“Around Dodge City, and into territory on west, there’s just one way to handle the killers and the spoilers: that’s with a U.S. Marshal, and the smell of gunsmoke!“
-Opening phrase of the “Gunsmoke” radio series.
I have been a fan of radio theater from the day a 4th or 5th grade teacher brought out an album of “War Of The Worlds”, Orson Welles’ classic “panic broadcast”. Another early inspiration was–again, Orson Welles–the Campbell Playhouse production of “A Christmas Carol.” That same broadcast has been a Christmas Eve tradition on KCOW since…well…decades ago.
Radio is a medium that demands the listener’s attention and a fertile imagination. Okay, not all radio. I don’t think you have to be deep in thought to enjoy a song or a weather report. But radio theater…it must be enjoyed without distraction. When radio theater is done well, it is truly a more rewarding experience than anything you’d see on a screen.
Case in point: “Gunsmoke”!
I’m not crazy big on western movies or western TV shows. But I’ve seen enough episodes of the “Gunsmoke” TV series to be pretty familiar. There’s Marshall Matt Dillon…barmaid (and possibly a brothel keeper) Kitty. The territory is served by “Doc” who is…a doctor. And Marshall Dillon’s sidekick, Chester. Here’s how these characters are remembered on the tube:
The “Gunsmoke” radio series began in 1952, three years before the TV show. It lasted on CBS Radio until 1961….one of the last classic radio dramas during a time when radio had reinvented itself as a source for music, news, sportscasts……well, radio has reinvented itself a whole lot over the last century. As for the creation of “Gunsmoke”, Wikipedia sez:
In the late 1940s, CBS chairman William S. Paley, a fan of the Philip Marlowe radio series, asked his programming chief, Hubell Robinson, to develop a hardcore Western series, about a “Philip Marlowe of the Old West”. Robinson delegated this to his West Coast CBS vice president, Harry Ackerman, who had developed the Philip Marlowe series.[4]
“Gunsmoke” on radio features a pretty well-known cast. Marshall Dillon is portrayed by William Conrad.
Picture this guy on a horse.
Besides successful star roles in “Cannon” and “Jake And The Fat Man”, Conrad was the bombastic narrator of Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons.
Checking out the remainder of the radio cast:
Doc was played on radio by Howard McNear, beloved by “Andy Griffith Show” fans as Floyd the Barber.
And because I am a Rhodes Scholar on “The Cinnamon Bear”: Howard McNear played Samuel The Seal.
The radio series cast Parley Baer as Chester. (On radio, he was Chester Proudfoot. On TV, Chester Goode.) And here’s another “Andy Griffith Show” connection! Baer was Mayor Stoner of Mayberry.
Parley Baer was also very well known as the voice of the seniormost Keebler Elf.
Georgia Ellis played Kitty, and was a fixture on radio dramas.
So, why do I love “Gunsmoke” on radio to the point of purchasing CD box sets of episodes? Well, here’s the deal:
The Production Values Are Tremendous. “Gunsmoke”, in the closing of each program, gave a credit to “Sound Patterns.” Not “sound effects”. Sound patterns. Kind of like when they call a TV dinner a “frozen entree.” But in this case the fancy credit is well earned. There are large crowd scenes at the saloon and restaurant, and they seem to have a pretty large cast. (Of course, radio actors can make 6 people sound like 30.) You’d expect a radio show like this to have lots of hoofbeats, and it does. But it also has a spectacular array of sounds, including, naturally, a lot of gun shots.
William Conrad Is My Marshall Dillon. James Arness is great as Dillon on the TV series. But Conrad has this deep, sonorous voice that just makes every word he speaks all the more impressive. Just listen to the opening statement he makes in later year episodes:
A Rich Variety Of Stories. It could be believed that a radio drama set in a one-horse town might start to feel a little claustrophobic. Not so! Some episodes involve new visitors who cause trouble; some put Marshall Dillon in complicated situations. Some take a humorous twist. So far, of all the “Gunsmoke” episodes I’ve heard, “Child Labor” from September 15, 1957 made the biggest impression on me. Per the Radio Spirits log line:
“Dillon arranges for a pair of orphaned boys to get food, shelter and a job at the livery stable. The trouble starts when an unscrupulous rancher hires the two to break some wild horses.”
Here’s the complete broadcast.
So that’s my love letter to “Gunsmoke”, the radio series. I would be remiss if i didn’t include my own western saga, “11 Oxen For Brother Kalin”. My friends and I write, record and produce radio dramas, and have done so for over two decades. (And if you’re wondering, I didn’t discover Gunsmoke on radio until years after this production.