 A program transcribed from Hollywood. The mutual broadcasting system in cooperation with Family Theatre Incorporated presents Gramps, starring Victor Moore, Una Merkel, and Henry Blair. Irene Dunne is your hostess. More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of. Here is Irene Dunne. You often hear it said that these are days of materialism. To many of us, that doesn't quite ring a bell. Perhaps that's because we don't always grasp what materialism means. As I understand it, materialism is something like well-selfishness. The me first spirit, the idea of material gain. It's thinking a new fur coat or a shiny new automobile is more important than such things as fairness and honesty, consideration for others, service. It's thinking there's nothing more to be desired than our own pleasure. It's thinking of ourselves and forgetting God. That's the basic idea of materialism, forgetting God. And the path away from materialism is to remember God. It'll call upon him daily through the medium of family prayer. For a prayerful family is a happy one. And a family that prays together stays together. Irene Dunne returns at the close of tonight's family theater story, Gramps, starring Victor Moore, Euna Merkel, and Henry Blair. Bill and I have been married for ten years. We have a modest home in Oakville, Indiana, and our family. Well, it's quite a family. You see, first there's... Mommy, I'm going to school every day. That's Danny. He's only eight. And then there's our other youngster. Margaret, somebody's been messing around my fishing tackle again. That's Gramps. He's 78. Of course, Danny's years, or lack of them, accounts for his attitude, but it's not always easy to understand Gramps. Growing older seems to have made him more mellow, more immature, and definitely more mischievous. But, guys, Margaret, why does anybody have to go farther with my fishing equipment? Sometimes Bill and I can't see how we can live with them. And then we realize how impossible it would be to live without them. Because, well, eventually everybody comes to love Gramps. That's how it is. But gee whiz, Mom. I get so bored going to school day after day. Margaret, do you know who was falling around with my... Oh, hello, Danny. You still up? Sure, Gramps. I thought you went out for a walk after supper. Now I've been in my room trying to straighten out my fishing tackle. Somebody's got it all out of place. Collie Gramps, I was looking at some of your fishing things, but I thought I put everything back right. Well, when I find out who... Oh, you did it. Well, I guess it's all right, Danny. No harm done. I don't see why you're worrying about your fishing tackle now. You're not going fishing tonight, Gramps. No, but when I am going, I don't want to have to look all over. Kingdom come for my things. Oh, look at the time. It's after 7.30. I'll have to get going right away. I'm meeting Bill in town. Danny, yes, Mom? Do you have much homework tonight? Spelling that's all. Maybe Gramps will help you with it. Please, Gramps, try real hard tonight, will you? Margaret, I don't know what you mean by that. Stop treating me like I'm a child. I'm your father, and run along. You'll be late, and your impatient husband will blame me for it. Remember, Gramps, Danny's lights out by 8. Oh, I know you'll take care of everything. Night, son. Good night, Gramps. The flames were crackling all around me, Danny. The smoke so thick a body could hardly get his breath. And right then, I saw him lying on the floor, out cold as a mackerel. The walls was beginning to sway when I picked him up in the fireman's carry, and we made it to the street just as the roof fell in. Gee whiz, Gramps. That was close. Yeah, sure was. Now, uh, about the spelling... I'm sorry if I missed up your fishing tackle any, Gramps. Oh, no, it's all right. Now, the spelling here... I didn't get any of the lines tangled up, did I? No, no, the lines are fine. Now, some of these words here seem to be... Dude, she used to have a couple of gray-hackle flies. Yeah, I got spelling here, too, and that's what we're gonna do. Oh, okay, Gramps. I haven't had a chance to study them yet. That's all right, Danny. We'll study them as we go show them. Now, the first word here... night. Spell night, Danny. Night, huh? Yeah. Uh, T-E? Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold it, Danny, hold it, son. Well, how do you spell it, Gramps? N-I-G-H-T, night. G, N-I-G-H-T? Uh-huh, thinking of memorandum? Here's the next word. How do you spell right? You know, like your right hand. Right? R-I-T-E? That's wrong, too, Danny. It's just like night. R-I-G-H-T, right. Gee, when you spell it that way, it sure sounds funny. Yeah, it does, but that's what it is. Why do they put a G and an H in there for? I guess the fellas that wrote the dictionary had a lot of Gs and Hs left over and didn't know what else to do with them. Now, let's get on to the next word, Danny. I spell kite. That's easy. K-I-G-H-T. Yeah, it's fine, Danny. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. You spell kite. K-I-T-E. Well, gee whiz, Gramps. He just told me that... I know, I know, Danny. Don't make sense of me either. That's how it is. Some of them's got them and some of them ain't. That's a dirty trick. Well, let's take the next word now, Danny. Oh, Gramps, let's quit this spelling stuff. I don't like homework. And I don't like hearing you talk like that, Danny. School's mighty important. It's why I always said going to school is as important as going fishing. Well, nearly, anyhow. Oh, gee. You've got a lot of school in the head of you whether you like it or not. Gramps, is something wrong? We saw the lights still on in Danny's room. It's after 10.30. Well, we did it again, Danny. Yep. Gramps looked me straight in the eye. Now, what happened? Well, there was... Well, dang it, time sure flies down it. Danny, go to your room at once. I'll help him. Yeah, me too. I'll look after him. Never mind, Gramps, you already have. See, Mom, did Gramps ever tell you how he and Adam will do? He won the war at Manila? Well, it was just one of those things, of course. What could we say to Gramps? He had entertained Danny not too wisely, but well. And they were both a little sleepier than usual next morning when they started off to school together. It was one of Gramps' self-appointed chores to see Danny as far as the school ground. I was thinking, Danny, about this homework. You have to teach us, and you don't agree. You better get to like it. You know, sort of humorous. Well, I guess we won't have any more stories at night. That's what Daddy told me. Yeah, he told me too. You going fishing today, Gramps? No, too many ripples on the pond. Wouldn't catch very much today. I'm getting back to homework. Are ripples bad? You should, huh? Ripples? They can't be bad. They can be good, too. Oh, you're school already. Gosh, why do I have to go to school every day? Going to school today is a privilege, Danny. And a lot of fun, too. Yeah? Anything is fun when you like it. Was going to school fun for you, Gramps? No. Bill and I had congratulated ourselves on the way we handled Gramps and Danny that time. The two bad little boys were perfect angels for nearly two weeks. I guess that got us off our guard, because what Saturday morning when Gramps suggested that he and Danny spend the day browsing around together, I consented. After all, Gramps was an adult. I knew he'd see that nothing happened to Danny. How many, please? Two. One for me, one for the boy here. Gee, a triple feature. All cowboy pictures. They're my favorites. I like lots of action. Me, too. But mother never lets me go to them. She says I'm not old enough yet. Is that a fact? When's she telling that? A long time ago. It must be last year. Last year? Well, look how much older you are now. You bet, Gramps. I love them. Yeah, another one here. I like them, too. I'll take that one and that one over there. How about this one, Gramps? Sure, sure. God, comic books. Daddy sure will be surprised. Oh, why? Does he like them, too? Why, but you're lucky, Margaret. My father never takes the children anywhere. Oh? They've been gone all day. Oh, what a relief. Especially knowing Danny's in such good hands. How is he, Doctor? I don't think it's anything to worry about, Mrs. Penny. His fever's dropping already. Gee, I feel lots better now, Mom. You know, Doc, I can't understand what made the boy sick. Too much walking around in the sun, likely. I guess it'd be too much food, the wrong kind. Huh? Who ever heard of a bag of popcorn hurting anybody? Was that all he ate? Oh, a little lemonade, two or three hamburgers. I thought so. And what else? Oh, a couple of banana splits. What? How many? Well, only five between the two of us. You forgot the two bottles of popcorns and the taffy. Gee, it was swell, wasn't it? So, you see, Doc, it must have been walking in the sun, like I said. I was never quite sure who was the ringleader of my two bad little boys. One time I'd suspected it was Gramps, but then next time it would look like Danny had started things himself. They were a clever pair at covering their tracks, too. Whether it was for an inside job of cookie pilfering or an outside job of dodging lawn weeding. And I felt a little sorry for Bill. Whenever anything happened, he tried to keep calm. After all, Gramps was my father. Bill only inherited him by marriage. Margaret, are you sure it's all right for us to be away all day? Oh, certainly, Bill. After the last experience, I'm sure Gramps will keep Danny out of trouble. But who will keep Gramps out of trouble? I know what you mean. Isn't it strange? You know, when I was Danny's age, Gramps used to be very strict with me. I couldn't get away with anything. I wish he was still like that. I mean with Danny, of course. I've never been quite able to understand Gramps. Well, for example, you know, when Danny was born and he started all thinking up things the two of them would do together, I love Gramps. He's the finest father any girl could ever have. But when it comes to being a grandfather, I can see plenty of room for improvement. Bill, watch where you're driving. Excuse me. You see, the old fella even does things to me when he's nowhere around. Danny hated Gramps. What? Oh, yeah. Not too sunny? No. Not too cool either? No. Be good for fishing, I guess. Yeah. What you thinking about, Gramps? Fishing. I was just wondering how many more days there are left this season. Gee, that's funny. I was thinking about the same thing, Gramps. Maybe I'll do a little fishing today. You didn't bring your tackler rods. No, I can pick them up at the hardware store. I left them down there with Ken Dugan to get the wheels fixed. Oh. Then you don't have to go back to the house. No. Gramps? Yeah? I was thinking. Maybe you'd like some company. Yeah. Oh, no. You've got to go to school, Danny. Yeah, I guess so. Be pretty lonesome for you, Gramps. Yeah, but you've got to go to school. Gee, Gramps. It's too bad you've got to go fishing all alone. Let your pole rest against the rock, I'm gonna, Danny, and come back here in the shade. Gee, it swells here, Gramps. Nothing like being fishing. Phil can learn a lot, too. Yeah, sure can. You know, Danny, that's important. Wanting to learn, you can go anywhere if you don't want to learn. You can't. You've got to remember that, son. I've learned a lot of things. I've learned a lot of things being with you, Gramps. Yeah, sure. Nice to hear you say that. I hope so. I have a lot of other hopes for you, Danny. Gee, Gramps, I like what? Well, you know, you're sort of my boy, Danny. I know, Gramps. I'm hoping I'll be proud of what you do. You know, I won't be around forever, and you'll be on your own one of these days. So I want you to remember, well, there's a right and a wrong way of doing things, Danny. And the fellas got to learn that you can't be happy if you don't do things right. If I do things your way, Gramps, I'll always be doing right. Well, maybe, son, for the most part, but once in a while, I got things mixed up myself. Oh, gee, Gramps, you know everything. No, Danny, nobody knows everything. I guess sometimes your mother and dad are kind of peed when I do things they think I ought to know better than to do, but maybe they don't look it because they know I'm an old man. You're not old, Gramps. Danny, stand up. Get out in the sun where I can see you better. Yeah, that's it. I only wish your grandmother could see you now. Only wish you could. Yeah, maybe she can. Yeah, she'd understand why we went fishing together today. Gramps, we're in trouble. What do we do this time, Danny? Look, I got a note to take home to mother. The principal gave it to me. You gave your teacher the note I wrote for you this morning, didn't you? Yep, and this afternoon I got called down to the office and the principal gave me this. I wonder if I said something and that note, it wasn't right. Let's see what you got, Danny. Well, it ain't sealed. Are you gonna read it? Yeah, I think it'd be better for both of us if I had a little peek at it. Danny, hmm, well, now let's see. What's it say, Gramps? Hmm, doesn't say anything good. It's addressed to your mother. Dear Mrs. Penny, would you be good enough to see me in my office tomorrow afternoon about an important matter that has just been called to my attention? I sincerely hope... Gosh, Gramps! I knew it was gonna be something like that. Huh? Come on, Danny, we'll have to face it. Are we going home until mother? We're going to go back to school and we'll talk to the principal. I'll get you into this mess. I'll help to get you out of it. I'm very glad to meet you, Mr. Hickins. Your Danny's grandfather. Yeah, and he's a fine boy, Miss Whitcombe. We all think a lot in here at school. Hate to see something like this happen to such a nice little fella. I beg your pardon? Especially since it wasn't his fault. Not a bit of it was... It was to my fault. I was the one who... Shh, Danny, quietly. I'm afraid I don't understand. Well, it's about his absence yesterday and the note he brought to his teacher this morning. Oh? That is, I... Well, to make a long story short. Gramps, it was my fault. You've got to let me tell it. Danny, take the light to interrupt. Pardon me. I'd like to look at the class records a moment, Mr. Hickins. Oh, yes, here's the note. Danny was absent yesterday, and according to this note, well, I sit signed by you, Mr. Hickins. Yeah, that's my handwriting and my signature. Just like I'm trying to explain. You see, for the past few weeks, I've been itching to toss a line into the creek and see what I could haul in. Oh. Well, I follow my age. Don't like to go fishing all by himself. I guess I talked about fishing too much in front of Danny, and he... Well, he took pity on me. He... He played hooky yesterday, so I wouldn't have to fish all by myself. Yeah, that's it in the nutshell. Oh. So you went fishing yesterday, Danny. Yes, ma'am. I guess I'm out of practice writing notes. I hadn't done it for over 40 years. I suppose you could read between the lines, eh? Frankly, Mr. Hickins, no. This note seems perfectly in order and was accepted by the teacher. What? You mean... I mean that without admitting just now that Danny had gone fishing with you, no one would have known of it. Then I gave it away. But what about the note Danny had to take home to his mother, saying you want to see her? That sounded like... Mr. Hickins, there's nothing more troublesome than the guilty conscience is there. I guess not, ma'am. Not as far as I'm concerned. About the other note, I only wanted to ask Danny's mother to serve on a parent teachers committee that was all. Well, Danny, I guess your old gramps isn't as smart as he thought he was. Miss Whitcomb, I have something I want to ask you. If there's any way you could punish me instead of Danny, I feel responsible and... Tell me one thing, Mr. Hickins. Yes, ma'am? You want Danny to grow up to be a young man of integrity and honesty. Oh, yes, ma'am. All right, then. Suppose you let me handle this matter in my own way. Yes, ma'am. Margaret, I'm not going to say another word. This time, Gramps has gone too far. Bill, please don't get excited. Miss Whitcomb was very understanding about it when she phoned me. I don't think there's any reason for us to... I've had enough of this willy-nilly way of handling Danny. It's not only the playing hooky. The youngster's getting a wrong look out on everything. Bill, don't you think you're making a mountain out of a molehill? Maybe that's the way you look at it. But mark my words. Next time, Danny won't need Gramps around to help him play hooky. But Gramps means well, and he's such... All right. Maybe he does. But there are 100 ways of spoiling a youngster, and Gramps seems to know every one of them. Oh, Bill, will you listen to me for a moment, please? Gramps never had a son. I always think that that's the thing he miss most. For all these years, he's dreamed what he'd do for a boy of his own. And that's what he's trying to do for Danny. You may think it's spoiling our son, but oh, it's really the expression of all the love and the affection that Gramps has stored up inside of him for a long time. You know, maybe he appreciates having Danny even more than we do, Bill. And you're upset. Now let me tell them. Hello, anybody home? Hi, Mom. Oh, Danny, home early this afternoon. Yes. Now, Danny, there's something I'd like to tell you. Please, Bill. Oh, what's wrong? Did something happen? Gramps, Miss Whit can fall and... Oh, dear. There's no use beating around the bush. We've had too much of that around this house. We know Danny played hooky. We know why. And we're going to do something about it. What? I don't know what you're planning on doing, but what's happened is all my fault. We know that. And we're going to do something about that, too. But Gramps isn't to blame for that. Danny, you go to your room. Your father and I had planned a surprise. We were going to take you to the circus with us tonight, but after what has happened, we're going without you. Go to your room now, Danny. I'll see you, Margaret. That's no way of punishing any youngster. Most everybody's played hooky once. Gramps, you stay out of this. That's the way it's going to be from now on. Well, maybe you're right, Bill. I guess I've been meddling too much. I didn't mean to, but yes, I think everyone would be better off if I find a little place of my own to live in. That's what I'll do. I'll start looking in the morning. I hope they enjoy that old circus by themselves. This old rocker gets squeaky every day. What are you doing up, Tommy? I just wanted to get a drink of water. You're feeling kind of low, eh, son? Uh-huh. Gee, I wanted to see that circus real bad. I know. Don't know how that fishing expedition of ours was worth missing the circus besides... Oh, yes, it was. Only, I hadn't counted on the circus. Gee, I wish I was grown up like you, and people wouldn't keep me from doing things. You'll never get punished, Gramps. I'm not so sure about that, Danny. After tonight, I'm not so sure about that at all. I've got to tell you this. As expensive as those tickets were, I didn't enjoy that circus one bit. All I could think of was that Danny didn't get to see it. Yeah? Well, that's exactly how I felt too. I'm sorry we made him miss it. You know, Margaret, I've been thinking that you're right about the way Gramps really appreciates Danny. Well, there's another circus performance tomorrow, Phil. I'm way ahead of you there, dear. I bought two tickets after the show tonight. One for Danny and one for Gramps. Before we send them to bed, let's go inside. It worked. Pretending to be asleep on your lap worked. Just like you said it would. Yeah. I thought for a while I was slipping, but I guess there's still a little life in the old guy yet. This is Irene Dunn again. I hope you all enjoyed the story of Gramps. All of us, I'm sure, know people who seem to have everything anyone could want. That is, everything except true happiness. That fact should be proof enough that mere material possessions don't necessarily provide all the elements we need to make us happy. That's why literally dozens and dozens of us who live and work here in Hollywood are eager to appear on these family theater programs and to give voice to its ideals. We feel and we want you to feel that the way to true happiness is serving God with kindness and love and using the simple and beautiful practice of family prayer. A family that speaks to God together every day is a happy family and the family that prays together stays together. This is Irene Dunn saying good night. Our thanks to Victor Moore, Una Merkel, and Henry Blair for their performances this evening and to Jack Price and Mark Carney for writing tonight's play. Music was scored and conducted by Max Tehr. This production of Family Theater Incorporated was directed by Dave Young. Others who appeared in tonight's play were Virginia Gregg, Michael Hayes, and Norman Field. Next week, our Family Theater star will be Roddy McDowell in The World of David Lee. This series of the Family Theater broadcasts is made possible by the thousands of you who have felt the need for this kind of program and by the mutual broadcasting system which has responded to this need. Tony LaFranco speaking. Transcribe from Hollywood. This is the Mutual Broadcasting System.