Welcome to Choice Classic Radio, where we bring to you the greatest old-time radio shows.Like us on Facebook, subscribe to us on YouTube, and thank you for donating at choiceclassicradio.com.
Lux presents Hollywood. The Lux Radio Theater brings you Charles Boyer, Paulette Gonnard, and Susan Hayward in Hold Back the Dawn.Ladies and gentlemen, your producer, Mr. Cecil B. DeMille.Greetings from Hollywood, ladies and gentlemen.
There's glamour in the air tonight.Our stage is ablaze with it.And out beyond our footlights, as far as radio can reach, A hushed audience waits to hear Charles Boyer, Paulette Goddard, and Susan Hayward in the Lux Radio Theater.
Somehow all this seems to be a symbol of a way of life that has turned the eyes of the world to this promised land.
Only a few hours from here, along the common boundary of this country and its sister republic, Mexico, is a colony of people without a country.Men and women from the four corners of the earth.
waiting their turns to cross the border into the United States.There you can find more stories of success and failure, of tragedy and comedy, of love and hate, than fiction can tell in a lifetime.
And there, Paramount found the subject for the current screen success, Hold Back the Dawn.You'll hear it tonight with two of its original stars, Charles Boyer and Paulette Goddard.And with them, the gifted and charming Susan Hayward.
In the theater, it's an old custom for the producer to peek out front and count the house.Well, I couldn't do that in the Lux Radio Theater, even if my eyes were as sharp as my granddaughter's.
But I have an idea that tonight's plays and stars have drawn a full house all the way from Hollywood to Broadway.And as one showman to another, I'll congratulate Lux Toilet Soap for making an evening like this possible.And just for the record,
If you haven't tried our product yet, that's something you owe to yourself, not to us.Lux Toilet Soap is its own best salesman.
And after it's sold itself to you on its own merits, then just think of the Lux Radio Theatre as an extra dividend that you get every Monday night.And now it's dividend time.
So we raise the curtain on the first act of Hold Back the Dawn, starring Charles Boyer as George, Paulette Goddard as Anita, and Susan Hayward as Emmy.
Perhaps the best way to begin our story is to tell you how it came to be made as a motion picture.One day about a year ago, a visitor walked into the Paramount studio here in Hollywood.
He had no visitor's pass, but he managed to attach himself to a group of sightseers who were touring the lot.The man wanted very badly to speak to a certain director, who, for the purposes of our story, we'll say was myself.
I was shooting that day on stage four.And sometime during the morning, I became conscious of this man standing quietly at my side.He was still there when we broke for lunch.All right, cut.Print the last two.Break for lunch, back in one hour.
One hour, everybody.One hour.
Dorothy, leave my script.I want to look it over.
I beg your pardon.May I speak to you?What's that?If I can have just a minute.I'm very pressed for time.
We met in Nice, remember?At the Perroquet?
Oh, hello.Well, I hate to presume on that chance meeting, but I need $500.You need what?I must have it.This is not charity.For that money, I have something to sell.
Oh, I see.Well, in the front office, we've got a story department, and we've also got a lot of stories.
No, no, you haven't got this one.Listen, please.I'm not a writer.I assure you, I would not tell you this story if I didn't need the money.
All right, all right.But some other time.
No, it must be now, before the federal police take me.Federal police?
What do they want you for?
Well, that's part of the story.Please, I have so little time.
Well, all right, let's hear it.Sit down.
Oh, thank you.Of course, I cannot use the real name of the others.You will understand that.My own name is Giorgi Scovescu.I was born in Romania, but I have spent most of my life in Paris, in the Riviera, in Samoritz.
My papers give my occupation as dancer, which is correct in a general way.Oh, it was an easy life.If you had a deep voice and knew how to look at a woman.But the war came. People who had money made for America.
But you need a visa to go to America, unfortunately.And for certain reasons, it was wiser for me to try to get in more discreetly.So I went to Mexico, to a little town that straddles the border to California.
There is a wire fence there, or you can see right through it into the United States.Yes, the wire fence.Don't let them tell you it's only 12 feet high.It's a thousand miles high.Some people try to climb it.It's no use.
They catch you when you get on the other side.The main street is called the Calle Ruiz.There was an American consulate, of course, where you could apply for a visa.It was the first place I went.
Sit down, Mr. Vasco. I see from your questionnaire that you wish to enter the United States permanently.Yes, sir.That will require a quota number.Do you know what a quota is?No.
Every year, the United States permits the entrance of about 150,000 immigrants.That number is proportioned among the various European countries.You were born in Bucharest, so you come under the Romanian quota.Yes, sir.
The Romanian quota is very small and very crowded.Oh, that means I'll have to wait?How long?From five to eight years. Five to eight years.
Five to eight years, like a prison sentence.The local hotel was called the Esperanza.The rate was a dollar a day, but you'd better take your room by the year if you could get one.They were all taken, crammed with people, waiting, waiting.
And so I began my sentence.I was still there five months later, on the 4th of July. There were a great many American cars on the calle Ruiz that day, all celebrating with firecrackers.I noticed a car by the curb, filled with young boys.
It had a sign painted on it.School bus, Azusa, California.When I reached the car, one of them leaned out and threw a firecracker at my feet.
Who did that?I said, who did that?
It was me, Miss Brown.You mean it was I. I'm not very proud of you, Tony.Apologize to the gentleman.
Thank you very much, madam, but it is not necessary.
No, no, please don't go.The boy must apologize.It's a matter of discipline.
You see, your form of humor, I don't appreciate.
Well, you know what American boys are like.All year long, they stir up mischief for the Fourth of July.
I see.Well, I think it would be preferable if they let off their high spirits in America, under the feet of Americans.
No, don't.Let's get into international complications.
See, there's a fence back there.You Americans make a very definite point of it.
I gather you don't like us very much.
Oh, I see.Shall I apologize now, Miss Brown?Don't you dare to.Come on, children.
So I turn from the street.
and went into the Café Climax, a filthy little bar where I spent my days and nights.It was there that I met Anita.Oh, I hadn't seen her for years.She came up behind me as I sat there and spoke over my shoulder.
And now we present the dance sensation of the Riviera, Georges and Anita.Anita! Stop staring, George.It's me, all right.
I saw the back of your head.It's different than the back of any other head.
Need a haircut?Idiot that I am.The sight of you is still like touching a high-tension wire.After all these years.After that last goodbye of ours.
Yes, casino at Cannes.An abrupt goodbye, if I remember.
Very.You slapped my face twice. I can still feel it.
Ah, you behave like a fool, Anita.We had a good run of luck.You had that rich baron, the one with the glass eye.I had Mrs. Sweeney.Ha!
Well, there were platinum cigarette cases in that soup.You had to step in and spoil everything.
I simply said, listen, Mrs. Rich Soup, just because you've got money and... Well, maybe it wasn't the right way to talk to a customer.
It's good to see you, just the same.What are you doing here, Anita?
Down for the day from Los Angeles with some people. those drunks at that table.It's not the same Anita, Georges.
It's not the same Georges.
You do look a little frayed.You're living here?
Hotel Esperanza.I served a little time there.
Oh, that's right.You're Australian.
How long for your quarter?
Whatever it was, I didn't wait that long.
Meet Mrs. Shaughnessy, George.I married an American.And what?And simple.If you're married to an American, you get preference.Your papers go to Washington, and in four weeks, everything is settled.
You mean... You become an American citizen in four weeks?
No, but they let you into the country.Three years before you become a citizen.
Anita!Where are you, Anita?
No.Shaughnessy was a jockey from Caliente.Five foot three.Once over the border, I went to a judge.I said, a woman wants a man, not a radiator cap.Divorce granted.Fifty dollars.
I haven't been very smart since, George.I'm on the bargain counter now.
Let him wait.George, all these years with all the others, I've shut my eyes and thought of you.I want to keep them open once again.
Hey, what goes on?Who is this guy?
It's all right, my great big bull.Come along.
That guy's bothering you.
Come on, my torero.Come on.
I sat there, thinking over what Anita had said.You just marry an American.
As easy as that.Get hold of a wedding ring, and you could swing right over that fence.Just get a shave, get into a good suit of clothes.Why not?My intentions were entirely honorable.Object?Patrimony.I met many women that day, American women.
But all they wanted was a few hours of fun.When you go serious, they fluttered away. So I was depressed that evening, but on my way back to the hotel, I saw the school bus, you know, the one from Azusa, California.
It was stuck in the middle of the road.
Now, children, please go and sit down over there.You, mechanic, can't you give me any idea how long it will take to fix my car?
I still must have dry El Generador soon.Soon?
You said it would be done by three o'clock.The motor was flooded.We have to dry.All right, but please hurry.
Yes.I know you don't like us, but I promise we'll get back over that border as soon as we can.
Oh, no, no, please.I feel very badly for you.
How do you think I feel? Sitting all day here in front of this awful filling station.Children are as cross as two sticks.
Are any of them your children?
No.I'm a school teacher, and I'm responsible for them.Oh, they'll be in a perfect tizzy about us back home.
Well, of course.Their parents, and maybe your husband?
But if we're not back by nine o'clock, Mr. McAdams, the principal, will think we're dead in a ditch.
Well, while you're waiting for the car, why not telephone and tell him you're all right?
They said there was no telephone.
Oh, yes, there is one at the hotel.
Across the street.May I show you?
Will you?Oh, thank you, mister.
This way, Miss Brown. So we went across to my hotel, Miss Brown and I. But before I left, before I left the car, I managed to get rid of one of the parts the mechanic had laid out on the street.I pushed it into a drain.
So when we came into the lobby, I was afraid for a moment that the clerk behind the desk would ask me about my bills.
No, no, no, not just now, Flores.
We want to telephone.What is the number, Miss Brown?
Azusa, California, 30991.That's not cheap.
Long distance.Flores, please, go into booth and ask for the number.
That firecracker this morning.Maybe I should be grateful to your pupil now.
Perhaps I would never have seen you.
No, thank you.The school board doesn't approve and... Well, to tell you the truth, I... I don't like them much.
Miss Brown, May I... May I ask you something?
Would you take off your hat, please?
Yes, your hat.I want to see you without it.
Doesn't the school board approve?
I don't think there are any regulations about it.There.Well?
That's amazing.Your name is not Margot?
She had the same hair.Only, it was always must by the wind. that winter in St.Moritz.
Who are you talking about?
You thought I was bitter, Miss Brown, when you first spoke to me on the street.It was because I saw another woman in your face, Margot.No, of course, those are not her eyes.Hers were bad.
Eyes that seemed to be saying beautiful things, and every word they spoke, a lie.I knew it and I loved her.I had to come here, to the end of the earth, to know that I really hated her.That I had always hated her.
No, just look at me, Miss Brown.Keep looking at me.Oh, it's like... like a sudden breeze on a stifling day.
Azusa, 30991 is on the telephone.Oh, thank you.
Hello?Who is it?Oh, yes, Mr. McAdams, yes.I called to say we had an accident. Don't get excited.It wasn't really an accident.Yes, we'll be back as soon as we can, Mr. McAdams.Yes, Mr. McAdams.Yes, I'll look out for drunken drivers, Mr. McAdams.
Yes.I do appreciate your taking so much trouble.Thank you very much.
The car must be ready by now.
Oh, I want to pay for that car.
No, no, please, Miss Brown.I am in your debt.But there is no way I can pay you for the loveliness of these few minutes. I thank you, Miss Brown.May I kiss your hand?
Oh, you're the strangest man.
Oh, perhaps the loneliest man.
Go back!Let go!Let go!I show you!Miss Brown!Miss Brown!You little flea!Miss Brown!
Tony, what's the meaning of this?
He kicked me in the leg.Tony, why did you do such a thing?Because he twisted my arm.Why did you twist his arm?
Because he stole the gadget.
I did not.I didn't touch it.What is this about a gadget?
The gadget, the generator.
On our car?See, it was there.I drive it.Is it important?She won't run without it.Oh, children, this is serious. Did any of you take it?
Of course it's impossible.Perhaps we could find another car.
Thank you, but I couldn't leave the bus behind.It's school property.
All right, Miss Brown.Flores.Si?We're having guests tonight.
Who's having guests?Oh, no.I mean, we can't stay all night here.Of course you can.
Oh, that one little room next to yours?Yes.It's gone.I rented it this afternoon.
All right, we'll find something else.
I will not let the children out of my sight.Not for a single second.
Of course you won't.You and the children can all sleep here in the lobby.There are enough couches and armchairs.Flores, get blankets and pillows, will you?
But who is going to pay for all this?
Anita, what are you doing in my room?
The door was unlocked.I just dropped in to borrow a cup of sugar.
I thought you were with some people.
Who cares?I've taken the room next door.
I've been thinking about you all day, the way you always held me away from you when we danced.Those eyes of yours, you cold, selfish, you... Didn't you ever love anybody in your life?
I want you to go, darling. George, please.This is the wrong time, Anita.
George, if we were in the States together, we're a team.There's still good seasons in New York and Florida.Oh, I'll get you across the border somehow.I know a lawyer.Maybe he can fix it.
I don't need a lawyer now.
I'll scrape together some money, George.I'll give you anything, anything you want.
This ring on your finger.
What do you want that for?
Well, I can use a wedding ring.Thank you, Anita. Miss Brown had a hard time going to sleep that night.Her heart was beating fast, and her neat, tidy senses were all thrown out of gear.She found a kind of half-sleep at last.
Then, about five o'clock in the morning, she stirred.Oh, I know, because I was sitting beside her when she opened her eyes.You'll wake the children.
What are you doing here?You have no right to be here.
Of course, I have no right.No right to sit watching your face, learning it like a poem.No right to tell you that... that I love you very much.
You must go away, right now.Please!
Oh, you needn't be afraid, Miss Brown.You see, we're like... like two trains, halted for a moment at the same station, but we are going in different directions.We can't change our course any more than we can hold back the dawn.See?
It's going light already. Soon the children there will be waking up, the shops will open, and you will be gone forever.
It is getting light, isn't it?You'd better go.
Oh, you needn't be afraid, Miss Brown.Not of a dead man.I am dead, you see.I've asked myself thousands of times why they shouldn't bury me.Perhaps I know now.Perhaps, perhaps it was to see the sunrise once more.
To hear enchantment in a woman's voice?To feel her nearness?The warmth of her lips?
Of course, no.You needn't be afraid.It's like a classroom here, isn't it? The pupils and their teacher.Rules of departments, schedules and discipline.You are very conscientious, Miss Brown.No infringement of the regulations for you.
No rebellions, no violent desires.Oh, if you found one in your sober little mind, you would tell it to go stand in the corner, wouldn't you, Miss Brown?
Not for you, the sudden flash that lights up your whole life.
One split second to snatch at happiness before it's dark again.
Oh, it's not this case I want. It is all your kisses.It's all your life.Look at your hand, Miss Brown.Your left hand.I... I... Yes, yes.It's a wedding ring, Miss Brown.I put it on your hand as you slept.It was my mother's.You see?
You see how wild a dream can be?But you are wise and sane and cool.
Oh, you needn't be afraid. Goodbye, Miss Brown.
About your being lonesome.Other people are lonesome.So lonesome, they almost give up waiting.
Mr. McAdams always said I was crazy, but I knew all the time, deep down in my heart, that someday, somebody, somewhere, even though Azusa was at the end of the world, I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come.I knew.
And so the trap was set.We were married that morning.She never had a chance, little Miss Brown.
In just a moment, Mr. DeMille and our stars, Charles Boyer, Paulette Goddard, and Susan Hayward, will bring us Act Two of Hold Back the Dawn.And now, while we're waiting, let's do a little imaginary wiretapping.
Mrs. Martin is telephoning her groceries.
And a dozen oranges, two bunches of carrots, and then I want some soap.Yes, of course, Lux soap.Three cakes.Will you send my order over right away, please?I'm going out in a minute.
Well, it sounds as if Mrs. Martin is a busy young housewife, and you'll notice that she's pretty clever, too.She's just as particular about the soap that touches her precious complexion as she is about ordering the right kind of food for her family.
She's one of the many young women who have taken Hollywood's tip on beauty care.
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Mr. DeMille continues with Act II of Hold Back the Dawn, starring Charles Boyer as George, Paulette Goddard as Anita, and Susan Hayward as Emmy, with Edgar Barrier as Hammock.
There was something compelling about that man's story, something that drew me far away from the deserted soundstage and carried me to his world below the Mexican border.I listened to him and I watched his eyes.
They were desperate, entreating, and at times full of contempt for himself.
We had to get the Mexican judge out of bed to marry us.The license was six dollars, but it seemed a sound investment. The ceremony was brief, the office drab and sordid, but, to Amy Brown, being there was like standing at an altar in a cathedral.
The town was just waking when we walked back to the hotel.She clung to my arm like a child, her eyes shining with happiness.
And I always expected to be married in the Margaret Martin Memorial Church in Azusa.
I never dreamed of anything so beautiful and exciting as this.Oh, my, they'll be surprised back home.Mrs. George Iscovescu.Or is it Fisco?
I don't even know what you are.Rich man, poor man, beggar man.Oh.
At the thought of the family when we arrive in the school bus.
Oh.You and the children and I. Unfortunately, I won't be able to go with you right away, my dear. No.
No, not for another four weeks or so.
Well, you see, I'm a foreigner.I have to wait for my visa.
Four weeks?You mean you'll stay here and I... Can't you come down?How can I?We're all tied up with summer classes.I'm terribly busy.
Well, it's only four weeks.
Well, maybe it's better.I'll have a chance to break it to them gently.Georges, I'll write to you every day.
I'll be waiting for your letters every day.
You won't be so lonesome now.Promise?
I won't either.I'll have this, your wedding ring.George, take it a minute.
But... Please.Now, now will you put it on my finger and say the words?
For richer, for poorer, for better, for worse, with this ring I thee wed.
For richer, for poorer, for better, for worse, with this ring I thee wed.
George, I'll never take it off.Never.
Department. of immigration.
Oh, George, this is priceless.
What are you laughing at?
Oh, these letters she writes to you.She really must be something.
Did she send her birth certificate?
Yes, right here.And here's the blank paper she signed for the petition.
Well, I'd better get that to her.
And don't forget to send her birth certificate. Emily Agnes Cecilia Brown.And so young.Well, her letter certainly show it.How did you like the paragraph about her eyes?
Oh, listen.There's one thing I didn't tell you, beloved.You said you liked my eyes.Well, you might as well know, George, that when I read a long time of correct papers, I have to wear my glasses.
Listen to this part.Mother is fixing up the spare room for us.The scrap of chintz in this letter is what she's going to have for curtains if you like it. Well, how would you like this stuff for curtains, George?It's all rosebuds, dear George!
My wife grows dearer to me every day.She leaves me alone, doesn't she?I write her a few letters, throw in a telephone call, and once I cross the border... We'll be on our way to New York.Uh-huh.Put a short stop in Azusa.Half an hour.
Long enough to tell her of a love that was too great to last.A mistake that was too lovely not to have been made.
That she was too good and you too low.
Half an hour on it, huh?She'll brush up like a drop of rain.
Anita had a superstition.She said a letter to Washington needed a drop of champagne for good luck.Or maybe she just liked champagne.We went to the cafe downstairs and ordered a cheap drink.
And it'll be champagne all the way.
Well, I hope it will be a better vintage.
It will be.Only the very rich will get a crack at George and Anita.Will be very expensive, I'm afraid.
Or they can rate us off on their income tax.
You'll make a wonderful deduction.
And you.Hello, Mrs. Shaughnessy.
You remember me, Mrs. Shaughnessy?
Of course.George, this is Mr. Hammett, Mr. Escovesco.
How are you?How do you do?
Mr. Hammock is from Washington, from the immigration department.
Oh, yes?Kind of a surprise to see you down this side of the fence, Mrs. Shaughnessy.A gal that could hardly wait to hug every stripe and kiss every star, all 48 of them.
How long are you staying this time, Mr. Hammock?
Oh, two or three days, just making sure the old gate is still here.How's your husband, Mrs. Shaughnessy?
I, uh, I don't know, Mr. Hammock.We're divorced since a year.
No, not really.You mean it's gone... that beautiful love match?
Oh, sure, sure.Only once he got you across the border, you found you didn't like the shape of his nose.If you're suggesting... Oh, I'm not saying anything, Mrs. Shaughnessy.You made the grade.In is in.
Only there's been an awful epidemic of marrying up and down the border.The department has a new theme song.Is it love or is it immigration?
Well, I don't quite know what's being talked about.Well, we won't bother you with it.
Did you see the bullfights, Mr. Hammock?That's why I came down.
The two of you?No, no.I live here.
We were old friends in Europe.
I have a message for you.
Oh, will you excuse me, Mr. Hammock?
Oh, sure.Well, Mrs. Shaughnessy, it certainly is a surprise.
She's in a room at the hotel she said.What?Yes.
Ask her to wait there for me.
Tell her not to leave.I'll be there as soon as I can.
Well, I wasn't expecting you.
I know.Oh, look, George, our wedding cake.I brought it all the way from Azusa.Isn't it wonderful?
Yes, you should have told me you were coming.
I wanted to surprise you.Oh, Mr. McAdams was so nice.He's gotten a substitute teacher from Riverside.He gave me a week off and said I could use the car.Isn't that lovely?A honeymoon for a wedding present.
Oh, and this, this, this is from my mother to you.My father's watch. The den is where I cut my teeth on it.Here, Georges, it's yours.
And this is for you, too.I mean, for us to start out with.
I saved it up for a postgraduate course at Teacher's College for high school work.I won't have time to take a course now.
Oh, no, I don't want any money from you.
It's ours, Georges, please.Community property.It's the law in California.Please take it.
Thank you, Georges. Oh, it was just like a madhouse at home.Nobody could believe it, and the questions they asked.And you ought to hear how they pronounce our name.Whiskey, whiskey, and itsky bitsky.
Did you see what the kids put on the back of the school bus?
Come here to the window.See?A sign.Good luck, Mr. and Mrs. Iscovescu.Everybody laughed at me all the way down here.
You shouldn't have parked in front of the hotel.
Well, it's... It's against police regulations.You better give me the keys.I'll move it into the alley.
All right, George.They're right here.
Thank you.I won't be long.
Josh, I almost died when I saw that sign.I was just coming out of the cafe with Hammock.
No, I got rid of him.What's she doing down here?
Nice week to pick with Hammock around.Well, you'll have to send her back before he starts asking questions.
I can't answer any questions.
Oh, you can.For instance, why you didn't mention you were married to an American.And all of that happened a little fast, didn't it?And isn't it a little unusual for a bridegroom to sit in a bar with Mrs. Shaughnessy?
Mrs. Shaughnessy, who also happened to have married an American to ease herself over the border?
Oh, shut up! Where can I take her?
Oh, any place, but get her away from here.Take her south.Keep her there until her week's up.
All right, all right.Here.Here's the letter for Washington.Mail it for me.And here's some money.
Never mind.Take it.I offer you $180.Pay him.Get the things out of pawn and anything you need.
Well, it's like old times.Good luck, George.
So, I got Emmy away from the hotel that afternoon.I thought I would take her to Ensenada, a matter of 50 miles.But in the night and the storm, I must have taken a wrong turn.A turn away from the road I had been following all my life.
We drove all night, and when the sun came up, we seemed to be approaching a little village.There was a crowd of people, all walking or riding in one direction.An ox cart was blocking the road in front of us.
What's the matter, George?
This isn't Sunday.Where are they going?
It's their patron saint's day.They're having some kind of a celebration.
What saint is it, George?
Well, whoever is the saint of brides and bridegrooms.
Uh-huh.They're being blessed in the village.
That's the dearest thing I ever heard.
All this time, not telling me where we were going.You're wonderful, Georges.
That afternoon, we had our marriage, placed in the little church in the village.Amy, kneeling by my side, her eyes glowing with delight.After the ceremony, we went outside in the garden. There was a foolish legend about an olive tree there.
If the married couple shook it, however many olives fell, they would have that many children.There were three that fell as we stood there.
This one is Joshua, after my father.And this one is Helen, because that's what I wish I was named.I hate Emmy.And this one? What was your father's name, George?
Gregor Escovescu, then.Mother's so foolish.She thought we should change our name to Ingersoll or at least Ives.I said, nonsense.This is America.
It's for the Rockefellers and the Joneses, for the McGonigals and the Frankfurters and the Jeffersons and the Slavinskis.You see, you see, George, it's like a lake, clear and fresh.It'll never get stagnant while new streams are flowing in.
Well, your people are building pretty high dams to stop those streams.
Just to keep out the scum, don't you see, Georges?In Azusa, when they learned I'd married a foreigner, there was exactly one person who said something nasty about you.Mrs. Beglo.
She said, I suppose he's just one of those foreigners coming with empty hands to grab as much from America as he can.Mr. McAdams put her in her place.He said, I suppose your great-great-grandmother was Pocahontas, Mrs. Beglo. Funny?
She's really just jealous.You see, her husband ran away after she'd been married only a week.Oh, you'll like Azusa, George.
There are wonderful opportunities.It's an up-and-coming little place.The fastest-growing town between Los Angeles and San Bardew.People going and coming, building and making and selling.Why do you think we call it Azusa?
Everything from A to Z in the USA.
Well, I suppose I could sell quantities of brushes with this accent of mine.
Oh, I don't worry about you.Except for one thing.
She leaned toward me then and kissed me.In that hot July afternoon, it was like, like kissing fresh snow. I could feel her hand tremble on my shoulder.
Of course there was no hotel in the village, but we had the car and we had planned to sleep in the back.It was a clear night, stabbed with great stars.She was humming an American tune, perhaps so I wouldn't hear her heart beat.Mine was beating too.
I thought of the day I was to tell her it was all over.The day I was to cast her overboard because she couldn't fit in with my plans.Wasn't that enough?I had no right to involve her.I wanted her to be still Miss Brown when I left her.
That's why I did the trick about my shoulder.See, I was out of the car putting the suitcases in the back.
George, what is it?Are you hurt?I'm afraid of... Oh, George, you're hurt.
No, that's just my shoulder. I've thrown it out.Oh, it's happened before.
Let's get your coat off.No, no, no.
Don't touch it, please.No, it's just a nerve that twisted over.
We'll put a compress on it.
Oh, no, no, no.I can't move it to take off my coat.Now, let me sit here with my arm up like this.
George, if we drove someplace and found a doctor, he'd... Oh, no.
Not over these roads.No, it'll straighten itself out.Just go to sleep, will you, Amy?
If it hurts too much, wake me up.Promise.
All right, I promise.Now go to sleep.
Yes, dear.Oh, I'm so sorry.I'm so sorry, Georges.
We pause now for station identification.This is the Columbia Broadcasting System. After a brief intermission, Mr. DeMille and our stars, Charles Boyer, Paulette Goddard and Susan Hayward, will bring us Act 3 of Hold Back the Dawn.
We want to take these few moments to show you that romance always tags a girl with a lovely complexion.Here are three examples.
I am a fellow in high school, and I have a girl, and she is the one girl for me.Her skin is so smooth that it dazzles your eyes.Honest, she's gorgeous to see.
I'm a young man with romance in my heart, and I don't insist on perfection.But thee, girl, must have one thing, not money, not brains, a lovely, alluring complexion.I've been married ten years, but it seems like a day.I have such a beautiful wife.
She's got a complexion like peaches and cream.In short, she's the pride of my life.
See? Ah, loveliness has a wonderful effect.Why, everyone... Well, what I really want to say is, everyone falls for a beautiful complexion.Isn't it so?
And here in Hollywood, the owners of some of the world's most famous complexions tell you of an easy care that can help to keep your skin at its very best.Soft and lovely.It's just this.Use Luxe toilet soap.
Every night, pat the creamy, active lather into your skin. You'll love the gentle, caressing feel of it.Rinse with warm water, then a dash of cool, and pat dry with a soft towel.
This mild, pure soap, you'll find, leaves skin feeling smooth and flower-fresh.It's Hollywood's favorite beauty care, and yet it's actually thrifty to use.Its tremendous popularity means a low price for each fragrant white cake.
Try it, and the first time you do, you'll see why Luxe Toilet Soap is the soap nine out of ten screen stars like to use for their lovely, smooth complexions.From that time on, Luxe Toilet Soap will be the beauty soap for you.
The curtain rises as Mr. DeMille continues with Hold Back the Dawn.
It was a strange story the man told me and I noticed that every once in a while he would stop and glance quickly over his shoulder as if afraid of being interrupted then reassured he would begin again.
We traveled around for Almost a week, Amy and I. Amy kept talking about the United States, about Paulderdam, and how her brother had gone to school with a very famous man by the name of Jody Maggio, and what the word swell means.
That is exactly what she was.Swell.At last, we returned to the border, to the Hotel Esperanza.
Oh, that was the shortest hundred miles.We couldn't drive around the block, could we?Just once?
You couldn't make a mistake and think it is tomorrow that you're due back in Azusa?
No.Tonight, July 13th, parent-teachers meeting, auditorium, 8 o'clock.
Oh, it sounds very dull.Don't go.
I have to, Georges.Mr. McAdams would be savage.
Well, we'd better leave your suitcase in the car, then.Get the rest.Come on.
Georges, you don't suppose that if I went to the American authorities and talked to them, they'd let you come with me?
Three more weeks, I mean.Regulations.
I could ask them how they'd like to be without their wives for three weeks.
I've seen their wives.They like it very much.
Oh, good morning, Flores.Let Mrs. Escovescu in her room, will you?Run upstairs, Amy.While you pack, I'll have them fill up the car.
All right, I'll only be a little while.This way, senora.
George!Oh, I thought you'd never come.I've been dying here day after day, looking down the street, watching for that car of yours.Look at these telegrams!
Oh, no, good news!Two offers.The Casanova in New York, or the Savoy in Chicago.Of course, we're taking New York.They're both for the 1st of October.
Well, not the 1st of October.
Oh, we can make it easily.Out of here in three weeks, there's plenty of time in New York to brush up on the old tango.
Yes, but I'm not going right on to New York.
Oh, of course, the stopover in Azusa.Well, that'll be half an hour, you said.
Well, it will be, however long it takes.
But we had it all so simple.She was too good, you were too low.
I'll do it my own way.Do you mind?
How, the slow way?Why do you have to take all the... You like the girl?
Yes.I like her enough not to give her a sudden kick.Not to slap her face in front of her whole little town. I like her enough to do it all with a little style.Ha!All right!I like her enough not to behave like a swine for once in my life.
That will do.You've got enough money to get you back to New York.I'll find you there when I'm ready.
Thanks.And you just stand right in the middle of Times Square and whistle.
Who is it?Mrs. Escovesco?Yes.Do you mind if I come in?Why?No. I'm Anita.I don't think George has told me about you, or did he?No, he didn't.I see you're packing.Yes, I have to get back this evening.Good.
Only before you go, there's something of mine I want you to give me back.Of yours?Yes, my wedding ring.Why, what would I be doing with your wedding ring?You're wearing it.You see, I loaned it to George.This? It belonged to his mother.
Oh, isn't he wonderful?The way he knows how to pluck at a heart string.You see, I gave him the whole idea.What idea?About the marriage.And let's give him credit.His execution was brilliant.He sees you, cuts off your retreat.What?
You remember the 4th of July. Why did you stay overnight?My car broke down.A part was lost.He kicked it down a drain to keep you here.All he needed was a few hours.He married me.He married you to pass that gate.
For the same reason that I married my little American and with the same ring.Oh, don't stare at me.Take a look at the engraving inside.To toots for keeps.Just slip it off.No. Maybe you should know a little more about the history of Georges Escovescu.
Get out, please.Please.The first time I heard about Georges was in Ostend.Lady Whitwood and her daughter had both tried to turn on the gas because of him, and there were others... Did you hear me?Get out.Oh, I know what you're thinking.
This woman's a tramp, and she's in love with him. Well, I am a tramp, and I am in love with him.For ten years I've loved him, just as you love him.Only there's this difference.I'm his sort.We belong together.
And you... well, you think you're a teacher.You're a schoolgirl that's learned life out of a schoolbook.Now get away.Get in that car and don't turn back, and if you know it... Yes?
You're wanted in the lobby.
Who is? Mrs. Escovesco, who answered?Mr. Hammack, who?Listen, he's from the immigration department.He's going to ask you a lot of questions.Don't go.Don't see him.I'll be right down, Flores.
Take my bag, please.You can't give him away.What for?It won't do you any good.I learned life from a school book.Remember?Get out of my way.No, listen.Don't go down there.
I had you all figured out, Mr. Escovesco, the first day I saw you.But if you have any questions, I would be glad to answer them.It's your wife I want to hear from.You just keep quiet.Understand?
That's right.I'll handle this.Right over here, Mrs. Iscodescu.Take a chair, will you?
Now, I want it understood I have no right to bother you with any questions.It's just if we think an American might be getting a dirty deal, we try to... I'll answer any question.Good, good.
Now, how long had you known Mr. Iscodescu when you married him?
Had you any idea he was waiting to get into the country?
And that he might have married you to turn the trick?
Now, if you'll take the trouble and start scraping the varnish off Mr. Escovesco, an awful lot of interesting things come to light.
For instance... For instance, the way that he made his living.That he was involved with a lot of women.
And one particular lady right here in this hotel.
Listen, Mrs. Escovesco, anybody can see the setup with half an eye.He asked you to marry him for the express purpose... You're making one mistake.
All right, he got you to ask. Now look here, with this evidence, you can get an annulment.It's a cinch.That'll slam the door right in his face.
How do you like that, George?No, thank you, Mr. Hammock.It's very sweet of you, but you see, there's nothing wrong.He told me everything.You people always see plots and traps.It's a fine marriage, and we love each other very much.
Well, I'll be the dog gone to... Hmm?Maybe I'm just dumb.Sorry, lady.
Well, I've always been full of words, you know.Big ones, smooth ones, fancy ones.Just one more word.Thanks.
No.You see, I come from a small town.We don't have fine hotels.
We eat in the drugstore, but we leave a tip just the same. I don't feel I was too generous for these seven days.Only perhaps when I met you, I... I shouldn't have been so vain.I should have worn my glasses.
Perhaps I would have seen you then, the way I see you now.Goodbye.
She left me then, and I stood looking after her as she got into the car. That night, I walked the streets, seeing her face in front of me, and the hurt in her eyes that I had put there.
And then, suddenly, do you believe in premonition?When a black wave breaks over you, and you know something terrible is going to happen? Well, I had a premonition then.
In my ears was the screeching of brakes, of tires taking a wild curl.Before my eyes was her foot on the gas pedal, pressing it down.I saw her!I saw her in that car!Faster!
Hello?Hello?I can't hear you. Si.Si.I will tell Senor Esquevescu as soon as he... Si.
Dios santo.Flores, is it bad?Si.
On a straight, empty road.No one knows how.She rolled over three times.She's in the hospital in Los Angeles.Be careful.He's here.George.
What's happened?Something has happened.
I know it.I feel it.There was an accident, wasn't there?
They took her to General Hospital in Los Angeles.
I'll... I'll take your car, Flores.
No, they won't let you across the border.You have no papers.
Give me the keys, Flores.Here, senor.
What do you want to do?Crash that border?They'll catch you and they'll never let you in again.Never!
I won't let you!All you wanted was a chance to get to the States legally.Well, you've got it!Listen to me, you idiot!They'll catch you!You haven't got a chance!George, please!
So I drove across the border.That was last night.Through the gate, without stopping.Oh, I knew they would come after me, but I didn't care.It was five o'clock this morning that I got to the hospital.
And it wasn't until I climbed those steps that I was really afraid.Yes, afraid it was too late and nothing left that I could do.
Are you Mr. Escovesco?Yes.I'm John McAdams.Oh, how is she?Unconscious.We're very much afraid.The steering wheel was crushed against her. There's no fight left in her.Can I... Can I go in?Yes, of course.The doctor's there.
Amy?Amy?She doesn't hear you.Amy?It is George.Have come. I'm here.Amy.Wait.Wait, she... Go on talking to her.Keep talking.She doesn't know me.She must know you.Her pulse quickened just then.It's stronger.Talk to her, please.
Amy, breathe.Try.Please.Try hard.That's right.Again.
Now again.It's all right, Amy.Amy, breathe.
I don't know how long I sat there, but I must have said it a million times.Breathe, breathe.And then this afternoon, she seemed to grow stronger.The doctor sent me out of the room.Mr. McCarrams was with me.
The doctor said she's going to get well.Yes.I thought she'd smiled once.Did she? Mr. Escovescu, I don't know if she ever told you, but for a while I had some hopes about Emmy.She couldn't quite make up her mind between me and Teachers College.
She was saving up for a postgraduate course.Oh, yes.Yes, I know.Then you came along, and we were both out.Teachers College and I. Yes, that's right.She had saved $500.What are you looking at?
Oh, at your city down there. That's Hollywood out that way.Hollywood?Where they make pictures.Yes.Oh, yes, of course.
Well, that was this afternoon.When Mr. McCadams said Hollywood, I remembered you, a director in moving pictures. And that's why I came to you.You see, there were $500 missing to square the account.
And I had some vague hope that, well, you know, perhaps if you liked my story, you would give it to me.
I... I think that can be arranged.But what are you going to do now?You can't stay here.What about Hammock?
Yes, what about it?Come on, Mr. Rye.You've given us quite a chase through every operating room in Hollywood.Come on.
No, please, wait. The story I've told you, if they can use it, of course the money goes to her.Here is her real name and address on this paper.I trust your discretion.
Where are you taking him?To jail?
And have him eat off the government for a couple of months?Oh, no.I'm dumping him right back where he came from, across the border.On our way, Mr. Wright.
Well, that's the story, as Georges Escovescu told it to me almost a year ago.But the real ending happened a few weeks after that, down there in that border town where Georges Escovescu sat one afternoon in a little park. Writing letter after letter.
Hi, Mr. I. Oh, hello, Mr. Hammock.Writing to somebody?Well, I come here every day and write letters to Azusa, to the council, to Washington, to you.But you see, I never mail them.They go by air mail, on the wind, like this one, see?
Good way to save postage.Who was that one for, the one you just threw away?Oh, that's not a letter.It's an advertisement.Slightly reformed character, eager for some decent work. any place on the globe where they will have him.
Yeah.In reply to your ad, we herewith inform you that we have made an opening for you right in that border.What?A certain immigration inspector neglected to report a certain incident.
And there's no use shooting off your mouth about it once you're in there.
In the United States.There's somebody at the gate with all your papers.I don't understand.Aren't you the husband of an American wife?Go on.Don't keep her waiting.
George, George, here I am.
Oh, darling, everything's all right.They're going to let you in.
Oh, let me see you, Amy.Let me look at you.
Here are your papers, George.But you'll have to stay put for a little while in Azusa.
It is in the United States, isn't it?Oh, it sounds very wonderful, Amy. And you will be there, won't you?
Your applause gives proper salute to three fine performances.And now Charles Boyet, Paulette Goddard and Susan Hayward return to the footlights.
Thank you very much, CB.I think you should join us in this curtain call.That performance as the famous director Cecil B. DeMille was very convincing.
I told Mitchell Lyson, who directed the picture, that I hoped I'd play his part as well as he did.
I just wish that I'd been your director for five minutes.You sound very bitter, Paulette.Well, you're in Reap the Wild Wind too, Susan, and you'll remember that scene where I get spanked by Ray Milan.
Well, you have to expect plenty of, shall I say, action in the mill pictures.
Yes, but he didn't have to keep shouting, make it more realistic, Ray.Why, everyone else on the set thought it was a wonderful scene, Paulette.
Nobody ever loves the director.Don't ever become one, Charles.
Well, never having been spanked at your command, CB, I don't bear to grudge that Paulette does.
Well, if I can't direct Mr. DeMille, perhaps I can give the women in our audience a little direction, or rather, a suggestion.It's on the subject of complexion care, and two words will cover it.Lux soap.
There can't be any argument there, Paulette.I've used lux soap for a long time, and I know that anyone who tries it will be just as enthusiastic as we are.
and anyone who looks at either of you will run, not walk, to the nearest Luxor counter.
What is the play next week, Simeon?
Well, Charles, I imagine everyone remembers the famous play and picture, Merton of the Movies.That's our play for next week, but the big news is the stars we've cast.Next Monday night, our own special Merton of the Movies will be Mickey Rooney.
and starring with him, Judy Garland.So I hope you can all join us to hear Mickey and Judy in this entertaining story of the young man who wanted to be a motion picture star.
Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland in a story about Hollywood?Well, here is something I want to hear, see me?Good night.
Good night, everybody.Thank you.Good night.
I think the whole company deserves a medal tonight. Our sponsors, the makers of Lux Toilet Soap, join me in inviting you to be with us again next Monday night when the Lux Radio Theater presents Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland in Merton of the Movies.
This is Cecil B. DeMille saying goodnight to you from Hollywood. Today, America's oldest fighting force celebrates its 166th birthday.The United States Marine Corps was founded on November 10th, 1775, and so we extend our congratulations now.
As always, the Marines have landed and the situation is well in hand.Charles Boyer will soon be seen in the Universal Picture Appointment for Love.Paulette Goddard and Susan Hayward were heard through the courtesy of Paramount.
Miss Goddard appears in Nothing But the Truth, and Miss Hayward will soon be seen in Cecil B. DeMille's Technicolor production, Reap the Wild Wind.The picture, Hold Back the Dawn, was produced by Arthur Hornblow and based on a story by Kitty Frings.
Heard in tonight's play were Edgar Berrier as Hammock, Tony Martelli as Flores, and Fred McKay as McAdams.Tune in next Monday to hear Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland in Merton of the Movies.
Our music has been directed by Lewis Silvers, and your announcer has been Melville Royk. This is the Columbia Broadcasting System.
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