301103 - Topic: Glacier National Park (or the RCMP)

I still have some work to do with this night’s broadcast. Was it about the RCMP and a Canadian religious sect, or was it a story set in Glacier National Park? I have contradictory information that suggests either of those possibilities. Since I wasn’t there to hear the broadcast, all I can do is provide the evidence currently at hand.

Several newspapers ran the following press release copy on November 3, 1930 - the day of the broadcast:

A western cowboy who is not quite all he seems, and an enterprising mystery man from Chicago, will hold the spotlight in a romantic comedy of Glacier National Park to be presented in the Empire Builders broadcast to-night at 10:30.

So far, I have found no other press release or newspaper synopsis – prior to the broadcast – that says anything different. I have a continuity for the program that supports the Glacier Park storyline. With no other continuity for the show, I’ll review the content of what I have in a moment.

In the meantime, here is some other information that strongly suggests a last-minute change in programming occurred. As I reported in last week’s blog entry, the continuity itself claimed this night’s show would be a story about the “Northwestern Mounted Police.” Bear with me a moment as I unravel a couple of related stories.

In 1930, the manager of the GN’s Advertising Department was a man named O.J. McGillis. I’ve been fortunate to become acquainted with some of his children. The eldest of his offspring was the late Joe McGillis, who I had the pleasure of interviewing about 5 years ago. He specifically recalled tuning in Empire Builders at the McGillis home every Monday night. His father was expected to listen to the broadcasts to assess the content and quality. The only program that he remembered in any detail was one involving the Doukhobors of Canada. Mr. McGillis was 91 and a bit hard of hearing when I spoke with him over the phone, and not being familiar with the Doukhobors, I was not at all sure I understood what he had told me. His explanation of the Doukhobors – and his limited recollection of that broadcast – was that they were a religious group in Canada who were getting attention in the papers by running around with their clothes off. At first, I found it unlikely that such a story would have been told on Empire Builders (and up to that point I had never heard of any such topic in the series), so I had to consider the possibility that his memory of the broadcast was tinged over time. And then another clue emerged.

While researching the Empire Builders radio campaign at the Minnesota Historical Society, I located a newspaper clipping regarding the show. The clipping was mailed by W.F. Turner to Ralph Budd of the Great Northern Railway. In 1930, Turner was president of the Spokane, Portland, and Seattle Railway (jointly owned by the GN and the Northern Pacific railways). Turner’s office was in Portland, Oregon, and he made it a habit to send clippings to Budd anytime the Portland Oregonian ran anything about the GN – including mention of the Empire Builders radio program. The clipping Turner sent to Budd on this occasion was a column by radio critic William Moyes (1894-1975) of the Oregonian. His November 9^th comments about the recent (Nov. 3^rd) Empire Builders broadcast said it was “a tale of the Canadian mounted police and revealed Doukhoubors [sic] as not just simple-minded, white, forked animals running around bare and shivering that we supposed them to be, but unthinking, ape-like brutes instead.” He went on to say “a Canadian police sergeant and a corporal with superb Canadian accents shared the leading honors with a new star, Emily Hustings [sic].” The actress’s name was actually Lucille Husting.

With the recollection of O.J. McGillis’s son, and a contemporary news article from only six days after the broadcast, it seems likely the November 3, 1930, broadcast of Empire Builders really did tell a tale of the RCMP and that the Doukhobors were somehow intertwined in the story. It’s also interesting that the previous week’s continuity hinted at the RCMP storyline, and yet the press releases were apparently not updated or corrected.

But wait – there’s more! I’ve also come across a newspaper entry for the day of the broadcast that, while it does not comment on the content of the show, lists James Wallington as its announcer. Now I do know that Jimmy Wallington was an NBC announcer for many years, but this is the first (and so far, only) time that I’ve ever seen his name associated with Empire Builders. It may be a simple mistake.

So that leaves us with the one continuity that I do have for this date , one that tells a rather empty-headed romance of Glacier Park. It seems quite possible that this story never was performed, so with all the aforementioned caveats regarding what actually went out over the air, I’ll go ahead and provide a review of it. In addition to Harvey Hays as the Old Timer, this continuity listed the following characters and the performers taking the parts:

Jane Hayden:  Bernardine Flynn                                                  Sue:  Lucille Husting

Ted Eaton:      Don Ameche                           Cal, the cowboy guide:  Bob White

 

 

The continuity begins with a description of sound effects to dramatize the arrival of the GN’s Empire Builder train at a depot. This is followed by advertising copy not-so-subtly passed off as an introduction to the story.

ANNOUNCER:

The Great Northern Railway presents “E M P I R E   B U I L D E R S ”!

 

(MUSIC UP; FADE TO SOUND OF ARRIVING TRAIN, TRAIN STOPS. BELL RINGS THROUGHOUT FIRST PARAGRAPH OF ANNOUNCEMENT)

 

ANNOUNCER:

Glacier National Park, out in the northwest corner of Montana, is the scene of tonight’s Empire Builders show … Glacier Park, home of tall mountains that elbow the clouds aside high, high above the heads of mere mortals … home of literally thousands of glittering icy glaciers … home of deep blue lakes set in valleys of evergreens and great colorful cliffs … Land of Shining Mountains, the Blackfeet Indians call it.

            (BELL OUT)

Glacier Park is the only National Park on the main line of a transcontinental railway; the Great Northern skirts its southern boundary for more than sixty miles. East or west via Great Northern you pass Glacier Park by daylight – see these mighty peaks and glaciers from your comfortable seat in the observation sun-room of the Empire Builder, or the spacious observation platform of the Oriental Limited.

Glacier Park is Vacationland for thousands of your neighbors – Romance and Adventure and Discovery. Let us see how this little group of ours found Romance on the high winding trails and the shining glaciers of this greatest of national parks. All ready?

Then the continuity explained a transition that called for the studio orchestra to play “Montana Moon.” I have not been able to locate a song by that title and from that timeframe, but in March of 1930 a Joan Crawford film came out titled “Montana Moon.” It featured a few songs, one of which was called “Montana Call.” The film’s credits say this song was written by Herbert Stothart and Clifford Grey, and was apparently performed on film by Joan Crawford. Perhaps this is the tune intended by the continuity.

As the music faded out, the listeners were to be treated to the sounds of a crackling fire and the Old Timer in the midst of telling a tale.

OLD TIMER:  Yes, sir! That’s what Joe done – an’ nobody’s done the like of it since, leastwise so far’s I know. An’ remember, too, the trails ‘round here ’bouts wasn’t what they are today. Course that was long before Glacier was made a national park – this Going-to-the-Sun Chalet here wasn’t even dreamed of. They was some folks thought there was something mysterious about it all – but I’ve given you the honest-to-goodness facts. Well, you young ‘uns, that’s the story I promised you!

The “young ‘uns” were a college lad named Dick, and his older sister, Sue. Some light-hearted ribbing between the siblings revealed that Sue was sweet on Cal, the dude wrangler. Dick suggested that Cal was actually attracted to Jane Hayden, a young lady in Glacier Park to paint landscapes. Just then, wouldn’t you know it, Cal and Jane came strolling into the scene together.

CAL:               (approaching)  Hello, folks. Up to your story-tellin’ tricks again, Old Timer?

OLD TIMER:  Yep. Been havin’ my say about the so-called Three Star Joe mystery.

JANE:             And I missed it!

OLD TIMER:  Well, that’s too bad, Miss Jane. Maybe I could be persuaded by a beautiful young lady to repeat it sometime.

JANE:             I’ll take you up on that, you old dear, flattery and all!

Some silly drivel ensued involving a discussion about who was swooning over whom, and how Ted Eaton was a “mystery man” – no one seemed to know anything about him other than the fact that he was a tourist who mostly kept to himself and was continually jotting things down in a little notebook. And the girls seemed to think he was dreamy or something. The speculation continued unabated.

JANE:             Do you know something about him?

OLD TIMER:  No – nope.

JANE:             Well, I’m going to find out more. What time is it anyway? I’ve a date with the mysterious stranger to look at an assorted collection of Montana moonlight at ten thirty.

SUE:               Fine, we’ll go with them, Cal.

CAL:               Nope, I’ve seen a moon.

DICK:             Be subtle, girl. Your tactics are terrible. You don’t understand the cowboy soul.

CAL:               Sorry. I’ve got to mosey along, Sue. If everybody’s going up to Sperry Glacier in the morning, I’ve got to make arrangements for horses and grub.

Cal’s comments about the trip to Sperry Glacier gave a hint about where the story would be going – but not until after Jane and Ted had their little rendezvous down by the shore of St. Mary Lake.

(ORCHESTRA UP WITH DREAMY MUSIC. FADE TO THE RIPPLE OF WATER ON THE SHORE, WHICH CONTINUES THROUGHOUT THE SCENE).

TED:               Can you hear what the wild waves are whispering, Jane?

JANE:             Not very distinctly.

TED:               Listen now – hear it? Keep away from tall, handsome cowboys.

JANE:             Funny – they didn’t say that a couple of hours ago.

TED:               Probably you weren’t listening very carefully – or maybe the waves were struck dumb by Cal’s rustic wisdom.

JANE:             Ted, you don’t appreciate Cal.

TED:               Sure I do – he does clever rope tricks; and he looks swell on a horse, his taste in bandanas is – Shall I say – impeccable; and he chews gum without missing a beat. Appreciation? I’m full of it!

After going back and forth about whether Cal is swell, or not swell, or if Ted is jealous of Cal, or if Cal should be jealous of Ted, etc., etc., Jane came back to the mystery that was Ted Eaton.

JANE:             You’re the favorite mystery story of Going-To-The-Sun Chalets – if that’s any satisfaction to you. But I’m getting tired of playing “Guess Who.”

TED:               Not mad at me, honey?

JANE:             Oh, not very, I guess. But I would like to know why you won’t say who you are and what you’re doing out here. Sue thinks you’re a movie actor on leave – or a spy maybe.

TED:               And who do you think I am?

JANE:             I think you’re the Prince of Wales.

Ted teased Jane with a line about how he was developing a perpetual motion business, and then he rather abruptly suggested that Jane join him in a song.

JANE:             I’m a painter, not a singer.

TED:               How about “Montana Moon” – heaven knows that’s approximate here!

JANE:             WELL, you start it – maybe I can follow.

(Ted and Jane sing “Montana Moon” very informally without music, Jane humming the tune whenever she doesn’t know the words).

JANE:             Perhaps you are a movie star at that – you sing like one.

With musical director Josef Koestner at the piano, Bernardine Flynn and Don Ameche receive coaching from producer Don Bernard.  Author's collection

Next morning, the entire troupe of characters moseyed out from Going-to-the-Sun Chalets for a two-day horseback ride up to Sperry Glacier and back. Our radio characters trundled off, and before long Ted and the Old Timer were chatting as they rode. The Old Timer deduced that Ted was sweet on Jane, but Ted let on that he figured Jane was more fond of Cal than him.

OLD TIMER:  You’re as smart as he is, ain’t you, young feller?

TED:               Yes, but he’s got a romantic past – born on the range, struggling with the elements; you know, the close-to-nature stuff, with the wind blowing free through the wide open spaces. And what have I got for a past – I was born and bred in Chicago!

OLD TIMER:  (chuckles)  You take a tip from an old feller. Get Miss Jane to ask him about his past.

TED:               What do you mean, Old Timer?

OLD TIMER:  I ain’t tellin’ no tales out o’ school. You just get her to ask Cal, that’s all.  (chuckles)

Oh, that crafty Old Timer. What’s he got up his sleeve now? Sure enough, the dialog transitioned to a conversation between Jane and Cal, with Jane asking if it wasn’t true that Cal was born on a Montana ranch. Cal shared that it was true, but that he’d been away from the area for a long time.

JANE:             But – but haven’t you been here all along, riding the range, and trapping, and hunting, and sleeping out under the stars, and –

CAL:               (laughs)  Well, not exactly. You see I was at Amherst for four years.

JANE:             Amherst?

CAL:               Sure – you know, Coolidge’s college.

JANE:             Oh. But then you came right back to the West?

CAL:               Nope, I went to Boston to live – selling bonds for my roommate’s father.

JANE:             You’re a bond salesman?

CAL:               Well, I was and I will be. I’m taking the summer off for my health. Had a bad case of flu last winter.

Nothing scandalous, nor shameful, but Cal’s revelation kinda kicked the stuffing out of any trumped up notion of his being a glamorous Big Sky buckaroo of the wide-open West. The little horse party soon arrived at Gunsight Pass, where they all dismounted to stretch their legs. Ted caught up with Jane, and braced himself to enlighten her about his own background.

TED:               Why, hello, Jane! Fired o’ Cal already?

JANE:             Ted, did you know all along? Were you laughing at me?

TED:               Did I know what?

JANE:             About Cal – my romantic hero of the wild and wooly West.

TED:               I don’t know a thing about him – except the little pearls of information I’ve picked up from you.

JANE:             Don’t banter with me – I’m a disillusioned woman. You were right last night when you said he’s staged himself to perfection. It was all just staging – or almost all. He was born out here – but he’s more Eastern now than we are. Lives in Boston – and he sells bonds!

TED:               Cal? A bond salesman? Oh-ho!  (Laughs uproariously)

JANE:             Stop it, you wretch. Stop it!

TED:               (still laughing)  Forgive me, Jane. But, after all, it does help me out a bit. I promised to tell my own shameful secret and I was afraid it was going to seem something of a comedown to you – but after this you ought to be able to bear up under it.

Up until now, Jane and Sue had proffered all sorts of goofy ideas about Ted, who he was, and what he was up to. Now it was finally time for Ted to reveal the truth and set the record straight.

TED:               Here goes then. I’m not in the pay of Moscow. I’m not a bootlegger or even a hijacker. Your guess was as bad as Sue’s – I’m not the Prince of Wales, not even a little Whale.

JANE:             Come, Ted, what do you do?

TED:               Well, I do two things. I write very good plays and very ordinary short-stories.

Jane asked Ted why all the secrecy about himself before, and he explained that he had come out to Glacier Park to gather material to write about. He was worried that if the people he was with knew what he was doing, they might put on airs and not be themselves. Ted then admitted that he was still struggling with an inspiration for the story he was hoping to write. He pleaded with Jane to help him come up with something.

At this point Cal announced that they would not hike out onto Sperry Glacier until the next morning, and then they’d ride back to Going-to-the-Sun after that. A musical bridge transitioned the group to their glacier hike the next day.

(ORCHESTRA UP FOR A FAIRLY LONG TRANSITION. FADES OUT TO SOUNDS OF GAIETY, LAUGHTER, ETC., OCCASIONAL SOUND OF AN ICE AX GRIPPING INTO THE ICE; AND FOOTSTEPS ON THE ICE)

SUE:               Oh, Cal. Is it safe walking on this ice?

CAL:               Shore, Sue. We’re all roped together, aren’t we? All set, everybody?

ALL:               Sure thing – all set! – let’s go, etc.

CAL:               Ready then. We’ll take it slow and easy and head for the top of the glacier.

Sue got all excited about a little secret that she and Cal shared, and decided to spill the beans to the others. You won’t believe what she announced to everyone. No really –  guess. Go ahead, guess! Sue and Cal were engaged! Now, scatter my chipmunks, who ever saw that coming? Jane was just a bit concerned for Sue, since Jane had by then learned a few disconcerting truths about Cal. But Sue didn’t mind at all.

SUE:               Isn’t it exciting, Jane?

JANE:             Simply thrilling, darling. Who said the romance of the West had died?

SUE:               And, of course, you don’t know, but Cal isn’t just a cowboy. I was a little worried about that at first – with Papa, you know. But would you believe it, my dear, he’s a wonderful bond salesman and we’re going to live in Boston!

JANE:             And you’re glad he isn’t just a devil-may-care cowboy?

SUE:               Of course!

JANE:             (slowly)  Yes, of course.

Ted slipped and fell on the ice, and the Old Timer teased him for not wearing tin pants, if he had a mind to go tobogganing. With some chatter about how slippery the ice was, the Old Timer suddenly realized Jane had extricated herself from the security rope they all shared, and he admonished her for it.

JANE:             Be quiet, Old Timer – I know what I’m doing.

OLD TIMER:  Quiet nothin’, Miss Jane! You stand still there, an’ let me tie you up before –

JANE:             Please, Old Timer, I’ve got an idea –

OLD TIMER:  You never mind th’ ideas, now, child. Here, lemme give you a hand!

JANE:             Try and stop me! Bye-bye!

OLD TIMER:  Jane! – Hold on to the rope! Look out! Jane!

JANE:             Oh, Ted!  (sounds of sliding over ice)  (farther away)  Ted!

Oh, the conniving mind of a young woman in love. Ted grabbed an ice axe and raced down the glacier after Jane. Upon her rescue, Jane found herself working pretty hard to spell it all out for Ted, who appeared remarkably daft at this moment.

TED:               Jane!  Jane, dear, are you hurt?

JANE:             Nope, not a bit – just a little wet.

TED:               You’re sure you’re all right?

JANE:             Of course – I picked the spot to slip myself!

TED:               You picked the spot?

JANE:             But don’t you see, Ted?

TED:               I don’t see anything – (excitedly)  but – Jane! If you’ll forgive a budding author for combining business with sorrow, this will make a peach of a story!

JANE:             Thank heaven, I didn’t roll half way down a glacier in vain!

TED:               You mean – you mean you did this on purpose!

JANE:             On purpose – and with a purpose. Ask the Old Timer – he tried to spoil a swell plot.

TED:               But why?

JANE:             Well, I thought it was about time I called attention to myself as material for a story. You’re strong for attention value, you know.

Ted eventually figured out that he now had material for a story, and Jane eagerly suggested they tell the others. Ted let Jane know that might be a tad premature.

TED:               Here come the rest of them clambering down the ice.

JANE:             Let’s tell them about it all.

TED:               No, we can’t – because the plot won’t do.

JANE:             Won’t do? Why, it’s a swell, elegant plot!

TED:               Nope, it won’t do, Jane. There’s no love interest in it.

JANE:             Aw, Teddy – won’t I do?

TED:               Will you do? I can’t tell until I’ve had a sample! (silence)  O.K.  Plot’s approved!

I'm sure a kiss does not play well through a microphone, but I wonder, just for the sake of realism and for the benefit of the small studio audience, do you suppose Don Ameche tried to steal a smooch anyway?

And so it was the studio orchestra came up with the closing music, and Ted Pearson once more brought the program to a close with some helpful information about the Great Northern Railway.

 

ANNOUNCER:

Come out to Glacier Park next summer – the season’s from June 15th to September 15th. Come out for a week – two weeks – bring your family and make a summer of it. There’s every kind of outdoor sport – horseback riding on high mountain trails; hiking; fishing such as you’ve never dreamed of; golf; camera hunting … everything that goes to make up the vacation of your dreams!

Why not begin now to plan for your summer at Glacier? The Great Northern Railway will be glad to send you literature describing the park and its features in detail – pictures, books, pamphlets, time tables. Just drop a line to the Great Northern Railway, Passenger Department, Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Tonight’s playlet again featured Harvey Hays as the Old Timer. Bernardine Flynn played Jane; Don Ameche was Ted Eaton. Sue was played by Lucille Husting, and Bob White took the part of Cal, the cowboy guide.

CONDUCTOR:           ‘Bo-o-o-o-o-o-ard!   ‘Bo-o-o-o-o-o-ard!  ‘Bo-o-o-o-o-o-ard!

                        STARTING TRAIN EFFECT.  FADE INTO MUSIC.  FADE OUT.

ANNOUNCER:

            This is Ted Pearson speaking. Empire Builders comes to you each week at this time from the Chicago Studios of the National Broadcasting Company.

 

Until next week, keep those dials tuned to Empire Builders!