The Cavalcade of America, presented by DuPont. From the days of Charlotte Cushman, the American theater has been graced by actresses of charm, talent, and beauty. Their names have become famous all over the world. But more than any other, one beloved woman who reached the best years of her artistic life after 60, remains supreme in the affection and esteem of our generation. Her career spanned an era, carrying her from one-night stands on road tours, through the fabulous wonder of old Broadway at its best, finally to Hollywood stardom. Her name is a national memory. Mary Dresden. As the Roberture, Don Borez, and the DuPont Cavalcade Orchestra play, this is it. From Arthur Schwartz's musical success, Stars in Your Eyes. From the days of Charlotte Cushman, the American theater has been graced by actresses of charm, talent, and beauty. Her career spanned an era, carrying her from one-night stands on road tours, through the fabulous wonder of old Broadway at its best, finally to Hollywood stardom. Her career spanned an era, carrying her from one-night stands on road tours, through the fabulous wonder of old Broadway at its best, finally to Hollywood stardom. Her career spanned an era, carrying her from one-night stands on road tours, through the fabulous wonder of old Broadway at its best, finally to Hollywood stardom. Her career spanned an era, carrying her from one-night stands on road tours, through the fabulous wonder of old Broadway at its best, finally to Hollywood stardom. Music Applause This is the story of an ugly duckling, of a woman born without charm, without duty or grace to make her lovable. Yet in the difficult profession she chose, no woman ever won more affection. The average success story is the struggle of intellect with adverse circumstances. This the almost unplanned triumph of a generous heart. Mary Dressler was born Leela Kerber in Coburg, Canada, and at the age of fourteen joined a traveling operatic company. It was in the 1880s. Here mother, we've been here the whole year since I left home. I still miss you but I'm glad I can help out. What do you think happened last week? They've taken me out of the course and given me a singing part. Catashaw in the Mercado. So I'm sending eight dollars. Buy a turkey for Thanksgiving with all the fixin'. Music All Mary Dressler wanted was to earn comfort for her mother, for herself, that elusive prize of success and happiness. One day at a rehearsal in Harrisburg. Oh, this is very interesting and I should like to have seen it. But we care about a totally different matter. A year ago my son, the heir of the throne of Japan bolted from our imperial court. Indeed. Had he any reason to be dissatisfied with his position? None whatever. On the contrary, I was going to marry him. Yet he fled. I am surprised that he should have fled from one so lovely. That's not true. True. Wait a minute, what's the matter anyway? Try that scene again, or we might put some punch in it. All right, go on, Miss Dressler. Mary Dressler! Yes, yes, Mr. Pratt. We're waiting. Go ahead with your speech. All right. Coco, you hold that I am not beautiful because my face is, is plain. You hold that I am not beautiful, but you, you know nothing. You, you are... Well, go on. I can't. Oh, what's going on? I thought this was a rehearsal. I'm hungry. What's the matter? Nothing. I'm going to sit down. All right, all right. I cast it, Miss. Be back here at two o'clock. I don't know what to do with all that beer. Listen, Marie, what do you mean you're hungry? Anybody can live on eight dollars a week? Well, you give the rest of the cast 25 cents a day beer money. Yes, but you don't drink beer. Well, all I want is a dollar advance on next week's salary. Well, what did you do with your pay envelope? Well, I sent it to my mother. Yeah, yeah. I only did it, Mr. Pratt, because the rest of the cast said I'd be getting a raise. A raise? Well, you've taken me out of the chorus and let me play cat-a-shon. And then I come on, people laugh. Well, now don't get a slow head, kid. The test of an actress is her future. What am I going to do with you after the micado? You ever stop to think of that? My voice is getting stronger. I can't use you for heroines. I've got to have good lookers. And pursue red steps out, too, because you're so big. I guess I am growing off so fast. My feet are... Yeah, I know, I know. You see the position I'm in? You told me you were 18 and you're about 14, aren't you? Now let's think this thing over, Marie. Say, I've got to. Have you ever done any work in a club or restaurant? No, I played cupid once in a church supper. No, no, this would be different. Listen, Marie, I've got a brother George in Philadelphia. You ever hear of him? No. Well, George booked singers for restaurants. Marie, I'd better tell you the truth. George was over here last week and he caught your number and thought you were just the girl for the job in Atlantic City. You'll catch the night train to Philadelphia, see? To Unsorrowed? Oh, gee, thanks, Mr. Pratt. Don't thank me. Again, glad to do you a favor. George Pratt? No, he's left town months ago. Oh. Someone's bringing kidding, sister. And it began again, the endless chain of day coaches, of 15 cent dinners, of cold dressing rooms and snippish boarding house landlady. That would have been the reality to an unromantic heart with the young Mary Dursler, the reality of the theater, the plays themselves. 40 roles in 11 years. That was Mary's youth in the roadfellas of America. The big opportunity she'd waited for was the character part in Lady Slavery. It was a hit, a four-year hit, and Mary was a star. Not quite knowing how she did it, but supremely happy, she moved her family to Long Island and had a home for the first time in 10 years. But Mary never found life easy for long. Her mother died, and supporting her mother had been the chief reason for the girl's career. She was anxious for a change of scene, so accepted an offer of stardom in England, stayed several disastrous months, fairly old, and came back to New York. In the New York hospital, Lou Fields of the comedy team Webber & Fields calls to see her. Well, how much you... Quite a bit, Mary. Broad by gossip. Are you in way up to your neck? Oh, way over. Honestly, Lou, there must be a jinx on me. I guess it's part of us. Part of the game. Well, let's not talk about it. My rule is never talk about your headaches or your sprained ankle. Keep the chatter cheerful. How does this try to keep a cheerfulness? I found a good script. You the star, me the manager. Oh, Lou, if I could count on a new show for a sure run. I have to play safe. The minute I'm out of here, I want to take some Broadway hit out on the road. Follow some other star in the park? Oh, I'm not proud. Marie, that's suicide. You're a star. You can't take over an old part. Yes, but my relatives don't stop reading because I'm in a hospital. Marie, I've got the play of your dreams. What? Tilly's Nightmare. It's wonderful. Comedy? Oh, great comedy. But a kind of sadness under it. You know, a little servant girl with a big dream. I'm not even going to attempt it without you. I don't dare, Lou. Haven't I given you some good Broadway chances? Read it all right with hanky panky. Oh, dear, why did the nurse let you in? Well, go on, Lou, tell me about the little servant girl. In the end, her dream comes true. No, better. It's real life. It doesn't come true. Tilly's Nightmare opened with Mary Dressler in Albany, New York. It received bad reviews and a cruel reception from a likely noncommittal audience. It was a nightmare in more ways than one. After a performance, Mary and Lou Field stand on the stage of the Albany Theatre, looking out at the darkened, deserted house. Mary, I feel like a dog. I don't know what to say. I talked you into this. Hmm. What a show. A perfect bust. Oh, what does that mean in Albany? We may not get into New York, Mary. Then, anyway, what's to you? Now, you go off and get a good night's sleep. I'm going to do some work. Work? And to make all my own costumes, now I'm going to fix them up for the whole company. Brand new costumes. But darn it, when I finish with this thing, we'll open on Broadway. Into New York came Mary Dressler with Tilly's Nightmare, and no one from the topmost row in the gallery to the first row of hermeneutian children in the orchestra ever forgot the moment when Mary Dressler, standing by the footlight, sang... Then two empty great words, how does it taste? Stand back, villain, go your way Here I will no longer stay Although you were a morsel for an oriole You may tempt the upper classes With your villainous, jammie passes But Heaven will protect a working girl Heaven will protect a working girl that was a song to suit the period and it struck the popular fancy From Bangor to Los Angeles, Detroit to Key West, everyone sang Tilly's song. Mary Dressler was no longer married to her public, she was Tilly. Kind, generous, lovable Tilly. One of the brightest stars on Broadway, an unpredictable but flashing comet on the horizon of the American theater. Oh, Miss Dressler, may I have your autograph? Please sign here, Miss Dressler. Just one picture, Miss Dressler. Hold it. Thank you. Excuse me. Oh, there's one more question, Miss Dressler. It's awfully personal, but my editor insists. Yeah, that's a terrible cough. You doing anything for us? I just got it. The question is, have you ever been in love, Miss Dressler? Oh, every woman's a little bit in love all the time. I've only been deeply in love once. I don't mind any more of that. It's one of those personal things. Of course. I'm going to get something for that cough of yours. Have some syrup in my medicine, Chet. But don't bother, please. None of you young people take care of yourselves. This isn't going to hurt you. What's that, a thermometer? Just want to see if you have a fever. Open your mouth. But it's just a cold. Close your mouth and keep it closed. That's right. You silly kids. When I was your age, I was just like you. Studied my roles all the time and never took any care of myself. Ate terrible food, ruined my stomach. So you be careful. Well, those were just- Yes, yes, yes, I know. It was your first interview and darned important. I'm going to tell you the way you ask the question. Open your mouth. Let's see. Mm-hmm. 100 degrees, I thought so. Well, I don't feel sick. Maybe I was just excited to meet you. You'll get home to your family this minute. Why is it cold? I haven't- It wasn't rainy when I started out. Here, here, take this one. Oh, I couldn't. That's yours. Here, put it on. Oh, it looks beautiful on you. But I can't take it, Miss Dressley. Oh, do me a favor and take it. My friends all laugh at me in it. And they must have thought I was 20 when he sold it to me. Oh, thank you. Thank you very much, Miss Dressley. Hurry home now and put a mustard plaster on that chest. Or that fever will be 102. And keep that coat as a souvenir of your first interview. All the years of Tilly were galley years, the triumphant retracing of the old shabby past. No day culture, but a private car. Not eight dollars a week, but 1600. All kids in adulation. But when Tilly was over, Mary sensibly looked right away for other work. Anything. She never stood on her dignity. She was even willing on a trip to California to listen to Max Sennett talk about these new moving pictures. And one day on the studio lot, the senator showing Mary around. Miss Dressley, I'm being honest. If I make the first full length comedy in motion pictures, I've got to have a big star in it. How about it, Miss Dressley? Me? Me in the movies? I think you'll be great. But I don't know anything about the motion picture business. As for being great, I... Mac, oh, Mac, Miss Dressley, I heard you were on the lot today. I've wanted to meet you for a long time. This is Mabel Norman, Miss Dressley. Well, how do you do? I remember in Tilly's nightmare. It was grand. I thought it was simply perfect. Thank you very much, my dear. Now that you're out here, I hope you'll stay with us. I'm trying to persuade her to come to the new production. But I don't know anything. You must. What a wonderful idea, Mac. Now, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Mr. Sennett, what's the name of this picture you've planned? Tilly's Punctured Romance. Well, if we're going to do it, let's get busy. Tilly's Punctured Romance Tilly's Punctured Romance was a compound of many people's faith in a new medium of drama. The Encyclopedia Britannica gives mention of Tilly as the first long motion picture comedy. To audiences, it was only a screamingly funny show which kept people standing in line to see it. Mary Dressley became an international figure. During the exciting days of the World War, Mary Dressley made 146 speeches for the Liberty Loan in 29 days, a record. None of her audiences were ever under 5,000 people. She financed her campaign by selling a Vermont farm which she'd bought for her old age. Then seven years passed, and in those seven years, Mary Dressley never found a single manager who'd give her a part again. Veinley, when they talked of age, she reminded them that she'd been nearly 40 when she made her biggest success. The years passed, slowly draining her savings. And one night in New York City... I'm leaving tonight, Jim. Got the cheapest cabin on the Ile de France. Running away, eh? How about all your friends? Friend friends I have. Two of you all day long, looking like a chorus of mourners. Poor Marie, you'll starve over there, Marie. A woman of your age, Marie. Can't a girl of 50 or so find something besides a funeral procession? Now you want to go abroad. All this talk about running an American boarding house in Paris. Well, I'm not sure I can swing it, but once I'm there, I thought an American pontoon with ham and eggs for breakfast and all the hot water you want. Yes, yes, and every deadbeat American in Europe hot-putting it to get a free set up at Marie Dressers. Why, Marie, you wouldn't even know how to collect a room rent. Have some sense about these things. I'm sailing at midnight. Marie, stop on Hollywood's calling you. Someone else is saying goodbye, I suppose. Thanks, Nella. Pretty flattering to get a call from California. Excuse me, Jimmy. Sure. Did you make any headway with her, Jim? Not a bit. She's utterly sunk. I've never seen her so low. Yeah. There must be some kind of work she could get here. She's tried. How she's tried, I know. Made the rounds of the casting offices time and again, and after all, she hasn't had a part for seven years. No matter how much money you save, you can't plan to be out of work forever. She hasn't a cent, Jim. All the more reason why she shouldn't go abroad. That was the dondest telephone call I ever got. What was it? I'd start for Hollywood tonight. I'd get a small part in a new picture. What? Very wonderful. I don't know. Woman won't let me give her a name, but you know it. One of the best known scenario writers in Hollywood. I gave her my coat once. Jimmy, you call Grant Central and find out about the train to Los Angeles. You bet. Now, wait. And the trunk. You've got to get it from the French lines up. It was a different Hollywood now that the one married dresser had known. The big little outdoor set had been replaced by Mammoth Studios. The business that Mary had helped distinguish in an early day was a billion-dollar enterprise hiring thousands, indifferent to one solitary old woman. But it was the same old story. For three years only bit parts. But Mary Dressler had the kind of patience that comes from consuming ambition. She wanted to live, to work at acting, to have friends. Finally she got her chance. All right. Take your places, everybody. Dressler, Mary. Seems cold in here today. How do you feel, Marie? Well, if one more person asks me that question, I'm going to slip right into a case of double pneumonia. That's the girl. Watch the little cold water right up to the chin. Do you have to work in the water again today? I don't know. Maybe not, Marie. They might take the land shots or before the storm on the bar. All right, let's go. We'll retake the scene we entered on yesterday. The way down the bar is decked, Dressler. All right. Careful. Why careful? You think I'm an old lady? Why didn't I get a job in an aquarium doubling for the whale? Hey, Marie, when we start the fight, I don't like to hit you so hard now if you dodge a little pest. How will the scene look if I start to dodge? Okay, go to it, trooper. Hit him! Quiet! Quiet! Quiet! Roll him. Speed. Take one. There was a chance that illness brought on by years of hard work might have kept Marie Dressler from winning a final triumph. She was ill, but she finished the picture for others dependent on her. She had never let anyone down. And that year at a banquet in Hollywood... the first award of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences will go to the player of the year who has given the best performance in a motion picture. And the trophy will be awarded by Ms. Norma Shearer, winner of last year's award. The committee has decided that the best performance of the year was Marie Dressler's In Men and Bills. Please, please, before I give her this trophy, I want to tell you something. I will be in my dressing room some mornings making up, and I'll hear the weary tread of Marie Dressler's feet carrying her to her room. I'll know that she's tired, she's not been feeling well, and that she has perhaps been working the previous night. I'll hear her dressing room door slam, and in a few moments the boy will shout, calling Ms. Dressler, on the set, Ms. Dressler. The door will open, and charging down the long corridor will come that grand old fire horse, Marie Dressler, made up, ready for work, ready to carry on. Thank you, Norma, and thank you all very much for being so good to me. After all these precious years, you don't know what it means to find myself in a fix like this. I guess I'm a fire horse, all right. I'm certainly not a glamour girl. Maybe I'm just a little girl, maybe I got to be a fire horse from traveling over cobblestones all my life. Weirder than fame or box office receipts was Marie Dressler's knowledge that in her old age, her character meant something special to millions of Americans. It stood for courage, an uncomplaining refusal to lay down the load, an age when most people are ready to resign themselves. And it stood for inspiration, the ugly duckling with a kind, generous, and lovable heart, Marie Dressler. And now we have a story which is told by Basil Rysdale, speaking for the DuPont Company, a story from the wonder world of chemistry. My story tonight tells about the teamwork of medical and chemical science and the defeat of certain death-dealing germs. It really starts a long time ago when Pasteur, the great French scientist, divided bacteria into two classes, aerobic and anaerobic. Aerobic bacteria grow freely in the presence of oxygen, but anaerobic bacteria are destroyed by oxygen. These anaerobic bacteria are the villains of our story. The surgeon found that they're the cause of certain unusual infections that long have resisted all kinds of treatment. Infections are kept on for weeks or months or years, causing extensive destruction of body tissue and frequently ending fatally. The surgeon called upon the chemist to suggest some oxidizing agent that would give off oxygen slowly and over a long period of time. The chemist suggested such a product, and the surgeon, experimenting with it, found that it destroyed the germs in the test tube. Then he applied it to a human case and was gratified to find that it halted the progress of the infection. But when he started to apply it more generally to anaerobic infections, he found that it wasn't uniformly effective. The material apparently varied from time to time. DuPont chemists set out to standardize it, and the job wasn't simple. Here was a challenge to the brains and patients of research, and so in 1935 they started experimenting, making batch after batch, testing and rejecting, meeting every discouragement with a fixed determination to find the answer. Many months passed, but at last the chemists succeeded in making a product that the surgeon found consistently reliable. Used by skilled physicians, it was a new and valuable weapon against the fearful germs in all kinds of anaerobic infections, promoting the healing of wounds that wouldn't heal before, putting many a sufferer back on the high road to recovery. Physicians all over the world are now asking for this material. In one emergency case, DuPont chemists sent some by airplane to far off Hawaii to help save a woman's life. Now arrangements have been made through two manufacturers of medicinal products to supply all physicians and hospitals that need it. Well, here is a story of chemistry that may give you a new concept of the spirit of chemical research. The product is costly to make, and its uses are limited. A large sum of money was spent on this particular research. With little chance of profit. Yes, here is an achievement to be measured not in dollars, not in fame and glory, but in terms of human welfare and the relief of suffering. Another expression of the DuPont pledge. Better things for better living through chemistry. Next week, the Cavalcade of America will present the story of the American clipper ship. A picturesque era in our maritime history. So until next week, then, at the same time, this is Thomas Chalmers saying good night and best wishes from DuPont. This is the Columbia Broadcasting Service. Thank you.
