Gunsmoke
Volume 13
Around Dodge City and in the territory on west -- there’s just one way to handle the killers and the spoilers -- and that’s with a U.S. 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 Marshall -- the first man they look for and the last they want to meet. It’s a chancy job -- and it makes a man watchful...and a little lonely.
Authenticity was something that the creators of Gunsmoke strived for. A key locale in Dodge City for Marshall Dillon, Doc Adams, Chester, and Miss Kitty was the Long Branch Saloon – which actually existed for a brief time in the booming Wild West Town of Dodge City, Kansas between 1874 and 1885, before it burned down, never to be rebuilt.
In order to achieve their goal of imbuing Gunsmoke with as much audio realism as possible, Norman Macdonnell and John Meston wrote dialogue that was often slow and halting, more like people actually talked. To add even more realism, Gunsmoke’s sound effects were often multilayered with a subtlety that echoed with the deep vastness of the prairie frontier. Also, multi-layering sound backdrops were used against the dialogue of the characters. So when Marshall Dillon was speaking to Chester Proudfoot, listeners would hear extraneous background conversations, or playing kids shouting, along with neighing horses and barking dogs. These sounds, likely common in a busy western town like Dodge City, weren’t typically used in other Westerns of the day. The focus was on dialogue and primary sound effects and music, which left many shows sounding exactly like what they were, programs produced in a studio. Fully investing its listeners in the experience, Gunsmoke sounded like Dodge City in the 1880s.
Listen to the Sparkling Audio Quality in Radio Archives restoration of Gunsmoke, Volume 13.
Sunday, October 9. 1955 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by L & M Cigarettes
#184 Trouble in Kansas
Sunday, October 16, 1955 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by L & M Cigarettes
#185 Brush at Elkader
Sunday, October 23, 1955 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by L & M Cigarettes
#186 The Choice
Sunday, October 30, 1955 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by L & M Cigarettes
#187 The Second Choice
Sunday, November 6, 1955 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by L & M Cigarettes
#188 The Preacher
Sunday, November 13, 1955 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by L & M Cigarettes
#189 Dutch George
Sunday, November 20, 1955 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by L & M Cigarettes
#190 Amy's Good Deed
Sunday, November 27, 1955 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by L & M Cigarettes
#191 Sunny Afternoon
Sunday, December 4, 1955 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by L & M Cigarettes
#192 Land Deal
Sunday, December 11, 1955 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by L & M Cigarettes
#193 Scared Kid
Sunday, December 18, 1955 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by L & M Cigarettes
#194 Twelfth Night
Sunday, December 25, 1955 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by L & M Cigarettes
