 The Mutual Broadcasting System in cooperation with Family Theatre Incorporated presents God and a Red Scooter starring Jane Wyman and James Craig and the music of Meredith Wilson. Gary Cooper is your host. More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of. Good evening. This is Gary Cooper. We've got a swell story for you tonight but you know something I think the best story is the one about the reason for this program being on the air right now. You know why it is on the air? Because a lot of people like you and well like me, we figure that the greatest thing in our country today is our families. So we put this program on the air and called it Family Theatre and we wanted to remind everybody just how important our families are and just how important it is that our families be kept together. And more than that so many of you have wanted radio to express a conviction for you. A conviction that prayer, simple family prayer can keep our families together and happy. Well that's the story behind Family Theatre briefly. To tell you the entire story would take a long time but maybe if enough of you were interested we'd take that time. Let us know. Meanwhile let's listen to our story. Sleep is beautiful. Sleep is a soft hand, smoothing the frowns and frets, the tired faces of men. Sleep is a mother hand, rocking the cradle of the world, rocking it softly, rocking men and women and all the little children to sweet silence and peace. That's what sleep is. And you want to know something? I pity the man who does not know how to sleep. Consider little Eddie, five years old. I love little children like Eddie. Eddie knows how to sleep. Before he went to bed tonight he was having a talk all by himself down there in the garden. This is the way he spoke this afternoon as he sat dropping petals into a milk bottle. And you know what I said God? Know what I said to daddy? I said God did hear me. That's what I said. And God, remember when I said please give me a red scooter like Stevie and Tony's got? Remember when I said that about the scooter? Didn't you hear me God? Didn't you? Look God, I got lots of pebbles, a whole million. See what I mean? See why I love little children like Eddie? He wanted a red scooter. He went to sleep dreaming of a red scooter. And did he get the scooter? Well I shall tell the whole story. In a manner of speaking the story begins with grapes. Oh Jeannie, come here. From this hill you get a pretty good idea of how it looks. All the vines are beautiful Ed. Nice dark green. Oh here, let me hold the lady for you. I'll be careful of his back Ed. He's asleep. I got him. Is that our land all the way to the road? Straight clean to Route 99. That's 26 acres of good grapewood Jeannie. Don't it make you feel kind of glad just to look at it? Oh yes. It almost makes you want to laugh and cry in the same breath. Standing here like this and looking down on our own land. Our very own vineyard. It's nice to own something Ed. Yeah. Cost me plenty of jack too. But it's worth it. When will the grapes be growing Ed? Oh three years. It takes at least three years. Seems so long to wait. I mean you'd think they'd just pop out. Oh not grapes Jeannie. You got to build them up. You got to work a vineyard. Then after three years you know what it's gonna be like down there? What? They're gonna be out there on the wire trellises. They're gonna be hanging thick and heavy near the wood redwood stakes. And when the harvest comes we're gonna pack them in. Over 200 ton of the best red emperor grapes in California. Gosh 200 tons for only 26 acres. Yeah. It's almost like a miracle Ed. And just think Eddie will be three years old when we start picking our grapes. Yeah. He'll be walking. Yep. It takes time for kids and grapes to grow. These plans. These husband and wife plans spoken in sunny places are delightful. Invariably delightful. But I must repeat I pity the man who does not sleep. Just listen to him. Oh maybe I made a mistake. It's risky business. It's a gamble putting all your money into grapes. The man is worrying mind you at one o'clock in the morning. Could be a shrinkage. Could be a bad market and then well I just can't afford to bump into a tough market. Look at him fidgeting with pencils and papers and doubts. Emperor should sell months and said emperors were good grapes. But I don't know. Maybe I should have stacked up with muskets or rabies. Norton did all right with rabies last year. All this at one o'clock in the morning when he should be asleep with his wife and babies. You think the gentleman might allow himself the gentle privilege of getting tired at least by one o'clock in the morning. You think he might yawn and go to bed. Why doesn't he stop fretting. Why doesn't he relax. Poor fellow. I pity the man who does not know how to sleep. You're not getting enough rest Ed. Now I don't start fussing again Jean. But you know what the doctor said all this worrying will only be. Worry happens to be part of the great deal. Besides a fella's got a right to get excited over his first harvest. We're picking in three weeks. But you're losing weight. You're not sleeping. What's eating you anyway Jeanie. Oh Eddie we do have so much a house and babies. Go ahead what are you trying to say. Well if anything ever happened to you. I mean I mean grapes aren't everything Eddie. Not if you're going to keep losing your health and everything. Is that what's worrying you. Yes. Look Jeanie I'm trying to figure this out. Maybe 15 20 years from now we'll want to take it easy. We'll want a better house than this. And the kids well they've got to get an education. College. Every kid we have goes to college. And then maybe someday you and me we'll take a trip Jeanie. All the way to Holland maybe. You always said you'd like to see the kids in wooden shoes. It's nice to hear you talk like that Ed. All right that's a picture. Now do you know what's painting that picture. What. Grapes. Those grapes out there tonight. I put four years into them. Every cent we have in those grapes right now. I figure we've got over 230 tons on those vines. They'll be ready for the lug boxes in three weeks. Now if anything goes wrong with them. Well Jeanie it's going to put an awful big dent in things. When nothing's going wrong with the grapes Ed. A lot of things can go wrong with them. The trouble with you Ed. If you haven't got enough faith in God. Now don't start that again. Well maybe if you got down on your knees once in a while instead of. Listen Jeanie. You do the praying and let me take care of the grapes. Will you. Well that's the way it is with some people. Their heads are forever spinning plans and projects. Their heads go whirling with tremendous worries about tomorrow and the next day and the next day. They're forever building barns and castles at one o'clock in the morning when they should be asleep. You'd think Edward might have a little more confidence in me. You'd think he'd stop worrying for the space of a quiet sleep and let me look after the grapes. For I do have a way with grapes with vines and branches. Understand me I'm not against plans and projects. I find no fault of the sweat on a man's brow. For labor is a magnificent and courageous thing. I'm talking rather about something that is more courageous than labor. I'm talking about relaxation. About confidence. About trust and faith in me. I like the man who sleeps. I love the man who relaxes and who like a child rests easily in the arms of my Providence. Not so with Edward. Edward is too full of plans as if the plans of men were merely the plans of men. Listen to him. Sure I'm ready to start Campbell. My grapes can't wait. Where are those pickers you promised We're coming up the valley as fast as we can Ed. Don't blow your top man. You got enough pickers for me. All you need. Only give me time. How soon do you figure to make it. We'll be cutting your vines by the 17th. I'll guarantee that. Okay only make it fast. As fast as I can. Now I like vineyards. Vineyards in the fruit of the vine. Thick clustered grapes all bursting black and purple in the harvest time. These are among some of the lovelier aspects of my creation. I bear no grudges against vineyards having regard for the littlest rape. But once in a while by design I have an eternal distaste for the haphazard and the fortuitous. Once in a while by design clouds will gather for reasons sufficient to the ultimate purpose of things. I gather a breeze at Burbank and scoop a cool breath off the high sierras. Northeasterly my gales go playing with the canyon dust and the sea sands of San Diego and quite suddenly quite perceptibly there's a mist in the Midlands in the valleys of San Gabriel and out around the mountains and down from the mountains down around the flatlands of San Fernando. Nor is it any surprise that there's a mist also in the eyes of a woman in Fresno. It won't rain Ed. Don't keep staring out of that window. You heard what it said on the radio. Oh but this is just a mist Ed. You know how it is with mist they come and go. It'll be dry tomorrow. The grapes will be dry wait and see. Listen. It's only a little flurry of rain Ed. Listen will you please listen. God won't spoil everything by letting it rain now. I know he won't. God don't let it rain. He won't let it rain. Eddie don't let it hurt you. Three days. Three days to harvest. Look at the night. I wonder how the boys feel tonight over Del Rey and the Sierra Madras. Yeah. I wonder if their lug boxes are floating around in the vineyards too. Go inside with your sisters Eddie. Go inside. You work for years. Prune. Cultivate. You put every red sent you on into grapes and what do you get. Wash out. A man ain't supposed to cry. A man ain't supposed to cry. Believe me I hold no grudges against vineyards. I like vineyards. But more than all the vineyards in the world I like man. I love man. I know man well. Yet never do I cease to wonder at him. He's capable of so much of kindness, of charity, and of sacrifice. And yet so often he is incapable of hope. All things you can ask of him at times save this. A little faith, a little confidence. It was so with you, Edward. It was so with you those nights. Hey, you know what you're so jittery about, Ed. You're gonna do all right. You got a nice crop out there. I had a nice crop last year too, Campbell. Oh, forget last year. That was plain freak weather. I've been around vineyards for over 30 years and I never saw anybody. Okay, okay. You got your pickers ready to start for me tomorrow? Best pickers I got. From the looks of them vine's head I'm guaranteeing they'll be cutting 300 lugs a day. Okay. I'll be senior tomorrow, Campbell. Right. And Ed, this is between you and me. Yeah? Why don't you go home and rest up a bit? I'll handle the pickers for you. Frankly, you don't look so hot. I'll be taking it easy once I get those grapes on the trucks. And have it your own way. But let me tell you something. You've got more grapes than more than grapes to worry about. You've been noticing your wife lately? Jeannie? Yeah. That kid looks plenty tired out. She's worrying about a lot of things. Nothing's wrong with Jeannie. You know how women are, Campbell. They want you to start praying at the drop of a hat. Well, that's Jeannie for you. But she'll straighten out. I don't know, Ed. As I told her the other day, I wonder where I'd be if I'd wait for God Almighty to come out there and take you in my vineyard. Those dang leaf rollers got to start on me about two months ago. Well, you're the boss, Ed. But if I was you... Listen, Campbell. I understand, Jeannie. All I need is one good harvest. Then maybe we'll do a little celebrate. That'll fix her up. Yeah, I suppose. Well, here's your good harvest. Jeannie? Oh, Jeannie, I got a surprise for you and the kids. I wonder if she's lying down. I knew I'd find you in here, Lazy Booms. Jeannie, I want to take... Oh, what's the matter, Jeannie? I'm tired, Ed. You don't look so good. You don't look good at all. Maybe I'd better get Dr. Hanley for you. Wait a minute, Ed. It's funny. Somehow I always had a feeling I'd be lying here like this. Talking like this. Telling you sooner or later that... What are you talking about, Jeannie? Ed, I'll be leaving you for a while. Now, look here. You're just run down. Dark Hanley will fix you up in a jiffy. Come here, Ed. Sit on the bed. Now, look at me. Do I look scared? Somehow, somehow I know exactly how it's going to be. Maybe you better start praying for me, Ed. Don't leave me alone, Eddie. Don't ever leave me alone. Just keep praying for me. And maybe we'll still take that trip someday. You and me, Ed, we'll go first class. All the way to Holland to see the tulips and the kids with the wooden shoes. What about it, Dark? As far as I know, and remember, I'm only one doctor. There's nothing much that can be done for Jeannie, Ed. All right. But I'll get her... I'll get her the best specialist in this country if I have to. Go right ahead. And by the way, you can go in and see her now. She's conscious again. Hello, Jeannie kid. You're looking pretty good, Jeannie. Your faces. Oh, you're still beautiful, honey. How are the kids? Good. Listen, Jeannie, I was just talking to Dr. Hanley and, well... I know, Ed. It's all right. I'm going to get you the best specialist in this country. Eddie? Yeah? I asked you to do something for me once. Remember? Okay, Jeannie. You asked me to pray. Look, I'll get on my knees right now. Do you really want me to start praying? Oh, not that way, Ed. All right. Now, look. If I have to kidnap a half a dozen of the best doctors, I'll do it. But you're going to get better, Jeannie. Hear me, honey? You're going to get better. You'll be out of there before you know it. Excuse me for barging in like this, doctor, but what did you find? We're doing everything possible, Ed. You'll have to be patient. Yeah, that's what everybody says. Be patient. Why don't you go home and get some rest and get a little sleep? Sleep? Once. Remember? All right, Jeannie. I'll do it for you right here in this church. I'll do it for you. Are you listening, God? I don't know what word you're supposed to use, but it's from the bottom of my heart. I'm praying for Jeannie, my wife. I can't lose her God not now. We've got kids, God. Three kids. And we're trying to make a go of it with grapes. You got to hear me, God. You got to make Jeannie well. Please, God. Please, I'm asking you from the bottom of my heart. Oh, nothing. Mom's sick, huh? Yeah. I got pebbles. Look. I'll put them in the milk bottle. 16, 12, 17. Why didn't you ask God to send mom home, huh? Want me to ask God for you, huh, Daddy? 56, 57. Huh, Daddy? Maybe God's got cotton in his ears, Eddie. Cotton? Yeah, you can't hear so good with cotton in your ears. He can hear me. Is that so? Yep. Once he didn't hear you, Eddie. When? Well, God didn't hear your prayers when you asked for the red scooter. Yeah, a red scooter. Come over here. Up on my knee. What'd you say? I said God did hear my prayers. Is that so? What did he say to you? God said, he said no. Sometimes God says no, huh, Daddy? What's the matter, Daddy? What's the matter, huh? Hello? Is this the resident son? Oh, yes, yes, Doctor. What's the news? Well, we wanted to let you know that... Hello? Hello, Doctor? Doctor, operator had been cut off. Operator, get me Mercy Hospital. The line's dead. I don't know how to pray to you. I tried, Gene, so help me, I tried. You can't die, Gene. Not alone. Not a fan that room alone. You can't die on me, Gene. Sometimes God says no, huh, Daddy? All right, God. You've got me where you want me. Listen to me. Please, you've got to listen now. Sure, I want Jeannie. When you love somebody, you don't want to see them die. You want to have them, God. You want to have them close enough to put your arms around. Maybe I didn't want her. Maybe I didn't want you to say yes. Just like I wanted you to say yes to that first harvest. Sometimes God says no, huh, Daddy? All right. Sometimes you say no to. If that's the way it's going to be, you're the boss. I'm admitting it. You're the boss. Only listen to me now. I don't want Jeannie to die all alone without me. You hear me, God? I can take it. I can take anything. Only don't let it be all alone for Jeannie. I'm asking you, God. Honest to God, I'm asking you. Jeannie, you're not... What's the trouble I had? Oh, you're smiling at me, Jeannie. You're looking at me too and you're talking to me. Oh, I'm really feeling much better today. Come and put your arms around me. And stop looking like a little baby. Maybe God's saying yes, Jeannie. Maybe he's saying yes. The night tonight is beautiful over California. For the first time in a long time, a tired man asleep. Resting at last in the shadow of my hand, he sleeps. I might have said no. I have said no to some of my loveliest children, my best beloved. But know this always, Edward. There are times when my refusals are necessary to a plan you cannot understand. The little lady being the wiser in his innocence seems to understand. That storm upon your vineyard. That storm that drew your curse was a blessing to a thousand other Edwards and pasture lands parched for the drought, 600 miles to the north. So tragedy, the tragedy today is but the pruning and the preparation of a lovelier tomorrow. Yes, there are times I've said no. As many fathers have said no to their dearest, their best beloved children. But tonight, tonight, Edward, I've said yes. Or night, rest lightly on the tired eyes of the man. And concerning Eddie, five years old, listen to him mixing his prayers tonight. Our Father, who art in heaven, the Lord's with thee, unblessed is the fruit, and give us this day our daily bread. And ever and ever, amen, and send me a scooter like Stevie's got. I tell you, I've seen all the beauties of my creation. I've seen the hills gathered in the purple silences of twilight. I've seen the sunshine breaking bright on the mountains. I've seen violet spending easily in a random breeze. And I've watched the cool blue swell of the ocean where my golden green dolphins play. Yes, I've seen the smile of a mother. And I've looked into the eyes of the young eyes of boys and girls in love. All good, all wonderful and good. But I tell you, there's nothing so beautiful as the small face of a child. The small lips of a child fumbling with a prayer, getting it mixed up, getting it tangled, and sweetly muddled with sleep. Listen to him. Red scooter? Oh, God. All right, Eddie. It'll be a red scooter. I've whirled it, Eddie. A red scooter. Now sleep, Eddie. Sleep. This is Gary Cooper again. And for you, as well as for myself, I want to thank Jane Wyman and James Craig for their splendid performances. You know, when we hear a story or go see a movie, it's nearly always about a boy and a girl who fall in love. And when the picture's over, we know that they're going to get married and live happily ever after. The chances are that when they're... that's when their troubles will start. Rent. Trying to save enough to buy a car. Kids come along. They get sick. You've got worry and doctor bills. Yep. When a man gets married, he's have to be heading for trouble. But, and this is what's important. If you can lick that trouble, if you can take it in stride, then you've got the greatest thing on earth. A happy family. And a happy family is sure worth a lot of trouble. Nothing worth having really comes easy. But that doesn't mean that you've got to raise a family the hard way. All by yourself. Not when you can get the most powerful help ever. Just by asking for it. Ask and ye shall receive. Remember? Pray for God's help. Thank God for what you have and ask Him for what you need. And don't pray alone. Why not pray together with your family? Together, ask God to help keep you together. You'll discover what some families have always known. A very simple fact. A family that prays together stays together. Before saying good night, we want to thank all of you who helped make this program possible. A special word of praise is due Timothy Mowday and Barry Ann Arena for writing tonight's radio play. Thanks also to Mel Williamson for directing the program. The actors who were heard tonight with James Craig and Jane Wyman were Rod O'Connor, Robert Ellis, Griff Barnett and Fred Howard. Next week, our stars on the family theater will be Barry Fitzgerald and Charles Ruggles. This series of the family theater broadcast is made possible by the thousands of you who felt in need for this kind of program by the Mutual Network, which has responded to this need and by the actors and technicians in the motion picture and radio industries who have volunteered their services to fulfill it. This program is heard overseas through the facilities of the United States Armed Forces Radio Services. Tony LaFranco speaking, this is the Mutual Broadcasting System.