SONG OF A NATION

and evening at the keys is always a pleasant one thank you lieutenant nice weather for september hey francis i'm afraid the weather isn't very significant captain the enemy fleets in the harbor ready to shell baltimore oh come now francis aren't you crossing bridges of course you are there there's probably henry it seems that our government has shown little or no determination to fight they've allowed the british to burn the white house sack the capital and lay their fleet offshore with guns ready i'm afraid your husband is becoming something else well i do wish you wouldn't hear his views like our own against that fleet is fort mchenry and i respect a nation that doesn't even bother to fight a strong talk for a man in uniform as for that sir i've been refused to commission the president argues that i'm more important than as a man with a gun i don't agree with him i fear you must excuse me mrs key evening i'm sorry evening key our present emergency makes it necessary i quite understand captain montreux i am sorry good evening good evening captain i'm sorry if i've offended you good evening martha good evening mrs key good evening thank you don't you mind them francis stick to your guns one with a party i suggest that mary keys sing by all means a song from mary key a second promotion a song by mrs keane i'll ask her of course i think she went in the garden i'll call her well there you are man those who are left are asking for you they want you to sing i don't understand you francis please mary not now let's not fall i want to be proud of you i want people to envy you but instead yes so can i be proud of you when you rail so against your own country i allow you europe you must allow me mine but now of all times when the nation so needs men who are loyal i'm afraid you don't understand mary love my country as much as any man you couldn't say the things you do i find myself losing all respect for you consequently for myself you don't mean that i thought you were strong right and so sure and now i realize the man i loved was a changeling and so you are turning away from me like the others what else is there have you forgotten we're waiting for your song mary my song an evening of the keys wouldn't be complete without a song from you mary you're most flattering john it was again is i'm sorry i'll go up and look after her don't you bother thank you mrs times like these everyone is on edge nerves no it's best we call it an evening yes it is getting late thank you mr key for a very pleasant evening i promise mrs king you'll be feeling better thank you i'm sure she'll be all right good night mr key please convey my regards thank you john for what for waiting you knew i want to talk to you between old friends there's that understanding you don't have to talk unless you want to captain montrose said this was one of the most beautiful homes he'd ever seen and now you find it empty am i so wrong in my views john i don't know it's so easy to condemn perhaps we do face defeat but until defeat comes there's always hope i wish i could share your optimism my father was at valley forge they thought that was the end too but it wasn't history of times repeats itself when a man is needed to solve the problem that man is found what we need is someone or something to make us feel as one nation one body and that something can't be everlasting defeat no we're a sorry luck a nation without a capital a republic without a president good evening sir no pardon for calling it this hour mr keeba this urgent i'm richard west i've come all the way from woodyard this is colonel skinner mr wes good evening sir dr william beans has been arrested by the enemy and taken aboard the british flagship surprise when how did it happen it was in retaliation for his having caused the arrest of disorderly stragglers from the british army his friends have asked me to implore you to intercede with our government for his release of course we'll go immediately colonel skinner is the government agent for the exchange of prisoners at baltimore we'll be very grateful gentlemen i have a coach outside come along john we must lose no time i'm ready get your cloak mary i'm taking francis with me to the british flagship to arrange the release of dr beanz yes i heard will you give him this letter when you reach the vessel mary it's not i have no choice you'll do the same do you realize what this means there's nothing left i must tell mary i've told her francis you may find your answer out there out there but how i don't know it's my policy to go into the heart of trouble to find my way out that's a soldier's method hope you're right john come francis in appreciation of the medical care and aid rendered our soldiers by dr beans during the crown's occupancy of his marlborough home i am releasing dr william beans into your custody we thank you admiral thank you i cannot however permit you to go ashore until after the battle battle surely you don't think we're standing off fort mchenry with our entire fleet for our pleasure you three gentlemen will be returned to your ship under guard there to remain until the inevitable surrender of fort mchenry you may enjoy another sample of yankee stamina take them over the side and back to their vessel attention get mr baby that doesn't look like they've evacuated fort mchenry for the next round cochran is getting a little more yankee stamina than he bargained for no port can hold out against this bombardment it's massacre i'm afraid not the port will likely give up before dawn don't forget doctor americans have a pretty star of determination when they're called upon to show it will our plagues still be flying overboard at sunrise it's too dark to see let us pray that it is our country needs the picture of a morning sun on a flag that won't bow to the enemy hey khan's early light the flag is still there the star-spangled banner our people they must know of this they must never forget this moment i want to tell you have you have you anything i could write upon yes i have a letter it's for you let me have it i'll write on the back of it a song a song that must mean to everyone what the sight of that flag means to us oh say can you see by the dawn's early light what so proudly what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming whose broad stripes and bright bright stars through the perilous fight all the ramparts or the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming and the rockets red glare the bombs the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there oh say does that star-spangled banner yet wave or the land or the land of the free and the home of the brave francis hello john what's this the poem you wrote after you opened your letter i took the envelope and showed it to judge nicholson at the fourth he rushed it to the office of the baltimore american publication had stopped all the men were fighting aboard something we needed to make us feel as one nation it comes but once in a man's life to be able to do that yes francis mary you you've come back yes dear i heard the song you wrote do you think i could have written that if i had no love for my country i've been so wrong francis and i've hurt you but out of that earth has come this greater than any victory we might have won mary francis they've come to the front lawn hundreds of them they want you to hear your song listen now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam in full glory reflected now shines on the stream it is the star spangled banner a long may it way or the land of the free and the home of the brave