The Cavalcade of America, sponsored by DuPont, maker of better things for better living through
chemistry, presents Patrice Munsell, Jesse Royce Landis, and Edwin Jerome in Song from Spokane.
Before we begin our play, here's a word about a product that'll be brightening up many homes
this spring. It's Speed-Easy, the new DuPont wall finish that covers even dingy wallpaper with one
coat. It is one of the DuPont better things for better living that is still available to the
public. Speed-Easy saves time, goes on so easily, dries in an hour, saves money. The average room
costs less than three dollars, saves critical war materials too, because it thins with water. If
you're painting a room this year, save with DuPont Speed-Easy. Ladies and gentlemen, may we for the
moment draw your attention from the headlines to a simple yet significant point. America is
still a land of opportunity and sudden wonder. Cinderella and Horatio Alger are still among us,
and in that point lies much of our strength. In the city of Spokane, Washington, a few years
ago lived a girl named Patrice Munsell. She was an average American girl in an average American
community, preparing eventually to lead an average adult life. But because she liked to sing, things
began happening to this average life. Things began and continued happening, till one night in New
York, the girl from Spokane stepped forth for her debut performance on the stage of the Metropolitan
Opera House, and Horatio Alger and Cinderella, hovering in the wings, smiled upon their protégé.
Tonight's cavalcade play written by Halstead Wells is the story of that girl from Spokane,
Patrice Munsell. DuPont presents Patrice Munsell, 18-year-old star of the Metropolitan Opera,
with Jesse Royce Landis as her mother, and Edwin Jerome as her singing teacher, William
Herman in Song from Spokane on the cavalcade of America.
And so ended an aria from the opera mainly. Patrice Munsell had made her debut. Later that night,
as the great golden curtain at the Metropolitan fell, a new star took her place on the roster of
the Metropolitan Opera Company. Patrice Munsell, 18-year-old coloratura from Spokane, Washington.
It was the 4th of December, 1943. Three hours later, when the applause had become a memory,
Patrice Munsell sat in her hotel room writing a letter.
December 4th, 1943. Dear Bobby, well Bobby, it's done. Done all right, I guess, from the
way things sounded at the Metropolitan tonight. Are you flying tonight in California with your
squadron? It's really December 5th here, but it's too early in the morning to be tomorrow.
And anyway, I don't want tomorrow yet. I'm alone, and I've got to scribble my way near you. If my
words look kind of limp, it's because I feel like the taffy we used to pull at the high school
parties back in Spokane. It's just four years ago now, when we were freshmen, you 14 and me 15,
everybody was at the party whistling, but you hadn't come. You'd been playing football.
You know, if we keep on, we'll end up whistling birds for Walt Disney. Not me. Whistling is okay,
but it's what I call a limited sphere. Now take me. I've been working up other things for extra
power, like a loon crying over the water or under the water or a man sawing wood while a train starts.
See what I mean about whistling, Pat? Well, I like whistling all right. Oh, yeah, but you've got to
have something else. Well, I like singing. Singing? Yeah, that's okay too. Hello, everybody.
This is Pat Munsell. Pat, I guess you know Bobby. Yes, I've noticed you playing football. I've
noticed you too. You have? Where? At school. 2,500 kids and I've noticed you. Have you? Come on,
everybody. Taffy's ready to pull. Get your partners and head for the kitchen. Taffy? Say,
whose idea was this? My mother's. Don't you think she's kind of juvenile? Oh, I know, kidding.
Pat, have you got anybody to pull with? Aren't you maybe too tired from football? No,
of course not. Come on, we'll pull together. Bobby, tonight at the Met I could still hear you saying
that. These four years, so many people have been pulling with me and for me. Most of all,
of course, mother and daddy. I couldn't have done it without them, without you, without everybody.
Big things help and little things happen and help. Like my whistling teacher asking her
brother to hear me sing in the Pirates of Penzance that freshman year. He liked me and
because he'd studied with a famous conductor and because the conductor was giving a concert at the
University of Idaho, that's why he could give me an audition. And that's why daddy drove mother and
me the 85 miles from Spokane to Moscow, Idaho. Well, the conductor heard me and then he said,
I must go to New York and study. He was wonderful. He seemed to feel so assured about me. We were so
excited. Driving home that night, we stopped by the lake. How lovely the lake looks way below us.
The lake's bigger at night, mother. The mountains are taller. Well, in the way we've been talking,
it looks as if the best thing would be for you two to go to New York. Take eight weeks and try it.
If it works out, then stay on. If it doesn't, Pat will still have time to get back for high school.
I'd like to sing. Well? What do you say, daddy? New York. Mother? New York. How about you, Pat?
Which way is east? You're looking east. East it is. Beyond the mountains is Montana. Beyond
Montana, Dakota, where I came from. Minnesota, where your mother came from. And New York is
beyond, way beyond. You'll go beyond where we came from. That's right. That's the way it should be,
isn't it, mother? Yes, dear. That summer in New York was something, Bobby. Gee, it was hot. And I
wasn't getting anywhere. My teacher was good, but we just didn't work out together. At the end of a
month, I was singing like a frog. Mother was worried, and I was worried. We didn't know where
to turn or who to ask. We decided to quit, packed our bags for Spokane. Then one of those little
things that I was writing about happened. A woman we'd never seen came up and said she heard me
practicing in the studio. She begged us to stay and try her singing coach, William Herman. So we
met him. He suggested I work with him for ten days and then decide. So I did. Mrs. Munsell and
Patrice, the ten days are up. What you have found out, I don't know. But I have found a voice that
is flawless. There's nothing to be corrected, nothing to be overcome. Time and work will tell
the grand story. I want you to stay. Two years, three years, four, as long as it takes. Mr. Herman,
I think you've been wonderful for Pat. Oh, and I loved working with you. Singing is fun. Don't
you think so, Mr. Herman? Yes, but there's another side, and you should face it while there's still a
chance to turn back. What do you mean? Well, Patrice, all performers, actors, dancers, musicians, circus
people, when they begin to fulfill themselves, they begin in a way to defeat themselves. They
become public servants and must often submit to a public will. Loneliness can grow with applause.
For all the bright lights, a performer travels the dark way, and that isn't fun. I know. Patrice,
I want you to stay, but I want you to be very sure you want to. Well? I don't know, Mr. Herman. I
have a lot of friends in Spokane. That's where I live. Maybe I'll give that all up, and I won't be
good enough. It's a tough decision, but it's for you to make. I've only had one year of high school,
and school starts next week. Will, Pat? I like to sing, but I guess I'd rather be a sophomore.
Gosh, Bobby, is there any place like Spokane, any country like Washington,
Indian summer with you? I'll never forget that Thanksgiving game. Oh, what fun we had after it
at Four Lakes, singing together and holding hands, watching the bonfire burn the night,
home late and the house dark, whispering on the front porch, and you kissed me, and your arm going
around hit the doorbell. See what I mean about the little things that happen? Is that you, Pat? Yes,
Mother. How was the bonfire? Wonderful. Is Daddy asleep? Yes. Can I sit on your bed a minute? Of
course, darling. You know, Daddy and I have been talking about you. Another letter came today from
Mr. Herman urging you to go back to New York. Your singing teacher here says the same, the
principal too. He told me you could get credit here if you tutored there, and Mr. Herman is a
Phi Beta Kappa from Cornell. What do you think? Oh, Mother, I don't know what to say. I love home,
and my friends are here, my teachers, and Bobby. Can't you and Daddy decide for me? It's your life,
Pat. I wish they weren't going to ask me to sing. I just want to sit here by you. Yeah, me too. I wish
we were alone. I wish we were too. Ladies and gentlemen of Lewis and Clark High, our farewell
rally for our friend is just about over. Oh, really? Now, sitting here by a boy called Bobby
is a girl called Pat. You've heard from Bobby. Would you like to hear from Pat? She says she can't
say anything. I think she kind of hates to leave us, or at least leave Bobby. Shall I ask her to
sing? Well, I guess we didn't get our wish, Pat. You better sing. All right, but this one's for you, Bobby.
I'll never laugh again. What good would it do? For tears would fill my eyes. My heart would
realize that all your life is true. I'll never laugh again. I'm so in love with you. I'll never thrill
again who somebody knew. Within my heart, I know I will never start to smile again until I smile
at you.
Patrice Munsell with Jesse Royce Landis as her mother and Edwin Jerome as her singing teacher in
Song from Spokane, the story of the 18-year-old girl who is the Metropolitan Opera's newest star
on the cavalcade of America sponsored by DuPont, maker of better things for better living through
chemistry. As our story continues, Patrice Munsell has returned to New York to resume preparing for
a career in opera. Keep the breath high, Patrice, high. Fine, fine. Patrice, now that you're back to
stay, I've laid out a... This, of course, is in addition to singing lessons and practice. Here it
is. English and American literature, history. You'll have another teacher for French, another
for Italian, another for musical theory, another for fencing, and one for acting. It seems a lot.
But you'll do it? I'll do it. Two years of it, Bobby. But there were other things. I'd go
riding in Central Park and think it was the prairie, swim in the hotel pool and make it the
Pacific, and ride you every night to feel you near. Two years. And then a big thing happened. I sang
on the Metropolitan auditions of the air. You can imagine how I must have felt when I heard
the announcer. Ladies and gentlemen, these young people singing here tonight are singing to a
nation at war. That we can sing at a time like this is a tribute to the power of our country and
the power of music. For music fights too. Across the continent, singers and symphonies are proving
that freedom has music and freedom is music. Our next contestant this evening is Miss Patrice
Munsell of Spokane, Washington. Miss Munsell sings, O Luce di quest'anima.
Oh Carlo, Carlo, Carlo. E chi sa mai quanti li avrò sofferto, ma non al par di me.
E ne ho d'amore, queste fior mi lascio in era care, e per quel core io l'amo.
Ah, unica di lui bene, puveri entrambi siano, e vi ando mai di speme.
Pizzare in mio toncore, e li si ralzerà, co suoi talenti, sarò sua sposa allora.
Ah, unica di lui.
Oh Luce di quest'anima, amata, delizia e vita, la sorria unica di osprea, in terra, in cielo
sarà. Se vieni a me riposati su questo core che t'ama, che ti sospira e brava, che per te sovivrà.
Oh Luce di quest'anima, amata, delizia e vita, unica nostra sonnata in terra, in cielo
sarà.
Oh Luce di quest'anima, amata, delizia e vita, unica nostra sonnata in terra, in cielo
sarà. Unica nostra sonnata in cielo sarà.
Vieni al mio core che ti sospira, che per te solo ti sovivrà, si sovivrà forte.
Ah, si, ah, ah, si, ah, ah, si sovivrà forte.
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah.
And when I was done, Bobby, I'd won with a contract for the Met.
Then Mother and I started home for a summer of rest.
Did the train seem good?
Did the West seem good?
With all of us together again.
Bobby, it's 2 a.m. and I've got to stop writing.
But what a perfect summer we had.
Right up until the end.
Even the parting was perfect.
But parting can be perfect.
When you started for Texas in the Air Corps and I started for New York.
Do you remember the last Sunday at our house reading the funny papers on the floor?
And just as Black Jack was about to spring the trap on her...
Bobby, how long will you be in Texas?
Crash!
She threw the magic bottle and saved her life with a chemical compound.
What will happen after Texas?
Well, after Texas, I guess it's California, Santa Ana.
And then?
Wings, I hope.
I wish my train went before yours did.
No, I don't mean that.
Do you want to read the funny papers anymore?
No.
Do you?
No.
I can hear your watch tick.
Your hands are brown.
Pat.
Yes?
Let's say goodbye here.
Instead of at the train with everybody around.
All right.
How do you say it?
I don't know.
I thought you'd start.
Maybe it starts itself.
What are you looking at?
Picture of an airplane.
Remember when you sang, I'll never smile again?
You see, you're smiling now.
That's different.
I know it is, Pat.
Look, you're already 18 and I'm 19.
How much should we mean to each other?
I mean, how close do you think we ought to be?
Close as we are now.
Not closer?
Close as we grow.
Yeah, I guess that's it.
Kiss me.
Now count one, two, three.
We'll say goodbye together.
Goodbye.
It's 2.30 now.
Started to snow.
Mother's asleep.
I have your new picture by me.
I'm glad I wrote you.
I'm not alone now.
Tomorrow can come.
You're close.
Closer than ever.
Good night, Bobby.
Love, Pat.
Thank you, Patrice Munsell, Jesse Royce Landis, Edwin Jerome, and Richard Widmark.
Before we tell you about next Monday's Cabalcade, here is George Albee speaking for DuPont
with this week's story of chemistry.
Good evening.
I have visited many plants of the DuPont company for a number of years now, collecting facts
for these weekly stories of chemistry.
This week I learned how chemistry is aiding the farmer in his task of increasing the supply
of poultry and eggs.
Have you ever stopped to realize what's required to produce the dozen eggs you buy so casually
at the store?
What are the necessary ingredients?
What are the things you have to have that have to be done before anybody can say a dozen
grade A eggs, please?
Well first of all, there's the hen.
The hen has to have a roof over her head and litter underfoot to keep her warm and dry.
Believe it or not, hens catch cold very easily.
Then there's the great amount of hard, painstaking work the farmer puts into caring for the henhouse,
raking the floor, disinfecting walls and roofs, maintaining a supply of fresh, clean drinking
water.
Finally, there's feed.
Our poultry industry is what it is today, largely because so much scientific research
has gone into discovering how to feed chickens efficiently.
Included in the diet of hens are various grains, proteins, minerals, and vitamins.
And one of the most important of these is vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin.
A chick must have the sunshine vitamin in order to grow sturdy and strong.
A laying hen must have it for health and egg production.
A source of vitamin D that's scientifically controlled and always uniform has been provided
as a result of ten years of research.
It's a dramatic example of chemistry at work.
For this development of chemistry captures the vitamin D effect of sunlight.
Great banks of ultraviolet lamps supplying the same ultraviolet rays found in sunshine
are used to irradiate the raw materials utilized by this discovery.
These materials are found within the boundaries of the United States.
They supply the necessary chemical substances which are converted into vitamin D.
Trademarked delsterol, deactivated animal sterol, this vital ingredient of scientifically
balanced poultry feeds is one of DuPont's better things for better living through chemistry.
Next week DuPont presents Anne Southern and Joey Brown in GI Circuit, the spirited and
sympathetic story of the thousands of little known and courageous entertainers who tour
the battle fronts with their USO camp shows.
Filled with humor and heartwarming appeal, the play is a tribute to the men and women
who sacrificed their time and their comfort to the great job of bringing a little touch
of home to the boys overseas.
Cabellcade is pleased to remind its audience that Patrice Munsell is singing this season
with the Metropolitan Opera Company.
Miss Landis is currently featured in the Broadway hit comedy Kiss and Tell.
Tonight's DuPont Cabellcade Orchestra was under the direction of Donald Voorhees.
This is Roland Winters sending best wishes from Cabellcade's sponsor, the DuPont Company
of Wilmington, Delaware, who invites you to join Cabellcade's audience again next Monday
when Anne Southern and Joey Brown will be starred in GI Circuit.
This is a story of the men and women of show business who are touring the world's battle
areas on the USO camp show circuit.
This is the National Broadcasting Company.