Gunsmoke | Old Time Radio

Gunsmoke is presented here as a run of CBS radio episodes, framed by a recurring opening about a U.S. Marshal, the smell of gun smoke, and 'the violence that moved west with young America.' William Conrad stars as Matt Dillon. He describes the job as chancy, the kind that makes a man watchful and, in some openings, a little lonely. That narration promises killers and spoilers. Many of the scenes excerpted here are about the ordinary people of Dodge City and the land around it instead. In 'Letter of the Law', a cattleman who openly says he practices sharp has a court order to remove Brandon Teak, a man who hung up his gun, settled down and has a child coming any day. A judge quotes the Homestead Act of 1862 at Matt and reminds him he can be held in contempt. Matt still says no, telling the cattleman he could not hold his head up if he did it. It is a standoff fought with a refusal rather than a gun. The land comes up again in 'Cows and Cribs', where Mrs. Nadler asks to adopt a baby Ma has been minding and promises to work hard at raising corn and a few hogs. 'Chester's Rendezvous' has a father and his daughter, Ann, packing to move on to California and waiting for someone called Luke, and her Pa is uneasy when a visitor, Mr. Proudfoot, comes calling. Doc Adams faces his own choice in 'Doc's Visitor': an offer involving advanced methods, research, influence and comfort, cut short when a boy named Billy shows up with an injured arm that needs splints. Then there is Chester. In 'The Sod-Buster' he begs Matt to send him on some errand so he can get out of a buggy ride with Bessie Mae Wilker, who, like her pa, believes Chester is the marshal of Dodge City. In 'The Lady Killer' he teases Doc about not being able to unhitch his own buggy, Doc turns the joke back on him, and the two spot Si Welch in town and wonder what he is doing there. Kitty, played by Georgia Ellis, trades dry early-morning remarks with Matt about regular hours and a 2 a.m. visit to the Long Branch. The closing credits add more. Stories are specially written by John Meston or carry his editorial supervision, one is credited to Marion Clark, and the supporting casts include Virginia Gregg, Vic Perrin, Harry Bartell, Lawrence Dobkin and Ralph Moody. The broadcasts keep their surroundings too: Pepsi-Cola urges listeners to think young, a Radio Free Europe Fund appeal asks for truth dollars, CBS plugs Arthur Godfrey, and one sign-off announces that Suspense is returning to the network. For a first listen, 'Letter of the Law' shows the marshal's conscience at work, and 'The Sod-Buster' shows the lighter side of the same town.