Old Time Radio: Gunsmoke - Reed Survives

Broadcast: August 23, 1959

Matt Dillon was the Marshall of Dodge City, Kansas in this thirty-minute western adventure. There were over 480 episodes broadcast in the 9 years it had spanned. The opening of the show left little doubt that Dillon was the law; “Around Dodge City, and into the territory on the west, there’s just one way to handle the killers and the spoilers: that’s with a US Marshall and the smell of gunsmoke! Gunsmoke! … 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 man they want to meet … it’s a chancy job, and it makes man watchful … and a little lonely.” In this episode:

When Lucy Hunt visits Matt Dillon, she has cooked up a tale that her bible-quoting husband, Ephraim, is going to kill her. Everyone believes that Ephraim is a good man, since he studied to be a preacher, but Lucy swears that he's mean and cruel, and that he holds her past sins against her. Matt's a little skeptical about the story, and when he questions Kitty about her, she confirms that Lucy Hunt is ruthless, and that since a young drifter, Booth Rider, went to work at their place, something has been going on...

Sponsor: L & M, Chesterfield

Cast: Howard McNear, William Conrad, Georgia Ellis, Parley Baer, Michael Ann Barrett, Edgar Barrier, Sam Edwards, Ralph Moody