Dodge City has a bad reputation. It’s "the wickedest, cruelest town
in Kansas," some Wichita yokel notes in the episode, "Sweet and
Sour." "No decent man could stand it more than a day." Marshall Matt
Dillon (James Arness) is a decent man, but he’s got a reputation,
too. Residents know not to mess with him. When he tells one
alcohol-fueled miscreant to give up his gun in the episode,
"Chester’s Murder," the man instantly complies, "Sure, I ain’t
that drunk." But it’s not just his marksmanship that
distinguishes Dillon. When a former Army officer shows up in Dodge
angling for Dillon’s job in "The Man Who Would Be Marshal," Dillon
demonstrates his keen grasp of human nature. Rather than arrest a
rowdy sodbuster, he allows him to "blow off steam," explaining,
"That’s his way of reminding himself he’s a man." But the
psychological toll of the dark and bloody side of Dillon’s job is
the focus of "Bloody Hands," one of the best episodes in this
collection of season-concluding episodes. Dillon kills three bank
robbers. It's self-defense, but that doesn’t stop the nightmares,
and he resigns. It’s up to his trusty sidekick, Chester (Dennis
Weaver) to appeal to his sense of justice. The bad guys, he pleads,
"gotta be stopped, and that’s all." And stop 'em Dillon does in his
own inimitable style. After punching one man, his friends complain,
"You hit him with your fist. We don’t like it." Dillon coolly
replies, "How do you know? You haven’t tried it yet" As another bad
man remarks in "Cheap Labor," "That ain’t no way for a lawman to
talk." Dillon still has a little to learn about women. In "Sweet and
Sour," he insists that Miss Kitty (Amanda Blake), who becomes the
co-owner of the Longbranch saloon, hire Rena, a pretty newcomer to
town. "A pretty face will throw you any time," Kitty cautions. "Her
kind spells nothing but trouble." Sure enough, four men are dead
after Rena instigates fights over her. Gunsmoke set a new
standard for the television western. Dillon is occasionally wrong,
innocent people are killed, and not all episodes end with justice
served or the expected happy ending. In one episode, a photographer
(Sebastian "Mr. French" Cabot) sets up his camera in Dodge City.
"It’s authenticity I’m after," he insists. In these half-hour black
and white episodes, Gunsmoke achieved it. --Donald
Liebenson
60
February 16, 1957
561
Bloody Hands
After gunning down three men, Matt
decides he's had enough killing and turns in his badge.
61
February 23, 1957
564
Skid Row
When his fiancee unexpectedly arrives
from back East, a failed homesteader refuses to marry her.
62
March 2, 1957
569
Sweet and SOur
Despite her misgivings, Miss Kitty hires
a young woman whose flirtatius behavior provokes men into
fights.
63
March 9, 1957
566
Cain
A rancher must come to terms with his
past when a consumptive musician arrives in town, planning
to kill him
64
March 16, 1957
570
Bureaucrat
A Washington bureacrat insists that Dodge
must be run by Eastern laws, rules which Matt considers
inappropriate for the Western frontier.
65
March 23, 1957
571
Last Fling
An old friend of Miss Kitty's claims she
shot him after he'd made a drunken pass.
66
March 30, 1957
568
Chester’s Murder
Evidence points to Chester when a man
with whom he'd been arguing is murdered.
67
April 6, 1957
556
The Photographer
Matt believes an Eastern photographer may
have staged a murder just to capture "the violence of the
West.
68
April 13, 1957
563
Wrong Man
Claiming he killed a wanted outlaw, a
reward seeker discovers he accidentally killed an innocent
man
69
April 20, 1957
560
Big Girl Lost
When her ex-fiancee unexpectedly comes to
Dodge, a woman asks Matt not to reveal where she works.
70
April 27, 1957
572
What the Whiskey Drummer Heard
Matt pretends to leave town after he
discovers that someone wants to kill him.
71
May 4, 1957
567
Cheap Labor
A war veteran's plans to marry are
hampered by his fiancee's brother, a man who mistreats his
sister.
72
May 11, 1957
575
Moon
Tipped to a killer's identity, Matt
decides to investigate.
73
May 18, 1957
573
Who Lives by the Sword
Matt deals with a man who draws
inexperienced gunfighters into duels they can't hope to win.
74
May 25, 1957
574
Uncle Oliver
Matt meets Uncle Oliver, a man who thinks
his incompetent nephew would make a better deputy than
Chester.
75
June 1, 1957
565
Daddy-O
Although he abandoned her as a child,
Kitty's father wants her to come to New Orleans and invest
in his shipping business.
76
June 15, 1957
577
The Man Who Would Be Marshal
When a former army officer decides he
wants to be Marshal, Matt lets him stay to see how he likes
it.
77
June 22, 1957
576
Liar from Blackhawk
A young gunslinger tries to get attention
by lying and killing drunks.
78
July 6, 1957
578
Jealousy
A young man plots to kill Matt after
learning he was seen with the man's girlfriend.
