that? Oh Oh, it's you Rumberty I've been expecting you Expecting me mr. Marshal my my wife. I knew this would be too good an opportunity for you to miss Will Well, go ahead. Go ahead. I've got it coming to me. I don't understand Carolina told us about your misfortune and we're very sorry to hear of it. Why should you be sorry? Mr. Marshal It may be difficult for you to understand But these people would like to be your friends They'd like to help you. Why should they want to be friends with me? Because we neighbors what the better reason Look Rumberty, I don't want any sermon and brotherly love Well, admit I haven't pigheaded about a lot of things. I realize that that you're all here and even my own daughter turned against me Maybe I knew it even before then I'm willing to accept my punishment a lot a lot of preaching We did not come here to preach my friend. Get on with it pop. Tell them why we are here. It is very well Mr. Marshal, we we would like to to to make an offer While your cows are being treated and until they well again We would like to share our milk with you. So you may meet your quarters share share your milk But what about your own markets? Oh, see, well, there's so few it it will make a little difference Why did you wonder this after all the way I treated you? Oh dad, what difference does it make? Don't fight it except their offer in the spirit. It's given If you think this you're going to win me over and birdy. It's not that easy I can't change overnight and well, I just can't be bought Pardon me, but I don't think mr. Umberty expects that it's enough that you want to change The rest will come about in time. Don't you see dad? It's the best way for all of us As soon as our stream is cleared you can run that channel onto rumberty's property That's one way you can pay them back if you like And meanwhile he helps us to supply our markets and perhaps helps to build a few more of his own I was not thinking of that. No, I believe you weren't I I don't know what to say It's not what I expected I just don't know. Oh, please dad. Don't fight it. Oh, all right. Umberty, I'll accept your offer, but But on one condition and what is that to mr. Marshall that you go away now and uh, Well, just let me think got some things to get off the chest But they Well, they hadn't said in private I understand Pietro, come on. Oh, you go ahead pop Carol and I have some things to say too. Yes, we've waited a long time Well, mr. Covec, I guess that leaves you and me I'm ready mr. Umberty. I must pack for my trip Mr. Covec, I feel as if I owe you an apology You came here for a vacation and I'll lead you into all of this But is that such a shame If it had not been for you my dear I never would have met all you fine people and and believe me My life would have been much emptier because of that That's sweet of you. Thank you May I kiss you goodbye? Well, really now I Thank you And so Carl my letter is nearly finished The following day I returned to lake success I had found the rest I sought and much more For the first time I realized the approach to my task Had been lacking in one of its most vital elements That the answer to the problems that beset the world Does not lie in man alone We need help from a power greater than ourselves For are we not seeking the same things after all no matter what our blood or our heritage? Why of course So with patience and faith I know now that no man need be a stranger But a brother to all men Did you ever notice what happens when you go to see a movie or read a story? Halfway through the thing, you know, what's going to cause all the trouble You got the villain nailed and you know what to do with him Well, somehow it's different in real life. It's often little things that start a family breakup Little things you don't see that seem insignificant until one day everything goes boom We all get a lot of pleasure out of making others happy And the greatest pleasure in life is to know that there is harmony and understanding in our homes It takes effort and self-sacrifice to have things that way It takes patience and prayer when things are going wrong That's why we believe that praying together as a family is the surest way to family unity and a happy home Because a family that prays together stays together And this is bob hope again and before saying good night I'd like to thank out of kruger for his performance as jared And otterly kruger for her portrayal of carolin A special word of thanks also to richard birding for the writing tonight's play And a max tear for his music This family theater production was directed by dav young Others who appeared in our play tonight were dick ryan jane novella william martell Next week our family theater star will be victor mature in stopwatch finale. Your hosts will be dick hains Good night and god bless you This series of family theater broadcasts is made possible by the thousands of you who felt the need for this kind of program By the mutual broadcasting system which has responded to this need And by a friend of the new york foundling hospital Which cares for homeless and motherless babies without distinction of race creed or color Join us next week at the same hour when family theater will present victor mature and dick haims tony lefano speaking This is the mutual broadcasting system