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00:00The Makers of Campbell's Soup presents the Campbell Playhouse, Orson Welles producers.
00:27Good evening, this is Orson Welles.
00:42One of this season's bestsellers, Wickford Point, by last year's Pulitzer Prize winner
00:47John P. Marquand, is the Campbell Playhouse selection as the best new book for May, a
00:53choice which will probably surprise nobody.
00:56Wickford Point is the story of that immovable object known as an old family, and believe
01:02me, the Brills are as entertaining and as plausibly improbable a collection of American
01:07ghouls as you've ever encountered.
01:11The Brills are quite a story, but we'll leave them, I'm afraid, tonight pretty much as we
01:14found them, for candied fruit never spoils, and the Brills are put up like preserves in
01:22the past, hermetically sealed, fixed in a thick syrup which is family pride.
01:29They bear charmed lives, these people from the past, these enchanted islanders from the
01:35ever ever lands of yesterday, these heartbreak householders like the Brills from Wickford
01:40Point.
01:41They will never grow old and they were never young, they are exactly as ageless as a pickle.
01:47The Brill variety will be new to you, but not entirely unfamiliar.
01:52All the incidents and characters in this story are entirely fictitious, and no reference
01:57is intended to actual persons living or dead.
02:01The Campbell Playhouse resorts to this prudent incantation because it turns out that almost
02:05anybody in New England can tell you just who the Brills really are.
02:08Of course, there are several versions, so we've asked an authority to settle the dispute
02:12for us at the end of tonight's broadcast.
02:15The best authority we could find, he is not a Brill.
02:18He swears he is not a Brill.
02:21He is John P. Marquand, the author.
02:23But now just before we begin, a word from Ernest Chappell.
02:27Let me ask what comes to your mind when I mention chicken for dinner.
02:31I think I know.
02:33You visualize a fine clump chicken sizzling brown and falling into tender slices under
02:37the touch of a carving knife.
02:39And you recall the eager anticipation as the plates were passed from place to place.
02:43Ah, grand dish, chicken.
02:45A special occasion treat that's always welcome.
02:48But remember that between these special occasions, your family can still enjoy the good taste
02:52of chicken soup.
02:54Because just as sure as you like chicken, you'll like Campbell's chicken soup.
02:59You'll see how chicken-rich it is in the very golden glisten of it.
03:02You'll taste deep-down chicken flavor in every tempting spoonful.
03:06What's more, you'll find pieces of tender chicken meat in it, and fluffy, snowy rice.
03:11I know you'll agree that Campbell's is the real old-fashioned kind of chicken soup.
03:15Why not keep several cans of Campbell's chicken soup on hand?
03:20And now for the Orson Welles production of Wickford Point.
03:23♪♪
03:35Morning, Jim.
03:36Morning, Sid.
03:37Say, Jim, have you ever noticed the high surface tension of coffee?
03:41I think this coffee's been boiled too long.
03:43It's been on the back of the stove for four hours.
03:45Yeah, I can tell by watching it drip from the spoon.
03:47How's your stomach, Sid?
03:49Well, I lay in the sun on the beach all day yesterday.
03:52As long as I'm perfectly still in the sun, I seem to be all right.
03:55By the way, Jim, I borrowed some of your socks this morning.
03:58They haven't gotten around to doing the washing.
04:00Where's Bella?
04:01Upstairs.
04:02Joe still called up.
04:03Joe?
04:04Didn't call Bella up, did he?
04:05No, me.
04:07Bella went upstairs to listen in on the extension.
04:09Snake.
04:10What's that you said, Sid?
04:11Oh, never mind.
04:12You called me a snake.
04:13Jim's the only one on this place who can call me names.
04:16Besides, why shouldn't I let him and my ex-husband call me?
04:19Now, look here, Bella.
04:20You listen to me, Sid.
04:21I've sat around long enough seeing you dribble coffee and hearing about your belly aches.
04:25You think you're a genius, don't you?
04:27Or you're just too lazy to move?
04:29What did you do with that $10 you took out of my pocketbook yesterday?
04:31I don't know.
04:32I forget.
04:33You forget.
04:34Oh, what's the use?
04:35I'm going to get out of here.
04:36I'm going to ride over to Jacob's.
04:37If you're driving into Boston, you'll drop me off, won't you, darling?
04:40Yes, I'll drop you off in the ocean with a stone around your neck.
04:43Shut up, Sid.
04:44So long, Jim.
04:45See you when you get back.
04:47Jim, are you really going to New York?
04:49Yes, I'm driving down.
04:50Why, darling?
04:51Why should you be going to New York?
04:53Business.
04:54I'm going to see my agent.
04:55Oh.
04:56Is that all?
04:57Yes, of course that's all.
04:58It wouldn't be that Pat Lincoln has been calling you again.
05:00I wouldn't like to have her telephone bill.
05:02Now, listen, honeybee.
05:04Oh, good morning, Cousin Curtil.
05:06Good morning, Jim.
05:07Good morning, Bella.
05:08Listen, Mother, I wish you'd tell Jim.
05:10I'm glad you're down to breakfast, my dear.
05:11Pass me the coffee, Bella.
05:12Jim, have you got a cigarette?
05:14I gave you all mine last night, Cousin Curtil.
05:17Yes, but I always take my cigarettes.
05:18I don't know what happens to all the cigarettes in the house.
05:21I don't know what happens to anything except a lot of cigarettes and a lot of soap and
05:25there isn't any gin.
05:26Somebody must take it all.
05:28It must be the cook's little girl.
05:29It might be that man who comes around selling things.
05:31I knew of a plumber once who stole a quart of whiskey.
05:34Listen, Jim, I'm going up to change my dress.
05:36Don't leave without me.
05:37I won't.
05:38You've got exactly ten minutes.
05:39I'll be down.
05:40All right.
05:41Dear, I wish Bella wouldn't drop everything everywhere.
05:43By the way, I thought that Mr. Berg she brought you to lunch last weekend was delightful,
05:47didn't you?
05:48No, I didn't.
05:49We needed some money in the family and a little peasant blood.
05:52You know, I'm glad Bella can attract men.
05:54It's always much nicer when there are men around.
05:56Everyone is much happier and much less nervous.
05:59I wish you wouldn't be so hard on President Roosevelt, dear.
06:02President Roosevelt?
06:03I haven't been hard on President Roosevelt.
06:05Perhaps you haven't yet, but you were going to be.
06:07I should have voted for him if I'd remembered to register.
06:09I must have remembered to register.
06:11I know he'll look out for me.
06:13I can see it from his face.
06:14He'll look out for you.
06:15Well, someone has to.
06:18Jim, who was that letter from this morning?
06:20It looked so interesting.
06:21He writes the same way I do.
06:23I always did have such trouble with my writing until I just stopped trying.
06:27It's from a girl in New York.
06:28Her name's Patricia Layton.
06:30I don't think you knew her.
06:31Darling, I've never even heard you mention her.
06:33No, I don't believe you have.
06:34Well, she writes the same way I do.
06:36When are you leaving, Jim?
06:38Joe Stowe wants me to meet him in Boston.
06:39Dinner.
06:40Joe Stowe?
06:41Yeah.
06:42He's on his way to Vermont.
06:43Does Bella know?
06:44Yes, she knows.
06:45Give Joe my love.
06:46Why do that?
06:47After what you did to him.
06:48You and the other bros.
06:49Joe and Bella might still be married if you had...
06:51Darling, I didn't do anything.
06:53I know you love him, but it was all a mistake, his marrying Bella.
06:56Give Joe my love.
06:58He'll understand.
06:59I do wish you weren't going away, darling.
07:01No, I'll be back.
07:02You're always going away somewhere, aren't you?
07:04If you aren't going away somewhere, you're always reading something.
07:07Why can't you stay here?
07:09You're one of the children, dear.
07:10You're part of Whitford Point.
07:12You're the only one that ever looked out for me.
07:14Oh, Jim, I wish you'd read this.
07:16It's a letter from the bank.
07:17I don't understand it.
07:18I understand it.
07:19You've overdrawn your account again.
07:20Give me a match, please.
07:21No, not that box.
07:22It's only has burn matches in it.
07:24The other box, just there.
07:25The bank is wrong.
07:26I sent them $100 last week.
07:28It's very stupid of me.
07:29Well, I'm leaving now, Cousin Cacille.
07:31Oh, dear, then you really are going.
07:33You will come back, won't you, Jim?
07:35Yes, of course I'll come back.
07:36I'll only be gone a few days.
07:37Bella!
07:38Bella!
07:39I'll be right home.
07:40Bye, Freda.
07:41Bye, Mr. Calder.
07:42Oh, dear, I don't like it when you're not here.
07:44Jim, you're the only one that ever looked out for me.
07:46I wish you'd read this.
07:48I'll be right home.
07:49I'll come back, Cousin Cacille.
07:50I'll be back on Friday.
07:52Well, sure, let's clean this car occasionally.
07:54Bella!
07:56Bella!
07:57Jim!
07:58Where are you?
07:59Come on, honey bee, let's get started.
08:02Earl!
08:03Earl!
08:04Yes, Mr. Jim?
08:05Earl, what happened to the gas in this car?
08:07I had a full tank last night.
08:08I guess Mr. Shinn must have taken it.
08:10He went down to the beach just now in the other car.
08:13Mr. Shinn's got a rubber tube in his car.
08:15He's hurt himself.
08:16I see.
08:17And didn't he leave you none at all, Mr. Jim?
08:19Doesn't look that way.
08:20How am I going to get out of here?
08:22Well, wait a minute, Mr. Brown.
08:23Get back.
08:24Say, Mr. Shinn, nobody's paid me yet.
08:26Well, you asked Mrs. Brill about it.
08:28Bella!
08:29Bella!
08:30Bella!
08:35Guess maybe there'll be enough gas to get me to the main road.
08:37How do you like when you're dressed, Jim?
08:38It's nice.
08:39Now, come on.
08:40Mr. Jim?
08:41Yes?
08:42Can I have a dollar?
08:43Come on, get in.
08:44You see, Jim, I've got plenty of time.
08:45Goodbye.
08:46Goodbye.
08:47Mr. Jim?
08:48Yeah?
08:49Is your cousin coming by?
08:50Yes!
08:51What is it, cousin Cacille?
08:52Are you coming back, or?
08:53Yes, I'm coming back.
08:54Goodbye.
08:56Yes, Cousin Cacille.
08:57I want to get the lipstick for you.
08:59Will you buy?
09:00Orange Kiss.
09:01Orange Kiss.
09:02Will you please bring me that chocolate?
09:03Goodbye.
09:04Goodbye.
09:05Hey, Mr. Jim, you haven't brought me that copy of True Romance yet.
09:08Yes.
09:09Goodbye, darling.
09:10Goodbye.
09:11The name of the lipstick is Orange Kiss.
09:13Oh, I did want to buy a copy of the lipstick.
09:15Chocolate, goodbye.
09:16Goodbye.
09:17Goodbye.
09:18Goodbye.
09:19Orange Kiss.
09:20Goodbye.
09:21Orange Kiss.
09:22Jim, I've forgotten my change.
09:23I thought it was in this bag.
09:24You don't want to go back, do you?
09:25No.
09:26It'll be $10, will you?
09:27All right.
09:28Thanks.
09:29You're all sweet, darling.
09:30It's nice to get out of Wickford Point, isn't it?
09:31Yes.
09:32Everybody gets so screwy down there.
09:33They just sit and sit.
09:34You wouldn't be getting out of Wickford Point because you've just heard your friend Howard
09:35Berg was at the Jekylls, would you?
09:36Jim, darling.
09:37You're so silly.
09:38Bella.
09:39You're so silly.
09:40You're so silly.
09:41You're so silly.
09:42You're so silly.
09:43You're so silly.
09:44You're so silly.
09:45You're so silly.
09:46You're so silly.
09:47You're so silly.
09:48Jim, darling.
09:49You're so silly.
09:50Bella.
09:51Tell me, what do you know about this Howard Berg?
09:52Why'd you pick him up?
09:53Just in case you want to know, Howard Berg is one of the most important men in Warford.
09:54Who told you so?
09:55Berg and who else?
09:56Lots of other people you don't know, darling.
09:57Lots of people you couldn't possibly know who wouldn't care to meet you.
09:58Important people?
09:59Yes, important people.
10:00And it might be a help.
10:01Gee, it just happens that Howard Berg could help you a great deal.
10:02Howard Berg is a very good friend of St. Clair Lewis and his wife.
10:03He's a very good friend of mine.
10:04He's a very good friend of mine.
10:05He's a very good friend of mine.
10:06He's a very good friend of mine.
10:07He's a very good friend of mine.
10:08He's a very good friend of mine.
10:09He's a very good friend of mine.
10:10He's a very good friend of mine.
10:11He's a very good friend of mine.
10:12He's a very good friend of mine.
10:13He's a very good friend of mine.
10:14He's a very good friend of mine.
10:15He's a very good friend of mine.
10:16He's a very good friend of mine.
10:17He's a very good friend of mine.
10:18He's a very good friend of mine.
10:19He's a very good friend of mine.
10:20He's a very good friend of mine.
10:21He's a very good friend of mine.
10:22He's a very good friend of mine.
10:23He's a very good friend of mine.
10:24He's a very good friend of mine.
10:25He's a very good friend of mine.
10:26He's a very good friend of mine.
10:27He's a very good friend of mine.
10:28He's a very good friend of mine.
10:29He's a very good friend of mine.
10:30He's a very good friend of mine.
10:31He's a very good friend of mine.
10:32He's a very good friend of mine.
10:33He's a very good friend of mine.
10:34He's a very good friend of mine.
10:35He's a very good friend of mine.
10:36He's a very good friend of mine.
10:37He's a very good friend of mine.
10:38He's a very good friend of mine.
10:39He's a very good friend of mine.
10:40He's a very good friend of mine.
10:41He's a very good friend of mine.
10:42He's a very good friend of mine.
10:43He's a very good friend of mine.
10:44He's a very good friend of mine.
10:45He's a very good friend of mine.
10:46He's a very good friend of mine.
10:47He's a very good friend of mine.
10:48He's a very good friend of mine.
10:49He's a very good friend of mine.
10:50He's a very good friend of mine.
10:51He's a very good friend of mine.
10:52He's a very good friend of mine.
10:53He's a very good friend of mine.
10:54He's a very good friend of mine.
10:55He's a very good friend of mine.
10:56He's a very good friend of mine.
10:57He's a very good friend of mine.
10:58He's a very good friend of mine.
10:59He's a very good friend of mine.
11:00He's a very good friend of mine.
11:01He's a very good friend of mine.
11:02He's a very good friend of mine.
11:03He's a very good friend of mine.
11:04He's a very good friend of mine.
11:05He's a very good friend of mine.
11:06He's a very good friend of mine.
11:07He's a very good friend of mine.
11:08He's a very good friend of mine.
11:09He's a very good friend of mine.
11:10He's a very good friend of mine.
11:11He's a very good friend of mine.
11:12He's a very good friend of mine.
11:13He's a very good friend of mine.
11:14He's a very good friend of mine.
11:15He's a very good friend of mine.
11:16He's a very good friend of mine.
11:17He's a very good friend of mine.
11:18He's a very good friend of mine.
11:19He's a very good friend of mine.
11:20He's a very good friend of mine.
11:21He's a very good friend of mine.
11:22He's a very good friend of mine.
11:23He's a very good friend of mine.
11:24He's a very good friend of mine.
11:25He's a very good friend of mine.
11:26He's a very good friend of mine.
11:27He's a very good friend of mine.
11:28He's a very good friend of mine.
11:29He's a very good friend of mine.
11:30He's a very good friend of mine.
11:31He's a very good friend of mine.
11:32He's a very good friend of mine.
11:33He's a very good friend of mine.
11:34He's a very good friend of mine.
11:35He's a very good friend of mine.
11:36He's a very good friend of mine.
11:37He's a very good friend of mine.
11:38He's a very good friend of mine.
11:39He's a very good friend of mine.
11:40He's a very good friend of mine.
11:41He's a very good friend of mine.
11:42He's a very good friend of mine.
11:43He's a very good friend of mine.
11:44He's a very good friend of mine.
11:45He's a very good friend of mine.
11:46He's a very good friend of mine.
11:47He's a very good friend of mine.
11:48There are ways of doing everything.
11:50There are ways of being a gentleman.
11:52Joe Stowe is the nearest thing you ever
11:54came to seeing a gentleman.
11:55Oh, is he really, darling?
11:56Yes, Jim.
11:57Oh, I should think the least thing a gentleman could do
11:59is to see that his former wife isn't frauding when he's
12:02making $150,000 a year.
12:04You never missed a meal, honeybee.
12:06It isn't his fault I haven't.
12:08You said you didn't want a nickel from him.
12:10You kept saying it to the lawyers all the time.
12:12How could I get you to be successful?
12:14Listen, honeybee, Joe's been a friend of mine
12:16for quite a while.
12:17He's going to keep on being one.
12:18You're not going to stop it.
12:19So just forget about Joe.
12:20He took a beating when he was with you.
12:22And he's well out of it.
12:23And he knows it.
12:24Oh, he does, doesn't he?
12:25Oh, when you see Joe, you tell him for me
12:27that I am well out of it, too.
12:29Tell him he doesn't know what love is.
12:31Tell him.
12:32Well, skip it.
12:33He's getting to Jacobs now.
12:35Jim.
12:36Yeah?
12:37Jim, do you think Joe still loves me?
12:40Skip it, honeybee.
12:41Here's to Jacobs.
12:42You're not coming in?
12:43Nope.
12:44Bye, Bella.
12:45Darling, you're awfully sweet.
12:48There's no one sweeter you.
12:50What is it you want now, honeybee?
12:52Well, could I get you if I want to tomorrow
12:54or the next day on the telephone?
12:56What's the matter?
12:57Afraid you're going to get into a jam?
12:59Oh, of course not.
13:00You'd better come across.
13:01What are you up to, Bella?
13:02Oh, nothing.
13:03What a silly question.
13:04What makes you ask?
13:05Because you said you couldn't go on like this.
13:07But darling, I say that all the time.
13:09All the girls say that.
13:10It's none of my business.
13:12I'd look out for Mr. Howard Berg
13:14if I were you, sweetness.
13:18I'll be in New York, my agents tomorrow, the next day,
13:20and perhaps the next day.
13:21Be careful, though, Bella.
13:23Take a little solid food before you have any cocktails.
13:26Oh, you be careful yourself.
13:28There's Howard Berg now.
13:29He's waiting for me.
13:30That's nice.
13:31Hello, Bella.
13:32Hello.
13:33Yes, please, please.
13:34Well to see you here, Mrs. Calder.
13:35Hello, Howard.
13:36Suzy.
13:37Suzy.
13:38Hello, Suzy.
13:39Jim, I'm going to run up and say hello to Suzy again.
13:40Goodbye, darling.
13:41Bye, Bella.
13:42Aren't you getting out, Mr. Calder?
13:44No.
13:45I call you Howard.
13:46I have an engagement in Boston.
13:49By the way, I got a call, Howard,
13:52from a garage on the main road.
13:54The man there says he made some repairs on your car last weekend.
13:57He thinks you may have forgotten that.
13:59You know how these people are.
14:00Just two jumps ahead of the sheriff.
14:02Well, that bill was paid the first of the month.
14:04If you'll give me the name and address,
14:05I'll send out another check tomorrow.
14:07Thanks for telling me.
14:08I don't like things like that.
14:10Please get this.
14:11I pay my bills.
14:12I pay them promptly.
14:13Then you haven't minded my bringing it up, Howard.
14:16No, I appreciate it fully.
14:18Well, I must be going.
14:21So long, Bert.
14:22So long.
14:39Hello, Jim.
14:40How are you?
14:41George, it's good to see you.
14:43Well, Joe, how are you?
14:44Oh, just the same.
14:45Nothing changes much.
14:46Same old place.
14:47Same old faces.
14:48Oh, cheer up, Joe.
14:49The world's better than it used to be.
14:50No, it isn't.
14:51Absolutely the same.
14:52Listen, Joe, aren't you better off than you were three years ago?
14:54You're darned well right I'm better off.
14:56It's like being out of prison.
14:57It's like being alive again.
15:00Sorry, I didn't mean to say it quite that way,
15:03but you know what I mean.
15:04All right, go ahead and say it.
15:06All right.
15:08Blast the Brill.
15:10I still feel that way.
15:11They tried to ruin me.
15:12They tried to take out my heart and lungs and liver
15:14and stuff me with soda.
15:15They didn't mean to do that.
15:17They couldn't help it, Joe.
15:18Oh, I can see them now, them and their house.
15:21I'll bet there's still that same muddy smell from the river,
15:23and the trees are greener than anywhere else,
15:25and the hummingbirds keep buzzing in the trumpet vines,
15:27and the plumbing gets out of order all the time,
15:30and the cat has kittens,
15:31and everybody's unhappy in the parlor,
15:33and Sid has indigestion,
15:35and nobody's able to stand it anymore.
15:38It isn't good for you to hang around that place, Jim.
15:40You ought to get out.
15:41Let's go away somewhere.
15:42Cousin Cliffield told me to give you her love.
15:46That was good of her.
15:48Jim, I wish I didn't keep worrying about Bella every now and then.
15:53Bella's all right.
15:54She isn't going to kill herself.
15:55She never gave a hang about you, really.
15:57Bella doesn't give a hang for anything.
15:58She isn't made that way.
16:00She can't take time out caring for anybody
16:03because she has too much trouble looking out for herself.
16:06You needn't be so rough on her, Jim.
16:08If you wouldn't stand up for Bella, I would.
16:10Don't worry, though.
16:11Always be somebody to stand up for Bella.
16:13You're well out of it, Joe.
16:15If she ever calls you up, don't answer.
16:17If you ever see her, cross the street.
16:19You know, Jim, it might have been all right.
16:22What might have been?
16:23Bella and me.
16:24Don't fool yourself, Joe.
16:26We all get exactly what's coming to us.
16:29You ought to know by this time
16:30that there's no such thing as might have been.
16:33It'll always be the same.
16:35All right, Jim.
16:36Let's go in now.
16:37I'm getting hungry.
16:38I'm getting hungry.
16:59Some corn in the coffee?
17:01Yes, thanks, Pat.
17:03Well, Jim, aren't you going to kiss me?
17:05What about your maid, Pat?
17:07Don't you think so?
17:08I guess she can stand it if I can.
17:11I'm awfully glad to see you, Jim.
17:13Darling.
17:16Pat, we ought to cut this out.
17:18Why?
17:19Because you're a nice girl, and it doesn't look well, Pat.
17:23I don't want you to be talked about.
17:24Well, you're a nice boy, too.
17:26That is as nice as any boy can be when he gets to be your age.
17:30I can stand it if you can, Jim.
17:32Pat, I don't want you to stand it.
17:34Darling, you'll need me to look after you.
17:36I don't want you to look after me.
17:38Give me another kiss, and sit down and finish your brandy.
17:41All right.
17:43It's going to rain.
17:44I don't care, do you?
17:46Let's stay out here on the terrace.
17:48It won't rain for a while.
17:50Darling, tell me about Whitford Point.
17:54Whitford Point, what do you want to know?
17:56Everything.
17:57It means a lot to you, doesn't it?
17:59Yes, it does.
18:02It's always been part of me.
18:03It's still part of me.
18:06You must be awfully queer.
18:08I suppose that's why you're so queer about things, Jim.
18:10Am I queer?
18:11Yes, in a way you are.
18:13Suppose you take me apart a little more.
18:16I don't want to.
18:18You're all apart already.
18:20But just to say, you seem to go, and I like the way you go.
18:24Darling, would you ever take me down here to Whitford Point?
18:28Or would you be embarrassed?
18:30Oh, I'll take you.
18:32It's only that Friday night.
18:33You'd better come along.
18:34Oh, it would be fun, wouldn't it?
18:36Oh, tell me about it, Jim.
18:38If you'd tell me about it, maybe I could understand.
18:41All right.
18:43Well, there's something strange about that place.
18:47Something you'll notice the minute you get there.
18:50It's like a crowded room.
18:53There have been too many people at Whitford Point.
18:56Sometimes I think nothing that's ever happened at Whitford Point
19:00has ever entirely left it.
19:03And the parts of everything which has happened there
19:06are always waiting, ready to move forward out of nowhere
19:11when they're least expected.
19:14There were three sisters living at Whitford Point.
19:18My great-aunts, Clethora, Georgiana, and Sarah.
19:23And Aunt Sarah was over 80.
19:25She was still a good hand with an axe.
19:28I remember as a little boy watching her go into the woodshed,
19:31take off her shawl and poke bonnet and mittens
19:33and cut short sticks for the parlour fireplace.
19:37One of the branches of the great elm by the front door was twisted
19:40because Aunt Sarah's mother used to have a pig hung from it in the winter.
19:44Aunt Sarah read me all the Waverly novels,
19:46and sometimes she'd read me out of the essays Dear Waldo had written.
19:51That was what she called Ralph Waldo Emerson,
19:53a friend of John Brill, the Whitford sage
19:55who used to row across the river to visit my great-aunts.
19:58It was his son Hugh Brill who rowed across that same river years later
20:01and married my cousin Clotilde.
20:04That was the beginning of the Brills.
20:07I remember what my grandfather said to me.
20:09I remember when he heard I wanted to live at Whitford Point and be a farmer.
20:14He said, I was about eight then,
20:17Farm, my boy, nonsense.
20:19This isn't a farm. It's a white elephant.
20:22Eat some money fast and I can make it.
20:24You get those ideas out of your head, Jim.
20:26They were all going barefoot when I came to Whitford Point.
20:29You like to wear shoes, don't you?
20:30Well, Grandpa, I like...
20:31Don't tell me you want to be a poet like old Brill,
20:33the Whitford sage who'd grow a beard and look for huckleberries.
20:36No, indeed.
20:37You could learn something about money if I could arrange it.
20:40Somebody's got to know about money beside me.
20:42I can't support the whole family.
20:44Grandpa, I...
20:45I support the whole family.
20:46They don't even know it.
20:48Let's take it for granted I should support them.
20:51Your grandmother was a beauty like your cousin Cotille.
20:55I remember the first day I ever came here to Whitford Point.
20:58I was sitting under the big apple tree on the lawn playing quotations.
21:02They asked me to stay to supper.
21:04Then they found there wasn't any supper.
21:07I took your Aunt Sarah down to the carry-on and bought some.
21:10That was 40 years ago.
21:12I've been buying everybody's supper ever since.
21:15When I die, I'll still be paying for that supper.
21:18If there's any money left.
21:21Aunt Sarah.
21:27The last few years Aunt Sarah's mind began to wander.
21:30She was occupied with vanished personalities.
21:32Ghosts were always walking with her.
21:36I remember the first time I took Jo Stow down to Whitford Point.
21:40When she saw him, she took off her glasses and blinked and smiled.
21:44Aunt Sarah.
21:46Aunt Sarah, Jim's home from college and he's brought a friend.
21:49Yes. Yes, indeed. Come here and kiss me, Henry.
21:52No, no, it isn't Henry, Aunt Sarah. It's Jim.
21:55Jim, Henry's son. And he's brought a friend from college.
21:58Jo Stow.
21:59It doesn't signify. I know Henry when I see him.
22:02But I didn't know he was bringing Robert with him.
22:05I had thought that Robert was in China.
22:07It isn't Robert, Aunt Sarah. It's a friend of mine, Mr. Stow.
22:11Well, well, it doesn't really signify.
22:15Robert is coming back from China this month.
22:18I suppose he married Miss Revea.
22:21How are matters on the island?
22:23I do hope the Queen is running an alphabet.
22:26Yes, the Queen can almost read by now.
22:29Dear Jim, I suppose you put in at the Ivory Coast.
22:32Yes, we did.
22:33The owners must be very pleased.
22:35Very pleased indeed with you, Robert.
22:37Aunt Sarah, this is Mr. Stow.
22:39It's Jim's friend from college.
22:41And it's time for you to go upstairs now.
22:43Yes, well. Well, it doesn't signify.
22:46I should admire not to have you continually interrupt me, children.
22:50It doesn't signify.
22:51He's made the void.
22:53Everything that I've said remains absolutely true.
22:57Good night.
23:08When Aunt Sarah died, it turned out that Aunt Sarah had left a share of the place to me.
23:14And strange enough, after I really owned part of the place, I didn't come back for years.
23:19There was the war.
23:20And after the war, I spent a couple of years working as a correspondent in China.
23:23And when I came back, nothing and everything was changed.
23:26Bella was grown up.
23:28The house was full of Harvard boys in love with her.
23:30And everyone at Wickford Point seemed to know a good deal more about China than I did.
23:33So there was no need for me to speak.
23:36I was back in my old room next to Bella's.
23:38The first night I was back, my door opened gently and Bella came in.
23:42I remember she was wearing the icy blue robe I'd given her and the little embroidered slippers I'd sent her from Shanghai.
23:47And her black hair fell and two braids over her shoulders, just as she'd wanted when she was a little girl.
23:52Jim.
23:53Hello.
23:54What's the matter, Bella?
23:56Can't you go to sleep?
23:57Jim, button this thing the right way for me, won't you, darling?
24:00I got to sleep and then I woke up and remembered that I hadn't said goodnight to you at all.
24:04Button the darn thing up, please, darling.
24:07There you are.
24:08Jim, you're going to stay now, aren't you, darling?
24:11You're not going to leave us, are you?
24:13No, not for a while.
24:14I was afraid you might.
24:16You see how everything is, don't you?
24:18Yes, I see how it is.
24:19Jim, kiss me.
24:21I'll feel better if you'll kiss me, dear.
24:23Jim, someone's got to help me.
24:25You're the only one.
24:26All right, I'll help you, Bella.
24:27I'm so afraid.
24:28Don't be afraid.
24:30It's too beautiful to be afraid.
24:32Jim, I've got to get out of this.
24:35I can't stand it, Jim.
24:37I'll be getting like them, like Patel and Sid and the rest of them.
24:40I'm getting more like them all the time.
24:42How do you mean?
24:43You have to be like them in a way, because you're one of them.
24:45You're a grill, Bella.
24:46You can't get away from that.
24:49Bella, what is it you're worried about telling me?
24:51Is it that boy from Harvard who was here this evening?
24:54Do you love him, Bella?
24:55I don't know.
24:57Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.
24:59Jim, I wish I knew.
25:01If you did, you would.
25:04Looks like a nice boy.
25:05Does he want to marry you?
25:06He wants me to marry him right away.
25:07Any money?
25:08Of course.
25:09He's everything I ought to want.
25:10How does it feel when he kisses you?
25:13Oh, it feels just fine.
25:15Good.
25:16He's so gentle.
25:17He's so darling, Jim.
25:19Oh, I'm so mixed up.
25:20Sometimes I think I'm not fit for him.
25:22And then when he's away, I miss him.
25:24And when I want to marry him, then I don't.
25:27And everybody's trying to stop me.
25:30You're trying to stop me, Jim.
25:31Oh, for heaven's sake.
25:32Stop thinking about yourself, Bella, and go to bed.
25:34Now, good night.
25:35Darling, please don't be so cross with me.
25:37I don't know what I'm saying.
25:38I don't mind half of what I say.
25:41Aren't you going to kiss me good night?
25:44You want everything, don't you, Bella?
25:48Darling, you'd better get out of here.
25:50Jim, you won't stand by me, won't you?
25:53You're the only one who understands me.
25:57Jim.
25:58Yes?
25:59Jim, if I don't want to marry him,
26:02will you take me away somewhere?
26:04Not Italy, but someplace where people wear queer clothes.
26:08Jim, you will take me away, won't you, darling?
26:31This is a wrap.
26:33See, that's fine.
26:34I wish it wouldn't rain.
26:38Jim, they seem to be so afraid, all those people.
26:42What are they afraid of?
26:45They don't know, Pat.
26:47They've lived in a world of their own so long
26:49that they can't face another world.
26:51They live in a strange land called Wickford Point,
26:54the land of a great belief that they are brills.
26:57Brills, unlike other people, and very, very remarkable.
27:02And yet they're afraid.
27:04Yes.
27:06Yes, they're afraid.
27:09Cotille, Sid, Bella, all of them.
27:14They're all afraid.
27:17You are listening to the Campbell Playhouse presentation
27:20of Wickford Point starring Orson Welles.
27:23This is the Columbia Broadcasting System.
27:46This is Ernest Chapel, ladies and gentlemen,
28:00welcoming you back to the Campbell Playhouse.
28:02In a moment or two, we will resume our presentation
28:04of Wickford Point.
28:06But first, may I say a special word to the ladies.
28:09It's an evidence of the discriminating taste
28:11of homemakers throughout the country
28:13to see how quickly they respond to improvements
28:15in the taste and flavor of food.
28:18Whenever we discover that a change in recipe
28:20or even a change in the method of preparation
28:22will improve the flavor of any of our soups
28:25and make it more delicious, that change is made at once.
28:29But long before our advertising tells of the change
28:32or improvement, the news about it spreads across the land.
28:36Some time back, for example, when Campbell's chicken soup
28:39was made so much better, so much more delicious
28:41than ever before, women all over the country
28:44told their grocers about it.
28:46And many of these women wrote letters of approval
28:48directly to us.
28:50We knew further by their purchases that the word
28:52was spreading, for we were being called upon
28:54to make more and more chicken soup every week.
28:58And this is why we're so confident that if you buy
29:00Campbell's chicken soup from your grocer tomorrow,
29:03you'll be so pleased with it that you'll have it
29:05again and again.
29:08Now we resume the Campbell Playhouse presentation
29:10of J.P. Marquand's story, Wickford Point,
29:13starring Orson Welles.
29:24We're really going to have that thunderstorm.
29:26Yes, get over with.
29:28Thunderstorms always act as though they were
29:29sometimes important.
29:31Let's stay right here where we are until it stops.
29:34You keep on telling me some more.
29:37What was it you were talking about?
29:38Weren't you listening?
29:39Yes, I was listening.
29:41But I was thinking about you.
29:43And I was talking about Bella.
29:46Jim, will you really take me to Wickford Point?
29:49I'd like to see them there.
29:51When can you leave?
29:52Friday night.
29:53Then we'll drive up.
29:54Why do you want to go there?
29:56Well, I don't know exactly.
29:58But I really would like to.
30:00Will they all be there, Jim?
30:01All the birds?
30:02Oh, yes, they'll all be there.
30:04When did you last see Bella Bird, Jim?
30:07I saw Bella yesterday.
30:08She was...
30:11It's raining.
30:12Oh, it is raining, isn't it?
30:14When did she get here?
30:15Who?
30:16Bella Bird.
30:17When did she get here?
30:18I don't see what you mean.
30:19Bella isn't here.
30:20I left her up at the Jacobs in Boston.
30:22My dear, she isn't there because she's here in New York.
30:25I saw her this afternoon on 42nd Street with a man.
30:28You did?
30:29What's the matter, Jim?
30:30Nothing.
30:31Nothing much.
30:32I just remembered she wanted to know
30:34wanted to know if she could reach me, if she needed me.
30:37They're always after you, aren't they?
30:41If Bella needed you, you'd need me, wouldn't you?
30:45I'd help that, not exactly.
30:47You would, wouldn't you?
30:49I don't know.
30:51I'd help her.
30:53I'd help her out of anything.
30:55That's one thing about you.
30:56You always tell the truth.
30:58I don't care much what happens as long as you tell the truth.
31:02I wonder why you'd help her.
31:03Do you know?
31:04Yes, that's easy.
31:05I'd help her because I always have.
31:08It's the only reason.
31:10You're worried about her, aren't you?
31:12Well, go ahead.
31:13Doesn't make me mad, particularly.
31:15Something's going on.
31:16That man, Jim, do you remember what he looked like?
31:18Yes, he was tall, dark, and rather handsome.
31:21With a hard face.
31:22The sort of man you'd see in a nightclub dancing.
31:24Snappy dresser.
31:25Yes, a very snappy dresser.
31:27Did you ever hear of a Mr. Howard Berg, a big power on Wall Street?
31:31That's what Bella says he is.
31:32No, did you?
31:33Well, that man was certainly Mr. Howard Berg.
31:37Never mind Mr. Berg, Jim.
31:39Go on.
31:40Tell me more about the bill.
31:42Tell me about her, Bella.
31:44How she married Joe Stowe.
31:46Well, we just heard how she married Joe Stowe.
31:49Brought him back with her from Rome.
31:51Joe happened to be in Rome that same year.
31:54Paper.
31:56Quite how it happened.
31:58A young man from Harvard just drifted out of the picture.
32:01That's the way it was with the Brills.
32:03Things just happened.
32:05We weren't any too clear about anything.
32:09Wickford Point was like a floating island
32:12that once had been solidly attached to the mainland.
32:17That's the only way I can describe it.
32:19I can see it being severed from reality when I was still very young.
32:24Drifting off a self-contained entity into a misty sea.
32:29Jim, I know it.
32:32What?
32:33It's Bella.
32:34Bella's dead.
32:36Sid, you open it.
32:37You've got a clear head and you can tell us if it's anything terrible.
32:40I never did like telegrams.
32:42They're unhappy things.
32:44Jim, please keep holding my hand.
32:46Oh, she says she's coming home.
32:48She's going to be married.
32:49What's that?
32:50Returning May 4th.
32:51Dreadfully, dreadfully happy.
32:53She's going to marry Joe Stowe, love, Bella.
32:56Joe Stowe?
32:57He's a friend of yours, isn't he?
32:58You remember Joe Stowe.
32:59He was, I've heard, since the Armistice.
33:01Sid, will you get me a glass of water from the pantry?
33:03An aspirin, Sid.
33:04I think it's perfectly dreadful he'll take her away somewhere.
33:07Cousin, you used to like him.
33:08I don't see why you think it's so dreadful.
33:09Well, dear darling, I never thought he was distinguished.
33:11How can you say that?
33:12You haven't seen him for years and years.
33:13He'll take her away from everything she has.
33:15I suppose he does.
33:16That's exactly why she's marrying him.
33:17Because she wants to get away from everything she has.
33:19That's what you say.
33:20She does, but Bella wouldn't be anyone without her own tradition.
33:23What do you mean by tradition?
33:24Oh, I wish you wouldn't be so tiresome, dear.
33:26Tradition is what we're taught to live for.
33:28Bella's tradition is what she's been taught to live for.
33:30Will you please give me a cigarette, dear?
33:32Cousin Trotilda, I sometimes wonder just what you do live for.
33:35I live for the children and for other people, dear.
33:37I don't do it very well.
33:38I'm a very careless manager because no one could ever teach me to add or subtract in school.
33:42But I try all the time to make the children and other people happy.
33:45Well, how about Bella?
33:46Perhaps she wants to make somebody happy too.
33:47Perhaps she wants to do something for Joe Stowe.
33:49I'd like to know what Mr. Stowe's going to do for her.
33:51They haven't the same tradition.
33:53He isn't going to fit in.
33:54He's going to...
33:55He's going to do what?
33:56Don't ask me what I mean.
33:57I'm going to my room.
33:58He's going to try and take Bella away.
34:02Jim, when Joe Stowe comes back, I think you ought to tell him.
34:06Someone ought to tell him.
34:07Tell him what?
34:08Well, the way Mother feels, she's always right.
34:10He shouldn't marry Bella, Jim.
34:12Absolutely isn't going to work.
34:13You know a lot about it, don't you, Sid?
34:15Now listen, we don't like him, Jim.
34:17In fact, we hate him.
34:18It's going to be impossible if we all hate him.
34:20Oh, you're crazy.
34:21How have you ever seen Joe Stowe?
34:22None of you have seen him.
34:23How can you hate him?
34:24Well, it isn't attractive, Jim.
34:26I know it isn't attractive.
34:27Have you ever seen a lot of dogs?
34:29What have dogs got to do with it?
34:31Well, now look at it this way, Jim.
34:32The Brills are all a very funny breed of dogs.
34:35Inbred and overbred.
34:36I never did like dogs, and I haven't much respect for human beings either.
34:40What are you trying to say, Sid?
34:41When a new dog comes, the others hate him, don't they?
34:44Particularly when they're abnormal dogs.
34:46Well, Joe Stowe is a new dog, and we don't like him, and we'll never like him.
34:50We won't like him because he's new and because he's abler than we are.
34:54You can't help it, Jim.
34:55We're just going to hate him.
34:56I suppose Bella loves him.
34:58Oh, no, no.
34:59That doesn't sound like Bella.
35:00Well, perhaps he loves her.
35:02Well, heaven help him if he does.
35:13They were married that fall.
35:15Sid was right about her marriage.
35:16I suppose, in a way, she couldn't help the things she did to Joe.
35:22Well, it lasted four years altogether,
35:24and then there was another year before she finally went to Reno.
35:29They should have broken off years before.
35:31Must have known it wouldn't work, but it's always hard to stop when you've started.
35:35Listen to the rain, Jim.
35:36Yeah.
35:37That started too.
35:38The whole roof went.
35:39I suppose we'd better go in.
35:40I'm afraid so.
35:41Better take the chance, then.
35:43Man, it's a phone ringing.
35:44I'll take it.
35:45All right.
35:46You think it's for you?
35:47Does anybody know you're here?
35:49I don't think so.
35:50Hello?
35:51Yes.
35:52Yes, he's here.
35:53Just a minute.
35:55It's your cousin, Jim.
35:56My cousin?
35:57You...
35:58Bella Brill.
36:00How on earth did she know?
36:01She must have called.
36:03Hello?
36:06Yes, Bella.
36:08What?
36:10What?
36:15Pat, I'm sorry.
36:16I...
36:17I know what you think.
36:18Do you, Jim?
36:19I wonder.
36:20I have to go, really.
36:21She seems to be in a really bad mess this time.
36:23Pat, you don't hate me, do you?
36:24You're going to take me to Whitford Point this weekend?
36:27I said I would.
36:28I'll call you in the morning.
36:30Goodbye, now.
36:31Goodbye, dear.
36:40Hello?
36:41Bella called me up.
36:42Where is she?
36:43Berg, I didn't expect to find you here.
36:45Well?
36:47What's the matter?
36:48Not a thing.
36:49What makes you think there is?
36:50Where's Bella?
36:51Near the room.
36:52So she called you up, did she?
36:54That's what she was doing.
36:55Well, she can get into the whole fire department and the lights net, too, but I'm...
37:00Hey, darling.
37:01Hey, darling.
37:02Hey, darling.
37:03Hey, darling.
37:04Hey, darling.
37:05Hey, darling.
37:06Hey, darling.
37:07Hey, darling.
37:08Hey, darling.
37:09I'm so glad you've come.
37:11You must understand that nothing Mr. Berg says is true.
37:14It's all preposterous.
37:15What have you been doing this time, Bella?
37:16It's Howard, darling.
37:17Howard is being perfectly preposterous.
37:19You said that before, Bella, and you've said it enough.
37:21You're not going to talk yourself out of this.
37:23You see, Jim, it's perfectly impossible.
37:25He won't listen to reason.
37:26I suppose you try to tell me.
37:27All right.
37:28Here's the way it is.
37:29I've been good enough to dance with Bella and take her places as long as I paid enough.
37:33Now it turns out I wasn't good enough for anything else.
37:35Last night she lied to me and went off with somebody that was good enough.
37:38That's quite nice, right, Bella?
37:40I don't quite gather what you think you can do about it, Berg.
37:42I'll tell you what I can do about it.
37:44I don't care what people say about me, and I think Bella cares a good deal what they say about her.
37:48That gives me quite an advantage, doesn't it?
37:50It certainly does.
37:51Just as a matter of personal satisfaction, Bella's going with me to Bermuda.
37:55The boat leaves at 2 o'clock.
37:57That's what she said she'd do.
37:58We flew down from the Jekylls yesterday afternoon, and that's what she's going to do.
38:01For once in her life, she's going to pay for something.
38:04You know, Berg, that's rather an unusual idea.
38:06Well, that's my business, I mean it.
38:07Darling, you see, he's mad.
38:09I mean, it's almost blackmail or something, darling.
38:13Don't you see?
38:14You'll have to do something about it.
38:16Suppose you stop calling me darling.
38:18I'll go to your room and pack your bags.
38:20Jim, are you crazy?
38:21It's half past 11.
38:22You want to look attractive on the boat.
38:23Go on, get out of here.
38:24Don't you see Mr. Berg means what he says?
38:26I wouldn't stay in the room with you.
38:28I don't want to!
38:30I know what you think of me.
38:32You needn't bother to tell me.
38:34Well, that's all right, Mr. Berg.
38:36Don't have it on your mind.
38:37She'll go with you.
38:38She's sensible.
38:39You can do what she likes about it, what you like about it.
38:42I don't care.
38:43I'm rather surprised you take it this way.
38:46So am I.
38:47Well, it doesn't make much difference.
38:49I'm sorry she got you here.
38:51Why?
38:52Frankly, the whole thing doesn't give me much satisfaction.
38:55You see, I was under the impression that you were the one
38:58You see, I was under the impression until last night that Bella was going to marry me
39:01and then because I asked her exactly when, she threw me over.
39:04So you really wanted to marry her.
39:06Yes, I was that much of a fool.
39:08If I were you, I wouldn't fall in love with her again.
39:12She'll try to get you back again sometime or other.
39:17You see, she just wants everything at once.
39:21It isn't worth anyone's trouble, actually.
39:23Are you trying to give me some good sound advice?
39:26No, no, I'm just telling you it isn't worthwhile.
39:29It's all a waste of time because you don't get anything back.
39:32Why not?
39:33Because she hasn't got anything to give.
39:37You think she has, but she hasn't.
39:40It's their fault.
39:42I suppose you'll think you've talked me out of it.
39:44I told you I didn't care and I don't care.
39:46She had it coming to her.
39:47Well, forget it. I'll be going now.
39:49Where?
39:50Just checking out, getting on my way.
39:52I guess you're right.
39:54It isn't worth my time.
39:55Are you really going?
39:56Yes, absolutely.
39:57Let's forget it, shall we?
39:59Yes, Berg, let's forget it.
40:01Well, so long.
40:05Bell up. You can come out now. Mr. Berg is gone.
40:09Well, I couldn't say so last.
40:13You're not angry with me, are you?
40:15No, not particularly.
40:17You won't tell me?
40:19No.
40:21Just why did you come down here?
40:22Well, I was at the jacuzzi...
40:24You didn't stay.
40:25I'm just wondering if you ever meant to stay.
40:27If you don't believe me, I can't make you.
40:29Oh, Jim, isn't it perfectly logical that I should want to get away?
40:32You keep wanting to get away.
40:34I just can't stand it.
40:35It's the point all the time.
40:36It gets me when only friends can see me sitting around and talking.
40:39I can't stand it and I won't.
40:41You said all that before, Bell.
40:42You can't stand anything.
40:44Life hasn't been fair to me, Jim, and it isn't because I haven't tried.
40:47But you see it, don't you?
40:49Nothing has come back to me.
40:51That's what makes me frightened.
40:52That's why I did what I did yesterday, darling.
40:54I don't want anyone like Howard to beg when I understood he thought we were engaged.
40:58It really did upset me.
41:00It just made me realize that I didn't have anything at all.
41:04I'm getting old.
41:07Jim, aren't you feeling well?
41:09You're not listening.
41:10Yes, I'm listening, Bell.
41:11Well, you don't think I'm getting old, do you?
41:14No.
41:15You're the prettiest girl I know.
41:18That's all right, isn't it?
41:20You see why I came down here and that all this doesn't matter anything.
41:26Remember the games we used to play at parties?
41:29What is the matter?
41:30You're not listening, darling.
41:31I'm sorry, Bell.
41:32What game?
41:33You know.
41:34Patil used to have it when I had birthday parties.
41:37All the chairs were back to back and music would play and we'd walk around them and music would stop and we'd all sit down.
41:45Except one of us would be left.
41:48Well, the music nearly stopped.
41:52So it's nearly stopped.
41:54Yes.
41:55You see what I mean?
41:57Well, sweetness, a lot of nice boys have offered you a chair.
42:01I remember another game where someone offers you a chair and asks you to sit down and just when you're starting to, he pulls it out from under you and you go down, boom.
42:10You never had that happen to you, have you?
42:12Oh, that's close.
42:14You know what I mean.
42:16I mean, I haven't anything.
42:17Not a nothing left.
42:19Except you.
42:21I'll always have you, darling.
42:23I think I care more about that than anything else in the world.
42:26I mean, I really care.
42:28We'd quarrel and we'd fight, but you tell me what you think of me.
42:32You're still with me.
42:33Aren't you, Jimmy?
42:34Bell.
42:35Aren't you, Jimmy?
42:36Bell.
42:37I've always told you the truth.
42:39I've never thought of you exactly like this.
42:41There's always been a sort of habit up to now.
42:43That's it.
42:44It's habit, darling.
42:46I'm through, Bell.
42:48I'm sorry, but I'm absolutely through.
42:50I know you of course, darling.
42:52I don't blame you for being tired of me.
42:54I'm pretty tired of myself.
42:55I'm sorry, Bell.
42:56I didn't say I was tired.
42:57I said that I was through.
42:59Darling, just tell me what I've done.
43:01I know you're talking about it, Bell.
43:02I'm through.
43:03You don't like me?
43:05You don't like me at all?
43:06It's worse than that.
43:07I feel impersonal.
43:08I can see what your good points and your bad points are and I don't care.
43:12I'm sorry, Bell.
43:13Oh, stop saying that, darling.
43:14Tell me what I've done.
43:15It isn't your fault.
43:16It's just the way things are.
43:19You haven't got anything to give to anyone that anyone wants.
43:23I didn't mean exactly that, Bell.
43:24Now, don't throw that grass.
43:25You'll be sorry.
43:28Don't do that again, Bell.
43:29Jim.
43:31I'm sorry, darling.
43:33You just made me so mad.
43:36I'm so afraid, darling.
43:38And you know I always tell you everything.
43:40Please.
43:43I'll go.
43:44No, I'll go.
43:47Hello.
43:49Hello.
43:51Joe, how'd you get here?
43:53Bella sent me a wire.
43:55I thought you were in Vermont, Joe.
43:57I was in Vermont.
43:59An airplane. I hired one.
44:01Now, run along, Jim.
44:03Bella and I have something particular to say to each other.
44:06If there's one thing you didn't tell me, Bella, that you wired Joe...
44:09What is it, Mike?
44:10So...
44:12All she had to do was whistle.
44:13Yeah.
44:15She only had to whistle.
44:16Run along now, Jim.
44:18You act as though I wanted to stay.
44:19Go ahead, Joe. Make a fool of yourself.
44:21Go ahead if you want to get mixed up again.
44:22Well, that's...
44:23That's about enough from you.
44:26I don't want to get mad at you, Jim.
44:27Sorry.
44:29I'm getting just what's coming to you.
44:31Well, go ahead. Live it all over again.
44:33I don't care.
44:34That suits me.
44:36If we do it all over, we can do it without you this time.
44:38You're going to, Joe.
44:39No. No, Jim.
44:41I want you to stay. Really, Jim.
44:43I'm such an awful fool, you know.
44:45I never can do things right.
44:47No.
44:48Both of you are so patient.
44:49Never mind it, Bella.
44:50Darling, I'm so ashamed.
44:52Where's your handkerchief?
44:53You have it in your hand.
44:54Don't you see what I'm saying, Joe?
44:56Don't you see we'll do any good?
44:57Wait a minute.
44:59Wait a minute, Bella.
45:02You and I can make it just the way it was if...
45:04both of us really try.
45:05Oh, that's what you always kept hoping, dear, wasn't it?
45:07Well, we can't.
45:08It wouldn't be fair to try because I...
45:10I don't want you enough, Joe.
45:11I thought I did, but I don't.
45:13You don't know what you want right now, Bella.
45:16Let's talk about it later.
45:17We'll talk like that.
45:19We'll always talk like that.
45:20I... I do know what I want, and I...
45:22I don't want you, Joe.
45:23I don't want you because...
45:25What do you make me pay it for?
45:27Why do you just look at me and make me?
45:29I... I don't want you, Joe,
45:31because I want Jim.
45:32Bella.
45:33I only want Jim.
45:34And he says he doesn't want me.
45:42What do you suppose she does want, Jim?
45:44Cosmos.
45:48And I hired an airplane to get here.
45:50I was sick of one of those little paper bags.
45:52Hire another, Joe.
45:53It's the first break you've had in quite a while.
45:56You're out of it for good now.
45:58Get that into your head.
45:59You're out of it for good.
46:00It's the first generous thing I ever saw Joe.
46:01I guess it's been you, Jim, all the time.
46:03You think it's...
46:04Oh, no.
46:05No, I don't think it's too timely.
46:07It's just that way.
46:09They didn't wish her off on me, Joe.
46:11Oh.
46:12That's pretty hard.
46:14Maybe it's time something was hard on her.
46:16Jim, you couldn't...
46:18No, definitely not.
46:21Jim, let's get away somewhere.
46:22Where?
46:23Anywhere.
46:24There's Spain.
46:25I never did like Spain.
46:26All right, I don't care.
46:27There are other places.
46:28Lots of them.
46:30What's the matter, Jim?
46:31You're getting soft.
46:33Don't you want to go?
46:34I don't know.
46:38Is there something you haven't told me?
46:39Yes, but not about Bella, Joe.
46:40I knew there was something.
46:41That's a fine way not to tell your friends.
46:43I'll tell you about it later.
46:47Well.
46:49If you change your mind, you know where to get me.
46:51Yes, I know.
46:55The message.
46:57The message.
46:58Yes.
47:00It's no worse than it's ever been.
47:04See you later.
47:06So long, Joe.
47:07Good luck.
47:13Jim.
47:14Yeah?
47:15I sent him away, didn't I?
47:18Yes, you did.
47:19I didn't have to.
47:21No, that's true.
47:22Darling, it was what you wanted, wasn't it?
47:25I didn't ask you to.
47:26But it was what you wanted, wasn't it?
47:28That's why I did it, darling.
47:29I'm very much obliged.
47:32Bella, maybe it makes you feel better.
47:33I hope so.
47:34Why?
47:35Because you've done something decent.
47:37You like me better, don't you?
47:38Yes, honeybee.
47:39I like your good ill manner.
47:40You've been very generous.
47:42It didn't mean those things you said.
47:44You take them back now.
47:45Don't you, darling?
47:46Let's forget about it, darling.
47:49Only that we've both been fighting.
47:52So it didn't do any good?
47:53No, you're wrong, Bella.
47:54It's done a lot of good.
47:55You're nicer than you've ever been right now.
47:58It's like an operation, darling.
48:00I feel so weak.
48:01My head keeps going around.
48:04You'll be kind to me anyway, won't you?
48:06Anyway.
48:07Yes, of course.
48:09I feel so unattractive.
48:11Let's go somewhere and have lunch
48:12and have some champagne.
48:13All right, now.
48:14But you'd better pack.
48:15Why?
48:16Because you've done enough for one day, sweetness.
48:18I'm going to send you back to Wickford Point.
48:20Oh, that's all that ever happens,
48:22no matter what we do.
48:24I always go back to Wickford Point.
48:36Well.
48:38There it is, Pat.
48:39Down below there.
48:41The roof's the hay bars
48:42and the chimney's the house.
48:43That's Wickford Point.
48:47Pat, can you smell the smell of the river,
48:48the warm, muddy smell, darling?
48:49You're excited, aren't you, Jim?
48:51Yes.
48:53Every time I come back,
48:54there's the excitement of finding it
48:55still there waiting for me.
48:58Do you hear the wind in the pines?
49:01I used to come up here
49:02at this point as a child.
49:04It was the same soft wind,
49:06the same whispering, laughing
49:08among the trees.
49:10Hasn't changed at all.
49:11Jim.
49:13Yes, Pat?
49:14Jim.
49:15They haven't got you yet.
49:18I love them.
49:19I wish I didn't sometimes.
49:21Why, Jim?
49:22I don't know.
49:23I guess I'm afraid.
49:24Afraid?
49:25Myself.
49:26You know what I mean.
49:28Jim, we can't go on like this.
49:30No, I don't see how we can.
49:31Do you mind if I ask you something?
49:33Anything you like.
49:34All this about Wickford Point,
49:35this feeling you have
49:37about not being able to escape.
49:39You're not saying this
49:40on account of Bella, are you?
49:42Bella?
49:43It isn't Bella you're talking about.
49:45You will tell me the truth, won't you?
49:47No.
49:48I don't mind if it hurts you.
49:49It's not Bella.
49:50Oh, I'm glad.
49:51I'm so glad, dear.
49:53Jim,
49:54I wish you'd put your arm around me.
49:56I feel a little dizzy.
49:57Pat, are you crying?
49:58No, not really.
49:59Women just have different ways
50:01of showing they're happy.
50:03Jim,
50:04if you really love me,
50:05if you really want me,
50:07let's go away tonight.
50:08Now.
50:09Don't let's go down to the house.
50:10But you said you wanted to see the house.
50:12I changed my mind, Jim.
50:13It's our only chance
50:14to get away from here now.
50:15Tonight.
50:16Pat,
50:17I want you to marry me, Jim.
50:19It wouldn't be so bad for you.
50:21Not if such things go.
50:23I'd make you happy.
50:24Pat, I'd go twice around the world with you tomorrow.
50:27There's nothing I'd like better.
50:28And farther than that?
50:29Farther than that.
50:31I'd go anywhere, you see,
50:33and as long as you like, but...
50:35finally, dear, I'd always come back here
50:38and you couldn't stop me
50:39and I couldn't stop myself.
50:41You know that.
50:43You wouldn't like it.
50:44I'll take my chance on that, Jim.
50:46I want you to come away with me now.
50:48While you're free.
50:49And while I'm with you.
50:51If we don't go away tonight, we'll never go.
50:53It's our only chance.
50:54Pat.
50:55I know I'm right, darling.
50:56Pat.
50:57We've got to choose, Jim, now.
50:58Tonight.
50:59It's me or the bills.
51:00It's me or what's the point?
51:01Listen, Pat, listen.
51:03Listen to the wind in those trees.
51:06They're talking about me at this moment.
51:09About you and me.
51:11Listen to their voices.
51:12You hear what they're saying?
51:14My dear, they're saying,
51:15don't tell me you've never heard
51:17the most amazing thing like so many others.
51:19Why, look who's out here now.
51:20Jim Calder and somebody new.
51:22Somebody who doesn't belong here.
51:24Listen now, they're laughing together.
51:25Do you know what they're saying now?
51:28Jim, Jim.
51:29He's changed, but he can't change.
51:32He's tried to forget us, but he won't forget.
51:33It doesn't matter where he goes.
51:35He's out here half the time
51:36under the trees at Wickford Point.
51:38Even when he's away, he's always here
51:40because we caught him as a boy.
51:43It doesn't matter where he dies,
51:44he'll be back here.
51:46He'll always be back.
51:47I told you I'm not afraid of that, Jim.
51:49It's the present I'm thinking of,
51:51not the past or the future.
51:53If you want me, Jim,
51:55you've got to turn this car back.
51:57You've got to leave this place tonight.
52:04He can't change.
52:05He's tried to forget us, but he won't forget.
52:08It doesn't matter where he goes.
52:09He's out here half the time
52:10under the trees at Wickford Point.
52:12Even when he's away, he's always here
52:14because we caught him as a boy.
52:16It doesn't matter where he dies,
52:18he'll be back here.
52:19He'll always be back.
52:21He'll always be back.
52:27Well, Jim?
52:38© BF-WATCH TV 2021
53:08© BF-WATCH TV 2021
53:38© BF-WATCH TV 2021
54:08Ladies and gentlemen,
54:09John Phillips Marquand,
54:11author of Wickford Point,
54:13is, I'm told, a widely traveled man,
54:15and a man, moreover,
54:16and I can vouch for this,
54:17who was able to get very sharp impressions
54:19of the places he visits
54:20and the people he sees.
54:22He translates his observations into story form
54:24with such vividness
54:25that he's been generally charged
54:27with copying directly from life.
54:30In the case of the Pulitzer Prize novel,
54:32the late George Apley,
54:33the fame of the fictional character,
54:35grew so great
54:36that Harvard University made the nonexistent Mr. Apley
54:39a member of the class of 1887.
54:41So far,
54:42four towns have claimed to be the site of Wickford Point,
54:46and numerous families and individuals
54:48think they are right there in the book.
54:51There is indeed a story told in Boston
54:52of a lady who bustled into a bookstore
54:54and said,
54:55I just can't believe it's all true.
54:57I'm sure Mr. Marquand
54:59must have made some of it up himself.
55:02Now, what about this Mr. Marquand?
55:04What's the truth about these famous characters of yours?
55:06Are they real people?
55:08Well, Mr. Wells,
55:09I might answer you
55:11with what is written on the fly leaf of all novels these days.
55:14I know what you mean.
55:15All the incidents and characters in this novel
55:16are entirely fictitious.
55:17No reference is intended to any actual person living or dead.
55:20Am I correct?
55:21In a way, that's what I mean, yes.
55:24But any character in a book
55:25is necessarily a composite of dozens of people.
55:29Living persons put into books are,
55:32curiously enough, not alive at all.
55:35They never fit into the dimensions of a plot.
55:38They are as much out of place on a book page
55:41as a fictional character would be
55:43if you saw him walking on the street.
55:46A good fictional character
55:47can never represent a living person.
55:50Strangely enough,
55:51even an incident you observe in life
55:53can seldom be transcribed into a book.
55:57If any living people see themselves
55:59in the pages of Wickford Point,
56:01I offer them my apologies.
56:03Well, at the moment, frankly, Mr. Marquand,
56:06I'm not thinking of your New England people,
56:08but of another of your creations,
56:10another famous Marquand character.
56:12What about that incredible Japanese Mr. Moto?
56:16I hope there is such a fellow in the Far East, Mr. Marquand,
56:19busy with intrigue and international complications.
56:22But I suppose you invented him, too.
56:25Sorry I can't oblige you with Mr. Moto.
56:27Mr. Moto, he's a strictly fictional character.
56:30Mr. Marquand, I'm going to exact a promise from you.
56:33Yes?
56:34Just before we finish tonight,
56:36I want to ask you
56:37if Mr. Moto ever comes knocking at your door,
56:40please don't tell him he's a composite type.
56:43Mr. Marquand, just send for me.
56:45I want to meet him.
56:53And now, Mr. Wells,
56:54will you tell us, please, about next week's story?
56:56Well, next week, Mr. Chappell, New England,
56:58turns the other cheek.
56:59From the sultry privacy of Wickford Point,
57:01we take you to the hardier groves of Grover's Corner,
57:04New Hampshire,
57:05and it's with great pleasure
57:06that we present for the first time on the air
57:08a play which last year won the highest dramatic award
57:10offered the American theater,
57:11Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize winner,
57:13Our Town,
57:14a play which does just what its title says,
57:16shows you a typical small American town
57:18and the lives of two of its leading citizens,
57:21their lives, how they lived,
57:23how they were married,
57:24how they had children,
57:25in turn grew up and fell in love and married,
57:27and how some of them died.
57:28And so until next week,
57:30until Our Town,
57:31our sponsors,
57:32the makers of Campbell's Soups,
57:33and all of us in the Campbell Playhouse
57:35remain obediently yours.
57:50The makers of Campbell's Soups join Orson Wells
57:52in inviting you to be with us
57:54at the Campbell Playhouse again next Friday evening
57:57for one of the most beautiful and moving plays
57:59that ever scored a four-star hit on Broadway.
58:01For the first time on the air,
58:03last season's Pulitzer Prize winner,
58:05Our Town,
58:06with John Craven of the New York StageCast.
58:09Meanwhile, if you have enjoyed
58:10tonight's Campbell Playhouse presentation,
58:12won't you tell your grocer so tomorrow
58:14when you order Campbell's Chicken Soup?
58:17This is Ernest Chappell saying thank you
58:19and good night.