 Ladies and gentlemen, the railroad hour has started show train. The great Broadway musical hit, Music in the Air, starring Gordon McRae and his charming guest, Miss Joe Stafford. Our choir is under the direction of Norman Luboff and the music is prepared and conducted by Common Dragon. Yes, tonight another great musical success is brought to you transcribed by the American Railroads. The same railroads that bring you most of the food you eat, the clothes you wear, the fuel you burn, and all the other things you use in your daily life. And now, here is our star, Gordon McRae. I'll be Carl and Joe Stafford is Siglinda, and here's Music in the Air. The village of Edendorf nestles deep in the Bavarian Alps. And in our story, I'm sort of a bashful schoolmaster, so I can't really say the things I feel. Like right now, I'm coming to Siglinda's house to bring something to her father, Dr. Lessing. Hello, Carl. Oh, hello, Siglinda. Well, you should have told me you were coming to see me. I'd have been home sooner. Well, I didn't exactly come to see you. Oh? I came to see your father. Well, if you'd rather see my father. Oh, no, Siglinda, you don't understand. I mean, I always say the wrong thing when I'm close to you. Carl, don't be bashful. Tell him what you're trying to say. I hear music when I look at you. Let me hear your lyric, Carl. I'll be out in the kitchen. No, no, Siglinda. I want you to hear this, too, because even though you don't know it, you help me write the words. That's how sweet I think. Sing it together. Please do, Siglinda. You should have it published. How? I'm no businessman. I'm going to Munich next week with the walking club. And Dr. Lessing, if you could come with us, why, I should walk to Munich 60 miles. You think I'm a schoolboy? We'll take our time, a week or more. Well, I've not been there for 20 years, and my old school friend Ernest Mahler is a music publisher in Munich. Well, then you must come and give him the song. And Siglinda must come to sing it for you. Oh, may I, Father, please? Well, somehow I feel this is a wrong thing to do. It'll bring sadness to us. Well, how, Dr. Lessing? It can only make you famous. Oh, and it'll be a wonderful holiday for all of us. Done to the city in the 20 years I've been away. Everyone is in such a hurry, and everybody looks mad. That's the way it is with city life. Ah, look, look. There's the sign. Mahler and company. Music publishers. Well, shall we go in? I wonder if my old friend Ernest will recognize me. It's been so long. We'd like to see Mr. Mahler, please. Well, he's very busy. You'll have to wait. Then you can take him. Oh, Frida, let's not have another seat. Oh, he's making a seat. Oh, my goodness. I'm leaving you, Mr. Mahler. I'm leaving you, wretched little opera company. May I introduce myself? You won't allow me to leave Frida Hotspelt. You'll never work in the theater again. Ha, I have a dozen offers. Are you really Frida Hotspelt, the great star? You see, Mr. Mahler, here is a young man who appreciates my talent. Oh, I saw you once in the chocolate soldier. You were wonderful. Oh, how sweet of you to say so. You look like Ernest Mahler, but you should be older. You're thinking of my father. He's been dead ten years. Ernest? It's dead. Oh, my old friend. Don't be sad, Father. And I'm sure young Mr. Mahler will listen to your composition. You see, I've written a song, and my daughter has come along to sing it for you. Everyone in the world has written a song and expects me to publish it. I can't be bothered. You can't treat my father like this. He's a great composer. Well, you're a fiery one, aren't you, my dear? Bruno Mahler? And along I'm going to listen to this little angel sing. That finishes it. I'm through. That's right, you're through. Oh! Young man. Yes? How would you like to take me to dinner? Have dinner with your mother Frida Hotspelt? Ah, what a nice way of putting it. Young man, you should write. Well, I have done a few lyrics. Oh. Perhaps you'll write something for me. Come, we shall discuss it at dinner. Carl? Ah, the fickleness of women. Women? Men are the fickle ones. Are you having a good time, Carl? Oh, yes. I can hardly believe that this is really me having dinner with a famous star. You are a refreshing Carl. And I'm very fond of you. Are you? Really? Do you know what's been happening to me, Frida, while we walked in the park? No. Tell me, Carl. When I look at you. Bruno, you see, Mr. Mahler? And I'm so proud that you're going to publish my father's song. How could I help it after the way you sang it? Siglinda, can I persuade you to take Frida Hotspelt's place in my opera company? I'll make the theatre go as love you as much as I do. Do you think you could be happy working with me? Oh, yes, Mr. Mahler. When we're together, I almost seem to hear music in the air. Siglinda, they should sing their songs to each other. Not to strangers. Oh, we should never have come here. We should have stayed needy, though. Why? What is the most powerful weapon in the world today? You see it in action every time you glimpse the lights of a factory burning far into the night, every time you watch workers streaming into sprawling defense plants, every time you pass the endlessly rich rolling acres of our fertile farms. For that weapon is our overwhelming productive might, busy at the job of rearming America and our allies. Now, to make that all-powerful weapon work takes money, lots of it, to pay for the tanks, planes, guns, and arms needed by our fighting forces. That's why Uncle Sam calls on us all to buy United States savings bonds. And that's why, in this coming month of May, America's railroads and railroad men are joining together in a special campaign to step up their purchase of defense bonds through the payroll deduction savings plan. Under that plan, already widely used in the railroad industry, railroad men ask their companies to set aside regularly a certain amount of their wages to be used for the purchase of the bonds they want. The men who buy these bonds become partners of Uncle Sam, helping to build America's security and to back up our military and defense production efforts. In addition, when you buy United States savings bonds, you add to your own financial security by saving for long-range personal goals, like a home of your own, college for your children, a fund for retirement. And remember, in only 10 years' time, the bonds you buy today pay off at a 33 and one-third percent profit to you. Yes, United States savings bonds are now defense bonds. You help your country and yourself when you buy them regularly. Here is act two of Music in the Air, starring Gordon Macrae as Carl Rader and Joe Stafford as Sieglinde. Strange how people who love each other or think they do can suddenly drift apart. Back home in Edendorf, I had dreamed that someday Sieglinde would be mine. But in Munich, with the glamorous Frida Hartzfeld on my arm, Sieglinde didn't seem nearly so important. She was having the time of her life with that pompous impresario Bruno Mahler, who had actually given her a starring part in his newest opera. Frieden, Mr. Mahler? Yes, Sieglinde, you look enchanting. I'm so frightened with all the lights and the people. Do not be frightened. This is merely a dress rehearsal. Sing it sweetly, my dear. I'll be listening. Thank you, Father. All right, music! Didn't she sing that beautifully, Mr. Mahler? Yes, she sings magnificently, but I'm afraid she won't do. Oh, what do you mean, sir? It is not enough to be able to sing. A star in the musical comedy must know how to move, how to act, how to walk upon the stage as if she owned it. But Sieglinde has had no experience. She will learn. There isn't time enough. Oh, if I could only get Frida Hartzfeld. I thought you hated her. I would give my arm not to be defended upon her. But do you realize what makes her great? She's played in every little town in Europe. She's been hissed and booed off stages. She's starved between jobs. But finally, after years of work, she's become Frida Hartzfeld, the famous prima donna. That was wrong of me to expect you to take her place. A girl who never saw a stage until a few weeks ago. But I'm so ashamed. Sieglinde! Sieglinde, what's wrong? Carl, are you telling Father? A schoolmaster. Have you seen Frida Hartzfeld? Do you know where she is? Oh, yes, at her hotel. She's packing her bank to go to Vienna. I only hope I'm in time to stop her. I don't understand. What's going on around here? They don't want me to play the part. They're Sieglinde. They say I'm not good enough. Oh, Sieglinde, don't you understand? We don't belong here. We belong in our own little village in Edendorf. Now that you're tired of your Frida Hartzfeld, I suppose you want to go home. Yes, Sieglinde. I don't know what to do. Father, Father, please, I want to get away from here. But Sieglinde, don't go away. We belong together. How much I hated all great cities and all primadonnas of musical comedy because they had separated me from my Sieglinde. Back in Edendorf, we were farther apart than ever. Until the day Sieglinde came running to her father with a big package wrapped in brown paper. Look what came in the post. From Munich. What can it be? Your song. All printed and published. And a letter from Mr. Mahler. We are sending this all over the world. We expect to sell thousands of copies. Oh, Father, congratulations. You must not only congratulate me, my dear. What about the man who wrote the words to the song? I don't want to talk to Carl. He doesn't care anything about me. Oh, nonsense, nonsense. The whole village is talking about how sad our schoolmaster is because you won't talk to him. Oh, he's so gloomy with his lessons. A whole generation is being depressed. Well, we can't let that happen. Of course not, of course not now, dear. Take this music and show it to your Carl. Sieglinde. Look, I have a present for you. It says music by Dr. Walter Lessing, word by Carl Rader. It's your song, Carl. Oh, no, my darling. It's your song. You were the inspiration, both for your father and for me. Sieglinde, the song is yours. And thank you, Joe Stafford, for putting some wonderful music in the air. Thanks, too, to our cast, Janet Waldo, Bruce Payne, Carlton Young, Marion Simpson, and our entire company. Music in the Air, composed by Jerome Kern, with book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, was dramatized for the railroad hour by Lawrence and Lee. The railroad hour is brought to you each week at this time by the American Railroad. Say, friends, have you written for your free copy of our railroad hour souvenir booklet? If you haven't, send us your name and address tonight. The address is the railroad hour, Transportation Building, Washington, 6 DC. And shortly, you'll receive the attractive 32-page booklet about the railroad hour, with fascinating pictures and stories of the stars you hear on our programs. The address again is the railroad hour, Transportation Building, Washington, 6 DC. So write tonight for your free copy. Oh, the board? Well, it looks as though we're ready to pull out. And folks, next week, we're going to bring you one of the bright hits of recent Broadway history, High Button Shoes. Our guest star will be that wonderful little songstress, Margaret Whiting. And so until next Monday, this is Gordon McRae saying, Goodbye. Described in Hollywood and presented by Special Arrangement with Tams Whitmark Music Library. Gordon McRae can currently be seen starring in Warner Brothers' West Point Story. Joe Stafford can be heard on Carnation Contented Hour and Club 15 for Campbell Soup. Acquire is under the direction of Norman Luboff and our music is prepared and conducted by Carmen Dragon. This is Marvin Miller saying goodbye until next week for the American Railroad. And now, stay tuned for your Monday Night of Music on NBC. The preceding program was transcribed. The telephone hour provides