Hi, thanks for joining my talk. I'm really, really glad to meet you, Bertali, and today I will talk about and cover your projects with a multi-propose live with Node.js registry. But the first start, please allow me to introduce myself, but let's run this comment first. Perfect. My name is Juan. I'm from Spain, but with strong roots from Nicaragua. I'm a senior front-end engineer at eBay, and I lived since one year ago in Berlin and previously in Austria for a few years. I'm the lead maintainer of the Bertali project. I'm really love open source, especially Node.js. So today I'm going to talk about a topic I'm really, really passionate about using a registry with Node.js. So at the end of this talk, you have to learn the role of the registry in your project, a small introduction to Berdasho, and all the benefits of having a perfect registry in combination with your project. So before we go to the main topic and features, I want to define one of the main ideas I'm going to mention today, the registry. So when we are installing our packages, this is the picture we have the most of us in our mind. A slow and heavy process we are forced to execute in order to achieve our goal to build or ruin a project. But independently of the package manager of your taste, those are only one part of the effort to build a project. The other part files instead of the responsibility of the registry. So what is a registry and why we should care about it? A simple definition of a registry is a repository of packages composed of tar balls made of data, also known as Sparkment, which stores and tracks the version of a package. Technically, it's more complex than this definition, but this is good enough for the purpose of this talk. So what's the role of the registry in your app? The package manager needs information to calculate the dependencies in your project. This information comes from the registry. But without a registry in the other side, the package manager, it does not match to do by itself. So the registry must have high reliability. Otherwise, you are a totally block. The registry is in the middle of the critical path of building your app. So a new solution is having a server registry in the middle to back you up. So we're actually alive with open source proxy and private registry built in OGS. And today, we'll add a new adjective, multi-propose. What this multi-propose means, the principal reason for using Verdatio is for hosting private packages. But also, it has the ability to fetch for multiple registries. But while Verdatio proxy to external registries also holds a copy of every package and persisting a copy of data for future request. Also, you can emulate real testing. This is the newest one. And I want to emphasize here, it's a complement rather a tool itself. So before we delve into what Verdatio is and how to use it, it's worth learning more about the problem domain itself and the fact that our apps must lie on external services 100% is the main issue. Services might fail. And if you need additional features, also you need to wait for it. Our apps should be able to run and deploy without external interference and reduce the scope of the failure to internal domain rather external reasons. Portability is also a big problem for other solutions.  And in any of your projects that provide an interesting set of opportunities like we are going to see later. Getting started with Verdatio is really straightforward. Just install the package globally and run Verdatio command. Verdatio is so small and that can be combined with MPX command. And the default configuration is more than enough. But for the most of these cases, but also it's based in Jamon. Here I'm using MPM for simplicity, but any other package manager works fine. Verdatio has an official image and also a health official chart. And this is the way that actually you can actually you can use with Docker. The unique argument you need to use here is the port. But also you can extend it with other Docker features like volumes and so on. The next step is configuration custom registry. And there are actually three ways. The first one is the faster way which you can use the registry flag. And this works per command. The second one is set the registry property at the MPM RC file. And this is the most common way and recognized by other package managers. And also you can host in your operating system home directly as a global or in the root of your project. In the package Jamon, also you can define the publish config property. And this way you can ensure you are publishing to the specific registry. And this one cannot be overruled by any of the previous options. One personal recommendation is NRM. This tool is really handy. And actually this one works only globally. But also it has a nice allies when you can switch with the registries or to try. Hosting a private package registry is a must to have in combination with your projects. And there is many reasons for it. Security by far is the most important one. And it acts as a firewall to avoid leaks to public registries. And privacy perhaps is the most valuable one. And the fact that nobody can see your code, it's spiceless. Also you can have an offline experience for those who travel or work remotely in areas which network issues, conferences, airports, coffees, etc. And your project will feel even if any outage happens. Relature is free. And it's open source. So this is being translated to reduced cost. If you're an independent developer or a smaller startup, hosting a private package, a private registry never was easy and cheap because I didn't have to pay any monthly fees. For those who are learning Node.js, teach Node.js is hard if you cannot use a registry. NPMGS is not made for that scenario. For instance, you can spam it with fake names or use offline. Staging a registry is the best reason to host in one. Because having a hosted stage in registry is maybe the best decision you can take. And you might have, you might have the need to publish a snapshot or calendar releases that need to be hosted somewhere, to be consumed by other parts of your app. And a private registry in those scenarios became crucial. And it's a huge advantage for several reasons. Hosted within your network make packages much easier to override. And also projects in development can leak sensitive information if you are doing some snapshot publishing in private registries. And even if you're using private features. So in this picture we can observe how at Verdas we use a staging registry to deploy calendar versions per request. And for instance, I created a custom GitHub actions and that create a command in the request after publish on my staging server. If we dive into the action, I can extract relevant information from the GitHub context API and invoke the MPM version with some specific special arguments like no GitHub version which actually avoids to create a GitHub and also create which also allows you to define a specific ID for your release. So the final result looks like this. Because having a staging registry from a project makes much easier to anyone to try out right away the calendar version after the build finish. And this is just an example of how you can combine tooling with your private registry. When does a staging registry make sense? For instance, if you are doing continuous delivery which teams produce so forth in short cycles and apps need to be built regularly and having a streaming registry will allow you to create fast snapshots and also faster builds if you catch properly. There are mono repositories that can rapidly growth for several amount of models and relationships within apps. But for instance, if you have a design system which is being used across all of your orientation. When you need to batch a library, if one of your dependencies has a back and you know how to fix it, on the official batch never arrives, sounds familiar right? Let's see an example. For instance, you can publish a batch version to your private registry and use it while the real batch arrives. But that should merge the remote versions with the private versions. And all you need to do is just change the version interpret where the real batch is being published. And now let me give you an example how a small registry is handy to cover an app for teaching Node.js. Workshoper is an organization built around the Node.js platform and has roots within old school. This organization exists, you need the effort of the creation of open source learning material. And how do NPM collect my attention when I notice they were mocking a registry for teaching purposes? So you can learn how to use NPM and for a few common actually requires a registry, like NPM publish or NPM login. So why don't you integrate a real one which can be used offline anywhere? So I decided to open up a request and integrate Verdasho. Now the app can actually focus on teaching and let Verdasho to handle itself the registry features. So thankfully this idea was very welcome. And this is just an idea how you can use a private registry for teaching. So all we know, all we know the public registry is the order of registries where all our private packages projects are hosted by the phone. But there is not only one and you might have more than one in your organization. And thus a registry should be able to access multiple registries with the best developer experience. Proxies are gateways between you and internet. And Verdasho can proxy between an old package manager and any other registry with a seamless integration. Let's see. So you might have seen before in a project. And this is the way that NPM provides accessing to multiple registries via NPM RCI. But this comes with a few disadvantages like user experience or security. So to keep this on sync, scopes might be hard if your team has a considerable size. And few of your developers even might be tempted to leak accidentally password or tokens to the public repositories by mistake. And also it looks pretty chaotic. So Verdasho has a feature named uplinked that allows you to centralize all the configuration in a config file. You can configure, set up security headers and release developers for responsibility to keep this on sync. Verdasho supports multiple ways to set your tokens, locations, and any other node registry can be hooked here. So after defining the uplinks, also you can define for each package pattern to be fetched for specific remote or multiple ones. And that's all. And Verdasho will look out for the remote or for less for your developers. If you combine these with another private hosted registry, you will have only one single endpoint for all your registries. Catching means placing something in storage on the chance it might come in use of later. And being able to catch packages, it's something that the package manager does actually locally, really locally. But why don't do it at the level of your app? So why we should care about catch? And I will refresh this. And why could not happen? For instance, a missing library broke in the internet like left a few years ago. Also, this might happen also in your local environment. MPMGS having a tough day because you cannot install packages. Or intermediary are working in the internet again, like growth for this year.  Anything can happen. And you must be covered for all these scenarios. So catch is the key. And catching dependencies will save the stop of your work in your project. And catcher dependencies locally is not enough. And they can be clearly denied and they're gone. So Verdasho cast by demand and keep the latest track of all your versions, private ones, and from remote, other remote registries. And the folder that contains the cache is just a folder and that can be relocated or copied to another computer. Furthermore, the cache is backward compatible for easy upgrades. Continuation integration is part of the lifecycle of your app. And all we want those to be green. To maximize the chances of success, I recommend to put a private registry catching by demand all your advantages. And which will avoid false positive do a network or service outages. You will have better consistency in your app, faster builds with a closed location within your registry and your continuous integration server. Also, I will emphasize here to use a log file. And if you have an app, it might be not required if you're in the case you are building modules and you prefer your semantic version in place. But in any case, I also recommend to pin your dependencies, which will help to the package manager request new updates through history so often. Using Verdasho, you could apply an extra optimization. For instance, increasing the match age of your cache. This will avoid to offer a request to the more registries speeding up the build. Another usage is emulating real testing. Entwine testing is a technique used for tests whether the entire application flow behaves as expected from start to finish. Speaking in Node.js means that the package should be tested exactly as we expect to be consumed with real life tooling without mocking stuff. With a real package manager, a real registry. For instance, many Node.js models are CLIs, command line interfaces, like web CLI, Angular CLI, and so on. So those can be only tested via human interaction and only with Entwine testing, you can have a feeling of real testing. So how to test a package with Verdasho in a test runner? First of all, you need a real package manager. Any of them. Second step, you need to publish the package to the registry. And then in this case, Verdasho, because the appendix is quite easy to integrate. And the third step is run the test. In this case, we are going to use just. So here we have an example. You can see the source code in the Verdasho organization. I created a small CLI which actually only calculate the area and require two arguments, wave and hang. So first of all, you need to fork the registry using the model chili process. In combination with the required Verdasho as dependency with a few arguments, like the location of your config file in the book model. You only need to wait, you need to wait the message when the registry has booted, and then you can grab this in a promise and then await it and just do it in the before or in the first section. And just as simple. Second step will be publishing your package to Verdasho. For this, we can use exit file from chill process again to execute an external application. In this case, NPM. And here we are using a registry flag publishing to our registry. The first step is install the CLI and a specific location using specific arguments like the registry that we want to fetch and the prefix where I decide where I want to install my package. In this case, I will do it in the temporary folder. The last step is running the CLI from my previous location. And I'm using exit file again, but in this step, I want to know the output. So I do return STD out and I watch my expectations after that.  Verdasho supports plugins. And on this specific scenario, I'm using storage in memory, which is the objective to run my tests faster. Another level is authentication. Here I'm installing a second plugin and having all the expensive tasks running in memory will help you to run the tests faster. Everybody has a particular setup. And in open source, you can find many users in Verdasho. For instance, I would totally recommend you check out this project and see how their setup looks like. It's really simple and it's based in Dash. Well, we are near the end of this talk, but two more things before we finish. I will highlight from this quote a small part of the tweet from Mateo Collina about this topic. Having a previous registry should be in standard. As you have seen, a registry is an important piece of a critical path of building your app. And I hope after this talk, you have a different vision of how to get registries. Later summary, a previous registry gives you more flexibility and being able to automate tasks or just for development purposes. Keep all the configuration in the server side. Don't put unnecessary waste in the developer's shoulders. Cash or the things with a previous registry. And don't block your team from building their apps. Start testing your packages and ship confidence before it's too late. So that's all. Thank you so much. You can find more documentation in the Verdasho website. Also, you can reach me out via Twitter or the developer or just follow me on GitHub, under Avicado. I'm looking forward for your questions. Thank you so much.


Screen Directors Playhouse, Star, Alan Ladd, Production, Lucky Jordan, Director, Frank Tuttle. This is the Screen Directors Playhouse, the Thursday night feature on NBC's All Star Festival of Comedy, Music, Mystery and Drama.  The cigarette that brings you Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. The Makers of Anison, for fast relief in the pain of headache, neuritis and neuralgia. And by RCA Victor, world leader in radio, first in recorded music, first in television. This Playhouse is proud to present the outstanding hit Lucky Jordan, starring Alan Ladd in his original role of Lucky Jordan. But first, let's listen in on a couple of old friends. Now here's Chesterfield's answer to Serino de Bergerac, Bob Hope. I'd top easy, Dad, but we only have a minute here to sell Chesterfields. Okay, well let's get to it.  The mildness is a cinch to prove. You just make the Chesterfield mildness test.  And Chesterfield leaves no unpleasant aftertaste. That fact has been confirmed by the country's first and only cigarette taste panel. So make our cigarette your cigarette. The reasons go together like this. Chesterfield, Chesterfield always takes first place. That milder mild tobacco never leaves an aftertaste. So open a pack, give them a smell, then you'll smoke them. Now here's the first act of Lucky Jordan, starring Alan Ladd with our host narrator, the distinguished director, Mr. King Vidor. Lucky Jordan was a hoodlum, a two-fisted gangster and a racketeer. And like all mob leaders, he lived in constant fear of his life. At the moment, framed in the shadows of a window across the street from Lucky's headquarters, are two killers. An imported hood with a machine gun and slip maran. Lucky's trusted lieutenant, waiting to erase Lucky. Now remember, Lucky never comes out of that door first. He sends out Eddie, that's his double. And if everything's okay, he follows and from 50 feet you can't tell him apart. Hey, get ready. Here comes Eddie. And he's... Blast him! He's not so Lucky anymore, let's go. Where you going, Slip? Out of my way, Pyle. If you behave yourself the way I like it, you can stay in this office and be my secretary. What do you mean? Well, you'll find out just now. I think I'm going to step inside and try Lucky's chair for sight. Since when don't you announce yourself, Slip? Lucky! What's the matter with you? Nothing, I'm just a little on edge. I've been with the dentist all afternoon. Who's the guy sitting here? Oh, Angelo. How do you like him for my double? I don't know. I don't know, he's a little short.  I think he'll do. What's the matter? You mad at Eddie? Mad at him? I'm giving him a Swell funeral. Oh, boss, you don't mean that something happened to him. Yeah. He didn't know what hit him, but it did. Know who did it? Yeah. Somebody who was enough to figure Eddie would come out first. Just done a hunch this afternoon I came out first. Good thing I did. For me. Angelo. Yeah, Mr. Jordan? You're hired. What am I supposed to do? Just dress like me and tag along wherever I go. Is that what this other man did, you know? Eddie? Yeah, that's right. Look, I got another job, setting up pins in the bowling alley. It's a nice alley. You're lucky to get out of it. Sooner or later your bounty get hit by a bowling ball. Mr. Higgins is here, Mr. Jordan. All right, send him in. Hey, slip, take Angelo to my tail and get him a wardrobe. Yeah, okay, boss. Hi, Angelo. Hello, Slim. Hello, Lucky. Well, did you fix it? Fix? Oh, well, I think it's important that you should know that... Yeah, I mean you didn't. Well, you see, you can't go through the usual channels on a thing like this. What kind of a lawyer are you anyway? Now, Lucky, you can't go offering bribes to a draft board. Yeah, let him put me in the army. I tried everything. I even tried to get you in 4F. Yeah? What's that? Well, it's socially undesirable. What do you mean socially undesirable? Things like me. Well, that's not exactly the connotation. It means... Well, I'll be frank with you, Lucky. Everybody knows that you control all the rackets in town. Now, that's not considered socially desirable. Nobody's ever pinned anything on me yet. I know, I know. That's why I couldn't get you in 4F. I don't pay you to take no for an answer. Look, Lucky, I'm your attorney and I'll do anything you want me to do. But my private opinion is that everybody owes it to his country. To serve. I don't owe anything to anybody. Everything I got in this country, I got the hard way and there was plenty of guys trying to keep me from getting it. Now, now, now, there's no use getting belligerent about it because unless a man has bona fide exemptions, he goes when he's called. Yeah? Parents in some cases are grounds for exemption. What about yours? I haven't got any. I mean I never knew who they were. First thing I remember, I was in an orphan asylum labeled unadoptable. Well, then I'm afraid you're in for it, Lucky. Well, take another think. If I've got to have some dependence, you get me some. What? You're hard of hearing. Well, you just said you don't know your parents. Sure, but there must be some old bag who's willing to call me sunny for the right amount. Oh, no, that's fantastic. I'm not paying you to tell me I'm fantastic. You get going in line up on Mother by 10 o'clock in the morning or I'll slap you back chasing ambulance. I never chased an ambulance in all my life. All right, if you like it better, we'll have one chasing you. Okay, Angelo, you get out first. I'll follow you. Don't you think maybe if we went out together? Come on, get going. We can't keep the draft board waiting. Okay. Boss, boss, I'm dead. I'm killed dead. Stop your trembling. It's only a pneumatic drill. Good morning, Lucky.  Hello, Mr.   Higgins, is this the best you could do? Well, I couldn't very well hire Whistler's mother. But this is Annie. The old dame was always mooching quarters on Times Square. She's drunk all the time. I am not. I can't afford it all the time.  I'd rather be drinking at your age. But time marches on. I know she isn't perfect, Lucky, but she'll have to do.  Why, for that I do a swan dive off the Statue of Liberty. Okay, then we're set. No draft board is going to outsmart Lucky Jordan. Take it easy, Sarge. And look, I want you to get one thing straight. As long as I'm bunking here, I don't want to be disturbed. And I'm not going to hang out any sign either.  What do you think you're kicking, Jughead? I don't have to think. I know.  Supposing I ain't done sleeping yet. Jordan, I'm making allowances for the first day. As long as you're here in Camp Missouri and I'm your top, you'll be up at 5.30 when the bugle blows. Uh, Captain, how much do you make here? $78 a month. How would you like to make $780? Say, do you think you can bribe the United States Army? That's what I'm trying to find out. Jordan, get up out of that bed! Okay, okay, don't strain your tonsils. What's the routine after I'm dressed? Oh, you'll just love it. We're going on fatigue duty. And I mean fatigue for you. Say, soldier, aren't you supposed to be working instead of spending your days here in the canteen? Me? Work? No, I got an assistant named Angelo. He does my dirty work. Hey, uh... Jill Evans? That's a nice moniker. What about, uh, midnight supper in my tent tonight? You're pretty fresh. You're pretty. Period. If you took my advice, soldier, you'd get back on your detail and save yourself a great deal of trouble. You're awfully conspicuous alone in the canteen. But I like being alone. With you. Say, uh, how about a bottle of very cute eyes to go with this popcorn?  Oh, that'd be great. Then I could sail away from this camp and nobody would know the difference. What's the matter with you? Are you homesick? Yeah, yeah. I'm pretty lonesome. You see, I... I miss having my own things. Don't tell anybody, but... but I always slept with a teddy bear. Cute, aren't you? Just what detail are you assigned to? Well, it's a military secret, but I know I can trust you. I'm working private for the Colonel. He wants me to think up some way to entertain the soldiers. Hey! Wait a minute. I got it. We built a staircase of peppermint candy, and then while a band plays, Bait made Daddy ate to the bar, you come down on a pair of high heels and chevrons. Then for a gag at the end, we... we drop the chevrons off. I'm glad you thought of that. Now there's no reason for you to hang around here anymore. Oh, yes, there is. The Navy wants me to think up something for the sailors. Excuse me, dearie. But maybe you could give me a steer. I'm looking for my boy. What's his name? Lucky Jordan. Haven't got a drink around here, have you, dearie? I've got some nice cold root beer. It's too cold. Hello, Lucky, son. What are you doing here? I just came down to see you, son. What for? Well, I got sort of lonesome. You did, huh?  Well, that sounds more like my boy. I guess I sort of took you by surprise. Ain't you going to kiss me? Uh, yeah, sure. You're stiff. I ain't neither. I had a couple after breakfast, but I ain't had any since. Okay, okay. Break it up. I hope you ain't sore at me. I mean about coming down here to see you. But it makes the mother sort of proud having a boy in the Army.  What'd you come down here for? Well, since I'm sorry, your mother. Thought you'd like to know I'm broke. Oh, a shake down, huh? I paid you off once. Didn't last long. I had house guests. All right, here's a hundred. Come on, blow. Well, goodbye, son. I told you to blow.  Goodbye, dearie. Goodbye, Mrs. Jordan. The idea of a man treating his mother that way. I didn't ask her to come out here. I think you're disgusting. I'm going to report you. For what? For hanging around the canteen all day every day and doing nothing. There's Sergeant Jones outside. Hey, wait a minute, sister. How much do you make here? Why? Whatever it is, I'll double if you keep your mouth shut. Sergeant, there's a soldier here who's AWOL. Come on, miss. What kind of a medal do you get for being a stool in the Army, cute-eyed? Here's your man. Well, if it ain't the missing, linked lucky Jordan. Yeah. And who let you out of the cage? Well, nice and congenial. That's the way I like him, especially when I'm top-kicking the who's gal. March, soldier, march! If you would like to know a quick, easy way to ease the pain of a headache, neuritis, or neuralgia, then by all means try Anderson. Your own dentist or physician may at one time or another have handed you an envelope containing Anderson tablets. Then you already know how incredibly fast and effectively Anderson brings relief. Anderson is like a doctor's prescription. That is, Anderson contains not just one, but a combination of medically proven active ingredients. For your own sake, try Anderson. Anderson is sold to you on this guarantee. If the first few tablets do not give you all the relief you want as fast as you want it, you may return the unused portion, and your money will be refunded. You can get Anderson tablets at any drug counter. Anderson comes in handy boxes of 12 and 30 tablets, and economical family-sized bottles of 50 and 100. And now the second act of the screen director's playhouse presentation of Lucky Jordan, starring Alan Ladd as Lucky, and our host narrator, Mr. King Vito. Lucky's sentence of 30 days in the God House was never quite completed, and the reason for that to quote Lucky was, I'm going to sit this war out someplace where they can't find me, with a blonde in one hand and a steak in another. So he deserted, stole an official car, stole the official's clothes, and broke out of camp.  Just as Jill, the girl from the canteen, drove her car onto the scene. Close on, Lucky. Just a stick up. What's that in your hand? A briefcase I found in the car. I use it as a weapon. You know if you handle one of these things right, you can knock a guy's brains in. What are you doing here? I thought I recognized you when you passed me back on the highway. I followed you just to be sure. I'm driving. Get out of my car. I'm sorry, sister, mine seems to be hot. Didn't hear what I said. Get out of here. Where are you going? Over the hill. Well, you're not taking me with you. Do you realize this is kidnapping? What are you talking about?  Look, if you want my car, take it, but let me out. You're too nosy. You go around reporting people. Stop her. I've been riding for hours. Just how long do you intend to keep me with you? Till I'm in the clear. In case you're interested, you're almost out of gas.  Here's a service station I'm going to pull in. And if I hear one peep out of you... Hey! It's after 12, there's nobody home. All right. Go to sleep. The moment you do, I'm leaving. Get out. What are you going to do with me? I'm going to bed you down for the night. No, thanks. I said, get out. Get for the lady's washroom. No, you don't. You can't put me in there. Now listen, cute eyes, is that fair? How do you know you're not going to like it until you've been inside? I'll be good. I promise you I won't run away. Put me down. Do you hear? Put me down. Sure, when we get inside the washroom. Oh, please, don't. I'll sleep in the car. I'm sleeping there myself. Of course, there's not much room, but I'm willing to split it with you. Well, that's very nice of you. I prefer it here. Sleep tight, cute eyes. Tomorrow we'll be in New York. Lucky! Hello, Slip. I see you're taking things over for me. Okay. Run along, Pyle. Hello, Lucky, darling. You lost weight. Well, I've been awfully worried about you. Yeah. Yeah, I noticed you've just had a fainting spell on the couch. Bait it. Well, it's good to see you again, boss. I hope you don't mind my clowning around with Pyle a little. Why should I mind? No good letting a dang with a red-haired cool-off?  I left them in that camp. I figured that some guy who was going to stand there, he might need them. How hot are you? Don't you read the papers? I'm hotter than a bullet.  Yeah? I don't know what they were after, but they seemed satisfied with a couple of right crosses. Where's the briefcase, Lucky? Huh? How do you know about that? Listen, Armitage, when you ask me a question, your voice better go up in the end. Well, yeah. All right, look, I didn't mean nothing like that, Lucky, but that briefcase, it's kind of important. That's better. Now tell me how you know so much. Well, I sent those guys that jumped you. Of course, I didn't know it was you, the guy whose car you stole, he was an army engineer. That briefcase he was carrying around, that's full of hot dope on a new tank armor. Since when did you get interested in tanks? Now look, Lucky, in our business, you got to keep yourself up to date. There's bookie joints, you know, slot machines. That's old fashioned. Oh, all right, bad. That's peanuts. Hey, I run into a couple of foreign lugs and they will pay you almost anything you want to ask for stuff like that report on the tank armor that you've been carrying around. That little briefcase is worth 50,000 rocks. Where is it? I don't know. The day I had with me threw it out of the car. I didn't pay any attention. The day must know where it is. Well, where is she now? Parked her with Joe McGutty. We'll go pick her up. I need a few grand to rattle around in my pocket until I cool off. About here, I think, Slip, what do you say, cute eyes? This is knit. That's all I wanted to know. All right, you can stop here, Slip. Now you'll save us a lot of time if you'll tell us where you threw it. I'm not talking. How do you know what's in that briefcase? It's pretty obvious. He escapes from an army camp by stealing an army car. There's a briefcase in it that doesn't belong to him. He doesn't even care when I throw it out. And now, suddenly, it's very valuable. Oh, this name is too smart to live. Never mind, Slip. We'll find it ourselves. You walk along the road and we'll take this field.  Hey, Slip! I've got it! Hey, it's good boy, of course. Let's see it. Right here. Thanks, thanks. Well, this is a kiss off Lucky Reach. Hand it over. Okay. It's 12 o'clock, Cinderella, and I'm going to turn you into a squash. Am I going to love it? I've been laying for you for a long time.  From now on it's my big chair.   I thought you were getting too big for your pants. I was going to have your hammer down, but I got busy with that army stuff and let it slide. Bad business letting things pile up on your desk like that. Yeah. It just proves that you're getting old fashioned. Why, you're so out of date that you want to be retired.  Where do you want it? In the front or in the back? Because, now, head of yourself, Slip. That briefcase is empty. What are you giving me? Open it up. Take a look. Okay. But don't you make a move. Oh, of course not. Slip, you've dropped a paper. Where? Thanks, kid. Now I'm top, man.  I didn't mean it, Lucky. I didn't mean it. Don't, Lucky. I fed you when you were starving. Don't. Stop it. Lucky, stop it. I should act when no one deserves it more than him. It's murder, Lucky. Now stop it, I tell you. Spending me this murder is self-defect. Oh, please, please.  And later on, I get it in the back. If I give him a few more kicks, he misses all that headache, and I don't get it in the back. Lucky, you can't do it. Okay. Now take the briefcase. What are you planning on doing with it? What do you think? Well, I think a lot of things, but I was hoping you were going to return it. It's a pretty long ride back to that camp. But don't you see, if you... if you take it back now, they'll never press the desertion charge. And I'll say there was nothing to the kidnapping. You'll be square with everyone. Yeah. Yeah, I'll be square behind the eight ball and right back in the army. But at a time like this, you can't sell your country short. I'm not selling anything short. I wouldn't take a cent less than the hundred grand for these papers. How low can you get? Come on, cuties. Let's get in the car. It's time I put you up for the night. Where are we going? Back to the same service station. Please don't, Lucky. I couldn't stand it. Well, you're being so nosy and patriotic. There's nothing else I can do? I'll be good. I won't try to run away. Uh-uh. I can't take that chance. Come on. Well, at least let me have a cigarette first. Okay. Here you are. In a match? Check. How can you do this? What? I don't have that information to the other side. Why not? You know, you're absolutely immoral. You have in faith in anybody or anything. I shouldn't think it'd be worth it. You must feel awfully miserable and alone. Me? I'm never alone. I spend every night of my life in a nightclub with a show going on. You don't even know what I'm talking about. Sure, I do. You're trying to talk me out of selling the briefcase. You bet I am.  The whole world's involved and everybody in it. And if we lose, we'll end up Lord Knows Where. And that includes you, whether you like it or not. No. No, I don't. If things change, a smart guy figures out a new angle. It's the clocks who go around getting their heads knocked off or their pitches. You never had a thought in your whole life where you didn't figure the angle's first, teacher. I mean what it meant to you and what you thought you could get out of it. Anybody who don't is a sucker. Very well. Then let's take it step by step. Let's find out what the angles are for you in this thing. You're established in, well, whatever business you're in, you seem to like it and you make a lot of money at it. Don't OK. Well, to be completely realistic and selfish, you must want to keep things pretty much the way they are, don't you? Yeah. Then you want the country you live in to win, don't you? Well, sure I do. Well, now we're getting someplace. All right. If you want the country you live in to win, why aren't you helping? Well, the way I see it, it's like a fight at the gut. You might want the guy in the purple pants to win. You might even put a few bucks on him.  Oh, I get it. You're impotent. I can't appeal to you on any basis, animal, vegetable or mineral or human. Just a little ball of fire, aren't you? Come here. Oh, let me go. It's time I kissed you, baby. I... I don't get you. I thought at least I'd have to spar a few rounds. What does it matter? It don't. It's just that some dames are hard to convince I. I guess I had you figured out all wrong. I thought you were a regular ice cube till I kissed you. Even an ice cube has to be defrosted once in a while. I'll take a rain check, baby. Come on. We'll lock you up in the stable for the night. The Sherry Waldorf, that is. Our drama will continue in just a moment. But first, here is a word from RCA Victor. It's a great life this week for television enthusiasts. Yes, the current issue of Life magazine, dated February 12th, contains a really thrilling double-page advertisement showing RCA Victor's complete new 1951 series of million-proof television, America's favorite television, owned most, proved most, and now more wonderful than ever. 14 brand-new RCA Victor models, each more glamorous than the last. Tabletoppers, consoles, and console combinations. Cabinets ranging from an exquisite 18th-century lowboy to a stunning modern swivel-er. 14, 17, and 19-inch screens, with such beautiful pictures, well, you'll simply have to see them to believe them. So run, don't walk to the nearest RCA Victor dealers and meet all the glamorous new million-proof models in real life. Here's hoping you can take home your favorite set soon and start having the time of your life, enjoying the life of your time with matchless RCA Victor television. You are listening to the Screen Directors Playhouse, the Thursday night feature on NBC's All-Star Festival, brought to you by Chesterfield, a set that has for you mildness, with no unpleasant aftertaste, the best cigarette for you to smoke, the makers of Anderson for fast relief in the pain of headache, neuritis, and neuralgia, and by RCA Victor, world leader in radio, first in recorded music, first in television. The Screen Directors Playhouse presentation of Lucky Jordan starring Alan Ladd will continue in just a moment after a brief pause for station identification. This is the Screen Directors Playhouse. We continue with the third act of Lucky Jordan, starring Alan Ladd in his original role of Lucky. Now, here is our host narrator, Screen Director, King Veeder. During the night while Lucky was asleep in the car, Jill broke loose from her prison in the so-called Sherry Waldorf.  And the price to deliver the briefcase was 100 grand. Can you spare a quarter, mister? Ah, what's your hurry, Cheapskate? Can you spare a quarter, mister? Mr. Jordan. Come on, Scram. Please, Mr. Jordan, I've got something to tell you. Go on, blow. They're stacked out all around Marty's waiting for you. Who's stacked out?  I saw them when I went by on my route. I thought I'd better tell you in case you wasn't expecting them. Step around with them? If he is, he ain't advertising it. Thanks. Better be careful where you hide out, Mr. Jordan. I'll take care of that. But you're hotter in a stove. Everybody's after you. Slip Moran, the FBI, the army, and some big shot who says you kidnapped his daughter. All right, go on, blow, will you?  Nobody'd ever think of looking for you there. Where's your place? Over the green grotto on Fulton Street. Will there be any room there for me with those gin bottles? I don't think you can be too choosy. Okay, okay, let's take a key. Here. Oh, excuse me, Mr. Jordan, here comes a customer. Maybe he'll give me a quarter for a cup of coffee. Quarter for a cup of coffee? You wouldn't want me to eat in the cheaper places. I'm not keeping my appointment today because I don't like double crosses. I'll give you one more chance. I'll meet you tomorrow at 11 o'clock in a toy store on Fifth Avenue.  Yeah. Yeah, you'll get it when you've forked over a hundred grand in cash. You're making yourself comfortable. Miss Sulphur, how's business? I never saw so many cheap skates in my life. I knocked off early. I hope you've got something to eat in that bag. I've got some stew on the stove here. All I've got to do is warm it up. You like stew, Mr. Jordan? I'd rather have Kenny hint in the glass. If that's all you got, I won't turn it down. I like the stew. Our crew's passed Marty's after you left and hit one of them torpedoes for a quarter. They was waiting for you all right. He gave me four bits to keep moving. Annie, I haven't got any cash, but I'm working on a deal right now. Well, if I put it across, I'll slip you a couple of seas. You don't need to. What are you giving me? You want a slip? If that's the way you feel about it, you can get out of here. I don't get it.  No? Do you want me a favor for your charge? Not exactly. It's kind of hard to explain. Something happened that day I went to the camp to shake you down. Everybody was so nice to me when they found out I had a boy in the army. You're on the low. Then when I saw you today, it hit me like a ton of bricks that you was walking into a trap. So I did just what any mother would do. Felt good to know you needed me and I could do something for you. Don't get so tied up in that mother act that you start telling people I'm back home again. Say, they couldn't get anything out of me with a crowbar. Hey, where can I hide this briefcase? Under the mattress. I'll show you. It's the first place anybody would love me. It's the first place. Follow me. Here's a wall with buster plaster.  It'll do. Covered up. Sure. Ain't that a pretty Mexican shawl I use to hide the hole? I got it at one of them big department stores on Fifth Avenue. Dropped into my umbrella one rainy day. Yeah? Where'd you get the umbrella? Oh, I accidentally walked past it and it hooked into my dress. Why didn't you walk past a couple of stakes tonight? Oh, that reminds me, the stew must be all worn. Sit down here at the table. Okay, but I know I'm going to regret it. When it comes right down to it, there's nothing like good home cooking. Especially if you can't get out to a restaurant. Here's your plate of stew. Come on. Taste it. Okay. Is it all right? Got enough pepper? Enough salt? Got enough salt and pepper, but it's shy on meat. Oh, well. Ain't I the stoop? I'll give it all to myself. Here. Here's some of mine. Look, Annie, tomorrow I've got to go out for a while. I want you to stay here and watch things. You think you ought to go out? Yeah, it's business. With all that money you've got, Mr. Jordan, you shouldn't go around risking your neck for a few more dollars. With all the money I've got, I don't dare show my face in the bank. That's why I've got to put this deal through. Want some more stew? Same as this? Sure. No thanks. I'm sorry that you don't like my food and you don't like me. What are you talking about? I love you. I brought your mother's date present. You didn't. I said I did here. Jim, that's the sweetest thing a kid ever gave his mother. Don't get yourself stiff. Thanks, Mr. Jordan. Come on, blow. I want to get some rest. Good night, son. Good night. Ma, I remember, Mr. Moran. We don't care how you get the beefcase. Just so long as we have it soon. Take it easy, Kesselman. I made a deal with you to deliver it and you'll have it. Just have the dough ready, that's all. But your methods are so slow. Slow, he says. Look, bud, whether you know it or not, I already know where Lucky Jordan is staking out and everything is under control. Now, blow, will you? Here comes Lucky.  All right, Slip, it's kind of a case. I'm in a hurry. Hey, I like this toy store. Why'd you happen to tell me to meet you here? Well, I figured if you asked me if your friends would drop in, it'd be kind of conspicuous. You bring the dough? You bring the thing? I told you I wouldn't have it with me. Kind of a one-sided deal, ain't it? Now, look, we went through all that on the phone. Give me the dough and you'll get the stuff before midnight tonight. Well, I don't know, Lucky.  Well, they just won't get it. Now, Lucky, they won't pay a cent more than 75 Gs. All right, give me the 75. Hey, wait a minute. I gotta talk to them again. Well, how'd I know you was gonna take it? What is this, a stall? Trying to double-talk me till somebody gets here with a Tommy gun?  Not enough to have a torpedo with a gun in this pocket looking right at you. Yeah? Oh, no, Lucky, no. Angelo, you're double. The kid from the bowling alley. Well, now, there is really a tough bullet. You can say that again. He shoots strikes with a bullet. Yeah? Well, where do we go from here? Look, goose-neck. I don't know what you're trying to frame, but I've given you one last chance. You meet me here at five o'clock this afternoon. Be sure you have that 75 grand on you. Or I'll burn the stuff. Well, okay, Lucky, if I don't show you, you'll know the deal fell through. You know, Slip, I got a feeling that you got a feeling the deal is gonna fall through. Well, you know how it is with these foreign lugs.  You can trust me. Yeah? With you, I'd know exactly what to expect. Hey, Mr. Jordan, better get out of here. What's the hurry, Angelo?  And there's a cop following the end of it. Well, how do you like that? It's cute eyes trying to slip me another Michael. So long, cute eyes. What's this demer business, Angelo? Well, I think I'd kind of be safer in the bowling alley than with you.  I'll give it back to you with a profit if you let me go bye-bye. Your eyes say you'll remain healthy. Here, this is Andy's apartment. Here's the key. Open the door. Mr. Jordan, the door's already open. Yeah, and somebody's taking the apartment apart. Andy! Andy, you're here! Get downstairs, Angelo. Keep your eyes peeled. No, Mr. Jordan. Andy, are you all right? What happened? Be careful. A couple of men came looking for that briefcase.  But I didn't tell them where it was. They couldn't make me tell. I'll take care of slip for this. I'll take care of those foreign lugs, too. Watch out. They're mean guys. That's stuff they want so bad as going where it'll hurt them most. Right back to the army.  If you set your mind to it, you could be a better soldier than any of them. I'll get you a doctor. Do you think you'll be all right for one? Get that briefcase out of here, though. Yeah. I'll do that later. Right now, you're far more important. Go and get it. I'll return it to the army. I'll be all right, son. Okay, Ma. Now, here it is. Watch out, Lucky! That'll take care of you for a while, Lucky Boy. That briefcase is mine for free. Son! Son!  I'll kick your teeth in. I'm not afraid of you. I'm not afraid... Oh, it's you, Mr. Jordan. Well, I haven't all the furniture in my office, bro. Where's Slip? I haven't any idea. This morning, he just up and moved, and now I'm out of a job. Where'd he move to? I don't know. Come on, now you better tell me where Slip is. Honest, I don't know. They haven't let me in on anything lately. But I think maybe Slip's gone straight. Doc, give me that. Honest, Lucky, I think he started a nursery or something. Well, I mean for flowers. Flowers are all he talks about. I guess there's a lot of money in it, too, because just this morning, he sold some tulips for $50,000. Oh, that's an expensive bouquet. What kind of tulips were they? I can't remember.  This is important. It's all I got to go on. Well, it was torches, something. Yeah, a torch of Harlem. That's what it was. Torture Harlem tulips? Oh, I know all about them. They're a very rare variety. There's only one place in the state where they can be found. If we find them, then what? If Mr. Moran was doing business with torture Harlem tulips, he'd have to buy them from Kilpatrick Gardens. Okay, Angelo, let's get going. You gentlemen won't be able to go all through the gardens. It's almost closing time. Well, I just want to take a look at the tulips. Uh, take the path to the right. Have they got the names on them? Everything in the garden is clearly labeled. Well, thanks, John. This way, Angelo. Is there a telephone here, Gateman? Not a public phone. Well, it's very important. A local call? No, I want to talk to the FBI in New York City. Well, this is a house phone. I'll have to get your line. Thanks. Please hurry. Hello? This is Miller at the gate. There's a young lady here who wants the FBI. Would you please connect me? Thank you. There you are, miss. Oh, thanks. Hello, hello. Is this the FBI? Uh, let me speak to Mr. Herndon, please. Oh, Mr. Herndon's not in, but my name's Bowman. May I help you? Yes, this is Jill Evans. I've followed Lucky Jordan out to the Kilpatrick Gardens on Long Island. If you hurry here, you'll catch him. Well, we'll get there as soon as we possibly can. But in the meantime, you'd better go direct to Mr. Kilpatrick and explain the situation to him. He'll help you hold Jordan until we arrive. Where is Mr. Kilpatrick's residence, please? The house to the right. This is one of the bedmarked torch of Holland tulips. Come in, miss Evans. I'm sorry to bother you, Mr. Kilpatrick, but Mr. Bowman of the FBI asked me to see you. Well, I know all about Lucky Jordan. I've already talked to Mr. Bowman. You needn't worry about his escaping. Well, he's very slippery. My gardeners can handle him. They're searching the grounds thoroughly at this very moment. They'll find him hiding somewhere. Well, he's not that easy to capture, I tell you. Please, please. The gate is shut and can't be opened because it is electrically controlled. But what's to prevent him from climbing the wall around the garden? My dear, if he ever gets to the top, he'll find wires that carry a pretty stiff current. Now, don't you worry. We'll catch your fugitive, all right? I'll be with you in a few moments, miss Evans. I want to check the grounds myself. Thank you, Mr. Kilpatrick. Not at all. Here we are by the bed-labeled torch of Holland. Now what, Angela? Search me, Mr. Jordan.  Yeah? You stirred me right. You know what you were talking about. I did? Right on the nose. There's Slip Moran going to the greenhouse with a smooth-looking janitor. He's carrying the briefcase. Come on. Wouldn't you be better off if you went alone? Come on. Here we are. Aren't you going to be afraid going in there all by yourself? Remember, Mr. Moran packs a gat. I'm not going in by the way of the door. We're going overland. We? Yeah. We're going up to the top of the greenhouse to see what's cooking through the open bed. I'd rather be cooking with bowling balls. Come on, get going. Moran, one tank looks like another to me. Easy. I can fit through this vent, Angelo. I'm going to drop in and pay them a visit. Mr. Jordan, I'm sorry, but I ain't no stunt pilot. Just as I leap into the greenhouse, you turn on that sprinkling system, Angelo. Are you looking for a watery grave?  Hit it, Angelo. Big subtle bailing suit, Slip. Try shooting with your gun in your pocket. There's another accent right through the glass. What snow, Mr. Jordan? Top view, numstall jump. It's a fine fix. We've got the plans, but there's nothing we can do with them. We can't get through the gate. The wall's wider than enough just to satisfy the warden. It's sing-sing. Come on, Angelo. I'll give you a lift. Give the wall another try.  Duck, Angelo, here they come. They're headed for the gate. Someone's there. You're talking too loud.  There's a man asking for some for his umbrella or something. Got a pencil, Angelo? Yeah, what do you want it for? I've got an idea how to get the FBI here in a hurry. We'll write him a note. And then what? We'll stick it in the umbrella that's on the bench and include the plans. Come on. Start writing. Hurry up. Mr. Jordan, you got a brain. Just keep writing. Tell him where we're at. Mr. Jordan, you haven't got a brain. What's that? Supposing the general receives the umbrella. Don't open it up for a week. Supposing it don't rain for a month. I'll take care of that. Just give me the water hose. I'll follow him alongside the wall and he'll think you ran into Niagara Falls. For chapter, Angelo. They've got to spot it. I'm going to this house.  Come on, Mr. Jordan. Kindly put your hands up. Get over there. What are you doing with this spy, kid? I'm sorry you were put to all this trouble, Mr. Kilpatrick. Not at all. Not at all. I'm glad to help you. May I use your telephone? I want to call my father and tell him where I am. I'm afraid not. What? Well, you see, you know so much about my business interest that... Well, I can't let you go. But I talked to the FBI. They told me to see you. You talked to me on the house phone. Never the FBI. Too bad, cute eyes. Sit down, Miss Evans. Lucky. What's cooking, Slip? You'll find out. Meet a friend of mine, Mr. Kesselman. So this is notorious, Mr. Jordan. Mr. Moran, I don't consider the plans delivered. You'll have to get them if you want your 50,000. Well, don't you worry. I'll get them. Hand them over, Lucky. If you can find them on me, you're a better man than I am. Don't hand me that wise guy. You better talk while you still get teeth to talk through. Leave it to me, Slip. You want him to remember what he did with the plans, don't you? Well, as our better ways, in my country, we work it this way. We'll sharpen the end of a match, then drive it under a fingernail and light it. Stop it! So soon? I'll tell you where it is. You have no stamina at all, have you? Where is it, Lucky? I threw it under the bridge. It goes over the pond. I'll get it. I'll go along with you, Moran. You keep your eyes on him, Kesselman. More than my eyes, Mr. Kilpatrick. This is God. You know, this is revelation. I'm aware that my countrymen are often referred to as gangsters by our opponents. And it's always amused me. I've read about American gangsters, and it seemed to me that their viewpoints at ours were quite similar. I was told when they wanted something, they took it. So do we. When somebody stood in our way, he was eliminated. We understand that technique thoroughly.  No. I am no longer amused by the comparison. Don't try to put me in your class, Lunkhead. I've knocked around a little, but alongside of you, I'm a Sunday school teacher.  That's what you are. Hey, Bulbhead. Better look behind you. There's someone sneaking up on you. For you believe I will be tricked by your American stupidity? Okay, Buster. Have it your own way. Angelo, no one knows better where the ten pens should be. Get there.  Now, Angelo, hit the number one pen with that round flower pot. Okay. What is that? Strike, Kesselman. I quit, Mr. Jordan. Okay, Angelo, you can go back to your bowling alley. Get your hands up, Kesselman. Mr. Jordan, I don't ever want to see another bowling ball. What's going on? Is it kill Patrick and drop that gun, Slip? We seem to have reached an impasse, Jordan. You can't very well get out of this estate without my setting off the alarm and catching you. And as long as you hold that gun, I can't get very far either, can I? I should say about a step and a half. Oh, exactly. I suggest we make a deal. Originally, you wanted a hundred thousand for that report, didn't you? Well, now I'm prepared to pay it. This is the payoff, all right, but not the way you mean it.  Now, look, I don't blame you for being sore lucky, but this is nothing that you can settle with a heater. Well, a guy offered you a hundred grand, didn't he? Ain't that what you want? I got a customer I like better. I'm selling it to the army on the installment plan. They're going to pay me fifty bucks a month for it. Yes, but aren't you a little confused, Jordan?  Why should you give up a hundred thousand dollars for the sake of a country that considers you an enemy to society?  Till I ran up against you, your kind of rat was just words in the newspaper to me. Now it's another way to spell cockroach. This place needs cleaning up. And for the next two minutes, I'm a one-man border health. Now look, Lucky, after all, you and me, we're pals. That's why I'm giving it to you first. Hey, what's up? Lucky's Mr. Herndon from the FBI. Well, Jordan, it was nice of you to be here, too, so we could get all of you at once. Wait a minute. What do you think sent that report out of here in that man's umbrella? Oh, you'll have to think of a better one than that. But Mr. Herndon, he had all these men rounded up when you came in. Well, you'd better come along with us anyway, Jordan. This always happens.  All right, men. Let's take this menagerie downtown and lock it up in the cage. You haven't anything to worry about. They'd never consider you a deserter after what you've done. Well, you'll probably even get a citation. Oh, what's that? You know, a medal. I can hear the colonel's voice. He's not digging. Okay, Sergeant. Why do you think you're throwing that dirt? I just had my shoes shined. Sorry, I thought it was your face. Hi, acute eyes. Hey, what do you think you're going? I just wanted to say goodbye to my sister. Lucky, why did you do it?  Well, he started by blowing that whistle and waking me up. Well, I guess that ends your going to the party at the canteen. That's why you're wrong. I think this sergeant can be had.   Put me down for a Saturday night, acute eyes. I'll get out somehow. Bye, Lucky. Bye, acute eye. Hey, uh, your sister's a good looker. How about meeting her? Well, maybe we can work out a deal. Now, all you have to do is let me out of the clink tonight, you see? Yeah, she isn't that good looking. Start moving that shovel. Okay, sergeant. There's dirt in your eye. Boy, you! I'm sorry, general. And so ends our play for tonight, Lucky Jordan. Our star, Alan Ladd, will return in just a moment with screen director King Veeder. Next Thursday, the screen director's playhouse presents an adaptation of another great drama. Our play is Dark Victory, and our stars will be Tallulah Bankhead and David Bryan with screen director Edmund Goulding. Now, here again is tonight's star, Alan Ladd. Thank you. To Mr. Frank Tuttle, the director of Lucky Jordan, who at present is in Paris, France, I would like to extend my sincerest gratitude. But now, ladies and gentlemen, it's my privilege to introduce the distinguished director, Mr. King Veeder, the creator of the crowd and the big parade. Two immortal motion pictures which are listed among the ten all-time, all-time greats. Thank you, Alan. And for the screen director's playhouse, let me say, it is always a pleasure to have you on our show. I read something very heartwarming about you and your wife, Sue, the other day. How you both visit our army hospitals and entertain our boys. Well, to the contrary, King. Sue and I derive more pleasure and entertainment from the boys than we could ever possibly give. Without a doubt, you have to swell with pride just being around them. Their courage and good old Americans spunk as something to shout from the rooftops about. Give them a break, America. A visit from loved ones and even casual acquaintances is the greatest tonic for them. Please. Please don't forget to find the time to visit them. Good night. Good night, Alan. And come back soon. This is King Vidor saying good night for the screen director's playhouse. Lucky Jordan was presented through the courtesy of Paramount Pictures, whose current release is the Hal Wallace production, September Affair, starring Joan Fontaine and Joseph Cotton. Alan Ladd is currently being seen in Paramount's Technicolor production, branded. King Vidor has just completed Lightning Strikes Twice for Water Brothers. Included in tonight's cast were Sheldon Leonard as Slip. Gigi Pearson as Pearl. Herb Vigran as Angelo. Earl Ross as Kilpatrick. Virginia Gregg as Jill. Frank Nelson as the Sergeant. Paul Duboff as Kesselman. And Verna Felton as Annie. Lucky Jordan was adapted for radio by Jack Rubin. Screen director's playhouse is produced by Howard Wiley and directed by Bill Karn. Portions of tonight's program were transcribed. This is Jimmy Wallington speaking and inviting you to listen next Thursday when we present Dark Victory starring Tallulah Bankhead and David Bryan with screen director Edmund Goulding. And again next week to screen director's playhouse the Thursday night feature on NBC's All-Star Festival of Comedy, Music, Mystery and Drama. Listen tomorrow evening to the one and only Duffy Stavren. The Friday night feature of the All-Star Festival. Tonight in many cities mothers will be out ringing doorbells to remind their neighbors of the March of Dimes. Those who are contacted will welcome this reminder to contribute to this worthy cause. For you who live where no such efforts will be made we offer this suggestion. Give and give generously to the March of Dimes. Tomorrow Duffy Stavren on NBC.


Some people want it to happen. The fact is we have three categories of set of people, one, some actually wish something could happen, some make things happen. Why others try and wonder, how are these people making it? The truth is you can just sit there and wait for things to happen, or you get up and get things up yourself. Many dreams of success, while other people get up every morning and make it happen, or make it different. Say there's a power in our tongue, you wish for something, you can definitely get it. And then you wonder, okay, why do you say it's a bad thing, it's happened quick? And then you say it's a good thing, it kind of takes forever for it to happen. Well, maybe you are not keeping up the dream. You are really not actualizing what you want. You're not thinking from the part of the output, which kind of control what you input into that process. Now, the objective of my presentation is not to sound as a motivational speaker, but to remind you that you can make it happen. And in this journey of making it happen, I just want to remind you of some things you already know. It has in the video house as organization. Number one thing is, yes, if you have a dream, you should remember that there's no smooth route. Yeah, at first it could be, I see everything is going fine, but what's a sudden, it's all stopped. Funny thing, it might not even stop. It might be, but maybe you need to branch air, branch air for you to go back to that route. Now, in doing that, you need the power of visualizing. So when it comes to our data, we are saying, hey, it's all about story, you create different scenario, because you could face A and B, but you already know, hey, this is what I want at the end. So in making it happen, definitely you need to visualize it. I have once more activity coming up. Now, look at my screen. There's one dotted line coming up. Just focus on it, but don't blink your eyeball. Just focus the middle. Now, I know why you are looking at that. You might want to blink your eyes and some might be able to even stay longer, right? Then you might be feeling dizzy. The truth is, now that's what we call actualizing, because for you to have been able to check that, you build that capacity. Hey, let me take my mind off other things, right? And let me focus on this. Now, in doing that, you realize that you are doing it step by step, because the object did not come out once. Let's even think about the person that drew that cycle, right? It started from one to two, which means you need to take it step by step. You cannot jump the process, right? If you're going to year five, then you need to get to year two before you get to year five. In you moving ahead, experience is very, very important. Now, the question will be, okay, this is what I want to achieve, but I think not to be able to have sent someone that have gotten this, right? Maybe your own personal experience can also shape you. That's the truth. That's came from my own experience. And now, on that journey, you cannot do it alone. That's the truth. You need support. You really need support. And the response could be organization, it could be individual, it could be some materials, it could be content. So, which means you cannot do it alone. Always look for a guide even when you are getting tired. Right? The fact that you have guide will serve as a support. Guide could be anything. Money is a good guide, right? Because money is a motivator and a different thing. Right? Setting your eyes on the goal. Just keep you pushing, pushing, pushing. And out, whichever way or you want it, right? You cannot dispute the place of a mentor, right? You really need that. You really need that up to now. I need to say big thanks to some of the brand staff, right? They've been a very great and good mentor. And you know when you have this kind of mentor that tell you, hey, reality of things, it keeps the fire burning. Maybe like, okay, say, hey, add the presentation date, you can do it. They push you. But if that goes off, number one thing is this, many people depend on you. You might not know. Right? And you just need to keep pushing. And let me ask you, what is your own conception? When you hear success, how do you measure your own success? I just want you to reflect on it. What is success? Are you measuring it your own way? Or what the community has set or the environment has set? As I mentioned, there are three kinds of people. Those who make things happen. People who watch what happens. And people who wonder what happens. Right? If you think you can do it, yes, you can do it. If you think you cannot, definitely, there's no pressure. Do what you want to do. And if you want to do something, then go after it. And make it happen. But if you don't know, let me just stay here. You're fine. The creator has created the ebonyan herd, giving us almost everything we need. In doing this, please make sure you recognize that, yes, fear exists. It's normal for you to be scared. But make sure this is the target. This is where I'm going, irrespective of anything that happened. I need to get here. Just to remind you, you can make it happen. The truth is, I never thought it could be this faster. But thanks to the mentorship that I had, the guide, right, great people at Dubro and Consulting, the likes of David Banda, we just keep pushing you in. You'll be like, I can't do this thing. Hey, just keep it up. Keep going, great people like Wally, right? And just to recap, remember, you can make it happen if you want. If you believe you cannot, you are correct. If you believe you can, you are also correct. So take a stand. Do you want to make it happen? Do you want to watch other making it? Or you just want to stand there and be wondering what are these guys doing? How are they making it, right? So if you're busy finding out, someone is busy making it. So thank you. And this is the end of my presentation.


and everything in between and beyond. I'm Dr. Rita Forsythe, coming to you from Maui on the Think Tech Network series, broadcasting from our studio in downtown Honolulu. The title of today's episode is American Armageddon. Most of us have probably watched movies about the Vietnam War, such as Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket. Remember that epic scene from the movie Platoon where the dust-off helicopter pilot risked his life to rescue the wounded soldiers? Well, our guest today is one of those pilots, highly decorated and now an author, Dr. John Glenn. John, thank you for your service and welcome to the show. Thank you, Rita. Thanks for inviting me. John, you wrote about your experiences in your book, American Armageddon, American Exceptionalism in Vietnam, a Fatal Hubris. John, why American Armageddon? Excellent question. I taught the class on Vietnam for about 20 years. And I think it ended up being, the Vietnam War ended up being an Armageddon. That is, in the biblical sense, it's a battle between good and evil. And a lot of Americans would have argued at the time that the communists were evil and that the democracy was the good. And so they were fighting the good versus the evil. And the subtitle, as you pointed out, has to do with hubris. And I'm disappointed that a lot of American political leaders have this hubris, or you might even say arrogance. And we might even be getting involved in that here now in Ukraine. And I'm amazed how prescient this particular book is in that it was published in the summer of 21. But a lot of historians call the battle, the war in Vietnam a proxy war, P-R-O-X-Y. And that is, it's a war between, at that time, China and Russia versus the United States, but not fought in either of any of those countries. And what we're seeing now in the Ukraine is a similar situation. And we're dumping, as you know, billions of dollars worth of war materials. And I'm frightened that if the next step is boots on the ground, this may end up being another similar Armageddon. Yeah, let's talk about boots on the ground and let's go back to Vietnam, where more than 58,000 Americans were killed.  So what was the rationale for that conflict? That's another great question. And people ask me all the time, they say, I never really understood while we were in Vietnam. And the answer couldn't be simpler. We were there to contain communism. The policy of the United States was to contain communism all the way from Truman to Nixon. We were successful in Berlin and in Korea and unsuccessful in China and in Cuba. And so the thinking was, okay, we're gonna turn Vietnam into kind of something similar to Korea. We're gonna have a North Korea and a North Vietnam and a South Korea and a South Vietnam. Didn't turn out that way. One of the things that the planners forgot was that Korea was a peninsula and Vietnam is not. And the North Vietnamese were able to continue to ship goods and supplies and manpower down what they call the Ho Chi Minh Trail from North Vietnam into South Vietnam. Well, and let's talk about the domino theory because people our age, we know about that. But some of the younger people may be hearing that term lately, domino theory. Can you talk a little bit about that? Yeah, that was, I think, first promulgated in the Eisenhower administration. The thinking was that if Vietnam became a fully communist nation, then that would expand westward into the rest of what the French used to call Indochina and maybe then continuing westward and taking over the entire world. And the fear was absolutely palpable as you remember with the communists being the bad guys and it looked like Nikita Khrushchev was going to try and take over the world. The communists were taking over the world and America or somebody, once the French were defeated at the Indian flu, somebody needed to step up and the Americans decided that it would be them. So would you grace us by reading a little bit of your book? Sure, I'd be glad to. This is from the chapter where Johnson takes command and I wrote immediately following his landslide victory over Goldwater, Johnson's advisors were asked to form a working group on Southeast Asia. And this would be chaired by the Department of State's William Bundy. And roughly three weeks later, the group gave a report to LBJ outlining three broad alternatives. The first called for a continuation of the current policy which was essentially advisors that was started by President Kennedy that was unsuccessful. The second recommended a harsh program of attacks and increasing intensity against North Vietnam during which negotiations would not be our immediate goal but would not be ruled out. And the third option which appealed to Johnson called for a slow controlled squeeze on North Vietnam in order to bring about negotiations. Now George Ball still virtually the only member of the government speaking and writing against escalation sent McNamara, Rusk and Bundy a 67 page memorandum outlining his minority, dissenting views. Essentially he argued that escalation by one side reads escalation by the other. And in a famous and prophetically prescient phrase he argued once on the tiger's back we cannot be sure of picking the place to dismount and contended instead for a negotiated settlement. In Saigon the government was still in turmoil continued student and Buddhist unrest together with the declining military confidence resulted in yet another coup. Now there's a new commander in president in Vietnam. The arvin was little better than the political leadership corruption was rampant. Officers were often promoted because of political connections instead of ability peasant soldiers deserted in droves although troop levels increased to over 500,000 in late 1964, desertion rates also increased to over 10,000 a month. Desertion rates over 10,000 a month. And by 1966 this had reached epidemic proportions. Widespread evasion of conscription exacerbated the problem to an ever greater extent. By the end of 1965, nearly a quarter million men in the South were draft evaders. Despite the best efforts of American advisors with few exceptions the arvin performed miserably in combat. In simple terms, the incompetent corrupt government and its armed forces could not handle the Viet Cong and their North Vietnamese allies. Johnson had but one alternative rescue the situation by sending in the American military. Therefore clad in the panoply of what I call American exceptionalism and unwilling to learn from the lessons of the French in Southeast Asia. On February 26, 1965, Lyndon Johnson made the momentous decision to approve Westmoreland's request for US military ground forces. Two weeks later on March 8th, 3,500 Marines landed in Da Nang and the American ground troop buildup that would eventually peak at over half a million men in 1969 began.  I want them to leave me alone because I got bigger things to do right here at home. Johnson was stuck between doing lots of good at home in his great society program and fighting this war in Vietnam. And what historians call it is trying to have guns and butter and presidents who try that are almost always unsuccessful. So America comes to the rescue. You need some more? Wow, only if you want to, but I would love to talk about a couple of things that you said. Tell me more about American exceptionalism. It has to do with this hubris that a lot of Americans and a lot of American politicians have and it can result in unpleasantry. An example, a current example is when Nancy Pelosi went to Taiwan just recently. The Chinese, as you know, said, hey, we don't think that's a good idea.  And that could get us in trouble. We kind of have a big ego, don't we, in America? That's exactly, and the subtitle of my book, as you pointed out, is American exceptionalism in Vietnam, a fatal hubris. And it was this, the French are defeated at Yen Bien Phu by the, what's it called, the Viet Minh at this time, 1954. And so the Americans are going to come in there and essentially they're going to do the same thing. Well, if the French were defeated, what makes the Americans think that they can do any better? Well, this American hubris does. But to their credit, the Americans did have this plan and that was we're going to use these helicopters. We got this ubiquitous Huey helicopter and we can move troops and we can use them for gunships and we can use them for medical evacuation, which is what I did as you pointed out. And so that's going to win this activity for us and that'll be different than the French. The Americans had no idea how strongly the North Vietnamese would fight to unify their homeland and the Americans wanted to contain communism. And another thing that you talked about in your book was the idea of escalation. And that word just scares me because that could happen pretty fast, huh? It sure can. And as I pointed out in the book, one side's escalation brings the other side's escalation and back and forth and there's no telling what they finally recommended to Johnson was that he would now mobilize the American Army Reserves. Well, at the time, as you remember, and I do as well, lots of student and other people anti-war demonstrations. And if Johnson knew that politically, this was a disaster if he was going to have to mobilize the American reserves. Now, who knows what sort of civil disobedience and unrest was going to result in the country. And I see parallels to that, to past skirmishes, World War II, Iraq and Afghanistan 9-11 and our current situation with Russian and Ukraine. Can you talk a little bit about that? The situation now with Russia and the Ukraine is eerily reminiscent of what happened in World War II. 1939-1940, Great Britain was on the ropes and pleading for American aid. Len Lise is what Roosevelt ended up calling it. And I'm sorry, I don't know whether we're getting paid for all the stuff that we're sending to the Ukraine, but in 1939-1940, Great Britain ran out of money and they couldn't pay for it. And so we were lending it or leasing it to the British. Essentially, we weren't getting any money out of the deal after they ran out of money. And if our situation in the Ukraine is similar to that, but I can just see the similarities between what's going on in the Ukraine and what went on in Great Britain. And finally, as everyone is well aware, Roosevelt couldn't hold off any longer. And he started putting, as we say, boots on the ground. It's interesting, fascinating that the Japanese, as you know very well, attacked Pearl Harbor December 7th, 1941. And we then went to war with Germany on the 11th of December. Hitler declared war on America. And I think if Roosevelt had said, okay, we're going to war with Germany because Japan attacked us, a lot of people would have questioned that, but Hitler was nice enough to declare war on America. And so now that allowed Roosevelt to go to war against Germany and Japan as well. I like how you could bring a little humor into it. Difficult time in our nation. Oh, boy, for sure. Yeah, let's go talk about your time in Vietnam. Can you share a story of one of your missions? Oh, sure. I had a flight one time. Any pilots that are watching will be able to really get a interest, really have interest in this. We landed at the refueling position in Da Nang right between thousand foot runways. And Da Nang main airport, the US Air Force main airport there was the second busiest airport in the world at this time. Chicago's O'Hare was number one and Da Nang main was the second busiest. So they have landings and takeoffs going off all the time 24 seven, very, very busy. So we're in between the two runways in this Huey helicopter and we're refueling. And it was what they call hot refueling that as we left the engine running and the rotor blades turning and the copilot would get out and stand on the skid and kind of oversee refueling the crew chief, we had a crew of four the crew chief would put the fuel in and the medic who was with us, he would sort of, he would stand by with a pharynx extinguisher just in case something went wrong and the aircraft commander, the fourth member of the crew would hold the controls. And I was the aircraft commander at this time and we're refueling. And just as my crew got finished refueling and got in, we got a call for a Dust-Off that is a medical evacuation, an urgent they called it Dust-Off south of Da Nang about 50 miles. So I called the tower and I said, Da Nang main tower, Dust-Off 619 just got a call for an urgent Medevac requesting departure as soon as possible. The air traffic controller came back and in one long continuous sentence said, all aircraft cleared for departure, hold your position. All aircraft cleared to land, make a 360 degree turn to the left for clearance. Dust-Off 619, you are cleared for immediate departure should it's out. All in one sentence, we picked up immediately and scooted out south at about 50 feet over the ground. But there's airplanes, we could see them, we're under way underneath them but we could see them out for miles making these turns for spacing and several airplanes ready to go being held for us to go and make this immediate departure and for an urgent medical evacuation. It even makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up now 50 years later. I got chicken skin just listening to you. Hey, tell me, don't leave me hanging. So you get to the mission, what was it? This particular mission was a hoist mission. We have an external rescue hoist that's in the back of the helicopter and these guys were in contact right at that time and they couldn't move, they're wounded.  If the unit that we were going to work with was in contact or had been in contact in the last 30 minutes, we were required to take gunships with us. And so I called what we're called the black cats, they were right there at the Danang main and asked them for gunship support and they of course responded immediately with two Cobra's gunships and we met them on a frequency as we were headed south and they were faster than we were. The Cobra helicopters are faster than the medical evacuation ship in flight time. And so they got there and turned out that the enemy machine gun was up on a hill, I can't recall how far away, but they were taking fire. And so I turned the tail of the helicopter towards the machine gun so that the copilot and I wouldn't be facing the machine gun and hopefully they couldn't shoot out the tail rotor, you know, maybe they could, but that seemed like the most logical thing and that gunships were shooting at them at the time and we were able to make two hoists, two patients, get them into the helicopter and head back to what was called the 95th evacuation hospital in Danang. Yeah, one thing that was kind of frustrating about flying a medical evacuation is that we don't know how they did. We were busy and we would land and the corpsmen would take them into the hospital on gurneys of course. We would go and refuel and often had another flight and so I heard that over 90% of the casualties in Vietnam survived because largely due to the fact that they could get to the hospital so quickly. And as you say, your husband was one of those. That's right, he's here today.  So John, what's the answer here? I mean, how can we avoid this happening again in our world? Avoiding this hubris that you and I have been talking about avoiding this arrogance.  General Westmoreland in Vietnam decided on a particular strategy called attrition. He was going to kill 10 communists to every one American boy that was killed. And he told us to a South Carolina Senator friend of his named Fritz Hollings. He said, Fritz, we're gonna kill 10 of their men to one of our guys that gets killed. And Fritz said, Westie, the American people don't care about the 10. They care about the one. And that was eerily prescient on the Senator's part because that's what they cared about.  And I'm frightened that President Biden will not be able to avoid this hubris. And what could happen is we send a small contingent, a small group of advisors to help the Ukrainians. Then one of them gets killed and then here we go. And so I'm hoping that that doesn't happen. But my book outlines how we got into Vietnam, how we were going to do better than the French, how the president wanted to get in. He got advice either get in or get out and he chose to get in and then finally Nixon decided that we had to get out. And so he pursued every course he could and finally pulled the Americans out in 1973 and was successful in extracting after almost 10 years. Well, if you could sit down with our president today, what advice, what would you say to him if you had two minutes to talk to our president? I'd handed my book and I'd say, read this book and don't let us get stepped into this quagmire like Johnson did because it seems like American aid to Ukraine can help them succeed and it certainly can. But what's the next step for Russia? Maybe it's to join forces with the Chinese. And if that happens, then we've got another proxy war going on in Ukraine between the Russians and the Chinese on the one side and the Americans on the other side. And that's not where we wanna be. Hey, let's send him the book, I'll pay for postage. Good one. That's all the time we have today. Oh, I could talk to you for hours. I wanna thank you, John, for being my special guest. Thank our broadcast engineer, our floor manager and Jay Fidel, our executive producer. A special mahalo, yes, special mahalo. Thank you so much, Rita. Thank you, a special mahalo to our underwriters and thank you audience for joining us. Books, books, books will be back in two weeks. Until then, read, write and create your own world. Thank you so much for watching Think Tech Hawaii. If you like what we do, please like us and click the subscribe button on YouTube and the follow button on Vimeo. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn and donate to us at thinktechhawaii.com. Mahalo.