What happens
Dr. Rourke, a dying physician, tells his son James about a secret from his past. Years earlier he treated a wounded gangster named Tony Delgano, and now Delgano, travelling under the name David Delmas, boards a steamer bound for Australia. Aboard, Delmas meets Dr. Rourke again and threatens him to keep quiet about the old favor. Delmas then becomes entangled with a passenger, Sharon Phillips, and with the ship's steward. Delmas is a fictional character created for the series. The Whistler is an old-time radio anthology show broadcast on the Signal Oil program, with its original air date of August 21, 1949.
A steamer leaving San Francisco bound for Australia, and a hospital bedside in the present.
Characters: Dr. Rourke, James Rourke, Tony Delgano, Sharon Phillips, Stuart, Michael
Listen for: The Whistler's whistle that opens the story, and Dr. Rourke's confession to his son in the final scene.
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.