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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 French drug 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, hello, Chester. Oh, come on in, Doc. Where's Matt? He ain't here. See, where have you two
been the last couple of days? I haven't seen either one of you. Well, I just got back from
Hay City. Mr. Dillon sent me there to fetch some government papers, and you know what?
I took the Santa Fe both ways, Doc. You did? Well, that beats writing. But where's Matt,
you say? He left the note, but he didn't say exactly where he was at. Well, you mean he's
out of town? That's what the note said. It seems somebody told him where he could find
Jack Brand. Jack Brand? Well, what's he doing around here? I don't know. I guess Missouri
got too rough for him. Why don't they handle their own outlaws instead of chasing him into
Kansas for Matt to catch? Mr. Dillon says Brand's got three of his gang with him. You
mean Matt's gone out alone after four men? Well, if I knew where he was, I'd go help
him, Doc. Oh, well, there's nothing you can do about it, Chester. You worry me, though.
That last holdup the gang pulled, they say four men got shot down. Well, maybe they've
quit. Maybe that's why they came to Kansas. And when you ever hear of a bunch of outlaws
quitting, no, I guess I'm just talking to myself, Chester. Chester! Chester! Oh, that's
Mr. Dillon, Doc. Where is he? Well, there he is, sitting on that wagon. Oh, yes. Well,
who's that with him? Some fellow gave him a ride, I guess. Hello, Mr. Dillon. Hello,
Chester. Doc. Hey, you lose your horse, Matt? We left our horses out at Bowers Ranch and
borrowed this wagon. One of his riders will bring him in tomorrow. Who's this with you,
Mr. Dillon? You've seen his picture, Chester. Oh, my goodness. He's Jack Brand. Let's get
on, Brand. You first. For sure. How come you let him drive the wagon, Mr. Dillon? To keep
his hands full, Chester. Here, take my shotgun and lock him up. Yes, sir. Where's the others?
I thought he had three men with him. Well, tell him, Marshal. Tell him where they are.
They're in the wagon, Chester, under that canvas. Are they all dead, Matt? All three
of them? They're all dead, Doc. The bloodiest Marshal I ever saw. It's just a wagon load
of meat to him. That's enough, Brand. It ain't hardly enough. I never seen such killing.
What happened, Mr. Dillon? It doesn't matter. They put up a fight and I had to take them.
Well, I'll tell him what happened. Your law man 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? He'd just laid there and he cut loose the shotgun. Tore up two
of the boys that way. Then he stood up and he cut down Hank Smith with a six shooter.
How come you got out of it, Brand? I jumped back in the cabin and I give up. We weren't
putting up a fight. These folks was yelling like that. Make any man jump. Oh, I suppose
you're trying to say that you wouldn't have shot. We tried to shoot him. Who wouldn't?
Any man's got a right to defend himself. Oh, well, I never heard of resisting arrest called
self-defense. I never heard of no Marshal shooting down everybody on the landscape.
Lock him up, Chester. Get going, Brand. He actually think he was killing hogs, not men.
Shut up and keep your mouth shut. See, how come you brought the bodies back, man? Why
didn't you just bury them out there? I wanted more witnesses than me to identify them, Doc.
Might save trouble when Brand goes to trial. You say you were mighty lucky taking four
outlaws that way, man. Yeah. And you kill three out of all, say, wait till people around here
hear about this. Brand's right, Doc. It's a lot of killing. An awful lot. Oh, no, you
don't. You don't get to thinking about it too much. It's your job. You did it. So it's
over. It's over. Wait till tomorrow or the next day. There'll be somebody else. There's
always another man to kill. Oh, no, that's not the way to look at it, man. I've never
heard of you shooting anybody you didn't have to. No, I never did. Sometimes that doesn't
help much. So you look tired, man. Well, I haven't slept since I rode out of here two
days ago. Well, now you get some rest and you'll feel better. Sure. Brand's snug in
jail, Mr. Dune. 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. Take care of this wagon and what's in it, will you? You
and Doc can identify those men. We'll write it out on paper in the morning. All right,
sir. I'll be coming to bed about midnight, but I'll be real quiet. Nothing could wake
you up, Chester. Not tonight.
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Gosh, Doc. You sure I shouldn't wake him up and tell him? It can wait until morning, Chester.
Matt's too tired to do anything about it tonight. I guess you're right. Of course I am. Okay.
Good night, Chester. Good night, Doc. No. Don't go for your gun. Don't go for my what?
Don't do it. I tell you to leave the gun alone. Mr. Dillon? No. Don't make me kill you. Don't
make me kill another man. Mr. Dillon, wait. No, I've spilled enough blood. I don't want
to kill you. No. Mr. Dillon, wait. No. It's me, Mr. Dillon. It's Chester. There ain't
nobody here. What? You were asleep. You've been dreaming. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I like the
lamp. No, no, no. It's all right, Chester. My gracious, I come in and I heard you talking
and I thought somebody was here. That moonlight ain't too bright. I couldn't see good at first.
Sure. I had to yell at you a couple of times before you woke up. You 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? There's a bottle in the dust drawer over there. Chester, get
it for me, will you? Yes, sir. I know where it is. I used to have nightmares sometimes
when I was a boy, but I don't get them much no more. Here, cheers, Mr. Dillon. Good stiff
drink will do you good. Thanks, Chester. What time is it? A little past midnight. Jack Brand
awake? No, he'd be bellering if he was. 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 the alfragans
and a fellow come in there and started talking real loud. Talking about what? Well, sir,
mostly about how he's going to tree dodge and how he's going to tell you to... Oh? He
says he's a friend of Jack Brand's and he's heard about how you caught him and all. What's
his name? Stanger. Joe Stanger. Yeah, I know him. Do you think you'll cause trouble? Probably.
But I'm not going to worry about him tonight. Yeah, sir, that's what me and Doc figured.
He won't try nothing tonight. All the same, keep your gun handy, Chester. Now let's try
to get some sleep. Chester! Chester! Fire! What a drink. He's a cutthroat brand. Time
to wake up. Chester! Chester! Oh, go shut him up, Chester. It's hardly dawn. I swear,
I'd like to throw a bucket of water on him. Chester! Oh, shut up, Brand. I'm coming.
Time to... Cut out that cutthroat brand. What's he going to do? Come on over here. Just unlock
this cage, Chester. What? I'm holding a gun on you. Can't you see it? Where'd you get
that gun? Come on over here, I said. He's hanging over there, hanging on the wall, down
here. Don't take your sweet time about it. I've been with Chipper Cooke long enough.
Drop it, Brand. What? You're not hurt. I hit that gun. I got the key, Mr. Dillon. I'll
get his gun out of there. All right, go ahead. Stand back, Brand. You'd like to bust my hand.
You're lucky. Lucky you didn't kill me, I suppose, just like you kill everybody. Shut up. I got
it, Mr. Dillon. It ain't no good anyway. Not now. Where'd you get that gun, Brand? I made
it, Marshal. Don't be smart. Wait a minute. Joe Stanger brought it to you. He tossed it
to you right through those bars on the window. I didn't know Stanger was in town. Didn't
you? Chester, get some boards and nail them over the window so nothing can get through
it. I'll fix it, Mr. Dillon. Oh, wait a minute, Marshal. That's the only window in here. You
can't board it up. You'll get enough air. No, but it'll be dark. I don't like it dark.
Don't you? When you got it fixed, we'll go to breakfast, Chester. It won't take long,
Mr. Dillon. It's been some time since I've been out on the plaza this early in the morning,
Mr. Dillon. Oh, weren't you up gambling all night last Saturday, Chester? Oh, well, that's
different. Oh, how? Well, I've been asleep all night this time. Things looked different
when you had a good night's sleep. Yeah, they sure do. You didn't have no more nightmares
last night, did you? No, but I didn't sleep well. You ought to take some time off. Go
out buffalo hunting or something. Yeah, maybe you ought to take a lot of time off. Wait
a minute, Chester. What? That's Joe Stanger coming in. It seems like all it is. What's
he doing up so early? Maybe he wants to find out why Jack Bryant hasn't shot his way out
of jail yet. He won't throw him no more guns. Not the way I got that place boarded up now.
Get out of the way, Chester. Yes, sir. Good morning, Marshal. You're up early, Stanger.
Jack Bryant leaves for Abilene in about an hour. Going to Abilene? I'll be back next
week. Jack Bryant will still be in jail. I heard you caught him. Good friend of yours,
isn't he? 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. Well, I have to be. Don't
ever bother you killing people the way you do. Stanger, I shot a gun out of Jack Bryant's
hand this morning. You come by the office later and I'll give it back to you. Now, what
would I want of a smashed up six-shooter? It's yours, isn't it? I'm wearing mine. I
ought to throw you in jail, too. What for? To get you out of sight if nothing else. I
wouldn't go to jail, Marshal. Not without a fight, I wouldn't. I ain't afraid of you.
You want to try it? Go ahead. Go ahead, draw. No. What'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. Go get on your train. Where do I tell everybody about
Matt Dillon? How he's lost his nerve. Get out, 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
didn't you shoot him, Mr. Dillon? He's nothing but a big bluff. Just till you go on to breakfast,
I'm going back to the office. What? Why, you told me... You hurt me. Well, yes, sir. Okay,
Mr. Dillon. How about you can full coffee, Mr. Dillon? Thanks, Chester. I'm going to
put it right here. What you doing, writing a letter? It's a telegram. Here, Chester,
take us down to the depot, will you? Sure. I want it to go out right away. U.S. War Department.
What are you telegraphing Washington about? That's my resignation, Chester. What? I'm
quitting right now. Why, you can't do that. I've done it. Oh, I don't believe it. You're
funny. A man can quit a job, Chester. I've quit jobs before. Well, I know, but this is
different. What's different about it? The government doesn't own me. But think what'll
happen if you ain't marshal here. There are other men can be marshal. Mr. Dillon. What?
You ain't doing this because of, well, what Joe Stanger said. That I've lost my nerve?
No, he's wrong about that. And he's wrong about my liking to kill men, too. You've never
killed nobody unless you had to. And now I don't have to. I'm through, Chester. And
I knew I was through when I didn't draw on Stanger this morning. I've killed my last
men. I just don't know what to say, Mr. Dillon. I've hated this job since the day I took it.
I never did have a taste for killing, and now they can find somebody who has. He'll
make a better marshal than I ever was. That ain't true. Go send the telegram, Chester.
I'll be at Delmonico's having breakfast. And with a good appetite for a change.
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After breakfast, I went to my room and got some of the sleep I'd missed the night before.
And I slept good. It was as though what was past was past. And none of it bothered me
now. I didn't have to face it happening over and over again. And when I woke up, I felt
better than I had in years. I even felt a little cleaner somehow. There wasn't going
to be any more blood on my hands. Washington, as usual, was pretty slow answering my telegram.
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. Well, throw him back, Kitty. We got more than
we can carry now. I will not throw him back. I will steal you. Come on over here in the
shade. You've done enough fishing. Okay. Look at him, Matt. Isn't he a beauty? Yeah. He's
bigger than any I caught. Why don't you throw him in the sack and then sit down here, huh?
Say, you're right. I didn't know we caught that many. Yeah. Maybe we'll have a fish fry
tonight, huh? Well, we can feed half a dodge with all those. Well, I doubt it. You ever
see Chester go through a mess full of fish? The last time he starved himself a couple
of days in advance. Maybe we can kind of sneak up on him tonight. Ah, 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. Well, I am going to have to find something to do for a living, I guess.
Well, it won't hurt you to loaf for a while, Matt. Yeah. I'm enjoying it. You know something,
Matt? What? I think this is the first time I have ever seen you that you weren't wearing
a gun. It is. And I'm enjoying that, too. Someday, maybe nobody will wear guns. Yeah,
maybe. You know something, I'm sleepy. You're lazy. So lazy, you're probably going to starve
to death before you find a new job. I don't care. Matt, look, somebody's coming on horseback.
No? Uh-huh. Hey. Well, that's Chester. Oh, he's as lazy as you are. Imagine taking a
horse to come this far. Oh, Chester hates walking. Besides, he looks like he's in a hurry. Maybe
he couldn't wait for that fish fry. Mr. Dillon. Hello, Miss Kitty. Look in that sack, Jess.
Chester, we got about 30 catfish already. Well, that's fine, Miss Kitty. But Mr. Dillon,
Joe Stanger's in town. Oh? Well, that doesn't matter to me, Chester. But you don't understand.
Understand what? What I come to tell you. Stanger's at the alfaganza. A while ago, he
had words with one of the girls there, and she slapped him, and he pulled out his gun,
and he killed her. What? Who was the girl, Chester? Kate Hawkins. Oh, no. That's who
it was, Miss Kitty. And then the bartender tried to stop him, and Stanger shot him, too.
And I hear he's gonna die. I grabbed a horse off the hitch rail and come right down to
tell you, you've got to stop him, Mr. Dillon. I'm not marshal anymore here, Chester. I quit.
No, that don't matter. It does to me. You mean you're gonna let Joe Stanger walk around
Dodge and shoot everybody that gets in his way, including women? I'm throw-killing. I
told you that. Who's gonna stop him, 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 gonna 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. Oh? Men like Stanger and Brand, they've gotta be stopped. I'd do
it if I could, but I can't. I ain't good enough. Most men ain't. But you are. It's kind of
too bad for you that you are, but that's the way it is. 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. Want my holster? I'll carry it in my belt. Oh, Kenny,
sure. I'll help you carry the fish back. Sure, Matt. Sure.
And now our star, William Conrad. Thank you, George. Mild and plenty quick on the draw.
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Gunsmoke, produced and directed by Norman MacDonald, stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon,
U.S. Marshal. Our story was specially written for Gunsmoke by John Beston, with music composed
and conducted by Rex Corey. Sound patterns by Tom Hanley and Ray Kemper. Featured in
the cast were John Danaer and Lawrence Dogkin. Harley Bear is Chester, Howard McNear is Doc,
and Georgia Ellis is Kitty.
Stop! Start smoking with a smile, with Chesterfield. Smiling all the while, with Chesterfield.
Put a smile in your smoking, just give them a try. Light up a Chesterfield, they satisfy.
Put a smile in your smoking by Chesterfield. So smooth, so satisfying. Chesterfield.
You'll also enjoy Chesterfield's great radio show. Barry Como sings all the top tunes on
CBS radio every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Check Web stars in Dragnet on Tuesday nights.
Check your local listings. Listen to Gunsmoke again next week, transcribed for L&M Filters.