The Cavalcade of America, presented by DuPont. This evening, the DuPont Cavalcade presents the story of Charlotte Cushman, America's first great actress. Through her pioneering efforts in the early theater of this country, the drama received an impetus that carried it to a foremost place in the standard of American culture. You'll enjoy the story of chemistry at the close of our broadcast tonight. It's about perfumes and aromatics. You might think, for instance, that 10 tons of violets would make some pretty nice violet perfume, but something is missing. How DuPont research chemists improve on nature and supply just the right aromatic to create a true violet odor is one of the many curious facts told in tonight's story of better things for better living through chemistry. As an overture, Don Voorhees and the DuPont Cavalcade Orchestra play a special setting of two old favorites. Come to me only with thine eyes and thally in our alley. The DuPont Cavalcade Orchestra plays a special setting of two old favorites. Come to me only with thine eyes and thally in our alley. The DuPont Cavalcade Orchestra plays a special setting of two old favorites. The DuPont Cavalcade moves forward. To be the first great American actress is a unique distinction. Through the brilliant versatility and genius of Charlotte Cushman, the American stage achieved its earliest prominence. Born July 23rd, 1816, of Pilgrim ancestry, Charlotte, at the age of 19, had resolutely determined to support her poverty stricken family. Thus, one Sunday morning, she is talking excitedly with her sister on the steps of an old Boston church before services. Susan, is he here? I don't know, Charlotte. I looked for Mr. Mater everywhere. Oh, he'll come. I'm sure he will. Perhaps he isn't coming after all. Oh, he must. He promised to meet you on the church steps this morning. Good morning, Miss Black. I'm afraid a big opera manager like Mr. Mater has too much to do these days besides hearing a church singer. He probably sleeps till noon every day. Oh, Susan, I'll die if he misses my solo. I only know if he once hears my voice. If he once lets me have only the tiniest part in his opera company, all our troubles will be over. Poor dear. We haven't any money left. Nothing at all. With father so terribly ill, I'm frightened. Try not to be, Charlotte. Remember, you've got to sing anyway. The service is starting. Nearly everyone's inside now. Miss Krishman, the choir master's been looking all over for you. You'd better hurry to the choir room. You haven't much time. We'll be their director. Yes, I'll tell the choir master you're ready then. Come along, Charlotte. Oh, how can I sing this morning, especially when Mr. Mater has disappointed me so frightfully? Remember, dear, this is your work. I'd sing so much better if only I knew he were listening. Do this, Charlotte. Remember how we used to imagine we were play actors when we were little? Well, just imagine Mr. Mater is here and sing with all your heart. Who wants to be an actress? I want to be an opera singer. Well, if you want to be an opera singer, you should be able to act. All right, Susan, I'll be an actress during my solo then. I'll pretend I'm singing for Mr. Mater. Charlotte and Susan hurry to the choir room. The services begin. At the oratory, Charlotte rises crumplingly in her place. Anxiously, her eyes sweep the hushed congregation, searching eagerly in the hope that James Mater might be somewhere in the church. Then with a determined effort, Charlotte sings. Come unto him, a leaf that lay born. He will give you rest. He will give you rest. When the services are over, Charlotte joins her sister Susan in the choir room. Oh, Charlotte, your solo is heavenly. Well, anyway, I pretended Mr. Mater was right here in the church listening to me. But now he isn't. It's all over and it was just a piece of bad acting, wasn't it? Too many compounded doors around here. One could hardly find the choir room. Scushman, you have a beautiful voice. Well, speak up. Can't either of you say something? Oh, Mr. Mater, were you here then after all? After all, here, of course I was here. Came a bit late, had to sit in the rear of the church. Come and see me tomorrow, Miss Scushman. You're young, but you are a singer. Oh, Charlotte made her debut in the role of the countess Almaviva in James Mater's production of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro at the Tremont Theater in Boston. The city went wild with enthusiasm over the young prima donna. The girl's ego-ambitious mind was filled with glimmering visions of a rapturous operatic career. But one night in New Orleans, James Mater and Charlotte's sister Susan stand on the wings of the opera house as Charlotte sings her aria. Oh, I'm terribly worried about Charlotte tonight. She tries too hard. She's overworked her voice. Charlotte's been singing too much lately, Mr. Mater. She's just tired tonight, I think. Oh, it's more than that, Susan. In spite of my warning, she constantly strains for those high notes. She's ruining her voice if she hasn't already ruined it. You don't really think that... Listen, listen. Mr. Mater, what's the matter? Why, I don't know, my dear. She must be ill. Miss Cuthbert, they're gone. Jesus needs some help. I didn't talk about this music yet. If we don't get Qin O'ducs to come tonight, we'll be quite lonely for now. So we had to have a go at this music,ции? Charles said that there's something going on between the two drill biomedical assistants. But I don't think that's a good idea. She's angry at us. It could be any. But it could beologic. And by a refrigerator we want it to flow from everything we've got. It's terrible. But it's terrible. My throat is cold. I'll get you some coffee. Oh, never mind, never mind, my dear. Ryan, tell Miss Henshaw to go on in Miss Cushman's pie. Yes, sir. We're going to take Miss Cushman over to the dressing room. She must rest. Come along, Charlotte. Oh, Mr. Mater, I can't understand this. I didn't think I could lose my voice. Oh, all of a sudden, I wanted to be a success so desperate. Well, that's often the way, my dear. I don't blame you. I censure your ambition. Now it's all over, completely finished. I must say it. Oh, don't say that, Charlotte. Don't, don't say it because it isn't true at all. Oh, it is true. I know. Charlotte, come in the dressing room, dear. We can talk so much better then. Are they going up with the performance, Mr. Mater? Well, of course, my dear. Miss Henshaw will finish the opera for you. And after a good night's sleep, Charlotte, you'll be as fresh as ever. Tomorrow you'll see that... There won't be any tomorrow, Susan. My voice is ruined. I know. My operatic career is over. Oh, don't take it so hard, Charlotte. It may not be so. Oh, I'm a failure. I don't know what I'll do now. Well, you're not a failure, Charlotte. Of course you're not, Charlotte. You just wanted success too suddenly, that's all. You overworked your voice. You must rest. You mustn't jump at conclusions too quickly. One night, one failure doesn't mean your operatic career is over. But I know my own voice. I shall never sing again. Oh, Charlotte. Oh, answer, Susan. I don't want to see anyone. All right, Charlotte. Yes? What is it? I'm a friend of Jim Mater. Could I speak to Miss Cushman, please? Oh, come in, Barton. Come in. I'm delighted to see you. This is Mr. Barton, Charlotte. He's a dramatic coach and a producer. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Cushman. I was out in the house tonight. Oh, please. I realized what happened, that your voice was overstrained. Miss Cushman, I'm going to speak impulsively and quickly. Will you listen? Certainly. Go on, Mr. Barton. Miss Cushman, it's true you did not appear to mow the best musical advantage tonight. And yet, you were absolutely dominating out there on that stage. Your dramatic presence is astonishingly superb. Would you consider becoming an actress? Charlotte. There, you see, Charlotte? The world is full of careers. An actress? Oh, yes. Tell me, Mr. Barton, do you think I might become an actress? I'll teach you, but you must work very hard. Oh, I will. I know I will. It was J.H. Barton who developed the great dramatic instincts of Charlotte Cushman. For three years, she astonished New York, appearing in a variety of demanding roles. Then, in 1844, determined to bring unusual distinction to the American theater, the actress sailed for England. Susan, now herself an actress of notable ability, soon joined her in London. One night, as the stage of the Haymarket Theater is being set for the balcony scene of Romeo and Juliet, the girls are surprised when B. Anne Webster, manager of the theater, rushes across the wings to them. I hate to interrupt you in the middle of the performance, Miss Cushman, but this is an extraordinary emergency. I insist that you don't ring up the curtain on the next scene. What do you mean, Mr. Webster? This fantastic idea of yours, playing Romeo. Whoever heard of an actress playing Romeo? Well, in Shakespeare's day, men played women's parts. Why can't women play men's parts now? What's the difference if a person's a good actress? Well, anyway, the audience seems to be attentive, and not to tend to that. The audience is stunned. They don't know what to make of it. But this is a big scene in a play. Way too lazy, Ed. That's what worries me. Everybody knows the balcony scene. Any role should be easy to a real actress. I've been trained in the American theater. I can act any part. The American theater? Nonsense. Places, everybody. Ready, Miss Cushman. Do you want to stop the performance, Mr. Webster? Well, I should. Have you ever heard an English audience hiss a performance they don't like? You're trying to frighten us. You're a plucky girl, and I don't like to see you ruin your career. I can see you're indisposed. Oh, don't be ridiculous. They accepted the first act. What's a balcony scene? Don't... If they hoot you off the stage, you'll only have yourself to blame. Are you afraid, Susan? No. Not with you, Charlotte. They're not in the balcony with you. That idiotic couple of American Indians. You're doomed to be actress. You ready, dear? Yes, Charlotte. We'll give them a balcony scene they won't forget. Ring up the curtain. He just set scars that never felt a wound. But soft, what light through yonder window breaks. It is the East, and duly it is the Sun. Arise, dear son. In the old Haymarket Theatre, the audience sat enthralled as the beautiful voices of these young American players rose in lyric recitation of the tenderest love passages in literature. The silence is breathless as the scene draws to a close. Good night. Good night. Parting is such sweet sorrow that I shall say good night till it be morrow. Sleep dwell upon thine eyes, peace in thy breast. Would I were sleep and peace so sweet to rest. Charlotte Cushman's amazing venture as Romeo elevated the art of American acting to a lofty pinnacle before an admiring world. After a record engagement of 80 nights, Charlotte returned in triumph to America. As the years passed, it was as Meg Merrilees, the gypsy hag in the dramatization of Sir Walter Scott's novel Guy Manoring, that Charlotte Cushman has become immortal in the annals of the American state. The scene in that play where Meg sends a message to Colonel Manoring by Abel Sampson always hushed the theatre with a strange emotion. And never was this more true than on a warm spring night in 1859. Listen, youth, to words of power. Swiftly comes the rightful hour. The dark shall be light and the wrong made right. And Bertram's right and Bertram's might shall meet on Ellen Gowans height. Ah, to the under Abel Sampson I want. Halt! Stand fast or you shall rue the day while the limb of your hangs together. Avoid thee mad hour. No, I'm not mad. I've been imprisoned for mad. Scourged for mad, banished for mad. But mad I am not. I'll say, I will most accursed. Uh-oh, I mean, that is most accurate. Then tell Colonel Manoring he must come instantly, armed and well attended, to the glen below the Tower of Duncoups and fail not on his life. Lo, I obey. Aye, for the tree is withered now, never to be green again. And old Meg Merrily's will never sing blight songs more. Woman, what sayest thou? Aye, that you tell him not to forget Meg Merrily's, but to build up the old walls in the glen for her sake. For if ever the dead come back among the living, I will be seen in that glen many a night after these crazed bones are whitened in the moldering grave. Oh, aye. But Colonel Manoring, he shall be the best lord that Ellen Gowans seen these hundred years. To Manoring, oi! Lo, I will heimey, nimbly. Now then, to complete the work of fate, the moment is at hand when all shall behold Bertram's right and Bertram's might meet in Ellen Gowans' height. When the curtain falls on the play that night, Charlotte finds her automatic coach, Mr. Barton, waiting for her in the wing. Charlotte, my dear, how good it is to see you. After all these years, my old friend, it's almost like old times. Almost. I, uh, I felt I had to come tonight. Yes, I, I understand. This is Mr. Carney, Mr. Barton. How do you do, sir? Have pleasure, sir. He's Abel Sampson in the cast. That was a great performance, Miss Cushman. Don't you think so, Mr. Barton? You'll excuse me, won't you? I don't feel like talking just now. I'm a little tired. I'll wait for you at the stage door, Charlotte. Mr. Barton, I've played with a lot of actresses, but never have I been as moved as I was tonight. Didn't she play that theme magnificently? More magnificently than you think, I'm afraid. Oh, I'll never forget the way she said that line. The tree is withered now, never to be green again. She put her whole heart into it. She most certainly did, young man. Her sister Susan died this afternoon. Saddened by the death of her beloved sister, Charlotte sought consolation in her art. The greatest actress of her day, her name was billed with the foremost name of the artist. After her retirement from the stage, Charlotte gave a series of dramatic readings throughout the nation. One evening in 1875, as she leaves the platform of a theater in Chicago, a young girl approaches her. Miss Cushman, Miss Cushman. Yes, what is it? Miss Cushman, could I speak with you a moment? I'm an actress. My name is Jane Lewis. Certainly, Jane. Come over here, we'll sit down. Thank you. It's awfully nice of you. Now then, what did you want to talk to me about? Well, Miss Cushman, as I said, I'm an actress. Just a little stock company, you know. But I'm young and I want your advice. Oh, I've got loads of friends, but yours is the opinion I'd like to have. What's bothering you, my dear? You see, it's this. I'm in love. Yes? And if I do get married, my fiancee wants me to give up the theater. I see. And you want my advice, do you, Jane? As an actress. Yes, Miss Cushman. Oh, as an actress? Well, that'll be a little more difficult than if I advised you as a woman, my dear. No, no. As an actress. Please, Miss Cushman. Very well, Jane. Now, what I'm going to say to you, my child, oh, I wish it might be written on the wall of every young American actress's dressing room. It is this. I found my career to be sadly real and intensely earnest. To be thoroughly earnest is the secret of success, Jane. Art is an absolute taskmaster. It will not be trifled with or slighted. Art requires the most entire self-devotion. There's your answer, Jane. And it requires the most complete self-devotion. And it repays. Ah, yes. It repays with glorious triumphs. Ah. Charlotte died a little over a year later on February 18, 1876, in an age when actresses are customarily typed. The memory of this pioneer American artist who portrayed roles of every age and description becomes an inspiration. The Cushman Clubs, maintained in several cities throughout the United States for actresses touring with road companies, symbolize a tribute to the ever-present spirit of Charlotte Cushman. The only actress to achieve a place in the Hall of Fame, DuPont salutes Charlotte Cushman and the Queen of America. Which do you think would make the better perfume, a nice big bunch of fragrant lilacs or a large lump of black coal? Strangely enough, the answer is a lump of coal. No one has ever succeeded in producing the true lilac odor by extracting the natural oils from the flour itself. But from coal, chemists extract coal tar, which provides bases for sweet-smelling perfumes. Of course, the natural flowers are used in certain cases to produce perfumes. But ten tons of violets, for example, are needed to get a single ounce of natural violet essence. That's a mighty slow and expensive operation. And even when nature's own flowers are used, something is missing in the final extract. It really doesn't smell like violets do. So chemists add man-made essences to bring out the true odor of violets. Chemists have developed more than a thousand chemicals called aromatics. This has made it possible for millions to enjoy perfumes that once were far too expensive for the average purse because of the lack of, and therefore, the high cost of nature's ingredients. Today, DuPont chemists duplicate odors like lilac or lily of the valley, which could not be produced a few years ago at any cost. The chemist, too, has originated many pleasing new odors that even old mother nature never thought of. One of the latest made from a coal tar product is trademarked alpine violet. Perfumes made with DuPont aromatics provide the elusive fragrance of a flower called the mountain cyclamen. Many a musk deer now racing happily across the rocky slopes of Tibet owes its life to the research chemists. The demand for the musk from these animals was once so great that if a pure grade could have been obtained, a pound of it would have been worth many thousands of dollars. So the musk deer stood a good chance of becoming exterminated until the chemist made a synthetic musk for a fraction of the price. The synthetic musk blends many odors into one and at the same time gives permanence or lasting power to perfumes. These aromatic bases impart a pleasant odor to soaps, cosmetics, and toilet goods of all kinds. They also give an agreeable scent to leather, paint, textiles, and linoleum. Perfumes are even used to make medicines and inks, pleasing to our sense of smell. In fact, many products that serve us daily would offend our noses if it were not for the art of perfumery. Aromatic bases are just a few of the useful products that DuPont chemists make from coal tar. And coal tar is but one of the many raw materials with which DuPont chemists work in their constant effort to provide better things for better living through chemistry. The Search for Iron The search for iron, the story of Hephzibah Merit and her seven sons who discovered iron in northern Minnesota, will be the subject of our broadcast when next week at the same time, DuPont again presents the Cavalcade of America. This is the Columbia Broadcasting System. Music
