Around Dodge City and in the territory on west, there's just one way to handle the killers and the spoilers.
And that's with a 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, the story of a man who moved with it, Matt Dillon, United States Marshal.
Quiet night, Mr. Dillon.
Yeah, except for that coyote. He's wailing his head off out there.
Matt at the moon, I guess. Or in love, maybe. Oh. Yes, sir, the way I've noticed it, any time you find a man or animal out squalling around in the dark, it's usually love.
Yeah, but this one sounds kind of mournful, Chester. Well, sir, love is mournful sometimes, Mr. Dillon. Yeah, so I've heard.
Matt, is that you? Oh, good evening, Miss Morley. How have you been, Matt? Oh, fine. Fine, thank you.
You down here on Front Street this time of night alone? I'm looking for Red Lawson. He's a new man, works for Al.
Al's meeting him sometime after midnight and they're going out on a cattle buying trip. I want to talk to him first. You satisfied?
Well, it's just that this is no place for a woman alone, Miss Morley. Maybe you better go home.
There are other women down here. They belong here, Miss Morley. They work here. Oh, don't be so stuffy, Matt.
Call me Ava for once. Everybody else does. Well, your husband might take exception to that, Miss Morley.
Now, you're blaming me for what happened before, aren't you? I'm not blaming you for anything, Miss Morley.
I didn't tell him to get into a gunfight over me. It wasn't my fault. I didn't say it was.
Chester, you better see that Miss Morley gets home all right. Yes, sir. I can get home by myself.
My, she's pretty as a picture. It makes you wonder. Yeah, maybe you were right, Chester.
With a woman like that, love might be kind of mournful.
So I just give my rope a couple turns around that juniper stump and I jerk back on it. Lawson.
Oh, hi, Marshal. I wonder if I could see you for a minute, huh? Yeah, sure. Be right back.
What's on your mind, Marshal? Lawson, I just ran into Miss Morley in the street outside.
You did? Yeah, I suggested she go home. She's got no business being down here this time of night.
It might be a good idea if you'd tell her that, huh? Seems to me that's up to her husband.
Look, you're new here, Lawson. I guess you didn't know Fred Curtis and the Santa Fe Kid.
I heard about it. Couple of fools, as far as I can see. Yeah, I guess they were after they met Miss Morley.
Hey, look, Marshal, what's your stake in this? I got no stake. What Miss Morley does is her own business.
As long as it doesn't cause any trouble. I'm just trying to keep her peace, that's all.
I feel kind of sorry for her, that's all. Al treats her like a dog. Fred and the kid used to talk the same way.
Like I said, a couple of fools. I'm not. I hope not. See you around, Marshal. Yeah, sure.
Hi, Kitty. Can I speak to you? Oh, sure, Matt. Excuse me, boys. I'll be back.
What, Matt? Kitty, has Al Morley been in tonight? Oh, no. I haven't seen him, Matt. Should he have been around?
Oh, not necessarily. He and Lawson are riding out around midnight on a cattle buying trip. I just thought they might be meeting here.
Oh, well, not yet anyway. Jesse Wells would know what their plans are, though. Jesse Wells?
Yeah, the bartender down there at the end, the young one. You know him. Oh, yeah, sure, sure. Why would he know?
Well, he's going along. Al asked him to help out there. Going to follow the lazy, big roundup.
Try to get in ahead of the buyers from Chicago. Oh, yeah. He's a nice looking kid. I wonder if...
Yeah. Yeah, he's another friend of Ava's.
Hold it. Marshall? Marshall Dillon? Oh, come on. Wake up, Marshall. All right, all right. Take it easy. Who is it?
Jesse Wells, Marshall. Open the door. All right, just a second till I get it. What's the trouble, Wells?
Al Morley, Marshall. Then you better get your horse because we got to ride back out there. Out where? What happened?
Buffalo Flats. We camped there to wait for the roundup crew. And Al's dead, Marshall. He's knifed in the back.
Did you do it? No. It was Red Lawson. He knifed Al and he stole the money we were going to use to buy cattle.
What in the world is going on, Mr. Dillon? You better saddle up, Chester. We got to ride. What's the trouble?
Ah, the usual. Nothing new but the names. Seems Red Lawson turned out to be a fool in spite of himself.
We'll go this way, Marshall. Camp is right there by that plum thicket. Right. Be daylight in another 20 minutes.
Hello, boy. Oh, Alson. He's laying over there by the bushes. Yeah, I see him.
Whose knife is it, Jesse? It's Al's. We were all asleep. We built a fire, made some coughing and turned in.
We're going to wait for daylight. The lazy bee bunch plan to work their stock up this way. I see.
Here, Chester. Wrap the knife in something and hang on to it. Yes, Mr. Dillon. Now go on, Jesse. What happened?
Well, like I said, Marshal Dillon, we were all asleep. I guess it was the sound of the horse's hose woke me up.
Red Lawson, he was pulling out. I run over to Al, shook him to wake him up and tell him. Then I saw the knife. He was dead.
Where were you sleeping, Jesse? Oh, right about here, I guess. Red was across the fire over there and Al was where he's laying now.
What about the money? How'd you know it was gone? Well, I thought about it right off and I figured that's why Red done it.
Al was carrying about $10,000 in a little leather sack he'd stuck it under the blanket before we'd gone to sleep.
So I went and looked for it. It was gone. You figure Red killed him for the money then?
Well, sure. Of course, I doubt he meant it though. I think Red was trying to ease the sack out from under the blanket when Al woke up and caught him.
Yeah, it's possible. Be light and have to start tracking him in a few minutes, Mr. Dillon. Yeah, sun's poking up over there now.
Looks like it's gonna be a clear day. Which way'd Lawson head out, Jesse? East. Seemed to be following the wagon tracks.
Odds are bad, Mr. Dillon. He's got quite a start on us. Yeah, too much of a start.
Well, let's load the pack, Mulechester. I think we'll ride back into Dodge and then take the train from there to Abilene, then work back from the east.
Say, that's a good idea. Lawson probably won't be expecting anybody ahead of him.
I can't understand it. I just can't understand how anybody could do a thing like this. It sounds like a metal art, Chester.
Yes, sir. He just flew into those bushes. Red seemed a pretty nice fellow as far as I could tell.
It's a funny time of year for a metal art, isn't it? I guess $10,000 was just too much temptation.
Oh, some of them hangs around all winter, Mr. Dillon. That sure sounds a lot better than that coyote howling.
All right, Chester. Get a hold of his feet. Let's load him up.
Two Mack Creek water tanks right around the bend up ahead of us there. How long will we stop here? About five minutes. Just long enough to take on water.
Might as well relax, Marshal. It's a long ways yet to Abilene. We ain't but 24 miles from Dodge City.
Feels more like 100. These seats are harder than a saddle.
Say, this here fellow you boys looking for, I guess he's a real mean enough.
Well, it's just like I always say, this prairie country ain't never going to be a law abiding place to live.
Every time I pull out of Kansas City on a northwest, I'm expecting every minute to be shot or hung or scalped.
Chester.
What's the matter, Mr. Dillon?
Look out the window here around the bend there by the water tank.
Looks like we don't have to go to Abilene.
Oh, yeah. There's some fellow waiting to catch a train, I guess. You boys reckon that... Is he the one?
Yeah.
His horse has carried there and hide there by the tank. Must have decided on a quicker way of traveling.
Yeah, it looks that way. All right, Chester. He won't be expecting us.
Let's get out in the vestibule and then drop off and take him as soon as the train stops.
Yeah, Marshal, whatever you do, don't let him get on this train.
Just keep the passengers away from the windows.
In a way, it's too bad, Mr. Dillon. Miss Morley would have really enjoyed that $10,000.
You're guessing, Chester.
Now, he hasn't seen us yet.
All right, let's go.
Lawson, get your hands up.
No.
You're under arrest. Get your hands up.
No.
He's running for his horse, Mr. Dillon.
Lawson!
He's going to fight.
You can't get away on foot.
Lawson!
Come on, Chester.
That's a cutting it awful thin, Mr. Dillon. Giving a man three chances before you haul down on him.
Well, we're still on our feet. He's not.
Yeah, but it's a push in the odds, though.
Yeah, I guess.
All right, pick up his gun there, will you?
Yes, sir.
Lawson?
He's still alive, Mr. Dillon.
Can you hear me, Lawson?
Sure.
Sure I can hear you.
There's a sack of money.
Looks like it fell out of his coat.
Yeah, I see it.
Lawson, there's no doctor on the train.
We're going to try to stop the bleeding and do the best we can for you.
There'll be a train back to our Dodge City in about a half hour. We'll wait for it.
Is that all right with you?
I don't...
I don't have any choice.
Do I?
No, I guess you don't.
You made your choice last night.
Was she worth it?
We will return for the second act of gun smoke in just a moment.
But first, every Saturday night, Gene Autry invites all his friends to visit him at Melody Ranch for a half hour of songs and stories about the Old West.
Tune in the Gene Autry show tomorrow night over most of these same CBS radio stations.
Now for the second act of gun smoke.
Let me see now. Oh, that's a bad one, Matt.
Yes, I'd say the bullet's lying right in against his heart.
I just tried to wing him, Doc, but we were both moving. You can't always call him, you know.
I guess not.
Well, I'm afraid that's about all I can do for him, Matt.
It's not enough, is that it?
He won't live an hour.
I wish he was conscious. I want to talk to him.
Well, the stimulant might take effect, and then again, might not.
With this kind of occasion, never knowing.
What is it you're after, Matt?
Miss Morley.
Accessory before the fact?
She could have been.
Well, I'm a broken down old man, Matt, but if that woman rolled her eyes at me just once.
Well, I don't... I do not know. I just might.
Matt.
Yeah.
Lawson?
Lawson, can you talk?
Can you hear me, Lawson?
Yeah.
Sure.
Was Miss Morley in on it?
Nobody was in on it.
Did she know you were going to do it?
She had... she... she had nothing to do with it.
Was she going to meet you somewhere later?
She had nothing to do with it. It was my idea.
Nobody else.
Lawson. Lawson, listen to me. You're dying, do you know that?
Yeah. Yeah, I know. I can feel it.
She wasn't in on it.
All right. That's the way you want it. At least Al won't treat her like a dog anymore.
What do you mean?
I mean a dead man can't bother anybody.
Al?
You ought to know. You killed him.
No. No. No.
What?
He was asleep. I... I took the money and... and wrote away.
They were both asleep. I didn't touch him.
You're telling the truth.
I swear I didn't kill him. I only stole the money and I... I... I... I didn't get...
Yeah, I guess I was wrong, Matt. The bullet was closer to his heart than I thought.
Yeah.
And I was wrong about something myself, Doc. I thought this was the end of it.
Now it's wide open again. Wide open.
I don't see why you got me here. Just ask the same things all over again, Marshall,
because I told you how it happened.
Yeah, I know.
You caught Red Lawson with the money on him. Now what more proof do you need?
It only proves he took the money, Jesse. It doesn't prove he killed Al.
Well, what do you mean?
Chester, you better punch that fire up over there a little, huh?
It does seem to be getting chilly in here.
What do you mean by that, Marshall?
You killed Al yourself, didn't you, Jesse?
You're out of your mind.
You woke up and saw Red steal the money and take off, and they gave you ideas.
You slipped over and knifed Al in his sleep. You knew Lawson had got the blame for it.
Well, sure. Sure, because he did it.
He said he didn't.
Dang, dang, stove.
Well, Marshall, did you expect him to tell the truth?
He was dying, Jesse. Knew he was dying. I think he told the truth.
I see. His word against mine. Word of a thief.
I didn't say I could prove it, Jesse. But you did it, though. We both know that.
And sooner or later, I'm going to get you for it.
Chester, I think it'd draw better if you'd open the damper.
Quiet night, Mr. Dillon.
It was a quiet night last night.
And two men who were alive last night are gone tonight. Sure makes you stop and wonder.
Well, at least one thing hasn't changed. That coyote's still there.
I guess there'll always be coyotes around, Mr. Dillon.
What are you going to do about Jesse Wells?
I don't know, Chester. He's guilty. You could see it written all over him.
But there'd be no use bringing him in. I haven't got one piece of evidence.
I don't know.
Jesse, she's quite a woman. Mercy. Quite a woman.
Yeah, she is that all right.
Matt? Is that you?
Good evening, Ms. Morley. Who are you looking for tonight?
Can't be Red Lawson. He's dead.
So is my husband. Have you forgotten?
My deepest sympathy.
Don't bother. You know better.
I am sorry about Red, though. He was nice.
You're the one who did it, aren't you, Matt?
Yeah. Yeah, I killed him. For you.
I couldn't do anything else.
I don't know why you say for me. It wasn't my fault.
Yeah, sure. I know.
You know. You don't know anything.
You don't know how it feels to sit in a house alone with your husband dead.
And knowing him coming near you, like he was poisoned or something.
Sure, I don't feel sorry about Al, but I would have once.
He's the one who changed me, made me feel different.
I know it wasn't your fault.
And you didn't even come to tell me he was dead.
Why not? It's part of your job, isn't it?
I didn't come and tell you, Ms. Morley, because I figured that you'd...
Chester?
Yes, sir?
Would you mind walking on ahead? I'll meet you on the Texas Trail in a few minutes.
Well, I...
All right, Mr. Dillon, if you say so.
I'll get some of that every time.
Why'd you send him away, Matt?
I...
I was just wondering if you were going to be home later tonight.
I could be.
Around 10 o'clock, say?
Sure, Matt. I'll be there.
Well...
Hiya, Kitty.
Chester and I were trying to think of some way to rescue you from Ava's clutches.
Only one thing, though, Mr. Dillon. I wasn't sure you wanted to be rescued.
Kitty has docked Benin tonight.
Oh, I haven't seen him, Matt.
Chester, will you see if you can find him and have him meet me here?
Yes, sir. Right away, Mr. Dillon.
Kitty, I...
I wonder if you'd help me with something.
Sure, Matt. What?
Drop a hint to that bartender, Jesse Wells, that it might be smart to slip out of here and pay a visit to Ms. Morley's around, I'll say, 9.45 tonight.
All right.
Um, is it anything you can talk about?
I don't exactly know how to talk about it, Kitty.
I got a murderer on my hands. I know who the killer is. And I can't touch him.
So?
So I'm gonna try to make him touch me.
Oh.
All right, Matt. I'll take care of it.
Will you be around for a while?
Yeah, yeah. I'll be here till about ten.
Who is it?
Matt Dillon. Who'd you think?
Just a minute.
Well, hurry up. Let me in.
All right, Dillon. Come on in.
Well, Jesse. I thought you were working.
I was. Till just a few minutes ago.
Well, what's on your mind?
Well, I...
I think Mr. Dillon probably wants to ask me some questions or something.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I do, as a matter of fact.
Jesse Wells, for instance.
He didn't tell me he was gonna be here, Ava.
What do you mean she didn't tell you?
Ava, what about this?
You were expecting him.
You knew he was coming.
Of course she knew I was coming.
You and Matt Dillon.
For how long? And what kind of a fool does that make me?
I'm afraid you were born a fool, Jesse. That's why she picked you.
You're so wonderful you said if only Al didn't stand in our way.
I didn't tell you to kill him. I didn't mention it once.
You didn't have to. Just kept dropping hints, leading me on.
And all the time you and Matt Dillon...
She's too smart for you, Jesse. You should have realized that.
Yeah. And instead I played right into your hands. Both of you.
How, Jesse?
Killing Al, getting him out of your way, giving the two of you a clear feel.
You're under arrest for murder, Jesse.
Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you? Both of you would.
Sit around and laugh about it while you're waiting for me to hang.
I said you're under arrest. Now hand over your gun.
No, you don't, Dillon. You're not going to carry it that far.
You're not taking me in for something both of you wanted me to do.
Hand over your gun, Jesse.
You want my gun, you've got to take it away from me.
Get away from the door.
Oh, sure. I'll get away from it.
Holy Mr. Wehner!
Are you all right, Chester?
Yes, sir. It was close. But he missed me.
You two didn't miss him. I don't know which one of you fired first.
Either Bullitt would have done it.
Well, you got his confession all right, Mr. Dillon.
Doc and I heard every word from the front porch there.
We sure did. Only one thing though, Matt.
He didn't implicate the woman in it.
Yeah, I know.
Will you take charge, Doc?
Oh, sure. I'd be glad to. Part of my job, you know.
Matt.
All right, Chester, let's go.
Matt?
Could I see you for a minute before you go?
Matt?
What's it add up to, Mr. Dillon?
Three men have been killed since this same time last night.
Yeah.
And you know, Mr. Dillon, I think maybe it's kind of all her fault.
And you can't pin a thing on it.
My.
Well, there's one lucky thing.
There aren't many women like her.
Gun smoke under the direction of Norman McDonald stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal.
Tonight's story was specially written for Gun Smoke by Les Crutchfield with music composed and conducted by Rex Corey.
Featured in the cast were Lillian Bief with Harry Bartel, Lawrence Dobkin, and Jack Crouchon.
Parley Bayer is Chester, Howard McNear is Doc, and Georgia Ellis is Kitty.
Gun smoke is heard by our troops overseas through the facilities of the Armed Forces Radio Service.
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 Gun Smoke.
Strange Island tells the remarkable story of a tropical paradise that sank into the sea.
Hear all about it on Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, tomorrow night on most of these same stations.
Hear about the miracle that saves Tarzan from drowning and brings the island back from the sea.
Remember it's yours for thrills on tomorrow night's exciting adventure with Tarzan,
created by Edgar Rice Burroughs and brought to you now by CBS Radio.
Clancy Cassell speaking.
And remember, Broadway's My Beat brings you startling mysteries Saturday nights on the CBS Radio Network.