WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:23.000 The Cavalcade of America, presented by DuPont. 00:23.000 --> 00:27.320 Prior to the American Revolution, English players held a monopoly on theatrical entertainment 00:27.320 --> 00:28.320 in this country. 00:28.320 --> 00:32.480 One of the first Americans who dared persist in the theory that American folk life and 00:32.480 --> 00:37.800 characters were worth portrayal on the stage was Joseph Jefferson, America's first great 00:37.800 --> 00:43.120 comedian, whose name is synonymous with his most famous characterization, Rip Van Winkle. 00:43.120 --> 00:46.680 It is the story of Jefferson that we are dramatizing this evening. 00:46.680 --> 00:51.880 And everyone who has fought to gain an objective in business or music or on the stage should 00:51.880 --> 00:55.520 feel a certain kinship with a famed American actor. 00:55.520 --> 00:59.260 For example, I know a lot of research chemists who would be sympathetic. 00:59.260 --> 01:03.120 These men know perhaps better than any of us what it is to make literally hundreds of 01:03.120 --> 01:08.160 attempts before reaching a goal, or perhaps having to discard an idea altogether after 01:08.160 --> 01:10.440 working on it for years. 01:10.440 --> 01:15.680 But DuPont chemists and others the world over constantly are creating new products or improving 01:15.680 --> 01:20.440 existing ones for the greater comfort and convenience of us all. 01:20.440 --> 01:25.880 Their objective is aptly expressed in the DuPont pledge, better things for better living 01:25.880 --> 01:36.240 through chemistry. 01:36.240 --> 01:41.280 As an overture, Don Voorhees and his cavalcade orchestra will play Poor Piero from Jerome 01:41.280 --> 02:04.240 Kern's operetta, The Cap and the Fiddle. 02:04.240 --> 02:24.200 The Cap and the Fiddle. 02:24.200 --> 02:47.160 The Cap and the Fiddle. 02:47.160 --> 03:07.120 The Cap and the Fiddle. 03:07.120 --> 03:27.080 The Cap and the Fiddle. 03:27.080 --> 03:47.040 The Cap and the Fiddle. 03:47.040 --> 04:07.000 The Cap and the Fiddle. 04:07.000 --> 04:26.960 The Cap and the Fiddle. 04:26.960 --> 04:48.920 Joseph Jefferson's choice of profession was neither accidental nor surprising. 04:48.920 --> 04:53.560 His father was actor-manager of a troupe of traveling players, his mother a featured actress 04:53.560 --> 04:58.640 in the company, and young Joseph was born literally in the theater. 04:58.640 --> 05:02.560 Many hardships attended his father's pioneering efforts to bring growl within the reach of 05:02.560 --> 05:04.640 provincial Americans. 05:04.640 --> 05:08.680 A characteristic incident occurred when Joseph was nine years old. 05:08.680 --> 05:13.120 The company was journeying by packet boat on the Erie Canal attempting to meet expenses 05:13.120 --> 05:16.480 by playing in the various towns along the route. 05:16.480 --> 05:20.640 The night after their Syracuse engagement, young Joseph, his mother and father, and the 05:20.640 --> 05:23.000 actors are gathered in the cabin of the packet boat. 05:23.000 --> 05:26.360 The actors are obviously disgruntled. 05:26.360 --> 05:31.560 I tell you my worthy followers of Thespis, with one more disaster such as we fell off 05:31.560 --> 05:35.280 at Syracuse last night, we shall not live to reach Chicago. 05:35.280 --> 05:37.960 Mother, why do they say that? 05:37.960 --> 05:39.760 Do they fear the Indians will shoot us? 05:39.760 --> 05:42.960 No Joseph, they're complaining because we don't make more money. 05:42.960 --> 05:49.560 Mr. Jefferson, as you know, we are all experienced actors of reputation. 05:49.560 --> 05:50.960 Why of course. 05:50.960 --> 05:55.880 That empty house we played to in Syracuse last night was an affront to our dignity. 05:55.880 --> 05:58.640 Yes, and to our pocket books as well. 05:58.640 --> 06:01.560 It is not a matter for jest, Mr. Jefferson. 06:01.560 --> 06:06.120 I suspect we did not take in enough money to pay our full package on this boat. 06:06.120 --> 06:08.760 Your suspicions are entirely correct, my dear lady. 06:08.760 --> 06:12.000 Mr. Jefferson, this is not a time for levity. 06:12.000 --> 06:13.560 The situation is serious. 06:13.560 --> 06:15.120 Good evening, Mr. Jefferson. 06:15.120 --> 06:16.800 Oh, good evening, Captain. 06:16.800 --> 06:18.520 Unpleasant weather on the Erie tonight. 06:18.520 --> 06:21.560 I ain't come to discuss the weather, Mr. Jefferson. 06:21.560 --> 06:27.240 I come to discuss a matter of ten dollars passage money that's still owing to me. 06:27.240 --> 06:31.480 And if that money ain't paid by the time we get to Buffalo, I'm warning you. 06:31.480 --> 06:32.880 I'll hold all your luggage. 06:32.880 --> 06:35.560 You mean you'll hold our costumes and clothing? 06:35.560 --> 06:36.560 Why that's ridiculous. 06:36.560 --> 06:37.560 Hold Mr. Jefferson here. 06:37.560 --> 06:38.560 He's responsible. 06:38.560 --> 06:40.560 Please, please be reasonable, Captain. 06:40.560 --> 06:43.040 It's not our fault that it rained in Syracuse last night. 06:43.040 --> 06:45.720 I know nothing about it and care less. 06:45.720 --> 06:47.360 Acton's the devil's business. 06:47.360 --> 06:53.120 My parents teach him, don't permit me to see play acton on a stage. 06:53.120 --> 06:59.240 But I'll tell you, I've got a hankering to see what acton's like. 06:59.240 --> 07:01.760 I'll make you a sporting proposition, Mr. Jefferson. 07:01.760 --> 07:02.760 Yes, Captain? 07:02.760 --> 07:07.880 If the folks in your troop will cut up for me here a bit in the cabin, just to give me 07:07.880 --> 07:13.560 a taste of what play acton's like, I'll call it square about the passage money only. 07:13.560 --> 07:15.720 Now that is a sporting proposition. 07:15.720 --> 07:18.160 Ladies and gentlemen, you have heard the captain's offer. 07:18.160 --> 07:21.920 Will you help me redeem your luggage by performing a scene from one of our plays? 07:21.920 --> 07:22.920 No, certainly not. 07:22.920 --> 07:27.800 I should say Captain's offer is an insult to our profession, asking us to cut up for 07:27.800 --> 07:28.800 him. 07:28.800 --> 07:29.800 I shall retire to the upper deck. 07:29.800 --> 07:30.800 And I will go with you. 07:30.800 --> 07:31.800 Oh, stay, please stay. 07:31.800 --> 07:35.280 It'll be such an easy matter to oblige the captain. 07:35.280 --> 07:36.280 I would say not. 07:36.280 --> 07:37.280 Oh, let them go, dear. 07:37.280 --> 07:40.600 We'll find some way to pay the captain if I have to sign on as a deckhand. 07:40.600 --> 07:41.600 Father. 07:41.600 --> 07:42.600 Yes, Joe? 07:42.600 --> 07:43.600 Let me help. 07:43.600 --> 07:44.600 I'll give the captain a show. 07:44.600 --> 07:45.600 What? 07:45.600 --> 07:46.600 A little shaver like. 07:46.600 --> 07:47.600 What? 07:47.600 --> 07:48.600 A little shaver like. 07:48.600 --> 07:49.600 What? 07:49.600 --> 07:50.600 A little shaver like. 07:50.600 --> 07:51.600 What? 07:51.600 --> 07:52.600 A little shaver like. 07:52.600 --> 07:53.600 What? 07:53.600 --> 07:54.600 A little lad know about play act. 07:54.600 --> 07:57.600 Well, I'll have you know, Captain, that my son is the fourth Jefferson in a direct line 07:57.600 --> 07:59.800 to adopt the stage as his profession. 07:59.800 --> 08:01.960 Has the lad ever performed on the stage? 08:01.960 --> 08:05.640 Our son made a successful appearance when he was but four years old with the great G.D. 08:05.640 --> 08:06.640 Rice. 08:06.640 --> 08:10.040 The black face minstrel who sings Jump Jim Coe and Zip Coon? 08:10.040 --> 08:13.280 Well, I've heard tell him up and down the whole length of the canal. 08:13.280 --> 08:16.080 I can sing Zipkoon just the way Mr. Wright sings it. 08:16.080 --> 08:17.280 He taught me how. 08:17.280 --> 08:23.580 Well, mind you, I ain't saying I'll take the lad's song and return for that ten dollars, Mr. Jefferson. 08:23.580 --> 08:24.780 I'll have to hear it first. 08:24.780 --> 08:27.180 Shall I sing now, Mother? Shall I dance too? 08:27.180 --> 08:30.180 Yes, sing and dance the first dance with me. We'll see if the Captain enjoys it. 08:30.180 --> 08:32.080 Mother, you play the guitar. 08:32.080 --> 08:33.080 All right. 08:37.880 --> 08:43.080 I was down in Sandy Hollow all afternoon, and the first man I'd ever see was Zipkoon. 08:43.080 --> 08:45.280 Old Zipkoon, he is an anti-staller. 08:45.280 --> 08:47.780 Boy, he pays all the man, Joe Cooney, in a holler. 08:47.780 --> 08:50.080 Pile him up a gum tree, Cooney, on the stump. 08:50.080 --> 08:52.380 Pile him up a gum tree, Cooney, on the stump. 08:52.380 --> 08:54.680 Pile him up a gum tree, Cooney, on the stump. 08:54.680 --> 08:57.480 It over doubles, doubles, Zipkoon will jump. 08:57.480 --> 08:58.480 Shall I go on, Mother? 08:58.480 --> 08:59.480 Yes, go on. 09:01.480 --> 09:03.980 Oh, it's old Sookie Blue Skin. She is in love with me. 09:03.980 --> 09:06.380 I went down in the afternoon to take a dish of tea. 09:06.380 --> 09:07.780 What do you think now, Sookie? 09:07.780 --> 09:10.780 Half a shop of white chicken foot and problem here without any butter. 09:10.780 --> 09:14.480 Now, that's enough. I've got to get back on deck. 09:14.480 --> 09:16.080 Didn't you like the song, Captain? 09:16.080 --> 09:17.580 I'm satisfied. 09:17.580 --> 09:19.680 Your passage money is paid, Mr. Jefferson. 09:19.680 --> 09:21.280 You're a real sportsman, Captain. 09:21.280 --> 09:21.780 Thank you. 09:21.780 --> 09:22.480 Thank you, Captain. 09:22.480 --> 09:24.080 Now, see you folks on deck. 09:25.280 --> 09:27.880 But Mother, he didn't clap once. 09:28.380 --> 09:29.880 He didn't even smile. 09:30.380 --> 09:31.780 I don't think he liked it. 09:32.180 --> 09:34.280 Don't you worry about the applause, child. 09:34.780 --> 09:35.980 I'm proud of you. 09:36.480 --> 09:39.380 You earned more in these few minutes than my whole company earned 09:39.380 --> 09:40.880 last night at Syracuse. 09:42.180 --> 09:46.080 Ten dollars for one song, and you're only nine years old. 09:46.680 --> 09:48.680 Just keep that record up, my boy. 09:48.980 --> 09:51.080 You'll be a credit to your mother and father, 09:51.580 --> 09:53.580 and to the American stage. 10:01.080 --> 10:04.580 Joseph Jefferson followed the family tradition and became an actor. 10:04.780 --> 10:08.780 But despite his early practical training and inherent love for the theater, 10:08.780 --> 10:14.780 he had reached the age of 29 without having attained any more than the standing of a respectable member of a stock company. 10:15.280 --> 10:17.780 He was far from his goal of being a star. 10:18.780 --> 10:20.680 The year is 1858. 10:20.680 --> 10:25.080 We find young Jefferson and his wife on vacation in a Pennsylvania boarding house, 10:25.080 --> 10:27.780 wiling away a rainy afternoon reading and chatting. 10:30.280 --> 10:34.480 Well, it's a bitter experience facing the fact that I'm a failure. 10:35.080 --> 10:37.080 Failure? Oh, nonsense, Joseph. 10:37.080 --> 10:39.380 Just this rainy afternoon, depressing you. 10:40.180 --> 10:42.780 Smile the sun will shine, and you'll be making plans for next season. 10:43.280 --> 10:45.780 Plans for another season in stock. 10:47.480 --> 10:49.280 Well, I suppose I should be grateful for it. 10:49.780 --> 10:50.780 It's a living. 10:51.780 --> 10:54.080 After all, I'm only a comedian. 10:54.580 --> 10:56.080 But a great comedian, dear. 10:57.380 --> 10:59.080 I wish the public thought so, Margaret. 11:00.280 --> 11:05.280 You know, I'm still obsessed with a desperate longing to find a great comedy role. 11:05.280 --> 11:08.280 A role in which tears will alternate with laughter. 11:08.780 --> 11:13.280 Someday, perhaps years hence, a great dramatist will create such a character. 11:14.780 --> 11:18.780 But I'm afraid I shan't be alive to play the role. 11:19.780 --> 11:20.780 Hmm? 11:20.780 --> 11:23.780 Oh, I'm so sorry. What did you say, dear? 11:24.780 --> 11:28.280 Oh, it's just the same old dream, Margaret. You've heard it too often. 11:28.780 --> 11:30.280 I don't wonder you've returned to your book. 11:30.280 --> 11:31.280 Oh, forgive me. 11:31.280 --> 11:32.280 What are you reading? 11:32.280 --> 11:35.780 The Life and Letters of Washington Irving. It's fascinating, Joseph. 11:36.280 --> 11:37.780 His descriptions are so perfect. 11:38.280 --> 11:39.280 Hmm. 11:39.280 --> 11:43.780 But, why, Joseph, here's your name. He mentions you. 11:43.780 --> 11:46.280 No, it can't be. It's my father, Douglas. 11:46.280 --> 11:47.780 No, no, it isn't, dear. Listen. He says, 11:47.780 --> 11:52.280 I saw the young Joe Jefferson at Lollakeen Theatre as Goldfinch in The Road to Ruin. 11:52.280 --> 11:55.280 But I thought his father one of the best actors I've ever seen. 11:55.280 --> 11:59.280 And the sun reminds me of him in look, gesture, size, and make-up. 11:59.280 --> 12:02.280 I was delighted with young Jefferson's performance. 12:02.280 --> 12:06.280 But Washington Irving mentions only distinguished people, successful men and women. 12:06.280 --> 12:07.280 Well, but... 12:07.280 --> 12:14.280 I feel practically immortal to think that he actually mentioned a lonely stock company comedian like me. 12:14.280 --> 12:15.280 It is thrilling, dear. 12:15.280 --> 12:21.280 Margaret, Washington Irving's sketchbook. Why haven't I thought of it before? 12:21.280 --> 12:24.280 It's an overpowering idea. Rip Van Winkle. 12:24.280 --> 12:25.280 Rip Van Winkle, dear. 12:25.280 --> 12:27.280 Why, it's the role I've been seeking. 12:27.280 --> 12:30.280 Don't you see, Margaret, it's the character I've dreamed of. 12:30.280 --> 12:35.280 With the proper dramatization, Rip Van Winkle can be one of the greatest characters of the American stage. 12:35.280 --> 12:50.280 From that moment, Joseph Jefferson lived, breathed, and dreamed Rip Van Winkle. 12:50.280 --> 12:54.280 He discovered several mediocre dramatizations of Washington Irving's legend, 12:54.280 --> 12:57.280 and he labored day and night to improve them. 12:57.280 --> 13:02.280 In the fall of that same year, 1858, he persuaded the manager, Mr. John T. Raymond, 13:02.280 --> 13:07.280 to present his play, Rip Van Winkle, in Carouse's Hall in Washington, D.C. 13:07.280 --> 13:12.280 The curtain has fallen on that opening performance of Rip Van Winkle starring Joseph Jefferson. 13:12.280 --> 13:17.280 At stage, Jefferson's fellow actors are gathered in small groups discussing the play. 13:17.280 --> 13:22.280 I told Jefferson the play would ever be a success, but of course he wouldn't listen. 13:22.280 --> 13:28.280 You know, there were times during rehearsals when he nearly convinced me that he was right and we were all wrong. 13:28.280 --> 13:29.280 No. 13:29.280 --> 13:31.280 But you can't fool the American public. 13:31.280 --> 13:32.280 Why, certainly not. 13:32.280 --> 13:34.280 Scarcely any applause after the final curtain. 13:34.280 --> 13:37.280 The greatest failure I've seen in my 20 years in the theater. 13:37.280 --> 13:41.280 Well, after all, what is Rip Van Winkle? 13:41.280 --> 13:45.280 The story of a good-for-nothing village loafer and drunkard. 13:45.280 --> 13:46.280 What a hero. 13:46.280 --> 13:51.280 You know, I've almost begun to wonder if there isn't something wrong with Joe Jefferson. 13:51.280 --> 13:53.280 With his brain, I mean. 13:53.280 --> 13:57.280 Whenever he puts on that Rip Van Winkle costume, there's a queer look in his eye. 13:57.280 --> 13:59.280 He doesn't seem to be in this world at all. 13:59.280 --> 14:01.280 Crush, here comes the manager. 14:01.280 --> 14:03.280 Yes, yes, on his way to Jefferson's dressing room. 14:03.280 --> 14:07.280 I'd give half a week's pay to hear what he tells Jefferson about this performance. 14:07.280 --> 14:09.280 Good evening, Mr. Raymond. 14:09.280 --> 14:11.280 Good evening. Is Mr. Jefferson still in his room? 14:11.280 --> 14:13.280 We haven't seen him come out, sir. 14:13.280 --> 14:15.280 And I asked him to wait for me. 14:15.280 --> 14:19.280 I've been waiting for you, Mr. Raymond. Come in. 14:19.280 --> 14:21.280 Yes. 14:21.280 --> 14:26.280 Well, Jefferson, there's no need in my telling you the play was a dismal failure. 14:26.280 --> 14:29.280 No, there's no need. 14:29.280 --> 14:31.280 I'm sorry, Mr. Raymond. 14:31.280 --> 14:34.280 The greatest failure I've ever seen in the theater. 14:34.280 --> 14:36.280 Here, you'd better close the door. Some of the cast is outside. 14:36.280 --> 14:38.280 Oh, yes. 14:40.280 --> 14:45.280 Well, I'm sorry for your sake, Mr. Raymond, that the play wasn't a success. 14:45.280 --> 14:50.280 Well, all I hope, Jefferson, is that this Rip Van Winkle failure has taught you a lesson. 14:50.280 --> 14:51.280 What's that? 14:51.280 --> 14:53.280 Go back to the roles you can play. 14:53.280 --> 14:57.280 Asa Trenchard and our American cousin, Bob Baker and the rivals, Caleb Plummer. 14:57.280 --> 14:59.280 Those are the roles for you. 14:59.280 --> 15:04.280 Mr. Raymond, I won't believe that Rip Van Winkle need be a failure. 15:04.280 --> 15:05.280 What? 15:05.280 --> 15:11.280 Well, you know, every man has a dream, a goal which gives him hope. 15:11.280 --> 15:17.280 Well, my dream, my ambition, is to become as distinguished in the field of comedy 15:17.280 --> 15:20.280 as Edwin Forrest and Edwin Booth are in the field of tragedy. 15:20.280 --> 15:23.280 You're deluding yourself, my poor Jefferson. 15:23.280 --> 15:27.280 A comedian will never be recognized as a great actor. 15:27.280 --> 15:31.280 The public accepts only tragedians as artists. 15:31.280 --> 15:33.280 A wise man knows his own limitations. 15:33.280 --> 15:37.280 Well, permit me my dream, Mr. Raymond. 15:37.280 --> 15:41.280 I grant you that my dramatization of Rip Van Winkle was poor, 15:41.280 --> 15:46.280 but tonight's performance has proved to me that the character of Rip Van Winkle is all that I had hoped. 15:46.280 --> 15:48.280 From this moment, I had but one goal, 15:48.280 --> 15:53.280 to find a playwright capable of creating a strong play for this great character. 15:53.280 --> 16:11.280 It was five years before Joseph Jefferson's dream approached fulfillment. 16:11.280 --> 16:14.280 Failing in his attempts to interest playwrights in the story, 16:14.280 --> 16:19.280 he was obliged to accept a four-year stock company engagement in Australia. 16:19.280 --> 16:22.280 Finally, upon his arrival in London from Australia, 16:22.280 --> 16:25.280 he persuaded the brilliant playwright, Dean Bousico, 16:25.280 --> 16:30.280 to dramatize the appealing tale of the lovable, shipless Dutchman of the Catskill Mountains. 16:30.280 --> 16:35.280 Now at last in the year 1865, the critical moment in Joseph Jefferson's life is at hand. 16:35.280 --> 16:38.280 He is on the stage of the Adelphi Theatre in London, 16:38.280 --> 16:42.280 preparing for the final rehearsal of the new play, Rip Van Winkle. 16:42.280 --> 16:46.280 Dean Bousico, the author, has just entered the theatre, and Jefferson greets him eagerly. 16:46.280 --> 16:50.280 Oh, Bousico, I feared you'd never attend the rehearsal. 16:50.280 --> 16:52.280 I'm so anxious for your opinion. 16:52.280 --> 16:54.280 Well, I hope the play's a success for your sake, Jefferson. 16:54.280 --> 16:55.280 Thank you. 16:55.280 --> 16:57.280 I'm sorry to open a Webster's theatre. 16:57.280 --> 17:00.280 What? Is the gossip true then about your quarrel with Webster? 17:00.280 --> 17:04.280 True. Certainly it's true. Webster's a pompous, strutting ninkum poop. 17:04.280 --> 17:07.280 An ignoramus who buys the theatre and considers himself an authority. 17:07.280 --> 17:09.280 An acting lighting stage set. 17:09.280 --> 17:11.280 The fool should never be permitted to manage a theatre. 17:11.280 --> 17:13.280 He should be hawking fish to housewives. 17:13.280 --> 17:17.280 Here, here. Rally round, my fellow Thespians. 17:17.280 --> 17:23.280 Take Mr. Bousico. The second Shakespeare is delivering himself of an opinion. 17:23.280 --> 17:25.280 That's enough from you, Bous. Bedford. 17:25.280 --> 17:29.280 Now listen, Bousico. Can't you and Webster declare a truce till after the opening night? 17:29.280 --> 17:34.280 We three must work together. Why, it's your play, his theatre, and my first great role. 17:34.280 --> 17:36.280 There'll be no truce, Mr. Jefferson. 17:36.280 --> 17:38.280 Glory, it's Mr. Webster himself. 17:38.280 --> 17:42.280 So, I'm a strutting ninkum poop, am I, Bousico? An ignoramus, a clown. 17:42.280 --> 17:44.280 You've known my opinion of you for some time, Webster. 17:44.280 --> 17:48.280 Well, in the presence of these actors, I'll tell you my opinion of you and your plays. 17:48.280 --> 17:53.280 Your Rip Van Winkle will not open here on Monday night, nor will my theatre ever again harbour a play of yours. 17:53.280 --> 17:55.280 Rip Van Winkle won't open? 17:55.280 --> 17:58.280 If you think I'm dependent upon your patronage, well, sir, you're mistaken. 17:58.280 --> 18:02.280 I'll be well pleased never to set foot within this so-called theatre of yours again. Good day to you. 18:02.280 --> 18:03.280 Bousico, wait! 18:03.280 --> 18:07.280 You're not called upon to interfere, Jefferson. The cast is dismissed. 18:07.280 --> 18:10.280 What, what? Mr. Webster, you can't mean this. We've rehearsed for weeks. 18:10.280 --> 18:12.280 The play's been advertised throughout London. 18:12.280 --> 18:15.280 I can't care if it's been advertised throughout the entire world. 18:15.280 --> 18:19.280 No vain hot-tempered grommetist will call me a clown and ignoramus. 18:19.280 --> 18:22.280 Mr. Webster, will you hear me, sir? 18:22.280 --> 18:24.280 Nothing you say better than will change my mind. 18:24.280 --> 18:30.280 You will grant, Mr. Webster, that I am one of the oldest and the most populous stars in the British eye. 18:30.280 --> 18:32.280 Yes, but what's that got to do with the situation? 18:32.280 --> 18:34.280 Just this, sir. 18:34.280 --> 18:40.280 Mr. Jefferson, in a manner of speaking, came here to London to compete with me in my own field. 18:40.280 --> 18:45.280 My nose was a bit out of joint to be offered a secondary part in this play. 18:45.280 --> 18:52.280 But after Mr. Jefferson's very first reading, I lost all my resentment in honest admiration. 18:52.280 --> 18:55.280 Mr. Jefferson's ability has nothing to do with the case. 18:55.280 --> 18:57.280 It's still Bousico's play, and I refuse to produce it. 18:57.280 --> 19:00.280 True, Mr. Webster, it's Bousico's play. 19:00.280 --> 19:06.280 And that's the only reason Mr. Jefferson consented to open here in London, because Bousico had a contract with you. 19:06.280 --> 19:11.280 Mr. Jefferson was anxious for the American people to hear it, Van Winkle first. 19:11.280 --> 19:18.280 Neither Mr. Jefferson nor Mr. Bousico will be the losers if you refuse to produce this play. 19:18.280 --> 19:20.280 No, no, no. What do you mean, Mr. Webster? 19:20.280 --> 19:24.280 You and the people of London will be the losers. 19:24.280 --> 19:29.280 I beg you, let London have the triumph of first producing this great play. 19:29.280 --> 19:36.280 What shall I say? For Miss Joseph Jefferson to score his greatest success in our country. 19:36.280 --> 19:40.280 That's an exterring praise, my British actor, for a Yankee. 19:40.280 --> 19:45.280 It's the honest praise of one actor for the talents of a far superior artist. 19:45.280 --> 19:51.280 That is the greatest compliment I've ever received, that's good. I shall never forget your words. 19:51.280 --> 19:57.280 Mr. Webster, Rip Van Winkle must open Monday night. 19:57.280 --> 20:05.280 Believe me, a hundred years from now, fifty, in twenty-five years, your quarrel with Bousico will be forgotten. 20:05.280 --> 20:09.280 It's of no importance if you'll pardon the liberty of an old actor. 20:09.280 --> 20:17.280 If your name survives, Mr. Webster, it will survive as the man who first presented the great American comedian, 20:17.280 --> 20:39.280 Joseph Jefferson, in his greatest role, Rip Van Winkle. 20:39.280 --> 20:48.280 Joseph Jefferson in Rip Van Winkle did open at the Adelphi Theatre in London on that Monday night, September 5th, 1865. 20:48.280 --> 20:51.280 The curtain rises on the fourth act. 20:51.280 --> 20:58.280 Rip Van Winkle has returned to his native village, Falling Waters, in the Catskill Mountains, after his strange sleep of twenty years. 20:58.280 --> 21:04.280 His hair and beard are long and white, bleached by the storms that have rolled over his head. 21:04.280 --> 21:07.280 The villagers, believing he's an idiot, taunt him. 21:07.280 --> 21:17.280 Mr. Henryk Vedder, who loves Rip's daughter, does not recognize the old man, but he attempts to befriend him. 21:17.280 --> 21:19.280 Can I help you? 21:19.280 --> 21:21.280 Just tell me where I live. 21:21.280 --> 21:23.280 Why, what's your name? 21:23.280 --> 21:30.280 Well, I don't know, but I believe I know what it used to be. 21:30.280 --> 21:36.280 My name, it used to be Rip Van Winkle. 21:36.280 --> 21:38.280 Rip Van Winkle? 21:38.280 --> 21:40.280 Impossible! 21:40.280 --> 21:43.280 Well, I wouldn't say it to it myself. 21:43.280 --> 21:46.280 I tell you how it was. 21:46.280 --> 21:58.280 Last night I went away up into the mountain, and I met a strange kind of man, and we got drinking, and I guess I got pretty drunk. 21:58.280 --> 22:04.280 And then I woke up this morning, I was dead. 22:04.280 --> 22:09.280 Fool fellow, he's crazy. Rip Van Winkle has been dead these twenty years. 22:09.280 --> 22:11.280 Send them away! 22:11.280 --> 22:19.280 Are we so soon forgotten when we are gone? No one remembers Rip Van Winkle. 22:19.280 --> 22:30.280 And then Rip's wife, Gretchen, invites Rip to dine at her house, although she does not know him. 22:30.280 --> 22:36.280 And at Gretchen's house Rip is in despair because his daughter, Meanie, does not know him either. 22:36.280 --> 22:40.280 Why do you give so earnestly and fondly on me? 22:40.280 --> 22:50.280 I'm afraid to tell you, my dear, because if you say it is not true, maybe it would break my heart. 22:50.280 --> 22:59.280 But Meanie, either I dream or I am mad. But I am your father. 22:59.280 --> 23:01.280 My father? 23:01.280 --> 23:04.280 Yes, but hear me, my dear, and then you will know. 23:04.280 --> 23:10.280 Now this village here is the village of falling waters. 23:10.280 --> 23:12.280 Well, that was my home. 23:12.280 --> 23:25.280 I had here in this place my wife Gretchen and my child Meanie, little Meanie, and my dog Schneider. 23:25.280 --> 23:30.280 That's all the family what I got. 23:30.280 --> 23:33.280 Oh, try and remember me dear, won't you? 23:33.280 --> 23:40.280 You see, this night there was a storm and my wife drives me from my house and I went away. 23:40.280 --> 23:47.280 So I got back now and my wife is gone and my home is gone. 23:47.280 --> 23:54.280 And my child looks in my face and don't know who I am. 23:54.280 --> 23:57.280 I do, father. 23:57.280 --> 24:04.280 Oh, my child, somebody knows me now. Somebody knows me. 24:04.280 --> 24:16.280 And at length as this great American folk play ends, Rip produces from his old game bag a document 24:16.280 --> 24:20.280 which proves that the scoundrel Derrick has unlawfully seized his property. 24:20.280 --> 24:24.280 And at last Gretchen knows her husband Rip Van Winkle. 24:24.280 --> 24:30.280 Oh, Rip, I drove you from your home, but do not desert me again. 24:30.280 --> 24:36.280 I will never speak one unkind word to you and you shall never see a crown on my face. 24:36.280 --> 24:37.280 Rip. 24:37.280 --> 24:38.280 Yes? 24:38.280 --> 24:42.280 You may even stay out all night if you like. 24:42.280 --> 24:45.280 No, thank you. I had enough of that. 24:45.280 --> 24:49.280 Oh, Rip, you can get tight as often as you please. 24:49.280 --> 24:52.280 No, I don't touch another drop. 24:52.280 --> 24:57.280 Oh, yes, you will, father. But see, here are all the neighbors coming to welcome you home. 24:57.280 --> 25:04.280 Well, bring in all the children and the neighbors and the dogs and everything. 25:04.280 --> 25:06.280 Have a drink, Rip. 25:06.280 --> 25:11.280 No, thank you. I swore off, you know. 25:11.280 --> 25:15.280 Well, I won't count this one. 25:15.280 --> 25:20.280 For this, this will go down with the prayer. 25:20.280 --> 25:26.280 I'll drink all your good health and your families, 25:26.280 --> 25:31.280 and may they all live long and prosper. 25:31.280 --> 25:42.280 The character of Rip Van Winkle became Jefferson's whole existence. 25:42.280 --> 25:45.280 It was never necessary for him to play any other role. 25:45.280 --> 25:50.280 Jefferson was the first American actor to dignify the art of comedy in this country. 25:50.280 --> 25:57.280 Through his superb artistry and through his persistent efforts to raise the social and intellectual standing of the actor, 25:57.280 --> 26:02.280 Joseph Jefferson helped gain undying prestige for the American stage, 26:02.280 --> 26:08.280 and he has accorded the American actor an honored place in the cavalcade of America. 26:08.280 --> 26:30.280 When you attend the theater or a movie, it's the actors on the stage or on the screen who hold your attention. 26:30.280 --> 26:32.280 Without them, there would be no show. 26:32.280 --> 26:44.280 But they'd be the first to tell you that without the people behind the scenes, directors, writers, cameramen, musicians, electricians, scenery experts, stagehands, and countless others, there would be no play or movie. 26:44.280 --> 26:49.280 And strange as it may seem, among those backstage people are the research chemists. 26:49.280 --> 26:52.280 You can see evidence of their work on every hand. 26:52.280 --> 27:01.280 For example, the amber, blue, red, and other lights which bathe the stage in warm colors are projected through sheets of gelatin, products of chemistry. 27:01.280 --> 27:08.280 The colors in costumes and curtains and background drops owe their brilliance to dyes developed by the chemists. 27:08.280 --> 27:14.280 Many a costume itself is fashioned of fabric made possible by that beautiful man-made yarn rayon. 27:14.280 --> 27:21.280 Even the makeup used by actors and actresses on stage and screen was born in the chemist laboratory. 27:21.280 --> 27:27.280 Speaking of the movies, it was the chemists who developed the modern motion picture film now in universal use. 27:27.280 --> 27:33.280 While in many a picture palace in regular theater, the seats themselves are covered with handsome coated fabrics. 27:33.280 --> 27:37.280 And of course you've noticed how colorful and gay modern theaters are. 27:37.280 --> 27:43.280 Much of this beauty comes from long-lasting finishes, also products of the chemist skill. 27:43.280 --> 27:47.280 Many other examples of the chemist contributions are to be found in the entertainment world. 27:47.280 --> 27:55.280 But these suffice to show that research chemistry is doing its share to help us enjoy our lighter moments too. 27:55.280 --> 28:04.280 Just as chemistry's contributions to commerce and industry in the home are helping to make our lives more productive, happier, more comfortable. 28:04.280 --> 28:12.280 Though you seldom see him or hear very much about him, the research chemist is constantly at work backstage, so to speak. 28:12.280 --> 28:20.280 If you'll simply look about you at home, at work, or wherever you are, you will see products which he has created or improved. 28:20.280 --> 28:30.280 And his goal, aptly expressed in the DuPont pledge, is to continue to provide better things or better living through chemistry. 28:32.280 --> 28:41.280 John W. Hyatt, the father of plastics, will be the subject of our broadcast when next week at the same time DuPont again presents the Cavalcade of America. 28:41.280 --> 28:58.280 This is the Columbia Broadcasting System.