Starring John Hodiac and Robert Bailey in Sawdust Underground on the DuPont Cavalcade of America. Our stars tonight are John Hodiac, who may soon be seen opposite Judy Garland in Metro Golden Mayor Technical Musical, Harvey Girl, and Robert Bailey, courtesy of 20th Century Fox. Two American soldiers escaped from a German prison camp. A sergeant from New Jersey and a corporal from Texas, pitted against the Gestapo. This is the incredible story of Sawdust Underground on the Cavalcade of America, sponsored by the DuPont Company. Maker of better things for better living through chemistry. In these next few weeks, housewives everywhere will be busy getting their homes ready for fall and winter. And we have a suggestion for home decoration. It's DuPont's Speed-Easy Wall Finish. This wonderfully easy to use wall paint is especially prepared for redecorating tiresome and drab walls. All you do is thin DuPont Speed-Easy Wall Finish with water and apply with a large brush or roller. In less than an hour it is dry and it will cost less than three dollars to do the average room in one color. So choose Speed-Easy in any of 11 soft beautiful colors to make your home cheery and lovely. It's Speed-Easy and it's one of DuPont's better things for better living. Tonight's cavalcade drama tells of two American infantrymen in occupied France who found out what the Germans already knew. That guns and whips and torture cannot destroy the hearts and courage of a great people. DuPont Company presents the astonishing story of the Sawdust Underground. Starring John Hodiac is Sergeant Haskins and Robert Bailey is Corporal McCool on the Cavalcade of America. This is November 1944. This is France. We are with the Third Army. Beyond past the naked trees of the Ardennes Forest, General von Rundstedt is perfecting his plans for a breakthrough. In American G2 headquarters, 5 o'clock this bitter dawn, Lieutenant Lewis makes his way to the desk of white-faced, exhausted Captain Miller. I hate to add to your load, sir. What is it, Lewis? We got a lulu outside. I've got a few lulus right here. Nothing can surprise me. Well, this will. Suppose I brought in a couple of GIs dressed up as an acrobat and a clown. Would you say I was bucking for a Section 8? I'm getting a little tired of your jokes, Lewis. Oh, this is no joke, Captain. One of the guys is in an orange clown suit with black pom-poms and ruffles, and the other's all done up in green tights with purple spangles. Bring him in. Okay, sir. Here comes the circus. All right, you men, front and center. Here they are, sir. Corporal McCool and Sergeant Haskins of the 10th Army Group. You men seem to be slightly out of uniform. Oh, well, sir, it's a long story, sir. I think you'd better let me tell it, sir. You can both tell it, and it better be good. Well, we got captured, sir. Yes, sir, by the Germans, sir. Who else could we have got captured by? Let's have no more arguments. Go on, Sergeant. Well, we escaped, sir, but that part was easy. We hid out from the Jerry patrols all day, and when it got dark, we were kind of curled up in a ditch just off the road. Well, here wasn't any too happy. Oh, we shouldn't have done it, Mr. Buck, Sergeant. We're free, ain't we? Free. Any minute now, those crowds could come along, and we're a couple of dead heroes. So what? This way we got a chance. Yeah, some chance. It can't be more than five miles to our guys. We'll wait till it gets dark and try it. Don't look now, but in those five miles, there are howitzers, tanks, and pardon me for pointing, Germans. There's also quite a few French people. They got quite an underground here. Yeah, for myself, I don't see no signs of no underground. Hey, quiet. Here comes a motorcycle. They're looking for us. They sure are. That sidecar was bristling with Mausers. Hey, Mac, you know something? We're really in a jam. Yeah. Well, what are we going to do? We got to get somebody to help us, that's all. Oh, we got a great case we have. Personally, I wish I was in Dallas. You know what I'd do if I was in Dallas? What would you do if you was in Dallas? I'd go dancing. If I was in Newark, I wouldn't go dancing. I'd sleep. Nah. Me, I'd rather dance most anything. Ain't that ridiculous? Right this minute, I feel like dancing. Hot side brawls turn on the riddle-ra and the brawler brawls to it. What are you making with that broken down old song again? Well, it so happens I like it. It so happens I don't. Just because you can't sing? I hear it so often from you, I could sing it standing on my head. Would you like to sing a duet, maybe? Quiet. Somebody coming. The Jerrys? I don't know. It's a lot of wagons. It's a circus, Mac. Oh, man, you're crazy. Mac, I tell you, it's a circus. See them animal cages and them wagons? Well, now, how about that? What's a circus doing in the middle of a wall? You think it's German? How would I know? Maybe they'd... Maybe they'd what? Maybe they'd help us. Are you crazy? Five will get you ten, then that's it. We can't just sit here in this ditch. They're going by. Why do I do it? You're loco or something. Stay where you are. It's our only chance. Maybe they'll help us. And maybe they won't. But go ahead. You're the sergeant. Hey! Hey, you! Hey, mister! You great big moron. If he's French, he talks French. I'll handle this. Oh, what's with you suddenly with a French-type language? Well, I had two years at Dallas High. I got up to the pot about my grandmother's umbrella and my grandfather's garden. I don't want a lesson. Hey, he stopped. Talk to the fella. Yeah, all right. Hey, Moussour! Uh, E.C.! Here! Uh, Paula Ditch! Kiss you the arse! Well, that's French all right. But is it French French or German French? That's what I want to know. Well, they didn't teach that at Dallas. Oh, hey, Sarge, the only French I can remember is about that umbrella. Well, say that. Oh, all right. La paille bleue de ma grand-mère. Votre grand-mère? Vous avez là votre grand-mère? What's he saying? Well, he talks too fast. They all talk too fast. Ne bougez pas. J'ai un fusil. What does that mean, Mac? You don't have to understand French to recognize a gun. Suivez-moi. Dépêchez-vous. Oh, we're in the soup, Mac. He wants us to start traveling. So we make a run for it? Oh, excuse me. Follow me. Quick, quick! Well, he wants us to get into that circus wagon. Let's count three and make a dive for the ditch. Pardon me for pointing, but there's another guy with a gun peeking out of the wagon. Entrez dans le wagon. Quick, quick! Dépêchez-vous, Vassant. Here we go. Well, at least we go back to Sing Sing on wheels. I've never been inside one of these jabs before, Mac. Kind of cozy, huh? Yeah. How did they get six of us into this trailer? And who are these people? Silence. Vous avez fait une grande rebe, nègre. Vous avez tort, duchesse. Ce sont des américains. Vous en êtes sûr? Absolument, compot-chain. Que pensez-vous, Ussette? Il faut les aider. Il le faut. Oui. Sergeant and Corporal, we are your friends. Hey, he speaks English. Yeah, I am sorry to have alarmed you, but I could take no chance. Wow, I'm some relieved sergeant. Yeah, well, I hope he ain't bluffing. No, monsieur, I am not bluffing. You are escaping prison as American, and I love America. I toured your country with Bonham and Billy for two years. Yeah? Hey, did you ever get to Dallas? Dallas, Dallas? Oh, Texas! Yeah! Oh, certainly. It's a lovely city. Now, I must introduce myself and my company. I am Vinay, ringmaster of the Sept-Artus. This is Corbeau-Chin, the Iliar and Tamer. Madame Labelle-Duchesse, France's greatest acrobat. And Lucette, Equestrian Supreme, our star. Enchanté, messieurs les Américains. Sure glad to meet you. We will do whatever we can to help you. Je vous assure. But first, we must get off your uniform. Well, we ain't got much underneath. We make him, the corporal, an acrobat. He has good muscles. He looks like an acrobat. The sergeant will be a clown. C'est ça. Hey, Mac, we're not going to be able to get away with this. I don't know how to act like no clown. Just act natural. Mr. Venegar, do you mind if I ask a few silly questions? Whatever you like. How is it a circus can travel during the war? Why do the Nazis permit it? Oh, Monsieur Goebbels is a master of psychology. He feels the poor people of France must have a little laughter. And so he gives us passes with the seal of the Gestapo. We are very grateful to Monsieur Goebbels. Very grateful, Monsieur, because he makes it possible for us to work for General de Gaulle. For us, the circus is the instrument of liberation. Hey, you, you mean this, this is the underground? Yes, but I must warn you that while we will make every effort to help you, we are under orders. We have a timetable. More silly questions. What's on that timetable? Or shouldn't I ask? Shall I tell them, Vinay? Why not? Eh bien, we distribute resistance newspapers. We operate a shortwave radio. Also, we delay troop movement. In that trunk you are sitting on, corporal, there are many high explosives. Are you folks sure? Yikes! I tell you, because we must exercise precaution. Oh, I guarantee you never saw so much precaution like I'm going to exercise. But how do you get away with all this? Everything has its price. And our price is that we are collaborationist, that we work with the Germans, that we have a deep allegiance to Papa Pétain Vichy. Oh, we are a fine lot, monsieur. I heard about it, but I didn't think it was possible. How do you get away with it? Perhaps we do not. We never know. Voila, voici le costume gymnastique polu et le pire au polu. Merci. Hey, what's she talking about? I thought you understood French. These are our costumes. Oh, well, that's sure enough, does it? When I got drafted into this man's army, I never thought I'd wind up wearing a set of green underwear. And sergeant, with beads. Here is the great sergeant of the French army. The meeting begins in two minutes. Entrez! Entrez! You are safe in my dressing room now that the performance has started, sergeant. When do I go on? After the high wire act. How about the corporal? He is with the acrobat troupe. All he does is pretend. I hope he gets away with it. I hope I do. You will. You look very comical. I look pretty comical even without this red and white goo on my puss. That is not true. You are handsome. Oh, this I got to tell him back in Newark. Perhaps someday I will see Newark, eh? Newark never saw anything like you. You're awful gorgeous. I am glad. Because it helps me to help my friends. You're quite a dame, Lucette. Lucette! Quite a dame. Lucette! Lucette! Oui, Cobochin? Le Gustapo. Ici. Quatre. Prenez gare. What's up? Nadine. Quickly. Go with Cobochin. Take me. What is this? Underground newspapers. When the Gustapo comes, we hide them in the lion's cage. They will not go there. Is it done? Yeah. Even the lions hate the crowds, don't they? Of course. These are French lions. Yeah. Come back into the shadow with me, eh? We can watch the ring from here. But where's the Gustapo? Two are watching the performance. Two more are prowling. Hey, Lucette's going to do her act. Yes. It is important that she do it now. Why now? Because under the platforms where the horses do their tricks, there is a radio. What are you giving me? Oh, we have to be clever. The horses' reins are the antennae. Suppose those guys start searching. Then Madame Le Duchesse will fall from the trapeze into the net. It will cause quite a disturbance. Boy, you sure got everything figured. Mostly everything, I think. It is necessary if Monsieur E. Claire is to have his present on time. What are you giving Hitler? A little remembrance from the decadent French. Our people in the North have sent us a postcard saying that their Fuhrer is massing munitions for a major offensive. We shall make it as difficult as possible for him. I guess you've got a little TNT in mind? Precisely. We have many friends. Members of the underground will be in the audience tonight. They wait for our signal. Madame Le Duchesse will give it shortly. But how do you give the signal? Watch. See her now? As Lucette rides around the ring, Madame is far above her, performing on the trapeze bar. She's doing her most famous specialty now. You see? She twists back on her arm and she swings her body around the bar. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Five! There it is, Sergeant. Five. Five? Five o'clock tomorrow morning. It is the time. Oh, now I've seen everything. No, not everything. Here come the Germans. Say nothing. Ah, good evening, Monsieur. Good evening. I hope you are enjoying the show. I've seen it before. You have a new clown here, eh? Oh, an excellent one, Monsieur. You must have seen him in Berlin at the Winter Garden. So? He's German? Hungarian. He does not look Hungarian. Oh, from the North. Yeah? I would like to see him perform. Certainly. Go on. Do your act. This is your first performance. Make it a good one. Make it a good one. You are listening to John Hodiac as Sergeant Haskins and Robert Bailey as Corporal McCool in the amazing adventure of the Sawdust Underground on the Capricade of America, sponsored by the DuPont Company, maker of better things for better living through chemistry. As the second half of our story opens, Sergeant Haskins has been ordered to perform as a clown with the French circus troupe, which is really part of the secret underground. His buddy, Corporal McCool, is standing nervously in the wings. Corporal, come here behind these fat... You must not be seen. That crazy lunatic of a sergeant's out in the ring. The vinegar made him go, I saw it. The Gestapo is here. Yikes. Everything is up to your friends. What's he going to do? He ain't no clown. He had better do something. Our lives depend on it. Hey, look, that's quite a somersault. Oh, yes, it was indeed. Uh-oh, what's he up to now? I do not know. Perhaps he sings? Oh, no. If he does, we're dead. He stands on his head. Stealing my stuff, that's my song. Look at the Gestapo. They are applauding for more. Yeah, the guy's a sensation. He's wonderful. And he sings again. Ah, sergeant, I think I've got the words now. It's the sun sitting on the This kind of English I do not understand. I'm trying to tell you it's what we call double talk. It does not matter. It is a song I shall never forget. I can only say, vive l'amérite. Thanks. Ever think, Lucette, of, uh, well, uh, going steady with an American? Going steady? What is that? Well, he's practically asking you to marry him. Another word out of you, corporal, I'll break your ears. How insolent can you get? They blush. Ah oui, des soldats au motocyclette. You see, you are not yet out of danger. There are many more Germans between you and safety. Yeah, I guess I forgot. No, it's me with my head that somebody dropped on the floor. We are near the sea now. It is time for me to go. You must be careful, vinegar. Very careful. I am always careful. Where are you going? To l'auberge des Deux Magots. It is an inn on the coast where the fishermen used to gather to celebrate the catch from the sea. Now they gather to take Americans and British to England. You will join them. You will smell of herring, but you will be safe. You make it sound like a cinch. Which is a risk, of course. I do not deny it. But, uh, so far we have been lucky. Hey, look, we kind of fouled you up. Why not let us try this on our own? You would be dead in an hour. You must have no more talk, please. Lucette, we leave the wagons hidden in this side road. You wait exactly one hour. If I do not return, you know what to do. Oui, papa, je sais bien. Va. Continue entre les mains du bon Dieu. Adieu. Can't you stop that whistling? I feel it in my teeth. What do you suppose the nigger is? He has been gone two hours. More. Soon we go. To get him? No, we leave him. Are you crazy, Lucette? You can't take off without him. He's your father. What we are to each other is not important. He is one man. We are fighting for many. If he is safe, he will find us. If not, we go on. Those are his orders. We got to go after him. What are we waiting for? You go no place. You do as I say. You're quite a dame, Lucette, but I'll cut my own orders for this mission. Thank you very much. Lucette, Lucette, il vient. Deux hommes, mais pas venez-en. C'est Bosch? Je crois que oui. Je vais le faire. All of you, quiet. I will handle it. Can we come in? But of course. You are always welcome. Good evening. A little pernou, perhaps? Danke, nein. A strange night. Frog and damp, is it not? Yes, but it will clear. You must come to see our performance tomorrow. Perhaps there will not be one. Oh, there will be one, monsieur. Not with vinaigre. This I can assure you. Why not? He's dead. Dead? Dead. Because tonight by accident or design, he was at Rebelle de Deux Magots. We've known of its activities for a long time. So apparently, the vinaigre. He went for bread. For bread, I tell you. He went to visit his friends of the underground. You, of course, know nothing of this. Nothing? We shall see. You all come with us. Perhaps, if you and I talk this over alone, huh? We shall have plenty of time to talk. Now we start. Get up, all of you. Here we go. One, two, three, kick. I'll pick it up from there. Grab his pistol, man. Look out, by you fat jerk. You can choke one of us, Sarge. Give me a hand with this guy here. Oh, no, Superman. Let's do it my way. That takes care of that. They both dead? Couldn't be deader. You are wonderful. Both of you. My father would have laughed. Let's get rid of these bodies, Mac. Wait till we get underway. Allez vite, Gaston. Vite. We'll dump these carcasses on the back of the wagon on the road. Well, Corporal McCool, we're really in the soup now. Who said it, Sarge? Hey, hey, not so fast. There's dynamite in this soup. This is as far as we can go, Sergio. What do we do now? This is the Chateau Merbeth. It has passages which lead into the forest. From there, you can make contact with your patrols. You mean you're brushing us off? I mean you must go. What kind of a jerk do you figure me? You think I can walk out and leave you after what you've done for us? I know what you are trying to say, but you must believe me. I am a soldier like you, under orders. I must now do the Negro's share as well as my own. Not many women had run the risks you do. You are wrong, Sergio. Women like myself are working all over France. When we cannot kill the Nazis, we can at least irritate them. The Negroes sure irritated him. Yeah, we owe him a lot. More than we can ever pay. So do a bunch of other Americans. So does France. And, uh, what's going to happen to you? We will do what we have to. Then we will make our way back to Paris. Gee, I sure hope you make it. She will, all right. I've got to see you again sometime, Lucette, after the war. We meet in Paris, in front of the Opera, on the Day of Liberation. I will wait. I'll be there. Well, uh, do we talk or do we move? Oh, I guess we move. Lucette, tell them all that they're pals, huh? The French and Americans are always pals, monsieur. I'm, uh, I'm much obliged to you for all the hospitality. God be with you both. Adieu. Ahem. Au revoir, Mademoiselle Lucette. Au revoir, compote. Uh, Lucette, if I miss you in Paris, write me at 327 Chestnut Street, Newark, New Jersey. And remember that address because someday you may be living there. So that's how it was, Captain. We snuck around until one of our patrols picked us up, and here we are. I wouldn't have believed it possible. I don't think anybody's going to believe it. I hardly do myself now. Why, you don't think we ran up those costumes ourselves, do you, sir? What's that? It's not our artillery. It was a big explosion, sir, behind the enemy's lines. Unitions convoy, I think. You know what I think, sir? I think it's Lucette and the circus people delivering vinegar's present to Hitler. That's what I think. And that's what I think, too. You can't stop them. The French are using anything for a weapon. Even sawdust. They use something else, Captain. They use their heads and they use their hearts. Maybe that's why, for the first time, this war makes sense. Our thanks to you, John Hodriak and Bob Bailey, and to all members of tonight's DuPont Cavalcade cast. John Hodriak will return in just a moment. Now, here is Gain Whitman. Now that the war is over, we can tell you in detail about an invention which saved the lives of many fliers forced down at sea on the Pacific. In the final months of the war, a flier's worst enemy often was not the Japs. It was salt water. Hundreds of thousands of square miles of salt water. Over on the sunset side of the earth, there's a lot more water than land. And if a plane was forced down, it was apt to be at sea, and men can't drink salt water. So life rafts used in the Pacific had three ways of providing drinking water. The first was water in cans. Then there was a plastic-coated bag in which salt water could be turned into fresh by adding chemicals. The third method was the most unique of all. It's a gadget called a solar still. It comes folded into a package not much bigger than your hand. Unfolded, it's a couple of feet long, and when inflated, it looks like a miniature blimp. Inside, there's a plastic screen covered with little six-sided DuPont cellulo sponges. The man on the raft pours about a quart of sea water into the solar still, as much as the sponges will hold, blows up the bag, and lets it float on the water. It's tied to the raft by a string. On a sunny day, the DuPont sponges steam. They give off water vapor. The vapor collects on the inner surface of the miniature blimp and trickles down the sides into a container underneath. Fresh drinking water distilled by the heat of the sun. It took many scientists working as a team to solve the problem of manufacturing fresh water in the middle of the ocean. Men of the Air Technical Service Command at Wright Field, the AAF Proving Ground Command, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Galawer Chemical Corporation of New York, and the DuPont Company. DuPont cellulo sponges were used for many things during the war. Airplane wings were stuffed with them, for instance, to cut down the chance of fire when a wing was pierced by incendiary bullets. But soon now, they'll be on their way back to you. And we know from the many letters we've received that you'll welcome them as old and trusted aides in your home. Whether you use them in your bath, to scrub the floor, to wash the car, or to dry your photographic films, sponges of cellulose, products of modern industrial chemistry, are among the many DuPont better things for better living through chemistry. And now, John Hodiac, who starred in tonight's DuPont Cabal Game. How many of you know that Nellie Bly wasn't just a song? There was also a real Nellie Bly, and she was a young lady worth knowing. In fact, she was one of the most dazzling and surprising characters in America's elegant eighties. In all, she was a young lady who was a little girl, but she was also a young lady who was a little girl. In those days of stiff bustles and stiff collars, there was nothing stiff about Nellie. Next Monday night, Ida Lupino will make Nellie live again when Cavalcade brings you Nellie Was a Lady. Be sure to be on hand for a riotous time when Ida Lupino plays Nellie Was a Lady in the Cavalcade programs of particular interest to servicemen and women are broadcast overseas through the world wide facilities of the Armed Forces Radio Service. The music for tonight's DuPont Cavalcade was composed and conducted by Robert Armbruster. Our cavalcade play was written by Leonard Spiegel-Gass and Walter Reilly. The part of Lucette was played by Nanette Vallone, and Ramsey Hill was the nigger. This is Tom Collins inviting you to listen next week to Ida Lupino in Nelly Was a Lady, and the Cavalcade of America, brought to you by the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware. Applause This is the National Broadcasting Company. Music
