 The Irene Dunn Fred MacMurray Show. Irene Dunn as Susan and Fred MacMurray as George. Together in a gay new exciting comedy adventure, Bright Star. It's the Irene Dunn Fred MacMurray Show. With Irene Dunn as Susan Armstrong, editor of the Hillsdale Morning Star, and Fred MacMurray as George Harvey, her ace reporter. Football is in the air in Hillsdale, and so is George. With Susan trying to hold him down a bit. What a back signal for quiet. Well, if you want quiet, then chess is his game. This happens to be football. Come on! That's a lousy team. Excuse me, sir. Huh? Excuse me, but if you're so smart, why aren't you rich? I can't stand prosperity. Why? Well, please don't stand in front of us. Please. Okay, okay. Come on, here. And I think the team has a very good coach. Oh, you do. Jesse James would have passed up a coach like that in his leanest days. They ride up the game. Susan, listen to what I've just beaten out here. Well, if it's a follow-up on the report you did on the Hillsdale Putnam Tech Games. Well, it is, sort of. Well, then I won't predict. Censorship. I won't have you ridiculing the Hillsdale team in my paper. Your acid jokes have gone far enough. You're gagging the free press. And you're pressing the free gag at the expense of the Hillsdale football team. I blame Coach Matthews. Why, the Dalton boys in their leanest years would have passed up a coach. Press up that coach, I know. Honestly, George, you've worked that one into an untimely grave. Well, I think it's a crying shame that a high school the size of Hillsdale should lose all its games. Well, they didn't lose the Evans game. Well, they could have lost. They just weren't trying. George, are you implying that the boys are losing purposely? On the contrary, they win accidentally. George Harvey. On this day, I offer humble thanks that I'm not Mrs. George Harvey. If I were, I'd leave you. If you were, we'd have some football players for Hillsdale High. Junior High. High. Junior High. I ought to know my own age. Miss Armstrong, Mr. Harvey, Coach Matthews is here. Who? August Matthews. Oh, well... Good morning. Well, come in, Mr. Matthews. Go in and win, coach. Well, sit down, Mr. Matthews. Thank you. Well... Yes, sir. I wanted to hear you say it should be a matter of pure... I beg your pardon. Shall we put the ball back into play on the 20-yard line? Yes, please do, coach. Mr. Matthews. Mr. Matthews is more to the point since my resignation. Resignation? You quit coaching at the high school? This morning. Good thing, too. Thank you, Mr. Harvey. Well, I mean... What all your well wishes mean, Mr. Matthews? High school coaching is a service to the boys and to the community, but it isn't full of rich rewards for a man of your gift. Right. Oh, thank you again, Mr. Harvey. And in recognition of your very well-taken criticisms and your shrewd understanding of football, Mr. Harvey... Well, thank you. I'm here on behalf of the athletic board to offer you the job of football coach at Hillsdale High. What? Football coach at Hillsdale High. I know, I heard you. We accept. What? We accept. Splendid. We accept. Oh, all right. You accept. Mr. Matthews, he accepts. I do not accept. But they want you, George. You're a famous full bag. Yeah, but back when? Oh, you're at least 10 years younger than I am, Mr. Harvey. But believe me, coach, I report for the Hillsdale Morning Star I don't deliver on a bicycle. George, you're a big man now, and Hillsdale High needs you. Hillsdale High needs a big man. That is to fill another big man's shoes. Miss Armstrong, may I say that such tact and charm as yours would work wonders in government? Oh, how sweet. Thank you, Mr. Matthews. And as for you, Mr. Harvey, Hillsdale remembers your magnificent performances on the gridiron. Great historic football, sir. Well, don't forget, there were 10 other men on my team, coach. Say you accept, Mr. Harvey. You simply can't refuse, George. It's a call. Well, I... I don't know. The news. Your rival paper, I understand, is going to take the attitude of, shall we say, put up or shut up the news would. My daughter, a very mature 17, graduating this semester, who was sitting behind you in last Saturday's game, puts it a little differently. She says, if you're so smart, why aren't you the coach? Oh, so... Was that your daughter? Was that your daughter? She made George miss a play at the game. She'll make men miss a lot of things that don't matter as time goes by. Well, think it over, Mr. Harvey. It's been a very great pleasure, Miss Armstrong. Well, thank you, Mr. Matthews. What a perfectly charming man. So that baby the game was his daughter, huh? She looked at least 25. How old would you say he is? Who? Oh, he? Well, he says he's at least 10 years older than I am. His whole future is before him. At his age? At his age? The only reason I don't put a hex on him is that in his case, it's faster to let nature take its course. Oh. Putting me on a spot like that. Poor old duffer. Well, he's not poor, and he's not old, and he's not a duffer. No. He's charming. He's distinguished. Oh, he is, huh? Well, in football coaching, it's touchdowns that count. You're so right, coach. George, go win there and win. Thanks for the lift, Mr. Harvey. Don't case me. Boy, it's sure nice you and me going to the same school together. One of us is bound to learn something. Oh, shut up, Sammy. Law of averages. Why so crabby, coach? Well, I didn't know I'd have to teach class as well as coach football. That's a rule. Coach has got to be on the faculty. What do they do with their regular journalism teacher? Switched into woodworking. Well, where did the woodworking teacher go? She's getting married. She? Sure. It takes one of each gender to get wed. Well, she'll have some nice handmade furniture in her home. How are you going to begin with the team, Mr. Harvey? Blocking and tackling. Right from scratch, huh? Yeah. Football from the ground up. They can like it, Mr. Harvey. And I dare say they won't like me. They won't like you at first. Until they get to know me. Then they'll hate you. I'm confident of it. You got every reason. Well, there's the old high school. The dear old orange and blue. Purple and gold. Orange and blue, isn't it? Not a few days at the title of the weekly school paper. The purple and gold? Which is going to watch every move you make. Maybe I ought to butter the sports editor a bit. Sharon Matthews. A girl, huh? A dish. Anybody buttering that editor, it's got to be sweet butter, brother. Sharon Matthews, huh? Hey, did you say Matthews? Matthews, Karma Sharon. The coach's daughter. Mm-hmm. Georgie Porgy, a football coach. Oh, I don't believe it, Miss Susan. Why, he couldn't coach a herring to swim. George was quite a football hero in his day, patients. George Washington was quite a president in his day, but I bet he doesn't get nominated again. Armstrong residents. May I speak to Miss Armstrong, please? Mr. August Matthews. It's a Mr. August Matthews, Miss Susan. Oh, how nice. Let me speak to him. Oh, that yummy deep dumb voice. Hello, Mr. Matthews. I hope this isn't a presumption, Miss Armstrong. Oh, not at all. It's so nice of you to call after what's happened. Nonsense. I'm rather interested myself in seeing what Coach Harvey will do with his new assignment. You're not angry? My daughter is more peeve than I am really. All I'm interested in at the moment is, uh, well, perhaps you'd have dinner with me some evening. Well, indeed I would, but, well, let's see, I'm pretty busy at the office without George around. Possibly a week from Saturday. That would be after the Dixon game. Maybe George will join us. Maybe. A week from Saturday then. Dinner. Thank you. I'll be in touch, Miss Armstrong. Goodbye. Goodbye, Mr. Matthews. Well, the ex-coach is doing pretty good. I'm just being friendly, patience. I wonder how the new coach is doing. Men, I don't care if we lose every game this season. Just so we win, the big Glenville game. We're pointing for Glenville. Understand? Now, forget everything you ever knew. We're starting fresh. Bedrock. Ground up. Clear? Now, to begin with, men, this is a football. Any questions? And to this observer, Hillsdale's attack in its first game under coach George Harvey had all the stab and power of a Bloomer girl team. We don't know what coach Harvey is costing the school board. He ought to charge pretty low. His team charges so doggone high. Fine things, Susan. That's loyalty for you. My own editor and boss panning me in her newspaper. Even as you panned August Matthews for a bad job. What do you mean a bad job? It was a good game. I know. You were just nosed out. Seventy-seven to six. Well, we scored, didn't we? Raw, raw. We fought them to a standstill in the last minute of the game. They couldn't handle the ball. They were laughing too hard. Now, give me time with those kids and they'll be great. Yes. Great grandfathers. Still trying to win for old coach Harvey. That's very funny. Seems you've changed your tune a little since Mellow Voice Matthews got in the act. How is your group and journalism getting along? Well, I haven't had any class so far. How bitterly true. What? Hit them hard. Hit them low. Yay, Hillsdale. Let's go. In the week class, we will discuss the dangers of printing a libel. That's all, class. Oh, Mr. Harvey. Yes, Mr. Matthews. Matthews? May I speak to you after class? Why, yes, Mr. Matthews. Yes, Miss Matthews. I just wanted to make it clear from the start that I entertain no ill feeling for you, simply because you replaced my father's football coach. Well, that's a very adult attitude, Sharon. I appreciate it. I'm giving you a very good write-up in my sports column in the purple and gold. That's very sweet of you, Sharon. That's what I believe. Just when did you decide I wasn't so bad before the team, I mean? When I walked into class and saw you. What? I wrote my editorial in class. Didn't you take notes on my lecture? I could tell you how to run a newspaper. And football team? Very likely. Is there anything you don't know? How old are you? Why, I am old enough to be your father. Thanks for the offer, but I have a father. Tell me about Susan Armstrong. Susan? She must be very nice, because father wants to date her. Your dad is interested in Susan? Miss Armstrong? He's a widower. I approve entirely. Oh, brother. Oh, stepmother. Sharon, you're very interesting, but... I'm 17, but I'm a mental and emotional equal of any really mature woman in her late 20s. That's not late enough. I mean... You're wrong, George. I may call you George. Well, I... Yes, yes. It's late enough. In fact, it's too late for stammering out any signals of distress. You're sunk. Now back to our stars Irene Dunn and Fred McMurray and the second act of our story. George Harvey, trapped into coaching the Hillsdale high school football team in a dismal season, has just had an experience to try and end souls. He has just been marked by the ex-coach's beautiful daughter, age a knowing 17, for her rightful quarry. The alarm in George's bachelor heart is translated into a telephone jangling in Susan Armstrong's living room. Now, who would that be, Patience? I got a formula to find out things like that, Miss Susan. It's top-secret stuff, but I know how. You go like so. Miss Armstrong's residence. Patience, let me speak to Miss Armstrong, will you? It's Georgie Boy, Miss Susan. Oh, let me talk to the builder of men. He's all yours, trowels, caffold and blooper. George? Miss Susan, are you home tonight? Well, if I'm not, you're listening to a very clever impersonation. Well, can I come over? We've only got a rib roast and a bowl of potato salad, and a few remnants, so if you're really hungry... No, no, no. I really don't want anything to eat. There's several large sandwiches we'll do. I just want to talk. Come right over, George. Coming right over. He just wanted to talk while he ate a few sandwiches. You? You think he's sick? He did sound a little feverish. Well, feed a cold and starve a fever. Or is it starve a cold and feed a fever? Two sides to every question, I always say. Well, you better make some sandwiches, Patience, and something nice to drink. And, um, lay out my gold lace house coat, will you? Gold lace? Why not? George enjoys my dressing up once in a while. You don't think that the football fever might encourage him to try any forward passing? Oh, now, George... George? Oh, I believe that was the article in question. Oh, no, no. No, George doesn't want to, to, uh... Get married? Uh... Involved. You mean he isn't that feverish? Anyhow, Patience, it takes two at least. Well, I'll get the refreshments and set out the hunting apparel. Hunting apparel? Some call it gold lace and some call it net. Pretty dress, Susan. Gold net, huh? It's gold lace, George. Oh, then, uh, what did you do to your hair? Brushed it or something? You know, sometimes just running the electric mixer through it isn't enough. I brushed it. Well, it looks very nice. Well, at all two, this was a dollar brush. Susan, don't kid me much tonight. Oh, I'm sorry, George. You know us. Anything for a laugh. Yeah, I'm in a sensitive condition. Let's just make it nice, huh? All right, George. I think I'd have a bad day. Bad? Huh? Oh, poor George. Lots of farm-blades. Oh, no, no. Very classy play. Oh, that's wonderful. How was the line? The line? A revelation. Good! Most terrific line I've ever experienced. No fooling. No fooling at all. And that's only a start. I'm sure there's more to come. Yeah. Today was just a promise of things to come. Maybe not this year, but perhaps next year and surely the year after. Yeah. You reap the results of what you've done now. Oh, don't, don't, Susan. Fresh young man. Don't, Susan. Bouncing new colors. Don't, don't, don't, don't, don't. George, you're ill. I think so. Your hands are like ice. Yeah. And you're worried. Don't keep your hand there, Susan. Feels good. All right. Susan, don't ever fire me, will you? You don't ever quit. And I'm kind of, I, I'll need the job. And I kind of, the job needs you. Me, by myself, I'm a big fat minus sign. Same here. You don't know, you're not fat. You're just right. But I am a minus sign. You're just saying that to be neighborly. No, really. Both together, we're a plus. Two negatives. Make a positive. Yeah. We've got plenty of nothing, but nothing's plenty for us, huh? No, I wouldn't run us down too much, though. A good team. Yeah. Yeah. Feeling better? Yeah. Yeah. Not a plenty of nothing, nothing, plenty, plenty. George. Present. Um, sir, how would you like to go to dinner after the football game on Saturday? Dinner and dancing. Ah, fine, fine. I imagine I'll be able to use something like that. August asked if you'd join us, and I said that I... August. August Matthews the coach. Yeah, I know. And you speak of him as the former coach. I am the coach now. All right, all right, you're the coach. The former coach then was cordial enough to ask you to join us for dinner and dancing on Saturday evening. Oh, that's very nice of you. But, uh, suppose I haven't got a girl. And I haven't got a girl. August has mine. Well, I explained that to August, and that's just perfect, because he wants his daughter to meet you. Sharon? How did you know? I've already met the damsel, and she has the fastest charging, hardest-hitting line in the Brynmore Smith College, Wellesley Bennington for Girls' Loop. Now, just what do you mean, George Harvey? How did you meet Miss Matthews? She's in my class, and, uh, she's going to marry me. The first day? Yeah. Well, you work fast. I work fast. She works fast? In 17 years, she's gotten to be 25 years old. I call that working pretty fast, don't you? Is she very pretty? This Blitz babe is the most terrific thing since Delilah. In that case, George, I insist that you and Delilah... Uh, Sharon is her straight name. Well, I want you and Sharon to join us at dinner on Saturday. Why? Well, just in case Delilah gets in your hair, I want to be around. Well, George, you didn't do too badly at all today with the team. Did he girls? No, 32 to 13, but you still look a little respectable. And it's going to be even more respectable. We're going to win the Glendale game next Saturday. None of the referee gets stuffy about our using bulldozers at right and left tackle. I said we are going to win Saturday. We? And she means it too. In my very humble opinion, Sharon could be anything she wants to be. A great musician, a great stateswoman, a great spy like Matahari. I just want to be a success at living. See what I mean, Susan? 17 years old. And very, very lovely and quite wise and mature. Thank you, Susan. You feel very deeply and serenely about things, don't you, Sharon? And you think you'd like to marry George? Oh, no. You don't? I don't think I'd like to marry George. I know. Would anybody care to dance? Sharon, this will seem trite to you, but George is almost old enough to be your father. I am not old enough to be your... Never mind. I'm sorry. I was twice as old as my wife when I married her. I say if mother was old enough to be my mother, she was old enough to marry father. George? What? Any comment or rebuttal? No, no comment. I am almost old enough to be your father. You ought to see me out in the practice field and regularly gall-ding it. No. Susan, you're upset. I think George would like to be alone with Sharon, whose mother was no older than Sharon is when she married August, who was older at the time than George is now. Shut up. I'm all mixed up. Take me home, August. You don't dance with a ball carrier. You tackle them. Tackle so they stay tackled. Oh, wait a minute. All of you stop. Lay off that stupid tackling dummy. Tackle me. Don't just stand there rubbing your beardless chins. I'm the ball carrier. Tackle me. Armando, you're first. Okay. Okay, that was more like it. Right, Davidson? You're next. I'm okay. I can take it. Ready? Charge. That will be all today, class. You have your assignment for next week when we hope your regular teacher, Mr. George Harvey, will be out of the hospital. Miss Sharon Matthews. Yes, Miss Armstrong. May I see you after class, please? Well, Miss Armstrong? Sharon, didn't you know that George would probably do something ridiculous just to prove that he wasn't too old for you? No. I did mean to punish him for being what I thought was unkind to dad in your newspaper. I just thought I'd frighten him with matrimony, but that's all. Well, that was enough. The poor man was petrified. I mustn't laugh. I wasn't a bit funny, but... Oh, those silly men. Oh, well, we silly women are entitled to as little as dairy once in a while, I guess. Sharon, where do we go from here? I know where I go. Well, can you tell me? George can't coach the team for the big game Saturday, and father won't, so I will. You? Oh, now, Sharon. I'll take all I've learned from dad and apply it to all George has done with the team. Turn on the charm and see what happens. If we lose, neither George nor dad will be blamed. I will. If we win, I'll admit that I took the best from both their systems of coaching and they'll both get credit for the win. See? Why are you looking at me like that? You're quite a girl. I almost believe you can do it. That kick! Come on, George, before you fall off your crutches. Come on, Hillsdale, this is your day. Block that kick! Block it! George, George, the quarterback signal for quiet. Block that kick. Block that kick. Block that kick. Block that kick. You're not in full view of the whole club. That's for distinguished coaching. Come on, boys, run that play over again. Up here, it really pays off. Our stars Irene Dunn and Fred McMurray will be back in just a moment. Yes, George? I've been thinking. Yes, George? About Sharon. Yes, George. I mean, going to all that trouble to save face for me and her dad to make us both look good to the fans. Look at me, Susan. Do you think this face is worth saving? Yes, George. It keeps right on gathering interest. All the time. Irene Dunn and Fred McMurray will be back next week in another exciting comedy adventure in the gay news series, Bright Star. This is Wendell Niles inviting you to join us then.