Change of Heart

For the young men and women who are graduating today

this is the commencement of a life

rather than the end of a college course.

So we call it that: commencement.

For many years I have seen

the young men and women of the graduating class

go out into a world that I knew would welcome them.

That had a reward for them

in abundant proportion to what they gave to the world.

Today, my young friends,

I am sending you into battle upon a field

half lost unless you help win it.

You have the youth and the strength,

the courage and the faith,

the minds and the hearts.

Therefore, I send you

to find the trail.

Crooner, pa, not yodeler.

You wouldn't call Bing Crosby or Rudy Vallee a yodeler, would you?

Why wouldn't I?

I'd be calling them more than that

if your ma and sisters were out of earshot.

Nobody in California is out of earshot when you raise your voice.

Come along, girls.

- But listen, Pa... - Listen nothing. You're not going to N. Y.!

- You're going to Hawaii with us. - But everybody in Hawaii are croons.

That's what's the matter with them.

- Hiya, Chris. - Hi, Joe.

But, darling, if you must go on the stage,

we have such a good stock company in Azusa.

Oh, mother, you've really got to understand.

I'm going to be an actress. A real actress.

Not just a... Well, Broadway's the only place.

Hello, Pete. How's Trish?

I've simply got to get to Broadway, Mother.

Oh, here comes Freddy Whales. Isn't he just beautiful?

I wouldn't exactly call a man beautiful.

- Hello, Madge. - Hello, Freddy.

Madge, darling,

I'm afraid my piano lessons...

...aren't going to be enough... Oh, money, money, money.

I'm not going to be poor, I'll tell you that.

That's another reason I'm going to New York.

- Well, I might ask your grandmother... - Oh, you simply got to, because...

Oh, I wish this robe fitted a little more.

Hi, Madge! Gee, you look swell in that kimono.

Oh, do I, Terry?

And another reason, Mother. Catherine's going, and Chris...

and Mack.

- Hello, Chris. - Hello, redhead.

- What're you reading? - A letter.

If it's personal, I'd like to see it.

- I wish they'd have come. - So do I.

This is one day when you want your parents.

I'm sorry, Fiery.

Oh, I never knew mine. Too young.

So I can't miss them. What you don't know doesn't hurt you.

- So they say. - It's true, isn't it?

No... Hm?

Which is it? No, hm, or yes?

No.

You know? This has been more than college to me.

It's been the only home I've really known.

Well, I still have children and dogs and strangers to love.

Somehow I never think of you as being lonely.

- Didn't know you thought of me at all. - Go away, Miss Furness.

- Well, Mr. Thring, do you? - Sure.

- Really? - Lots.

Well, what do you think, besides thinking you think I'm not lonely?

I think you're oak.

You're a great pal, Fiery.

I don't know what we'd all do without you around.

That makes me a sort of mama.

But not exactly what you'd call a hot mama.

- Chris. - Hm?

I'm wondering what kind of girl you call a hot mama.

Here she comes.

Oh, Catherine, Chris, I'm going, I'm going, I'm going.

Mother promised to make grandmother

give me an allowance of $100 a month maybe more.

My, when do we start? I can hardly wait! Oh, Chris, darling!

Oh, Nick, I can go! Isn't it swell?

Well, I can't go. It's all off.

My father wants me to go in the tractor factory.

Me in a tractor factory!

Rudy Vallee in a boiler factory

Oh, Mack. Where is your father? Can't we talk to him?

Oh, it won't do any good. We're sailing for Honolulu.

What are you going to do with a man who says

a radio singer is nothing but a yodeler?

Which he says and which he is.

Oh, T.P., how can you? Is John McCormack a yodeler?

Who said that?

Oh, the blathering radio noise.

How can anyone yodel a camogie?

But crooning, that's different.

The very best music lends itself to crooning.

Crooning? Couldn't they call it something else to save its face?

Now, take for instance, er... let's see...

something sweet, but really good music.

# Open the door softly #

# somebody wants ye, dear.

Give me a chink no wider than you'd fill up with your ear.

And if you're hard of hearing, why, your mouth will do as well.

So put your lips against the chink, And hear what I've to tell.

Aw, it's a conspiracy.

What chance has a man got with the lot of you all?

- What do you say now, Pa? - But why go to New York...

-... to yodel... - Ah, ah, ah!

To croon, hang it! Why don't you croon in your own home...

where I can get me hands on you?

But everyone wants to go to New York.

New York! I can hardly wait.

Well, if you're going, that's another ear to the pig.

Here, take your ticket to Honolulu...

and turn it in.

You'll get enough for it to pay for the lot of you to New York.

And here's a little more for you.

If you're going to croon,

I imagine you'll be hungry a good deal of the time.

Come on, Madge. Shake a leg.

I'm shaking more than that. I'm going by train.

Train? That takes four days.

I know what'll fix you up. I've got a quart of it in my bag.

That's the trick. Before you come to we'll be all the way across the U.S.

Sure! 3000 miles from the Pacific to the Atlantic in 15 hours.

Step right in!

Hot and cold meals, radios. Tune in if you want, sleep if you don't. ...

Land where you please, jump out when you please...

- Oh, shut up, Mack. - And before you know it...

they'll be having hot and cold showers.

Save the quart for me, will you? I may need it.

I promise.

You feel all right now, Madge?

No... yes... I don't know.

How about a sip out of that quart, hm?

Well, I will if... Mack, will you have a drink?

Oh, boy, look at that beautiful blonde.

Hiya, sugar!

Subtle, that's me.

There you are.

There.

Come along, now.

Your time is my time...

Would you like me to turn the radio on for you?

What, with me on in person?

What's the matter?

You know who it is.

Chris?

No, Mack.

Oh.

Oh, I'm crazy about Chris, but it's Mack I love.

I'm afraid you're going to have to make up your mind sometime, dear.

I can't help it if that's the way I feel, can I?

- Can't you sleep either? - No, too wide awake.

There's the silver lining we hear so much about.

Just to be able to see it.

Just to have the sight and the feeling.

We're ahead of the game already, aren't we, Chris?

That's what I was thinking. But you know how to say it.

You'll make a writer, Catherine.

I'm gonna try. You'll get on, too, Chris.

You've got a letter to a big law firm in your pocket right now.

Yeah. A letter.

That's a lot. Shows that someone has faith in you.

I can't help feeling worried, though.

I wonder what New York will do to us.

I wonder what will become of us when we get there.

I wonder. Would you like to have me read your palm?

They say a long lifeline can beat almost anything.

Chris.

Hm?

I like the way your hair's cut in the back.

That ought to be a great help with the jury.

That's New York.

My mate.

Catherine, it's a monster. I'm scared.

So am I. A little.

Arrival at Newark airport in 10 minutes.

- Fasten your belt, please. - Supposing you wear suspenders?

That was a subtle one.

- What, no fans? - They're home practicing.

Come on.

Thank you, sir.

Well, we're here.

- You're getting fiery? - No, excited.

Did you ever see so many people? Where did they all come from?

It's a reception committee. They've heard I'm in town.

Hey, taxi?

- Why not? - Hop in!

Some town.

I always knew it was big, but I didn't think it was this big.

Listen, kids. This is just like Walla-Walla.

Only there's a lot more of it.

Well, a lot of Walla-Walla is something to worry about.

Gee, we'll have to stick together.

Poor little Indian. Sink or swim.

Well, I'm not gonna sink.

I'm a large enough fish to swim the biggest ocean.

Fish don't sink, sap.