Frankie and Johnny

Originally Aired: May 5, 1952 Suspense #472, "Frankie and Johnny," features Dinah Shore in a dramatic retelling of the classic American ballad. Frankie is deeply devoted to her man Johnny, a clarinet player in New Orleans who mysteriously disappears to play music in the back room of Cucaloo's on Basin Street. When Frankie spends her last hundred dollars to buy Johnny a sharp new red suit, she hopes to keep him close. But Johnny's wandering eye soon leads him astray. After buying him a beer at a local club, Frankie discovers Johnny has slipped away without a word. Desperate and heartbroken, Frankie searches the streets of New Orleans from Basin Street to North Rampart, asking everyone she meets about Johnny's whereabouts. When she encounters Miss Willie, a woman who sits watching the street day and night, Frankie learns a devastating truth: Johnny was seen walking with Nellie Bly, a beautiful blonde woman with red lips, heading toward Jelly Cake's place. Consumed by betrayal and rage, Frankie declares her terrible intention to Miss Willie and heads to the pawn shop to buy a gun, determined to confront the man who done her wrong.