The Railroad Hour Beautiful Dreamer Date: Jul 02 1951

CAST:
ANNOUNCER
CONDUCTOR (1 line)

STEVE (GORDON MacRAE)
MARY (DOROTHY WARENSKJOLD)
WOMAN
JANE, Steve's wife
CHRISTY, egotistical
DOCTOR, kindly
and a singing CHOIR

ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, "The Railroad Hour"! SOUND: TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS ... LOCOMOTIVE ON TRACK ANNOUNCER: And here comes our new summer show train! MUSIC: THEME (QUOTES "I'VE BEEN WORKING ON THE RAILROAD") ... ORCHESTRA AND CHOIR ... CHANGES TO FAST RAILROAD RHYTHM ... THEN BEHIND ANNOUNCER-- ANNOUNCER: Tonight the Association of American Railroads inaugurates a series of new musical plays and operettas created especially for the Railroad Hour and starring Gordon MacRae and his charming guest Dorothy Warenskjold. Our choir is under the direction of Norman Luboff and our music is prepared and conducted by Carmen Dragon. Yes, tonight and every Monday night the world premiere of a new operetta is brought to you by the American Railroads -- the same railroads that bring you most of the food you eat, the clothes you wear, the fuel you burn, and all the other things you use in your daily life. And now here is our star Gordon MacRae! MUSIC: THEME (QUOTES "I'VE BEEN WORKING ON THE RAILROAD") ... ORCHESTRA AND CHOIR ... UP AND OUT SOUND: APPLAUSE MacRAE: Thank you, Marvin Miller, and good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Tonight, Dorothy Warenskjold will sing the role of Mary Parker in "Beautiful Dreamer" by Lawrence and Lee. MUSIC: SNEAKS IN ... CHOIR AND HARP ... BUILDS TO "MY OLD KENTUCKY HOME" MacRAE: And I shall be an old friend of yours named Steve. You wouldn't recognize his face and you never shook his hand, but Steve is a good friend of yours just the same. You've met him in melodies like this-- (SINGS) [Weep no more, my lady, Oh! weep no more today! We will sing one song For my old Kentucky Home, For my old Kentucky Home, far away.] MUSIC: SONG CONCLUDES ... ORCHESTRA CONTINUES IN BG, BUILDS TO "CAMPTOWN RACES" MacRAE: Steve didn't have a home in Kentucky. He never really had a home any place, except in the hearts of the people who loved his songs. CHOIR: [Camptown ladies sing this song Doo dah! doo dah! Camptown race track five miles long Oh! doo dah day! I come down there with my hat caved in Doo dah! doo dah! Go back home with a pocket full of tin Oh! doo dah day! Gwine to run all night! Gwine to run all day! Bet my money on the bobtail nag Somebody bet on the bay.] BASS: [De long tail filly and de big black hoss] CHOIR: [Doo dah! doo dah!] BASS: [Dey fly de track and dey both cut across] CHOIR: [Oh! doo dah day! De blind hoss sticken in a big mud hole Doo dah! doo dah! Can't touch bottom wid a ten foot pole Oh! doo dah day!] CHOIR: [Gwine to run all night! Gwine to run all day! Bet my money on the bobtail nag] BASS: [Bet my money on the bobtail nag] CHOIR: [Somebody bet on the bay. Oh! doo dah day!] MUSIC: SONG CONCLUDES ... INSTANTLY PICKED UP BY MARY ACCOMPANIED BY LONE PIANO MARY: (SINGS) [Gwine to run all night! Gwine to run all day! Put my money on the bobtail nag Somebody bet on the bay.] WOMAN: That's a nice spirited melody. How much is it? MARY: Thirty-eight cents. But we have special this week only, ma'am. Any three Stephen Foster songs for just one dollar. WOMAN: This isn't by Stephen Foster. It can't be! He only writes sad songs. MARY: Oh, no. He used to write happy music. STEVE: (QUIETLY) But that was many, many years ago. MARY: (SURPRISED) What? WOMAN: (SNOOTILY) Who is this man? MARY: I don't know. STEVE: (EMBARRASSED) Excuse my appearance. I'm a customer. WOMAN: I'll take that song, young lady. You needn't wrap it. (MOVING OFF, HAUGHTILY) I had no idea this music store catered to tramps. STEVE: I'm sorry. I - I shouldn't have come in here. MARY: No. Please, let me help you. STEVE: Well, do you have a song called "Come Where My Love Lies Dreaming"? MARY: Yes. May I sing it for you? STEVE: That would be very kind of you. SOUND: RUSTLE OF SHEET MUSIC BEHIND-- MARY: Here it is. Let me see now. The key is E-flat. MUSIC: PIANO INTRO TO "COME WHERE MY LOVE LIES DREAMING" ... ORCHESTRA SNEAKS IN DURING FOLLOWING AND CONTINUES IN BG MARY: (SINGS) [Come where my love lies dreaming, Dreaming the happy hours away, In visions bright redeeming The fleeting joys of day.] MUSIC: CHOIR JOINS SOFTLY IN BG STEVE: You sing it beautifully. As if the words had a real meaning for you. MARY: Oh, I love all of Mr. Foster's songs. But I think this is my favorite. STEVE: (QUIETLY PLEASED) Is it? Is it really your favorite? (SINGS) [Come where my love lies dreaming, Is sweetly dreaming the happy hours away.] MARY: (SURPRISED) You - you aren't even looking at the music. You know it by heart. STEVE: Yes. I know it by heart. STEVE & MARY: (SING) [Come with a lute, come with a lay, My own love is sweetly dreaming, Her beauty beaming; Come where my love lies dreaming, Is sweetly dreaming the happy hours away.] STEVE: (SINGS) [Soft is her slumber; Thoughts bright and free Dance through her dreams Like gushing melody;] MARY: (SINGS) [Light is her young heart, Light may it be; Come where my love lies dreaming.] STEVE & MARY: (SING) [Dreaming the happy hours, Dreaming the happy hours away, Come where my love lies dreaming, Is sweetly dreaming the happy hours away.] MUSIC: OUT AS SONG CONCLUDES STEVE: (BEAT, QUIETLY) Could you--? Could you give me three copies of that song? MARY: Why, certainly. That'll be a dollar. STEVE: Oh, but you - you don't understand. I - I - I don't have any money. MARY: (PUZZLED) Well, we can't just give songs away. STEVE: Yes, yes, I know. But you see, it's - it's my song. MARY: Your song? (GASPS, REALIZES, INCREDULOUS) You're - Stephen Foster? STEVE: I don't expect you to believe me. MARY: Oh, but I do. I do believe you, Mr. Foster. The way you sang that melody. STEVE: (SELF-CONSCIOUS) It's been hard times lately. MARY: (INSISTENT) Here -- take the music. STEVE: (EXHALES WITH SURPRISE AND RELIEF) Thank you, my child. MARY: You look thin. Are you hungry? STEVE: No. MARY: Please. Let me tell my grandchildren that I once had a luncheon guest named Stephen Foster. MUSIC: BRIDGE SOUND: UTENSILS, ET CETERA MARY: Another bowl of soup, Mr. Foster? STEVE: (RELUCTANT) Well-- MARY: It'll warm you up. You know, that's the trouble with New York City: too cold in the winter, too hot in the summer. STEVE: That's the trouble with friendship: you either have too many friends or none at all. MARY: Why are you so lonely, Mr. Foster? Was there a girl? STEVE: A girl? MUSIC: SNEAKS IN ... ORCHESTRA INTRO FOR "JEANIE WITH THE LIGHT BROWN HAIR" ... THEN IN BG STEVE: Of course. There was Jane. MARY: Well, you never wrote a song about Jane. "Katy Bell," "Laura Lee," "Nelly Bly." STEVE: Don't you remember? (SINGS) I dream of Janie with the light brown hair-- MARY: (CHUCKLES) That's not the way it goes. STEVE: That's the way I wrote it. But Jane thought it was too public that way. MUSIC: ABRUPTLY OUT FOR FLASHBACK JANE: It's too public that way, Steve! STEVE: But, Jane, I thought you'd be pleased. JANE: I'm not a lady of the chorus, Steve; I'm your wife! And I don't want your love for me to be a commodity in six sharps--! STEVE: But, Janie-- JANE: --with every minstrel company and every show boat from Pittsburgh to New Orleans singing about "Janie"! "Janie with the Light Brown Hair" -- I won't have it, Steve! STEVE: (SHARPLY) All right, I'll change it then. (THEN WARMLY) But every time you hear it, my darling, my bride -- remember: it was written for you. MUSIC: ORCHESTRA SNEAKS IN DURING ABOVE ... THEN IN BG, JOINED BY CHOIR STEVE: (SINGS) [I dream of Jeanie with the light brown hair, Borne, like a vapor, on the summer air; I see her tripping where the bright streams play, Happy as the daisies that dance on her way. Many were the wild notes her merry voice would pour. Many were the blithe birds that warbled them o'er: Oh! I dream of Jeanie with the light brown hair, Floating, like a vapor, on the soft summer air.] MUSIC: SONG CONCLUDES ... ORCHESTRA AND CHOIR CONTINUES IN BG MARY: Where is she now, Mr. Foster? STEVE: (HELPLESSLY) I-- I don't know. MARY: She's dead? STEVE: (BEAT, EXHALES) I don't think so. We just decided to go our separate ways. I'm not a very good provider, I'm afraid. You see, Jane and I loved each other, but I guess we just weren't very good friends. MARY: I'm sorry, Mr. Foster. STEVE: (QUIET DESPERATION, STRUGGLES TO FOCUS) I don't know what's happening to me. So many of my songs are about dreaming. It's 'coming now so I can't tell the dreams from the truth. I don't know if I'm honestly here talking to you or - or if it's just in my mind. I'm all swallowed up in dreams. I can't tell the truth from the lies and the real from the unreal. I'm lost halfway between real life and dream life. Oh, help me. Help me find my way! MUSIC: UP FOR CURTAIN SOUND: APPLAUSE ANNOUNCER: We will return for the second act of "Beautiful Dreamer" in just a moment. Wednesday, the one hundred seventy-fifth anniversary of America's Declaration of Independence, has deep meaning for all of us. For on that day -- the birthday of our nation -- we will again pay tribute to brave men who demanded an end of tyranny, men who declared a new liberty, which guaranteed freedom of thought and action for everyone. This belief inspired those who declared their independence and who fought bitter years earning it, opening the way for the establishment of democracy in the United States. Under our democratic system, we Americans produce more and live better than any other people on Earth. This is due, first, to the institutions which our forefathers gave us. But the fact that we enjoy such plenty as the world has never known before -- and such as is known nowhere else today -- is also due in part to transportation, which made it possible for America to be truly united. In the beginning, mighty stretches of wilderness separated the people of one coast from those on the other, and inland communities were able to gain only a foothold. With the coming of the railroads, however, our continent was kept a unit politically and made a unit commercially. For the first time in thousands of years of recorded history, it was possible for an entire continent to be welded into a unit. The early railroads moved constantly into the wilderness, opening new areas, creating markets for the products of farms, mines, and forests -- and supplying those pioneers who operated them. Little shops became large factories. Small towns became cities. When America got her railroads, she started to grow, and nothing could stop her. And because the railroads and the nation have grown together, the railroads on this Independence Day again pledge to do their part to keep America strong, to go forward with it, to the great destiny that lies ahead. MUSIC: TAG ANNOUNCER: Now here is the second act of "Beautiful Dreamer," starring Gordon MacRae as Stephen Foster and Dorothy Warenskjold as Mary Parker. MUSIC: IN AND BEHIND CHOIR-- CHOIR: (SINGS, GENTLY) [Beautiful dreamer, wake unto me, Starlight and dewdrops are waiting for thee--] MUSIC: GRIM ACCENT ... THEN OUT BEHIND-- STEVE: (QUIET DESPERATION) Help me. Help me find my way. MARY: (SYMPATHETIC) Oh, Mr. Foster. Why don't you try to think back? To the happiest time of your life. STEVE: The happiest time? MARY: Yes. Try and remember when you had no cares, nothing to be afraid of; everything smiles and music. MUSIC: LILTING ... IN BG STEVE: There was a time like that, when I was young. Oh, Lord, how young I was. Jane and I took a river trip on one of the old paddle-wheelers -- all the way to New Orleans. It was our honeymoon, really. JANE: It's our honeymoon, Steve. Come out and watch the lights go by on the shore. STEVE: I've been working on a song, dear. JANE: Another song?! Oh, what's the point of it, Steve? All your little jingles are nice for parlor entertainment, but-- Well, I do wish you had a substantial job, like, oh-- A floorwalker or - or a bookkeeper. Then I'd really be proud of you, Steve. STEVE: But listen to this one, Janie, and I - I think you'll be proud of me. MUSIC: CHANGES TO FAST TEMPO FOR "SUSANNA" ... IN BG STEVE: (SINGS) [I come from Alabama with my Banjo on my knee I'm gwine to Lou'siana my true love for to see. It rain'd all night de day I left, de wedder it was dry; The sun so hot I froze to def -- Susanna, don't you cry. Oh! Susanna, don't you cry for me; Well, I'm gwine to Lou'siana Wid my Banjo on my knee.] (SPEAKS) And we're going to Lou'siana, Jane. I wrote this song for us. JANE: Well, it does have a nice lilt to it, Steve. CHOIR: (SINGS) [I had a dream the other night, when ev'rything was still; I thought I saw Susanna, she - was coming down the hill, The buckwheat cake was in her mouth, the tear was in her eye, Says I, I'm coming from the south, -- Susanna don't you cry.] STEVE & CHOIR: (SING) [Oh! Susanna, don't you cry for me; Well, I'm gwine to Lou'siana Wid my Banjo on my knee.] MUSIC: SHARPLY OUT CHOIR: (SINGS SLOWLY AND SADLY, A CAPPELLA) [Oh! Susanna, don't you cry for me; For I'm gwine to Lou'siana--] MUSIC: MELANCHOLY CLARINET FINISHES THE PHRASE ... THEN OUT BEHIND-- MARY: What happened, Mr. Foster? In the music store, we sell thousands of copies of your songs. I'd expect you to be a rich man. STEVE: Well, other people got rich from my songs, but I never did. Somehow I just don't know how to sell things. Once, years and years ago, I took one of my songs to the greatest minstrel man of them all, and I was shaking in my boots. MUSIC: COMICALLY AGITATED BRIDGE CHRISTY: (IMPATIENT) Yes, yes? What is it, boy? STEVE: (MEEK) Mr. Christy? I have a song I thought perhaps you could use in your show. CHRISTY: Sorry, boy, we only employ the compositions of established masters of the melodic art! STEVE: Oh, Mr. Christy, listen to my song, please, and see if you don't like it. CHRISTY: There's a piano, son. I'll give you two golden minutes of my valuable time. STEVE: Thank you, Mr. Christy. SOUND: STEVE'S STEPS TO PIANO BENCH, WHICH SCRAPES AS HE SITS MUSIC: PIANO INTRO TO "OLD FOLKS AT HOME" ... ORCHESTRA SNEAKS IN TO ACCOMPANY STEVE: (SINGS) [Way down upon the Pee Dee river, Far, far away, Dere's where my heart is turning ebber, Dere's where de old folks stay. All up and down de whole creation, Sadly I roam, Still longin' for de old plantation, And for de old folks at home. All de world am sad and dreary, Ev'ry where I roam, Oh, river, how my heart grows weary, Far from de old folks at home.] MUSIC: OUT AS SONG CONCLUDES CHRISTY: A mellifluous piece of music, my boy. But, uh, what's the name of that river? STEVE: The Pee Dee, sir. CHRISTY: Don't like it! How 'bout the Yazoo? No, that's worse. I have an inspiration! Make it, (SINGS, BADLY) "Way down upon the Hudson River--" STEVE: (HESITANT) Well, it's supposed to be a southern song. CHRISTY: True, true! Well, my boy, there's a fine map of the Republic here in this atlas. SOUND: THUMP! OF ATLAS CHRISTY: We shall peruse it together! SOUND: FLIPS PAGES OF BOOK IN AGREEMENT WITH-- CHRISTY: Let's see. There's the Rappahannock -- Monongahela -- the Susquehannah -- all too long. STEVE: Say, here's a little river with an interesting name. Here in Florida, flowing into the Gulf -- the Suwannee. CHRISTY: Still too long. STEVE: Well, we could shorten it. The Swanee River. I like that. The Swanee River. Never saw the place in my life, but it's beautiful. CHRISTY: You don't suppose the folks in Florida will object to your changing the name of their river? STEVE: Object? Way down there? Why, they'll never even hear of the song. Listen, sir. MUSIC: PIANO INTRO TO "OLD FOLKS AT HOME" ... ORCHESTRA SNEAKS IN TO ACCOMPANY STEVE: (SINGS, ACCOMPANIED BY CHOIR) [Way down upon the Swanee river, Far, far away, Dere's where my heart is turning ever, Dere's where de old folks stay. All de world am sad and dreary, Ev'ry where I roam, Oh, river, how my heart grows weary, Far from de old folks at home.] MUSIC: OUT AS SONG CONCLUDES CHRISTY: I'll use that refrain in my minstrel show, my boy -- and I won't even charge you for the privilege! STEVE: (EXHALES IN DISBELIEF) Mr. Christy -- you have to give me something. CHRISTY: Look here, boy, I practically wrote the words to the song! (SLY) Er, suppose I, er, give you ten dollars for the right to declare that I am the sole author and composer, eh? STEVE: Now, please, Mr. Christy. Can't you make it -- fifteen dollars? CHRISTY: (LIGHTLY) Well, I have a generous nature, but you drive a hard bargain, son -- a hard bargain! MUSIC: BRIDGE MARY: How could you be so foolish, Mr. Foster? STEVE: Well, I needed the money. MARY: Are you still writing melodies? If you could bring out a thrilling new song, why-- Well, it could be the new beginning of life for you. STEVE: The way you say it, it almost seems possible. SOUND: RUSTLE OF PAPER MARY: What's that? STEVE: Oh, it's just an old piece of brown wrapping paper. MARY: With notes scribbled on it! MUSIC: SNEAKS IN ... ORCHESTRA BUILDS TO "BEAUTIFUL DREAMER" IN BG MARY: (PLEASED) It's a song! STEVE: Yes, I keep hearing music all mixed up with the dreams, and the nightmares. And I - I have to write it down. MARY: Let me see the song. SOUND: RUSTLE OF PAPER MARY: (SINGS) [Beautiful dreamer, wake unto me, Starlight and dewdrops are waiting for thee; Sounds of the rude world heard in the day, Lull'd by the moonlight have all pass'd away! Beautiful dreamer, queen of my song, List while I woo thee with soft melody; Gone are the cares of life's busy throng, Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me! Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!] MUSIC: SONG CONCLUDES ... ORCHESTRA CONTINUES IN BG MARY: (OVERCOME) Oh! Oh, this must be published, Mr. Foster. STEVE: (HELPLESSLY) I don't even have music paper to write it down. MARY: I'll copy it for you. Then I'll give it to Mr. Waters at the music store. STEVE: (WARMLY) You're a gentle heart -- and a dear friend. MARY: Where do you live? STEVE: In the back of a grocery store, at Fifteen, the Bowery. MARY: Please -- be there tonight. I'll bring you the copy. MUSIC: UP FOR A TENDER BRIDGE MARY: (DISTRESSED) Oh, doctor, you must help me. I went to his room and they told me an ambulance had brought him here. DOCTOR: (KINDLY) Which of our patients are you inquiring about, Miss? MARY: My friend Stephen, a great composer. DOCTOR: Oh, you have the wrong place, Miss. This is the charity ward. There wouldn't be anybody like that here. MARY: Oh, you must help me. It's Mr. Foster. Stephen Foster. DOCTOR: (CONSULTS LIST) Well, we do have a Forester. No first name indicated. MARY: Let me see him. DOCTOR: Here. Right this way. SOUND: CHAIRS SCRAPE AS THEY RISE ... THEIR FOOTSTEPS, IN BG DOCTOR: There was no identification. Just a slip of paper in his pocket that said, "Dear friends and gentle hearts." MARY: (REALIZES) Oh, it was the title for a new song. SOUND: THEIR FOOTSTEPS STOP DOCTOR: Here. MARY: (GASPS, UNHAPPY) Oh! MUSIC: SNEAKS IN ... MOURNFUL STRINGS DOCTOR: I'm afraid there's nothing anyone can do. (BEAT) I can't believe this is Stephen Foster. I thought he died years ago. MARY: Perhaps he did. (TO STEVE) Stephen--? STEVE: (WEAK, DELIRIOUS) Janie? Janie? (SIGHS) You're just part of a dream. And the riverboat -- that's part of a dream. And a girl in a music shop. A dear friend and a gentle heart. She wanted me to live again. But she's just part of the dream, too. (DYING) Just part of the-- MUSIC: OUT ABRUPTLY MARY: (GASPS, QUIETLY) Oh, no. (WEEPS SOFTLY) MUSIC: "BEAUTIFUL DREAMER" ... IN BG CHOIR: (SINGS) [Beautiful dreamer, queen of my song--] MARY: (SINGS) [List while I woo thee with soft melody--] STEVE: (SINGS, THROUGH A GHOSTLY ECHO) [Gone are the cares of life's busy throng, Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!] MARY: (SINGS) [Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!] CHOIR: (SINGS) [I'm coming. I'm coming home.] MUSIC: OUT AS SONG CONCLUDES SOUND: APPLAUSE MacRAE: Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Dorothy Warenskjold will be back in just a moment, and meanwhile, our thanks to Shirley Mitchell, Bill Forman, Marvin Miller, and our entire company. "Beautiful Dreamer," based on the music and life of the immortal Stephen Foster was an original libretto by Lawrence and Lee. The Railroad Hour is brought to you each week at this time by the American Railroads. Railroads are at the very heart of America's rearmament program. Look at any industrial city in America and you see a beehive of activity. And in the midst of it all are freight trains: bringing in raw materials, taking out finished products. Yes, those trains start at mines and forests, run to mills and factories, and then distribute the products where they are needed in our civilian commerce, or for our national defense. Because railroads do this essential job and do it with unequaled efficiency, it is important that they receive the steel and other materials they need to further expand their transportation capacity. DOROTHY: Gordon? You know, I can't tell you what a pleasure it is to be your leading lady this summer. MacRAE: Well, it's a pleasure to have you, Dorothy. And next week, we're stepping up to the plate for a brand new musical based on the famous "Casey at the Bat." And we're gonna tell the story of why Casey struck out. DOROTHY: (CHUCKLES) See you next week, champ! MacRAE: Well, I'll be in the bullpen warming up my vocal cords. CONDUCTOR: All aboard! MacRAE: Folks, it looks as though we're ready to pull out, and so until next Monday and our musical version of "Casey at the Bat," this is Gordon MacRae saying, "Goodbye." SOUND: TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS ... BELL RINGS ... LOCOMOTIVE SLOWLY STARTS ... ALL TOPPED BY-- MUSIC: THEME (QUOTES "I'VE BEEN WORKING ON THE RAILROAD") ... ORCHESTRA ... CHANGES TO FAST RAILROAD RHYTHM ... THEN BEHIND ANNOUNCER-- ANNOUNCER: Gordon MacRae appeared through the courtesy of Warner Brothers, producers of Alfred Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train." Our choir is under the direction of Norman Luboff and our music is prepared and conducted by Carmen Dragon. This is Marvin Miller saying goodbye until next week for the American Railroads. And now stay tuned for your Monday Night of Music on NBC. MUSIC: THEME (QUOTES "I'VE BEEN WORKING ON THE RAILROAD") ... ORCHESTRA AND CHOIR ... FOR A BIG FINISH SOUND: APPLAUSE ... FADES OUT FOR-- NBC ANNCR: Hear "The Voice of Firestone" on NBC. MUSIC: NBC CHIMES