MUSIC:

ROMANTIC FANFARE

HOST:

Colgate Tooth Powder presents THE THEATRE OF ROMANCE!

MUSIC:

STING!

HOST:

Tonight, Colgate Tooth Powder brings you a special dramatic version of Alice Duer Miller's "The White Cliffs," starring Constance Cummings.

SOUND:

APPLAUSE BEHIND--

MUSIC:

THEME ... OUT BEHIND--

HOST:

Tonight, and every Tuesday night, Colgate Tooth Powder brings you THE THEATRE OF ROMANCE with your favorite stars in your favorite stories and plays.

MUSIC:

FOR DREAMY JINGLE

SINGERS:

Use Colgate Tooth Powder.
Keep smiling just right.
Use it each morning
And use it at night.

MUSIC:

ABRUPTLY OUT

HOST:

One of the most notable stories to come from this war has been the late Alice Duer Miller's dramatic poem "The White Cliffs." It's our pleasure to bring it to you now in a dramatized adaptation by Jean Holloway, starring Constance Cummings as Susan, with Karl Swenson as John.

MUSIC:

HARP GLISSANDO INTO A STATELY INTRODUCTION ... THEN IN BG--

SUSAN:

(NARRATES)
I have loved England, dearly and deeply,
Since that first morning, shining and pure,
The white cliffs of Dover I saw rising steeply
Out of the sea that once made her secure.

MUSIC:

CHANGES TO BALLROOM ORCHESTRA PLAYING STRAUSS' "EMPEROR WALTZ" BEHIND--

SUSAN:

(NARRATES)
Nineteen Fourteen, early May,
London was crowded and rich and gay.
It happened the first evening I was there.
Some one was giving a ball in Belgrave Square.
A light blue carpet on the stair,
Tall young footmen everywhere.
I went up the stairs between them all,
Strange and frightened and shy and small,
And as I entered the ballroom door,
Some one beside me turned and smiled,
And looking down at me said:

JOHN:

(CHEERFUL)
Hello! I fancy,
You're Bertie's Australian cousin Nancy.
He told me to tell you that he'd be late
At the Foreign Office and not to wait
Supper for him, but to go with me,
And try to behave as if I were he.

SUSAN:

(NARRATES)
I should have told him on the spot
That I had no cousin -- that I was not
Australian Nancy -- that my name
Was Susan Dunne -- that I came
From a small white town on a deep-cut bay
In the smallest state in the U.S.A.
I meant to tell him, but changed my mind --
I needed a friend, and he seemed kind;
So I put my gloved hand into his glove,
And we danced together -- and fell in love.

MUSIC:

UP BRIEFLY ... THE WALTZ ... THEN IN BG--

JOHN:

I've never danced so well with anyone before.

SUSAN:

I haven't either.

JOHN:

Are you going to be in England long?

SUSAN:

A week.

JOHN:

A week? Well, we shall have to crowd a lot into that. A week -- I'm sorry to hear that.

SUSAN:

Why?

JOHN:

Because I'll never be able to say all the things I want to say in a week.

SUSAN:

How long would you need to say all those things?

JOHN:

I might - need a lifetime.

MUSIC:

WALTZ ... UP, FOR A TRANSITION ... THE WALTZ SLOWS TO A STOP

SUSAN:

It was a wonder ball, and you were very kind, John. I've never had such fun before. I'm sorry it's over.

JOHN:

Oh, there will be other balls.

SUSAN:

Not like this one. I'm so glad we decided to walk back to the hotel.

JOHN:

(LIGHTLY) Do you know I picked the longest possible way back to your hotel? (MORE SERIOUS) I'm very reluctant to let go this evening. Let's sit here on this bench a moment. There are some things I find I - must say to you.

SUSAN:

There's something I must say to you.

JOHN:

We've only known one another a few hours and yet it seems that I've known you always. You know, when I was seven and had my first crush on a girl, that girl was you. And when I was fifteen I worshipped the ground a certain young lady of twenty walked upon and she was you, too. You were the first girl I took dancing, the first girl I kissed, and the girl I was always talking about whenever I had anything at all to say about marriage.

SUSAN:

(MOVED, BUT RELUCTANT) Oh, John--

JOHN:

The moment you looked up at me and smiled, I thought, "At last." And when we started to dance and I held you in my arms I knew that I'd never let you go.

SUSAN:

Please, you don't know anything about me--

JOHN:

I know I love you and that's all I need to know.

SUSAN:

Please, you must listen to me. I'm not what you think -- or who you think I am. I've been acting a lie all evening. I'm not Bertie's Australian cousin Nancy. I don't even know Bertie. I should have told you at once, but I couldn't.

MUSIC:

SNEAKS IN ... ROMANTIC ... BEHIND--

JOHN:

(CHUCKLES WARMLY) Oh, my darling. I knew you weren't Nancy the moment you began to speak.

SUSAN:

You knew?

JOHN:

(LIGHTLY) Of course I did. Darling, you haven't the right accent for an Australian Nancy. (BEAT, MORE SERIOUS) What is your name?

SUSAN:

Susan Dunne.

JOHN:

Hello, Susan Dunne, welcome to England. Welcome to my home. And to my heart.

MUSIC:

UP, FOR A BRIEF ROMANTIC TRANSITION ... THEN BRIGHTLY BEHIND SUSAN--

SUSAN:

(NARRATES)
They showed me all London,
Johnnie and his friends;
They took me to the country
For long week-ends;
I never was so happy,
I never had such fun,
I stayed many weeks in England
Instead of just one.

JOHN:

Susan dear, this is my mother. Mother, this is Miss Dunne.

LADY JEAN:

How do you do, my dear? John has told us all so much about you. It's such a pleasure to have you visit us here in Devon.

SUSAN:

Thank you. It was so nice of you to ask me.

LADY JEAN:

Show Miss Dunne the house, John, if she'd care to see it.

SUSAN:

Oh, I'd love to see it. And I'd love to meet the family ghost. John told me all about him.

LADY JEAN:

I'm sure I've never seen him, but I did hear him once outside my door. It was the night John's father died.

SUSAN:

(QUIETLY) Perhaps I don't really want to meet him after all.

LADY JEAN:

You know, Miss Dunne, it's hard to believe you're an American. You know, really, you don't speak like one.

MUSIC:

DURING ABOVE, SNEAKS IN ... THEN IN BG--

SUSAN:

(NARRATES)
She seemed to think she'd said a thing
Both courteous and flattering.
I answered though my wrists were weak
With anger: (TO LADY JEAN) "Not at all, I speak --
At least I've always thought this true --
As educated people do
In any country -- even mine."

LADY JEAN:

Really?

SUSAN:

(NARRATES)
I saw her head incline,
I saw her ready to assert
Americans are easily hurt.
And suddenly I was heartsick and lonely for my own people.

MUSIC:

UP AND OUT ... FOR A BRIEF TRANSITION

LADY JEAN:

John dear? A letter just came in the post for you.

JOHN:

Oh, thank you, Mother. (BEAT) Why, that's odd. It's Susan's writing. I was going to meet her in London for dinner tonight. Perhaps she can't make it.

LADY JEAN:

Well, open it and see.

MUSIC:

BEAT ... THEN BRIEF ACCENT

JOHN:

(READS)
Dear John, I'm going home.
My train leaves at break of day;
I'm going home to those who think the way
I think, and speak as I do. I could not spoil
Our happy memories with the stress and strain
Of parting.
(BEAT, TO LADY JEAN)
I'm going after her mother.

LADY JEAN:

You're sure about this girl, John?

JOHN:

Very sure.

LADY JEAN:

(MAGNANIMOUSLY) Then bring her home with you.

MUSIC:

BRISK TRANSITION ... THEN IN BG--

SUSAN:

(NARRATES)
The Southampton landing --
Porters, neat and quick,
And a young man standing,
Leaning on his stick.

JOHN:

Oh, Susan, Susan, Susan, did you really think I'd ever let you go away?

SUSAN:

John-- Oh, John, you shouldn't have come.

JOHN:

Susan, do you love me?

SUSAN:

Love you? You don't have to ask me that. I never tried to hide it.

JOHN:

Darling, it doesn't matter that you're from one country and I'm from another. All that matters is that at last we've found each other. Will you marry me, darling? Will you please marry me?

MUSIC:

UP, FOR A TRANSITION ... WAGNER'S "HERE COMES THE BRIDE" ... THEN IN BG, IN AGREEMENT WITH FOLLOWING--

SUSAN:

(NARRATES)
Johnnie and I were married. England then
Had been a week at war, and all the men
Wore uniform, as English people can,
Unconscious of it. We went down to Devon,
In a warm summer rain,
Knowing that our happiness
Might never come again;
I, not forgetting,
"Till death do us part,"
Was outrageously happy
With death in my heart.

JOHN:

(LIGHTLY) I want to know everything there is to know about you. Who was your first beau?

SUSAN:

My first beau was named Jimmy O'Brien, his hair was as red as his name, and he was covered with freckles.

JOHN:

(CHUCKLES)

SUSAN:

But! -- he loved me madly.

JOHN:

Oh. Well, how old were you?

SUSAN:

(CHUCKLES) Four.

JOHN:

Oh! How old was he?

SUSAN:

Forty. (CHUCKLES)

JOHN:

(LAUGHS)

SUSAN:

(BEAT, SERIOUS) John?

JOHN:

Mm?

MUSIC:

GENTLY OUT BEHIND--

SUSAN:

I don't want you to go to war. I know it's selfish. I - I know I shouldn't say these things, but I can't help it. I - I love you. I'm frightened, John.

JOHN:

I know, darling. I don't want to go to war, either. But when the things you respect and love are threatened, there's nothing else that you can do. Each generation must protect the honor of its country. You see, it's a trust that's been handed down from father to son. We aren't a warlike people, but if we must fight, we will -- however little taste we have for it.

SUSAN:

I understand.

JOHN:

I know you do.

SUSAN:

I understand. And I love you -- very much.

MUSIC:

SNEAKS IN DURING ABOVE ... THEN UP, FOR AN UNDERSTANDING TRANSITION ... THEN OUT

SUSAN:

(NARRATES)
I settled down in Devon,
When Johnnie went to France.
Such a tame ending
To a great romance --
Two lonely women
With nothing much to do
But get to know each other;
She did and I did, too.

LADY JEAN:

Susan dear, those bandages must be rolled tighter. Better do them again.

SUSAN:

All of them?

LADY JEAN:

I'm afraid so. It's the regulation, you know.

SUSAN:

(PETULANT) Oh, I've been working on them all day! I can't work on them any more! I'm - I'm cold and tired and cross.

LADY JEAN:

(QUIETLY) It's colder in the trenches.

SUSAN:

(BEAT, EMBARRASSED) I'm sorry. Of course it is. I'll do them over.

LADY JEAN:

I'll help you.

SUSAN:

No, you've enough to do. I'll try to have them finished by the time you're ready to go to the hospital.

LADY JEAN:

(SYMPATHETIC) It isn't much of a world to be young in, my dear. I know that. But we have to do everything we can. Everything we can.

MUSIC:

SNEAKS IN DURING ABOVE ... SOLEMN ... CONTINUES IN BG

SUSAN:

(NARRATES)
I think I shall always remember
Until I die
Her face that day in December,
When in a hospital ward together, she and I
Were writing letters for the wounded men and dying,
Writing and crying
Over their wounds.
Suddenly, looking up, I saw the old Vicar moving
Like fate down the hospital ward, until
He stood still
Beside her, where she sat at the bed.

VICAR:

Dear friend, come home. I have tragic news.

SUSAN:

(NARRATES)
She looked straight at him without a spasm of fear,
Her face not stern nor masked--

LADY JEAN:

Is it Percy or John?

VICAR:

The eldest. Percy.

LADY JEAN:

(TO HERSELF) Percy.
(TO VICAR, SIMPLY) I'm needed here.
I can't go until every letter is written.
The dead must wait on the living.
This is my work. I must stay.

SUSAN:

(NARRATES) And she did -- the whole long day.

MUSIC:

UP, FOR A NOBLE CURTAIN

SOUND:

APPLAUSE

HOST:

In a moment, Colgate Tooth Powder will bring you the second act of "The White Cliffs." But first-- Young lady, remember this message from Colgate Tooth Powder. Love binds two hearts together, but a little breath of trouble can pull them apart. So if you're looking for romance, be sure -- be very sure -- that no little breath of trouble -- you know, unpleasing breath -- will come between you and your heart's desire. Just do this: Brush your teeth, night and morning and before every date, with Colgate Tooth Powder. For Colgate Tooth Powder cleans your breath as it cleans your teeth. Yes, night and morning and before every date -- because scientific tests have definitely proved that in seven cases out of ten, Colgate Tooth Powder instantly stops unpleasing breath that originates in the mouth. As for cleaning, no dentifrice at any price will clean your teeth more quickly and thoroughly than Colgate Tooth Powder. Remember the name -- Colgate Tooth Powder, with the accent on "powder"!

MUSIC:

THEME ... THEN BEHIND--

HOST:

Colgate Tooth Powder brings you the second part of "The White Cliffs," starring Constance Cummings.

MUSIC:

SECOND ACT INTRO ... THEN BEHIND SUSAN--

SUSAN:

(NARRATES)
Out of the dark, and dearth
Of happiness on earth,
Out of a world inured to death and pain,
On a fair spring morn,
To me a son was born,
And hope was born -- the future lived again!
And John came home on leave, and all was joy
And thankfulness to me.
(LOVINGLY, TO JOHN)
John--!

JOHN:

Susan--!

SUSAN:

Oh, John, it's so wonderful to be able to see you again -- to reach out and touch you. Oh, John, I've been so lonely without you.

JOHN:

You weren't without me, not for a moment. I carried you in my heart wherever I went.

SUSAN:

(MATTER-OF-FACT) I've been thinking about names. I'd like to call him John, after you. Or if not that, then I'd rather--

JOHN:

But, darling, er, the eldest son is always called Percy.

SUSAN:

Well, now look. I didn't ask to call him Hiram, after my father--

JOHN: Yes, but the eldest son is always called Percy, dear.

SUSAN:

But I hate the name Percy. There are so many better names -- Richard or - or Ronald, or Peter, or Jack, or James, or - or Ian.

JOHN:

But the eldest son is always called Percy, dear.

SUSAN:

(ADAMANT) Oh, John, not Percy. I won't have him called Percy. He's my son, too. And I positively will not have him going through life with a name like Percy!

MUSIC:

SNEAKS IN DURING ABOVE ... BUILDS TO A PEAK ... THEN HOLDS BEHIND--

VICAR:

(WITH GREAT DIGNITY) Percy Richard Peter, I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

MUSIC:

DESCENDS TO A GENTLE ACCENT FOR A BRIEF TRANSITION ... THEN GENTLY OUT

SUSAN:

(NARRATES)
John went back to his company
And I could do nothing, but ache and long
That my country, peaceful, rich, and strong,
Would come and do battle for England's sake.
And at last -- at last -- like the dawn of a calm, fair day
After a night of terror and storm, they came --
My young light-hearted countrymen, tall and gay,
Looking the world over in search of fun and fame--

MUSIC:

SNEAKS IN ... SPRIGHTLY ... BEHIND SUSAN--

SUSAN:

(NARRATES)
All the bands playing "Over There, Over There,
Send the word, send the word to beware--"
And as the American flag went fluttering by
Englishmen uncovered, and I began to cry.

MUSIC:

UP BRIEFLY... END OF COHAN'S "OVER THERE" ... FOR PUNCTUATION ... THEN OUT

SUSAN:

(NARRATES)
How beautiful upon the mountains,
How beautiful upon the downs,
How beautiful in the village post-office,
On the pavements of the towns --
How beautiful in the huge print of newspapers,
Beautiful while telegraph wires hum,
While telephone bells wildly jingle,
The news that peace has come --

MUSIC:

SNEAKS IN ... FOR PEACE

SUSAN:

(NARRATES)
That peace has come at last -- that all wars cease.
How beautiful upon the mountains are the footsteps
Of the messengers of peace!

MUSIC:

UP, FOR A TRANSITION ... THEN CHANGES TO QUIETLY OMINOUS, WITH LOW PLUCKED STRINGS FOR THE ASCENDING FOOTSTEPS ON THE STAIRS--

SUSAN:

(NARRATES)
In the depths of the night, when the old house was sleeping,
I, lying alone in a desolate bed,
Heard soft on the staircase a slow footstep creeping --
The ear of the living -- the step of the dead.
In the depth of the night betwixt midnight and morning
A step drawing near on the old oaken floor --
On the stair -- in the gallery -- the ghost that gives warning
Of death, by that heartbreaking sigh at my door.

MUSIC:

HAS BUILT TO A TENSE PEAK ... PLUCKED STRINGS OUT

SUSAN:

(HORRIFIED EXCLAMATION; DEVASTATED) John!

MUSIC:

LONG GRIM ACCENT ... THEN OUT

SUSAN:

(NARRATES, SADLY)
I do not remember
The words that they said:
"Killed -- Douai -- November--" [PRONOUNCED "doo-ay"]
I knew John was dead.
All done and over --
That day long ago --
The while cliffs of Dover --
Little did I know.

MUSIC:

WARM AND GENTLE ... THEN IN BG--

SUSAN:

(NARRATES)
Nanny brought up my son, as his father before him,
Teaching him to be civil and manly and cool
In the face of danger. And then before I knew it
The time came for him to go off to school.

PERCY:

(AS A BOY) Will you hear my lesson, mother?

SUSAN:

Of course, dear.

PERCY:

Two and two are four. Three and three are five?

SUSAN:

No. Think again.

PERCY:

Three and three are six.

SUSAN:

That's right. Now four and four?

PERCY:

Four and four are--

MUSIC:

UP, TOPS THE SCENE ... A WARM ACCENT ... THEN IN BG--

SUSAN:

(NARRATES)
John's own son,
That blond bowed face,
Those clear steady eyes;
Hard to be certain
That the dead don't rise.
Jogging on his pony
Through the autumn day--

SOUND:

HORSES' HOOFBEATS

PERCY:

(AS A YOUNG MAN)
Bad year for fruit, Mother,
But good salt hay.
(CHUCKLES) Would you care to race me home?

SUSAN:

I'd love to race you home. Let's go.

SOUND:

HORSES' HOOFBEATS CANTER AWAY

MUSIC:

UP, FOR A WARM TRANSITION ... THEN IN BG--

SUSAN:

(NARRATES)
Bowling for the village
As his father had before;
Coming home at evening
To read the cricket score.

PERCY:

Mother, there's a dance at the club on Saturday. Thought I might go. There's a new girl in Devon. Quite a looker, too.

SUSAN:

Margaret Winfield?

PERCY:

(CHUCKLES) That's right. I thought I might ask her.

SUSAN:

Why don't you?

PERCY:

Say, Mother, look at this paper. What do you suppose that fellow Hitler is up to? I don't like the looks of things at all.

MUSIC:

UP, FOR AN UNEASY ACCENT ... THEN IN BG--

SUSAN:

(WORRIED, SLOWLY) No. Neither do I. Neither do I.

MUSIC:

CONTINUES GRIMLY IN BG--

SUSAN:

(NARRATES)
Later than many, earlier than some,
I knew the die was cast -- that war must come;
That war must come. Night after night I lay
Steeling a broken heart to face the day
When he, my son, would tread the very same
Path that his father trod. When the day came
I was not steeled, not ready.
(TO PERCY)
My child, my child,
Why should you die for England, too?

PERCY:

Is she not worth it, if I must?

SUSAN:

(NARRATES)
"Is she not worth it, if I must?" he said.
John would have answered yes -- but John was dead.

MUSIC:

UP, FOR AN ACCENT ... THEN STATELY AND NOBLE IN BG--

SUSAN:

(NARRATES)
And then, and then,
I thought of the history of Englishmen,
Knowing what the English have always known --
Something that none can teach or tell --
The moment when God's voice says "Rebel."
And were they not English, our forefathers? Never more
English than when they dared to be
Rebels against her -- that stern intractable sense
Of that which no man can stomach and still be free,
Writing, "When in the course of human events..."
Writing it out so all the world could see
Whence come the powers of all just governments.
The tree of Liberty grew and changed and spread,
But the seed was English.

MUSIC:

GENTLY OUT

SUSAN:

(NARRATES)
I am American bred,
I have seen much to hate here, much to forgive,
But in a world where England is finished and dead,
I do not wish to live.

MUSIC:

CURTAIN

SOUND:

APPLAUSE

MUSIC:

FOR DREAMY JINGLE

SINGERS:

Use Colgate Tooth Powder.
Keep smiling just right.
Use it each morning
And use it at night.

To help you rate
With every date
Use Colgate Tooth Powder.

MUSIC:

ABRUPTLY OUT

HOST:

Young man, a word from Colgate Tooth Powder. That little breath of trouble -- unpleasing breath -- is an expensive liability; expensive in dollars and cents. Because of unpleasing breath, you may miss out on a sale, a contract, a promotion, and you may never even suspect that your "hoodoo" is a little breath of trouble. So I'll tell you what. Brush your teeth, night and morning and before every date, with Colgate Tooth Powder. For Colgate Tooth Powder cleans your breath as it cleans your teeth. Scientific tests prove that Colgate Tooth Powder, in seven cases out of ten, instantly stops unpleasing breath that originates in the mouth. Money can't buy a dentifrice that will clean your teeth better than Colgate Tooth Powder. Remember the name -- Colgate Tooth Powder, with the accent on "powder"!

MUSIC:

THEME ... THEN BEHIND HOST--

HOST:

In tonight's play, Constance Cummings starred as Susan and Karl Swenson appeared as John. Alice Duer Miller's "The White Cliffs" was dramatized especially for this program by Jean Holloway. The music was composed and conducted by Charles Paul and the entire production was directed by Marx Loeb.

Next week, your COLGATE TOOTH POWDER THEATRE OF ROMANCE will bring you the charming star of radio and the screen, Anne Baxter, in "Jezebel." Join us next Tuesday night, won't you?

MUSIC:

FOR BRISK JINGLE

SINGERS:

Halo, everybody, Halo!
Halo is the shampoo that glorifies your hair!
So Halo, everybody, Halo!

MUSIC:

ABRUPTLY OUT

HOST:

Yes, use Halo Shampoo if you want naturally bright and beautiful hair -- for Halo contains no soap; therefore leaves no dulling film. The first time you use Halo, see how your hair sparkles and gleams with natural brilliance; how the deep natural color looks brighter, glossier. Even in hardest water, Halo makes oceans of rich fragrant lather. Halo quickly carries away loose dandruff and dirt; needs no lemon or vinegar rinse. Say hello to Halo and goodbye to dulling soap film. Get Halo Shampoo at any cosmetic counter.

MUSIC:

FOR BRISK JINGLE

SINGERS:

So Halo, everybody, Halo!
Halo Shampoo, Halo!

MUSIC:

ABRUPTLY OUT ... THEN THEME ... OUT BEHIND--

HOST:

Until next Tuesday night, when Colgate Tooth Powder brings you Anne Baxter in "Jezebel," this is your host saying good night -- and wishing you love, happiness, and romance.

Ladies and gentlemen, victory over Japan is certain, but that victory will cost us dearly. In material, it calls for a colossal amount of ships, planes, tanks, arms, and supplies. To hasten the victory against Japan, every one of us is asked to buy a bigger share of extra bonds than we ever did before. Invest now in the Seventh War Loan.

MUSIC:

THEME ... UNTIL END

HOST:

This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.