310504 - The Legend of the Wild Rose

 

Recording status:  recorded and located; not in circulation                

Not unlike millions of kids across the planet, I was a big admirer of Walt Disney from an early age. Sunday was the one day of the week that I never failed to eat my vegetables – even that disgusting cauliflower and asparagus (“no television until you finish your dinner!”). The meal finished, the plate cleaned, the dinner table cleared of dishes, and it was time for one hour of unbridled kid-dom: “Disney’s Wonderful World of Color.” Our

parents could watch boring men like Huntley and Brinkley, and Walter Cronkite. This hour was for us kids. Yep, Sunday evening was set aside for a man who I treasured almost as much as my own grandfather – Walt Disney. And I loved all those classic Disney movies, too: Snow White; Pinocchio; Bambi; Mary Poppins. And then there was Mickey. Mickey Mouse. The cat’s meow! (Oh… er, sorry, Mick). But then I finally had a chance to see what many consider to be Disney’s masterpiece: Fantasia. Yuck! All that horrible symphony music! And how cruel of those adults to hide SYMPHONY music in a feature-length cartoon! I felt like Ralphie Parker finding out what the secret message said on his Little Orphan Annie decoder ring. We kids were bamboozled.

Why all this ranting about Walt Disney? Why bring up Fantasia? Because this night’s broadcast of Empire Builders may have very well served as an inspiration for Walt Disney to create Fantasia. Oh, I’m not trying to claim that this is the case, or that Disney even heard this broadcast. But he certainly could have. And if you ever get a chance to listen to the rare existing recording of this program, you’ll understand what I mean. It seems that this broadcast was some sort of “concept” program, heavy with music performed by the Great Northern Orchestra. The dialogue was predominately based on verse, almost poetry. POETRY, I tell you! What a stark departure from most of the other 100 or so broadcasts. And lest you think I exaggerate, get a load of this passage from the draft copy of the show’s continuity that I’ve located. The Old Timer declared a fellow named Theodore to be the “poet laureate of the Widow Thompson’s Boarding House.” The entire character of Theodore was edited out of the script prior to going on the air, but just look at how they originally couched the evening’s tale:

MRS. T:                Now Theodore, you and the Old Timer waltz right out of this kitchen. I’m going to lay down the law to this thieving Indian.

OLD TIMER:        Now, now, Mrs. Thompson, what has Susie done?

MRS. T:                She’s gone and picked my lovely white rose – the one I was going to take to the flower show tomorrow. She’s picked it! See – there it hangs, from the top of her papoose board … limp as a dishrag!

SUSIE:                  Papoose sick – rose make heem well.

MRS. T:                Who ever heard of such a thing? That child needs castor oil, not roses.

THEODORE:        Now that’s where you’re wrong, Mrs. Thompson. And say, Old Timer, that’s just what my poetry legend is about … how the rose got its thorns, and so on.

Naturally, this Theodore fellow was encouraged to share his story, and so he set it up for his listeners:

THEODORE:        Here goes, then. To start with, the roses didn’t have any thorns at first, you’ll have to let loose your imaginations a bit, and go with me into a sort of fairyland, where life is lived in the wanderways of music. Yes, it is a story to be told with music, that the listener’s thoughts may mingle with its melodies. Imagine, then, a music … a music strange and new, as though some new and virgin language were speaking from a strange and distant world!

The press release issued for this broadcast lured – as well as warned – listeners about the unusual content of the program. Here is how the GN’s Harold Sims described the show:

What is unquestionably the most spectacular dramatic production ever presented on the radio will be offered by Empire Builders Monday night when it presents the “Legend of the Wild Rose.” The story recounts the dramatic incidents which explain, according to the Indian legend, how roses came by their thorns.

Unusual sound effects and a lavish musical setting were required, as well as acting of the finest technique, and more than fifty hours of rehearsals have been required to prepare this production for its half hour on the air.

The cast includes several of the outstanding radio actors of today, among them being Harvey Hays, Lucille Husting, Don Ameche, John Daly, William Rath, and Theodore Daucet.

The story written for Empire Builders by Zula Gambert, a San Francisco authoress, was adapted for the radio by George Redman of Chicago. It has its locale near the present city of Tacoma (Washington). The musical accompaniment, mainly original compositions, were a collaboration between Josef Koestner, conductor of the Great Northern orchestra, and Don Bernard, director of the Empire Builders productions.

The author of the script, listed as Zula Gambert, is another mystery to me at this point. A cursory search on the internet reveals that she may have gone by the name Mary Louise Gambert (1877-1963). It appears she was married to a man named either Lucien L. Gambert or possibly Louis L. Gambert (1876-1952). And it looks like they had a teenaged son, Robert.

[please contact me if you have details about the Gamberts – particularly Zula]

Another interesting revelation from the press release is the naming of three supporting cast members, all of whom appeared on multiple broadcasts of Empire Builders: John Daly, William Rath, and Theodore Daucet (aka Ted Doucet). It’s been a real challenge thus far to learn anything of consequence about these three as well. I’m sure at least two of them – perhaps all three – are pictured in a couple of the press photos in my collection showing various performers on the show. Unfortunately, only the likes of Hays, Husting, Ameche, and Flynn were routinely spotlighted.

It is significant that Josef Koestner was given prominent notice for this show. He came to Empire Builders with an impressive resume, and it seems this broadcast in particular was one in which he let his talents shine.

Another departure from the norm with this broadcast is that it featured a stand-in for the announcing job. The usual announcer for all the programs aired out of Chicago was Ted Pearson. For this broadcast, Pearson was utilized as a narrator during the performance, so it seems they deemed it necessary to enlist a substitute announcer so the listening audience would not be confused about the difference between the announcing and the narration. I do not know the identity of the person who did the announcing, but I have a couple of ideas.

[Please listen to this clip of the broadcast, and let me know if you recognize his voice]

 

Here is a transcription of the announcement that led things off for this broadcast (the continuity does not contain this content):

ANNOUNCER:    The Great Northern Railway announces low round-trip summer fares, from Chicago to all parts of the Pacific Northwest, beginning May 15th – one week from next Friday. The round-trip fare is but slightly higher than the one-way fare. Stop-overs can be arranged as desired. Plan now to spend your vacation in the Pacific Northwest, stopping at Glacier National Park enroute. And now, the Empire Builder, standard-bearer of fast luxurious transportation, takes you to Rainier National Park, where you shall hear The Legend of the Wild Rose, a presentation which the Great Northern Railway is happy to dedicate to National Music Week.

This ad is from Nebraska.
Turns out "National Music Week" really was a thing.

 

This show seemed to have two themes loosely driving it: Mount Rainier, and National Music Week. As a tourist destination, Mount Rainier National Park was not nearly as convenient as Glacier National Park in Montana. The GN’s Empire Builder train traveled directly along the southern boundary of Glacier Park, and had two scheduled stops daily at the park in each direction. These were at Belton (a.k.a., West Glacier) and Glacier Park Station (a.k.a., East Glacier). On the other hand, if a Great Northern patron wanted to visit Rainier National Park, it was necessary to detrain at either Seattle or Tacoma, and hire some sort of tour sedan or bus to visit Mount Rainier. I have no doubt that Great Northern ticket agents all along the line were only too pleased to help travelers with such arrangements, but a side-trip to Mount Rainier (as rewarding as it was, I’m sure) could not have compared to the ease with which one could detrain at a depot right on the border of Glacier Park, with ample accommodations readily available at both the east and west ends of the line through that territory.

 

After the introductory scene with the Old Timer and the boarding house landlady, Ted Pearson took the unfamiliar role of narrator.

(BRIEF ATMOSPHERIC MUSIC … FADE TO SHIMMERING BACKGROUND)

NARRATOR:        In the beginning. One Being …

Alone and pain-stricken with loneliness

King, with none to obey him,

Master, with none to stoop in submission beneath the

lash-sting of his edicts

God ---------------

Lifted his hand

And drew the awful outline of the world!

           (ORCHESTRAL FANFARE)

NARRATOR:        (Continues)   (MUSIC IN BACKGROUND)

Mountains and forests, rivers and seas … Then came the light of the first day, and the first sun rose, and Sahale rested from creation … but he turned not from his labors ere he had created, from the five points of a star, five spirits to possess the earth.

These Five we behold … Stealthily in the shadows stands Nuflo, the Evil One, and with him Malnek, the Shepherdess of Snakes.

            (MUSIC OUT)

So the stage was set with an odd assortment of characters including Nuflo and Malnek, who then introduced the listeners to yet more odd characters.

NUFLO:                Come, bold Malnek, thou crafty witch,
What is there here you hope to find,
That you lead me in stealth through the forest?

MALNEK:             There are but two women in this world, Nuflo;
I am one … I seek the other.
I bring death to Florimond!

NUFLO:                You would destroy the most beautiful --------------?

MALNEK:             Faithless Nuflo, your own words betray you!
You desire the hussy – I wonder not …
It is we … the evil … who yearn toward beauty with
               the keenest lust;
We who are seared and parched with the furnace
               of hell –
Our black throats burn with a thirst that naught
But beauty slakes.   (LAUGHS)  Hence I shall drink the
blood of Florimond, and the tears of her doting
               Nekana.

Goodness gracious! Sounds like a scene out of Game of Thrones or something.

 

I’ll provide a little more of the dialogue from the continuity, but I have to confess, this kind of performance is not my cup of tea. I’m sure there are those who really enjoy this stuff, as I’m sure there were those who welcomed this broadcast as refreshing and maybe even ground-breaking on the night that it aired. Anyhow, here’s some dialog between Florimond and Nekana.

FLORIMOND:      I knew naught of love until you came.

                              Then, as though it were an alabaster shell,

                              I took my heart and filled it with the light –

                              Volatile and glowing like the soul of the moon –

                              That shines from thine own spirit.

                              This heart is but a trivial lantern

                              To kindle so rare a flame. I am afraid,

                              For I am small and weak beside you.

NEKANA:             Florimond, have no fear.

                              Let your sorrow melt away in running laughter

                              As the snow melts away in the warm breath of spring.

                              Here in these arms that await you

                              The beating of my heart will comfort you.

                              Florimond, come – nearer, and nearer, still.

FLORIMOND:      I am here, your arms are strong about me

                              And a strange, sweet fire suffuses all.

                              Sahale guide me; I know not what to do!

NEKANA:             By Nature’s own sweet prompting

                              Does Sahale give thee guidance.

                              See the mountain rise to kiss the sky!

                              See the waves that slide upon the shore

                              And softly kiss the sand, and softly sigh

                              And return to kiss again, forevermore.

                              See the vine entwine the laurel,

                              See the sunlight kiss it tenderly …

                              Listen, then, to Nature’s own sweet prompting …

                              Is there not a kiss, fair Florimond, for me?

(SLOWLY THE WIND RISES … A FEW OMINOUS STRAINS OF MUSIC)

I think my mother would be disappointed in me if she knew how I felt about this material. She taught literature and drama at the junior high level for many years. When I was a boy, we had the complete three-LP set of “Peter and the Wolf” from RCA (performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of maestro Serge Koussevitzky). Couldn’t stand it. My brother liked it though. I always suspected he was Mom’s favorite.

As for the radio story, this Sahale character was some sort of god who stepped in and made things safe for Nekana and Florimond. He summoned another character named Wilanthe, whom he turned into a wild white rose and sent to protect the lovers. Nekana was anointed king of the forest (or at least, king of all the animals that lived in the forest), and was instructed to head north, and then west, until arriving at the highest of the mountains that Sahale had raised near the ocean – Mount Tacoma (which English explorer Captain George Vancouver renamed Mount Rainier in honor of a some rear admiral pal of his). Nekana was told to dwell in the valley at the foot of Mount Tacoma. A great swell of poetic affectation flooded over Nekana, who exclaimed:

NEKANA:             The valley thou givest me, I shall name it Paradise!

                              And yet, O Sahale, I am fearful

                              Lest I dwell there in sorrow forever,

                              My heart grown cold in its sepulcher of wretched

                              loneliness.

I suppose that loosely translates to “Okay, Sahale, I’ll go there, but I’m pretty sure I won’t like it. I haven’t heard anybody say anything yet about my girl, Florimond. It’s gonna stink there without her.”

Well, don’t you know, Sahale worked things out so that Nekana and Florimond would be together in Mount Tacoma’s paradise, with fields of wild white roses to blanket and comfort Florimond when duty called and Nekana had to traipse off to see to the animals of the forest. But before long, Josef Koestner had his musicians whip up some ominous, foreboding music. That nasty pair, Nuflo and Malnek, came creeping into Paradise to stir things up. As they closed in on poor little Florimond, Wilanthe soothed her fears and urged her to take cover beneath the rose blossoms, faking sleep. Just as evil Malnek was descending on Florimond, Wilanthe’s strategy was revealed. It was all a trap!

MALNEK:             Wait but a moment my scorpions, snakes and wolves;

                              These clustering branches of rose vine I will part …

                              Then you shall strike and devour!   (SCREAMS)

                              What’s this? I am pierced with thorns!  (ALARMED)

                              Thorns, from the smooth-stemmed rose!

                              What’s this?  Blood?  … From me it flows!

                                                            (THEN FEARFULLY)

                              Away, snakes and spiders, away! This blood is not for you!

                              Back, gaunt wolves! Vultures, take flight!

                              I am your mistress still!  … Oh!   Oh!   Oh!  (SCREAMS)

(LAUGHS)             Scorpions and snakes, do me thy worst!

                              Thy fiery kisses – I feel them not,

                              For Death has come to claim me … his kiss is cool

                              and soft.

            (GROANS, AND DIES)

FLORIMOND:      O Wilanthe, fairest of roses

                              Thy sudden thorns were my salvation!

WILANTHE:         They are the weapons given me by God.

At this point, as you might imagine, our heroes Florimond, Nekana, and Wilanthe all lived happily ever after. The Old Timer returned to the microphone to wrap up the details of the story.

OLD TIMER:        Yes sir, that country out there around Seattle and Tacoma sure is beautiful. Strange as it may seem, there’s never been a sign of snakes, or any other ferocious animals around Rainier National Park since Sahale gave the rose its thorns, just like the story says. Now – I want to extend a personal invitation to all my radio friends to come put to the Pacific Northwest this summer and play! The Great Northern’s reducing fares, I’m told, for the summer. So you can come out here right reasonable. Stop off for a day in Glacier Park on the way. Plenty of all-expense paid tours to choose from. Some of ‘em at a surprisingly low rate. Say, there’s a Great Northern travel bureau in most every city this program’s broadcast from. Or, you can write directly to the Great Northern Railway, 113 South Clark Street, Chicago, for information. Now don’t forget – the Great Northern’s low round-trip summer fares begin a week from next Friday, May the 15^th.

The unidentified announcer came back to the microphone to wraps things up. Unlike the credits mentioned in the press release, no reference was made to any participation by John Daly, William Rath, or Ted Doucet. Instead, we learned that Betty White (no, not THAT Betty White) returned to the air. Two other actors were identified, names that until now I had never heard of, much less known were associated with Empire Builders. They are Robert Brister and Stanley Andrews. Ever heard of them? Let me know! Here are the closing comments of the broadcast:

 

ANNOUNCER:    The music for tonight’s presentation, “The Legend of the Wild Rose,” was composed by Josef Koestner, conductor of the Great Northern orchestra. The story again featured Harvey Hays as the Old Timer, Florimond was played by Lucille Husting, Nekana by Don Ameche, Wilanthe was Betty White, Malnek was Bernardine Flynn, Nuflo was Robert Brister, and Sahale was Stanley Andrews. The narrator was Ted Pearson. Empire Builders comes to you from the NBC studios in Chicago.

 

I previously wrote about how Empire Builders actors Bob and Betty White had three boys, the second of whom (Bradley) was born on March 30, 1931 (GNRocky's Empire Builders blog, 300929 - "The Hill Trail"). That indicates Betty took only a short time off for maternity before getting back on the air.

I believe the Stanley Andrews credited in this broadcast is the same actor who appeared as Daddy Warbucks on the Little Orphan Annie radio show from 1931 to 1936. Andrews also appeared as the “Old Ranger,” host of television’s Death Valley Days from 1952-1963 (and succeeded in that part by Ronald Reagan). Ties between Death Valley Days and Empire Builders are numerous. When that program first aired on radio in September of 1930, one of its stars was Virginia Gardiner, who had left the Empire Builders cast the previous June. The radio version of the “Old Ranger” was played for a while by Harvey Hays, the Old Timer from Empire Builders. On film, Stanley Andrews had roles in “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” “The Ox-Bow Incident,” and “It’s a Wonderful Life” (as Mr. Welch, the schoolteacher’s husband who belts George Bailey at Martini’s bar).

 

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