The Story of Mary Marlin
If the demand for concert singers hadn't hit a new low in 1934, the Story of Mary Marlin might never have come into being. In the fall of that year a gloomy young woman was bus riding along Chicago's lake front. She was facing the world alone, with a daughter to support, and had no idea about how she was going to earn a living. Jane Crusinberry had returned to America the year before after two successful years as an opera singer in France and Italy. She found that her friends were scattered, that the depression was in full swing and singers were turning to other fields in order to eat. And so she spent rather a desperate year trying to adjust herself. Miss Crusinberry took the bus ride one morning to ponder ways to bring in a regular pay check. "I'll write) said Jane Crusinberry suddenly aloud, to the mild surprise of nearby passengers, and she hopped off the bus to catch the next one back home. On the way, she sketched out a synopsis of the post -marital adventures of two typical American people. She rented a typewriter and set to work as soon as she reached her apartment; The story of Mary Marlin is the result.
Born Harriet Jane McConnell in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Miss Crusinberry was a talented child who turned her hand to several different arts. She was soloist with the Episcopal Cathedral Boys' Choir when she was 12. Between solos and school work the youngster found time to write a play that stretched somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 acts and heaven only knows how many scenes. The drama was called "The Gatherers of Flame" and came to a grand climax when her hero suddenly ended it all by walking into the Ganges. When she was 15, Jane came to Chicago to audition for William Beard at the Chicago Conservatory of Music. He accepted her immediately as a pupil and in six months the youngster was singing professionally.
In the years that followed her life was highlighted by marriage, the birth of a daughter, six years of study in Europe and the final return to this country.
Miss Crusinberry sold her radio script almost as soon as it was out of the typewriter and the Story of Mary Marlin had an auspicious premiere by making its debut on the author's birthday, October 3, 1934. During its five years on the air the program has consistently maintained its rating as one cf the mostly popular dramatic serials, as well as one of the best known. Working on the theory that a story about the married life of two ordinary people would please listeners who didn't care for too much melodrama and radio fan who liked romance but not "mush" Miss Crusinberry built her story around the life of 35 -year -old Mary Marlin. Mary was born and brought up in Cedar Springs, Iowa, where she married her childhood sweetheart.
The story began after Mary and her Joe Marlin had been married for 14 years; when Mary had begun to show her 35 years and Joe had found his law office partnership with David Post all absorbing. Then Joe fell in love with his secretary and asked for a divorce. Alone, unloved, Mary fled to New Yok rather than face the gossip of Cedar Springs and the pity of ¡her friends. There she met Mme. Henriette, a childhood friend who had become the foremost beauty specialist in the country. Through Henriette's influence and efforts, Mary set about recapturing her youth and beauty. One day, glowing, alive and charming, looking ten years younger, Mary was dining in a New York restaurant when her ex- husband met her for the first time since their divorce. After long months they were reconciled and became the parents of a son, David, who is now four years old. Joe was elected senator from Iowa and was sent to Russia on a secret mission.
His plane crashed in the wilderness and since then no word has been heard either from or of him, although influential friends have detectives tracing the course of a mysterious white man into the interior of China. Present episodes are concerned with the search for Joe, who has lost his memory, and Mary's adventures. Mary herself has been appointed to her husband's place in the Senate, where she is carrying on Joe's ideal of "the great American dream." She is ardently supported by Joe's partner, David Post, who has fallen in love with Mary.
Rufus Kane, labor leader, has also fallen in love with Mary and he and his mother are convinced that she will marry him if he defeats Mary's friend, Frazer Mitchell, for the presidency of the United States. Frazer's wife, Bunny, is one of Mary's arch- enemies, although she consistently manages to blind Frazer to her pretty meannesses and her love for money and power. Bunny's present campaign to keep her husband's faith involves a scheme to adopt a child of the slums, one "Tootle."
Two other children are prominent figures in the current adventures of Mary Marlin, Timothy, a little blind boy who was ad0pted by Henriette, and young Bill Adams, son of life long friends of the Marlins. Timothy, at present, is living in the Marlin home.
The title role in the Story of Mary Marlin is played by Anne Seymour, one of radio's leading actresses. A descendant cf the Davenports, dramatic "royal family" whose theatrical history stretches back to 1740. Miss ,Seymour made her debut when she was 12 years old, taking part in a banquet scene in Helen Hays' "To the Ladies." Her grandparents were both in the cast. Her first appearance, which brought her public attention, was in 1928 when she played in Channing Pollick's "Mr. Moneypenny." Before the play closed she had appeared in 13 different roles. Later she appeared on Broadway with Ethel Barrymore in "School for Scandal" and in other plays including "The Husband Habit" and "At the Bottom." In 1933 Miss Seymour came to NBC to take the lead in Grand Hotel. She took over the role of Mary Marlin in 1937. The Seymour talents are not confined to acting; she is an expert in the art of directing and stage setting; she's invaluable in organizing summer stock companies and she serves as consultant for an eastern school which has recently inaugurated a course in radio dramatics.
Robert Grifin plays the part cf Joe Marlin, a role he has filled since the program first went on the air. Griffin began his career as a baritone soloist in "The Mission Play" in California and went from there into the Pasadena Community Playhouse. He was soloist at KNX in 1925 and later became head of the Homer Conservatory radio department at Kansas City. He left there to appear with ,Paul Muni in "This One Man" and went back to singing when the play closed. Griffin gave up singing in favor of acting shortly before he took over the role of Joe Marlin, currently he is rated as one of the most popular of NBC leading men.
Four outstanding child stars appear In the Marlin cast: Patti Willis, in the role of Davey Marlin; Frank Pacelli, as Timothy Franklin Adams, as Bill Adams and Rosemary Garbell, as Tootie.
Veteran character Phil Lord has the role of Frazer Mitchell and his wife, Bunny, is played by Fran Carlon. David Post is played by Carlton Brickert.
An example of the popularity of Mary Marlin is the story of an enterprising merchant in Akron, Ohio, who discovered women shoppers frequently stopped in to listen to the serial. He set out a few seats to accomodate them and found, a week later, that the women had passed the information among their friends and he was forced to quadruple the number of chairs and benches for their use. The program was awarded a plaque as outstanding among radio dramatic shows by the Conference of Club Presidents and Program Chairmen, representatives of 350 midwestem women's clubs. And just to show how far- reaching the program can be, Carrie Jacobs Bond, beloved American composer, chanced to tune In to one broadcast several years ago and .became a regular Marlin fan. She became so interested, in fact, that she wrote the author, only to discover that years ago, when Miss Crusinberry was making a concert tour under her maiden name, Miss Bond had met the teenage singer and become interested in her. It was through her that Jane had met several people who had become instrumental in her study of opera. As a fan, Miss Bond has gone to the length cf writing a beautiful child's prayer, which Davey Marlin recites frequently in the program.