WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:25.560 The Halls of Ivy starring Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Coleman. 00:25.560 --> 00:27.360 Good evening this is Ronald Coleman. 00:27.360 --> 00:28.360 And Bonita Coleman. 00:28.360 --> 00:31.360 Inviting you to join us again on the campus of Ivy College. 00:31.360 --> 00:48.920 And now the Halls of Ivy. 00:48.920 --> 00:50.600 Welcome again to Ivy. 00:50.600 --> 00:54.800 Ivy College that is in the town of Ivy USA. 00:54.800 --> 00:59.400 As a highly competent administrator, a fast clearer upper of disposable details and a 00:59.400 --> 01:01.440 disciple of the clean desk. 01:01.440 --> 01:05.600 The president of Ivy College is not one to linger unnecessarily in his administration 01:05.600 --> 01:07.720 building sanctum when his work is done. 01:07.720 --> 01:10.600 Whether it be noon, three o'clock or midnight. 01:10.600 --> 01:14.680 It's now two thirty in the afternoon and he's signing the last letter of the day's correspondence 01:14.680 --> 01:17.800 with his faithful secretary, Miss Goodson standing by. 01:17.800 --> 01:22.360 Block her in her right hand and the presidential fedora in the other as he says. 01:22.360 --> 01:26.080 Good heavens Miss Goodson, why do I dictate such long letters? 01:26.080 --> 01:27.520 What's this one about? 01:27.520 --> 01:30.440 Before I sign it with blind faith in your efficiency. 01:30.440 --> 01:34.200 It's a review of the year's work of the student cooperative association Dr. Hall. 01:34.200 --> 01:37.640 Suggestions for improvements and a pat on the back for scholastic achievements and their 01:37.640 --> 01:38.640 social program. 01:38.640 --> 01:41.500 But it did take me three pages to do that. 01:41.500 --> 01:45.540 It took you five, I cut it to three. 01:45.540 --> 01:50.680 And you didn't consider it presumptuous to take such liberties with my personal correspondence? 01:50.680 --> 01:54.640 With your blind faith in my efficiency and my pride in your reputation as someone who 01:54.640 --> 01:56.280 gets to the point of things? 01:56.280 --> 01:57.280 No sir. 01:57.280 --> 02:02.080 Thank you for keeping my reputation unsullied. 02:02.080 --> 02:06.440 As one who takes five pages to write a three page letter, I am lucky to have you on my 02:06.440 --> 02:07.440 side. 02:07.440 --> 02:09.360 Is this the last one? 02:09.360 --> 02:10.840 Yes sir. 02:10.840 --> 02:13.880 Except the one you wrote to the music editor of the Ivy Courier. 02:13.880 --> 02:15.760 I didn't transcribe that one. 02:15.760 --> 02:16.760 Oh why? 02:16.760 --> 02:20.080 Because after you'd read it over you wouldn't have sent it. 02:20.080 --> 02:24.480 His criticism of the Glee Club concert was unfair, but your reply was hasty and unworthy 02:24.480 --> 02:25.480 of you. 02:25.480 --> 02:30.880 Yes, we presidents don't seem to learn do we about sending letters to music critics. 02:30.880 --> 02:36.600 Well thank you again Miss Goodson, you are indispensable. 02:36.600 --> 02:40.700 No one is indispensable Dr. Hall, but a good secretary finds it indispensable to give the 02:40.700 --> 02:41.700 illusion of it. 02:41.700 --> 02:43.920 That's a very acute observation. 02:43.920 --> 02:45.960 Did you learn that in secretarial school? 02:45.960 --> 02:50.400 I learned it from you the first week I worked for you. 02:50.400 --> 02:55.240 Now if you will sign this letter Dr. Hall. 02:55.240 --> 02:56.240 Thank you. 02:56.240 --> 03:00.080 Your theatre tickets for Friday evening are in your overcoat pocket. 03:00.080 --> 03:04.380 Your railroad reservations to the state capital on Saturday will be confirmed in the morning 03:04.380 --> 03:09.560 and one of the buttons on your left sleeve is a little loose. 03:09.560 --> 03:13.360 What is the temperature outside and who won the World Series in 1934? 03:13.360 --> 03:19.040 44 degrees and the St. Louis Cardinals. 03:19.040 --> 03:21.440 Will that be all sir? 03:21.440 --> 03:23.160 You mean for the Cardinals? 03:23.160 --> 03:26.160 No sir, for me, for you, for today. 03:26.160 --> 03:28.080 Yes, that's all Miss Goodson. 03:28.080 --> 03:32.960 Oh, please phone Mrs. Hall will you and tell her I'm on my way home and to have a smile 03:32.960 --> 03:35.600 burning in the window for me. 03:35.600 --> 03:47.360 Thank you, good afternoon. 03:47.360 --> 03:52.120 I'm so glad you got away early darling and I did have a smile burning in the window for 03:52.120 --> 03:53.120 you. 03:53.120 --> 03:56.680 You mean Miss Goodson gave you my message literally and verbatim? 03:56.680 --> 03:58.520 Absolutely dead pan. 03:58.520 --> 04:04.240 Her pan may sometimes appear to be defunct my love but it is my good fortune that her 04:04.240 --> 04:09.560 mental pallbearers will be unemployed for some time. 04:09.560 --> 04:13.440 It is due to her speed and competence that I so often manage to get home earlier. 04:13.440 --> 04:14.880 For that I love her dearly. 04:14.880 --> 04:20.640 Yes, I see no reason for staying in my office arranging paper clips into mobiles when the 04:20.640 --> 04:24.120 real work of the day has been completed. 04:24.120 --> 04:25.440 Have there been any phone calls? 04:25.440 --> 04:29.880 Only some woman who was very indignant because she had two heads. 04:29.880 --> 04:31.260 Because what? 04:31.260 --> 04:33.400 Because she had two heads. 04:33.400 --> 04:36.560 She was trying to get the grocery and got this number by mistake and she'd ordered one 04:36.560 --> 04:39.440 head of letters and they'd sent her two. 04:39.440 --> 04:45.360 There are times when I'm tempted to ask for an unlisted number but in my position it would 04:45.360 --> 04:48.200 be like the fire department making a similar request. 04:48.200 --> 04:49.840 My availability is one of these. 04:49.840 --> 04:52.920 You better answer Todd, you have a knack for coping with two headed people. 04:52.920 --> 04:58.120 No it's not a knack my love, it's a proficiency acquired only after years of application and 04:58.120 --> 05:06.240 research the manipulation of bicephalic individuals will have to be discussed at another time. 05:06.240 --> 05:08.720 Dr. Hall speaking, who? 05:08.720 --> 05:12.480 Oh, oh yes, how are you Professor Rubin? 05:12.480 --> 05:14.480 I'm happy to hear from you. 05:14.480 --> 05:17.720 Oh why, yes, just a moment please. 05:17.720 --> 05:19.160 He wants to talk to you Vicky. 05:19.160 --> 05:20.160 Really? 05:20.160 --> 05:21.160 Hello Professor Rubin. 05:21.160 --> 05:24.840 Yeah well of course I'd be very happy to. 05:24.840 --> 05:26.600 For tomorrow at ten? 05:26.600 --> 05:30.680 Good, I look forward to it, goodbye. 05:30.680 --> 05:32.560 And what happens tomorrow at ten? 05:32.560 --> 05:37.840 Professor Rubin wants me to help him pick out a birthday present for his wife. 05:37.840 --> 05:42.240 It seems he's so nervous in women's shops he always winds up at the hardware store. 05:42.240 --> 05:47.600 You know once when I suggested homes for his wife he said he'd got a fifty feet of it last 05:47.600 --> 05:48.600 year. 05:48.600 --> 05:57.480 With an adjustable nozzle I suppose. 05:57.480 --> 06:00.480 Well Professor Rubin is a gentleman of the old school. 06:00.480 --> 06:04.360 A school which had no classes in sales resistance to feminine tripperies. 06:04.360 --> 06:11.280 It must be that in these days of jet transportation the world is so casually girdled that the 06:11.280 --> 06:13.760 informality has taken root. 06:13.760 --> 06:19.720 And we are the hapless victims of those corset and hosiery ads which smite us hip and thigh. 06:19.720 --> 06:25.760 Well you're not so bashful darling, or how did you happen to buy me those lovely things 06:25.760 --> 06:29.600 for Christmas in exactly the right shades and sizes? 06:29.600 --> 06:34.840 For that my darling I fortified myself with five cups of coffee, gave myself a stern talking 06:34.840 --> 06:40.640 to, made out a list, walked firmly out of the house, stopped at the office and deputised 06:40.640 --> 06:41.640 Miss Goodson. 06:41.640 --> 06:45.080 Did she flash when you gave her the list? 06:45.080 --> 06:50.280 Oh no, no dear, one of the priceless qualities she possesses is an ability to accept any 06:50.280 --> 06:53.640 assignment with cool detachment. 06:53.640 --> 06:58.480 I am sure that when she learnt about the birds and bees it was from an elderly ornithologist 06:58.480 --> 07:01.560 in a business like apiarist. 07:01.560 --> 07:07.320 No, no my darling in this case I... 07:07.320 --> 07:10.320 Busy little beaver isn't it? 07:10.320 --> 07:11.320 Hello? 07:11.320 --> 07:12.320 Oh, well hello Matthew. 07:12.320 --> 07:17.920 Yes, yes he is, it's young Matthew Walden, Toddy, Professor Walden's son. 07:17.920 --> 07:22.760 Oh, yes Matthew, why certainly, come right over. 07:22.760 --> 07:24.960 Good, I'll be expecting you. 07:24.960 --> 07:27.240 I wonder what that means. 07:27.240 --> 07:29.880 He said he was phoning from right around the corner. 07:29.880 --> 07:34.320 And when a young man who lives at home calls from right around the corner it could mean 07:34.320 --> 07:35.320 that... 07:35.320 --> 07:37.320 That the phone at his house is out of order. 07:37.320 --> 07:42.800 Oh no, knowing Professor Jeremy Walden I would say that he wouldn't tolerate anything being 07:42.800 --> 07:45.120 out of order in his household. 07:45.120 --> 07:49.560 Not because he is a relentless taskmaster but because he is a sharply functional mind 07:49.560 --> 07:51.880 and an extraordinarily high set of standards. 07:51.880 --> 07:55.280 He's a very enviable reputation in his field Vicky. 07:55.280 --> 08:00.400 Whenever the students speak of him they always seem to lower their voices unconsciously. 08:00.400 --> 08:02.800 Is that out of fear or awe? 08:02.800 --> 08:04.800 Or what dear? 08:04.800 --> 08:06.800 Or awe. 08:06.800 --> 08:08.800 Oh, awe! 08:08.800 --> 08:18.560 Well no, now his course in Renaissance literature is one of the best liked and most feared courses 08:18.560 --> 08:19.560 that I've ever seen. 08:19.560 --> 08:22.360 Let me see, now Matthew must be a sophomore by now isn't he? 08:22.360 --> 08:24.520 Yes, and a very promising young student. 08:24.520 --> 08:30.160 When I was a child I deeply envied a little girl whose mother was the teacher of our school. 08:30.160 --> 08:34.000 I imagined that it was lots of fun having a direct pipeline to the inside dope. 08:34.000 --> 08:39.560 Now I'm not referring to the teacher but now I can see that it must have its own difficulties. 08:39.560 --> 08:41.320 Oh it does indeed. 08:41.320 --> 08:47.520 As Ben Johnson observed, greatness of name and the father often overwhelms the son. 08:47.520 --> 09:05.080 They stand too near one another, the shadow kills the growth. 09:05.080 --> 09:06.600 You come right in won't you? 09:06.600 --> 09:07.600 Thank you Mrs. Hall. 09:07.600 --> 09:09.080 And Dr. Hall is expecting you in the study. 09:09.080 --> 09:10.960 I'm sorry to barge in on you like this. 09:10.960 --> 09:12.200 Oh not at all, not at all. 09:12.200 --> 09:13.960 We haven't seen half enough of you lately. 09:13.960 --> 09:19.040 I'm sorry Mrs. Hall, I've been working very hard and I guess I just wasn't, I don't know. 09:19.040 --> 09:22.080 Well don't have a breakdown, it's just an expression of regret. 09:22.080 --> 09:23.080 Come along in. 09:23.080 --> 09:24.080 Yes all right. 09:24.080 --> 09:26.120 Ah Matthew come in, delighted to see you. 09:26.120 --> 09:27.120 Thank you Dr. Hall. 09:27.120 --> 09:29.360 And how is my esteemed colleague, your father? 09:29.360 --> 09:33.720 As a matter of fact Dr. Hall, it's about my father that I, or maybe I should say it's 09:33.720 --> 09:40.000 about myself that I came to, you see father and I, I'm not making a very good beginning 09:40.000 --> 09:41.000 am I? 09:41.000 --> 09:45.760 Oh but you are Matthew, you've already given us a glimpse of the situation and my husband's 09:45.760 --> 09:49.040 like a camera, give him a glimpse and he has the picture. 09:49.040 --> 09:52.400 Yes but it sometimes requires a little extra development. 09:52.400 --> 09:56.160 Why wouldn't it come to you unless I'd tried to work this thing out myself, but I just 09:56.160 --> 09:57.160 can't Dr. Hall. 09:57.160 --> 10:02.120 You see I'm a literature major and I've always planned to work in the same field as my father. 10:02.120 --> 10:05.280 Well I have a particular interest in that field myself. 10:05.280 --> 10:09.800 In my own teaching days I, I was set out to pasture there. 10:09.800 --> 10:15.800 You see now, as a sophomore you are eligible for your father's, what's in Renaissance literature. 10:15.800 --> 10:17.400 Did you register for it Matt? 10:17.400 --> 10:18.400 Yes sir. 10:18.400 --> 10:22.960 I've worked very hard Dr. Hall and believe me it's not just because father teaches. 10:22.960 --> 10:23.960 It's not. 10:23.960 --> 10:28.280 I thought I was doing pretty well but you know how correct and impersonal father is 10:28.280 --> 10:29.280 about work. 10:29.280 --> 10:30.280 Oh I do indeed. 10:30.280 --> 10:34.640 Well in trying to be completely fair father's been leaning over backwards in his attitude 10:34.640 --> 10:35.640 toward me. 10:35.640 --> 10:39.280 His standards for me are even higher than for the rest of the class. 10:39.280 --> 10:42.720 He's been making it, I just can't tell you how tough. 10:42.720 --> 10:44.960 He's going to flunk me Dr. Hall, he can't help himself. 10:44.960 --> 10:47.840 Well what do you mean he can't help himself Matt? 10:47.840 --> 10:49.760 We've put us both on the spot. 10:49.760 --> 10:53.160 I've got to be good but I can't be good enough for him. 10:53.160 --> 10:57.480 And if I flunk, well I'll get over it but father won't. 10:57.480 --> 11:01.640 I'll either have to change my major or go someplace other than Ivy. 11:01.640 --> 11:02.640 It's an awful mess. 11:02.640 --> 11:06.960 And something that would be rather uncomfortable to discuss with your father eh? 11:06.960 --> 11:07.960 Yes sir. 11:07.960 --> 11:12.160 We've considered taking advantage of our relationship on a matter relating to the classroom. 11:12.160 --> 11:14.800 And now Danty is coming up in the course. 11:14.800 --> 11:16.300 That's father's specialty. 11:16.300 --> 11:18.600 He knows more about Danty than Danty did. 11:18.600 --> 11:23.600 In fact sometimes he manages to look more like Danty than Danty. 11:23.600 --> 11:27.400 Well do you like this Danty I've seen? 11:27.400 --> 11:32.160 With a big bust and your father couldn't qualify for that. 11:32.160 --> 11:34.120 Well that's the whole story. 11:34.120 --> 11:36.760 I feel better now that I've told somebody. 11:36.760 --> 11:40.600 Well I know you love your father Matt and undoubtedly he loves you. 11:40.600 --> 11:42.560 And that's where the trouble is. 11:42.560 --> 11:45.880 He's afraid he'll put the heart before the course. 11:45.880 --> 11:50.240 Well now let me give the matter some thought Matthew. 11:50.240 --> 11:53.440 And perhaps I'll be able to suggest a course of action. 11:53.440 --> 11:56.080 In the meantime be patient and keep on working. 11:56.080 --> 11:57.080 Yes sir. 11:57.080 --> 11:59.080 Thank you very much Dr. Hall and Mrs. Hall. 11:59.080 --> 12:00.080 Goodbye. 12:00.080 --> 12:01.080 Goodbye Matt. 12:01.080 --> 12:02.080 Goodbye. 12:02.080 --> 12:03.080 Hmm. 12:03.080 --> 12:05.600 Matt seems to be in quite a spot. 12:05.600 --> 12:07.520 Is his father really that grim? 12:07.520 --> 12:11.360 No but Professor Walden's a very exacting teacher. 12:11.360 --> 12:15.760 He believes in the value of repetition in education, familiarity through reiteration, 12:15.760 --> 12:17.880 like water wearing away stones. 12:17.880 --> 12:22.240 Little drops of Socrates, little drops of Danty, little drops of Pope. 12:22.240 --> 12:23.240 Drop Naima. 12:23.240 --> 12:24.240 But Nardy. 12:24.240 --> 12:28.000 It looks as though Abraham is about to sacrifice Isaac. 12:28.000 --> 12:30.880 You'd better get out the burning bush. 12:30.880 --> 12:35.440 I hesitate to intervene in anything so delicately balanced as the relationship between father 12:35.440 --> 12:36.440 and son. 12:36.440 --> 12:43.480 I'm inclined to agree with Oscar Wilde's observation that children begin by loving their parents. 12:43.480 --> 13:08.600 As they grow older they judge them and sometimes they forgive them. 13:08.600 --> 13:13.440 The Voice of America is bringing you this presentation of the Halls of Ivy starring 13:13.440 --> 13:20.960 Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Coleman. 13:20.960 --> 13:23.520 It's several days later when we return to the Halls of Ivy. 13:23.520 --> 13:27.240 Dr. Hall has been in his study a good part of the morning when his wife Victoria brings 13:27.240 --> 13:28.240 him the mail. 13:28.240 --> 13:30.320 Here you are Toddy. 13:30.320 --> 13:31.320 Thank you darling. 13:31.320 --> 13:32.320 Anything of interest? 13:32.320 --> 13:36.320 Well there's a letter from the Ivy Exterior Decorating Company. 13:36.320 --> 13:41.800 They'd like to paint our house with their new non-fading insect repellent vitamin enriched 13:41.800 --> 13:42.800 house paint. 13:42.800 --> 13:46.360 It starts out by saying don't be a shabby neighbour. 13:46.360 --> 13:47.920 Shall I read the rest of it? 13:47.920 --> 13:49.640 No no, no dear please don't. 13:49.640 --> 13:54.560 No any letter which starts off with such an insulting premise consigns itself to the file 13:54.560 --> 13:55.560 and forget basket. 13:55.560 --> 13:59.640 If they don't like our premises I don't like theirs. 13:59.640 --> 14:04.120 Besides a vitamin enriched house paint is not good enough in these days of super science. 14:04.120 --> 14:09.200 Of course it isn't they don't even have chlorophyll in it. 14:09.200 --> 14:12.440 Obviously an outmoded product. 14:12.440 --> 14:16.880 We must have paint containing chlorophyll, B1 complex, penicillin, sulphur and assorted 14:16.880 --> 14:17.880 antibiotics. 14:17.880 --> 14:22.240 In six delicious flavours too. 14:22.240 --> 14:23.840 Does that constitute the morning's mail? 14:23.840 --> 14:24.840 No not quite. 14:24.840 --> 14:28.760 The Committee on Buildings and Maintenance headed by Professor Bronson sends a plaintiff 14:28.760 --> 14:29.760 little note. 14:29.760 --> 14:33.720 It seems that the research laboratory is overcrowded. 14:33.720 --> 14:34.720 The perennial complaint. 14:34.720 --> 14:40.480 The students say a degree of BSC means Bronson's sardine can. 14:40.480 --> 14:43.560 There's too much sympathy wasted on sardines anyway. 14:43.560 --> 14:45.440 Why do they need elbow room? 14:45.440 --> 14:46.440 They don't have any elbows. 14:46.440 --> 14:52.640 Well Vicky what are we going to do about the Walden's father and son? 14:52.640 --> 14:53.640 Oh I don't know. 14:53.640 --> 14:57.200 But whatever is done I suppose will have to be done in such a way that the dignity of 14:57.200 --> 14:59.480 both Walden's is preserved. 14:59.480 --> 15:02.920 I can't appeal to Professor Walden because that will put Matthew in the position of a 15:02.920 --> 15:03.920 plaintiff. 15:03.920 --> 15:09.640 And I can't counsel Matthew to bear it as best he can because that would imply a criticism 15:09.640 --> 15:10.640 of his father. 15:10.640 --> 15:15.440 Well it might not preserve their dignity but I'd just knock both their heads together. 15:15.440 --> 15:19.680 Probably end up by weeping copiously on both their shoulders. 15:19.680 --> 15:22.240 Oh you're underestimating yourself Vicky. 15:22.240 --> 15:25.840 You'd probably handle the situation beautifully. 15:25.840 --> 15:31.880 I shall never forget watching a performance in London of a play in which you briefly appeared. 15:31.880 --> 15:37.360 Or perhaps I should say a play which appeared briefly with you in it. 15:37.360 --> 15:38.960 Which play was that Tony? 15:38.960 --> 15:44.160 I remember nothing about it except that there was a horse in the third act which kept nibbling 15:44.160 --> 15:47.760 at your long blonde wig. 15:47.760 --> 15:52.000 Without missing a line you calmly took off the wig and gave it to the horse to eat and 15:52.000 --> 15:53.000 come. 15:53.000 --> 15:57.000 I remember that wig. 15:57.000 --> 16:03.160 The line down the middle of it was the best part in the play. 16:03.160 --> 16:05.440 And except for you the horse was the best actor. 16:05.440 --> 16:11.440 Let's say we were the best actresses dear, she was a mare. 16:11.440 --> 16:15.240 Horse or mare I noticed you got a fine round of applause from the stalls. 16:15.240 --> 16:19.360 What was the name of the production? 16:19.360 --> 16:20.360 Madness at noon? 16:20.360 --> 16:24.400 I never did figure out what that had to do with the play itself. 16:24.400 --> 16:28.040 Oh well the title was all that was left of the original after the rewriting was finished. 16:28.040 --> 16:29.040 Oh. 16:29.040 --> 16:31.200 Yeah they should have left the play and rewritten the title. 16:31.200 --> 16:36.080 Critics had such a jolly time with it, you know, madness at noon, stupor at midnight, 16:36.080 --> 16:40.880 and they'll hate themselves in the morning and things like that. 16:40.880 --> 16:45.080 The titles of bad plays have a morbid fascination for critics. 16:45.080 --> 16:50.960 I remember a dreadful piece called This Too Shall Pass Away to which one critic responded 16:50.960 --> 16:54.600 let it not stand on the order of its going. 16:54.600 --> 16:59.960 Well anyway I knew the play was closing the next day so it didn't matter. 16:59.960 --> 17:03.760 And Walden and Son will close too, Toddy, if you don't do something about them soon. 17:03.760 --> 17:08.680 Unfortunately if Professor Walden flunks his son I'm afraid he will feel compelled to justify 17:08.680 --> 17:11.680 his action by even greater severity toward his students. 17:11.680 --> 17:13.480 Yeah and Matthew would never forgive him. 17:13.480 --> 17:20.080 Now if I could find some way to prove to Professor Walden how intelligent his son really is and 17:20.080 --> 17:25.560 give him an opportunity to commend the boy's work publicly, then perhaps... 17:25.560 --> 17:27.600 I know the signs, Toddy. 17:27.600 --> 17:29.760 You're way beyond perhaps. 17:29.760 --> 17:32.040 You've hatched a big fat plot. 17:32.040 --> 17:40.200 Well I had thought of visiting Professor Walden's classroom on some conveniently routine matter 17:40.200 --> 17:44.520 in preparation for which I've been renewing my acquaintance with Dante. 17:44.520 --> 17:47.760 I've got to make sure that I make the right mistakes about him. 17:47.760 --> 17:54.760 That is I will try to be wrong in the right way. 17:54.760 --> 18:04.960 Dr. Hall, it's a privilege to have you back in the department again. 18:04.960 --> 18:05.960 Thank you Professor Walden. 18:05.960 --> 18:08.800 I hope you can stay and join our discussion. 18:08.800 --> 18:13.960 If the smell of gunpowder has an effect on an old soldier, a former teacher like yourself 18:13.960 --> 18:18.000 should respond to the equally dynamic smell of powdered chalk. 18:18.000 --> 18:22.040 Well I've been studying your notes on the blackboard. 18:22.040 --> 18:25.640 They are far more legible than any I ever put up there. 18:25.640 --> 18:29.040 We were discussing Dante and his beloved Dietriche. 18:29.040 --> 18:36.120 Yes, the best known today I suppose by their unreasonable facsimiles on calendars and cigar 18:36.120 --> 18:37.120 boxes. 18:37.120 --> 18:45.520 But I've always been fascinated by the complex relationship of Dante to La Donna Gentile 18:45.520 --> 18:47.040 Beatrice. 18:47.040 --> 18:52.440 The gentle damsel Beatrice of course appears in the Divine Comedy, but it was in the earlier 18:52.440 --> 18:57.120 work La Vita Nuova that Dante paid such eloquent tribute to his beloved. 18:57.120 --> 19:01.400 But really I didn't come to give you a lecture on what you already know. 19:01.400 --> 19:03.640 No, please go on Dr. Hall. 19:03.640 --> 19:08.160 Well then, Dante was only 26 when he wrote La Vita Nuova. 19:08.160 --> 19:10.440 That is according to his first biographer. 19:10.440 --> 19:14.440 And incidentally, who was Dante's first biographer? 19:14.440 --> 19:16.400 Let me see, you. 19:16.400 --> 19:17.720 The other Mr. Walden. 19:17.720 --> 19:19.160 Matthew, can you tell me? 19:19.160 --> 19:20.760 Yes sir, Boccaccio. 19:20.760 --> 19:26.240 Correct, Boccaccio, who as I'm sure Professor Walden has mentioned in passing wrote other 19:26.240 --> 19:31.480 things besides the Decameron. 19:31.480 --> 19:36.320 Now that you are on your feet Matthew, would you mind if I try another question on you? 19:36.320 --> 19:37.480 All right sir. 19:37.480 --> 19:43.040 I would like you to identify the sonnet which so lyrically describes the early death of 19:43.040 --> 19:44.040 Beatrice. 19:44.040 --> 19:45.480 Sonnet, Dr. Hall? 19:45.480 --> 19:46.480 Yes. 19:46.480 --> 19:51.840 The Womish contains those simple and eloquent lines, che fai, non sai novella? 19:51.840 --> 19:56.320 Morta e la Donna tua, chi era si bella? 19:56.320 --> 19:58.520 Dead is your maiden who was so fair. 19:58.520 --> 19:59.800 Do you recall it now? 19:59.800 --> 20:02.840 Well yes I do sir, but did you say sonnet? 20:02.840 --> 20:03.840 That's right. 20:03.840 --> 20:06.160 But Dr. Hall, I'm sure it wasn't a sonnet. 20:06.160 --> 20:07.160 Not a sonnet? 20:07.160 --> 20:08.960 Well if it's not a sonnet, what is it? 20:08.960 --> 20:09.960 It's a canzone sir. 20:09.960 --> 20:10.960 Canzone? 20:10.960 --> 20:13.920 Oh no, no, I'm sure it is not a canzone. 20:13.920 --> 20:18.720 Dr. Hall, the lines you quoted were written by Dante before Beatrice died and were inspired 20:18.720 --> 20:20.320 by a vision of her death, weren't they? 20:20.320 --> 20:21.440 Yes, yes, that's quite right. 20:21.440 --> 20:22.920 They were, in a sonnet. 20:22.920 --> 20:26.920 Well, but those lines are in a canzone Dr. Hall, I'm positive. 20:26.920 --> 20:27.920 You are? 20:27.920 --> 20:30.720 Well now, it's quite very simple. 20:30.720 --> 20:34.440 Why don't we appeal to the highest authority, Professor Walden? 20:34.440 --> 20:35.440 What was it Professor? 20:35.440 --> 20:37.440 A sonnet or a canzone? 20:37.440 --> 20:42.000 Well Dr. Hall, I'm afraid I have to support my pupil. 20:42.000 --> 20:43.920 He is quite correct. 20:43.920 --> 20:46.080 It was a canzone. 20:46.080 --> 20:47.080 It was? 20:47.080 --> 20:51.520 Well, thank you Professor Walden and thank you Matthew. 20:51.520 --> 20:54.020 I think I'd better retire from the field. 20:54.020 --> 20:57.520 One more such blunder and I should never be able to face either of the Waldens again. 20:57.520 --> 20:59.920 I congratulate you Matthew. 20:59.920 --> 21:04.320 Your father has a reputation for being exacting and you've just given us a fine demonstration 21:04.320 --> 21:06.720 of your own sense of exactitude. 21:06.720 --> 21:11.720 And thank you all for the privilege of being with you. 21:11.720 --> 21:22.800 Oh, Toddy, that was perfectly splendid. 21:22.800 --> 21:24.320 Now what was the reaction of the class? 21:24.320 --> 21:28.120 Well, they've been perfectly conscious of the emotional drama that has been taking place 21:28.120 --> 21:33.400 all semester Vicki, so they were as delighted as I was with the outcome. 21:33.400 --> 21:37.720 Although I must say they were most unconcerned with the fact that my reputation became slightly 21:37.720 --> 21:38.720 tarnished in the process. 21:38.720 --> 21:43.000 Oh, well I'm sure it didn't Toddy, not even with Professor Walden. 21:43.000 --> 21:44.360 Well, I don't know. 21:44.360 --> 21:49.600 Professor Walden is such a straightforward and direct man, my devious tactics may have 21:49.600 --> 21:50.600 escaped him. 21:50.600 --> 21:52.120 Well, I'm sure he's grateful to you in any case. 21:52.120 --> 21:54.520 Well, I get it darling. 21:54.520 --> 21:55.520 Hello Matthew. 21:55.520 --> 21:58.080 Hello Mrs. Hall, is Dr. Hall busy? 21:58.080 --> 22:00.120 Come in, come in, we were just talking about you. 22:00.120 --> 22:01.880 Oh Matthew, I'm glad you came by. 22:01.880 --> 22:05.040 I wanted to thank you for helping me out of my difficulties this afternoon. 22:05.040 --> 22:06.920 You thank me, Dr. Hall, for what? 22:06.920 --> 22:08.560 For picking up your cue so quickly. 22:08.560 --> 22:13.840 And for being so distressingly accurate in correcting my blunder. 22:13.840 --> 22:17.880 About that Dr. Hall, my father and I have discussed the matter. 22:17.880 --> 22:23.040 Hello, and he wanted to make absolutely sure that I was correct so he looked up the very 22:23.040 --> 22:24.840 best authority on the subject. 22:24.840 --> 22:27.080 I have brought the reference with me to show to you. 22:27.080 --> 22:30.680 Oh, I'm perfectly ready to accept Professor Walden's own judgment. 22:30.680 --> 22:33.680 Well he was particularly anxious for you to look at this. 22:33.680 --> 22:35.840 Oh, very well, let me see it. 22:35.840 --> 22:44.320 We, good heavens, oh ho ho ho, so I am convicted by my own evidence, well well. 22:44.320 --> 22:47.200 What is it Toddy, let me see, let me see, let me see. 22:47.200 --> 22:49.800 Something far they found in the files of the department. 22:49.800 --> 22:55.440 Oh, it's the canzoni form as used by Dante, term paper by William Todd Hunter Hall, and 22:55.440 --> 23:00.960 oh ho ho ho, and you got an A plus. 23:00.960 --> 23:03.160 I'd forgotten about that completely. 23:03.160 --> 23:07.400 I'm afraid I'd make a very poor criminal. 23:07.400 --> 23:12.000 I leave a trail which could be followed on a rainy day by a bloodhound with a cold in 23:12.000 --> 23:14.880 the head, a tight collar and a disinterest in the pursuit. 23:14.880 --> 23:19.080 Oh, now really. 23:19.080 --> 23:22.160 I'm afraid I only deserve a C minus in subterfuge. 23:22.160 --> 23:25.200 You rate a straight A in the Walden household, Dr. Hall. 23:25.200 --> 23:31.240 Well, as Dr. Hall's father used to say, Matt, it is not the grade which makes the man, it 23:31.240 --> 23:34.000 is the man who makes the grade. 23:34.000 --> 23:38.080 Isn't that what your father used to say, William? 23:38.080 --> 23:41.160 Your memory, my darling, is more than phenomenal. 23:41.160 --> 23:44.200 It is positively supernatural. 23:44.200 --> 23:50.160 To think of your remembering things said by my father whom you never met. 23:50.160 --> 23:55.440 But I'm sure that as a lover of beautiful things, he would have said them had he known 23:55.440 --> 23:58.440 you would repeat them. 23:58.440 --> 24:15.120 I'm afraid I only deserve a C minus in subterfuge. 24:15.120 --> 24:33.000 I'm afraid I only deserve a C minus in subterfuge. 24:33.000 --> 24:39.000 This production of the Halls of Ivy was broadcast with an actual audience present in the studio. 24:39.000 --> 24:56.000 We'll be far, far away To the hallowed halls of ivy 24:56.000 --> 25:10.000 Every voice will bid farewell And shiver off in twilight 25:10.000 --> 25:27.000 Like the old Vesper Faire.