Around Dodge City and in the territory on west, there's just one way to handle the killers
and the spoilers and that's where the US 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.
What'll it be mister?
Give me a shot of rye I bought him.
I ain't too sure I got any left.
Well make sure, what kind of a saloon is this anyway?
There's other saloons in Dodge.
What if I like this one?
If I don't have any rye you might not like it.
You're talking to the wrong man, you go look for that bottle if you want to live, now go
on.
Alright, never said I wouldn't look did I?
Hey, you're a stranger in Dodge ain't you?
It beats living here mister and being drunk to boot.
I'm only a little drunk, no business of yours.
Come back to your pigs, go home, milk your cows.
Yeah, you talk pretty big.
You know what, I think you're a gunman.
And you ought to have sense enough to keep your mouth shut.
What's your name anyway?
I killed men for asking that, you're so crazy I'll tell you, my name is Ken Creed.
Ken Creed?
I never changed it.
Oh, the way I heard it, Ken Creed's pretty fast with a gun.
Well you heard right, now shut up.
Here's your rye mister.
You better bought in than I thought.
Hey, hey Creed.
I told you to shut up.
Well now look at you.
Sure, look at me.
You may be fast Creed, but you ain't smart.
Not with my gun aimed right at your belly.
Makes it kind of dangerous to take a drink around here, don't it?
For you it does.
I'm sorry it's got to be this way Creed, but I am a little drunk, I can't take any chances.
Man with a gun in his hand, he's taking chances friend, especially when he's appointing it
up me.
Still talking big ain't you?
Go back to my pigs, huh?
I'm gonna kill you for that.
I'm gonna be the man that killed Ken Creed.
Mr. that man ain't been born.
All right, put the gun away mister.
Who are you?
I'm a US Marshal, put it away.
You ain't arresting me.
No it was self defense.
He looked away from me when I yelled and he was drunk, but he drew first all right.
Then I'll put my gun away.
Chester, get a couple of men and take his body out back.
Yes sir.
Give me a hand here will you?
Your name must be Dillon.
It is?
I'm Ken Creed Marshal.
Arizona.
You're here to me.
Who ran you out?
Nobody runs me out anyway as Marshal, including Dodge.
I don't like gunmen Creed.
Cause trouble here and I'll run you out.
I hear to you too Marshal.
Your hand is a gun.
I'm still alive.
Didn't mean a thing to me.
Shoot that drunk they just carried out.
I ain't at all proud of it.
I know you're a kind Creed.
I think I'm gonna like Dodge.
You have a right to protect yourself here, but that's all.
Don't forget it.
Mr. Dillon, that fella had a friend who's gonna see he gets buried.
Come on Chester.
Yes sir.
Who is that man?
His name's Ken Creed Chester.
I never heard of him.
I have.
Oh, he's a gunman to me huh?
Yeah.
Well, I'll say one thing.
He was mighty fast.
I'm not sure I ever saw anyone faster.
You seem worried Mr. Dillon.
Chester Creed's killed a lot of men just to build his reputation, but that's all he cares
about.
You didn't hear him, but he said he wasn't proud shooting that man in there.
What he meant was he'd like to kill me.
That'd make him proud.
You think he'll try?
He'll try.
Then why don't you go out right now and shoot him down?
I'm a law man Chester.
Not just a gunfighter.
Why should I risk my life to satisfy whatever's wrong in Ken Creed's head?
Yes sir, you're right.
I guess I just wasn't thinking.
If he breaks the law, I'll fight him, but I won't fight him over anything as stupid as
reputations and the like.
No sir.
I sure do wish he'd haul himself out of here though.
Well, that isn't likely now.
But there's no use worrying about it.
Say, I've got an idea.
Maybe you ought to wire Abilene and get Mr. Hickok to come over here for a little visit.
Do you think I'm afraid of Ken Creed?
Oh no sir, it isn't that Mr. Dillon.
My, I just thought maybe he'd leave town if there was more than one man to face.
Creed's as fast as any man I ever saw Chester.
Maybe he can beat me.
I don't know.
And I sure don't like the idea of dying.
But I got over being afraid of it a long time ago.
Yes sir, I know.
And if I ask Wild Bill for help, he'd come expecting twenty men like Creed, not one.
Now why don't you go upstairs and get Doc.
He said he wanted to have supper with us at Delmonico's tonight.
All right sir, I'll go get him.
Could you spare some more of that coffee, Matt?
You're paying for it, Doc.
Here, help yourself.
Thank you.
I won't be able to pay for anything much longer if business doesn't pick up some around here.
Doc, why don't you get a steady job back east in a hospital or something?
I worked in a hospital once, Chester.
Well why'd you leave?
Oh, I didn't like it much.
That's not what you told me, Doc.
An affair of the heart, Chester.
A woman of great beauty and an evil spirit.
She never told me she was married to the head of the board of directors.
Oh.
No, she never said a word about it.
Her husband mentioned it though, the very first time I met him.
The night he fired me.
My goodness.
You're better off here, Doc.
Oh yes, and safer, Matt.
Oh yes, much safer.
Evening, Marshal.
Ah, hello, Creed.
And Chester, I see him this afternoon.
Tell me, this is Doc.
How are you, Doc?
I'm fine.
You work on horses or people, Doc?
Sometimes I prefer horses.
I don't know as I like that.
Leave him alone, Creed.
What do you want here anyway?
I don't like croakers.
They kill people slow, I kill them fast.
You'll come whining for help someday, mister.
Why don't you carry a gun?
That's enough, Creed.
Is it, Marshal?
You heard me.
You got a gun, Dillon.
Get out of here.
If you're calling me, draw.
Go on.
Draw.
No.
No, Creed.
Not this time.
Sure, Marshal.
Sure you're not.
Why, I'm sorry.
I got you into that man.
No, you didn't, Doc.
He's just trying to start a fight any way he can.
What fight?
But what for?
So maybe you can say he killed Matt Dillon.
No other reason.
Come on, let's get out of here.
Sit down, Matt.
Oh, thanks, Kitty.
Drink?
No, not tonight.
They're talking about the
Who's talking about what?
People, about you and Kin Creed.
They say he backed you down at Delmonico's earlier tonight.
I can't stop their talk.
I just thought you ought to know, Matt.
Yeah, sure.
Thanks, Kitty.
What really happened?
He backed me down.
It's true.
Then you got a reason for letting him.
No reason.
Sometimes I don't understand you one bit, Matt.
Then try to understand Creed and his reasons.
It's his play, his business.
Matt, he just came in, over there.
Yeah, I see him.
He doesn't look worried about anything?
No, he doesn't.
Oh, here he comes.
Yeah.
It's all you're setting here, Marshal.
So?
And that's your right, pretty gal.
You want to introduce me?
Go back to the bar, Creed.
Do your drinking there, huh?
That's not friendly, Marshal.
My name's Kin Creed, Miss.
Nobody asked you.
Yeah, and peppery, and I like them that way.
Beat it.
Why, sure.
When you get rid of your friend here, why, you and me can get together later.
Okay?
Creed, I've about had enough of you.
That's so, Marshal?
All you want is for me to draw on you, isn't it?
That's all, Marshal.
And if I don't, there you will, Marshal.
Sooner or later, you'll have to.
I'll think of something.
I don't understand this, ma'am.
It's simple, Kitty.
Real simple.
You're not afraid of them.
I don't think I ever saw anyone handle a gun faster than Creed.
But if I were afraid of men like that, I'd have to get out of this business.
He thinks he can kill you.
Anyway he's willing to gamble on it.
Why?
It'll make him a bigger man, that's all.
And I'm not interested in that.
No matter what people are saying.
You're in a bad spot, ma'am.
Yeah.
Yeah, it looks that way.
We will return for the second act of gun smoke in just a moment.
But first, nature is kinder by far to her woodlands than we are.
Forest fires, nine out of ten, are man-made.
To preserve for humanity all the products that spring from healthy timberland,
redouble your efforts to eliminate forest fires.
Crush out every cigarette, break matches in two and grind them with your fingers.
Douse campfires and turn them over until no ember remains.
The extra moments you take sure before you abandon a campsite can save a fortune in property
and save human lives.
Now the second act of gun smoke.
Good morning, Doc.
Good morning, Mark.
You ought to paint this place, Doc.
Oh, yes, I ought to paint.
If I did that, people would think I'm rich.
They'd have one more excuse not to paint me.
I want you to make them pay in advance.
Oh, well, that's a good idea.
I'll start with you.
You got five dollars?
I'm sorry, Doc.
I'm not sick.
I'm just looking for Chester.
I thought he might be up here.
Well, I haven't seen him today, but I'm glad you came anyway.
Oh?
This talk that's going around, Matt, you've got to put a stop to it.
About me being afraid of Ken Creed?
Yes, it's bad for you, Matt.
It's very bad.
Doc, if I start shooting it out with every gunman that hits Dodge, it'll never stop.
I'm hired by the government to enforce the law, not to build me a reputation or to add
to somebody else's.
Yeah, I understand that.
If Creed breaks the law, I'll go after him.
People ought to know that.
People aren't very smart sometimes, Matt.
Yeah, they sure aren't.
Mr. Dillon?
Oh, hello, Doc.
Hello, Chester.
Where have you been, Chester?
No place.
I was just coming down the street and somebody told me there's trouble at the Alafaganza.
Oh, what kind of trouble?
A fight.
Did you mention Ken Creed?
No.
Yes, sir.
I didn't hear any shooting, though.
I come looking for you right away.
Well, let's go over there.
See you later, Doc.
Sure, Matt.
And good luck.
Thanks.
Bye, Doc.
When did this happen, Chester?
Well, it couldn't have been very long ago.
Maybe Creed's killed another man in self-defense.
I don't know.
We'll soon find out.
There's a man laying on the floor there.
Yeah, but I don't see Creed.
He ain't dead, Marshal.
Just got knocked out.
Who did it, Sam?
Ken Creed.
Where is Creed?
He went outside a couple of minutes ago.
What happened?
Well, properly speaking, Marshal, it wasn't even a fight.
This fellow would just stand there with his back to Creed.
And it wasn't even talking to each other.
All at once, Creed pulled out his gun and cracked him over the head with it.
I see.
I got no idea why he did it, Marshal.
Just meanness, I guess.
Maybe.
You better get that man up to Doc, Sam.
He may be hurt worse than you think.
Sure.
Chester, come on.
Yes, sir.
What do you make of it?
It's simple, Chester.
Now Creed's got his fight.
You mean with you, Mr. Dillon?
I don't think he'll submit to arrest.
No, I guess he wouldn't.
I gotta stop him now.
Why don't we go after him with shotguns?
No, I'll face him.
I don't like it.
Not one bit.
Now, this is as good a place to wait as any.
Creed will be along soon.
It just don't make sense, Mr. Dillon.
You having to shoot it out with a man like that.
No, I can't let him go any further.
He'll kill somebody next and I can't let some innocent man die.
Well, you're innocent.
You haven't done anything.
I'm a Marshal, Chester.
There's a difference.
And anyway, he hasn't killed me yet, you know.
No, sir, I didn't mean it.
Well, of course he hasn't.
You don't think he can, do you?
Chester, you know the saying, there was never a horse that couldn't be rowed nor a man that
couldn't be throwed.
Yes, sir, I understand.
Creed's fast.
Maybe that's not enough.
Maybe it is.
Here he comes now.
Right down the middle of the street.
Yeah.
I guess he knew you'd be waiting for him.
You keep out of it.
Yes, sir.
Looking for somebody, Marshal?
I'm looking for you.
Yeah, I am.
It's against the law to slug people and dodge.
Figured it was.
Sure.
I don't suppose you'd come along to jail.
You know I owe much.
All right, go ahead and draw, Creed.
It doesn't matter now.
All right, Dylan, I will.
You missed me, Creed.
You hit my gun, but you missed me.
Well, with your neck.
Bullet glanced, ain't it?
Yeah.
I could kill you easy now, Marshal.
But you won't.
You couldn't brag about shooting an unarmed man.
No, I couldn't.
I'll get you another gun, Dylan.
You're fast, Creed.
But you don't shoot very straight.
We'll see about that.
All right, I'll be back as soon as the doc patches me up.
Take your time.
I don't mind waiting.
That was a chance shot, Creed.
If you hadn't hit my gun, you'd be lying dead.
Are you sure you won't come to jail?
You're wasting time, Marshal.
Yeah.
You hurt bad, Mr. Dylan?
I don't think so, Chester.
But it's sure more than a flesh wound.
You know, if he'd have shot you when you was unarmed there, I'd have killed him, sure.
No, I couldn't have stopped that.
I'm going up to the docks here, Chester.
There's a gun in my desk drawer.
Bring it up to me, will you?
Yes, sir.
I'll go get it.
Thanks.
I saw the whole business, Matt.
Oh, yes, I saw it.
I was just getting my things together here and I was going to come down.
It's not too bad, Doc.
Well, come on over here now.
Let me see it.
Yeah.
That's it.
Now sit down.
Sit down, Matt, right here.
That's it.
Now here.
You wipe your hands with this.
Yeah, thanks.
That's good.
Now let me see this thing.
Let me see it.
Just miss the vein.
You're lucky, Matt.
You're mighty lucky.
Yeah.
Yeah, she tore the muscle there.
That's not bad, though, no.
I'll just take a couple of stitches and you'll be as good as new.
Almost.
Hurry it up, will you, Doc?
You just hold still now.
You be very careful.
Let me see what's going on.
Why don't you hurry?
Let me see.
I want to face Creed before my neck gets stiff.
That's all right.
You mean you're going back after?
Of course.
Of course I am.
That's all right now.
But that's crazy, Matt.
That's plum crazy.
Let's see.
He's all speed, Doc.
Unless he's right next to a man, it's luck if he hits him.
He missed me.
Yes, but he hit your gun.
But that wouldn't happen again in a thousand times.
Well, maybe you're right, Matt.
You know, it takes nerve, Doc, to stand there and hold your fire for that one second you
need to aim.
I know.
And I don't think Creed has that kind of nerve.
I hope not, Matt.
There you are.
Now, just wrap a bandage around your neck and we're through.
How is he, Doc?
Well, he's pretty good, Chester.
He doesn't tear those stitches out.
Well, you can always sew me up again, Doc.
Oh, sure.
Is this the gun you wanted?
Yeah.
Yeah, that's it, Chester.
Well, I'll see you later, Doc.
Matt.
Yeah.
I want to take a look at that.
In the morning, you come by then.
Yeah.
Thanks, Doc.
Where do you suppose he is?
You'll be long, Chester.
Just like last time.
Maybe he's having a drink.
He's a fool if he is.
Everybody sure is staying off the street, ain't they?
Just as well.
You better take cover, too.
I will.
When Creed shows.
My neck's getting stiff already.
Maybe you better go look for him.
Hell, I would, Chester, but there's too much chance of some bystander getting hit that way.
I'd rather meet him in the street here.
Yes, sir.
What?
What's that?
It was in the Texas trailer over there.
Come on, Chester.
Somebody must have been shot where they're all crowded around back there.
Yeah.
All right.
Here.
Let me through.
Come on.
Let him through.
Out of the way, please.
It's Creed, and he looks dead to me.
All right.
All right, quiet.
Quiet.
Shut up!
Now who shot Creed?
I shot him.
I shot King Creed.
All right, I'll take your gun, mister.
You?
No, you won't.
I'm a gunman too, Marshal.
You ain't taking my gun.
You're drunk.
Get your hands up.
I'll kill you too.
All right, throw him in jail, Chester.
Yes, sir.
That fellow's pretty sober now, Mr. Dillon.
Said his name's Chuck Carter.
You want to talk to him?
No, I heard the whole story, Chester.
There were plenty of witnesses.
Carter claims he don't remember what happened.
Well, he'd better remember.
He'll probably hang for it.
You mean he started it?
No, it wasn't even a fight, Chester.
It was just like that man Creed clubbed.
Only Carter didn't club him.
He shot him.
How?
Right in the back.
Creed didn't even know it was coming.
Funny way for a man like him to die, ain't it?
Yeah, but maybe it's best this way.
How do you mean?
Well, if Creed and I had shot it up, the survivor would have been just that much more of a prize
for some drunken bum like Carter.
And it had to have been you, Mr. Dillon.
Yeah, maybe.
But I'll never know for sure, Chester.
Not now.
Well, Mr. Dillon, I'll tell you something.
I was scared plum to pieces.
Well, Mr. Proudfoot, I'll tell you something.
So was I.
Gunsmoke, under the direction of Norman McDonnell, stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S.
Marshal.
The last night's story was specially written for Gunsmoke by John Meston with music composed
and conducted by Rex Corey.
Featured in the cast were Lawrence Dobkin, John Danaer, and Ralph Moody.
Parley Bear is Chester, Howard McNear is Doc, and Georgia Ellis is Kitty.
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.
It's a double celebration this coming Monday for radio station WTAR Norfolk, Virginia.
This coming Monday, WTAR celebrates its 30th anniversary, and on the same day, this popular,
powerful Norfolk radio station becomes a CBS radio affiliate.
Welcome to the ever-expanding coast-to-coast CBS radio family, WTAR, and for all our affiliates
throughout America, this is wishing you a happy birthday and your listeners happy listening
at the Star's address.
With George Waltz speaking, America now listens to 110 million radio sets and listens most
to the CBS radio network.
Thank you.
you