Any Boy - U S A (1953) Pt 1

not really very long ago there lived in this small midwestern town a young man named william blake like many other young men brought up in small towns william was anxious to see what he called the outside world i can't for the life in me figure out why william wanted to leave such a pretty town all sprinkled with clean white houses and great green lawns planted with cool shade trees oh it's true that williamstown is just a small town but there's really a lot to do here and on the large farms nearby the farms that produce much of the food that keeps you and me and other city folk alive and healthy [Music] one of these farms belongs to william's grandparents and it is on this farm that williams spends much of his time during the long summer vacations from school there's william now sitting on that cool bank by the stream that runs through the farm there he sits fishing and daydreaming and there are shivers his dog [Music] it's a very pretty place i'm sure that you or i wouldn't want to leave such a delightful spot but william is quite a man now you see he graduated from the eighth grade just last week and next semester he'll be starting high school so he feels that he'd like to travel to the big city and seek his fortune just daydreaming of course let me put it this way have you ever noticed how a cow will most always try to get to the grass on the other side of the fence even though she is surrounded by grass just as good and just as green well that's how it is with people too we just have to see if the grass is greener on the other side of the fence most of us the lucky ones soon discover that the grass at home is greener and we're glad to return but first most of us just have to find out [Music] now that's exactly how william felt he likes his town on this fine big farm but his thoughts for the moment at least are on those greener fields over the horizon in william's case the city [Music] bill i don't think he'd mind if we called him bill he's such a friendly fellow as we'll soon see well bill has been mighty restless since school closed for the summer and he feels that he'll simply explode if he doesn't get to the city pretty soon although i must say he doesn't look at all restless here stretched out in the field looking up at the sky and finding all sorts of pictures in the clouds that's a wonderful way to think things out i'm sure you've all tried it it's fun at night too to lie flat on your back and look up at the stars sometimes especially on monday nights they say you can see shooting stars but i'm getting away from my story looking at bill so nice and comfortable makes me drowsy uh pardon me you know i'll bet he falls asleep and forgets all about that nonsense of seeking his fortune in the city no i guess not well let's watch and see what he does shivers i've made up my mind yes sir i've made up my mind i'm going to the city today right now in fact let's see one dollar and 73 cents that'll take me a long ways uh-huh i've got these sandwiches too i'll be a man of action as grandfather says will start out right now shivers you stay here the city is no place for a country dog go on you run along [Music] good day my young and healthy friend whether you bound beyond a great city for chance come and visit with a tired lonely old traveler for a spell why hello oh forgive me for staring i don't mean to be rude but i must say you startled me oh come now my dear youngster there's no reason why i should startle you it's just that you don't know me do stop for a moment as i was about to say you don't know me yet lots of people find me a delightful companion when first they get to know me but alas i don't seem to be able to keep my friends for very long i try so hard to make people happy and gay but i guess my spirits are much too strong for them that's a joke boy a joke you are a funny fellow but you really don't seem like such a bad sword if you had a bath and some clean clothes you might look halfway decent about clean clothes sir don't mention such things in my presence i can see that you're a country boy don't you know who i am you do look familiar let me see haven't i seen your pictures in the magazines or on the billboards to be sure thousands of times there are a lot of news items and stories about me none of them very good but in the paid advertising on the billboards in the magazines you'll see some very nice pictures of me but not how i look now after all i've been sick i think i remember isn't your name whiskey that's right you're a lot smarter than i thought you were that's my name all right see if you look closely you'll see it written right here on my shirt front sure enough i can see it but what are you doing here by the road i can see you have a lot to learn well first things first it answered your question i was traveling along in a beautiful car with a fine fella from the city he was on his way out here for some fishing and he brought me along to keep him company and because of me he smashed up his car right over there now he's in the hospital and here i am walking walking mind you all the way back to the city some people are so ungrateful this is all very mysterious i've never seen anybody like you where i live and just where might that be williamsburg just a few miles down the road oh that place my friends and i are not allowed there the citizens think we bring too much trouble let me tell you right here and now that things are getting very bad for me and my friends all over the country there are so many many places we're not allowed anymore well it's been nice meeting you but i must get along i want to get to the city before dark well i'm on my way to the city too do you mind if i come along as sort of a companion i could keep you company and point out things of interest along the road well i guess it would be all right my father said i should be very careful with whom i make friends but i don't see any harm in just walking along together think you can keep up with me i'm a pretty fast walker don't worry about that whenever i make a friend i stick right with him as long as i can in fact i've had many friends who just couldn't part with me these friends of yours that just couldn't part with you where are they now unfortunately many of them are sick and quite a few have died it's very sad we were all so merry for a short while and then the ones that the friends who are still living turned against me oh i've caused a lot of trouble in my time but don't you have other friends like yourself oh sure there's brother beer and cousin wine and uncle rum but we never mixed very well as a family but let's talk about you why do you want to leave this nice countryside for the city if i had to do it all over again i think i'd just be playing mr soda pop and lead the good life dear dear i'm afraid it's too late for that now i haven't decided what i want to do when i'm a man of course that's not very far off what kind of a job i'd be happiest doing i thought that being in the city would give me a chance to look around and find something interesting to be sure to be sure hey just look at that train now that would be fun to be the engineer of a locomotive like this how would that suit you mr whiskey oh i'm afraid i could never be your companion in the cab of a locomotive no the railroad companies would never allow that why not well they have rules and regulations that say their engineers must have clear heads and sharp eyes and there's no place for a poor old whiskey in a setup like that oh that's a shame oh it would be great fun to be at the throttle and go zooming by the countryside and over the prairies and across the mountains well maybe you could ride in as a passenger no that doesn't work well either some of my relatives have but there are certain states where we're not allowed even as passengers oh don't carry on soul mr whiskey maybe you could be my companion doing something else could be but i doubt it i sincerely doubt it [Music]