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 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, 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, but it makes a man watchful, and a little lonely.
Nothing suits the lively pace of modern life better than Pepsi-Cola, light, bracing, clean tasting Pepsi. So think young, drink young, say Pepsi please, and get an extra carton of Pepsi-Cola.
So go ahead and fix a drink that lets you drink young as you think. Yes, get the right one, the modern-like one. Now it's Pepsi for those who think young.
If you want, I should go stay with Horst and Mr. Dillon. Yeah, you might as well, Chester.
Well, I'll come in and get the stove going first. I sure could use a cup of coffee when I get back.
Okay. Hold it, Mr. Dillon.
Well, are you going to shoot me or not?
Matt Dillon, if I was as jumpy as you are, I'd sleep with the door locked, even if it was a Marshal's office. Matt, you owe some guy.
How are you, Nate? You ain't grown an inch. I'm a whole lot smarter, though.
Oh, ain't they sure of that? I could have put a bullet in you easy just now.
Yeah. Chester, this is Nate Tatum, an old friend of mine.
How are you, Chester?
You had me kindly worried there for a minute.
Yeah, I got bad habits all right.
Well, Nate, what are you doing in Dodge?
I'm heading for California, Matt. Just stopped in to say hello.
You're still a U.S. Marshal, aren't you?
A U.S. Marshal?
Yeah, Oklahoma territory, Chester, for the last four years.
Forever more, my gracious.
No, no, not anymore, though. I quit.
Quit? What for?
Scared, I guess.
Scared? You?
Well, maybe that ain't the word, but I began to get the feeling my number was coming up, and I still haven't.
No.
It's a real strong feeling. I don't like it.
You must have made a lot of enemies back in Oklahoma.
What lawman doesn't?
Well, that's true. Enemies don't.
I ruined too many of their games back there. They ain't forgetting.
You mean you think somebody will follow you?
They're after me.
I'm sure of it. But it won't be anybody I'd recognize. They'll hire some stranger for the job.
I'll expect you to handle him.
Well, head on, I'd face anybody in the world who's getting shot in the back that bothers me.
You know, it seems to me this is pretty heavy talk for this time of day.
Besides, I got some alkali to wash out of my throat. How about a drink, Nate?
Yeah, wouldn't mind.
We'll be at the Long Branch, Chester. You take care of things here, huh?
Well, thank you. Thanks a whole heap.
I sure envy you, Nate. Going to California.
Have you been there?
San Francisco. I've always wanted to go back.
If you were in San Francisco, you'd start wanting to be back in Dodge.
Maybe, but I'd like to find out for myself.
But you're making money here, Miss Kitty. It looks to me like you've got good business.
Well, money isn't everything.
To some people it is.
It can't be to you. You just quit a good job, didn't you?
He didn't pay much.
Ask Matt.
Well, I guess Washington figures if a marshal's doing his job, he won't have time for more than one meal a day.
That's about the size of a guy.
Evening, Kitty. Oh, Bonnie. You came to work early.
Nothing else to do.
Bonnie, this is Marshal Dillon and Nate Tatum.
Oh, you're sitting down, Bonnie?
You can say it.
No, no, wait, I was in an idea.
Huh?
Are your excuses, Miss Kitty?
Sure. First drink's on the house.
Well, thank you. Bonnie, shall we go to the bar?
Wherever you say. Nice meeting you, Marshal.
Nice meeting you.
Now, there's the man who knows what I want.
Nate never was one of her wasting time.
Now, who's the girl, Kitty?
Bonnie? Just arrived a few days ago from Abilene.
She's trying to get a steak to go to California.
Oh? Maybe she's found the right man, isn't Nate?
No, no, I'm afraid not.
She told me her man's coming from Abilene in a day or so. Some gambler.
Well, that's all right. Nate's traveling pretty like these days, anyway.
He looks like a good man, Nate.
Yeah, he is. The best.
You know, Kitty, there's something that you might do for me while he's here.
What's that?
Keep an eye open for strangers.
Anybody you think might be carrying a gun for money.
After Nate, huh?
Yeah.
What a rotten world.
Miss Dillon? Miss Dillon?
What? What? Well, what is it, Chester?
You dressed.
Well, what's the trouble?
They've been shooting.
What? I didn't hear anything.
I didn't hear anything.
He needed to die.
It was way down at the end of Front Street.
I was having a nightcap played again.
Somebody stuck his head in and hollered something about a shooting.
Gunfight?
I don't know.
All he said was this man had been shot.
Come for you right away.
Mr. John?
Yeah?
The man that was shot...
What about him?
It was Nate Tatum.
Anybody see what happened?
No, dude.
I didn't see it.
He was shot in the back, John.
Just like he said he'd be.
Yeah.
You know, that alley over there would be a good place to ambush a man from.
Want me to go take a look?
No, there's no use, Chester.
Whoever did it wouldn't be around now.
John, is somebody still up over there at the room and half?
Yeah.
I'm going to go over there and ask a few questions, Chester.
We've got a couple of these men to help you carry Nate up to the docks, huh?
Yes, sir, I will.
I'll go with you.
Who is it?
Marshall Dillon.
Oh, thank you.
But, Bonnie, you live here?
Yeah, I got a room here a few days ago.
You all alone?
Yeah.
The landlady and her husband went off to visit some friends in the country.
They won't be back till tomorrow.
What happened, Marshall?
What about the other rumors here?
I'm the only one right now.
I heard the shot, but I was afraid to go out.
Tell me what happened, please.
Nate Tatum.
He's dead.
Oh, no.
Was Nate with you earlier, Bonnie?
Well, they walked me home.
They had a drink, just one, and then he left.
I see.
You ever been in Oklahoma?
Now, look, Marshall, I had nothing to do with this.
You can't blame me for Nate's death.
Somebody must have followed us, come up here, looked in the window, and then waited for him.
You keep the shades up all the time, do you?
I know, of course not.
He could have heard our voices.
Yeah, sure.
Any idea who it was, Bonnie?
You're being unfair, Marshall.
Yeah, maybe, but you're the only thing I got to go on.
I want you where I know you're safe.
You talking about jail?
That's right, I am.
He was a good friend of yours, wasn't he?
All right, I'll be right out.
Don't try to run out the back way, Bonnie.
It wouldn't do you any good.
No, Marshall.
Morning.
What can I do for you?
I'm looking for a Sloan.
Well, sir, if you come to the right time, just about every other place here is a Sloan.
No, I'm looking for a particular one.
Long Branch.
Huh?
A girl I know is going to get a job there.
Bonnie Van Diemen?
Bonnie?
Well, Bonnie ain't at the Long Branch, mister.
She run into a little dab of trouble last night.
Trouble? What happened?
You better ask Marshall Dillon about that. He's right inside the office.
Where is Bonnie? Is she all right?
Oh, she's fine.
She didn't mind spending the night in jail at all.
In jail? You sure took your time telling me my girl's in jail.
Well, I didn't have to tell you at all.
Are you Marshall Dillon?
That's right.
Well, I want to know what you got Bonnie Van Diemen in jail for.
Now, a man got murdered here last night, mister.
My name is Miles Cody.
All right, Cody.
Well, Marshall, what has this man's death got to do with Bonnie?
Why are you holding her?
I've been thinking about that myself.
I got nothing on Bonnie and she hasn't been able to tell me a thing.
I trust her.
Yes, sir.
Bring Bonnie out of here, will you?
Aye, sir.
You, uh, the gambler Bonnie's been expecting from Abilene?
Aye.
It sure is a mighty poor way to arrive in town.
Here she is, McDonald's.
Miles.
Oh, Bonnie.
You got here.
Eh, not soon enough the way it looks.
What's this all about anyway?
A man got killed in the street where I live, shot in the back.
But you didn't have nothing to do with it.
Of course I didn't.
Well, you've got no right holding her, Marshall.
I'm not holding her if she can leave any time.
I don't understand any of this.
Nate Tatum, the man that was killed, was a good friend of the Marshal's.
Marshall was pretty upset.
He had to do something about it and, well, I was the most available I guess, so he locked me up.
We had a talk about it earlier this morning.
Oh.
Well, I got a little short tempered there, Marshall.
I guess I understand now.
No hard feelings, no hard feelings, honey.
Well, I sure wish you luck.
That's a bad thing, shoot a man in the back.
Yeah, but I'll get him.
Sooner or later, I'll get him.
You can't explain away the unique qualities of the CBS Radio Network's in-person program with the word entertainment.
True, there are highly entertaining facets to the program,
but calling in-person entertainment is like describing the Empire State Building as an office building.
Fact is, Monday through Friday evenings, CBS Radio airs on in-person intimate word portraits,
sketched by artists with highest authority on the subjects they discuss.
These artists have ranged from chorus girls to former delinquents,
outraged citizens to winners of windfalls,
to people brushed by comedy or tragedy.
In-person brings you real stories that have overtaken real people in all walks of life,
told by the people involved.
It's more than entertainment, more than news.
It's in-person, a program far easier to hear and enjoy than describe.
Each weekday evening, in-person offers novelty and high human interest, sometimes tears.
Listen for it here.
["The Star-Spangled Banner"]
Bonnie, Marshall just came in.
Yeah, tell him.
You still think you can swing it?
Oh, we say to be nice to the law.
Then you go be nice to him, and good luck.
Thanks.
Oh, evening, Marshall.
Howdy.
I want to talk to you.
Uh-huh.
I'd like to, more like I've got something to ask you.
Go ahead.
Mal's and I are trying to get to California, and we're pretty broke right now.
We need a stake.
You're working, and Miles has his job dealing at Faro.
Sure, but I want to get out of here.
I want to get to California, now.
What's that got to do with me?
Well, Miles is a good dealer, Marshall.
They could be a whole lot better if he didn't march in so close.
Wouldn't take him more than a week.
Going real easy, so there'd be no trouble.
Sorry, Bonnie. No crooked gambling.
I could make it worth your while.
I can't be bought, Bonnie. Not any way at all.
Well, to change your mind, you know where to find me.
Yeah.
Well, hello there, Matt.
Hello there.
Where's Kitty?
Oh, let's see. Oh, she's in the office talking to a whiskey drummer.
Sit down.
You look tired.
Yeah, I am.
Are you still looking for Nate Tatum's murder?
It's a real waste of time, Doc.
Well, it just isn't a whole lot you can do about it, is it?
I get it, Doc. If I have to go back to Oklahoma territory and start from there.
Oklahoma? You can't do that. It makes you get a job here.
Somehow it doesn't interest me very much, Doc. I want the man who killed Nate.
I don't care how many days or months or years it takes to find him.
Uh, John, here's a telegraph for you.
Oh.
Yeah, just come in for a minute, bro.
Not the depot.
Ah. Well, it looks like Washington came through with something for once.
What do you mean, man?
I sent him a telegram about Nate and the War Department's offering $500 for his murderer.
$500? That's a heap of money.
Say that's right. He was a U.S. Marshal, wasn't he?
Yeah. Just the first thing tomorrow morning, take this over to the printers and get some posters made up, wouldn't you?
Yes, I sure will.
You know, this $500 reward just might smoke out our killer.
Hello, Marshal.
Ah, Bonnie.
Can I sit down?
Sure, sure.
What's on your mind?
Money.
You don't change much, do you?
Now, when it comes to money, Marshal, and right now money can buy my way to California.
Tell me something. Why is California so important to you?
It's been a dream of mine ever since I was a kid. And now I'm going. You're going to send me.
Oh? Is that so?
$500 is a lot of money. That's what you're offering for Nate's killer, aren't you?
Oh, the government is. Go on.
That's all.
Hmph. I knew I had a reason for jailing you.
I didn't tell you many lies, Marshal. I just didn't tell you all I know.
Yeah, but for $500 you will, huh?
A woman like me, she has a lot of things. She gets to know a lot. I can lead you straight to the murderer.
Then let's go.
The money first.
You don't expect me to have that much money right here, do you?
You want the murderer, don't you?
If you can really produce him, yeah.
If I can't, you don't pay me.
I'll beat the Long Branch this evening. You bring the money there and then we'll go find your murderer.
See you tonight, Marshal.
Well, evening, Marshal.
Good morning.
Did you get the money?
I got it.
You see, let's go find our man and you can have it.
You wouldn't trick me, would you, Marshal?
Not about this.
All right. There he is, at the pharaoh table.
What? You don't mean Miles Cody?
I do.
Well, I thought he was your man.
Well, there are a lot of men, Marshal, but I don't get a chance at $500 very often.
The way you feel about people, you should get a lot of chance.
No, Marshal.
All right. Tell me about Cody.
Well, he reached Dodge that night. He rode back out and came in again in the morning, just for show.
Go on.
He knew where I lived. I sent him a telegram. He came there and he must have heard Nate and me talking from outside the window.
I see.
The most jealous man I ever met, outside of business, of course.
He wasn't hired to do the job.
Hired? No, I just told you.
So he waited for Nate to pass that alley and then he put a bullet in his back. Is that it?
That's how I figured, Marshal.
Well, don't you know?
I know. He told me all about it.
Yeah. He must trust you a lot.
Let's go get him.
Thank you.
Well, Marshal, been thinking over our proposition? Bonnie's in mind?
About running a crooked game?
Yeah.
Oh, that isn't it, Cody.
On what is it?
Bonnie, what are you telling?
Did you kill Nate Tatum, Cody?
What?
I asked you if you killed Nate Tatum.
So you sold me out, Bonnie.
I saw them reward posters today.
You sold me out.
Well, there's your confession, Marshal.
Now take your gun, Cody.
All right. Go ahead and take it.
Ah!
He tried to shoot me.
A couple of you men give a hand. Get Cody over to the jail.
What? He tried to kill me, Marshal.
That dirty dog.
Maybe you'd feel better about it if you came to his hangin'.
I don't need any lectures from you.
Where's that money?
Money? Here's your money.
Thanks.
Aren't you going to count it?
I trust people, Marshal. Don't you?
I feel sorry for you, Bonnie.
Sorry? For me?
Why, I'm headed for California, Marshal.
But you're going to hate it, Bonnie.
Even you.
You're going to hate every minute of it.
Hi, this is Dennis James.
I want to talk to you about the point about reliable, effective Kellogg's All brand.
Repeat after me, please.
What do you want when you need brand?
Reliability.
Now what do you get in Kellogg's All brand?
Reliability.
Right. You see, Kellogg's All brand is the reliable brand that millions depend on for the effectiveness they want.
It's the real Battle Creek formula that brings you more brand bulk in every serving.
More of the vital brand bulk that helps you keep regular.
Kellogg's All brand is also low in calories and mighty pleasant tasting.
You can trust Kellogg's for that.
The crisp toasted shreds have the kind of good brand muffin flavor that most folks are partial to.
So next time you are shopping, get Kellogg's All brand and you'll get reliability.
That's what you get in Kellogg's All brand, reliability.
Gun smoke.
Produced and directed in Hollywood by Norman McDonald, stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal.
The story was specially written for Gun Smoke by John Messon and adapted for radio by Norman McDonald.
Featured in the cast were Lawrence Dobkin, Virginia Christine and John Dana.
Harley Bear is Chester, Howard McMear is Doc and Georgia Ellis is Kitty.
This is George Walsh inviting you to join us again next week when CBS Radio presents another story on Gun Smoke.
Have a happy habit. Monday through Friday, Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney on the CBS Radio Network.