Gunsmoke: The First Season – DVD Review

DVD Reviews, Reviews

DVD available at Amazon.com

Creators:
John Meston and Norman MacDonnell

Cast:
James Arness….Marshal Matt Dillon
Milburn Stone….Dr. Galen “Doc” Adams
Amanda Blake….Kitty Russell
Dennis Weaver….Chester Goode

Paramount Video presents Gunsmoke: The First Season. Thirty nine episodes on 6 DVDs. Episodes aired from Sept. 10, 1955 to Aug. 25, 1956. DVD released July 17, 2007.

The Show

Those who grew up watching endless repeats of Gunsmoke episodes from its final color years, this first season will be a revelation. The characters appear so adolescent that you’ll swear the show is called Gunsmoke Babies. Marshall Matt Dillon is a young man with a badge. Miss Kitty flaunts her youth instead of hiding her age under all that whore paint. Chester has a fresh limp in his step. His cheeks aren’t even covered in peach fuzz. Dodge City’s street seems freshly blazed. Even Boot Hill has a new grave smell. However cranky Doc Adams isn’t a fresh from med school graduate. Doc popped out of his mother’s womb a month away from retiring. These characters would mature over the next twenty years on America’s TV sets. It’s great to finally see how it all started.

Here’s a great piece of bar trivia: Who was the first cowboy to appear on Gunsmoke? Matt Dillon? Nope. Festus? Not even close. It was John Wayne. Before “Matt Gets It,” The Duke stood in front the camera with hat in hand. He told the viewers that this Western series met with his approval. He wanted us to know this was an adult drama. He was right. This was not a kiddie show featuring cowboys and indians racing around the prairie. On Gunsmoke, the savages didn’t wear war paint and fire off arrows when they snuck up on Marshall Dillon. The savages that came into Dodge City were lawless frontier settlers. Instead of attempting to carve out a fortune from the untamed land, they preferred to carve up their fellow pioneers and steal a fortune.

The radio version of Gunsmoke started broadcasting in 1952 with William Conrad (Cannon) as the voice of Matt Dillon. Many of the early episodes were adapted from the theater of the imagination. It really shows in the dialogue heavy segments. The characters constantly repeat the name of people they’re addressing. It’s as if the script editors forgot that the home audience would be staring at a picture tube and not a loudspeaker. They can see everyone involved in the conversation. On several episodes you can follow the action with your back to the screen.

Many of the episodes open with Marshall Dillon roaming through Boot Hill and giving a monologue on how many bodies were there because of his quick draw. He’s not happy about planting folks. There’s a heaviness to his job of keeping the law in Dodge City. He reminds us that many refer to the town as “Gomorra of the Plains.” He lets us know that people come and go from that town. This is not a steady population he oversees like Sheriff Andy Griffith. Every day he has new people roaming into his jurisdiction. The first episode (of 635 episodes), “Matt Gets It” has the Marshall getting between an out of town sheriff and Poker player that shot an unarmed cheater. The Poker player thought the cheater was packing a gun. Dillon lays back and lets the sheriff collect his fugitive. The sheriff has a shoot out with his suspect instead of arresting him. The killer guns down the lawman and then gives Dillon a big surprise. It’s a pretty bold way to start off a series.

“Word of Honor” has Doc being taken hostage by a trio of brothers that includes Claude Akins (Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo. Doc makes a promise to the brothers not to fink them out, but discovers he promised more than he should. Doc has to figure out a way to get the brother captured without breaking his pledge. “Home Surgery” reminds us that this Western is adult. Dillon has to cut off a settler’s leg to save him from gangrene. In any other show, we get the miracle ending. But not here. Turns out that he’s ready to take over Doc’s role in the community. “Professor Lute Bone” has Dillon take on a medicine man who is selling a curing tonic that is killing off folks. The show does a bit of debunking of these medicine shows selling harmless bottles.

“Robin Hood” has William Hopper (best known as Paul Drake on Perry Mason) playing a friendly outlaw who can’t get convicted because no one will testify against him. He shares his loot with the locals. They love his exploits. There’s a great shoot out a black out. Unlike some dramas, we get to see blood from a bullet wound in this episode. “Chester’s Mail Order Bride” reminds us that duping potential long distance lovers is not something exclusive to the internet. Chester decides to use Dillon’s picture to impress a potential spouse. She’s not exactly thrilled when she discovers the harsh reality after a long stagecoach ride.

Another thing that is very apparent this season is that Miss Kitty isn’t merely running a bar. She’s got a brothel going on upstairs. Quite a few of the episodes deal with her female staff members that innocent folks thought were merely barmaids. “Obie Tater” has a rich old coot marrying a new girl at the saloon. Dillon thinks she’s after Obie’s rumored fortune. “Reunion ’78” also deals with one of Miss Kitty’s hookers, Belle. This time we learn how this girl got into the flesh trade when her past arrives in town. While the TV standards of the mid-50s really wanted to avoid talk of prostitution, there are enough clues that these girls do more than collect beer mugs from the table. During “Reunion,” Belle and Chester talk about money and the price of her company. She demands more than a 15% gratuity from her regulars.

While Gunsmoke is noted for being early credits on the resumes of many Hollywood directors, the first 26 episodes were produced and directed by Charles Marquis Warren. Towards the end of the season they brought in other helmers including Robert Stevenson Mary Poppins), Ted Post (Hang ’em High).

The boxset has a warning that “some episodes may be edited from their original network versions.” All of the episodes are over 26 minutes. The noticable thing missing is the original openings which had a cigarette company sponsoring the show. This is found on the bonus features. Don’t fear that somehow you’re getting conned into buying episodes that have been butchered down to the 20 minutes that are demanded by today’s syndication market.

For many, this freshman outing of 39 adventures shall be brand spanking new. In the last few decades, not too many channels ran the black and white thirty minute version when they could book the color syndication package. These episodes don’t feel rushed compared to the hour long episodes. The difference is the elimination of the secondary plot line. They stick to the big story and let it play out. While Matt Dillon is the law, he’s far from infallible in his actions and philosophy. This early season shows him before he became a TV legend for keeping Dodge City clean for twenty years.

The Episodes
The first season features “Matt Gets It,” “Hot Spell,” “Word of Honor,” “Home Surgery,” “Obie Tater,” “Night Incident,” “Smoking Out the Nolans,” “Kite’s Reward,” “The Hunter,” “The Queue,” “General Parcley Smith,” “Magnus,” “Reed Survives,” “Professor Lute Bone,” “No Handcuffs,” “Reward for Matt,” “Robin Hood,” “Yorky,” “20-20,” “Reunion ’78,” “Helping Hand,” “Tap Day for Kitty,” “Indian Scout,” “The Pest Hole,” “The Big Broad,” “Hack Prine,” “Cooter,” “The Killer,” “Doc’s Revenge,” “The Preacher,” “How to Die for Nothing,” “Dutch George,” “Prairie Happy,” “Chester’s Mail Order Bride,” “The Guitar,” “Cara,” “Mr. and Mrs. Amber,” “Unmarked Grave” and “Alarm at Pleasant Valley.”

The DVD
VIDEO:
The picture is 1.33:1 full frame. The black and white transfers are top notch. You might have never seen this show so sharp and stunning.

AUDIO:
The soundtrack is Dolby Digital Mono. The levels are a little tricky since the exterior audio is a little bit weaker than the stuff shot on the soundstage. You might have to ride the volume button.

EXTRAS:
Sponsor Spots (1:55) features a few words from L & M cigarettes. There’s the original opening in which the Gunsmoke title transforms into a pack of L&M cigarettes. The first ad features Arness showing off the hardpack on the set and the softpack in his study. “Live modern. Smoke L& M!” Arness tells us. The second ad has Arness and Stone wandering off the set for a smoke break. A final version of the opening credits has the Gunsmoke title transforming into a Remington electric shaver.

The DVD Lounge’s Ratings for Gunsmoke: The First Season
CATEGORY
RATING
(OUT OF 10)
THE SHOW

10
THE VIDEO

9
THE AUDIO

8
THE EXTRAS

5
REPLAY VALUE

8
OVERALL
9
(NOT AN AVERAGE)

The Inside Pulse
After three Gunsmoke DVD sets that collected episodes from through out the twenty season run, Paramount finally gets down to business with the first season. It’s easy to see why this show became a staple for two decades. The writing kept episodes from slipping into Western cliches. Marshall Dillon isn’t just a bold lawman. He was a man with a badge who screwed up now and then.

Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.