Great name for a character!
When the group enter reception for the fist time, Al asks for the telephone and is directed to his right. We're never told what happens then, we just see Al walk away.
Does he make a call?
Presumably no-one replies, given where he now is....
I've always wondered about that phone call, too. I always thought:
1) Maybe the scene was cut from the movie. That would partly explain the very short running time.
2) There was no one there that he'd have shared the information about what happened during the call with - he's the only character that doesn't really interact with anyone else until the end - and so the audience wouldn't get to know either.
Also, remember later in the movie when they get the radio working, they can hear the other person's conversation, but their transmissions are not heard on the other end.
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