ABC Radio 56-10-17 Tomorrow

Summary

Podcast Summary: Harold's Old Time Radio – ABC Radio 56-10-17 Tomorrow

Episode Title: Tomorrow
Release Date: January 16, 2025
Host/Author: Harold's Old Time Radio
Description: This episode presents a dramatized adaptation of Philip Wiley's novel "Tomorrow," capturing the tension and drama of the Golden Age of Radio. Featuring the iconic voice of Orson Welles, the story delves into themes of civil defense, familial obligations, and the looming threat of atomic warfare.

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Introduction

In this episode of Harold's Old Time Radio, listeners are transported back to the era before television, where families gathered around the radio to immerse themselves in gripping tales. The episode titled "Tomorrow" is a one-hour radio drama narrated by the legendary Orson Welles, featuring performances by Mona Freeman and Marshall Thompson. Adapted from Philip Wiley's novel by Milton Geiger and directed by William Karn, the story explores the United States under the imminent threat of atomic attack, spotlighting the societal and personal impacts of civil defense measures.

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Plot Overview

Setting: The narrative unfolds in a mid-20th century American town grappling with the preparations and fears surrounding potential atomic attacks. The Federal Civil Defense Administration is central to the storyline, reflecting societal anxieties of the time.

Main Plot Points:

1. Introduction to Characters and Tensions [01:09 - 03:09]:

   • Orson Welles introduces the protagonist, Coley Borden, the only man who witnesses the devastating atomic attack on the twilight sky targeting "zero," effectively ending an era of human history.
   • Lenore Bailey (played by Mona Freeman) interacts with Charles Connor (Marshall Thompson), highlighting familial dynamics and the pressure of civil defense responsibilities.

2. Civil Defense and Familial Pressures [03:09 - 12:21]:

   • Coley Borden struggles with his role in civil defense, balancing it against personal desires and family expectations.
   • Lenore Bailey faces the dilemma of marrying Kit Sloan to alleviate her family's financial troubles, despite not being in love with him.
   • Tensions arise as Minerva Sloan, Kit's mother, exerts pressure on the Bailey family to secure the financial stability of Kit through marriage.

3. Rising Conflict and Civil Defense Critique [12:21 - 22:32]:

   • Lenore confronts her parents about the manipulative nature of their civil defense strategies, accusing them of fostering fear and control.
   • Coley expresses doubts about the efficacy and integrity of civil defense measures, questioning their societal value and personal worth.
   • The narrative critiques civil defense's bureaucratic and sometimes hypocritical practices, reflecting contemporary skepticism.

4. Atomic Alert and Climactic Destruction [32:22 - 43:23]:

   • An atomic alert is declared, leading to mass panic and societal breakdown.
   • Coley and Charles Connor respond to the crisis, witnessing the inadequacies of civil defense as cities like Pittsburgh and Detroit fall without warning.
   • The catastrophic atomic attack occurs, obliterating key cities and leading to widespread chaos and destruction.

5. Aftermath and Reflection [43:23 - 58:05]:

   • Survivors navigate the devastated landscape, grappling with loss, trauma, and the collapse of societal structures.
   • Lenore faces the consequences of societal pressures, dealing with radiation exposure and familial loss.
   • The story concludes with reflections on the futility of civil defense measures and the profound human cost of atomic warfare.

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Characters

• Orson Welles (Narrator): Provides a compelling and authoritative narration, guiding listeners through the story's intricate plot and emotional landscapes.

• Coley Borden (Marshall Thompson): The protagonist who witnesses the atomic attack and confronts the moral and ethical implications of civil defense.

• Lenore Bailey (Mona Freeman): A young woman torn between familial obligations and personal desires, embodying the struggles faced by individuals during times of national crisis.

• Minerva Sloan: Represents the authoritative pressures exerted by families and societal structures to maintain order and security.

• Charles Connor: Lenore's father, symbolizing the internal conflicts within families as they navigate the demands of civil defense and personal relationships.

• Kit Sloan: Lenore's fiancé, whose relationship with Lenore is marred by manipulative familial expectations.

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Themes and Discussions

1. Civil Defense and Societal Control:

   • The dramatization critically examines the effectiveness and morality of civil defense strategies, questioning whether they serve the public good or perpetuate fear and control.
   • Notable Quote [03:18]:
     Orson Welles: "If you were an enemy, wouldn't you rather see us neglect our atomic defense?"

2. Familial Obligations vs. Personal Desires:

   • Lenore's predicament highlights the tension between fulfilling family expectations and pursuing personal happiness.
   • Notable Quote [25:22]:
     Lenore Bailey: "I can't marry someone I don't love."

3. Fear of the Unknown and Human Vulnerability:

   • The impending atomic threat symbolizes the broader anxieties of the nuclear age, emphasizing human vulnerability in the face of technological advancements.
   • Notable Quote [21:32]:
     Orson Welles: "This time it was what else, Chuck? Now we cannot challenge a powerful and ruthless enemy without venturing world's end."

4. Ineffectiveness of Bureaucratic Systems:

   • The narrative portrays civil defense as insufficient and bureaucratically flawed, leading to catastrophic failures during the atomic attack.
   • Notable Quote [41:15]:
     Orson Welles: "It's Condition red. It is practice. It's the bomb. The bomb is coming."

5. Sacrifice and Heroism:

   • Characters are faced with making difficult choices, balancing personal safety with the duty to protect others, reflecting themes of sacrifice and heroism.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Orson Welles (Narrator):
  [01:09] "This is Orson Welles. Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day might bring forth."

• Lenore Bailey:
  [25:22] "I can't marry someone I don't love."

• Orson Welles:
  [25:57] "I'm telling you. For God, for country and for Yale, I guess."

• Orson Welles (During Atomic Alert):
  [41:16] "Turn off the gas. It's Condition red. Turn off the gas."

• Narrator:
  [58:07] "Against the fury of the sun and the cosmic technology of the ruthless and the despot availeth us the Kentucky rifle, the musket and the naked faith and valor of our forefathers."

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Conclusion

"Tomorrow" serves as a poignant reflection on the fears and responsibilities of the mid-20th century, encapsulating the societal tensions surrounding atomic warfare and civil defense. Through its rich character development and critical dialogues, the episode underscores the fragility of social structures and the profound impact of fear-driven policies on personal lives. Orson Welles' masterful narration and the compelling performances by Mona Freeman and Marshall Thompson bring Philip Wiley's narrative to life, offering listeners a thought-provoking exploration of duty, sacrifice, and human resilience in the face of unimaginable destruction.

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Credits:

The episode concludes with acknowledgments to Philip Wiley for his novel "Tomorrow," adapted for radio by Milton Geiger, directed by William Karn, with original music by Albert Harris, and produced by Cornwell Jackson. The cast includes Orson Welles as the narrator, Mona Freeman as Lenore Bailey, and Marshall Thompson as Lt. Chuck Connor.

Transcript

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[Orson Welles]

Dramatization of Philip Wiley's story of the United States under atomic attack. A tale of two cities, One without a civil defense organization. One with a civil defense organization. Featured in the cast are Mona Freeman and Marshall Thompson. And starred as our narrator is Orson Welles. ABC Radio and the Federal Civil Defense Organization presentation tomorrow.

[Narrator]

This is Orson Welles. Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day might bring forth.

[Orson Welles]

The Federal Civil Defense Administration is proud to present Orson Wells, Mona Freeman and.

[Narrator]

Marshall Thompson starring in Tomorrow, a full one hour radio drama. Transcribed about the shape of things that could come to America from the book by the distinguished American novelist Philip Wiley, adapted for radio by Milton Geiger and.

[Orson Welles]

Directed by William Karn.

[Narrator]

Now Orson Welles as your narrator, Mona.

[Orson Welles]

Freeman as Lenore Bailey and Marshall Thompson.

[Narrator]

As Lt. Chuck Connor in Tomorrow. Odd. But only one man saw it come. Actually saw it. Coley Borden saw it. He stood watching it cannonade down the twilight sky to target zero and to end an entire era in human history. There's no memorial over Kole Borden's last resting place. His grave is our atmosphere. But in one split instant, his molecules joined the envelope of gases that surround the earth. Perhaps this record of the event written on the air his molecules now inhabit shall be his epitaph. So be it. A Koh Boy. Hail and amen.

[Orson Welles]

There it is. The practice alert. Let's go.

[Lenore Bailey]

Dad. Dad, can't you at least finish dinner?

[Orson Welles]

Sorry, Beth, you'll have to explain excuses.

[Lenore Bailey]

It's Charles first day home on leave.

[Orson Welles]

Oh, I'll be home a month, Mother. Don't make me the heavy. If they got to leave, civil defense has gotten to be a big thing with some of us, Son. It's a night out instead of just going bowling with the boys upstairs. Ted. Ted mans his ham radio during the alert. Well, go up and ham your radio, man. Let's go, dad. I'm not appreciated here. Sorry, Beth. Chuck, see you later.

[Lenore Bailey]

I'm sorry, Charles.

[Orson Welles]

Why, it's good to see them so interested in something.

[Lenore Bailey]

Then you won't mind about Lenore Bailey.

[Orson Welles]

She in it too? And how that dates you, Mom.

[Lenore Bailey]

And how are you going to drop in next door and talk to her?

[Orson Welles]

Any dates set for the wedding yet?

[Lenore Bailey]

Not that I know of.

[Orson Welles]

Well, maybe I'll just walk past the front porch and whistle for her.

[Lenore Bailey]

Charles Connor, if you dare.

[Orson Welles]

I dare. I'm your brave soldier boy.

[Lenore Bailey]

Don't you dare. You're not school kids anymore.

[Orson Welles]

Well, maybe it's too late anyhow.

[Lenore Bailey]

Well, how do you mean?

[Orson Welles]

You say she's in civil defense. And how.

[Lenore Bailey]

I didn't hear her back the car out yet.

[Orson Welles]

Excuse me, mom, will you?

[Lenore Bailey]

Mom.

[Orson Welles]

Hey, learn to back up.

[Lenore Bailey]

Watch it, soldier. Chuck.

[Orson Welles]

Not Lenore Bailey.

[Lenore Bailey]

Lieutenant Chuck Connor. What are you doing in town, Lenore Bailey?

[Orson Welles]

Whatever prompted you to leave Mars?

[Lenore Bailey]

Well, if you're referring to my outfit, it's a decontamination suit. Come on, jump in and drive me to CD Sector headquarters.

[Orson Welles]

Well, I don't know what my Earth girls will say, but you're on. Now, anybody else in that decontamination suit would look unbecoming. But on you, it looks awful.

[Lenore Bailey]

Well, thank you. Now, tell me about you.

[Orson Welles]

Oh, desk job.

[Lenore Bailey]

Intelligence officer, thanks to your degree in architecture.

[Orson Welles]

Tell me about you and Fitzloom.

[Lenore Bailey]

Well, I guess your mother wrote you we were engaged.

[Orson Welles]

Somewhat to my mild surprise.

[Lenore Bailey]

Wow. You know, I always liked Kit. We dated even when I was dancing around with you.

[Orson Welles]

Yeah. I just never thought that Kit Sloan would ever get interested in anyone but himself.

[Lenore Bailey]

Oh, that's not fair, Chuck.

[Orson Welles]

Of course, you're being officially the most beautiful girl in the sister cities. Might have just appealed to his ego.

[Lenore Bailey]

Well, we won't talk about it anymore. I'm a little surprised, that's all.

[Orson Welles]

So was I. Remember? And are you happy inside of that radiation sleep?

[Lenore Bailey]

Very much. I majored in science, you know, before I quit college. Is that what you meant?

[Orson Welles]

Lenor Bailey Girl Geigerman. You know what I meant.

[Lenore Bailey]

Oh, here's the high school sector headquarters.

[Narrator]

Minerva Sloan, formidable mother of kits loan was homeward bound from being formidable at a director's meeting of the Mercantile Trust Company when the practice alert sounded, and it did ill content her. On downtown Central Avenue, traffic was stopped solid, six cars abreast. Cars had stopped, doors had popped open and people had scurried obediently to the vaulted entries of great skyscrapers and other shelter areas. All except Minerva Sloan. She sat furiously in her limousine, being formidable.

[Lenore Bailey]

Willetts, get us out of this jam at once.

[Orson Welles]

I'm afraid I can't, Mrs. Sloan.

[Lenore Bailey]

Then find me a telephone.

[Orson Welles]

You're not supposed to use the phone during an alert, Ma'am.

[Lenore Bailey]

Are you in league with these doing adult infants at play?

[Orson Welles]

No, no, no, no, ma'am. Mrs. Sloan.

[Lenore Bailey]

Then find a place with a telephone.

[Orson Welles]

Holy Borden talking.

[Lenore Bailey]

This is Minerva. Have you put the breakfast edition to bed yet?

[Orson Welles]

Minerva, you're not supposed to use the phone during.

[Lenore Bailey]

Civil foolishness is going to stop Corey.

[Orson Welles]

Why? What foolishness is that?

[Lenore Bailey]

For the so called civil defense. You're to kill the whole thing, beginning right now.

[Orson Welles]

Minerva, it's been the transcript's policy to back up civil defense in Green Prairie. If you want to spank it, why not do it across the river? Since River City doesn't have civil defense anyway.

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[Lenore Bailey]

I'm here. But I'll be there.

[Orson Welles]

Don't leave.

[Lenore Bailey]

I'm a busy woman, Coley. And when I want to get home after a hard day, I want to relax with my guests and on time. But just suppose two of the biggest cities in the Midwest tied up for two hours. And River City, an innocent bystander at that. At the evening rush hour of all times.

[Orson Welles]

At the evening rush hours is when a bomb is most likely to happen.

[Lenore Bailey]

Coley, do you know what I think? I think civil defense is communist inspired.

[Orson Welles]

Oh, Minerva, for heaven's sake.

[Lenore Bailey]

Terrorize people about a bomb attack while they're completely diverted and weakened in their effort to wipe out dangerous radicals right here at home.

[Orson Welles]

Now, wait a minute, Minerva. Isn't it the other way around? If you were an enemy, wouldn't you rather see us neglect our atomic defense? You bet you would. Because in a few years, you'd be in a position to say to us, okay, bums, you've had it we've got weapons you haven't got any answers for. So now you sit still while we.

[Narrator]

Give all the orders.

[Lenore Bailey]

Coley, how is your sweet wife since the accident?

[Orson Welles]

She's moving around pretty fair now.

[Lenore Bailey]

Then I won't have to replace you, will I? Coley, I'm sorry you have to stay late. But make it strong, coley.

[Narrator]

Bye bye. 16 hurt in CD alert the breakfast banner lines yammered. Sister cities paralyzed. Outrageous and unnecessary. Say River City Solons air raid siren.

[Lenore Bailey]

Sending thousands cowering into shelters. Keynoted at 6pm yesterday. The onset of a great rush hour fiasco in which 16 were injured and unestimated damage done to property. How can they say a thing like that in times like this? It's a free country.

[Orson Welles]

And a free press, I may add.

[Lenore Bailey]

Your boss, Minerva Sloan, decides how free the transcript is.

[Orson Welles]

I wouldn't say that banking's Minerva's racket.

[Lenore Bailey]

Well, I'm going next door. What for? Henry Connor went to college with Coley Borden. Maybe he can talk to Mr. Borden about civil defense.

[Orson Welles]

Won't do a bit of good, baby.

[Lenore Bailey]

I'd rather you didn't see Chuck Connor, Lenore. Don't worry about Chuck, Mother. He understands about me and Kit.

[Orson Welles]

Well, he's got to Admit Kit Sloan's 1.

[Lenore Bailey]

Don't start anything now, Bruce. It's not starting anything, Mother. What do you mean, don't start anything? What are you getting worked up about? Look, I'm marrying Kit Sloan because I want to now get that perfectly straight. And not to bail the Bailey family out of any difficulties it's in. So there's nothing that father can say that will change my mind about Kit. He can't start anything. I'm going next door to talk to Mr. Connor.

[Orson Welles]

You shouldn't told her about me.

[Narrator]

Nada.

[Lenore Bailey]

All I said to Lenore was that marrying Kit Sloan would help out her old man an awful lot.

[Orson Welles]

Did you say anything about the bank at all?

[Lenore Bailey]

No, I. I told you, I. I said you were in a little financial difficulty.

[Orson Welles]

A little five grand, that's all. How did I know old John Jessup would be back to his deposit box.

[Narrator]

Before the first of the year?

[Orson Welles]

If Minerva hadn't made up the shortage, you know where I'd be, don't you?

[Lenore Bailey]

I know where you'd be if Minerva's boy wasn't marrying Lenore. So don't start anything with Lenore.

[Orson Welles]

It's a dirty trick on her.

[Lenore Bailey]

She's making the best match in Green Prairie. You heard her. She loves Kit. She wants to marry him. She isn't doing it for you at all.

[Orson Welles]

Dirty, lousy, low down trick.

[Lenore Bailey]

You can say that. After all the trouble me and Minerva went through to settle this thing.

[Orson Welles]

Minerva and you. Her folks owned the railroad. That you were the wrong side of the tracks from. Now all of a sudden pals.

[Lenore Bailey]

Bruce Bailey. I believe you're drunk at breakfast.

[Narrator]

So.

[Lenore Bailey]

Oh, stop here, Kit.

[Orson Welles]

Just a turn around the block, huh?

[Lenore Bailey]

I'm expected at the meeting. Kit. I'll be late.

[Orson Welles]

Look, I hardly get to talk to my fiance. Why do you have to go to this meeting?

[Lenore Bailey]

Ask your mother. It's a protest meeting over the story in the transcript this morning.

[Orson Welles]

I'll be rough on Mother. She likes you.

[Lenore Bailey]

Why?

[Orson Welles]

She admires a fighter. Think she'll be wonderful for me? I'm 33, you know. I'm getting on. I never told you the catechism she put me through when I said I.

[Narrator]

Was interested in you.

[Orson Welles]

Oh, Grandparents long live how many children, state number of Malays, how many living etc. Etc. All mother's determined to keep the Sloan line alive.

[Lenore Bailey]

Does she reckon on the even chance it'd be a girl?

[Orson Welles]

She reckons on your persistence.

[Lenore Bailey]

I'm not sure I like that.

[Orson Welles]

I'm not always sure you like me.

[Lenore Bailey]

I'm a little upset over that news article today.

[Orson Welles]

And not because Chuck Connor is home on leave. The lad next door?

[Lenore Bailey]

No, not at all.

[Orson Welles]

What does he do in uniform?

[Lenore Bailey]

Intelligence.

[Narrator]

Desk job.

[Lenore Bailey]

He was too young for service in the war. Perhaps. He'd have won a pound of medals just like you.

[Narrator]

Do I talk about it?

[Lenore Bailey]

I'm sorry, kid. Forgive me. Sure.

[Orson Welles]

See you for dinner tomorrow morning.

[Lenore Bailey]

6:00.

[Orson Welles]

Okay, it's a deal.

[Lenore Bailey]

Oh, stop here, kid. This is it.

[Narrator]

Kit Sloan didn't talk about his medals, but he was deeply sensitive about them. Having ridden the best horses and the fastest cars, he had felt an affinity for the Air Force during the war. But when the first Nazi bullets began to shred the delicate tissues of his fighter plane, he died clear, leaving two wingmates exposed to a fate which both soon met heroically. And leaving no one to expose his cowardice. Happily for him, his group was assigned to the interception of buzz bombs. Buzz bombs were dangerous, but they didn't shoot back at a man with personal malice. If you had the correct reflexes, as Kit Sloane did, you survived. Kit became quite a hero, in fact, to everybody but Kit Sloane, who knew the truth. At the Civil defense meeting in Henry Connor's sector, it was moved, seconded and passed that Henry Connor, who knew Corey Borden closely talked to Coley Borton about that damaging story in the transcript. Just in case Coley wasn't entirely under the iron thumb of Minerva Sloan.

[Orson Welles]

And I'm worried, Coley. No turnout at all at the protest meeting. People are quitting Civil Defense. I'm sorry it disturbs you, Hank. It disturbed me because I began to doubt myself. And what I'm doing. I wonder. Are we wrong? Should we bother to go on? And am I personally doing anything worthwhile? Are we, Coley? Am I?

[Narrator]

Don't ask me, Hank.

[Orson Welles]

I am asking Hank. Are we making sense with this CD thing? You've got to know, Colia.

[Narrator]

I'd hate to look foolish.

[Orson Welles]

You're asking me, Hank? If I were you, I'd let hell freeze over before I'd quit. Why? Because people like you are the only life insurance left to this country. That's why. The other guilt edge policies have all run out. First the friendship of the other great powers. Then our lead on the bomb gone. They'll say just that in the transcribe. I can't. Well. Nice view of the cities from this window, Coley. Terrific skyline. Big, blustering, beetling.

[Narrator]

Beautiful.

[Orson Welles]

You've been reading Carl Sandburg. All I can do is just look and think of how better men than I am. Built all that out of the prairie. It kind of makes a small lump in my throat, but I suppose that's me. Nothing the matter with you, Henry? I'd sure hate to think that White Plains and King's Mountain and Valley Forge Were a waste of those early people's valuable time and blood. Sure hate to think Gettysburg and Shiloh and Cold harbor happened just so some bum with an airborne hot rod and a gift of grab. Could take what Americans fell dead to give us. I think those game fellows in knee pants who signed the paper July 4, 1776. Didn't risk stretching their necks just so we'd blow it because a traffic jam inconvenienced somebody. Why don't you go home, Hank?

[Narrator]

Sure, Col.

[Orson Welles]

A beautiful view from your window.

[Narrator]

I hope it stays. It was a magnificent view from Coley's window. From where he stood, Coley could see to the Atlantic seaboard. In the year of our Lord 16:20. He could see himself as a small, starry eyed kid chanting in school assembly that the breaking waves dashed high on a stern and rockbone coast. Yeah. Landing of the pilgrim and all the stupendous pageant from ocean to ocean thereafter. Once his thoughts were scattered but urgent and piercing. Once, as a young man, he'd reached through the iron pickets and plucked a violet from Jefferson's grave. It was in college. Henry been along. He'd remember it. Colia told Hank, I like to think.

[Orson Welles]

That the molecules of fragrance from this.

[Narrator]

Violet are mixing right in with the molecules of the Brent Jefferson drill or Lincoln.

[Orson Welles]

They're all around us, you know, molecules that people breathe from the start of.

[Narrator]

Time or that Yankee Doodle breeze or Johnny Red or Billy Yank or more lately, GI Joe once breathed Hanks right. The view changed. A fair plane, I believe, and on it Wheeling Sioux Indians besieged a circle of white Conestoga wagons seeking the Abenakis river and a nation. The view changed. Now frontier Fort Abernakus lay below, and a delicate double beading of blue would be where the 9th United States Cavalry sorted to hold the precarious foothold in the plains where the two cities would rise, sorted in fact, all the way to Belleau Wood, the bulge, the outposts of the world holding the nation with some view. Corey Borden went back to his desk and said, pretty soon. He began typing.

[Lenore Bailey]

We, the people of America, have for more than a decade refused to face our real fear. We know the world could end. Several nations have perfected instruments which make that ultimate doom more likely. Drink your orange juice, Lenora. We have relied on ancient instruments of security while leaving, relatively undefended and unarmed, the targets of another war. Our cities. Oh, this is great. This is absolutely spinning. Farmers dig cyclone cellars and rod their barns and ground their aerials against the wild wind and the lightning. We set up levees against floods, engines against fire, police against crime. What of the peril of world's end? Honey, your orange, dude. We face the age of radioactivity, the blast of neutrons, the killing solar fires with pea shooters and squirt guns. To the shattering facts of fission and.

[Orson Welles]

Effusion, we answer with popular indifference or apathy. Ten years have gone by. We could, at vast expense, to be sure, have decentralized our cities. We didn't. We could, at great expense, to be sure, have built mass shelters to save hundreds of thousands of lives. We didn't. We could at least and cheaply have learned to empty our cities swiftly. We didn't. The dislocation of human beings, the drills and the inconveniences were held to be intolerable by a nation bred in dislocation and in hardship. Now the sands of a decade are run out. Wow. Strong stuff.

[Lenore Bailey]

It's terrifying.

[Orson Welles]

Now. This time it was what else, Chuck? Now we cannot challenge a powerful and ruthless enemy without venturing world's end. Quite possibly our death notice is written perhaps a few years, perhaps a few months further along the orbit of this disenchanted planet.

[Lenore Bailey]

That will do, kid.

[Orson Welles]

That's the final paragraph, Mother. Then our flight from reality and from the ideals of our founders will get this globe of ours torn to hot flinders. Spinning gases. To us citizens of green prairie this promise of inferno poses a simple question. What new folly can you dream up with your coffee, your grapefruit, your first cigarette to keep yourself a while longer from facing the truth? Some powerful writing there, boy, I tell you. The CBA sure got it.

[Lenore Bailey]

Finish your copy, dear, then hand me the text. Telephone.

[Orson Welles]

Coley Borden talking.

[Lenore Bailey]

Coley, darling.

[Orson Welles]

Minerva, how are you this morning? You're fired, Minerva.

[Lenore Bailey]

Hello.

[Narrator]

October, A cold wind from Saskatchewan on Manitoba smelling of snow and muscake. Chuck Connor's leave was open. He drove with Lenora into the moonlight. They parked near the river, murmurous with history and the ancient dreams of long, silent pioneers.

[Lenore Bailey]

Remember how we used to park here after our high school dances?

[Orson Welles]

Yeah.

[Lenore Bailey]

This seemed like the place to talk to you. Chuck, I want you to understand about me and Kit.

[Orson Welles]

Oh, it's okay. I don't.

[Lenore Bailey]

It isn't okay. It's the way it is, that's all. In high school, fine, you were my guy. But school day, sweetheart. Seldom marries.

[Orson Welles]

Know that I am also broke. I know that I won't be out of the army for six months. I know that. And architecture is long and time is fleeting and the girl who's 24 years old has to look around.

[Lenore Bailey]

Sure.

[Orson Welles]

But in a year we have a little house in Edge Plains.

[Lenore Bailey]

Would I like that?

[Orson Welles]

Well, not every single minute of it, but it's a start.

[Lenore Bailey]

I'd hate it.

[Orson Welles]

Why?

[Lenore Bailey]

A crummy little box in a row with several dozen exactly like it filled with several dozen young wives having babies that they weren't quite ready for. Oh, it's no good, Chuck. Look around for a plainer girl with some real character.

[Orson Welles]

You quit college that you love because you haven't got any character. Quit so you could come home to try to help your parents keep their lives together. No guts. You're telling me.

[Lenore Bailey]

They need me. Terribly.

[Orson Welles]

Well, do you have to bail them out by marrying a man you don't love?

[Lenore Bailey]

I don't know that I don't love him, Chuck.

[Orson Welles]

I know how much you know, Lenore.

[Lenore Bailey]

If I fail Mother and Dad now, they'll be gone completely. Drinking too much, fighting and insulting each other wretchedly and insulting the life they gave me I can't stand that, Chuck. It's sorted. Yes, but maybe I can save something out of it for them. I don't know, Chuck. I'm an only child. Chance.

[Orson Welles]

You and Kit Sloan.

[Lenore Bailey]

Why do we have to live and compromise all of our lives?

[Orson Welles]

For God, for country and for Yale, I guess.

[Lenore Bailey]

Chuck, please don't talk like that.

[Orson Welles]

Shine on. Shine on. Harvest. More.

[Lenore Bailey]

Ch. I might not see you again for. Would you like to kiss me goodbye?

[Orson Welles]

I'd be scared too.

[Lenore Bailey]

Yes, all right. Take me home.

[Narrator]

The colonel of the Texas Air Force base waited until the still faced men at the conference table could hear him. Assistant Intelligence Officer Charles Connor was at the table. In the absence of Major Prior.

[Orson Welles]

As you all know, contrails have been spotted for years over Alaska and Canada. We've known for a long time that the enemy has reconnoitered our northern defense perimeter. Lately, photographic evidence places them over the United States. Have there been any contact, sir? None of our interceptors has ever gotten up fast enough for a good look. I have in this briefcase, gentlemen, secret orders for a new friend or foe recognition pattern. Using that, we're to keep our eyes open, photograph everything we see and when and if you can overtake it, fire on it. The bombers can go up and stay up and cruise up there. Bombers are to do the job, that's all.

[Narrator]

Late November, Harvard versus Princeton. Ohio State versus Michigan. Thanksgiving on the calendar. Late November on the timetable of the enemy. X day minus 30. It was a beautiful, a priceless morning. Chuck was home again, home for Christmas. The knowledge of Chuck's nearness next door and his irredeemable finesse once she gave Kit Sloan a date in the wedding brought a surge of decision and desperation upon Lenore Bailey. On that cut crystal last Saturday morning before Christmas.

[Orson Welles]

Christmas.

[Narrator]

She faced her weak, scheming mother and her weak, negligible father whom she loved and told them.

[Lenore Bailey]

You don't know what you're saying. I do know. I can't help it. No, now don't sit there wringing your hands, Bruce. Listen to her once.

[Orson Welles]

I heard her. It's her life, Netta.

[Lenore Bailey]

It's her life. All our lives. Don't give me that droopy talk. You're going to marry Kit Sloan, Lenor, and that's it. I can't marry someone I don't love. Do you know what you're saying? I mean, do you know what it means to your father? I don't know. I, I, I think so. I don't know. But isn't any buck Lenor your father gambled away $5,000 at the track and tried to make it up at the bank and the nervous loan caught on. Oh, no. These gamblers were threatening him and they'd have killed him if he didn't pay up.

[Orson Welles]

No, I don't think they'd have gone that far, Netta.

[Lenore Bailey]

What do you mean, you don't think that. You lifted Jessup's bonds, didn't you?

[Orson Welles]

Oh, sure, but I don't think.

[Lenore Bailey]

Then why did you need $5,000 to heart if you didn't think bade? What kind of a line was it.

[Warby Parker Advertisement]

Then you were handing me?

[Orson Welles]

What line are you insinuating?

[Lenore Bailey]

I don't know. You tell me. Stop it. Stop it. Leave him alone. Let it go. Can't you let it drop as just plain simple, clean old grand theft? Keep it clean, shall we? Look, Lenore, I know Minerva Sloan. Now, Minerva feels even an unsuccessful marriage will be good for Kit, if you know what I mean. Get him on his way. Get him started on his responsibilities. Then if it isn't working out, make it up. For years, Minerva's been hoping and praying Kip would get interested in someone to marry him and you were it. Maybe you don't understand mothers. $5,000. Otherwise, it's five years for your dad.

[Narrator]

More.

[Lenore Bailey]

All right, I set the date. Nobody else. When I'm ready and not before. Is that clear?

[Narrator]

Chuck Connor avoided Lenore by crossing the river to visit Ruth and Jim Williams in River City with the family. Ruth was Beth's sister surprised in middle life with a new baby which, plus the season, occasioned the visit. Ruth, wise with surprised motherhood had solemn theories about matters.

[Lenore Bailey]

Now, honestly, Henry, I don't mean to hurt you, but. But I just think this alarmism or whatever is bad for the country's nerves. It's certainly bad for the children. Oh, I don't see it, Bruce and I've had a couple more children than you have.

[Orson Welles]

I see it, Mother, but I don't hold with it. In these days of homemade psychiatry and everybody his own expert. You're not supposed to acquaint children with the dangers of our world. Don't be bitter, Charles. Bitter isn't the word, Jim.

[Lenore Bailey]

Rorschach tests show how talk of the bomb upsets school children.

[Orson Welles]

What did the pioneers tell their kids? I wonder if there really weren't any Indians. Go out, Roger and Prudence. Get your bitsy scalps peeled off. The whole thing is silly. War is unthinkable now. Well, I can think of it. And if I cans of people with worse Intentions can too. You. You're an army man. The army has to be alarmist to get its cut of the budget. That's why we've been caught badly unprepared in two great wars. Because we're alarmist. Fine.

[Lenore Bailey]

Oh, it's such a beautiful day. I don't think it's the day or the season for such an argument.

[Orson Welles]

Nobody's arguing. I just don't think it. I'll get it.

[Narrator]

It was for Henry. He took it in the bedroom.

[Orson Welles]

Hello, Henry. Where the devil you been? I've been here. You found me, didn't you? I've been trying for a half hour. This is CD Headquarters. There's a condition yellow. What? You heard me. I've got to break off. Report at once to sector headquarters with full equipment. Well, is it. Is it real?

[Narrator]

I'll say it's real. Get with it.

[Orson Welles]

Chuck. Yeah, dad? Can I see you in here a minute? Yeah, come in. Dad, you're white. That was headquarters, son. There's a condition yellow. Condition yellow. Do you believe it? You've got to believe it. Where's Ted? Outside, tinkering with Jim's car. We'll pick him up on the way out. We're Tell the others it's a practice alert. Try and look natural that way.

[Narrator]

They waited waist high through protest and ridicule to get outside, collect Ted and get into the car. Then they stepped on it. Chuck dropped Ted at home to man the ham radio and left his dad at headquarters and went on to Hink Field outside of town to report for duty.

[Orson Welles]

Well, people, maybe Minerva Sloan's transcript didn't murder Civil Defense in Green Prairie after all. It's a fine turnout. Give Cole Borden some credit. Well, it's a fine turnout. And a good thing too, because this is definitely it. The northern defense perimeter reports a large flight of long range bombers somewhere over Canada at 600 miles per hour or better. Figure it out for yourselves. And thank God we're only a Class 2 target area. Manual post. Get cracking. Station W00CDJ. Calling W00TKC. Are you there, Ted? Connor, Come in. Old man Connor here. W00TKC. Come in, W00CDJ. Over. Pittsburgh and Detroit have been hit. New York and San Francisco don't answer. Inform your sectors. This is it. Standby, W00CDJ. I have a call. Hello? What are you here, son? I've got headquarters. Pittsburgh and Detroit are gone. New York and San Francisco don't answer. Good God. Is Mother home yet? I don't Think so. Report to HQ. My sector is about 45% mustard. Doctors and surgeons are being the worst. We hope they're following the plan and leaving town. But we're not hearing about it. You got it? Got it. Why don't they let go with the sirens? Let it be. Condition red. Enemy planes actually headed for us. This is a yellow W00. TKC reporting and sector warden Henry Connor. 45% of all available personnel mustered.

[Narrator]

Six jet fighters were taking off from Hink Field. When Chuck Connor showed his pass and was passed into operations. It was very still in operations. The field staff looked silently at the big map with the little flags on it. A civilian was Harvey Garrett, Civil Defense Director for Green Prairie. General Boyce spoke.

[Orson Welles]

Gentlemen, now appears that a smaller assault wave is approaching from the south. Note that it seems to have broken into three parts.

[Narrator]

Nothing is yet coming our way.

[Orson Welles]

Thank God for that.

[Narrator]

So far, Mr. Garrett.

[Orson Welles]

General Boyce, the Scarlet flags on San Francisco, Detroit, New York and Pittsburgh, what do they signify, sir?

[Narrator]

H bombs. Some of the attacks were made and will be made by guided missiles launched from the air and homing on the cities. Now their range exceeds our radar range of 200 miles. Which would allow us a condition read for only a matter of minutes. Something for the civil authority to think very hard about. Mr. Garrett.

[Orson Welles]

Our downtown area is jam with shoppers. A condition read would sign the death warrant of thousands. Sound the siren and they panic. It's up to you, Mr. Garrett. We'll wait.

[Narrator]

The room was still again. All eyes were on the map and on Lipton at the communications board. Silence. Not a sound. The last of the fighters had departed, some never to return. Over the entire continent, the sky was peopled by young Americans and their dying enemy. After the first half hour, the young Americans, the sophomore college fullbacks, the Mariwals, the hot pilots, the forlorn hopes didn't bother to fire their rockets when they saw a red star. They dived and they died knowing that they'd struck at a target which no man could afford to miss. An entire fire company ground and tore and ricocheted south, heading out of town to be intact and available if holocaust arrived from the sky. Following the doctors and nurses out of town to safety and to be in reserve, Netta Bailey found it disturbing. Additionally disturbing on top of having Lenoir back from the beauty shop where headquarters had finally reached her with a cryptic message about yellow goods which had sent her flying home. No.

[Lenore Bailey]

You're doing this to annoy me. I know. Sure, Mother, but keep the radio on. That's all. You're not going to cut a party and break a date with Kip Sloan for any fool alert. Well, I am as soon as I get the suit zip. Oh, that idiotic ugly radiation suit and that silly box. They're not fit for a young woman. This suit silly box is a gamma survey meter. And it's as silly as a sailor learning to swim. Get out of that suit this minute and fix your ha. Listen to me, Mother. This is an official alert. We're to report with full equipment and I'm late as it is. K will be furious. That'll make two of you. Well, what do I tell him? To keep the radio at 6:40 or 12:40 for emergency instructions. Good morning, Mr. Bailey.

[Orson Welles]

Good morning, Minerva.

[Lenore Bailey]

What's the matter with everybody? All the tellers look villius. Is this a bank or a clinic?

[Orson Welles]

And there's a yellow alert. The most terrific rumors. Enemy planes everywhere, big cities not answering calls.

[Lenore Bailey]

I just had lunch at the Ritz and there was absolutely no sign of any such nonsense.

[Orson Welles]

Well, nobody said supposed to know yet. But it's official.

[Narrator]

Preposterous.

[Orson Welles]

Look at tv. They go through the motions but nobody looks natural. They know.

[Narrator]

I bet.

[Orson Welles]

Just look at the tv.

[Lenore Bailey]

I will.

[Narrator]

She did. Automata simpered at her from the screen. A premonition of horror seized her.

[Lenore Bailey]

They do look odd. Oh, it's silly. I'm going home. I'll telephone you.

[Orson Welles]

She can drop dead. I'm going home. I'm the head of a family.

[Narrator]

Coley Borden, former managing editor of the Transcript, presently unemployed, took the elevator to his old offices in the Sloan building. He had a small Christmas gift for his former secretary. The smell and the sounds were fondly remembered. But there did seem to be something wrong with everybody. Where Chuck Connor stood by in operations at Hank Field. Lipton at the communications panel handed up a note to General Boyce. Gentlemen, three planes, four engine turboprop bombers now diverted from main wing Green Prairie, River City. Probable destination approach in sector 209209. And the enemy bomber carrier is probably equipped to launch medium range missile.

[Orson Welles]

We're in for it, sir.

[Narrator]

Mr. Garrett, you're the director of civil defense in Green Prairie.

[Orson Welles]

Condition red.

[Narrator]

Thank God to have pity on them.

[Orson Welles]

Take cover. Take cover. Take cover.

[Narrator]

Where are you?

[Orson Welles]

Turn off the gas.

[Lenore Bailey]

What's the matter with you?

[Orson Welles]

Turn off the gas. It's a red alert. Condition red. Turn off the gas.

[Lenore Bailey]

Did you turn off the gas? The last pamphlet Lenore gave me said not to, I think.

[Orson Welles]

Why?

[Narrator]

Why?

[Orson Welles]

It's Condition red. It is practice. It's the bomb. The bomb is coming.

[Lenore Bailey]

Oh my God.

[Narrator]

No.

[Orson Welles]

Turn up the gas anyway. I'm going for water or something.

[Narrator]

In River City where there wasn't any civil defense, Jim and Ruth Williams barely heard the sirens from across the river where there was civil defense.

[Lenore Bailey]

What do you think, Jim?

[Orson Welles]

What about?

[Lenore Bailey]

There wasn't anything in the paper about a practice alert. You see him turn on the radio.

[Orson Welles]

Let's see. 6:40 or 12:40, wasn't it?

[Lenore Bailey]

Maybe I should get the baby whenever she's sleeping. Chuck seemed so sold on the possibility.

[Orson Welles]

Chuck? He's army, dear. They've got to be sold. And I repeat, this is.

[Narrator]

Connor ran.

[Orson Welles]

This is not a practice, not a drill. A condition of confidential alertness.

[Narrator]

There it was, incredible shattering conelrad. The Emergency Broadcasting System with the authenticity of an organized nightmare, was saying evenly that the atom was on the way, homing on green prairie and River City.

[Lenore Bailey]

Dear Father and his Heaven.

[Narrator]

And what would the Founding Fathers say? What, O Lord, against the fury of the sun and the cosmic technology of the ruthless and the despot availeth us the Kentucky rifle, the musket. What availeth that declaration which we fashioned on July 4, 1776 in Congress Assembled? What availeth it? The sword against the light, baby.

[Orson Welles]

I don't believe it.

[Narrator]

With a siren, the editorial offices of the Transcript had emptied in a wild brouhaha. Panicked exit. Coley Borden stood alone, looking out of the window of his former office. Bemused, he looked down at the ants in the street in an Antio upheaval. People were already beginning to die down there, just as they were beginning to die in the crush of the stairwell. Behind him. The streets were packed solid with cars and trucks, and people were running across the tops of the sardined autos to get out of there. He saw a tiny purple doll of a young woman fall and 100 people instantly using her body as a step to the tops of the cars. Here and there around Scarlet blob was a department store Santa Claus clawing for his life. The siren moaned to stillness, but there was no peace. From the street came a continuous shriek of thousands of of men, women, children slowly dying, slowly being broken to bits, the fused, clutching outcries of many agonies rising as one hideous cry. Coley Borden closed his eyes. There's no good. Closing his ears, he opened his eyes again and saw it. It came slanting down toward him, the long, slim, steely, monstrous dart cannonading down the sky to target zero.

[Orson Welles]

There it is.

[Narrator]

Light. Unimaginable blaze filling the sky shadows piercing strident hellish light. Universe is exploding with fire stars. And for this blinding spacious super solar plexus Coley Borton vanished. A gas, an incandescence with a universal incandescence that melted the skyscrapers, dissolved their steel bones, plummeted their stone carcasses into the buckling streets, miraculously empty now of its frenzied crowds. Beyond. The land was in convulsion, surging with heat and twisting avalanches of blast. At zero was zero nothing. A flat blinding desert of incandescence. Over it, glowing a toxic lavender and orange, the fireball raced upward up over the ghosts of the Cheyennes, the sioux, and the 9th United States Cavalry and ancient struggle, the buffalo and the hungers, the long, long lines of covered wagons seeking a nation. Henry Connor, at wrecked sector headquarters in the outskirts of town, got up groggily. Bricks still cataracted into the schoolyard. People moved, people didn't. Two men in white tin hats weaved toward him.

[Orson Welles]

I'm all right. See who's alive.

[Narrator]

At the first hint of danger, Kit Sloan had circumspectly tooled his sports car into the country and opened her up. The city was far behind him when the light seared the sky. He didn't know that Minerva, his goddess mother, lay with both legs broken and that she was being wheeled to an aid station in a cement crusted wheelbarrow. Astonishingly, Civil Air Patrol already had planes in the air, assessing the damage, directing the rescue. Astonishingly, things lived, thought acted incredible.

[Lenore Bailey]

Sweet and low. Wind of the western sea.

[Narrator]

The blast wave had caught Ruth Williams at a window. She was almost unhurt. The new baby caught a pound of glass in its back and was a tatter in Ruth's arms. Jim was out looking aimlessly for a doctor and soaking up radiation that would make Ruth a quietly crazed widow in two weeks. Lt. Charles Connor, assigned to auxiliary police duty on a weapons carrier, found his dad in his sector and they took time to share a cigarette.

[Orson Welles]

Last I heard, the District of Columbia was just a white hot saucer. What about the president is dead. Yeah. Most of his cabinet, most of Congress. We were lucky. Los Angeles County, a bowl of hot gravel. Nothing. We'll be looking at old movies for a long time. We shot a couple of looters, poor guys, probably out of their heads. Lenore's dad was one of them.

[Lenore Bailey]

Bruce.

[Orson Welles]

Oh, I didn't know until after him. It was almost as though he wanted to be shot.

[Narrator]

A hurricane draft.

[Orson Welles]

Oops.

[Narrator]

And galloped through the shambles, tearing apart tottering houses, knocking over the weak and injured, thundering toward the firestorm raging in the center of town. A titanic solar fire rose a thousand feet into the sky at target zero. The terrible solar firestorm that nothing could stop. The city roared like a volcano and the night shook with a frenzy of that monster, monstrous apocalypse of flames. It was this fire sucking in cubic miles of air every second, defeated, that drew that wild gale galloping and hooting through the desolate city for it surrounded it with the universal combustion. The wild wind plunged toward the fire to its destruction. The wild mob plunged away from it. But here it was. Here was the gigantic panic, uncontrolled, hideous that the experts were sure could never happen.

[Orson Welles]

Don't answer. They're wild. Don't. They'll kill you for just a glass of water. Well, you can't be sure. Might need help. No, please don't.

[Narrator]

I'll get my shotgun. Just. Kit Sloan had stopped at a farmhouse. The gas tank was almost empty. The farmer and his wife and three fresh looking daughters were scared but hospitable but.

[Orson Welles]

Yeah, yeah, I hear you. What may I be doing for you, Fran? I told you. Come on, boys. Help yourself. I'm awake. Look, you men move on. This is a private home. You. You've done murder. Now go on. Move on, I say. Go on. Shall we let him have it, fellas? No, no.

[Narrator]

Kid didn't even stop for the dead farmer's gun. I just wanted to get away. He was peeling off again. Never mind the women in the farm.

[Orson Welles]

Escape, I read. Get that shirt.

[Narrator]

Flame had squirted once from a truck parked darkly on the highway and once was enough. Overhead, a helicopter windmill toward the shambles under the Civil defense crash plan. Food was being flown in, parachuted down and more common. Every trained person who could help was pouring into the sister cities. Food, medical supplies. Men, wax and even waves, communications and signal. People, doctors, Mercy. The Mars man. Bizarre in a yellow radiation safe suit was an Earth girl named Lenore Bailey. Weighted down with instruments that clicked, waved, needled wildly, she moved in ahead of men who were cautious only because they wanted to live long enough to find her friends and neighbors dead or alive. On a little mountain outside of Charlottesville, Virginia, several men gathered in a large and famous shrine. It belonged to a former president. The house was Monticello, on Thomas Jefferson's beloved little mountain. The new president, who had just taken his oath, spoke solemnly to the remnants his cabinet of the Congress of the United States.

[Orson Welles]

Gentlemen, three possibilities face us. The first is surrender.

[Narrator]

Second, we can continue our assault on the enemy.

[Orson Welles]

I assure you he is suffering severely. In time, our effort may be as effective as his own. Meanwhile, his assault will continue. In the end, civilization itself may be ended. There is a third alternative. For years, a United States fleet submarine has been in readiness. Converted to the most immense thermonuclear bomb ever assembled. She is at this moment lying submerged.

[Narrator]

In the North Sea awaiting orders.

[Orson Welles]

The detonation of this appalling weapon would utterly devastate the enemy. It involves grave risks, but against these is the certainty of world domination by a single despotic power. Now this is not a decision to.

[Narrator]

Be reached out of sheer vengeance or death agony.

[Orson Welles]

We must decide quickly how much we esteem the world we live in and how courageously we'll face the controversy that will rage about this decision to the end of history. Now think, gentlemen.

[Narrator]

They could have seen it from the planets. If there were eyes on Mars, they could have seen it without aid. In a split second, the Gulf of Finland evaporated the dust and the debris of the enemy was flung to the euros beyond. Some of the American cities came back. Green prairie came back. Some, like River City, were abandoned. Scar tissue on the land. Speechless monuments to improvidence. They say half of the dead might have lived. They say half of the terribly maimed and burned might have been unscathed. They were told. They didn't listen.

[Lenore Bailey]

My pretty one.

[Narrator]

Ruth Williams still believes that it is that perfect gem quality Saturday morning before Christmas. But the baby is in her arms and the Jim has just stepped out for a few cans of cold beer and we'll presently be back. Ted is thinking of entering medical school. School wonder should he get married. Though Lenor already is married, Mrs. Charles Connor faces the aftermath of Armageddon like the women who came to the river Abenakis in covered wagons.

[Lenore Bailey]

Dr. Lister says that a quarter of the babies by raid mothers don't quite make the grade. I'm afraid I caught some of the irradiation, Chuck.

[Orson Welles]

Yeah, well, 75% is passing.

[Lenore Bailey]

Sure.

[Narrator]

What?

[Orson Welles]

Oh Lord.

[Narrator]

Against the fury of the sun and the cosmic technology of the ruthless and the despot availeth us the Kentucky rifle, the musket and the naked faith and valor of our forefathers. What availeth that declaration which we fashioned for freedom in July 1776 as our lives jeopardy what availeth it these sacrifices and the sword of yester today against the lightning of tomorrow? The Federal Civil Defense Administration is grateful to Orson Welles, Mona Freeman and Marshall Thompson for contributions contributing their services to this transcribed program.

[Orson Welles]

It also wishes to thank Philip Wiley.

[Narrator]

For permission to dramatize his novel Tomorrow, which was published in the hardback edition by Reinhardt & Co. And in the softback edition by Popular Library. The radio adaptation was by Milton Geiger. Our director was William Karn. Original music was composed and conducted by Albert Harris. Cornwell Jackson produced your announcer, James Wallington.