Latest / Gunsmoke | Old Time Radio / Gunsmoke - "Woman Called Mary" (Old Time Radio, 1957)
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: January 27, 1957 brought CBS Radio's Gunsmoke to episode 251,
- 0:07Speaker 1: Woman Called Mary. In Dodge City, Buffalo Mary has been
- 0:12Speaker 1: robbed of the savings she worked hard to build, and
- 0:16Speaker 1: Marshal Matt Dillon and Chester begin looking into the theft.
- 0:20Speaker 1: What first appears to be a direct case leads Dillon
- 0:23Speaker 1: to consider the hardship surrounding Mary and the kind of
- 0:26Speaker 1: justice that may be called for. William Conrad stars as Dylan,
- 0:32Speaker 1: with Parley Bear as Chester, Georgia Ellis as Kitty, and
- 0:36Speaker 1: Howard McNear as Doc, Virginia Gregg, and Vic Perrin are
- 0:41Speaker 1: also heard. Les Crutchfield wrote the script under producer Norman MacDonald.
- 0:48Speaker 1: We now take you back to the original broadcast.
- 1:02Speaker 2: Around Dodge City and in the territory on west, there
- 1:05Speaker 2: is just one way to handle the killers and the spoilers,
- 1:08Speaker 2: and that's with a U.S. Marshal and the smell of
- 1:11Speaker 2: gun smoke. John Bootsmore, starring William Conrad. The story of
- 1:34Speaker 2: the violence that moved west with young America. And the
- 1:37Speaker 2: story of a man who moved with it.
- 1:40Speaker 3: I'm that man. Matt Dillon, United States Marshal.
- 1:44Speaker 4: The first man they look for and the last they.
- 1:46Speaker 3: Want to meet. It's a chancy job. And it makes
- 1:50Speaker 3: a man watchful. And a little lonely.
- 1:58Speaker 5: Oh, my God.
- 2:26Speaker 6: Nice morning, ain't it, Mr.
- 2:28Speaker 7: Dillon?
- 2:28Speaker 8: Uh-huh.
- 2:30Speaker 7: For this time of year, you just couldn't ask for
- 2:32Speaker 7: no better weather. By golly, even the horses like it.
- 2:38Speaker 4: I think they're more interested in that water trough than
- 2:40Speaker 4: they are in the weather, Chester.
- 2:43Speaker 7: Oh, there's old Buffalo Mary filling her wash bucket. I
- 2:47Speaker 7: sure hope she ain't stirred up all the sludge off
- 2:49Speaker 7: the bottom.
- 2:50Speaker 3: That sludge doesn't bother the horses.
- 2:52Speaker 8: Well, it does me.
- 2:54Speaker 7: It's warm enough this morning. I figured I might wash
- 2:56Speaker 7: up a little.
- 2:57Speaker 4: You know, you've been saying that every morning for two
- 2:59Speaker 4: weeks until you find out how cold the water is.
- 3:03Speaker 6: I know, but I.
- 3:04Speaker 7: Got my curry just better today.
- 3:05Speaker 6: Yeah, sure.
- 3:06Speaker 3: Good morning, Mary. Morning, Miss Mary.
- 3:12Speaker 5: Morning, Sheriff.
- 3:14Speaker 9: Mr.
- 3:15Speaker 10: Proudfoot, I didn't hear you at all. I reckon my
- 3:18Speaker 10: faculties are starting to go.
- 3:20Speaker 3: Oh, you were just too busy, that's all.
- 3:23Speaker 7: It's all gone if that water ain't still pretty cold.
- 3:26Speaker 3: I figured it would be. How's the world been treating you, Mary?
- 3:29Speaker 10: I reckon I don't see much of the world, Marshal.
- 3:32Speaker 8: Except in this dirty clothes.
- 3:34Speaker 6: Yeah.
- 3:35Speaker 3: I got the same feeling sometimes.
- 3:37Speaker 6: You, uh, keeping busy, are you?
- 3:40Speaker 10: To tell you the truth, Marshal, if the day was
- 3:43Speaker 10: two hours longer, I'd still be.
- 3:45Speaker 8: Short of time.
- 3:46Speaker 3: No, it's not so.
- 3:47Speaker 10: If it ain't washing the man and packing water for
- 3:51Speaker 10: the tub.
- 3:52Speaker 8: Cutting firewood to heat him. Oh, it's a tired, poor night.
- 3:57Speaker 8: Sometimes I could just drop right in the tracks.
- 3:59Speaker 3: Yeah, I know what you mean.
- 4:01Speaker 10: I've been aiming to come by the jail and get them.
- 4:04Speaker 7: Shirts of yours.
- 4:05Speaker 10: It's past two days. I'll do it right now, Marsha.
- 4:09Speaker 8: I'll leave my buckets here.
- 4:10Speaker 3: No, no, no, Mary.
- 4:12Speaker 4: Chester can drop them off this afternoon sometime.
- 4:14Speaker 10: Yeah, it would be kind of a help. If it
- 4:18Speaker 10: ain't too much trouble. Oh, it ain't no trouble at all.
- 4:21Speaker 6: Miss Mary.
- 4:22Speaker 8: That's mighty kind of you, Mr. Proudfoot.
- 4:24Speaker 6: Oh, I'm glad to do it.
- 4:27Speaker 10: Truth is, I'm... Well, I'm a little put out today.
- 4:32Speaker 10: Piece of bad luck, as you might say. But I'm
- 4:35Speaker 10: much obliged to you.
- 4:37Speaker 7: It's as good as done, ma'am.
- 4:38Speaker 3: What, uh.
- 4:41Speaker 7: Mary?
- 4:42Speaker 10: Oh, nothing at all, Marshal. I wouldn't even bother your
- 4:46Speaker 10: mind with it.
- 4:47Speaker 3: Has that bruise.
- 4:49Speaker 4: On your jaw and that black eye got anything to
- 4:51Speaker 4: do with it?
- 4:53Speaker 10: I'd rather you just forget I said.
- 4:56Speaker 7: Anything, Marshal.
- 4:58Speaker 3: What happened, Mary?
- 5:00Speaker 8: He said he'd come back and do for.
- 5:10Speaker 7: It is Reb Sutter. Well, I bet no Count Bowie's
- 5:14Speaker 7: been in more mean than you can shake a stick at.
- 5:16Speaker 3: Why did he do it, Mary? What reason did he have?
- 5:19Speaker 8: It was my savings, Marshal.
- 5:21Speaker 7: Oh, my great man.
- 5:22Speaker 11: I had him buried in my cabin, and I wouldn't
- 5:25Speaker 11: tell him where. But he made me tell him before
- 5:29Speaker 11: he was through. Took me two years.
- 5:33Speaker 7: Forty-eight dollars.
- 5:35Speaker 8: Ever since I got.
- 5:36Speaker 6: I declare he ought to be hung.
- 5:37Speaker 8: Oh, I weren't going to say nothing, Marshal.
- 5:40Speaker 10: Even if he hadn't threatened me. I weren't aiming to
- 5:44Speaker 10: put you to no bother.
- 5:45Speaker 3: It's not me who's going to be bothered, Mary.
- 5:47Speaker 10: Oh, if he had drafted with something big and important.
- 5:50Speaker 6: It's big.
- 5:51Speaker 3: It's important.
- 5:52Speaker 4: And by the time I get through with him, Reb
- 5:54Speaker 4: Sutter's going to realize it.
- 6:03Speaker 7: That fella sure has a dog done in this lot, Mr. Dillon.
- 6:07Speaker 3: We'll find him.
- 6:08Speaker 7: Well, I think he can take him. Old Buffalo Mary's
- 6:10Speaker 7: saving his heart. If she works.
- 6:12Speaker 2: My blood just starts.
- 6:13Speaker 3: To froth up.
- 6:14Speaker 10: Max? What?
- 6:15Speaker 7: Miss Kitty.
- 6:16Speaker 10: Oh, Max.
- 6:17Speaker 3: Hello, Kitty.
- 6:18Speaker 7: I've been looking all over for you. Oh? There's a
- 6:20Speaker 7: job for you in the long branch.
- 6:21Speaker 6: Oh, it's a trouble.
- 6:23Speaker 8: We got one of those mean ones tonight.
- 6:25Speaker 7: Drinking too much, pushing people around.
- 6:27Speaker 10: Trying to get a fight started.
- 6:29Speaker 6: All right, I'll go have a look. Who is it?
- 6:31Speaker 2: Reb Sutter.
- 6:32Speaker 7: Reb Sutter?
- 6:33Speaker 5: Yeah.
- 6:35Speaker 6: Well, we found him, Chester. Come on. Oh, yeah, that's
- 6:49Speaker 6: what's the matter with you.
- 6:50Speaker 3: That's him, all right.
- 6:51Speaker 7: I just stood up here and told you all I
- 6:54Speaker 7: can whip any man in this room.
- 6:57Speaker 6: Ain't no wonder you got.
- 6:58Speaker 7: The blood and gumption to say me no on it.
- 7:02Speaker 3: Maybe they're just going easy on you, Sutter.
- 7:07Speaker 7: Well, now, if it ain't the Marshal. Some lily liver come.
- 7:12Speaker 3: After you, I reckon. Matter of fact, I came after you.
- 7:16Speaker 6: Mm-hmm.
- 7:18Speaker 3: There's a law against talking, is there?
- 7:20Speaker 4: There's a law against beating people up and stealing their
- 7:23Speaker 4: life savings.
- 7:24Speaker 3: She's a liar.
- 7:25Speaker 7: I wasn't even near there last night, and if she
- 7:29Speaker 7: says it.
- 7:31Speaker 8: I mean, she.
- 7:32Speaker 3: What do you mean, she? Who says, son?
- 7:35Speaker 6: Or near where?
- 7:36Speaker 7: I didn't mention any details. I don't know nothing about it.
- 7:40Speaker 6: Well, maybe it'll come to you.
- 7:41Speaker 3: You're under arrest. Now, put out your wrists.
- 7:45Speaker 4: I reckon I could put handcuffs on a man, too,
- 7:48Speaker 4: if I was wearing a gun and he wasn't.
- 7:52Speaker 3: You've always played it safe that way.
- 7:53Speaker 4: I'm just sort of never wearing a gun if you
- 7:55Speaker 4: had somebody that killed you a long time ago.
- 7:58Speaker 7: Ain't nobody got much taste for going at it my.
- 8:01Speaker 6: Way, though, I notice.
- 8:03Speaker 3: Maybe it's time somebody didn't.
- 8:05Speaker 6: I offered, Marshal. Nobody took. That's all.
- 8:15Speaker 3: Chester, can you take my gun with you?
- 8:19Speaker 7: All right, Chief.
- 8:22Speaker 3: All right, Reb, I've already told you you're under arrest.
- 8:26Speaker 3: I heard you. And I'm going to put these handcuffs
- 8:28Speaker 3: on you one way or the other. I ain't never been.
- 8:31Speaker 7: Handcuffed yet, Marshal. I don't reckon I'm starting tonight.
- 8:38Speaker 6: Uh-huh. Chester? Yes, sir?
- 8:42Speaker 3: Hold these handcuffs for a couple of minutes, huh? Yes, sir.
- 8:46Speaker 6: You're a dang fool, Marshal, if you.
- 8:49Speaker 3: Why, you... I'm going to kill you for that, maybe.
- 8:51Speaker 8: Now, you can stop at any time, Sutter.
- 8:55Speaker 6: By just sticking out your ribs. Please. I'll break every
- 9:18Speaker 6: bone in your butt.
- 9:19Speaker 4: Any time, Sutter, one way or the other, you're wearing
- 9:21Speaker 4: those cuffs to jail tonight.
- 9:23Speaker 7: Oh, no, I ain't.
- 9:25Speaker 5: Sutter. Give me the handcuffs. Thank you.
- 10:00Speaker 3: Well, I guess that's it, Mary.
- 10:03Speaker 8: Eighty-four cents, Marshal? That's all they had left out of it?
- 10:07Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm afraid so. He managed to get almost every
- 10:10Speaker 4: saloon in town.
- 10:13Speaker 8: Two years of hard work. And he drunk it all
- 10:17Speaker 8: up in one day.
- 10:18Speaker 4: Well, he's going to jail for it, Mary, if that's
- 10:21Speaker 4: any satisfaction.
- 10:22Speaker 8: Well.
- 10:23Speaker 4: Judge Bent says the case against him is solid.
- 10:26Speaker 3: He hasn't got a chance of getting off.
- 10:28Speaker 10: Seems like there ought to be a better way somehow.
- 10:32Speaker 10: Something that's gotten more justice in it. I mean, him
- 10:37Speaker 10: going to jail ain't going to get me my money back.
- 10:40Speaker 3: You may be right, Mary, but... Oh, I'm sorry, Mary.
- 10:46Speaker 3: I guess that's about all I can say.
- 10:48Speaker 10: Oh, I ain't blaming you none, Marshal. I'm mighty obliged
- 10:52Speaker 10: and grateful to you for letting more important things stand
- 10:56Speaker 10: by while you took time to help a nobody like me. Now, Mary, don't... Oh,
- 10:59Speaker 10: I mean it, Marshal. It was mighty good of you.
- 11:03Speaker 10: And you too, Mr.
- 11:04Speaker 8: Proudfoot.
- 11:06Speaker 3: Oh, well, I'm glad to do what I could, Miss Mary.
- 11:09Speaker 8: I'll be getting on now. I'll have your shirt for you, too.
- 11:15Speaker 3: There's no hurry.
- 11:16Speaker 2: Well, good night, all.
- 11:18Speaker 6: Good night. Doggone if she ain't right, Mr. Dillon.
- 11:24Speaker 7: Just sending Reb Sutter to prison ain't gonna help her none.
- 11:28Speaker 7: Something harder ought to be done about it.
- 11:29Speaker 3: Just as something is gonna be done first thing in
- 11:32Speaker 3: the morning.
- 11:49Speaker 6: I love you. I love you. Captain.
- 12:03Speaker 8: Captain.
- 12:05Speaker 7: What is the matter with you, Doc? Oh, if you squeak,
- 12:08Speaker 7: that cow found a chair over there. So help me,
- 12:10Speaker 7: I'm just.
- 12:10Speaker 6: You mean like this?
- 12:12Speaker 3: Is that a blast? Oh, darn you, Chester.
- 12:16Speaker 7: A little noise like that will never get you all pecky.
- 12:19Speaker 3: A little noise.
- 12:20Speaker 7: Like that is enough for me to cut your throat
- 12:22Speaker 7: if you.
- 12:22Speaker 3: Keep it up.
- 12:22Speaker 6: Oh, my, you've got bad nerves, Doc.
- 12:26Speaker 7: Old Chief Thunderbull makes up a kind of a tonic base.
- 12:32Speaker 3: He doesn't know no more about medicine than you. Bad
- 12:35Speaker 3: nerves and a tonic.
- 12:37Speaker 6: A lot of people get it from him and take it.
- 12:39Speaker 3: And a lot of people are fools, too.
- 12:42Speaker 6: I know.
- 12:43Speaker 7: They claim it does them good.
- 12:44Speaker 8: Oh, look at Chester.
- 12:45Speaker 7: My nerves are all right.
- 12:46Speaker 12: And that tonic of Thunder Bulls is 60% hogwash and
- 12:50Speaker 12: 60% rotgut whiskey.
- 12:52Speaker 7: Well, now, look here.
- 12:53Speaker 6: You can't have no 120% or nothing.
- 12:55Speaker 7: I can have 100,000% of whatever. Well, I'm just shifting
- 13:02Speaker 7: my weight, Doc. Then don't shift it.
- 13:04Speaker 11: Leave it where it is.
- 13:08Speaker 7: Folks who take that tonic regularly don't stir up no
- 13:11Speaker 7: big rookies just because somebody happens to lean back in
- 13:13Speaker 7: their chair once in a while. Folks who take.
- 13:15Speaker 12: That tonic are dead from the neck up before they
- 13:17Speaker 12: take it and from the neck down after.
- 13:20Speaker 6: Well, how are you, Doc?
- 13:23Speaker 3: Anything out of the ordinary, Chester?
- 13:25Speaker 6: No, sir. Not a thing, Mr.
- 13:26Speaker 7: Jones. Except I was beginning to figure you were going
- 13:29Speaker 7: to spend the whole day over there at Judge Benton. Yeah,
- 13:32Speaker 7: what are you up to there, man? You're playing fast
- 13:34Speaker 7: and loose with the law.
- 13:35Speaker 6: Aren't you?
- 13:36Speaker 4: No, not according to the way the judge sees it. Chester,
- 13:40Speaker 4: you'll get a rap to sutter out of this cell,
- 13:42Speaker 4: wouldn't you?
- 13:43Speaker 3: Oh, Chester.
- 13:44Speaker 7: What's there to worry about? The man can't get out
- 13:47Speaker 7: of the chair without squeaking his tongue, can he?
- 13:49Speaker 6: That's right.
- 13:51Speaker 7: I never see you at the game.
- 13:54Speaker 8: Oh, that boy.
- 13:58Speaker 7: Thunderbolt tonic.
- 13:59Speaker 8: Bad news.
- 14:03Speaker 3: You, uh, kind of on.
- 14:05Speaker 6: The prod today? I am not on the prod.
- 14:08Speaker 4: You know, sometimes a person's blood gets thick during the wintertime,
- 14:12Speaker 4: and come spring, he needs a good tonic.
- 14:16Speaker 10: Matt, I.
- 14:17Speaker 3: Yeah?
- 14:19Speaker 12: I'm getting up out of this chair, Matt. I'm going
- 14:22Speaker 12: to walk slowly and carefully to the door.
- 14:25Speaker 8: I'm not going to lose my temper.
- 14:26Speaker 3: I'm going to keep my voice down.
- 14:29Speaker 7: I'm going to open the door, step outside, and say goodbye.
- 14:40Speaker 3: Goodbye, Doc.
- 14:44Speaker 6: Did the doctor leave?
- 14:44Speaker 3: Yeah, he just left. Oh, come on in, Sutter. I
- 14:47Speaker 3: want to talk to you.
- 14:49Speaker 6: Yes, sir.
- 14:51Speaker 3: Whatever you say, Marshal.
- 14:55Speaker 6: Glad you've had.
- 14:55Speaker 3: Two days in the jail cell to think it over.
- 14:58Speaker 4: You probably realize how things stand against you, don't you?
- 15:02Speaker 6: Being good, I reckon.
- 15:03Speaker 3: Now, if you go to trial, you're going to be convicted.
- 15:07Speaker 3: There's no doubt about it.
- 15:08Speaker 6: I can't have figured that, Marshal.
- 15:11Speaker 4: The least sentence you'll get off with is two years,
- 15:13Speaker 4: and it may run to five or seven. Unless we
- 15:18Speaker 4: can work something out.
- 15:20Speaker 6: What do you mean?
- 15:21Speaker 4: I said the penitentiary will satisfy the law, but it
- 15:25Speaker 4: won't help Buffalo Mary very much. You stole $ 48 from
- 15:29Speaker 4: her and you spent it. Well, I can't pay it
- 15:33Speaker 4: back to her, Marshal. I ain't got one red cent
- 15:36Speaker 4: in my name.
- 15:36Speaker 6: I know that.
- 15:38Speaker 3: But you have got a good strong back, though. What's
- 15:42Speaker 3: that got to do with it? Judge Bent can postpone
- 15:47Speaker 3: your trial... And leave you in my custody for the
- 15:50Speaker 3: time being.
- 15:52Speaker 6: What are you saying, Marshal?
- 15:53Speaker 3: If you agree, we can work it out this way.
- 15:56Speaker 4: First thing every morning, you'll pack enough water over to Mary's.
- 15:59Speaker 3: Place to run her for the day.
- 16:01Speaker 4: And then you'll spend the rest of the day cutting
- 16:03Speaker 4: firewood and stacking it behind her cabin.
- 16:05Speaker 3: Now you'll sleep in your cell and you'll be fed
- 16:08Speaker 3: at the jail table. How does that sound to you?
- 16:14Speaker 6: How long did I have to do it, Marshal?
- 16:16Speaker 3: I don't know. Let's say until everybody agrees that you've
- 16:22Speaker 3: done enough.
- 16:24Speaker 4: What happens then? If you stick to it and play
- 16:27Speaker 4: it square, the case will be dismissed.
- 16:28Speaker 3: Yeah, but now, Mr.
- 16:29Speaker 7: Dillon, if you turn him out to pack water and
- 16:32Speaker 7: carry wood, he'll run off.
- 16:33Speaker 3: I don't think he will, Chester.
- 16:35Speaker 6: You're right, Marshal. I ain't gonna run away.
- 16:41Speaker 7: You see, I've been doing a lot of thinking.
- 16:44Speaker 6: These last two days... It ain't nice to.
- 16:47Speaker 7: Know the only reason people know your name is because
- 16:50Speaker 7: you beat up.
- 16:52Speaker 6: An old woman. There's other things too, Marshal. I don't
- 16:58Speaker 6: have to tell you that.
- 17:00Speaker 3: Oh, what do you say? Where's the woodpile?
- 17:18Speaker 7: Well, poor old Mary's coming down the street there, Mr.
- 17:20Speaker 10: Jones.
- 17:21Speaker 6: Oh, is that so?
- 17:22Speaker 7: She's coming here, it looks like.
- 17:25Speaker 6: I haven't got anything for her.
- 17:26Speaker 3: I thought she was supposed to pick up those shirts tomorrow.
- 17:29Speaker 6: She might have forgot what day it is.
- 17:31Speaker 3: Good morning, Mary. Come on in.
- 17:33Speaker 10: I ain't upset.
- 17:35Speaker 8: Nothing important, Emma.
- 17:36Speaker 3: No, of course not.
- 17:37Speaker 4: Nothing but a morning cup of coffee. Would you like
- 17:40Speaker 4: to have one with us?
- 17:41Speaker 10: Oh, well, Mr.
- 17:42Speaker 8: Gladden, I sure would.
- 17:45Speaker 3: How are things going, Mary? Is Reb keeping at it steady?
- 17:47Speaker 10: Well... That's what I come to see you about. Oh?
- 17:53Speaker 10: I'd never have believed it, Marshal, but that boy's just
- 17:56Speaker 10: been a working fool.
- 17:59Speaker 3: Maybe he sees the devil over his shoulder.
- 18:01Speaker 10: In these two months, I've been able to take extra
- 18:04Speaker 10: work enough to save.
- 18:05Speaker 8: $ 56 already.
- 18:07Speaker 6: Well, that's good.
- 18:08Speaker 10: And not only that, he's got enough wood stacked up
- 18:12Speaker 10: over at my place to last me for the next
- 18:14Speaker 10: three years. That's what I wanted to see about Marshall.
- 18:20Speaker 10: I've told him that he's built his bargain now that
- 18:23Speaker 10: he could quit. But he keeps on working.
- 18:28Speaker 8: Maybe you should tell him.
- 18:33Speaker 4: You know, there's a funny thing about justice, Mary. Sometimes
- 18:37Speaker 4: it's all bound up with a person's conscience.
- 18:42Speaker 10: I guess I don't quite understand, Marshal.
- 18:45Speaker 4: Well, I think in this case, Reb has to feel
- 18:49Speaker 4: that he's paid his debt not only to you, but
- 18:51Speaker 4: to a lot of other people, too. So let's let
- 18:56Speaker 4: things go on for.
- 18:56Speaker 6: A while, huh?
- 18:57Speaker 4: Let's just wait till Reb comes to us and says
- 19:02Speaker 4: he's ready to quit.
- 19:11Speaker 5: Gunsmoke, produced and directed by Norman McDonald, stars William Conrad.
- 19:24Speaker 6: As Matt Billings, U.S.
- 19:26Speaker 2: Marshal.
- 19:31Speaker 9: The story was specially written for Gunsmoke by Les Crutchfield,
- 19:34Speaker 9: with editorial supervision by John Meston. The music was composed
- 19:38Speaker 9: and conducted by Rex Corris. Sound patterns by Tom Hanley
- 19:41Speaker 9: and Bill James. Featured in the cast were Virginia Gregg
- 19:45Speaker 9: and Fitz Heron. Polly Bear is Chester, Howard McNair is Doc,
- 19:49Speaker 9: and Georgia Ellis is Kitty.
- 19:52Speaker 1: We leave Dodge City now after Gunsmoke, Woman Called Mary.
- 19:56Speaker 1: Follow Gunsmoke for more classic broadcasts.