Tell You Why I Shouldn’t Die

Originally Aired: June 7, 1951 Suspense #432, "Tell You Why I Shouldn't Die," stars Richard Widmark as Nat, a smooth-talking Coney Island pitchman who must literally talk for his life. Charlie stands with a gun pointed at Nat's head, ready to kill him for stealing his girlfriend Eileen. With the police on their way, Nat launches into an elaborate pitch to convince Charlie he shouldn't pull the trigger. Through a series of flashbacks, Nat recounts how he deliberately pursued Eileen, wooing her away from the devoted Charlie with professional calculation and romantic manipulation. As Nat spins his version of events, he presents himself alternately as an honest man just following his heart and as a worthless pitchman unworthy of revenge. He argues that Eileen was too susceptible to temptation to ever be faithful to Charlie, that she never truly loved him, and that Charlie is better off without her. With each carefully crafted argument, Nat tries to talk his way out of the deadly confrontation, using every trick in his repertoire to keep Charlie from pulling the trigger before time runs out.