Gunsmoke or Bonanza...discuss

[MikeBSG]

Harry Dean Stanton was on this morning's episode of "Gunsmoke." He got beaten up by Ken Curtis.

I guess this must have been about 15 years before "Alien," the first time I really noticed Harry Dean Stanton.

[MikeBSG]

Yesterday, Patric Knowles was in "Gunsmoke," a very minor role as a murder suspect.

I would have said he was the last person I expected to see in "gunsmoke," when this morning Michael J. Pollard showed up as a punk who pulls a gun on Matt.

So someone from "The Adventures of Robin Hood" and someone from "Bonnie and Clyde" on the same TV show. (not the same episode, unfortunately.)

[movieman1957]

All right. Who did it?

I had the first season of "Gunsmoke" (the 30 minute episodes) on my Netfilx queue. It moved up well along where by the weekend I would have it. For the first time in my 4 years there it tells me there will be a short wait. FOR THE FIRST SEASON OF "GUNSMOKE"? Really.

If I didn't know that none of you share the same distribution center I might wonder.....

[JackFavell]

Not me! I have Trail of the Lonesome Pine and Wake of the Red Witch!

[movieman1957]

I just sent "Trail" back this morning. Am I going to find something to read from you shortly?

[klondike]

Am I going to find something to read from you shortly?

If you're anticipating a review of TOTLP, Chris, I'd love to see one, from either you or Wendy Good-Witch; I consider it a seriously overlooked/underrated gem of filmmaking!

[JackFavell]

Hey, MissGoddess and Chris deserve all the credit - I only followed suit, renting the films when I read their reviews.

I hope to get to TOTLP tonight or tomorrow - most likely tomorrow, since I am rather sleep deprived right now. I doubt I'll make it through a viewing tonight.

[movieman1957]

I watched the first two episodes of "Gunsmoke." 30 minute shows from 1955. The first episode has the John Wayne introduction and then we are swept away to Dodge City. Everyone is young and it is obvious, to me anyway, that they are feeling their way early on.

No gray in Doc's hair. Kitty barely looks old enough to drink. Matt has quite filled out yet. Chester, with his limited role, is the closest thing we know. Though his humor has yet to show itself.

These episodes start with a little dramatic prologue narration by Matt. He is walking through a wind swept Boot Hill thinking what we hear. All the while headstones flap in the wind. Kitty looks more the saloon girl at this stage and she is all after Matt from the start. Her beauty mark has yet to make an appearance. Much of it looks like a live production. Some awkward pauses and stances. Matt is much more demonstrative in his anger. It is not the firm, pointed, subtle anger of later. This is almost a yelling angst that comes quickly. After all it is only 30 minutes.

Doc does not appear in episode 2 and may not have been set as a regular yet or they handle credits differently as his name does not appear in those credits.

Familiar things range from Chester's limp to Matt's horse to the sheriff's office and the Long Branch looking very much like they did 5 or 6 years later. Even the opening gun fight, with the opening shot of Matt's backside, is the same one they showed years later. One oddity is there is no opening theme or credits. The announcer tells us we are watching "Gunsmoke" and they get right to the story. Not as deep as "HGWT" but straight forward western town stories. From such humble beginnings the following 20 year run seems improbable but there would be time to work on it.

[pvitari]

Harry Dean Stanton is still out there. I saw him last night in the season premiere of Chuck, wielding a Very Big Shotgun as a repo man out to repossess the piece o' **** car that Chuck and Morgan drive. The car only cost $900 but thanks to interest they owe $43,000 on it.

[MissGoddess]

Hi Chris,

I have the first couple of seasons of "Gunsmoke" on DVD and enjoy them so far. I like seeing
the old familiars so "fresh". It is surprising though, that it had such a long run, considering
there are no gimmicks, it's very straightforward. Maybe that is why it lasted so long. Plain
and simple, it gave room for writers to breathe and I have to say, some of the later episodes
are the strongest, writing and acting wise (at least with the guest stars).

Didn't the show already have quite a run on Radio before it came to TV? Who was Dillon
on the radio show? Was it Arness already? I thought Wayne was first offered the role
of Dillon, but of course turned it down and pushed for Arness to get the part. If Arness
was already doing the radio show, I'm surprised they'd even think John Wayne would
agree, since his movie career was in high gear at the time.

[knitwit45]

Ms. G, I think it was William Conrad. He had a wonderful voice, and was quite multi-talented. I recently saw him in an episode of HGWT, as a recovering alcoholic, and he directed quite a few episodes of that show, also.

[movieman1957]

As I recall William Conrad did the voice on the radio. Wayne was offered the role. I don't know how many western shows there were in 1955 other than "Cheyenne" but there couldn't have been too many. Maybe Wayne's being offered the role was out of respect. When you are kicking off a new genre, so to speak, who wouldn't want the man that most represents it?

Arness hadn't been around too long. He had done small parts. "Wagon Master," as you well know. He had a small part in "Stars in My Crown." Amanda Blake had a small role there but not with Arness. I think part of the appeal to have Arness was, for one, Wayne's recommendation and secondly that he is a big, strong guy very much in the Wayne mold.

One of the reasons I wanted to see this is to see how it all began. I have watched "Gunsmoke" for years but never had seen, and almost had never heard anything about the early years. Watching them as a 30 minute show they almost feel odd. Also seeing the characters that I know so well being a little different from the way I know them is also pretty interesting.

You are quite right about the stories being simple. In the first two they take what seems part of a bigger story and deal with it in a narrow basis. That is not a bad thing. It keeps it lean.

One thing that did strike me in the first two episodes was they featured a realistic showing of the heat. In other words everyone was wringing wet with sweat. That may be an odd thing to notice but when have we seen a show that so regularly complains about the heat but never really shows it. Later on even they weren't so obvious about it.

I am anxious to see more.

PS. Just my luck that "JF" was typing as I was. At least I was right.

[MissGoddess]

Oh man, it happened AGAIN!!! I wrote a whole long reply and it got LOST. Also, I can't write
long replies without this website going crazy on me. It starts to get "stuck" like it won't scroll
down to let me type more. It's very, very frustrating.

If I can recover my temper I'll try to re-write my post later. Sorry, Chris.

[movieman1957]

I don't know if there is a character limit in a post. I seem to remember once or twice others having spread theirs out over two posts. I am not sure. I have not experienced that problem you have. I use Google Chrome on any of the computers I use and have not had a problem.

I'm sorry you are having yours trouble. Maybe Moira knows. I'll see if I can find anything out.

[MikeBSG]

I think the radio "Gunsmoke" started in 1953 or so. The pilot episode had aired earlier. The problem with the pilot (which didn't have William Conrad) was that CBS wanted the show to be like "The Adventures of Philip Marlow," so 'Mark' Dillion narrated the whole episode with a lot of description about the sunset/sunrise, etc. It took a few starts to shake this and make the radio show "western" instead of "noir" with sagebrush.

I think the radio show ran until 1961. William Conrad was Matt for the whole run. In the last episode, he quits as Marshal in disgust rather than help a bossy cattleman who has the letter of the law on his side.

Howard McNair (Floyd the barber on Andy Griffith Show) was the radio doc. His character changed the most. Originally, he was a rather ghoulish alcoholic. Orignally just called "Doc," he became "Doc Adams" because William Conrad called him "Doctor Charles Adams" on air, as a joking reference to the macabre cartoonist.

When the TV show came along, two things changed Doc. First, Milburn Stone's grandfather had been a doctor in Wild West Kansas, and the TV character was named Dr. Galen Adams and was a far more serious character. Next, John Meston, who wrote the radio show began revising his radio scripts for TV. This opened up "gunsmoke" the radio show to new writers. One, a woman, wrote stories that emphasized Doc's skill and human side. The radio Doc of 1954 and 1961 are very different.