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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. Tonight we bring you a revival of one of our favorite
00:51broadcasts, Charlotte Bronte's unforgettable love story, Jane Eyre. And in the title role
00:56we proudly present a very gifted actress, a frequent and always welcome guest in the
01:00Campbell Playhouse, Miss Madeline Carroll. But first, Ernest Chappell has an interesting
01:05conversation to report. Mr. Chappell? Thank you, Orson Welles. You know, just this past
01:10week I was talking to a man who, for a large part of his life, has been a globetrotter.
01:15In the course of our conversation, he said to me, I heard you on the Campbell Playhouse
01:19last Sunday night refer to the universal liking for chicken. Well, he continued, I believe
01:24I can vouch for that. I've discovered that chicken, prepared in one way or another, is
01:30among the best-liked dishes in every country I visited. In Hungary, I've enjoyed chicken
01:35paprika. In Italy, chicken cacciatore. I've eaten chicken pilau in Armenia, curried chicken
01:41in India, and sat down to chicken tamale south of the border. Now, that comment of his struck
01:47me as highly interesting. With people the world around liking chicken so much, it's
01:53no wonder that Campbell's chicken soup is so popular, because in every drop of the
01:58glistening golden broth, you taste rich chicken flavor. And steeped in the good flavor of
02:04the chicken, too, is the fluffy white rice, and there are pieces of tender chicken meat
02:08in every fragrant plateful. If you've already enjoyed this homey, old-fashioned chicken
02:13soup as Campbell's make it, won't you remember to have it again soon? And if you haven't
02:18yet tried it, won't you do so, say, at dinner tomorrow night? I promise you, just as sure
02:25as you like chicken, you'll like Campbell's chicken soup. And now, our Campbell Playhouse
02:31presentation of Jane Eyre, starring Madeline Carroll and Orson Welles.
02:38In the last 90 years, Jane Eyre has acquired the full respectability of an English classic
02:50and has lost none of its color. It began as one of those books which everybody read and
02:54no nice person would ever read. But Jane Eyre, appearing in England as it did, early in the
02:59reign of Queen Victoria, came as a general shock and was an immediate success. As appalling
03:04and popular as a royal scandal and as widely circulated as gossip. Here's a contemporary
03:09press notice, quote, altogether the autobiography of Jane Eyre is preeminently an anti-Christian
03:15composition. There is throughout it a murmuring against the comforts of the rich and against
03:19the privations of the poor, which as far as each individual is concerned is a murmuring
03:23against God's appointment. There is a proud and perpetual assertion of the rights of man,
03:28of which we find no authority either in God's word or in God's providence. We do not hesitate
03:33to say that the tone of mind and the thought which has overthrown authority abroad and
03:38fostered rebellion at home is the same which has also written Jane Eyre, unquote. The authorship
03:43of this scarlet indignity to English letters was variously attributed to almost everyone
03:48who could write except a certain Miss Charlotte Bronte of Yorkshire, who did write it in spite
03:52of that pen name Corabel, attributed with wild generosity to almost everybody in England,
03:57including the devil and Thackeray's governess and even among others the perpetrator of Wuthering
04:01Heights, who was indeed Miss Emily, another Bronte, and Charlotte's sister. The Brontes
04:06are a story in themselves, several stories, many of which you know and most of which I
04:10wish we had time to tell. My own personal favorite in that mysterious, lonely, impoverished,
04:15and entirely inexplicable family is the head of the household himself, the terrible-tempered
04:20Reverend Patrick Bronte, that gloomy man of God who, we are told, cleared the Bronte drawing
04:25room of visitors who happened to bore him by firing a revolver at the Bronte's ceiling.
04:29But there's no end to these Bronte stories, so let's get to the beginning of Miss Charlotte's own.
04:47My name is Jane Ayers. I have no father or mother, brothers or sisters. As a child, I
04:54lived with my aunt, Mrs. Reed, at Gateshead Hall. I do not remember that she ever spoke
04:59one kind word to me. When I was ten years old, she sent me off to school.
05:05So, Mrs. Reed, this is the little girl respecting whom you applied to meet. Her size is small.
05:12What is your name, little girl? Jane Ayers.
05:15Oh, say, Jane Ayers, Mr. Brocklehurst, little girl.
05:19Jane Ayers, Mr. Brocklehurst.
05:21Well, Jane Ayers, are you a good child? No sight so sad as that of a naughty child, especially
05:28a naughty little girl. Do you know where the wicked go after death?
05:33They go to hell.
05:35Well, and what must you do to avoid going to hell?
05:38I must keep in good health and not die.
05:41And how can you keep in good health? Children younger than you die daily.
05:46Tell me, Jane Ayers, do you read the Bible?
05:50Sometimes.
05:51With pleasure?
05:53No, sir.
05:54No? Oh, how shocking. I have a little boy younger than you who knows six psalms by heart.
06:00And when you ask him which he'd rather have, a gingerbread nut to eat or a verse of psalm
06:04to learn, he always says, oh, a verse of psalm.
06:07Angel sing psalm, says he. I wish to be a little angel here below.
06:13He then gets two gingerbread nuts in return for his infant piety.
06:16Psalms are not interesting.
06:18That proves you have a wicked heart.
06:20And you must pray God to change it and to give you a new and clean one.
06:25And to take away your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
06:30And we'll try our best to help God, will we not, Mrs. Reed?
06:34And make you a useful and humble girl.
06:38I left Gates Head Hall on a dark, cold morning for Lowoods.
06:42As the coach started, I put out my head and looked back at the house
06:46and up at the window behind which my aunt was still sleeping.
06:49I'm glad you sent me away, Mrs. Reed.
06:51But I hate to live here with you.
06:53And if anyone asks me how I like you and how useful you are to me,
06:57I'm afraid I'll have to tell you.
06:59I'm afraid I'll have to tell you.
07:01I'm afraid I'll have to tell you.
07:03I'm afraid I'll have to tell you.
07:05And if anyone asks me how I like you and how you treated me,
07:09I will always say you treated me with miserable courtesy.
07:12And that the very sight of you makes me sick.
07:29I spent eight years at Lowoods.
07:32It was not so much a school
07:34as an institution for the children of the poor
07:36supported by charitable bequests.
07:38Soon after I was 18,
07:40I placed an advertisement in the Yorkshire Herald
07:43applying for the position of governess.
07:45The following week, a reply came
07:47from a Mrs. Fairfax of Thornfield Hall near Milcott in Yorkshire.
07:51If Jay E. who advertised last Thursday
07:55is qualified to teach the usual branches
07:58of a good English education
08:01together with French, drawing, and music,
08:04and if she is in a position
08:06to give satisfactory references of character and competency,
08:11a situation can be offered her
08:14where there is but one pupil,
08:16a little girl nine years of age.
08:23Three days later, I left Lowoods School.
08:26I arose and dressed myself with care.
08:29As I looked at myself in the mirror,
08:31I regretted that I was not handsome.
08:34I felt it a misfortune to be so little, pale,
08:37and with features so irregular and so masked.
08:40I brushed my hair very smooth,
08:42put on my black frock,
08:44adjusted my clean white pucker,
08:46then I set out for my new situation.
08:59On the evening of the next day,
09:02I was at Thornfield Hall.
09:13I was ushered into a small room.
09:16At a table by a cheerful fire
09:18sat the neatest imaginable little old lady
09:21occupied in knitting.
09:23How do you do, my dear?
09:25I'm afraid you've had a tedious ride.
09:28Are you Mrs. Fairfax?
09:30You are right.
09:31Now sit down here before this fire here.
09:34You must be tired to death.
09:36Oh, no, indeed, ma'am.
09:38Shall I have the pleasure of seeing
09:40Miss Fairfax tonight?
09:42What did you say, my dear?
09:44I'm a little deaf.
09:46Shall I have the pleasure of seeing
09:48Miss Fairfax tonight?
09:49Oh!
09:50Oh, you mean your pupil, Adele?
09:53Oh, she is not my daughter.
09:55Indeed?
09:56I have no family.
09:57And you have this great house all alone?
09:59Oh, bless you, my dear child.
10:02This house is not mine.
10:04It belongs to Mr. Rochester.
10:06And who is he?
10:07The owner of Thornfield Hall.
10:10Did you not know he was called Rochester?
10:13He is our employer.
10:15He owns the house and much of the land above.
10:18I'm merely the housekeeper.
10:20Your pupil is his ward.
10:22He wrote to me to find a governess for her.
10:25He's not here himself.
10:26Almost never.
10:28Much of the time, he's abroad.
10:31It seems strange for a gentleman
10:33to own this great house,
10:34yet never stop there and enjoy it.
10:37You will find, Miss Eyre,
10:39that Mr. Rochester is, in many ways,
10:42a strange gentleman.
10:45I slept smooth and sounded
10:47at night in my new home.
10:49Once I woke and heard a clock strike.
11:15I heard another sound.
11:19Perhaps I was still half asleep and dreaming.
11:24It seemed to me that somewhere in the house
11:26I heard a low, merciless laugh.
11:30It seemed to me that somewhere in the house
11:32I heard a low, merciless laugh.
12:00When I woke, it was bright day
12:02and the sun was shining.
12:04And then, for many weeks,
12:05nothing happened to break the smooth course
12:07of our lives at Tornfield Hall.
12:10One day in January, a fine, calm day,
12:13I put on my coat and went out for a walk.
12:16As I started back,
12:18the afternoon was already dimming.
12:21On the hilltop above me sat the rising moon,
12:24pale as a cloud.
12:26I walked fast to get home.
12:28A sheet of ice covered the bridge
12:30where a little brook had overflowed
12:31after a rapid pour.
12:33Suddenly, in the distance,
12:34I heard the sound of hooves.
12:36A horseman came over the hill
12:37down toward the little bridge.
12:39Get in!
12:40Get in there!
12:41Easy!
12:42Careful!
12:43Are you injured, sir?
12:44Stand on one side, further away.
12:46Don't fight it!
12:47Easy there!
12:48Ah, my leg!
12:50If you are hurt and want help, sir,
12:51I can fetch a carriage from Tornfield Hall.
12:53Thank you, I shall do.
12:54I have no broken bones, only sprained.
12:55Go along, child.
12:56Leave me alone.
12:57I can't think of leaving you, sir,
12:58so late an hour,
12:59till I see you are fit to mount your horse again.
13:01I should think you ought to be home yourself
13:02if you have a home in the neighborhood.
13:03Where do you come from?
13:04From just below.
13:05I'm not at all afraid of being out late
13:06when it is moonlight.
13:07Just below?
13:08You mean in the house of the battlements?
13:09Yes, sir.
13:10Which house is it?
13:11Mr. Rochester's.
13:12You know Mr. Rochester?
13:13No, I have never seen him.
13:14He's not a resident, then?
13:15No.
13:16Can you tell me where he is?
13:17I cannot.
13:18I am told he is at Tornfield very rarely.
13:20You're not a servant of the hall, of course.
13:21You're...
13:22I am the governess,
13:23Mr. Rochester's wife.
13:24I think I've forgotten the governess, huh?
13:26I can't send you to fetch her,
13:27but you may be able to help me yourself,
13:29if you'd be so kind.
13:30Yes, sir.
13:31There's not an umbrella
13:32that I can use as a stick.
13:33No.
13:34Excuse me.
13:35Necessity compels me to make you useful.
13:36Here.
13:37Come close.
13:38Let me lean on your shoulder.
13:39Now, hold the bridle.
13:40Here we are.
13:42Send me my whip.
13:43It lies there under the hedge.
13:44Here, sir.
13:48Goodbye, child.
13:54Goodbye.
14:04As I walked back to Tornfield,
14:06I kept seeing his tall figure
14:08enveloped in a riding coat,
14:10fur collared in steel clasp,
14:12remembering his stern face,
14:14his angry, thwarted eyes.
14:24I was late,
14:25and I got back to the car.
14:26Oh.
14:27Oh.
14:28Oh.
14:29What dog is that?
14:30He came in the master.
14:31With whom?
14:32With the master, Mr. Rochester.
14:34He's just arrived.
14:35He's in the dining room,
14:36and John has gone for a surgeon.
14:38Master's had an accident.
14:40His horse fell coming down Hay Lane.
14:43He sent for you, Jane,
14:44and was surprised when I told him you were out.
14:47Did he say anything about it?
14:48He said you were to go to him
14:49the minute you came in.
14:51You'd better hurry.
14:52Come in.
14:58I knew him at once.
15:00His broad, dark brown hair,
15:02his fur collared in grim mud.
15:04When he looked up,
15:05I could see no trace
15:06of recognition in his eyes.
15:08Well, Miss Eyre,
15:09I have questioned your bugle,
15:10my little ward.
15:11Aren't you taking great pain for this?
15:13It's not bright.
15:14It's not bright.
15:15It's not bright.
15:16It's not bright.
15:17It's not bright.
15:18It's not bright.
15:19It's not bright.
15:20It's not bright.
15:21It's not bright.
15:22It has no talent.
15:23In short times,
15:24it made much improvement.
15:27Sit down, Miss Eyre.
15:28Come to the fire.
15:29Adele,
15:30go amuse yourself a little.
15:33You've been resident
15:34in my house three months,
15:35Miss Eyre.
15:36Yes, sir.
15:37Come from...
15:38From nowhere, sir.
15:39A charitable concern.
15:40How long are you there?
15:41Eight years.
15:42Eight years.
15:43Must be tenacious at life.
15:45No wonder you have
15:46the look of another world,
15:47Miss Eyre.
15:48I'm marvelled
15:49where you've got
15:50I had half a mind just now
15:51in Hay Lane
15:52to demand whether you
15:53had bewitched my horse.
15:55I'm not sure yet.
15:56Who are your parents?
15:57I have none.
15:58You never had, I suppose.
15:59Do you remember them?
16:00No, Mr. Russell.
16:01Who recommended you
16:02to come into Thornfield?
16:03I advertised
16:04and Mrs. Fairfax
16:05answered my advice.
16:06Yes, Mrs. Fairfax
16:07speaks quite well of you.
16:08Praise will not bias me.
16:09You began by
16:10throwing down my horse.
16:11Sure.
16:12I have to thank you
16:13for this praise.
16:14What age were you,
16:15Miss Eyre,
16:16when you went to Lord?
16:17About ten.
16:18Later, eight years
16:19later,
16:20I thought it was beautiful.
16:21Tell me,
16:22what did you learn
16:23at Lord?
16:24Can you play?
16:25A little.
16:26Of course,
16:27the established answer.
16:29Sit down at the piano,
16:30Miss Eyre.
16:31I mean,
16:32if you please.
16:34Excuse my tone of command.
16:35I cannot alter
16:36my customary habits
16:37for a new inmate.
16:39Sit down at the piano
16:40and play a tune.
16:41Very well, sir.
16:42Enough, enough,
16:43enough, Miss Eyre.
16:44Enough.
16:46Play a little, I see,
16:47like any other
16:48English schoolgirl.
16:49Perhaps better than some,
16:50but not well.
16:53Are you happy
16:54when you play?
16:55I'm adorned, sir.
16:56You're so absorbed,
16:57Miss Eyre,
16:58that you have let Adele
16:59sit up past her bedtime.
17:01Good night.
17:03Good night to all of you now.
17:12For several days
17:13I did not see
17:14Mr. Rochester.
17:15Then one evening
17:16he sent for me
17:17to come down.
17:18Well, come in,
17:19Miss Eyre.
17:20Be seated.
17:21Don't draw
17:22that chair further off,
17:23Miss Eyre.
17:24Sit down exactly
17:25where I placed it,
17:26if you please.
17:28Otherwise,
17:29I cannot see you
17:30without disturbing
17:31my position
17:32in this comfortable chair,
17:33which I have no mind
17:34to do.
17:36I'm sorry,
17:37Mr. Rochester.
17:38I'm sorry,
17:39I'm sorry,
17:40I'm sorry.
17:41I have no mind
17:42to do.
17:45Examine me,
17:46Miss Eyre.
17:47Do you think me handsome?
17:48No, sir.
17:49No?
17:51On my word,
17:52there's something
17:53singular about you.
17:54Very quaint,
17:55quiet,
17:56grave,
17:57and simple.
17:59Sit there
18:00with your hands
18:01before you
18:02and your eyes
18:03generally bent
18:04on the carpet,
18:05except by the way
18:06when they are directed
18:07piercingly to my face
18:08just now.
18:09When one asks you
18:10a question,
18:11you wrap out
18:12a rejoinder,
18:13which is,
18:14if not blunt,
18:15at least brusque.
18:16What do you mean by it?
18:17Sir,
18:18I speak too plain.
18:19I beg your pardon.
18:20I ought to have
18:21replied that
18:22taste differs,
18:23that beauty
18:24is of little consequence
18:25and something of that sort.
18:26You should have
18:27replied no such thing,
18:28beauty of little consequence.
18:29Go on,
18:30what fault
18:31do you find in me, pray?
18:32I suppose I have
18:33all my limbs
18:34and all my features
18:35like any other man.
18:36I am sorry,
18:37Mr. Rochester.
18:38You will be
18:39answerable for it now.
18:41Miss Eyre,
18:42criticize me.
18:44Does my forehead
18:45not please you?
18:47Does it look
18:48as if I am a fool?
18:49Far from it, sir.
18:50Young lady,
18:51I even have a kind
18:52of rude tenderness
18:53of heart.
18:55Or don't you believe that?
18:59Why don't you answer me?
19:02You look very much
19:03puzzled, Miss Eyre.
19:05You are not pretty
19:06any more than I am handsome.
19:07Puzzled Eyre
19:08becomes you.
19:09So puzzle on.
19:11You puzzled me
19:12the first evening
19:13I invited you down here.
19:15I have almost
19:16forgotten you since.
19:17Other ideas
19:18have driven you
19:19from my head.
19:20Tonight,
19:21I have resolved
19:22to be at ease.
19:23It would please me
19:24to draw you out
19:25to learn more of you.
19:26Now speak.
19:29Speak!
19:30What about, sir?
19:31Whatever you like.
19:32I leave the choice
19:33of subjects
19:34and the manner
19:35of treating it
19:36to you.
19:39You are dumb,
19:40Miss Eyre,
19:41or stubborn.
19:42Yes,
19:43stubborn
19:44and a little annoyed.
19:48And it's my fault.
19:50I put my request
19:51in an absurd
19:52and almost
19:53insulting form.
19:54Miss Eyre,
19:55I beg your pardon.
19:57Very sorry.
19:59Where are you going,
20:00Miss Eyre?
20:01To put Adele to bed.
20:02It's past her bedtime.
20:03Confess it,
20:04you're afraid of me.
20:06You're afraid
20:07your self-love
20:08dreads a blunder.
20:09I have no wish
20:10to talk nonsense.
20:11If you did it,
20:12you would do it
20:13in such a grave quiet manner
20:14I should mistake it
20:15for sin.
20:16Do you never laugh,
20:17Miss Eyre?
20:18Don't trouble down, sir.
20:19Still bent on going?
20:20It is past nine, sir.
20:21Good night.
20:22Good night.
20:25Good night,
20:26Miss Eyre.
20:36I had no rest
20:37that night.
20:38I could not sleep
20:39for thinking
20:40of Mr. Rochester.
20:41His strange
20:42manner of speaking.
20:43The sad look
20:44that was in his eyes.
20:45His moodiness
20:46with others.
20:47His kindness
20:48to me.
20:49He had been
20:50at Thornfield
20:51six days now.
20:52Mrs. Fairfax
20:53said that
20:54he never stayed
20:55there more
20:56than a fortnight.
20:57In a few days
20:58he'd be gone again.
20:59He'd be gone
21:00and I'd be gone
21:01and I'd be gone
21:02and I'd be gone
21:03and I'd be gone
21:04and I'd be gone
21:05and I'd be gone
21:06and I'd be gone
21:27I lay there
21:28listening
21:33and it seemed
21:34as his fingers were groping their way along the panels in the dark gallery outside.
21:39Who is there?
21:42Who is it?
21:54Quickly I got out of bed.
21:55I hurried on my frock and shawl.
21:57With trembling hands I opened the door.
21:59The air was filled with smoke.
22:01There was a strong smell of burning.
22:03Mr. Rochester's door was ajar and smoke rushed from his room.
22:06I went in.
22:07The curtains were on fire.
22:08Wake!
22:09Wake, Mr. Rochester, wake!
22:12I suicided in his seat.
22:13I rushed to the basement pitcher.
22:16What is it?
22:17Is there a flood?
22:18No, sir, but there's been a fire.
22:20In the name of all the elves in Christendom, is that Jane Eyre?
22:24Are you done with me, witch?
22:26Sorceress.
22:27And this smoke.
22:30Who was in this room besides you?
22:34You plotted to drown me?
22:35I was at your candle, sir.
22:37Witch, I get my dry garments.
22:40Here they are.
22:41Here's my dressing gown.
22:42I run for candle, sir.
22:43Shall I call Mrs. Fairfax, sir?
22:44Fairfax?
22:45What use would you call her for?
22:46None at all.
22:49Look at me, Jane.
22:51Jane.
22:54Did you hear an odd laugh tonight?
22:59Have you heard that laugh before?
23:01Something like it?
23:02Yes, sir.
23:04I thought perhaps one of the servants.
23:05Just so, one of the servants, yes.
23:07That's it, you guessed it, Jane.
23:08I'm glad you're the only person acquainted with the precise details of tonight's accident, you untalking fool.
23:15Jane, say nothing about it.
23:19Return to your own room.
23:21I shall do very well on the sofa in the library for the rest of the night.
23:25Two hours, the servants will be up.
23:27Good night.
23:29Are you quitting me already in that way?
23:31But you have said I might go, sir.
23:32Oh, but not without taking leave.
23:36Not in that brief, dry fashion.
23:40Why, you saved my life.
23:43At least shake hands.
23:47Jane,
23:50you saved my life.
23:54I knew you'd do me some good in some way, sometimes.
23:56I'm glad.
23:58I'm glad I happen to be awake, sir.
24:00But you will go.
24:01I'm cold, sir.
24:02Cold, yes, and standing in a pool of water.
24:05Go then, Jane.
24:08Go.
24:30You are listening to the Campbell Playhouse presentation of Jane Eyre starring Madeline Carroll and Orson Welles.
24:48This is the Columbia Broadcasting System.
25:01This is Ernest Chapel, ladies and gentlemen, welcoming you back to the Campbell Playhouse.
25:18In a moment, we shall resume our presentation of Jane Eyre.
25:22But right now, there seems to be a little discussion going on.
25:25Let's listen and find out what it's all about.
25:27Yes, he's so fond of good soup.
25:29I make soup for him as often as I can.
25:32But I declare, what with three children in my house...
25:35Don't tell me you still make soup.
25:37Why, yes, don't you?
25:38My husband says...
25:39My dear, I haven't made a kettle of soup in, oh, ages.
25:42But you're such a good cook, Ethel.
25:43Why, I thought, as a matter of course, you made your own soup.
25:46No.
25:47One day, quite a while ago, I said to myself, I'm going to try one of Campbell's soups.
25:51Well, I tried one, and then I tried others, and we liked them so much that from that time on, I've served nothing else.
25:57Well, Harry and I decided it just didn't pay for me to bother making soup anymore.
26:01Just you serve two or three of your husband's favorite soups as Campbell's makes them,
26:05and see if you don't do the same as I did and give up making soup at home.
26:10And so it goes.
26:11As one good home cook tries Campbell's soups,
26:14sees how home-like they are in fine flavor and nourishment,
26:17notes how much your family likes them, and then tells a friend.
26:21Perhaps a friend has persuaded you to try Campbell's soups.
26:25Perhaps you're already enjoying at your house your favorites among these 21 fine soups.
26:31But if not, won't you try them?
26:33If you will, I'm almost sure you too will join with other good home cooks everywhere
26:39and turn your soup-making over to Campbell's.
26:43And now we resume our presentation of Jane Eyre, starring Orson Welles and Madeline Carroll.
26:50I did not see Mr. Rochester again for several weeks.
26:54He had left Thornfield Hall.
27:00And when he did finally come home, it was with a large company of very elegant guests.
27:05For days the house was filled with their maids and ballets.
27:09There was one lady in particular to whom my master, Mr. Rochester, seemed especially attentive.
27:16The Honorable Blanche Ingram. Lord Ingram's sister, she is.
27:21She's held the most beautiful girl in the county.
27:24She is beautiful.
27:26And this beautiful and accomplished young lady is not yet married?
27:31It appears not. The fact is she has no very large fortune.
27:35Oh, but Mrs. Fairfax, is there not some wealthy nobleman or rich man who has taken a fancy to her?
27:40Mr. Rochester, for instance. He is rich, is he not?
27:44Oh, yes. But you see, there is a considerable difference in age.
27:49Mr. Rochester is past 40.
27:52Miss Ingram is barely 20.
27:54But what of that? More unequal marriages are made every day.
27:57True. Yet I scarcely fancy Mr. Rochester would entertain an idea of that sort.
28:03Mr. Rochester is very talented and lively in society.
28:07The ladies are very fond of him.
28:10But I don't think he has any intention of marrying anybody.
28:17What's the matter with you, child?
28:20You've eaten nothing.
28:23You've scarcely tasted anything since you began to eat.
28:27What is it, Jane?
28:30What's happened to you?
28:40Oh, Jane.
28:54I soon had a chance to observe Miss Ingram myself.
28:58That evening, word came that Mr. Rochester wished to introduce my pupil, Adele, to the ladies in the drawing room after dinner.
29:05As they came in from the dining room, their dresses gleamed in the light.
29:10I rose and curtsied to them.
29:13One or two bent their heads in return.
29:16The others only stared at me.
29:20As soon as I could, I left quietly through the side door.
29:24In the passage, I noticed that the ribbon of my shoe was loose. I stooped to tie it.
29:28How do you do?
29:30Oh, I'm very well, sir.
29:33Jane, why did you not come over and speak to me in the drawing room?
29:37I did not wish to disturb you.
29:39What have you been doing during my absence?
29:41Nothing particular. Teaching Adele, as usual.
29:45I'm getting a good deal of pay.
29:48Return to the drawing room, Miss Eyre.
29:51You're deserting too early.
29:53I am tired, sir.
29:55And a little depressed.
29:59Tonight, I excuse you.
30:01Understand that as long as my visitors stay,
30:05I expect you to appear in the drawing room every evening.
30:09It's my wish.
30:11Don't neglect it.
30:13Who the devil is that at this time of the night?
30:15Shall I go and see, sir?
30:16Yes, Jane, I must return to my guests.
30:18I fear Miss Ingram will have marked my absence.
30:22Whoever it is, say I'll not see you.
30:24Yes, sir.
30:29Mr. Rochester! Mr. Rochester!
30:32Yes, Jane.
30:33What is it? You seem excited.
30:35It's a man to see you, sir. He wouldn't be put off.
30:37He said he'd wait for you. He went into the drawing room.
30:40The devil he did. Got his name?
30:42His name is Mason, sir, and he comes from the West Indies.
30:44From Jamaica, I think.
30:46Mason?
30:48West Indies?
30:52That what he said?
30:54Do you feel ill, sir?
30:59Jane!
31:02I've got to blow. I've got to blow.
31:04Oh, lean on me, sir.
31:05Jane, you offered me your shoulder once before.
31:11Let me have it now.
31:12Yes, sir. Yes, in my arms.
31:14Jane, if all the people in that drawing room came in the body and spat at me,
31:18what would you do, Jane?
31:20I'd turn them out of the room, sir, if I could.
31:22But if I were to go into them and they dropped off and left me one by one,
31:26what then?
31:29Would you go with them?
31:31I rather think not, sir.
31:33I should have more pleasure in staying with you.
31:36To comfort me?
31:38Yes, sir. To comfort you as well as I could.
31:43Go in the drawing room, Jane.
31:46But step quietly up to Mason and whisper in his ear that Mr. Rochester wishes to see him
31:52and bring him here and then leave me.
31:56Good night.
32:04Much later that night, I awoke and suddenly...
32:10Help! Help! Help! Help!
32:12We're all gone! Rochester! Rochester!
32:16Jane?
32:18Jane!
32:20Jane, get up. I need you.
32:22Jane, have you a sponge in your room?
32:24Yes, sir.
32:25Have you any salt?
32:26Yes.
32:27A pinch both.
32:29Jane, you won't turn sick at the sight of blood.
32:34I don't think I shall. I've never been tried yet.
32:36Let me see. Give me your hand.
32:40Warm and steady.
32:43You do.
32:48I followed Mr. Rochester to the floor above.
32:50He entered a large room and beyond that there was an open door.
32:54There was a light shining there.
32:56And from inside came a low sound, almost like a dog growling.
33:00In a chair in the center of the room was the form of a man, huddled and still.
33:03Rochester held a candle over it.
33:05I saw that it was the stranger Mason, the man that had called earlier that evening.
33:10His sleeve and his shirt on one side were soaked with blood.
33:13She's done for me. She's done for me.
33:15Soaked with blood, that's all.
33:17Sorry.
33:19Jane, hold the candle. What was this?
33:21She went at me with her teeth.
33:23She followed me like a dog when you took the knife from her.
33:26Put it on your guard.
33:27I didn't expect it. She looked so quiet at first.
33:30I warned you, Mason.
33:31I thought I could have done her some good.
33:33You thought. You thought, Mason.
33:35It makes me impatient to hear you.
33:37Get up.
33:38You must be out of the house before morning.
33:40Rochester.
33:41She sucked the blood. She said she'd drain my heart.
33:43Come on. Be silent.
33:45Don't mind her gibberish. Don't repeat it.
33:47I wish I could forget it.
33:48Oh, you will, Mason, when you're out of the country.
33:50Now, come on. I'll help you downstairs.
33:52There's a carriage waiting.
33:54When you get back to Spanish Town, you'll think of her as dead and buried.
33:59Do you think of her at all?
34:00Rochester.
34:01Let her be taken care of.
34:02Let her be treated as tenderly as me.
34:05Let...
34:06I do my best, Mason, and have done my best, and will do it.
34:10Never fear.
34:15Yet, what to God, there was an end to all this.
34:23The End
34:35A splendid midsummer shone over England.
34:45It was as if a band of Italian days had come from the south like a flock of glorious passenger birds
34:50and lighted to rest them on the cliffs of Algiers.
34:53The last of the visitors had long since gone away.
34:57A great con descended upon Thornfield Hall, and Mr. Rochester stayed on.
35:03Among the servants, the talk continued about his coming marriage to Miss Ingram.
35:07Yet I saw no preparations going on for such an event.
35:11I used to look at my master's face to see if it was sad or fierce.
35:16I could not forget that dreadful night.
35:18That strange, secret terror that seemed to hang over him.
35:23But I had never seen his face so clear of clouds or a feeling as it was in those weeks.
35:29Never had he called me more frequently to his presence.
35:32Never had he been kinder to me.
35:35And alas, never had I loved him so well.
35:46The End
35:58It was midsummer eve.
36:00I went down into the orchard, enticed there by the light of the rising moon.
36:05I heard a nightingale singing in the woods far away.
36:08The trees were laden with ripening fruit.
36:11Jane!
36:13Good evening, Jane.
36:16Thornfield's a pleasant place in the summer, isn't it?
36:19Yes, it is.
36:21You must have become to some degree attached to the house.
36:24Oh, I am attached to it indeed.
36:26And would be sorry to part with it.
36:27Yes.
36:28Pity.
36:30It's always the way of events in life.
36:33No sooner have you got settled in a pleasant resting place than a voice calls to you to rise and move on for the hour of repose has expired.
36:41Must I move on, sir? Must I leave Thornfield?
36:44I believe you must, Jane. I am sorry, Jane, but I believe indeed you must.
36:49Well, sir, I shall be ready when the order to march comes.
36:53Come now. Let's give it tonight.
36:55You're going to be married, sir?
36:56Exactly. Precisely.
36:58Your usual acuteness, you've hit the nail straight on the head.
37:02Soon, sir?
37:03Very soon. That means that you and your pupils...
37:07Look at me, Jane.
37:10You're not turning your head to look after more nightingales, are you?
37:17Adele must go to school and you, Miss Eyre, will get a new station.
37:20Yes, sir. I will advertise immediately.
37:22I've already, through my future mother-in-law, heard of a place that I think will suit.
37:25A place in Connacht, Ireland.
37:27It's a long way off, sir.
37:29From what, Jane?
37:30Oh, from England and from Thornfield and...
37:34Well?
37:36From you, sir.
37:39It is, to be sure.
37:42It is.
37:45We've been good friends, Jane, have we not?
37:49Now come, we'll sit here in peace tonight, though we should never more sit here together.
37:56Sometimes I have a queer feeling with regard to you, Jane.
38:01Especially when you are near to me, as now.
38:04It's as if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs,
38:07tightly and inextricably knotted to a similar string,
38:10situated on the corresponding corner of your little frame.
38:17And if that boisterous channel comes broad between us,
38:22I'm afraid that cord of communion will be snapped,
38:25and I've a nervous notion I should take to bleeding inwardly.
38:30As for you, you'd forget me.
38:31Oh, that I never should, sir, you know.
38:35I wish I'd never been born.
38:37I wish I'd never come to Thornfield.
38:39Because you're sorry to leave it?
38:40Because I have known you, Mr. Rochester.
38:42And it strikes me with terror and anguish.
38:44I absolutely must be torn from you forever.
38:47It's like looking at the necessity of death.
38:50Where do you see the necessity?
38:52Where you, sir, have placed it before me.
38:54In what shape?
38:55In the shape of your bride, Miss Ingram.
38:57My bride? What bride? I have no bride.
38:59But you will have.
39:00Yes, I will, I will.
39:01Then I must go. You have said it yourself.
39:03No, you must stay, I swear it, and the oath shall be kept.
39:05But I tell you I must go.
39:07Do you think I can stay to become nothing to you?
39:09Do you think because I am poor, obscure, plain and little,
39:12that I am soulless and heartless?
39:14I have as much soul as you and full as much heart.
39:17Jane, be still.
39:22Jane.
39:23Jane.
39:25I offer you my hand,
39:28my heart and a share of all my possessions.
39:31Don't mock me.
39:32I ask you to pass through life at my side, to be my wife.
39:37It's you only I intend to marry.
39:41Come, Jane.
39:43Come here.
39:44Your bride stands between us.
39:45My bride is here.
39:48What love would I have for Miss Ingram?
39:51None, and that you know.
39:53I would not, I could not marry her, you stranger.
39:58You're almost unearthly, Jane.
40:05I love you as my own flesh.
40:08Do you truly love me?
40:10Do you sincerely wish me to be your wife?
40:13I do, I swear it.
40:15Then, sir, I'll marry you.
40:18Come to me, Jane.
40:22Come to me entirely now.
40:25Make my happiness.
40:27I will make yours.
40:32God pardon me,
40:34but men,
40:37meddle not with me.
40:43I have earned our holder.
40:45I have earned our holder.
40:51Jane.
40:54Jane.
40:55Jane.
41:14I require and charge you both,
41:16you, Edward Rochester, and you, Jane Eyre,
41:18that if either of you know of any impediment
41:20why you should not lawfully be joined together in matrimony,
41:23we now confess it.
41:25Edward Rochester,
41:26wilt thou have this woman for thy wedded wife?
41:28This marriage cannot go on.
41:30Proceed to the service.
41:31An insuperable impediment to this marriage exists.
41:33I can prove it.
41:34What is the nature of the impediment?
41:36Existence of a previous marriage.
41:37Mr. Rochester has a wedded wife, now living.
41:39Can you prove that, sir?
41:40Of course, I have an affidavit.
41:42I affirm and can prove
41:43that Edward Rochester of Thornfield Hall,
41:45in the county of Yorkshire,
41:46was married on the 20th of October.
41:47That does not prove that my wife is still living.
41:49She is living.
41:50She is now living at Thornfield Hall.
41:51I saw her there last April.
41:52Who are you, sir?
41:53I am her brother.
41:54Gentlemen!
41:55Gentlemen!
41:57What this man here says is true.
42:00Bigamy is an ugly word,
42:01yet that is what I meant to be, a bigamist.
42:05I have been married,
42:06and the woman to whom I was married is alive.
42:10Will all of you say you never heard
42:12of a Mrs. Rochester in a house up yonder?
42:15I dare say you've often heard gossip
42:17about the mysterious lunatic kept under watch and ward.
42:21May I now inform you
42:22that she is my wife, Bertha Mason,
42:24whom I married 15 years ago
42:25in Spanish Town, Jamaica.
42:26Bertha Mason is insane.
42:27She came from an insane family,
42:28and they knew it when they let me marry her.
42:30You may see for yourself
42:31if you wish what sort of being
42:32I was cheated into marrying
42:33and judged whether or not
42:34I had a right to break the compact
42:35and seek happiness in this girl I love.
42:39Well, I say you,
42:42take the coach back to Thornfield
42:45and not be wanted today.
42:49Have a right about every one of you.
42:51Away with your congratulations
42:53and your sympathy.
42:55Who wants them?
42:58They're 15 years too late.
43:02Next morning at dawn,
43:20I made my possessions into a parcel,
43:22tied on my bonnet,
43:24pinned my shawl,
43:25took my slippers,
43:26which I had not put on yet,
43:28and stole from my room.
43:30For the last time,
43:31I passed Mr. Rochester's door
43:33and started silently down the dark stairs.
43:37Jane!
43:42Jane!
43:46Are you going, Jane?
43:48I am going, sir.
43:51You're leaving me?
43:52Yes.
43:53Jane?
43:56Jane, do you mean to go one way in the world
43:59and let me go another?
44:00I do.
44:01You will not stay, Jane?
44:05You will not be my comforter,
44:09my rescuer,
44:12my deep love,
44:13my tragic grief.
44:14There's nothing to you.
44:15I must go.
44:16Oh, Jane, this is wicked.
44:17It would be not...
44:19Jane, it won't be wicked to love me.
44:21It would be to obey you.
44:22Then you will not yield.
44:25Jane,
44:28you will not stay.
44:30No.
44:33God bless you, my dear master.
44:35God keep you from harm and wrong.
44:38Reward you well for your past kindness to me.
44:43Farewell.
44:44Oh, Jane.
44:45Farewell.
44:46Jane, my hope,
44:49my love,
44:54your life.
45:07Sadly, I made my way downstairs.
45:10Dawn glimmered in the yard.
45:13I set out across the field.
45:15My shoes were wet with dew.
45:18I thought of him now in his room,
45:20watching the sun rising,
45:22hoping I should soon come back and say I'd stay with him.
45:25I went on through the fields,
45:27stumbling blindly, not knowing where I was going.
45:38A year and a half went by.
45:40I took a position that was open in a school in the Midlands,
45:43as far as I could from Thornfield.
45:46But I thought of Mr. Rochester everywhere.
45:48I longed to know what had become of him.
45:51In the end, I wrote to Mrs. Fairfax and begged for news.
45:55Three months wore away.
45:57Day after day, the post arrived and brought nothing for me.
46:00Then one day, I could stand it no longer.
46:02I packed my things and took a stagecoach for the North.
46:05Three to six hours later, I was at Milford.
46:07Went on away today, ma'am.
46:10You see, we don't get many travelers here these days.
46:14You lose your way or something?
46:16I thought perhaps you could tell me.
46:19Is Mr. Rochester living at Thornfield Hall now?
46:21Why, the same, ma'am.
46:23You must be a proper stranger in these parts.
46:26Don't you know?
46:28Thornfield Hall's quite a ruin.
46:30Not a stone's standing.
46:33It was burnt down just about harvest time.
46:36Fire broke out in the dead of night.
46:39Before the engines arrived from Millcote,
46:41the building was one massive flame.
46:43The dead of night.
46:45Was it known how it started?
46:46Well, they guessed, ma'am.
46:48They guessed.
46:50Indeed, I'd say it was ascertained without a doubt.
46:54You see, there was a woman.
46:56Would you believe it?
46:58A lunatic kept in the house.
47:01And this woman turned out to be Mr. Rochester's wife.
47:05It all came to light in a strange way.
47:09Yes, it did.
47:10There was a young lady came to live at the hall.
47:13A governess.
47:14But the fire, was Mr. Rochester at home when the fire broke out?
47:17Oh, yes, indeed he was.
47:19He went up to the attic.
47:21All was burnt above and below.
47:23And got the servants out of their beds and helped them down himself.
47:27And then he went back to get his mad wife out of her cell.
47:31We called to him.
47:32She was on the roof.
47:33And we heard him call her name.
47:35We swam approach her and...
47:37And then, ma'am, she yelled and gave a spring.
47:41And the next minute she lay smashed on the pavement.
47:44Dead?
47:45Yes.
47:46Dead as the stones on which her brain and blood was scattered.
47:50Oh.
47:52But is he alive?
47:54Oh, yes.
47:55Yes, Mr. Rochester's alive.
47:58But many think he better be dead.
48:00Why? Where is he? Is he in England?
48:02Aye. Aye.
48:03He's in England.
48:05He can't get out of England.
48:08Yes, I fancy he's a fixture now.
48:11He's stone blind.
48:14Yes, he's stone blind, Mr. Rochester.
48:29I found him in a small manor house nearby.
48:33With two of the old servants from Thornfield looking after him.
48:37The parlor looked gloomy.
48:39A neglected handful of fire burnt low in the grave.
48:42And leaning over it with his head supported against the high, old-fashioned mantelpiece,
48:47stood Mr. Rochester.
48:50Is that you, Mrs. Fairfax?
48:54Down, father. Down.
48:57Hello.
49:01Is you, Mrs. Fairfax? Is it not?
49:03Mrs. Fairfax is in the kitchen.
49:04Who is this?
49:08Who is this?
49:11Answer me.
49:14Speak again.
49:16Will you have a little tea?
49:17Who is it? Who speaks?
49:19Your dog knows me, and John and Mrs. Fairfax know I'm here.
49:22I came only this evening.
49:24My God, illusions come over me. What sweet madness has seized me.
49:26Where are you? Are you only a voice?
49:28I can't see, but I must feel, or my heart will stop and my brain burst.
49:35Very fingers.
49:38Her small, slight fingers.
49:42There must be more of her. Is it Jane?
49:45This is her shape. This is her size.
49:47And it's her voice. She's all here. Her heart, too.
49:51God bless you, sir. I'm glad to be so near you again.
49:55Jane Eyre.
50:09Jane Eyre.
50:17I have now been married ten years.
50:20I know what it is to live entirely for and with what I love best on earth.
50:25Edward Rochester continued blind the first two years of our marriage.
50:29Then one morning, as I was writing a letter for him to his dictation, he came and bent over me.
50:34Jane. Jane.
50:38Have you a glittering ornament around your neck?
50:41Yes.
50:45And Jane, are you wearing a pale blue dress?
50:51Yes.
50:55Later, when our firstborn was put into his arms,
51:00he could see that the boy had inherited his own eyes as they once were.
51:05Laughing, brilliant, and black.
51:29Jane Eyre.
51:45You have been listening to the Campbell Playhouse presentation of Jane Eyre,
51:49starring Orson Welles and Madeline Carroll.
51:52Mr. Welles and our guest will be back with us in just a moment.
51:55Meanwhile, you may have noticed earlier in our program that in speaking of Campbell's chicken soup,
52:01I referred to it as homey.
52:04Now, that's exactly what it is, old fashioned and homey.
52:09But while at home it's often made from leftover chicken,
52:13Campbell's use all the choice meat of selected plump chickens in making their chicken soup.
52:19With this one advantage, they follow closely the old home way of making chicken soup.
52:24They simmer the broth long and slowly until it's rich with chicken flavor.
52:29And then they measure in snow white rice and add tempting pieces of chicken meat
52:33to lend the final authentic home-like touch.
52:37Now, isn't that the kind of old fashioned chicken soup that would appeal to the appetites at your house?
52:42I really believe it is.
52:44And so I say again, just as sure as you like chicken,
52:48you like Campbell's chicken soup.
52:52Have it tomorrow, won't you?
52:55And now, here is Orson Welles.
52:57Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, no introduction is necessary.
53:00Jane Eyre, as ever was.
53:03Played for you by one of your favorite actresses and one of our favorite guests,
53:07Miss Madeline Carroll.
53:08Thank you, Orson. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.
53:10Miss Carroll, ladies and gentlemen, seems fated on this program to play young women
53:14who have a hard time with their men.
53:17When you were with us last, Madeline, in the Garden of Allah,
53:20you were not, as I remember, the happiest of girls in your romantic life.
53:24No. And last year in The Green Goddess, as the victim of the villainous Raja Rook,
53:28I wasn't entirely at ease either.
53:30I'd forgotten about that. I'm sorry about the Raja.
53:32But I don't mind the tortures you put me through, Orson.
53:35It's so wonderful to be loved that much.
53:37Maybe I don't know much about women, Madeline,
53:40but don't you think it would be nice to be loved not quite so much
53:43and to be tortured just a little less?
53:46Orson, you're right. You don't know much about women.
53:48I suppose. But I do know that you've just given us one of the loveliest performances
53:52we've ever had on the Campbell Playhouse.
53:54We're very happy you've been able to be with us again tonight.
53:58Good night, Madeline, and thanks again.
54:01Miss Carroll, of course, ladies and gentlemen, was Jane Eyre.
54:05And you will recognize the great name of the theater
54:08as you very possibly recognized a voice
54:11when I tell you that Mrs. Fairfax was played by none other than Cecilia Loftus.
54:18Mr. Brocklehurst was Robert Coote.
54:20George Koulouris was the innkeeper.
54:22Edgar Berrier was the priest.
54:24The young Jane Eyre was Sir Rita Wooten.
54:27Rochester was your obedient servant.
54:29Music for the Campbell Playhouse was arranged into a large measure composed
54:32and, as always, conducted by Bernard Herman.
54:35Ladies and gentlemen, with tonight's broadcast,
54:38we are concluding our winter series of Campbell Playhouse presentations.
54:42Our sponsors, the makers of Campbell Soups,
54:45have asked me to express publicly their appreciation
54:48to Orson Welles for his splendid services
54:51as the producer and star of the Playhouse
54:53and to you, our listeners, for your interest in our broadcasts
54:57and your patronage.
54:59Mr. Welles, Campbells are happy to have presented the Playhouse
55:02with you as its producer for the past two years.
55:05The success of the Campbell Playhouse has been your success.
55:09As listeners, our sponsors have asked me to tell you
55:12how much they've enjoyed your shows
55:14and that each succeeding Sunday evening has confirmed
55:17their high regard for you as producer and star.
55:21And as sponsors, they've enjoyed, too, the happy association with you.
55:25Thank you, Ernest Chappell.
55:28I'd like to tell you, ladies and gentlemen,
55:30that my sponsors are very nice sponsors indeed,
55:34which is understating the situation.
55:38I have enjoyed the opportunity afforded me
55:41on the Campbell Playhouse as producer,
55:44as dramatist, and as actor more than I can tell you.
55:48This series of broadcasts has been
55:51a genuinely happy experience for me.
55:54It's a very pleasant relationship indeed.
55:58I'd like now to thank all of those who contributed
56:01so generously of their time and talent
56:04in assisting me.
56:06Actors with whom you are familiar by this time,
56:09fine actors like George Koulouris,
56:12our own Mercury Group, Ray Collins, Edgar Beria,
56:15Everett Sloan, Agnes Moorhead, Frank Riddick,
56:18a lot more I just haven't had time to mention.
56:22Besides these, the people behind the scenes
56:24about whom you know little or nothing,
56:26Don McBain, our wonderful engineer,
56:28Tracy, our production man,
56:30best in the business, Harry Essman,
56:32the wizard of the sound effects department,
56:34all the assistance to all these people.
56:37These are the Campbell Playhouse.
56:40Believe me, they're all wonderful.
56:43Now, ladies and gentlemen, permit me to remind you
56:45that all of us on the Campbell Playhouse,
56:47my sponsors, the makers of Campbell Soups,
56:51everybody else on this program remain,
56:54as always, obediently yours.
56:57© BF-WATCH TV 2021
57:28If you have enjoyed these Campbell Playhouse presentations,
57:32won't you tell your grocer so tomorrow
57:34when you order Campbell's Chicken Soup?
57:37And may I also remind you that Campbell Soups
57:39are broadcasting many radio shows
57:41each week for your enjoyment.
57:43Tomorrow morning, for example,
57:44you may listen to Campbell's short, short story.
57:47Also, life begins, the story of Martha Webster.
57:51Tomorrow evening, as usual,
57:52you may enjoy Amos and Andy,
57:54and here is news.
57:56Immediately following Amos and Andy tomorrow night,
57:58and four nights a week thereafter,
58:01you may hear Lanny Ross singing your favorite songs.
58:04All these programs come to you
58:06from the makers of Campbell Soups.
58:09This is Ernest Chappell saying thank you and good night.
58:24© BF-WATCH TV 2021
58:40This is the Columbia Broadcasting System.
58:54© BF-WATCH TV 2021