Tonight, the DuPont Company brings you Flying Tigers Fly Again, starring George Murphy on the cavalcade of America. But first, here is Gaine Whitman. Would you consider using salt, sugar, and acine to keep the radiator of your car from freezing? Of course not. But those materials were used in the early days of the automobile. However, salt caused corrosion. Sugar and honey stopped up the radiator, and kerosene was a fire hazard. In 1930, DuPont chemists searching for a better antifreeze began a program of continuous research and road testing. The result was DuPont Xeron antifreeze. Today, Xeron is the largest selling antifreeze in the country. Here's another example of DuPont's better things for better living through chemistry. America the Pony Express. The commercial airline. America the football game. America means skyscrapers and halos, the crack of a pioneer splint lock, and the sound of a riveter's machine. America is your story. America is you and everyone you know. Tonight, we present George Murphy in Flying Tigers Fly Again, another true story on the DuPont cavalcade of America. Trying to remember just when and where a thing started is a pretty tough job. I don't think anybody can point to a calendar and say, that's the date we first thought of it. Thought of what? Well, the Flying Tiger airline. That's right, Flying Tigers. Sure, I was one of them. My name's Bob Prescott. Then there was a guy called Catfish, another guy named Link. The three of us in particular had an idea looping around in our heads. We always figured the war'd be over someday, and if we pulled out of it okay, we had to have a cushion to fall back on when we got back to the States. Anyway, one day back at our base in Lui Wing, China, in the ready shack... Shark, Red One from base. Hey, hey, quiet, quiet. Shark, Red One from base. Come in. Shark, Red One from base. Base to Shark, Red One. Come in. Hey, that's Bob Prescott he's calling. Come in, Shark, Red One. Come in. Bob should answer. Yeah. This is Base calling Shark, Red One. Come in. This is Shark, Red One. Go ahead. He's okay, he's okay. Chinese net reporting. Three bandits approaching from south. You get them, cowboy. I'm barefoot. Thanks, Bob. Will do. Well, some people have all the luck. Yeah, what's luck got to do with it, Rossy? I ain't never get a crack at three when I'm upstairs. But let Bob go out on patrol and every little son of bonsai is out there. I'm not going to let him get away with it. I'm not going to let him get away with it. I'm not going to let him get away with it. I'm not going to let him get away with it. I'm not going to let him get away with it. Listen, when you fly 100 hours a month, it's not luck, it's work. In 100 hours, you got to run into some of them. Hi, Link. Hi, Rossy. Hi, Catfish. Hello. I heard Bob's call. He answered, huh? Sure. Three bandits. He's after them. Hey, what's eating you, Rossy? Try to fill an insight straight again last night? That he did. Oh, you'll never learn. His money looks so good in my pocket. Let me ask you guys a question, Link. Yeah, what? What are you saving your dough for? For tomorrow? Maybe. Maybe it'll never come. In this business, a guy's got to count on today. That's what I like about you, Rossy. No matter how dull things get, we can always count on you to bring in the sunshine and life. Come on, come on. Answer the question. Why are you putting the dough in the sock? You know. The flying tiger line back in the States? Sure. Sure, he says sure. Just like the Earth. Well, what's wrong with the idea? Everything. For instance. It's a dumb idea, that's all. An airline to carry freight. It won't work, that's all. Why not? What are you, the D.A.? Go on, why won't it work? It works here in China. Catfish is right. We ferry everything you can think of over the hump. That's different. The run from New York to California wouldn't be any harder than the one from Kunming to Din Zhan. Hey, here comes Bob. Yeah, come on. He's rolling. Must have knocked off the bandits. Some guys get all the luck. I tell you what we'll do, Rossy. We'll put up a dirty shirt that within one year after the war is over, the flying tigers will fly again. You got yourself a bet. Okay. And what's more, Rossy, you'll come in with us. Oh yeah? Well, I gotta be awful dumb to do it. Break out the drinks, boys. Hey, Bob, did you get them? How many? Just one this time. Photo-recon job. He got his pictures all right, but he'll have to show them to his honorable ancestors. Break out the champagne, boys. Champagne? Hey, are you kidding? Where's our treasure? Right here, getting cooled off. Ah, good old American beer. Kick it open and let's have a toast. Hurry up, Catfish. I'm not opening this with my teeth, you know. There she is. Will you pour, Mr. Prescott? Ah, that I will, Catfish. That I will. Hey, you in on this, Rossy? What am I, an outcast? Here we go. To the end of the war. No, no. Here's to the Flying Tiger Airline, back in the States. I got a drink to that. Give me that beer. All right, all right. I'll drink to anything. To the Flying Tiger Airline, and success. Well, it was kind of easy to toast something that was just a dream. Back in China, it looked pretty real. But the war ended and most of us came back to the States. Rossy stayed over in China, the ferry freight. Link, Catfish, and I kept our idea, but, well, every Friday night we'd meet a little hamburger joint downtown. Say, you guys, it's ten-thirty, and if there's nothing else you want to order... All right, all right, all right. It's getting late. You want anything, Catfish? Uh-uh. Nothing. Look, we're going to close up soon. Hey, Link. What's keeping them? You guys are keeping me. Hey, look, honey, we're waiting for a very important third party. That's what you said at eight-thirty. He'll be along in a minute. That's what you said at nine-thirty. Now, look, if you don't want to order nothing, you can get up. Pull it, pull it. Hey, it's about time you ambled along. Yeah, where you been, Todd? I'm sorry, fellas, I couldn't help it. Uh, bring us some Joe, honey. What's Joe? Coffee, baby. Some like it hot. And some get it nine days old, too. Sure you can afford it? What's the matter with her? She's been waiting too long. Yeah, like Wink and me. Well, I'm sorry I couldn't help it, but I got good news. Oh, good news. What's that? What's the matter with you two? You got faces like ceiling zero. Well, it's like this, Bob. It's just that we've been sitting here, figuring. Yeah, adding things up, so to speak. Yeah? What did you get? A low score. Look, Bob, that airline was a cinch in China, but back here in the States, it's tough. Not enough all day. Maybe Rossi was right. We should have had a good time with it when we were earning it. Now, look, if you two sour pusses will shut up for a minute, I've got some news. Go ahead. Better be good. I lost my job. Swell. What did you say? I said swell. Now you can give all your time to being vice president in charge of operations. Catfish. Yeah? He said operations, didn't he? He said operations. That's what I thought he said. What operations? Oh, shut up a minute. Now, listen, we're going to get our big chance. Yeah, that's what you said last week. I got a better memory. It was last month. Do I do the talking or do you guys? Go ahead. Now, look, would a fleet of 14 Conestogas convince you? 14? No, he said 40. When you dream, dream good. It's all we've got. One Conestoga costs $50,000 and we've only got $35,000. 14 would come to, let's see, 14 times 50 is... Now, wait, you haven't heard the whole story. Oh, there's more? Sure, there's more. I took an option on the whole 14. I can get them for $400,000. Yeah, but why take an option when we're only $365,000 short? Look, couldn't we take less than the 14? No, we couldn't take less. They wouldn't break up a lot. 14 or none. Well, so long, fellas. I'm going east. Thanks for the dream. Now, wait a minute. Sit down, Link. Look, there's another buyer who'll take four of them off our hands at 50 grand apiece. You know, the fog is closing in. I can't see at all now. What good is it going to do us if some other buyer wants four? Well, it means just this. We'll be buying ten of them for ourselves at $200,000. So simple. Sure it's simple and I know we can do it. Look, we'll see businessmen, bankers. We'll get the money. How about it? Here's your coffee, sports. Yeah, put it down, honey. That'll be 80 cents. Huh? 80 cents for three cups of coffee? There's a 50 cent charge for writing on the table cloth. Hey, what do you think will happen? I don't know. Now, look, look. All we got to do is convince him. That's all. Yeah, but how do we convince a guy to lend us that much money? I don't know. Say, why are we whispering? All right, gentlemen. Come in, please. Oh, thank you, Mr. Mosier. Oh, I'm Bob Prescott. How do you do? And this is Mr. Rains and Link Laughlin. Glad to know you, gentlemen. How do you do, sir? Please sit down. Thank you. Now, Mr. Mosier, we've got a little problem. Just a moment. I got your letter and when we talked over the phone, Mr. Prescott, I got the impression that you wanted to start an airline. That's right, Mr. Mosier. You see, the way we're set up, we'll only need about, oh, about $250,000 to do the whole job. Now, if we could get a loan... I'm sorry, gentlemen. I wish there were some way I could help. Oh. But look, Mr. Mosier, you'd make a nice profit. Well, I'm not worried about that. It's, well, flying's a risky business. Oh, now, wait a minute, Mr. Mosier. Let me give you our records. Now, Cat, that is Mr. Rains here, he crossed the hump 500 times. Well, quite a record. Edmund crossed it 350 times. And Bob here, 300 times. We can ferry freight. Sure, we know that client business backwards. Wait a moment, gentlemen, just a moment, please. I don't doubt your experience or your ability, but that was during a war when necessity compelled you... Excuse me, Mr. Mosier, but that's just the point. You see, we learned a lot. We learned every trick of stowing cargo on a plane the safest way. We learned how to save cargo weight. We packed delicate instruments, heavy machinery. We even took perishables over the hump. We know that we can make a go of this line if we can convince the people that air freight is practical, logical. Look, you don't have to convince me. I'm sold. You're sold? Well, then what are we waiting for? It's pretty risky, but perhaps there's something we can do. But all you have is 35,000. Yeah, that's right. But if the other boys in our outfit knew that we needed money... That's what I wanted to ask you. If you could raise 125,000... Maybe we could, Mr. Mosier, maybe we could. Well, in that case, I have several friends who happen to admire a couple of good old American qualities. One is initiative, the other is ability. You boys have got both, and I believe they make pretty good collateral for an investment. Meaning? When does your option on the Conestocas expire? The 22nd of this month. 22nd, huh? All right, here's the proposition. We're listening. With flaps up! Quiet, quiet. Go ahead, Mr. Mosier. Well, if you can show me by, say, the 20th of the month that you can raise 125,000, I'll try to get five of my friends to put up dollar for dollar. Well, that's good by us. That's plenty good. You think you can do it? Mr. Mosier, out in China, we flew P-40s that sometimes had to be held together with bailing wire. Nobody thought of quitting. Everybody helped everybody else, and everybody carried his share of the load. And? And the guys are still the same. They won't let us down. Are you sure about catfish? Yeah, 10,000 short. Yeah, that's right, Bob. Still grand. 10 grand shorter than Mark and one day to left. Now, wait a minute. Let's check it again. Maybe, just maybe we missed something. Missed 10 grand? Not a chance. Well, here's the lineup. Tom Haywood's in for 6,000. Bill Bartling, 10, right? Mm, right. And Cliff Grope, what's in for 4,000? 15 from Duke Edmund. Joe Rosebird, and he'd up 4,000. And that's it. Now, was the whole gang's in and was still out on the limb for 10 grand. Might as well be 50. Yeah. Well, we tried. Yeah, come in. Mr. Prescott? Yeah, that's me. What have you got here? A package for you, sir. Fine here. Package? Okay. There you are. Thanks. Package. Hey. Open it up. Hey, what the devil is this? A dirty shirt. What? Hey, is this one of your gags, catfish? What? At a time like this, who'd be pulling gags? Hey, wait a second. There's a note sticking out of the pocket, see? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, holy smokes. Read this. What's up? Wait a minute. Anybody remember Rossi? You remember old Sourfoot Rossi? Well, get a load of this. Listen. Dear Skinflint, sorry I didn't get your first cable. Busy in Calcutta. Herewith, however, one dirty shirt to pay off a bet. And you can count me in for anything up to 15,000. Love and kisses, Rossi. Oh, well, that does it, fellas. We're in business. Yahoo! You're listening to George Murphy as Bob Prescott in Flying Tigers Fly Again on the Cavalcade of America, sponsored by the Vupont Company, maker of better things for better living through chemistry. Well, we got the money and then the planes, but we still have to get the money. Oh, there were a few jobs like flying Elsie the Borden cow and Hirohito's horse around the country and stuff like that. But the big stuff that would really set us up didn't come. That is, not until one day when Link and Bill Bartling were tuning up one of the Conestogas. He's on, sweetheart. You ought to pass the CAA inspection without a blush. Rev up again. Hey, Link. What's the matter, Bob? Where's Bart? He's in the plane. Hey, Bart. Bart! Yeah? Cut the motor. Come on down. Okay. Well, what's up, Bob? Wait till Bart comes down. You sound pretty excited. We're getting our first break. Big break. What do you want, Bob? Listen, I want to see if you can get me a ride. I'm not sure I can. I want to see Bob Smith this morning. Yeah? How did you make out? Well, I got an order to take a load of flowers to Detroit from Los Angeles here. One load? Well, it's a start. And if we deliver, we're in. This will prove to shippers that we can get their stuff out fast. Hey, hey, wait a minute. Flowers are perishable. Sure, I know it. These jobs aren't refrigerated. Okay, so they're not refrigerated. It's the fall of the year, isn't it? It's cool upstairs. Fly as high as you can. It'll be okay. If we can make this one, we'll be able to buy refrigeration. That's good. Okay, when do we start? Is this job ready to take off? Sweet as a dream. Yeah, but one load's not going to pay for the trip. Bart, you and Link make the flight. When you get to Detroit, go and see somebody, I don't care who, and get a return load back here to L.A. Yeah, but see who? Ha ha, that'll be your job in Detroit. Look, get furniture, bicycle tires, bagpipes, anything, but get loaded. Now, get that load of flowers to Detroit in good shape, and we've gone a long way towards convincing people that air freight is the thing. Are you all set? Get going. [♪triumphant music playing in background. Lincoln and Bart got the flowers to Detroit okay, and they got a load of furniture to fly back to Los Angeles. Then it happened. Lincoln and Bart were taking off from the Detroit field. Five-six-six to tower, ready for clearance and takeoff, over. Power to five-six-six, ATC, clear to Chicago at ten-thousand. On red airway one, contact Chicago radio before let down. Clear for takeoff, over. Roger, five-six-six out. Okay, Bart, we're off. [♪triumphant music playing in background. Mixed your ridge. Mixed your ridge. Gear up. Gear up. Laps up. Laps up. Hey, Link, my right engine's smoking. Feather right prop. Gas off, switch off. Switch off. She's blazing, Link. I think the wingtie's caught. We haven't enough altitude. I'm going to try a belly landing. Hang on. We stopped here. [♪triumphant music playing in background. You okay, Link? Okay. We gotta get that furniture out. Come on. Let's get going. [♪triumphant music playing in background. Flying Tiger Line. Prescott speaking. Hello, Bob. Link. Hiya, Link. How'd it go? Swell, swell. You got our wire? Sure. I took it right over to Smith. He did nip-ups when I told him he got the flowers to Detroit as fresh as when they left here. Good. Now, hold on to your chair. Huh? What's the matter? Bad news? A little of both. We got a return load of furniture. Swell, that's great. Only we can't get it to L.A. Why not? Right engine caught fire. Belly landing outside the field here. Uh-oh. You and Bart okay? Sure, sure. And so is the furniture. We got it out. Not a piece scratched. But, uh, we haven't got a plane to get it to L.A. Uh, Link, how soon did you guarantee delivery? Tomorrow. Can't be done. Yes, it can. Look, Link, now listen. Charter a plane and fly it out here right away. Are you crazy? That'd eat up everything we made on the load of flowers. That's okay. Charter a plane. You're guaranteed delivery of that furniture to L.A. We're gonna make good. Yeah, but Bob. It's okay, Link. It's okay. Things are looking up. Eh, not from this end. Well, if you were here, my friend, I'd show you a nice fat contract with the Fruit Growers Association. One load a week from Los Angeles to New York. What? Then we did it. We sure did, Link. Now look, charter that plane like I told you, deliver the furniture, and we'll break open a bottle of beer. The Flying Tiger Line was going places. Or looked like it. We had the fruit contract to fly one load a week from Los Angeles to New York. But payloads both ways were needed. And we didn't have them. Then one night, Catfish and I were in New York after delivering a load. Oh, come on, Bob. Snap out of it. It's New Year's Eve. Let's go up to Times Square, watch the crowds. Oh, you go ahead, Catfish. I want to stick around here and wait for that call. Baylor? Yeah, he promised me a decision on that contract today. Hey, look, it's 10 at night. He said he'd call you at noon. He didn't. You know what that means. Well, he might have got tied up. Not a chance. The amalgamated garment manufacturers just don't want to ship their stuff by air freight. That's why he hasn't called. Oh, but I worked for two weeks on this contract. Sure, and for two weeks we've been sitting here in New York. I say take any load and let's get back to L.A. Sure, it'd be great if we could get a load of dresses to match the load of fruit, but, well, it just isn't working out that way. Oh, forget it. Let's go up to Times Square. Come in. Maybe you're right, Catfish. Can you tell me where I may find Mr. Prescott of the Flying Tiger Line? I'm Bob Prescott. I'm Captain Hans Jorgensen of the Sphinx. My ship is in Los Angeles. Mr. Prescott, you see before you, a desperate man. You've got to help me. Well, what can I do for you, Captain Jorgensen? I came here to New York to replace the gyro compass for my vessel. Well, I still don't see what... The Sphinx is loaded with food and medicine for the starving people of the East. She must sail, Mr. Prescott, but she cannot without a new gyro. Oh, I see. You mean you're stranded here in New York. I myself could get to Los Angeles, but the gyro weighs hundreds of pounds. For ten days I've been trying to get it to the West Coast. Now I'm desperate. What do you say, Catfish? Well, I say let's do it. It's not a payload, but we'd be doing a good turn. Can you be ready in an hour, Captain? Thank you, Mr. Prescott. Thank you. Well, we took Captain Jorgensen to Los Angeles. We thought it was just one of those things until the next day... Bob, look! Look at this right up in the paper. Look! Hey, see Captain flown to ship. Flying Tiger Airline. Hey, it's about us! Yeah, we do a favor for one guy and the next day we're spread all over the papers. How do you know? The whole story of the airline, the syndicated column. That means we're spread all over the states. Sure, sure, but... Flying Tigers, Bob Prescott here. This is Link. We got into New York OK last night. Weather OK? Yeah, a little storm, nothing much. Well, what else? Oh, just wanted to hear your voice and your face. Hey, look, you didn't call me up to tell me that you got in OK. Now, what's up? A man named Baylor called me when I got in. Baylor? Baylor? Amalgamated? Yeah, that's the fella. Link, I'll break your head open if you don't talk. What did he say? Well, he read the papers. He saw that story on it. You know, the Captain Jorgensen one? Anything else you want to know? Stop running up the phone, Bill. What about Baylor? Oh, a little matter of flying dresses to California, 52-week contract. And listen, a daily plane. Well, that's about all there is to the story of the Flying Tiger airline. Later on one night, a bunch of us were kind of getting together to celebrate, you know, like we used to out in China. Wait a minute, wait a minute. Hold it, hold it. A few years ago, we used to toast anybody who knocked off a zero. You bet. Well, we can't do that anymore, but we can toast something else. So break out the bottle of beer. All right, come on. A long time ago, we drank to the Flying Tiger line. And here we go again. Up, glass. Now, now, now, wait a minute. Hold it. You guys are forgetting something. What are we forgetting? This toast. Here's to what made the Flying Tiger airline possible. Here's to what gave us our chance to show what we could do. Fellas, here's to the real backer of the Flying Tiger airline, America. In a moment, our star, George Murphy, will return. But first, here is Gaine Whitman speaking for DuPont. The first snow, like white powder on the ground, makes you want to get out into the open. The trees are bare. You can see the sky between their branches, a winter sky with a pearly sun. Where snow doesn't crunch under your feet, fragrant leaves rustle. There are rabbit tracks that lead across the fields and the tracery of a cock pheasant's walk along an old stone wall, where you may see the cat-like prints of a red fox and the faint drag of his brush in the snow. And then the shrill protests of a jay dressed in the blue of summer skies to remind you winter doesn't last forever. People who live in parts of the country where it snows think their winter is the most beautiful. But people who live down by the gulf like their winter, too. And no one needs to remind you what folks in California think of their winters. Perhaps it's just that each of us loves his own part of America a little more than any other part, and loves it winter as well as summer. Hunters feel that way about being out of doors. A gun gives them an excuse to get out into the open, get the feel of the country in the oldest, best way. Actually feel it underfoot. Feel it in the tingle of a cold breeze against their cheeks. The Remington Arms Company, associated with the DuPont Company, has manufactured sporting rifles and shotguns for generations of American boys and men. The DuPont powders, loaded into Remington and Peters cartridges and shells, are products of DuPont chemistry. In these days of industrial chemistry, the DuPont Company manufactures many thousands of chemical compounds. But DuPont started business as a powder company 140-odd years ago. And an invisible but nonetheless important ingredient of Remington and Peters ammunition is the know-how which under our American competitive system manufactures and distributes constantly improved products. The know-how which enters into all of the DuPont Company's better things for better living through chemistry. American hunters add 250 million pounds of dressed wild game to the nation's meat supply every year. 70 million pounds of big game alone. If you'd like to know how to prepare venison, duck, partridge, pheasant, and other game for your table, the Remington Arms Company publishes a booklet, How to Dress, Ship, and Cook Wild Game. For a copy of this 48-page book, enclose a dime for mailing and handling, and send your name and address to Radio Section DuPont Company, Wilmington, Delaware. And now our star, George Murphy. Thank you, Gaine. Not only did I enjoy playing the part of Bob Prescott on cavalcade tonight, but I have the additional pleasure of introducing the former flying tiger himself. Ladies and gentlemen, the founder and president of the flying tiger line, Bob Prescott. Thanks, George. For myself and my fellow flying tigers, I'd like to express our appreciation to the cavalcade of America and you for doing so well by us. You know, it has been said that our story brings out how veterans can convert the wartime know-how they picked up into useful peacetime practices, all to the good. But for me, I'd like to say in all honesty and with conviction that our enterprise stands for something bigger. As a flyer, I've seen a lot of our world, all sorts of countries. As when I think how we were able to turn what was just an idea into a big airline operation, that I feel good about this USA we fought for. Because without pulling any punches and laying it right on the line where else on earth today could a man get the opportunity and freedom to make a dream like ours pay off, except right here. You can count on me as one who is grateful and proud of this country. I always will be. Thank you. Applause Next week, the DuPont cavalcade brings you Robert Young in An Honorable Titan. It's the story of a man in whose honor Times Square was named. The story of a little Tennessee newsboy who rose to become one of the greatest and most honored publishers in the world. It was a long and difficult fight for Adolf Ochs, publisher of the New York Times, but by hard work, uncompromising principles, and unswerving faith, he built to greatness the paper whose mass-haired bears the famous slogan, All the News That's Fit to Print. Be sure and listen next Monday to An Honorable Titan starring Robert Young. The music for tonight's DuPont cavalcade was composed and conducted by Robert Armbruster. Our cavalcade play was written by Daisy Amery. Featured in the cast with George Murphy tonight were William Johnstone as Link and Jerry Hausner as Catfish. This is John Easton inviting you to listen next week to Robert Young in An Honorable Titan on the cavalcade of America brought to you by the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware. Applause The cavalcade of America came to you from Hollywood. This is NBC, the national broadcasting company.
