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, Matt, thank heaven you're here.
Oh, Jeannie, what's the matter?
Morning, Miguel.
Hello, Chester. Matt, I've got to talk to you.
All right.
Uh, Chester.
You folks will have to excuse me. I can't be putting around the office all day. I'll be in the back if you want to move.
What is it, Jeannie?
Matt, he's here in Dodge City. Ed Bodry. I just saw him. He came in on the Mormon train.
He's here?
Yes. It's been four years, Matt. I'd begun to hope he'd forget, or hope he wouldn't find us. But he's come here looking for Bert to kill him. He swore he would, oh, Matt, what are we going to do?
Now, wait a minute, Jeannie, wait a minute. Just take it easy. Now, what does Bert think about it?
He doesn't know yet. He's busy at the blacksmith shop. Oh, Matt, you've got to help us. You're the only real friend we've got out here.
Well, I'm supposed to maintain law and order in Dodge. That's my job. But it doesn't leave much leeway to mix in on personal quarrels.
There's no quarrel. It's just that Ed Bodry's a hot-tempered fool. Bert never did anything to him.
He married you, didn't he?
A woman has a right to change her mind, Matt.
Well, maybe Bodry doesn't think so.
Have you? You promised me once a long time ago.
Yeah. Yeah, I know, Jeannie.
All right, you go on home. Don't say anything to Bert. I'll talk to Bodry.
Thank you, Matt. I... Bye, Matt.
Chester.
Yes, sir, Mr. John.
Oh, didn't as well leave.
Yeah.
They sure are a fine couple of Wellses. Did you know them before they come on out west?
Not Bert. I knew Mrs. Wells.
Well, I guess we'd better drop over the long branch, Chester.
There's a man in town who may be planning to do some killing.
Hello, Matt. Chester.
Kitty.
Want a drink, Matt?
Not right now, Kitty. I'm looking for somebody. I thought he might be in here.
A stranger?
Yeah, his name's Ed Bodry.
Oh, yes. There at the bar mass, third from the end, next to Tulsa Jim Nixon.
Uh-huh. All right, thanks, Kitty. Come on, Chester.
All right, bartender, set up another round for the house.
Yes, sir.
Your name Bodry?
That's right, mister. I'm Matt Dillon. I want to talk to you.
Well, fine. Go ahead and talk.
Uh, Tulsa, suppose you move on down the bar for a couple of minutes.
Well, now, Marshal, I...
What's the idea? This man's a friend of mine.
Oh, you're not very particular about your friends. Go on, Tulsa, drift.
Bodry, you came here to kill Bert Wells, didn't you?
Did I?
Well, here's some advice. You take the next train and you get out of town.
Is that official? What's the charge?
None yet. Murder if you go through with it.
Murder is one thing. Calling a man in a fair fight is another thing.
Bodry, I'm the law here in Dodge, and I don't see it as a fair fight.
Bert's a blacksmith, and he's not used to handling a gun. You are.
So I'm told.
Now, who told you, Marshal? I don't know anybody here.
Wait a minute. Bert's wife, Jeannie.
Yeah, I've heard Jeannie mention you. Said you knew her back in Louisville.
That was before she ran off.
We'll leave her out of this, Bodry.
So that is it. This isn't official.
You're just doing a personal favor for an old friend. Probably a very close friend.
Jeannie always did have a weakness.
Oh, my God.
All right, get up, Bodry.
That was a mistake, Dylan.
I'm not a blacksmith, Bodry.
I'll look you up as soon as I finished with Bert Wells.
If you kill Bert, you won't have to look me up.
Bert.
Bert, huh? Oh, Matt didn't see you come in.
I want to talk to you, Bert. About what, Matt?
Ed Bodry's in town.
Bodry.
Well, it was bound to happen sometime.
Jeannie just happened to see him get off the train this morning, and she came and told me.
She shouldn't have done it, Matt. It's not your problem.
Well, maybe it is, Bert. The law doesn't like the idea of personal grudges ending up in a killing.
What do you aim to do?
Revenge it? If I can.
Well, I wish you luck.
You haven't worn that gun for two years, Bert. Why start now?
I got no choice, Matt. You know that.
You got no chance. If you let Bodry call a showdown, he'll kill you.
Maybe.
Bert, why don't you take to the prairie, hole up for a week or so, while I figure some way of running Bodry out of town, huh?
Would you do it, Matt? Hide out and let somebody else do your fighting for you? What I'd do is...
That's beside the point, Bert. There's a law against killing, and it's Matt's job to enforce it.
If you went away, there wouldn't be any fight.
Wouldn't be much honor either, Jeannie.
A man can't run and still call himself a man.
He can run from a mad dog, and that's what Ed Bodry is. He never had any claim on me.
But it appears he thought he did.
Matt, you know where Bodry's staying?
I talked to him in the long branch. He probably took one of the rooms upstairs.
Would you like to walk over there with me? If that's the way you want it.
No, Bert, you...
I'll get my hat. Be right with you.
Matt!
Matt, you've got to stop it.
How, Jeannie?
I don't know, but there must be something you can do.
Yeah, the way it's shaping up, I can probably arrest the survivor.
Still time to turn back, Bert.
Afraid not, Matt.
I should have headed out with Bodry back there in Kentucky five years ago.
But Jeannie wanted to run away and avoid trouble.
She was so beautiful, it was hard to argue with her.
I know.
Be hard on her if anything happened to you.
Life's always hard on a woman, I guess.
Yeah.
Oh, there he is. I see him.
But don't worry, Matt. I won't draw unless he does.
I was just going out to your place to call on you, Wells.
And decided you'd had plenty of time to look me up.
No reason to, Bodry.
Most men had figured they had reason.
Somebody in the local saloon's been telling their wife's history.
All right, hold it.
You're fast with that gun, Dylan.
Fast enough, Mr. Bodry.
You make a good bodyguard.
Too bad you can't ride herd 24 hours a day.
I told you what to expect if you kept pushing things.
I used some sense to get out of town while you're still alive.
I've been in a lot of towns, Dylan, and I left them all alive.
Wells, I've been planning to kill you for nearly five years.
Plans don't always work out.
This one will.
You got till sundown.
After that, I'm going to shoot you on sight.
All right, Mr. Bodry.
You've spoken your piece, and I'll move along.
Well, sure, Marshal.
See you later, Wells.
Still a couple of hours before sundown.
I think I'd like to spend them with Jeannie.
I'll see you, Matt.
Yeah, sure.
Goodbye, Bert.
Why don't you relax, man?
You're nervous as a cat.
There's nothing you can do now.
Maybe not.
I'll see you later.
There's nothing you can do now.
Another killing, and you in the middle again.
Why, Matt, why do you do it?
It's a job, Kitty.
Somebody's got to do it.
Why you?
There are other things in life if you look around, come on.
Yeah, maybe I will someday.
Sure.
Well, Matt, I brought my kit, all prepared.
Where are the victims?
They're coming.
I understand it's going to be a real showdown.
The boys at the bar are often two to one on Bodrie.
That's about the odds I figured.
Let the shooting really start.
It'll start all right.
There's not a thing in the world that can prevent it.
Yeah, Chessie, what are you doing in here?
I told you to watch the street, didn't I?
I know you did, but I guess there ain't going to be no fight.
What?
They just found Bodrie laying in the alley down the block.
Somebody snuck up behind him with a hammer.
He's dead.
["The Star-Spangled Banner"]
Ain't no light showing around the house, Mr. Doan.
No.
He might have skipped out.
What about his wife, though?
I don't know, Chester. I can't figure any of this.
It's not like Burt to pull a trick.
Hold it! Don't move!
Burt?
Who is it? Who's there?
It's Matt. I got Chester with me.
Oh, all right, Matt.
I...I thought it was somebody else.
Who, Burt?
Why, you know who?
Bodrie, of course.
I guess I better take your gun.
Official, Matt?
Official.
Well, I got no quarrel with the law.
Here. Thanks.
Why did you do it, Burt?
What do you mean?
If it had been a gunfight, the law couldn't have touched you.
The circumstances were all in your favor, but this way they'll call it murder.
Now, what are you talking about?
It's no use. You left the hammer lying right beside his body.
It's got your shop brand carved in a handle.
Whose body are you talking about?
Bodrie. Matt, you're making a mistake.
I went looking for Bodrie, yeah, but I didn't find him.
And I come back here.
I was afraid to leave Jeannie in the house alone.
I didn't do it, Matt. You're wrong.
It's not up to me, Burt. It's the court's job.
All I can do is take you in. I got no choice.
What about Jeannie?
I got to tell her.
Chester will take care of it.
You'd better if you'd do it, Matt.
Your friend would make it easier.
I, uh...
I'd rather not, if you don't mind.
Now, let's go.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
All right, Burt.
Four years we've been friends, Matt.
I never thought it'd come to this.
Neither did I.
You see, you didn't find any money on him.
Could have been robbery.
Or made to look like robbery.
Either way, there's nothing I can do.
Now, go ahead.
I'll bring you some blankets and tobacco.
If you want anything else, let me know, huh?
I wish I knew how Jeannie was taking it.
She'll be all right, Burt.
She's a fine girl.
Look out for her, will you, Matt?
You know, a man's job is one thing.
Friendship is another.
This prairie country is rough and wild at best.
And without the law, nobody could survive in it.
And that means putting friendship aside sometimes.
And a man still doesn't forget, Burt.
Yeah, I'll look out for her.
Thanks, Matt.
See you later.
Yeah, get your prisoner tucked in safely, Matt.
Yeah. What about Bodry, Doc?
He's dead.
A blacksmith's hammer makes a mighty fine weapon.
At least we're sneaking up behind him.
I can't figure Burt doing that.
It's not like him.
It's not like him. I can't figure it either.
What would you say his chances are?
Bad. The straws all point one way.
Maybe somebody's been messing with the straw stack.
Who?
That's a good question, Matt.
The court will ask it.
If he ever gets there...
What does that mean?
Kitty came and told me a while ago that some of the boys down at the long branch are kind of riled up.
They're talking real loose.
They're just mad because they lost their source of free drinks.
Maybe so.
You better keep your eyes open, Matt.
I know that pack, Doc. They hunt in the dark and pull down stragglers, and mostly they just talk.
Don't worry about it. Burt's in jail, and that's where he's going to stay.
Well, yeah, but...
I'll follow you. I'll act still and keep my eyes open.
Matt? Matt, you here?
I'm here.
Hey, wait. I light the lamp.
What were you doing sitting here in the dark?
Jeannie, you shouldn't have come.
I want to see Burt.
No visitors after dark is a jail rule.
Rules don't have to be enforced.
Well, mine do. Burt's a prisoner the same as any other prisoner. He's charged with murder.
He didn't do it, Matt.
That's not for me to say.
You know he didn't. You know Burt. You know he wouldn't do a thing like that, sneak up behind a man in a dark.
Jeannie, I'm not the court.
I know, and they'll believe he did it.
The night train's coming in. Hope it's not bringing in trouble.
The morning train did. Matt, I want to see Burt.
I told you that...
You little fool.
Jeannie, give me that gun.
No. Now I warn you, Matt, you stay back.
Give me that gun.
No, Matt, don't help me.
I said hand it over.
You knew I wouldn't shoot.
Yeah.
Now what did you hope to gain by that?
I don't know. Get Burt out, maybe. I don't know.
Yeah, what is it, Chester?
I just come from the Long Branch. I think there's going to be some trouble.
Yeah, that's what Doc said.
The bunch that hangs around there's doing a lot of drinking and talking up the idea of coming over here at the jails.
Oh, no.
Maybe we ought to go over there and do some talking ourselves.
Jeannie, you go back home and you stay there till morning. Don't worry about this. Nothing's going to happen.
But Matt, you can't handle that crowd alone.
I've been handling things alone for a long time.
All right, Chester.
I thought that Jim Lipton, the one who's been agging them on, was over there at the end of the bar.
Yeah, he struck up an acquaintance with Bodry when he first got off the train.
I guess he figures he's an old partner by now. Come on.
Matt, Matt, wait.
Later, Kitty. I got some business with the boys at the bar.
That's what I mean. Tell us what Jim's been buying them drinks for the last two hours. They're in a pretty nasty mood.
So?
So be careful, Matt. That's all. Just be careful.
Kitty, I'm the carefulest man you know.
The bar here died, supposedly. But what kind of a law is it that lets a man sneak up behind somebody in the dark and murder him in cold blood?
I don't know, Tulsa. You tell me.
Stiller.
Now, don't let me interrupt you. You were doing fine. And this is quite an audience you've got.
All the panhandlers, bums and barflies and dodge has quite a collection.
Calling names won't change the facts.
What facts?
That friend of yours, Burt Wells, that sneaking cowardly murderer.
That's for the court to decide, Tulsa.
The court. He'll turn him loose. He'll work hand in glove with you.
Stiller, we're not going to stand for it.
All right, shut up! So you're not going to stand for it, huh?
Just what are you planning to do?
You'll find out in due time.
Bartender, set him up again, all around.
You've turned into quite a free spender, Tulsa. I never knew you'd...
Ah, a double eagle gold piece. You mind if I take a look at it?
It's good. Don't worry about that.
Where did you get it?
That's my business.
So you're the one who killed Baudry.
That's a lie.
I thought robbing him was just a cover-up, but it wasn't.
There aren't many double eagles around Dodge.
Baudry had a lot of them, and now you.
Where would you get a pocket full of gold pieces, Tulsa?
Wells killed Baudry. That blacksmith hammer was lying right beside him.
Yes, right where you left it.
Tulsa Jim came into my husband's shop late this afternoon.
His horse had thrown a shoe.
He had plenty of chance to steal her hammer.
She's lying.
Where did you get the gold, Tulsa?
I won in a poker game last week when the trail herd was in.
Tulsa, you're under arrest for murder.
No, no, you'll never take me.
Doc, you better get up on inquest.
Come on, pound it, Matt. You never give me any chance to practice on live people.
You wouldn't know what to do with them, Doc.
Well, I do get fewer complaints this way.
Matt, Matt, does this mean Bert's free?
You shouldn't have come here, Jeannie.
Yeah, he's free.
Chester will go with you over to the jail and let him out.
Thank you, Matt.
Thanks for everything.
You told me one time in Louisville that...
Louisville?
That was a long time ago.
A long way off.
Goodbye, Jeannie.
Goodbye, Matt.
What's it all about, Matt?
What's anything all about, Jeannie?
You knew her before, didn't you?
Oh, I met her in Louisville one summer.
I saw quite a lot of her for a couple of months.
And then I drifted out west.
A man misses out on things by drifting.
I told her then that if she ever needed help, she could call on me.
Well, she called and you helped her.
I guess.
Anyway, that's not...
Matt.
Yeah, Kitty?
When are you going to help yourself?
The story was specially written for Gunsmoke by Les Crutchfield with editorial supervision by John Meskin.