Columbia Workshop Mary and the Fairy Date: Aug 31 1941

CAST:
NARRATOR, objective, never patronizing or satirical
ANNOUNCER
MARY, working class young woman; sympathetic, but not smart or sexy
THE FAIRY, working class older woman; half fatigue, half ennui
AD, in the newspaper (1 line)
LETTER, from company president; energetic (1 line)
RONALD, bored movie star
REGGIE, Hollywood male
BUNNY, Hollywood female
PRINCE, Rumanian accent
WAITER (2 lines)

NOTE:
This is the uncut script, but with transcripts of the 1941 broadcast's opening and closing announcements appended. Some additional material from the broadcast is in brackets.

MUSIC: PIANO GLISS ... THEN BEHIND-- NARRATOR: (SINGS OPERATICALLY) This is a story about a very, very good girl named of all things Mary And how her great virtue was rewarded by an exceptionally good fairy And the beginning of our story is laid in the town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania And why I'm singing this in recitative I will explain-ia! MUSIC: PIANO GLISS ... THEN BEHIND NARRATOR-- NARRATOR: This recitative is just to attract your ear, so's you'll put down what you're doing and listen to this story instead of continuing to do what you were doing. Any old program could open with this kind of an announcement-- MUSIC: OUT FOR-- ANNOUNCER: From Hollywood tonight, the Columbia Workshop presents Elsa Lanchester as Mary and Ruth Gordon as an exceptionally good fairy in "Mary and the Fairy," a new fable for radio written and directed by Norman Corwin as Program No. 17 in the cycle "Twenty-Six by Corwin." NARRATOR: As I say any old program could open with that kind of an announcement. But this isn't any old program. NARRATOR: This is the story of Mary Pooter, a good girl who worked at the perfume counter in a five-and-ten-cent store and took to heart everything she read and everything she saw and everything she heard. Consequently she was worried about what four out of every five have, and coffee nerves, and pink toothbrush, and dry skin, and telltale signs, and she was afraid of offending, and of what might happen if she didn't insist on the name. Also she was careful to eat things that were extra good and whose crispy, tangy deliciousness and wholesome mellowness gave one added pep and overcame that tired feeling. One morning while she was reading the paper on her way to work, she found on page four, between a trunk murder in column two and a kidnaping in column four, the following ad: AD: Be smart! Eat Crinkly-Crunkly bread! The national food! Kiddies fight for it! Men love it! With new added vitamins A, B1, and D, Nature's own all-out campaign to build sturdy bodies and strong nerves. INSIST ON CRINKLY-CRUNKLY! NARRATOR: Even while she was reading it, Mary made a mental note to insist on Crinkly-Crunkly when she got home from work that night, but what really absorbed her and started this story was the announcement of the Crinkly-Crunkly contest at the very bottom of the advertisement. MARY: (READING) How would you like Five Wishes granted absolutely free of charge by Crinkly-Crunkly's Own Good Fairy? Enter the Crinkly-Crunkly contest today! Send in twenty-five wrappers of Crinkly-Crunkly's delicious wholesome Scotch-bran bread with a letter of exactly fifty words explaining why you like it. The contest is open to all persons except employees of the Crinkly-Crunkly Vitamin-Rich National Food Baking Company, Incorporated. NARRATOR: Mary believed implicitly in this announcement, and it was well that she did, as every word of it was true. Crinkly-Crunkly stood behind its trademark, for it was an old established company--since 1881--and it would never have had the crust to try to fool the public. Well, anyway, when Mary got home tired from work that night she bought twenty-five loaves of Crinkly-Crunkly and made a neat pile of the wrappers.... SOUND: of the wrappers being opened. MARY: ....twenty-two...twenty-three...[Oh, dear, I smell like a bake shop...]twenty-four... (WITH FINALITY) Twenty-five! NARRATOR: And then she sat down and composed a letter of exactly fifty words, which took her exactly four hours and eleven minutes. SOUND: Typewriter going. It stops; paper unrolls from carriage. MARY: There! (READING) C stands for Creamy Richness, R for Rare Deliciousness, I for Ideal, N for Nature's Favorite, K for Kiddies, who love it, L for Lusciousness, Y for Yumminess. C-r-i-n-k-l-y! Put them together and they spell Crinkly! But that's only half of it. For full quality, I always insist on Crinkly-Crunkly. (THEN SHE COUNTS AD LIB AND CHECKS THE NUMBER OF WORDS. IT COMES TO EXACTLY FIFTY.) NARRATOR: And Mary sent the entry off; and to her great surprise, four days later she received a registered letter. LETTER: Miss Mary Pooter 1674 Maple Street Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. My dear Miss Pooter-- Congratulations! Your letter has won the Good Fairy contest for this week. As the makers of Nature's own all-out bread, we are privileged to inform you that the Crinkly-Crunkly Good Fairy will call on you next Wednesday evening at eight o'clock, and will be ready and eager to grant you five wishes. We hope that you will make good use of your wishes and enjoy them to the fullest. Thanking you for your loyalty to our product, and again congratulating you for your splendid original letter, we are pleased to remain [...Yours very cordially, Buddington Hulick, President, BH--AB, Form 32, UOPWA Local 62.] GWP--AB Form 32 UOPWA Local 62 Yours very cordially, GEORGE W. PFLAUM, President MARY: (EXCITEDLY) Oh, dear! Now what? I've gone and won the Good Fairy contest! The Good Fairy is going to visit me! NARRATOR: And so the Good Fairy called upon Mary by prearrangement.... SOUND: Eight bells; then doorbell. MARY (DITHEREDLY) Why, that must be the Good Fairy now! And very punctual. SOUND: Steps to door; door opens. FAIRY: Does Mary Pooter live here? MARY: Yes, I'm Mary Pooter. FAIRY: I'm the Good Fairy from the Crinkly-Crunkly Bread Company. MARY: I was expecting you. (A NERVOUS TITTER) Won't you come right in? FAIRY: Thank you. SOUND: [Door closes.] They walk--only one pair of footsteps, since fairies do not leave footprints. MARY: (APOLOGETICALLY, AS THEY WALK) This place isn't very attractive, I know, but I'm getting a new slipcover for the sofa next week. Uh--won't you sit down? FAIRY: Thank you. (LIKE AN INSURANCE SALESMAN CLOSING A DEAL) Now, Miss Pooter, if you will sign these papers we can get started immediately on your wishes. SOUND: of paper under "these papers." FAIRY: I have to be out of here by nine, because I have three more calls to make in this district tonight. MARY: Oh. Where do I sign them? FAIRY: Right on the bottom where it says X....Now this one is a company quitclaim in case by any chance you should wish to get into some kind of accident. So's the company will not be held responsible. MARY: I see. FAIRY: And this one is a report I have to turn in to the head of my department to show I was here. MARY: Oh, yes. FAIRY: And this is the last one--giving us the right to use your name among the indorsers of C.C.R.B. MARY: C.C.R.B.? FAIRY: Crinkly-Crunkly Raisin Bread, a new product to be added to the line effective September fifteenth. MARY: Oh, yes, I see....Heaven's sakes, I feel so important, signing all these papers. FAIRY: Thank you very much. Now, Miss Pooter, will you kindly state your [first] wish. MARY (SLIGHTLY EMBARRASSED) Well, I--I don't exactly know how to say it, but I--well ... FAIRY: Are you embarrassed about something? MARY: Yes, ma'am. FAIRY: But why should you be embarrassed? MARY: Because--well--you see, you don't look much like a real fairy to me. FAIRY: What did you expect I'd look like? MARY: Well, I thought you'd at least have wings--kind of shiny-like?--and you'd be dressed all in white, and have a magic wand or something. FAIRY: But I do have wings and a wand. MARY: You do? FAIRY: Here, let me take off my wrap. I always fold my wings back under my wrap, or I'd be too conspicuous. There ... see? MARY: Oh, how nice! They're very pretty. Like dragon-fly wings. May I touch one, please? FAIRY: Well ... yes, but don't stroke it against the grain. MARY: Oh, my, it's beautiful. They're shorter than I would have thought. FAIRY: That's because I'm an amphibian fairy. I don't fly much. MARY: Amphibian? FAIRY: Yes; and here's my magic wand. I have to keep it in a case with a zipper ... SOUND: of zipper under "with a zipper." FAIRY: ... because it gets dusty and loses its ultra-short-wave powers. When you make a wish I tap you with it on the forehead. MARY: (ADMIRINGLY) It's like a baton, isn't it? FAIRY: Yes. And now I'm afraid we'd better get on with your wishes, because my time is short. What's your first wish? MARY: Well, you see--I--er--well, ma'am, I come from a poor family, and we-- FAIRY: Sorry, but in money matters we have a maximum fortune agreement with the Federal government by which we don't grant wishes for fortunes in excess of twenty-five dollars, because of the obvious inflationary results if we permitted every contest winner to become a millionaire. MARY: Well, that's all right--I was just going to wish for some of the things I had to miss because I had to quit high school in the second year to work in an office. FAIRY: You mean you want a high school diploma? MARY: No--I'd like to sound more educated, that's all. You know--to be able to talk about plays and books and culture and all things like that, and not be a--well, a wallflower, and the kind of a girl that men--that men forget. FAIRY: I see. Well, I'm very sorry, but we can't grant any complex wishes. Only one thing at a time. Now--do you want to know all about plays? MARY: No--not exactly. I just want to talk better. FAIRY: Speak better? MARY: Yes ... rhythmic-like, instead of ... the way I do. FAIRY: Do you want to put that in the form of a motion? MARY: No, I think I have enough emotion, all right, but the trouble with me is-- FAIRY: Repeat after me: I do hereby move the Good Fairy-- MARY: I do hereby move the Good Fairy-- FAIRY: To grant me several wishes-- MARY: To grant me several wishes-- FAIRY: The first being-- MARY: The first being-- FAIRY: To make my speech more rhythmic. MARY: To make my speech more rhythmic. FAIRY: (WITH A BIG SENSE OF RITUAL) Now I do touch thee, Mary Pooter, with my magic wand! MARY: (A LITTLE GIGGLE) FAIRY: Now speak. MARY: I don't feel any different. FAIRY: No tingling about the lips? MARY: No, ma'am, I don't feel a thing. FAIRY: Apparently it didn't take. I'll try it again, a little harder this time. (GIVING MORE) Now I do touch thee, Mary Pooter, with my magic wand! SOUND: A slight slapping sound. FAIRY: Feel anything now? MARY: No, I don't feel a bit different. Oh, dear me, do you suppose I'm unwishy? FAIRY: No, it just takes a little work sometimes to get magic through people's heads. I'll try it again. (NOW IN A TOWERING VOICE) NOW I DO TOUCH THEE, Mary Pooter, WITH MY MAGIC WAND! SOUND: A real good clonk. FAIRY: Now speak. MARY: (TITTERING) I have the funniest feeling . . . As though I were going up through the ceiling! (SURPRISED) Oooh ... I made a rhyme! FAIRY: Well, then, it's worked. That's your rhythmic speech. From now on-- MARY: (VERY RAPIDLY) I'm pretty giddy. What a pity I'm not witty Like a city Slicker, Then I'd get a man quicker. FAIRY: Well ... you'll improve as you go along. Now that takes care of wish number one. Have you thought about your other wishes? MARY: Oooh my, the way I rhyme! Will I talk like this all the time? FAIRY: If you want to, dear. Now what's your second wish? MARY: Do you know what I wish? I suppose I'm stupid, But I've always had a secret belief in--Cupid. I don't suppose it could ever be done-- But could I go out with _any_one? FAIRY: Oh, yes, that's quite feasible. Did you have somebody special in mind? MARY: Yes. There's an actor in the movies I adore. His name is Ronald W. DeVore. The dream of my life is to have a date with him And (GIGGLING) to stay up very late with him. FAIRY: I can see that I won't get through here tonight. All right, I'll grant this wish, but for the others you'll have to be here every Wednesday night at eight o'clock sharp, so's I can return and grant you the balance. I have a schedule to stick to. MARY: That's all right. Wednesday night. FAIRY: Now I do touch thee, Mary Pooter, with my wand! SOUND: Bong. CAST: (Ad libs, faded in with music.) MUSIC: As of plush Hollywood bistro; it could be Ciro's. NOTE: Mary is excited down to her toenails by everything around her, mainly Ronald DeVore. RONALD: (BORED THROUGH) Well--are you having a good time, Mary? MARY: Oh, it's wonderful, like a bee-yoo-ti-ful dream. Just think, horse-doovers and cream, And champagne, and all things like that. (MAKING A JOKE) You'd better watch out or you'll get fat! RONALD: (ARCHLY) Er--Mary--have you always gone around reciting poems like that? MARY: Oh, no, I should say not, to the con_trary_; This is something given me by my Good Fairy. RONALD: (THIS IS THE LAST STRAW) Your good fairy! MARY: Oh, yes. Ain't this patty-de-foy-grass swell? You know, Mr. DeVore, (INSINUATINGLY) I can cook very well! MUSIC: [RESTAURANT ORCHESTRA FINISHES DURING ABOVE, TO POLITE APPLAUSE] REGGIE: (one of the background voices, advancing as some friends catch sight of Ronald) Oh, hello, Ronny! BUNNY: Why, Ronny, fancy seeing you [here]! RONALD: (EMBARRASSED) Hello, Bunny. Hello, Reggie. Er--this is Miss Moore --Reginald Meringue --Mary Pooter. MARY: How do you do, Miss Moore, I'm sure. REGGIE: Is he taking good care of you, Miss Pooter? Ronny's quite a cad, you know. MARY: Even if he's a cad I don't think he's so bad. BUNNY: Uh--are you in the greeting-card line, Miss Pooter? MARY: Oh, no, I handle the perfume counter on the basement floor Of the Punxsutawney five-and-ten-cent store. The girls there aren't so bad when you get to know 'em.... REGGIE: (LAUGHING) Mind if we join you? RONALD: (Begins to protest, ["Ah, no, Reggie, I'd prefer--"] but over this:) MARY: Oh, please sit right down and make yourself t'hoem. RONALD: [Oh, thank you very much.] BUNNY: Miss Pooter, have you been in Hollywood very long? MARY: No, no. Not very long.] BUNNY: (Begins to ad lib, asking Mary how she likes Hollywood, etc. Over this we hear:) REGGIE: (SOTTO VOCE) Where did you pick up this hothouse turnip? RONALD: [(MISERABLE)] Oh, I didn't pick her up; she was wished on me. MARY: (alas, she has heard!--mortally wounded, and with a sweep of dishes) I heard that! I heard what you said! Oh, dear! I can tell that you don't want me here! RONALD: Now wait a minute, Mary-- MARY: Oh, no! It's very plain to see That you're just (CRYING NOW) making fun of me! OTHERS: (Ad libs of protest, fading under:) SOUND: Eight bells, signaling the return of the Fairy. FAIRY: Yes, I know, Mary, but I can't guarantee the behavior of any wish once it's granted. I'm only a fairy, not a police force. MARY: (STILL SNIFFLING) Just because I'm not a glamour girl or a movie queen he made fun of me. I suppose if I'd of had ermine wraps and satin pumps or something-- FAIRY: Of course your rhythmic speech didn't help much, did it? MARY: No, it certainly didn't. FAIRY: I wouldn't feel too bad about Ronald DeVore if I were you. He's a ham anyway. Personally I've always preferred Robert Taylor. MARY: Oh, he's nice! FAIRY: (WISTFULLY) I once hovered over Tyrone Power when he was making a personal appearance in Pittsburgh. MARY: He's got such nice broad shoulders. FAIRY: I wouldn't mind getting my wings around him....Ah, well--now what was your next wish, Mary? MARY: Well, I've been thinking. If I could only be accomplished, like those girls who take singing and dancing lessons, then I could become a success and go far. Then men like Ronald DeVore wouldn't snub me, but they'd be at my feet! FAIRY: What in particular do you want to be accomplished in? If it's on the Crinkly-Crunkly premium list, I can grant it. MARY: Well, I've been told--at parties, and places like that--that I've got a very good singing voice. FAIRY: (VERY DUBIOUSLY) You have? MARY: I would like to be a singer and sing. FAIRY: That can be done all right. MARY: But I want to be a great success and be applauded for encores--if you don't mind. FAIRY: I don't mind. MARY: But does that use up another wish? FAIRY: Oh, no. I think we can throw that in. MARY: Oh, that would be lovely! FAIRY: Very well, then. Now I do touch thee, Mary Pooter, with my magic wand! SOUND: Bong. MUSIC: A high-powered operatic recitative by orchestra and small chorus, at the peak of which Mary comes in singing very simply and naively: MARY: The farmer in the dell, The farmer in the dell, Heigh-ho, the merri-o, The farmer in the dell. MUSIC: The chorus and orchestra move in for another rococo flourish, and Mary comes back with a second verse, wherein the farmer takes a wife; and the scene ends in a tumult of cheers. This cross-fades to: SOUND: Eight bells. FAIRY: So that was more to your taste, was it? MARY: I was a great success, I must admit. But the trouble is, now it's all over. FAIRY: Well, that's all you wished for, wasn't it? MARY: Yes ... there's something to that. FAIRY: What is your next wish? MARY: Well, I ... (A LITTLE ASHAMED) I suppose you'll think I'm silly and romantic, but--I would like to spend a--an evening with a prince. A foreign prince. FAIRY: Mmm. Umm. That's a hard one. You see, the State Department made us promise that we wouldn't grant any overseas wishes because of passport technicalities. But let me see now--uh--do you mind if it's a foreign prince in America? MARY: Oh, no, that would be even better, because then I wouldn't have to learn to speak any foreign language, would I? FAIRY: No. (ANXIOUS TO GET ON WITH IT) Let's go, then. Now I do touch thee, Mary Pooter, with my wand! SOUND: Bong. MUSIC: A schmaltzy Rumanian combination, playing a good five-cent tzigarnya. This holds behind most of the scene. MARY: [(TRYING VERY HARD TO SOUND SOPHISTICATED)] It is truly divine, don't you think so, Prince? PRINCE: Are you referring to the leg of lamb or the music? MARY: To all these beautiful exotic things with which we are surrounded--the sweet music and the flowers and the incense and everything.... PRINCE: Ah, my little Maritchka, you are the most beautiful girl in the western hemisphere--you are like an exquisitely fragrant fleur-de-foo. MARY: Oh--you're a flatterer! PRINCE: No, no--how can one flatter the orchid? Uh--you will have some more fine Rumanian slitch to drink, no? (UP) Waiter! Herr Oberst! Garçon! WAITER: (HURRYING UP) Yes, sir, yes, sir. What will it be, Your Excellency? PRINCE: (A SLUG OF RUMANIAN DOUBLE-TALK) WAITER: (GOING OFF) Prijok. Yocefovna. PRINCE: (TO MARY) My dear madam, noojni traznok drolga piroskinescu grimpsh? MARY: (GIGGLING) What does that mean? PRINCE: Meaning: My dear madam, may I be permitted to kiss your tiny hand? MARY: Oh, please go right ahead, Prince. (THEN TITTERING) Your mustache tickles! PRINCE: Tell me, my little princess--you have a great deal of money, no? MARY: Money? PRINCE: Yes. Did I understand correctly you are the owner of a five-and-ten-cent store, no? MARY: (FEARING THE WORST) Oh, no, Prince. That's an--an exaggeration, I fear. PRINCE: Exaggeration? MARY: Yes. I only work there--at the perfume counter. (AN EMBARRASSED SILENCE. SHE CONTINUES IN A VERY MILD VOICE, TO MAKE CONVERSATION) We sell Florida Poppy, Arabian Jasmine, and Lily of the Valley. (MORE SILENCE) Would you like to smell some? PRINCE: (SUDDENLY, A ROUND RUMANIAN CURSE) MUSIC: Stops abruptly. MARY: Are you--are you swearing at me, Prince? PRINCE: Yes! Get out! Get out of here! Impostor! Faker! Go at once. MARY: But I was only-- [(WEEPS AND WAILS, BEHIND--)] PRINCE: Go! The indignity and humiliation! Go! Leave the premises at once! (Rumanian triple-talk, cross-fading to:) SOUND: Eight bells. MARY: (MOROSELY) And here I am--four of my wishes used up, and nothing to show for it! I'm sorry I ever won the Crinkly-Crunkly vitamin-rich contest in the first place! FAIRY: (SHOCKED) Mary Pooter! How can you say such a thing! MARY: I guess I'm just not very smart, that's all. I'll never amount to anything, I know! (IN A SUDDEN FERVOR) I wish I was smart! I wish I knew lots and lots! Then I could be the life of the party and nobody would laugh behind my back! I would have friends at my beck and call and be popular in my set. Oh, I wish I knew hundreds and hundreds of facts, right at my finger tips! Hundreds of them! FAIRY: You really wish that? MARY: Yes, with all my heart and soul! FAIRY: Very well, then. (WEARILY, RESIGNEDLY) Now I do touch thee, Mary Pooter, with my magic wand! SOUND: Bong. MARY: I feel very strange--like a rush of blood to my head! FAIRY: (SADLY) Yes, it's working. Now you're practically an almanac. MARY: Heavens! All kinds of new thoughts are rushing around inside my head! (IN A RUSH OF DISCONNECTED INFORMATION) The formula for water is H2O....The sun is ninety-three million miles away....The capital of Montana is Helena....Chantepleure is the name of a French poem addressed to those who sing in this world and shall weep in the next; hence, a mixture of joy and sorrow....The population of Saskatchewan, whose capital is Regina, is nine hundred twenty-one thousand, seven hundred eighty-five....A cowboy is a boy who tends cows....Quote: A wise man is never less alone than when he is alone. Unquote. Swift, in his Essay on the Faculties of the Mind.... Epicurus was a Greek philosopher, born in 342 B.C. (STOPPING FOR BREATH) Oh, isn't it wonderful and exhilarating, Miss Fairy? I feel like a new woman, almost. FAIRY: Yes ... now you know hundreds of facts at your finger tips. MARY: Will I always be smart like this, Miss Fairy? FAIRY: No, dear. Didn't you know that Crinkly-Crunkly intellectual wishes are good for only twenty-four hours? MARY: You mean--they're only a special offer for a limited period only? FAIRY: Yes. This bargain offer will not be repeated. MARY: Oh, gnats! That means I've used up all my wishes (ALMOST CRYING)--and tomorrow I'll be just as dumb as ever, back where I started from before I entered the Crinkly-Crunkly contest. I fear I am but a foolish, impulsive girl, without hardly a grain of common sense. FAIRY: There, there, now, don't take it to heart so, Mary. Why do you think you are a foolish, impulsive girl without hardly a grain of common sense? MARY: Well, for example, ma'am, I'm a poor working girl working forty-eight hours a week for just enough pay to keep alive on and see a moving picture once a week. If I wasn't so impulsive and romantic I should have right away wished for a raise in pay as soon as you came, so's I could maybe save a little money to buy a pretty dress and look more attractive, so's I'd maybe get a steady boy friend and not be so lonely in Punxsutawney. I really shouldn't have thrown away my wishes on silly things that can never do me any good. FAIRY: I think I know what you mean. MARY: If I had been ready when opportunity knocked, Miss Fairy, the very first thing I'd have wished for when you came would've been that twenty-five-dollar maximum fortune. Then, at least, I'd have something to show. Because what good are wishes that are gone in the morning, like a vanished rose or something? I thought that fairy wishes were wonderful things which when they came true would make you very happy, like in a storybook. To be perfectly frank, I'm considerably disappointed. FAIRY: My poor child, don't you know that the only wishes that really matter are those you make come true yourself? Magic isn't very good, because it's so unreliable. I don't like to run down my own profession--but if good fairies were able to perform such wonders as they're supposed to, would they have to be working for the Crinkly-Crunkly promotion and exploitation department? No, darling, don't expect magic wands and good fairies to think things out and get things done for you. Think for yourself and act for yourself, and then maybe you won't be so lonely. You'll soon find plenty of others who are looking for a purpose in life, and maybe among them will be somebody looking for you. MARY: (QUIETLY) I hope you're right, Miss Fairy. FAIRY: Yes--well ... I've got to go now, Mary. (PAUSE) Here's a complimentary loaf of Crinkly-Crunkly Raisin Bread which we leave behind for every contest winner. MARY: Thank you very much. FAIRY: Good-by, Mary. MARY: Good-by, Miss Fairy. SOUND: Door opens, closes. NARRATOR: And so Mary Pooter, of 1674 Maple Street, Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, had five wishes granted [as advertised] absolutely free of charge by Crinkly-Crunkly's Own Good Fairy; and the honor of the Crinkly-Crunkly Vitamin-Rich National Food Baking Company, Incorporated, was upheld, for it had kept its word and stood foursquare behind its trademark, it being an old established company, since 1881. MUSIC: PIANO GLISS ... THEN BEHIND-- NARRATOR: (SINGS OPERATICALLY) And having told you the story of Mary and the Fairy in our own unorthodox manner, we will now make a concession with the established conventions of this wonderful medium of radio by closing the program with the ordinary kind of closing announcement. MUSIC: OUT FOR-- ANNOUNCER: You have been listening to Elsa Lanchester as Mary and Ruth Gordon as the Good Fairy in "Mary and the Fairy," a new comedy written and directed by Norman Corwin as Program No. 17 in the current Columbia Workshop cycle "Twenty-Six by Corwin." Others in the cast were Thurl Ravenscroft as the singing narrator, Hans Conried as the prince, Earle Ross as President Buddington Hulick, and Frank Graham as Ronnie the movie star. Music was arranged and conducted by Lud Gluskin, and the operatic background for "The Farmer in the Dell" was furnished by The Sportsmen. Next week at this time, Columbia will present Program No. 18 of "Twenty-Six by Corwin," a new treatise for voice and sound entitled "The Anatomy of Sound." The star and sole performer will be the distinguished actress of stage, screen, and radio, Miss Gale Sondergaard. Arthur Gilmore speaking. SOUND: APPLAUSE ... UNTIL END-- ANNOUNCER: This is the Columbia Broadcasting System.