Remember a Hallmark card when you care enough to send the very best. Tonight from Hollywood, the makers of Hallmark cards bring you a true story from the life of Russell Conwell, starring Dick Powell on the Hallmark Hall of Fame. And here is our distinguished host, Mr. Lionel Barrymore. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Hallmark Hall of Fame. Tonight, a true story from the life of Russell Conwell, the man who helped found Temple University and who wrote the inspirational book...
Acres of diamonds. Russell Conwell was once an atheist. But he became an outstanding man of God. Why? How?
Tonight, you'll hear his remarkable and incredible story. exciting story and we're proud to have as our star the noted actor Dick Powell. And now here's Frank Goss.
When you want to remember your friends there's one way to be sure the card you send receives an extra welcome. Look for that identifying hallmark on the back when you select it. For words to express your feelings and designs to express your good taste, let the hallmark on the back be your guide.
For that hallmark tells your friends you cared enough to send the very best. Lionel Barrymore appears by arrangement with MGM, who celebrate their 30th anniversary at your favorite theater with their new color picture in CinemaScope, Rose Marie, starring Anne Blythe, Howard Keel, and Fernando Lamas. And now, with Dick Powell as our star, Mr. Barrymore brings you tonight's exciting story on the Hallmark Hall of Fame. It was the year 1862, and there was war between the states.
The Civil War, composed of a thousand things, battles and retreats and strategies and patrols. And so, in a small valley near a river newly swollen by the spring rains, there was a Yankee captain named Russell Conwell. He was dashing and young and commanded in a newly recruited artillery company of ten men. field pieces, and he owned a bright and shining golden sword that struck glints in the Virginia sun.
Fire! All right, Sergeant. Have them look alive now.
Rightly now. Step on it. Yes, sir.
Sharp now, man it quickly. Hurry, it's away. As you will, Captain.
Fire! There now, Sergeant. I'd say those salvos should give the Major the diversion he wanted. I would say so, Captain. Tell the men they did right brightly.
Move! Rage is compliments, Captain. Well, how do you like this Alvarez, Kent? I used my own judgment about the excellent...
He says put the sword back in the scabbard and get rid of it. What? That sword is drawing fire, Russell, the way it shines.
Oh, now wait a minute, Kent. sword was given to me by the mayor. I know.
Listen, I guess all he wants you to do is fix it so the Rebs can't sight on the gleam it sets up. That's all. Oh, well, come on. Where? Back to my tent.
Oh, I had a letter today from Welsh I thought you'd want to see. He said that they expect us all back. The Major got pretty red about the sword, Russell. He was going to come down the line himself and tell you about it.
All right, You see that mud hole right by the tent? Now watch. Now, what do you think?
A very muddy sword, Captain. My compliments to the Major, Lieutenant. Tell him he's nothing to worry about.
Now come on in. Johnny Rain can step over to the field kitchen and get us some coffee. Table for me.
Is he still? Shh, shh, shh. Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. Truly, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. How did I see Johnny?
Oh, yes sir, Lieutenant. I'm sorry, Captain, I didn't hear you come in. That's all right, Johnny. Johnny ringing his Bible. I thought being in the middle of a war would make you give up your Bible, Johnny.
It brings a need closer. You see, Kent, it brings the need closer. Well, I'll take your sword, sir, and I'll shine it for you. I'm afraid not, Johnny.
But it's all retired. That's right, Johnny. I'll just hang it here on the tent post, and then when we move out of here, you can...
Pack it in the duffel. But, Captain, sir... What do you want, Johnny?
That sword's always been a symbol to you. A thing of faith. Bright and shiny. That's why it's retired, Johnny.
Hey, Johnny. Yes, sir? I got us some coffee.
Yes, sir. Russell. What about him? Yeah?
I mean, Johnny. Why do you keep him around? Oh, he looks after me.
And reading the Bible all the time? He does his work. But... I don't know how to say it. Do you, uh, you mean the way he looks?
The way he weighs hardly a hundred pounds and he limps? The way he looks old and young? Yes, it's strange.
And the ragged clothes, like a little gypsy. Well, Kent, he, uh, he wasn't permitted to join the army. He pleaded with me to come along anyhow as my, as my servant. I didn't want him to. Then he told me it was a need.
That he had to help somehow and, oh, he had to help because he felt it was a righteous call. Ken, are you all right? Johnny, Johnny, what is it?
Rebels, sir. They're pouring through Major Donnelly's flank, and they're pouring through. You hurt, son? You hurt bad? Yes, sir.
My shoulder. Here, here. Let me have a look. Well, that's not too bad, soldier. I'll get a medic over to you.
Sir. Yes? We've lost, haven't we, sir?
Johnny Reb's got us down and Johnny Reb's got us on the run and we've lost and there's dying blood all around. I'll get a medic over to you, son. Medic! Medic! That boy back there, shoulder wound, tend him, then send him to the rear.
Now move, man, move. Thus saith the Lord, behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory. and the glory like a flowing stream, and ye shall be born upon her sides.
And he dandled upon her knees as one whom his mother comforteth. So will I comfort you. Johnny, he's dead, Johnny. Let him be.
I know he's dead. It helped him. Made gentler as dying. I read to him from the Bible and it helped him.
That's what you've been doing, Johnny? Reading the Bible to them? It gives them comfort, sir.
Comfort? What else? An easing to the pain. And where there is no pain, only numbness and shock. This word, this...
Don't find yourself some cover, Johnny. There are still many, sir, who have asked me to read to them. In order, Johnny.
Try to get out of the rain. I promised them, sir. The medics will take care of the injured.
Now get going, Johnny. Gavin. What?
It could help you, like it's helped me, the Bible, it could help you. I'll tell you what could help me, Johnny. The field pieces I lost. A company of cannon like I had before they attacked. Instead of boys with rifles they don't even understand how to use.
A company that's forgotten how to whimper at pain. Instead of boys who... Oh, can I find that in your book, Johnny? Is it written down someplace in the good book, Johnny? An answer to what I need, canon?
There's more you need, sir, than that. You're not much more than a boy yourself, sir, and there are words here that could help you. Uh, the Reptile Breeders, part of this... Company B, move out! Reptile Breeders, move!
Oh, no! Yes, the men down the line. How are they? There's rain, Captain, and mud. We've had ourselves a retreat right to the river bend.
Between us and Reb is a spring-flooding river with a bridge across it. When does Reb make up his mind to cross the bridge and get himself a Yankee? That's how the men on the line are, Captain.
How are yours? I gave you the report for the Major. Yes, I read it.
The Major was very impressed. The things you left out of the report, Russell. Tell me. A boy in my company.
Not wounded. No shock. Just said he was going home.
Said shoot him in the back if I wanted, but he was going home. One way or the other. What did you do?
I said glory to him. Hero. And the battle is not lost. And don't mind the filth, boy, and the wounded crying. You're a hero, boy.
Well, he started to sob. And he buried his face in the mud, and I walked away from him. And the others, they're beaten, too.
And the thing has been torn apart inside them. And there's blood on the... bright gold braid, Captain.
Oh, not now, Johnny. Don't preach to me now. I wasn't going to preach, Captain.
It's just that... You got the word, Johnny Ring? You mark the passage in the Bible that'll heal my men, make them forget their misery and their filth? A symbol, sir.
That's all they need. A bright thing that shines, that leads them to courage and their forgetting. What are you talking about?
Your sword, sir. The sword they gave you when you went to war. The sword you flourished. The sword I kept to a gleam.
The symbol the men need. I'll get it, sir. I'll go back and get it. You've gone crazy, Johnny. I left it hanging back there on the command tent when we retreated.
I'll find a way to get it back, sir. I'll get it across the bridge. I won't let you go, Johnny. Now that's an order, Johnny. I'll be right now.
A Reb officer has taken the sword for loot. You need it. I'll bring it back.
Johnny, come back. Come back. You hear me, Johnny Ring? You come back. Come back.
Say a prayer, Russell. Russell, say a prayer for Johnny Ring. Johnny Ring In just a moment, we return to the second act of the Hallmark Hall of Fame. Yesterday I went into town and I was amazed to see throngs of women everywhere.
And I remembered Easter bonnets, of course. This is the time when winter doldrums disappear and women want the brightest, gayest, prettiest hat they can find. There's something about the approach of Easter that lifts the spirits of everyone, and I'm sure you'll get more of that wonderful spring feeling when you see the selection of Hallmark Easter cards. There's every type of Easter greeting in Hallmark cards. Some are bright with tulips, violets, lilies.
Cards that carry the fresh new beauty of the season and almost sing, have a happy, happy spring. Others have the deep reverent spirit of the sacred day. What could be more appropriate and more thoughtful than to send these Easter messages of renewed faith to members of your church? And, of course, you'll want some Easter bunny cards for children, too.
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And the Hallmark and crown on the back show that you cared enough to send the very best. And now Lionel Barrymore brings you the second act of our true story of Russell Conwell, starring Mr. Dick Powell. The End Spring storm of rain and winds in the Virginia Valley. A nation's youth at war.
Young men growing old in the fall of rain and shrapnel. Then an end to the storm and sudden blaze of Virginia sunlight. Stillness deep and rolling that washes sometimes over a battlefront. And the hushed moments then to find your coordinates in time and space.
Desolation. The Major as S2 draw up these intelligence maps for his units. Here, have a look, Russell.
Oh, I can't. Here, Rebels command post this grove of trees about 500 yards back from their side of the river. Rebs infantry spread thin east to west along the banks directly opposite.
A cavalry here and that's where they'll come from when they're ready. Across the bridge between us. This whole campaign, all the careful, precise planning, the strategies, the plans.
What went wrong, Captain? What... Captain? Funny.
What is? How out of all of this, the terror and the bloodshed and the cries of alarm... How out of the cruel panorama of it, there becomes something good.
I'm thinking of a man who ran into hell to fetch a sword for a symbol. Johnny? Johnny Ring? Dead now, probably.
For an IDO. Well, deploy your men, Lieutenant. The orders are stand or die.
Hey, you! Hey! Hey, now! What are you slinking around here for?
Prod him, Danny. See if he's got a tongue to say what he's slinking around for. He ain't hardly bigger than a bayonet to prod him with. My name is Johnny Ring. Now, your name is Johnny Ring.
In a Yankee, I'd say, Corporal. Now, Johnny Ring, you turn your pockets inside out and let's see what they're about. Come on, do it.
Here. A handful of change. Yankee silver. And here.
Ackersheaf. Oh, and this. The book.
See what else, Private. That's all I'd say was holding. Hey, look, Danny. Look at this book. It's a Bible.
Now, listen, Johnny Ringer. I can't say poorly about a man who warns about what's just a Bible. Me neither. Especially something like this. you're poor and thin and little figure of a man like you.
What are you doing here, Johnny? I want to see your commanding officer. Oh, so you shall. Come along to the command tents right by there where the Yanks once had it. Hey there, Frankie now.
Get him, boy, get him. Old Frankie with his cannons. Lying them up over there again.
Yeah. Back in again, I'd say, soon. Make them Yankees go back home for sure this time.
Major Faulkner? Yes, Corporal? This man...
Yes, what about him? He said he wished to see you, sir. Oh?
My name's Johnny Ring, Major. It's important that I talk to you. Quickly now, what is it you want? I would like to be your orderly, sir. Orderly?
Yes, sir. I have an orderly. An enlisted man who would be of more value holding a gun. Now, for instance...
What? Uh, this sword. Now, this sword that's hanging here. What orderly would let it hang so without taking off the mud? Take it down for me, Corporal.
Major. Do it. The fella can shine it up for me to send home to Georgia. Give it to him. Now, you clean that up, mister, and we'll see what...
Now, here now! Stop! Come back here with that sword! Corporal, stop that man! Stop him!
Yes, sir! You can shoot straighter than that, Corporal! Get him!
Yes, sir! It's begun, Sergeant. They're about to carry barrage. Hit the line, Sergeant. Tell the men to dig in deep.
And to hold until... Oh, wait, wait! Here comes Kent. Yes, Captain. New orders from the Major.
You're to set torch to the bridge. What? In the face of that barrage?
You heard. Detail a squad to set fire to the bridge. But it's our only option.
Whatever it is, whatever it could have been, the Major wants it to blaze. Burn their crossing and force them to hit the swift current of river. And make it run red, the Major said. Well, Captain. Sergeant.
Yes, sir? Detail a squad. Volunteers to put torch to the bridge, squad of expert riflemen to cover them.
Move. Yes, sir. Battery B. Men of Battery B, hear me.
Hear me, men. Volunteers for special duty. Volunteers, men of Battery B. Kent. Yes, sir. Stay with me.
Consider it with me. Yes, sir. And you still think of him?
Of Johnny Ring? Yes. There was the Bible for him, and the gentle words and the fiery ones, and the quiet they gave to Johnny Ring. And for us?
What for us, Russell? I don't know. I don't know. But the detail, I can see them. The volunteers, they're moving to the bridge.
Yes. Give me your field glasses. Crawling the bank of the river. The torches at the bridge. And the refs, oh, I can see their faces.
The flame against their faces and the nighttime burn through. Johnny. Johnny Ring.
What? What are you saying? Johnny. Johnny Ring with a sword.
Johnny Ring with a sword on the bridge running to us. Johnny, no. Go back.
Go back. You'll be burned alive. Give me the glasses. Let me...
Johnny, no. Go back. Go back.
You may see him now, Captain. Thank you, Doctor. Hello, Johnny.
Captain? Captain Conwell? Yes.
I... I got back, Captain. You got back, Johnny. And your sword. You brought it back.
And listen, Johnny. It was muddy, and it didn't glint when we fought them off, Johnny. And tomorrow we'll mount an attack, and we'll... Outside, outside there waiting until the doctor said I could see you, I was reading, Johnny, reading your Bible.
And something happened in words I can't tell you. An inner peace, a faith. Doctor, quickly.
Dead. Yes. Doctor? Yes, Captain? You've seen so much of this, this last moments of a man's life, so then you must tell me something.
What is it? If a man has lived a purpose, if a man's life has served others, you saw it, this man died gently, his body burned, and he... Yes. Come in, Captain.
No. No, not yet. No, I... I want to stay a while. There's...
something I must tell him. Something he needs to know. Good night.
Johnny. Johnny, listen to me. This vow I make to you...
From this moment, each of my days belong half to you. Eight hours for myself, eight hours for you. And I will live my life as you have lived yours.
And I will pray that my strength and my courage may be as great as yours. This vow I make to you, Johnny. Sleep well, Johnny Ring. After the war, Russell Conwell, using Johnny Ring's Bible, became a minister of the gospel.
He hung that shining sword above his bed so that each morning it would remind him of his vow and inspire him to greater efforts to serve others as gallantly as Johnny Ring had served him. Guided by this philosophy, he became the world's foremost minister. At his death, Russell Conwell was the head of Temple University. And always before he died, he loved to tell the story of Johnny Ring.
Johnny Ring and the Saw. And ever would he give Johnny full credit for being his inspiration for his success. Now here's Frank Ross.
Last week I told you about the new Hallmark dolls from the land of make-believe, favorite storybook figures with their... stories printed in verse right inside the doll. Now, let me read you the verse on the hallmark Little Red Riding Hood doll.
Little Red Riding Hood, all dressed in red from the tip of her toes to the top of her head, went through the woods to her grandma's one day and met a bad woman. wolf as she stopped there to play. The wolf was polite and said, it would be fun to race you to grandma's.
Of course, the wolf won. He ran in the house and let out a shout for Little Red Riding Hood's grandma was out. He put on a nightgown, put on a cap, and acted like grandma just taking a nap.
When Little Red Riding Hood said, grandma, dear, I have a nice basket of food for you here, the wolf growled and said, I would rather eat you. He jumped out of bed and he probably would too if the woodcutter hadn't come in with a whoop and knocked that old wolf for a loop. And Little Red Riding Hood promised right then she never would speak to a bad wolf again.
Wouldn't any little girl love that rhyming story? And this new set of Hallmark dolls includes 16 storybook favors. They're just 25 cents each with envelope.
Ask for Hallmark dolls at the fine stores that feature Hallmark cards. And now, here is Lionel Barrymore. Frankie, you gave an excellent reading of that verse. Thank you very much, Mr. Barrymore.
They're such delightful rhymes, I'm sure it takes no special talent to read them. Oh, it takes real skill, though, to know what appeals to children. And it seems to me the Hallmark artists have their special talent that way.
Don't you think so, Dick? Yes, Lionel, and these Hallmark dolls certainly bring a lot of happiness to the youngsters. I'm sure my children would enjoy a set.
We'll see that they're sent to them right away, Dick. Oh, many thanks, Lionel. By the way, what is your show for next week on the Hallmark Hall of Fame?
Well, Dick, next week we're going to tell a little-known story behind the founding of the world-famous Mayo Clinic. You know the Mayo Clinic, Dick. Oh, sure. Yeah, yeah.
And by the way, most people will be surprised to hear it took a tornado to do it. Well, that sounds like another one of those Hallmark Hall of Fame programs we all should hear. I'll surely be listening. Thanks for having me here, and, uh...
Goodbye to you all. So long, Dick Powell, so long. And until next week, at this same time, this is Lionel Barrymore saying good night.
Students, the Hallmark Hall of Fame contest closes at midnight tonight. Be sure your essay nominating a person whose story you'd like to hear dramatized in the Hallmark Hall of Fame is mailed tonight. Winners will be announced in the April 28th issue of Scholastic Magazine.
Look for Hallmark cards that are sold only in stores that have been carefully selected to give you expert and friendly service. Remember, a Hallmark card when you carry enough to send the very best. Our producer director is William Prude. by Morton Fine and David Friedkin. Mr. Dick Powell will soon be seen starring with Debbie Reynolds in RKO's Susan Slept Here.
Jack Crucian played Johnny Ring. Featured in our cast were Harry Bartell, John Daner, Jack Edwards, Barney Phillips, Sam Edwards, and William Euler. And remember the Hallmark Hall of Fame on television next Sunday when we bring you the moving and inspiring story of William Penn.
This is Frank Goss saying goodnight to you until next week at the same time when you'll hear an exciting true story The Life of the Doctor's Mail. The following week, a story of pirate warfare on the Hawaiian Islands, starring Van Heflin on the Hallmark Hall of Fame. This is the CBS Radio Network. This is KMBC, Kansas City, Missouri.