What happens
Frank Bernard, a condemned prisoner, spends his final afternoon in a death row cell as the guards prepare for his execution. He receives a visit from his sister Ruthie, who asks her to pass on a message to the family of a woman he killed. Frank is then comforted by Father Malihan, a priest who sits with him over a meal and a record player and talks with him about faith and friendship. The guards and prison staff move through the day's routine as the hour approaches, and Frank asks a fellow inmate and the officers to stay with him. Suspense, the CBS radio drama, aired on 1956-05-08, starring Harry Bartell, and this production is titled The Phones Die First.
A death row prison cell block and the warden's office on the day of an execution, in the United States.
Characters: Frank Bernard, Ruthie, Father Malihan, Captain Ford, Sergeant Brenner, Whitey, Kev
Listen for: Frank's last conversation with Father Malihan about faith and friendship, and the moment the prison telephones are shut off.
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.