“…the first man they look for, and the last they want to meet…”

I came back from my two-day sabbatical with a nasty head cold, so I haven’t really felt like whipping up something new for the blog today. (Yesterday’s post about The Sealed Book was written before I left.) But on the trip up there, I took along my copy of Radio Spirits’ The Ultimate Gunsmoke Collection to listen to—because I work nights, it’s kind of hard for me to get back into any kind of regular schedule so I often find myself wide awake at 4:00 a.m. I just slap a CD in my Walkman, and spend some quality OTR time until someone else in the family decides to get up.

If you haven’t purchased a copy of this set, by the way—I give it a big thumbs-up, since it contains many of the classic and seminal episodes of what must truly be radio’s finest dramatic hour. While I was away, I listened to three episodes written by John Meston, who was the most prolific of all the Gunsmoke scribes, contributing 183 of the 413 radio scripts and 196 of the 635 television shows. Many fans believe that the television show was made palatable only because so many of Meston’s radio scripts were adapted for the tube. (I don’t dislike the Gunsmoke TV series, but I really do believe it pales in comparison to the radio version; the booklet accompanying the Radio Spirits set has a quote from sound man Bill James: “Even after all these years I have never been able to watch even one episode of the TV version. To me, those performers are nothing but imposters.”)

One of the shows I listened to is a long-time favorite of mine, and one of the first episodes I remember hearing: “Home Surgery,” originally broadcast September 13, 1952. Matt (William Conrad) and Chester (Parley Baer) are on their way back to Dodge when a young woman named Tara Hantree (Sammie Hill) meets up with them and asks them for help; her father (John Dehner) was thrown from a horse and has seriously hurt his leg. At the Hantrees’, Matt realizes that Hantree has a bad case of gangrene:

CHESTER: It’s that bad, is it?
MATT: Yeah…blood poisoning, Chester…soon as it reaches his heart he’s done for…
CHESTER: Well—isn’t there any way to stop it?
MATT: Yeah, sure…cut his leg off…
CHESTER: Oh… (Pause) too bad Doc isn’t here…
MATT: Yeah…
CHESTER: Would that stop it, Mister Dillon? Cutting his leg off, I mean…?
MATT: I don’t know, Chester…I don’t know…it may be too late anyway…I…
CHESTER: Well, I sure wish we could do something for him…I don’t take to just sittin’ ‘round and waitin’ for a man to die…
MATT: Well, nobody does…
CHESTER: It isn’t right somehow…that poor fella…and Tara…why, Mister Dillon, that girl’ll go crazy out here all alone…
MATT (angrily): All right, Chester…what do you want me to do about it? I’m not a doctor, so shut up…
CHESTER: Well, I… (After a long pause) Mister Dillon…you could do it…I know you could!
MATT: Do what?
CHESTER: Be a doctor…long enough to save Mr. Hantree’s life…
MATT: Are you out of your head?
CHESTER: No, sir…
MATT: Then what are you talking like that for? The most I ever did was doctor a horse for the colic…that’s fine trainin’ for this, isn’t it?
CHESTER: I know…but I couldn’t do it…I just plain don’t have the spirit…but you do…
MATT: Oh, why didn’t I leave you back in Dodge…
CHESTER: It wouldn’t have mattered anyway, Mister Dillon…’cause you would never just stand by and let a man die…
(pause)
MATT: Let’s go talk to him, Chester…
CHESTER: Yes sir, Mister Dillon…

I’d like to be able to tell you that there’s a rosy “Little House on the Prairie” ending to this—but there isn’t. Matt amputates Hantree’s leg, but is unable to save the man’s life. It’s a gritty, well-told tale, one of those Gunsmokes that remains in the memory.

The second episode I checked out was “The Overland Trail” (10/31/52), which reminds me a lot of the movie Stagecoach. Matt, Chester and a prisoner named Jim Beaudry (Lawrence Dobkin) are stranded without horses and hop a stage headed for a nearby fort where they hope to pick up fresh horses and continue on to Dodge. While on the stagecoach, Beaudry informs Matt that one (Lou Krugman) of the passengers is wanted in California for armed robbery, and Matt faces the dilemma of having to decide how far he can trust his prisoner. Included in the cast are Vic Perrin, James Nusser, Ralph Moody, and Junius Matthews.

Finally, I listened to a true Gunsmoke classic, “The Cabin” (12/27/52), in which Matt seeks shelter from a severe blizzard in the home of a young woman (Vivi Janiss) whose father has been killed by a pair of drifters—and are determined to kill again. John Dehner and Harry Bartell play Hack and Alvy, two seriously disturbed individuals with no sense of conscience whatsoever—and you get goose bumps just listening to their fine performances. The episode wraps with Matt realizing he can’t offer the help the abused woman needs:

BELLE: Tell me something, Marshal…
MATT: Hmm?
BELLE: Tell me the truth, now…
MATT: Wha…why, sure, Belle…what is it?
BELLE: Are you married?
(pause)
MATT: I’d make a poor husband, Belle…for any woman…
BELLE: Why?
MATT: Well…in my profession it’s…it’s too chancy…
BELLE (sighing) Thank you, Marshal…thanks for puttin’ it that way…
MATT: Now, Belle…I…I didn’t mean…
BELLE: Forget it…I’m leavin’ this place, Marshal…
MATT: What?
BELLE: Soon as you go, I’ll…pack what I need and clearin’ off…
MATT: Well…where will you go?
BELLE: I’ve got three horses…I’ll ride up to Hayes City and sell ‘em…
MATT: Then what?
BELLE: I’ll buy some pretty clothes and…then I’ll find a place…won’t be hard…after this…

I love Meston’s subtlety in suggesting that Belle will soon be trafficking in the life of what my father colorfully refers to as a “camp follower.” It’s just one of the many reasons why I find the radio Gunsmoke superior—Matt and Kitty (Georgia Ellis) had a far more serious relationship on radio than that squeaky-clean chasteness they enjoyed on TV for twenty-some years. It’s also interesting to note that “The Cabin,” a pull-no-punches bleak and realistic story, followed Meston’s “Christmas Story” (12/20/52) which is a much lighter change-of-pace tale.

John Meston was once quoted as saying—in relation to Gunsmoke’s long radio/TV run—“If I had known it would last this long, I would never have created the darn thing.” May we all be eternally grateful for his short-sightedness.