Around Dodge City and in the territory on the west, there's just one way to handle the killers and the spoilers, and that's with the U.S. Marshal and the smell of gun smoke.
Music
Gun Smoke, starring William Conrad. The story of the violence that moved west with young America. The story of a man who moved with it. Matt Dillon, United States Marshal.
Music
Looks like he's got himself a pretty nice camp there. I don't care about his camp. All I want is something to eat. He's a hunter of some kind. He'll sure have meat around.
He'd better. It's the last we'll eat between here and Dodge. Why are you in such a hurry to get to Dodge? I don't like this prairie, Jesse. I like towns.
Say, this fellow's got something cooking in that fire here. Good.
Hello, friend. Oh, yeah. Good time for supper. Get down. You get down, Jesse. I'm staying on my horse. What? Do like I tell you. I don't.
We left it on the trail, mister. We're riding for Dodge. Why, sure, friend. Got some buffalo ribs roasting here. You can take them along.
Got a sack we can carry him in? Well, I ain't got many sacks, but sure, you can have one right over there by my pack saddle, son. Thanks, Miffy.
You alone here? Oh, I had a partner, but he quit. That's a shame. This sack okay, mister? Sure. Help yourself to the ribs, son. Take all you can eat. I'll roast some more for myself.
Now, this is mighty good of you, mister. Don't stand there jawing all day, Jesse. I'm not. I'll just take these four here, mister. Take them all.
Yeah, go ahead, son. You're welcome to them. Yeah, that's enough. And thanks. Now, get him out of, Jesse. We've still got a long ride. Bye. Bye, son. Good luck.
You hunt buffalo, don't you? I do. It's kind of hard without a partner. That's your Sharp's rifle. You know that pack over there? Well, of course it is.
Mister, why don't you get a good pistol like mine here, see? Huh? No. No! Bill! You killed him! Sure. He ain't no use to anybody.
You shot him! For nothing, right in the face! Sure I shot him. But he was a nice old fellow. Why'd you do it?
Listen, Jesse. You want to be a gunman, I'm learning you how, right? What's that got to do with this?
You're going to be a gunman. You've got to get used to killing people. I was just showing you how easy it is.
No! I'm learning to handle a gun so as I can kill one man when I find him. One man, that's all. I don't like just shooting people down.
Get used to it. More or less right.
Yeah, we got another one, Miss Dillon. Look at him. Yeah, he's a good one, Chester.
Bigger than any you've caught, I'll bet you. I'm sure he is. I haven't caught any. Not one? I haven't even wetted a line, Chester.
Well, you know, sometimes fishing's fun because you don't even have to fish.
You mean I've been doing all the work while you were just sitting here on the bank watching the river?
And enjoying myself. Did you catch enough for supper? If I throw half of them back, there won't be.
Now, don't be muley, Chester. Next time I'll do the fishing and you can be lazy.
Tomorrow? All right, tomorrow.
What's that? Sounds like somebody practicing. Let's take a look, huh?
Seems like he's right there behind that little bluster. I wonder who he is.
I don't know. But if he was trying for speed, he needs a lot of practice.
Well, maybe he was concentrating on accuracy, the way you always tell me to do.
Hello. He looks pretty young. Yeah.
Well, I see your target's still standing. That's just a whiskey bottle.
Could have been a man he wouldn't be standing. Could have been a man he'd be shooting back to.
You're a stranger around here, ain't you fella? Any law against strangers?
No. No, I was just coming. Got here yesterday.
Well, go ahead, son. We just wanted to watch you practice. My name ain't son. It's Jesse.
Oh. Well, go ahead, Jesse.
All right. Watch this draw.
That was pretty close. Not close enough. Not fast enough either.
That's all right for an average man. I aim to do better than average, mister.
Oh, why? I'm gonna kill a man, that's why.
Who you gonna kill? I don't know yet. But I'll find him.
Why you gonna kill him? That's my business, mister.
Sure. But if you're planning to kill anybody around here, let me show you what might happen.
What do you mean? You see that little daisy about 30 feet over the top of your bottle there?
Yeah, I see it. All right.
Well? I never saw anything like that before.
Would you teach me, mister? Not as long as you want to kill somebody, Jesse.
Come on, Chester.
I suppose we ought to ask the doc to eat these catfish with us, Mr. Dillon.
You call them, Chester. It's your party. I think I will.
Say, there's a letter for us, sir. Old Jacks must have brought it over.
I plumper got to pick up the mail this morning.
Is it important, Mr. Dillon?
No, no, not particularly. Some Luke Shorty, sheriff, not on an amaryllis.
Says one of Quantrill's old men's headed back to Kansas, maybe to start bushwhacking again.
Well, not much I can do about that. What's his name?
Stapp. I never heard of him. No, I never heard of him, neither.
Well, hello, Doc. Hello, Chester.
Doc. Do you men want to have a small beer with me?
Well, I better take care of my fish if we're going to have them for supper.
You're invited, Doc.
Well, thank you, Chester. I'll be there. Sure.
Well, how about you, Matt? Want a beer?
Okay, Doc. I'll go with you.
Well, now, don't forget supper.
We won't.
Bye, Chester.
Oh, just think, Matt. Another couple of months and it'll be nice and cool.
The flies will be gone. And there won't be any more trail herds to speak of.
Oh, and life can settle down some.
What would you call settling down for this town, Doc?
More broken legs, fewer gunshot wounds.
Well, I like that idea.
Two beers, Sam.
Hey, Bill, that's the man I told you about.
Oh, hello, Jesse.
Hello. He's awful fast, Bill. About the fastest I ever saw.
You're the Marshal here, ain't you, mister?
I am.
The Marshal? Well, no wonder.
Marshals can be killed just like anybody else, Jesse.
Ain't that right, Marshal?
Yeah, that's right.
Here's your beer, Matt.
Oh, thanks, Doc.
Hey, now. There's a pretty girl just hanging out.
Sure is.
Golly.
Oh, it's Kitty, Matt.
Yeah, I see her.
Jesse's there right here a minute.
Buy a drink, Marshal.
No thanks, Jesse. One beer's my limit this time of day. Some other time, huh?
Okay.
I, uh, take it you haven't found the man you were planning to kill.
I'll find him.
Do you know killings against the law, Jesse?
The law didn't stop them from killing my pa.
Your pa? Who killed your pa?
I don't know. I keep telling you.
Then how do you know he was killed?
A couple of fellas who'd been up here said they saw him buried out on that boot hill of yours. Somebody must have killed him.
When was this? What was his name?
His name was Pruitt. Same as mine, of course. And nobody can kill a Pruitt and get by with it. That's what my pa always said.
You always do what your pa said?
I'm doing it now, ain't I?
Well, you haven't killed anyone yet, Jesse. Now, when you do, you'll probably hang for it.
Who says I will?
The law.
So?
Jesse, remember what your friend said about how marshals can be killed just like anybody else?
Sure I do.
Well, it's true. But there's one thing he didn't mention. It mostly depends on how good the man is who's trying to kill a marshal. You remember that?
Matt!
Hello, Kitty.
Doc!
Oh, how are you, Kitty?
Well, what's the trouble?
That friend of yours you sent over.
What?
Here he comes now.
Him? I don't even know him.
He said you told him my name and to come over and buy me a drink.
Well, he's lying.
He's worse than I thought.
No offense, Marshal. Just a way of getting acquainted. Heard you fellas mention their names.
They never heard of you, mister. Not that it'd matter.
Just wanted to buy you a drink, Kitty.
Is that how you offer a lady a drink? You must have been raised in a chicken coop.
Oh, my, the things you run into when you just step out of the sun for a nice cool glass of beer.
You haven't been in the sun for months, Doc. So keep quiet.
Well, you're right, Kitty. I told a lie. I just thought maybe the help matters.
I sort of spoke like you.
Well, it won't.
Now, look, Kitty, there's no reason to stay mad.
Here, then, I'll buy everybody a drink. Will that make it okay?
Man, I'm late.
Well, how about you, Doc?
No.
Marshal, look, why don't you do your drinking somewhere else?
What?
You're only making trouble here.
Oh, too good to drink with me, huh?
Are you calling it, mister?
I offered you a drink, that's all.
And I refused it. Now, get out of here.
Seem friendlier towns.
Then maybe you better go back to them.
Oh, come on, Stapp.
Shut up, Jesse.
Well, you don't want to fight with him.
Shut up, that's all.
Oh, come on, let's go.
I didn't mean nothing.
Knock your ears off.
Oh, that's a charming man. Oh, he's a real gentleman.
You shouldn't run a fine man like that out of Dodge, Matt.
I didn't, Doc.
I know. You started to and then you stopped. Why?
The kid spoke up just in time.
I didn't know his name was Stapp.
I'd like to keep an eye on him.
Oh, I see.
What about that boy, Jesse?
You really think his father was killed here?
It happened while you were in St. Louis last winter, Doc.
He was killed here, all right.
Is that so? Oh, yes.
Then there will be trouble.
Who killed him, Matt?
I did, Doc.
I killed him.
We will return for the second act of Gunsmoke in just a moment.
But first, tomorrow night, it's a triple play in mystery and entertainment
when Dick Powell as Richard Diamond, private detective,
takes on the baseball matter on most of these same CBS radio stations.
Yes, you'll want to be listening every minute when Diamond, played by Dick Powell,
embarks on a thrilling manhunt for a missing second baseman.
It's tomorrow evening at the Star's address. Don't miss it.
Now the second act of Gunsmoke.
Music
Now, next time I try and catch the fish smaller, Chester,
they make better eating.
You know, if I was getting a free meal, Doc, I'd be mighty careful in my manners.
I'd figure if I appeared grateful enough for whatever I was fed,
I just might get asked back sometime.
Oh, that just shows how cheap some men can be had, Chester.
Well, I'll tell you one thing.
I've done all the work so far, and I ain't going to clean up this mess.
Well, Doc's a good dishwasher, Chester.
Have you ever seen him wipe his instruments on that old rag he's got?
Oh, Doc's a good dishwasher.
I may be busy, Doc.
Oh, oh yes, that's right, man.
You think there'll be trouble, Mr. Dillon?
Well, there are a lot of men around Dodge who'll remember who killed Jesse Pruitt's father
when he starts asking questions.
Maybe it'd be a good idea to get that staff out of the way first.
Why don't you go arrest him?
I don't have to turn him loose later.
It'd be a pity for him to shoot a young man like Jesse, man.
Seems awful somehow.
I don't like the idea any better than you do, Doc.
It looks to me like Stapp's got a lot to do with this.
Whatever he's got in mind...
Chester, it's hard to say what's in the mind of a man like Stapp.
I figure him for nothing but a killer, pure and simple.
Just a killer.
Yes, but you backed him down this afternoon, Matt.
I didn't say he's a gunman, Doc.
A gunman will take his chances.
I doubt if Stapp will.
Open it, Chester, and stand out of the way.
Yes, sir.
Well, I'm getting out of the way, too.
Oh, Mr. Hightower.
Hello, Chester. Come in.
Thank you. Thank you. Sorry to bother you, gentlemen.
Well, how are you?
Mr. Hightower, won't you sit down?
No, no, no, thanks, Marshall. I'm on my way home and I'm late now.
Just came by to tell you something.
No?
Yes. You see, it's this way.
When I close my printing shop of an evening,
I generally stop at the ala Faganza for a little drink or two.
Never more than two, though.
Oh, I've seen you take more than two.
Never mind, Doc.
That could be, Doc. It could be.
But only on a Saturday evening.
You see, my wife waits supper a little later on a Saturday evening.
Oh, she sure does.
Doc, why don't you get busy with the dishes, huh?
Well, go ahead, Mr. Hightower.
What did you tell me?
Oh, well, I was in the ala Faganza this evening
and I heard a couple of men, that is, a man and a rather young man.
They were next to me at the bar there. I heard them talking.
Now, go on.
Well, the young man, Marshall, his name was Pruitt.
Now, I hate to say it, but he's gunning for the man who shot his father last winter.
Yeah, I know all about it, Mr. Hightower,
because you found out that I did it.
That's what I came to tell you, Marshall.
The other man, I don't know his name,
he's in there getting young Pruitt drunk
and he's telling him that he'll back him up when the time comes.
When the time comes?
Well, the way I see it is that as soon as Pruitt gets his courage up on liquor,
this other man's going to tell him who shot his father
and then they're both coming after you.
I see.
And you think he knows I did it, huh?
Oh, yes, definitely, yes, I do.
I can sense those things, Marshall. It was very clear.
Well, thanks, Mr. Hightower. I appreciate your coming here.
Not at all, Marshall. I'd better get along home now.
Sorry to be a bearer of bad tidings, Mark.
Oh, yeah, that's all right, Mr. Hightower.
Don't you worry about it.
Good night, gentlemen. Good night.
Good night.
What are you going to do, Matt?
Well, there's only one thing I can do, Doc.
Go down there and put a stop to this if it isn't too late.
I'm coming with you, Mr. Dillon.
All right, Chester. Let's stay out of it.
Yes, sir.
MUSIC
Wait here, Chester.
Yes, sir.
Hello, Jesse.
Well, it's the Marshal again. Have a drink, Marshal.
Uh, no thanks, Jesse.
Marshal is pretty choosy who he drinks with, kid.
Yeah, I am.
But I'll have a drink with you tomorrow, Jesse.
No, not tomorrow. We won't be friends tomorrow.
Why not?
Stapp knows who killed my pa. He's going to tell me pretty soon.
Stapp's no good, Jesse. He just wants to see somebody killed.
Either you or me.
You or me?
That's right. I killed your father.
Why?
Now, you've seen me, Jesse. You know you can't beat me, so don't try it.
That true Stapp? He killed my pa?
He's the man you're after, Jesse. That's him. That's him, all right.
Go ahead, kid. He's standing right there in front of you.
Don't try it, Jesse. Stapp won't back you up. He's been lying to you.
No, he hadn't. And you can't get both of us.
Yes, I can get both of you, and Stapp knows it.
Go on ahead, Jesse. He killed your pa. This is your chance to go.
Killed my pa. All right, Marshal.
No, Jesse!
All right, don't move, Stapp.
I ain't moved, Marshal.
Now, of course you haven't.
Everything all right, Mr. Bill?
Now, get Jesse's gun, Chester. Then throw him in jail.
Yes, sir.
Stapp, I'll give you one hour to leave Dodge.
I ain't done nothing.
You leave Dodge, leave Kansas, and I'll come back. Ever.
Jesse's feeling better now, Mr. Dillon.
Oh, good. I want to talk to him.
Unlock his cell, will you, Chester?
Yes, sir.
How are you, Jesse?
What do you care?
You're lucky I didn't have to shoot you.
You shot my pa.
Yeah, I shot your pa. I want to tell you why.
I don't know how you'll remember your pa, Jesse, but when I ran into him, he wasn't much good.
You can talk like that now.
He was a killer, just like Stapp. A killer and a coward.
That's a lie.
You can ask most anybody in town. There were plenty of witnesses.
Witnesses to what?
Your pa shot a woman, Jesse. He was drunk and he put a bullet right in her face at the bar of the Longhorn.
He ran out and jumped on a horse. I tried to wing him, but I missed and I killed him.
Is that true?
That's true.
I don't believe it.
When did you last see your pa, Jesse?
Five, six years, I guess.
What was he like then?
What do you mean?
Was he the kind of a man who would shoot a woman?
I don't know, Marshal. He wasn't, he wasn't that mean.
How come he left home?
Ma, she made him go.
Why?
He'd get drunk and beat her. She finally drove him off the place.
Well.
It's kind of hard to believe your own pa is no good.
There are a lot of men who are no good, Jesse.
Stapp's another one.
Stapp?
Did you ever see Stapp face a man who had an equal chance?
He didn't even touch his gun tonight here. He never intended to.
No, I guess he didn't, did he? I hadn't thought about that.
He just wanted to see someone killed.
I think Stapp likes killings, Jesse. He likes to see people die.
Yeah. Yeah, he does. He sure does, Marshal.
Like that old man that hunter out on the prairie.
What?
He was a nice old fellow. He gave us some meat.
And then Stapp just shot him. Right in the face.
The way pa shot that woman.
When was this?
Just before we got to Dodge. About 30 miles up the river.
Did you like his doing that, Jesse?
No. No I didn't. I hated it.
Well, what do you think of Stapp now?
I guess he's no good, like you say.
He'll be all right, Jesse.
Chester.
Yes, sir?
I'm going after Stapp. Wait here.
Yes, sir.
Where did you leave your horses, Jesse?
Okay, Corral.
Hello, Pete.
Are you, Marshal?
I'm looking for a man, Pete. He might be in your stables.
There is a man in there, Marshal.
Do you know him?
A stranger. Been here a couple of days.
Rode in with a young fellow.
That's him.
He's saddened up. Last stall on the left.
He going to be a fight, Marshal?
I don't know, Pete. But you better take cover.
I sure will. You bet I will.
Who's that?
It's Marshal Dillon, Stapp.
I'm leaving town. What do you want now?
Jesse told me about the hunter you shot on the prairie.
Jesse told you?
Yeah.
Well, he's lying. He's just a kid, Marshal. You ain't going to believe him.
I believe him, Stapp.
Jesse shot him. That's why he's lying.
No, Jesse didn't shoot him, Stapp.
I'm arresting you for murder.
What? I ain't going to hang, Marshal.
No, I can't hang.
Easy, Stapp. You'll get a fair trial.
No, I can't hang. No. No, I'll die here.
Do it.
Well, there's your gun, Jesse.
I don't want it, Marshal.
Wait. You sure?
I'm through with guns.
What'd you pay for it, Jesse?
Ten dollars.
Ten dollars. All right, I'll buy it. Here.
I could use the money all right.
Well, take it.
Thank you, Marshal.
You know where I could get a job?
Yeah, I think so, Jesse.
Why don't you go see Frank Snyder out at the yellow. It's on the Pawnee, straight north of here.
Tell him I sent you.
All right, I will.
Next time I come to Dodge, Marshal, probably in a few months.
Could I buy you that drink?
Well, you just look me up, Jesse. Anytime.
Thank you, Marshal.
Gunsmoke, under the direction of Norman McDonald, stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal.
Tonight's story was specially written for Gunsmoke by John Meston, with music composed and conducted by Rex Corey.
Featured in the cast were Sam Edwards, Lawrence Dobkin, Harry Bartel, and John Danaer.
Harley Bear is Chester, Georgia Ellis is Kitty, and Howard McNear is Doc.
Gunsmoke has been selected by the Armed Forces Radio Service to be heard by our troops overseas.
Join us again next week as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal, fights to bring law and order out of the wild violence of the West in Gunsmoke.
Saturday Night Country Style will be hooping it up from Hillbilly hotspots of Shreveport, Louisiana and Richmond, Virginia, just ahead tonight.
Yes, the lads and lassies who really have the lowdown on the hoedown melody will perform in bright and sprightly style tonight on most of these same stations when CBS Radio springs another Saturday Night Country Style jamboree.
George Waltz speaking, and remember, you'll find Western Adventure and Music with Gene Autry Sunday evenings on the CBS Radio Network.
.