Around Dodge City and in the territory on West, there is just one way to handle the killers and the spoilers, and that's with the U.S. Marshal and the smell of gun smoke.
Gun Smoke, starring William Conrad, the story of the violence that moved West with young America, and the story of a man who moved with it.
I'm that man, Matt Dillon, United States Marshal, the first man they look for and the last they want to meet. It's a chancey job, and it makes a man watchful and a little lonely.
Oh, Anastasia, my darling, say you will be mine.
No, Charles, I can never marry you.
But why? I have wealth, position, a new 57 car.
That's just why I won't marry you, Charles. Your 57 car is so old-fashioned and boxy-looking. It's been outmoded by the 57's swept-wing Dodge.
Oh, but Anastasia, I got such a bargain deal on that car.
Oh, Charles, there's no such thing as a bargain on a 57 car that isn't really new.
Oh, but Anastasia.
Has your car got torsion air ride?
Oh, no.
Twin-set headlights?
Oh, no.
Swept-wing styling?
Oh, no. Only Dodge has all that.
Well, you paid for a new car, but you didn't get one.
Oh, marry me anyway.
Not until you get a new Dodge.
I'll do it tomorrow.
Oh, Charles, adjust your wig.
Shall we dance, darling?
Yes, turn on Lawrence Welk.
Hello, Chester.
Oh, come on in, Doc.
Where's Matt?
He ain't here.
Eh? He's not?
Where have you two been the last couple of days?
I haven't seen either one of you.
Well, I just got back from Hayes City.
Mr. Dillon sent me over there to fetch some gummin' papers.
And you know what, Doc? I took a Santa Fe both ways.
You did? Well, that beats riding a horse, huh?
Where's Matt, you say?
He left a note here, but he didn't say exactly where he was at.
You mean he's out of town?
That's what the note says.
Seems somebody told him where he could find Jack Brand.
Jack... Jack Brand?
That's right.
Mr. Dillon says Brand's got three of his gang with him.
You mean Matt's gone out there alone after four men?
Well, now, if I knew where he was, I'd go help him, Doc.
I... I know, but there's nothing you can do about it, Chester.
Where is he, though?
Dog gone if he don't...
Hey, Chester! Chester!
Well, there's Mr. Dillon, Doc.
Where is he?
Well, there he is.
Sitting on that wagon.
Who's that with him?
Oh, some fellow gave him a ride, I guess.
Hello, Mr. Dillon.
Hello, Chester.
Doc.
Matt, you lose your horse?
No, I left him out at Barr's ranch and borrowed this wagon.
One of his riders will bring him in tomorrow.
Who's this with you?
You've seen his picture, Chester.
What? Where's Jack Brand?
Just get on, Brian. You first.
Go on.
How come you'd let him drive the wagon, Mr. Dillon?
To keep his hands full, Chester.
Here, take my shotgun. Lock him up.
Yes, sir. Where's the others?
I thought he had three men with him.
Well, go on, tell him, Marshal. Tell him where they are.
And the wagon under that canvas.
Oh. Are they all dead, Matt? All three of them?
Yeah, they're all dead, Doc.
The bloodiest marshal I ever seen.
That's just a wagon load of meat they have.
That's enough, Brian.
It ain't hardly enough. I never seen such a killing.
What happened, Mr. Dillon?
They put up a fight and I had to take them, so...
That's all. Your lawman here hit himself in the grass
and just waited for us to come out of that cabin.
And then he yelled, so naturally we headed for cover. Who wouldn't?
And he just laid there and he cut loose of that shotgun.
Tore up two of the boys that way.
Then he stood up and cut down Hank Smith with a six-shooter.
How come you got out of it, Brian?
I jumped back in the cabin and I give up. You blame me?
I suppose you're trying to say that you wouldn't have shot him.
Sure, we tried to shoot him. Any man got a right to defend himself.
I never heard of resisting arrest called self-defense.
I never heard of no marshal shooting down everybody on a landscape.
Lock him up, Chester.
Get going, Brian.
Thank you. It was killing hogs, not men.
The bloodiest marshal I ever seen.
Shut up and keep walking.
Oh, Matt, see, you were my lucky.
Taking on four outlaws that way.
Yeah.
And you killed three.
See, great old people hear about this.
Brian's right, Doc.
It's a lot of killing. An awful lot.
Oh, now don't get to thinking about it too much, Matt.
It's your job. You did it. So it's over.
It's over, huh?
So tomorrow or the next day, there'll be somebody else.
And there's always another man to kill.
Oh, now, Matt, I never heard of you shooting anybody you didn't have to.
No, I never did.
But sometimes that doesn't help much.
Say, you look tired, man.
I haven't slept since I rode out of here two days ago.
Yeah, now you're gonna get some rest.
And then you'll feel better.
Yeah, sure, Doc.
Brian, snuck in jail when you're done.
He don't like it much, but I told him not to try kicking his way out that I'd be sleeping in the office.
We'll both be sleeping in the office, Chester. I'm too tired to walk to my room.
Oh, take care of this wagon and the...
What's in it, will you?
Yes, sir.
You and Doc can identify those men. We'll write it on paper in the morning, huh?
All right, sir. I'll be coming to bed about midnight.
But I'll be real quiet.
Yeah, nothing can wake me, Chester. Not tonight, sir.
...
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No.
No.
No, don't go for your gut.
Don't go for my gut.
No, look, do it, I tell you. Leave the gun alone.
Mr. Dillon.
Don't make me kill you. Don't make me kill another man.
Mr. Dillon, wait.
No. I'm spilling off blood. I don't want to kill you.
Mr. Dillon.
No, no, no. It's me, Mr. Dillon. It's Chester. There ain't nobody here.
What?
You, you're asleep? You've been dreaming?
Oh, oh yeah, yeah.
Here, let me light the lamp.
No, no, don't do that, Chester. It's all right.
Gracious, I come in and heard you talking, and I thought, sure, somebody's here.
The moonlight ain't so bright, and I couldn't see good at first.
Yeah, sure.
My, I had to yell at you a couple times before you woke up. He was dreaming you was in a fight, I guess.
Yeah, yeah, that's what I was dreaming.
Nightmares like that, they're just terrible, ain't they?
Oh, what time is it?
It's a little past midnight.
Is Jack Brand awake?
No, he'd be bellering if he was. Oh, but Mr. Dillon, now that you're awake, there's something I ought to tell you.
Oh, what?
Well, me and Doc was having a drink over at Long Branch, and a fella come in there and started talking real loud, you know.
Talking about what?
Well, sir, mostly about how he's a friend of Jack Brand's, and he heard about how you caught him and all.
What's his name, Chester?
Stanger, Joe Stanger.
Oh, yeah, I know him.
You think he will cause trouble?
Probably. I'm not going to worry about him tonight.
No, sir. That's what me and Doc figured. He won't try nothing tonight.
All the same. Keep your gun handy, Chester.
Oh, but let's try to get some sleep.
Chester!
Hmm?
Oh, Chester, come on out of here.
Oh, my God.
Wake up, Chester.
I'm like Brand Barry, but...
Time for breakfast.
Yes, sir.
Oh, will you go shut him up, Chester? It's hardly dawn.
I'd like to throw a bucket of water on him.
Will you shut up, Brand? I'm coming.
Well, it's about time.
Cut out that cussing yellin'.
Brand, what's the matter with you?
Come on over here and unlock this cage, Chester.
What?
I've got a gun on you. Can't you see it?
Where'd you get that gun?
In trouble over here, I say.
Well, the keys ain't over there. They're hanging on the wall down here. I'll get them.
Don't you take your own sweet time about it. I've been in this chicken coop long enough.
All right, drop it, Brand.
What?
Ow!
Ooh, you...
My hand!
You're not hurt. I hit the gun.
I got the keys, Mr. John. I'll get his gun out of there.
All right, go ahead.
Ooh, my hand!
Now stand back, Brand.
You like to bust my hand!
Stand back, I said!
You're lucky.
Yeah, lucky you didn't kill me, I suppose. It's like you kill everybody.
You shut up.
I got it, Mr. John. Ain't no good anyway. Not now.
Where'd you get this gun, Brand?
I made it, Marshall.
Now don't be smart.
Oh, wait a minute. Joe Stanger brought it to you.
He tossed it to you right through those bars on the wall.
I didn't even know Stanger was in town.
Didn't you?
Chester got some boards and nailed them over the window so nothing could get thrown.
Oh, now wait, Marshall. That's the only window in here. You can't board that up.
You'll get enough air.
Oh, no!
When you get it fixed, Chester, we'll go to breakfast.
Howdy, Clarice. It's been some time since I've been out on the plaza this early in the morning, Mr. John.
Weren't you up gambling all night last Saturday, Chester?
Oh, well, that's different. Things don't look the same when you've had a good night's sleep.
No.
You didn't have no more nightmares last night, did you?
No. I didn't sleep very well.
You ought to take some time off. Go out buffalo hunting or something, Mr. Dillon.
Maybe I ought to take a lot of time off.
Now wait a minute.
What?
There's Joe Stanger coming there.
Yeah, same I go. It is. What's he doing up so early?
Maybe he wants to find out why Jack Brand hasn't shot his way out of jail yet.
Well, he won't. He's throwing Brand no more guns. Not the way I got that place boarded up.
Chester, step out of the way, will you?
Yes, sir.
Good morning, Marshal. You're up kind of early, aren't you, Stanger?
The train leaves for Abilene in about an hour.
Oh, you've gone to Abilene?
I'll be back next week.
Jack Brand will still be in jail.
Yeah, I heard you caught him. He's a good friend of yours, isn't he?
Yeah, he's a good friend of mine.
I'm glad you're here.
I'm glad you're here.
Sure. But I ain't part of his gang. I never was.
Yeah, I know.
Of course, there ain't much gang left now.
No.
You're a pretty rough man, Marshal.
What? That's what I have to be.
Don't I never bother you, killing people the way you do?
Look, Stanger, I shot a gun out of Jack Brand's hand this morning.
You come by the office later and I'll give it back to you, huh?
What would I want of a smashed up six-year-old?
It's yours, isn't it?
Where? Mine?
I'll have to throw you in jail, too.
I wouldn't go to jail, Marshal.
Not without a fight, I wouldn't.
I ain't afraid of you. You want to try?
Go ahead. Go on. Go ahead, draw.
No, that's the matter, Marshal.
I thought you liked killing men. What's holding you back?
You're going to have to fight me sooner or later.
Get out of here, Stanger. You'll get on your train.
Wait till I tell everybody about Matt Dillon.
Now he's lost his...
Get out of here, I said.
Well, I don't want to shoot down a man that won't draw.
Not today, anyway.
But I'll be back, Marshal. Next week.
Why don't you shoot him, Mr. Dillon? He ain't nothing but a big bluff.
Chester, you go on the breakfast, huh?
I'm going back to the office.
What? Oh, you told me you had five minutes to...
You heard what I said, didn't you?
Yes, sir.
Okay, Mr. Dillon.
I brought you a little can full of coffee, Mr. Dillon.
Oh, thanks, Chester.
I'll put it right here.
What you doing, writing a letter?
That's a telegram. Here, take this down to the depot, will you?
Sure.
I want it to go out right away.
U.S. War Department?
That's my resignation, Chester.
What?
I'm quitting right now.
Well, you can't do that.
I've done it.
I don't believe it you're funning me.
A man can quit a job, Chester. I've quit jobs before.
Well, I know, but this is different.
No, what's different about it? The government doesn't own me.
Mr. Dillon.
Yeah, what?
You ain't doing this because of...
because of what Joe Stanger said.
What, that I lost my nerve?
No, he's wrong about that.
And he's wrong about my liking to kill men, too.
Well, you never killed nobody unless you had to.
Now I don't have to. I'm through, Chester. I killed my last man.
Well, I... I just don't know what did...
Let me tell you something, Chester. I've hated this job since the day I took it.
I never did have a taste for a killin', and now they can find somebody who has,
and he'll make a better Marshal than I ever was.
That ain't true.
Now go send a telegram.
I'm gonna be over at Delmonico's having breakfast.
And with a good appetite for a change.
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Washington, as usual, was pretty slow answering my telegram.
A week later, I still hadn't had an answer, but I didn't care. I'd quit.
And that was that.
I even began to enjoy myself for a change.
Like the day I finally took Kitty fishing.
Matt, hey Matt, look, I got another one.
Throw him back, Kitty. We got more than we can carry now.
No, I will not throw him back. Here.
Come on over here in the shade. You've done enough fishing.
Okay.
Oh, look at him, Matt. Isn't he a beauty?
Yeah, he is. He's bigger than any I could.
Why don't you throw him in the sack and then sit down here?
Say, you're right. I didn't know we caught that many.
Maybe we'll have a fish fry tonight, huh?
Well, we can feed half a dodge of all those.
Adopt that. Did you ever see Chester go through a mess of fish?
Well, last time he starved himself a couple of days in advance.
Maybe we can kind of sneak up on him tonight.
Oh, no, no, no. He knows we're out here.
Maybe you ought to go into the business, Matt.
Oh, what business?
Fishing. You could do it for a living.
I'm going to have to find something to do for a living, I guess.
You know something, Matt?
Know what?
I think this is the first time I've ever seen you that you weren't wearing a gun.
Yeah, I guess it is. I'm enjoying that, too.
Oh, Matt. There's somebody coming on horseback.
What?
That's Chester. Looks like he's in a hurry, too.
Maybe he couldn't wait for that fish fry.
Mr. Dillon. Oh, hello, Miss Kitty.
Hello, Chester.
Mr. Dillon, Joe Stanger's in town.
Oh? Well, that doesn't matter to me, Chester.
But you don't understand.
Don't understand what?
What I come to tell you. Stanger's at the long branch.
And a while ago he had word with one of the girls there, and she slapped him,
and he pulled out his gun and he killed her.
He what?
Who was the girl, Chester?
Kate Hawkins.
Oh, no.
That's who it was, Miss Kitty.
Then the bartender tried to stop him, and Stanger shot him, too, and I hear he's going to die.
I grabbed a horse off the hitch rail and come right out to tell you you've got to stop him, Mr. Dillon.
Look, Chester, I'm not the marshal here anymore. I quit, remember?
You mean you're going to let Joe Stanger walk around Dodge and shoot everybody that gets in his way, including women?
I'm through killing. I told you that.
Well, who's going to stop you then?
You're the only man around here that'll go up against him and you'll know it.
That may be true, but I'm still not going to do it.
Wait, Mr. Dillon, wait a minute.
I've been thinking a lot about all this lately, and there's something you've been overlooking.
How?
Men like Stanger and Brand, they've got to be stopped.
I'd do it if I could, but I can't. I just ain't good enough.
Most men ain't what you are. It's kind of too bad for you that you are.
That's the way it is, Mr. Dillon, and there's nothing you can do about it. Not now.
It's too late. It's way too late.
Give me your gun, Chester.
Yes, sir. You want the holster?
No, I'll carry it in my belt.
Oh, uh, Kenny, Chester will help you carry this fish back.
Sure, Matt. Sure.
Gunsmoke, produced and directed by Norman MacDonald, stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon,
U.S. Marshal. The story was specially written for Gunsmoke by John Meston.
Featured in the cast were John Danaer and Lawrence Dobkin.
There is Chester, Howard McNair is Doc, and Georgia Ellis is Kitty.
Join us again next week for the fifth of the most popular Gunsmoke shows.
It is called Kitty Caught.
Stay tuned now for five minutes of CBS News on the CBS Radio Network.
Thank you.