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 chancy job, and it makes a man watchful and a little lonely.
My morning like this makes a man feel mighty perky, Mr. Jones.
That looks to be a nice day, Chester.
Sunshine and fine breeze starting up and breakfast waiting right down the street there.
I wondered how long it would be before you'd get around to mentioning food.
Oh, I like cheese.
I know, Chester, I know. Give you a knife and a fork and you turn into a tiger.
Oh, no, it ain't that bad.
Wait a minute.
Well, it's been a long time, Matthew.
Yeah, a long time, Carl.
Just rode into town five minutes ago and the first man I run into is you.
Well, I'm the first one a lot of them run into. This is Chester Proudfoot, Carl Killian.
Chester?
I'm Killian.
Is that a badge you're wearing, Matthew?
Uh-huh. I'm a U.S. Marshal here in Dodge.
Law man. Well, never thought it.
Yeah. And it seems we both sold our guns in different ways.
I wouldn't know about that. I'm still a drifter, Matthew, same as always.
So I've heard.
Just a saddle bum here today, gone tomorrow.
But it's what happens between today and tomorrow, isn't it, Carl?
Nobody ever knows ahead of time.
Well, they pretty well do when you hit town the way I've been hearing it.
Ah, you know how easy stories get started?
Gun for hire, thousand dollars a job, results guaranteed. That's how the stories go, Carl.
When a fella ain't got a regular job, folks make up things about him.
You're a hired killer, Carl, and we both know it.
Ain't you kind of a hired killer yourself, Matthew?
Who are you here for, Carl? Who are you thinking to kill?
Well, now, if I was the kind of man them stories say, you don't think I'd answer that, do you?
Well, you're here for a killing. Nothing else would bring you to Dutch.
You're a lawman for real, Matthew, or just a bronco in this town for your own benefit.
I'm a lawman.
Funny. Years back when we used to cut brush for strays down on the Pecos,
we'd lay there at night in our bedrolls, look at the stars and talk.
We never figured it'd turn out like this someday, Carl.
Why don't you get out of town while you still can?
No, I figured I'd look around a few days, see what kind of place you got here.
I'll see you, Matthew. Nice to meet you, Chester.
So long.
Well, then, is the coldest pair of eyes I ever seen in a man's head, is it, John?
He got married the year after we worked together, Chester,
and some fence cutters burned his place one night, killed his wife.
He run him down and shot him, all four of them.
And then he... and he couldn't seem to stop after that.
Who do you reckon he's after?
I don't know.
Well, it gives you the creeps, not knowing when or who.
Ah, forget it, Chester. Come on, let's get some breakfast, huh?
You... you go on ahead, Mr. Doom. For some reason, I guess I just ain't hungry.
No, sir, I do not understand this.
There, we'll see what...
Matt, what's this friend of yours up to anyhow?
Huh? Which friend, Doc?
Carl Killian, that's who.
He's not a friend. Been a long time since he was. Why, what's he been doing?
That's just it, nothing. He's not been doing one bussy thing.
Well, then.
Not everybody in town knows who he is and what he's here for.
But they don't know who the mark's on.
Boy, it's got them so spooked, they're ready to jump out of the skins whenever a door closes.
Hell, I can't do much about it, Doc, until he tips his hand somewhere.
He hasn't committed any crime and dodged, and he's not wanted anywhere else.
And why isn't he wanted?
And he always managed to goad his victims into making the first move, so it's self-defense.
Yeah, and... you got any idea who he's after?
No.
Well, there's two dozen or more men around town who think they're the one.
One of them may be right, Doc.
Killian stopped in front of Wilbur Jones's store window this morning,
and stood looking in there for a while.
As soon as he left, Wilbur locked up and went home.
And he's been sitting home, manless, parlor, ever since, with a shotgun across his knees.
I thought he's after Wilbur.
But you don't know that.
One of you men to Marshal?
Yeah, I am. Come on in.
Marshal, there's a man here in Dodge that's fixing to kill me.
Oh? Well, what's your name?
Tex Bartow. This man calls himself Carl Killian.
He's been hired to follow me here and do me in.
Well, half the town thinks that same thing, Tex.
Yeah, but I know. I seen him in Pueblo two weeks ago, and now he turns up here.
Pueblo, huh?
I got in some trouble there, Marshal. Not with the law. I was cleared.
But I killed a man in a fight, and his friends swore they'd get me one way or another.
How does Killian figure it out?
He was there. He's seen the fight.
I didn't know who he was then, but I remember his face all right.
And they hired him. I know they have.
He ain't here just by accident.
You might be right, man.
If Killian wasn't Pueblo just before he came here, that must be where he was hired.
Yeah, maybe.
You've got to lock him up, Marshal.
I can't do that, Tex. I got no charge.
But if you don't, he'd kill me.
Run away wouldn't even help. He'd just follow me.
Keep clear of him, Tex.
And don't let him push you into drawing against him.
Where are you staying?
Dodge House.
All right, then go on over there and stay there.
And keep off the street, huh?
All right.
In the meantime, I'll try to figure something out.
Okay, Marshal.
So long.
If he's not the one, Matt, there's another possibility you maybe haven't even thought of.
Not me, you mean?
Yeah, I thought of it, Doc.
Would he take a job like that?
Would you be in friends once?
You think he'd really do that?
Yeah, he'd do it.
Matt, if you don't run that man out of town, I might as well close up here and take a vacation.
He's practically living here at the Long Branch.
Oh, why not? You serve the best beer in town, Kitty.
He's about to be a good man.
The minute he comes in, the rest of the boys start edging toward the door.
You can't blame him.
It's pretty hard to relax with the executioner standing at your elbow.
You'd never know, looking at him.
Evening, Miss Kitty.
Matthew.
Hello, Carl.
Well, how's the law business coming along, Matthew?
The town's been pretty quiet the last few days.
I noticed that.
Don't see any problems with the law.
Well, at least not close to where you are.
Folks had an ought to feel that way.
I don't mean no harm to them.
Were you in Pueblo just before you came here, Carl?
I might have been. Why?
Is that where you took on the job?
I reckon you believe all them stories, all right, just like everybody else.
Miss Kitty.
Yeah, Rusty?
Oh, good evening, Marshal. Mr. Killing.
Hello, Rusty. Evening, Miss Fennel.
Excuse me for butting in, Miss Kitty, but Melbourne, Becky wanted to think
and have the rest of the night off.
It seems there's not much business anyhow.
Sure, tell me, go ahead.
You see, Mr. Killing, you're ruining my business.
I'll try to make up for it some right now.
Miss Fennel, do me the honor of having a drink with me.
Why, sure. I'd love to.
Good. See you later, Matthew, Miss Kitty.
I'll give him credit on one thing, Matt.
The girls all like him. They think he's fine.
Allie was fine once.
He makes you jumpy, though.
The way he moves around, not saying much, but always watching.
Now, let's start at some of the citizens thinking, all right.
Well, everybody's guilty of something, Matt.
I even catch myself wondering if I'm the one he's after.
Yeah, that's not likely, Kitty.
But even you're not sure.
No.
You see?
You know, I almost wish it had hurry up and happened
so we'd know, so we'd have it over with.
Well, I guess a lot of people feel that way,
but there's nothing they can do.
Hey.
What does it mean?
Jack Sparrow, that kid that came to see me this afternoon.
He's got a gun.
All right, Killing, hold it down!
Hold it down!
He tried to shoot Killing in the back.
Yeah, Trida's right.
Sparrow.
You know, I think that boy was aiming to do me some harm, Matthew.
Well, he's dead, Killing.
I didn't have much choice the way he come at me.
Oh, you're undeclared.
It was self-defense.
I saw it myself.
Just another job done according to order.
What are you talking about?
He was the one you were after, wasn't he?
I never saw that boy before in my life.
Never heard of him.
Don't even know his name.
Oh, Matthew, if I really was after anybody, I still am.
Oh, evening, Mr. Doane.
What are you doing back there, Chester?
When I gave you the night off, I didn't figure to see you till morning.
I am giving up.
Going to bed.
Can't have no fun tall in this town,
as long as that doggone old Killing's around.
He has kind of slowed down the nightlife, hasn't he?
He just ain't nobody out in no place, hardly.
And then there is,
it's the busy looking over their shoulder and jumping sideways,
and a man can't get to feeling easy no matter how hard he puts his mind to it.
It just seems a shame to waste all that hair grease and that boiled shirt, though, Chester.
I figured you'd end up as the king of the Long Branch.
Now, that's another thing.
You know that little old girl over at the Long Branch I've been kindly sweet talking lately?
Oh, Rusty Fennel?
Yeah, well, now she can't see me for dust.
She just keeps hanging around him all the time.
That's not smart to get serious over a dancehall girl, anyway, Chester.
Well, now, Rusty ain't just a common dancehall girl, Mr. Doane.
She comes from a real good family.
Oh, is that so?
Yes, sir.
Her papa and mama's dead, but she's got a rich uncle that's a very important man,
and his health ain't too good neither the last couple years.
So that's why you're so interested in her.
I thought it was true love, Chester.
Yeah, well, now, Mr. Doane, I ain't one to always be thinking about money,
but it sure don't hurt none to know that the only heirs is just her and her cousin in Pueblo.
Pueblo?
That's where her uncle and her cousin live.
Why, what matter, Mr. Doane?
Uh, Chester, I think I'll drop over to the Long Branch and have a talk with Rusty.
Well, she ain't there now.
She left with that doll-darned Killian.
Is that her room?
Yes, sir, second door down the hall, the landlady said.
All right, Chester, you wait here by the stairway.
I'll see if she's come home.
Yes, sir.
It'd be better if I talked to her alone.
All right, Mr. Doane.
Who is it?
Marshall Dillon, Rusty.
I'd like to talk to you for a minute.
Well, it's awful late, Marshall.
Well, it won't take long.
Pretty important.
All right, just a second.
What is it, Marshall?
Mind if I come in?
I, I guess it's all right.
Thanks.
Please, don't mind the room.
When a girl lives alone, she gets careless about throwing things around.
That looks fine to me.
What is it, Marshall, is anything wrong?
No, not exactly, or at least not yet.
Rusty, I hear that you've been seeing quite a bit of Carl Kille in the last couple of days.
Yes, I guess maybe I have.
I see.
Well, I think he's nice.
I think people are wrong about him.
Rusty, how did you happen to meet him?
Did, did he make a point of trying to get acquainted with you?
Well, he, he came into the Long Branch a few times and he talked to all the girls, but he, well, he seemed to like me the best.
Can't we talk about something else, Marshall?
Kelly is the reason I came here, Rusty.
Well, then, come on over by the window. It's hot in here.
All right, sure.
Here, let me open it for you.
Thanks. This is better, isn't it?
Yeah, that's fine.
You've got a nice view of the street from here.
That's one reason I took the room.
He's behind that screen in the corner.
That's quite a street. Always something going on down there, any hour of the day or night.
Yeah, I guess that's right.
He didn't want to see you.
Now, there's the night stage pulling in from Walnut Creek, Pueblo, and Denver.
Rusty, your life's not worth ten cents mine either.
What?
I say it looks like they're carrying a short load tonight.
I know him. He's got a gun on us right now. You're the one he's here to kill.
I don't believe you.
Just take it easy. I'm going to jump his move. It's the only thing I can do, not just stand still.
Oh, no!
Well, I was right. He did have his gun in his hand.
Why? Why did he want to kill me?
Your cousin hired him. Your uncle died in Pueblo two weeks ago.
I checked by telegraph an hour ago.
With you dead too, your cousin would get the whole of the state.
You all right, Mr. Dillon?
Yeah, yeah, I'm all right, Chester.
Carl?
Carl, I'm sorry.
That was a fast roll, Matthew.
Thanks.
Nick, just give me the name.
Rusty Fennell.
I didn't know it was a woman.
Not until I got here.
I never took a job like that before.
Who hired you, Carl?
Young fella in Pueblo.
Her cousin, I think he said.
I'd have turned it down if I'd known it was a woman.
Had to go through with it, though.
Matter of honor.
You call it honor if you want, Carl.
It's all right, Matthew.
I'm finished.
I'm glad of it.
I like the girl.
Funny.
Only job I ever failed on was the last one.
The only one I ever failed on.
I thought he was so nice.
He was just waiting for a chance to kill me.
He'd had four days to do it, Rusty, and he hadn't tried.
You know, sometimes a man can win by failing.
And maybe he got just what he wanted.
Gunsmoke.
Produced and directed by Norman MacDonald, stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal.
The story was specially written for Gunsmoke by Les Crutchfield.
With editorial supervision by John Meston.
Featured in the cast were Vic Parin, Dick Prana, and Virginia Christine.
Harley Bair is Chester, Howard McNear is Doc, and Georgia Ellis is Kitty.
This is George Walsh inviting you to join us again next week for another story on Gunsmoke over the CBS Radio Network.