Latest / Gunsmoke | Old Time Radio / Gunsmoke - "Good Girl - Bad Company" (Old Time Radio, 1955)
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: On October 8th, 1955, CBS radio brought Gunsmoke to episode 182,
- 0:07Speaker 1: Good Girl, Bad Company. In Dodge City, the robbery of
- 0:11Speaker 1: an army payroll and the killing of two soldiers bring
- 0:15Speaker 1: Major Harris close to declaring martial law, while Marshal Matt
- 0:19Speaker 1: Dillon works to prevent a conflict between the army and
- 0:22Speaker 1: the town. William Conrad is Matt Dillon, joined by Parley Bear,
- 0:27Speaker 1: Georgia Ellis, and Howard McNear. John Diener appears as Major
- 0:32Speaker 1: Harris and Virginia Christine as Jenny Lane. This was an
- 0:37Speaker 1: L & M Filters presentation written by John Meston and
- 0:41Speaker 1: produced and directed by Norman MacDonald. Here is the original broadcast.
- 0:55Speaker 2: Around Dodge City and in the territory on west, there's
- 0:59Speaker 2: just one way to handle the killers and the spoilers,
- 1:02Speaker 2: and that's with a U.S. Marshal and the smell of
- 1:05Speaker 2: gun smoke.
- 1:05Speaker 3: © BF-WATCH TV 2021.
- 1:24Speaker 2: Gunsmoke, starring William Conrad. The transcribed story of the violence
- 1:29Speaker 2: that moved west with young America. And the story of
- 1:33Speaker 2: a man who moved with it.
- 1:35Speaker 4: I'm that man. Matt Dillon, United States Marshal. The first
- 1:40Speaker 4: man they look for and the last they want to meet.
- 1:43Speaker 5: It's a chancy job. And it makes a man watchful.
- 1:48Speaker 5: And a little lonely.
- 1:52Speaker 3: Oh, my God.
- 2:14Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah.
- 2:16Speaker 5: Oh, who's that? Oh, why don't you open the door?
- 2:18Speaker 5: Maybe you'll find out.
- 2:20Speaker 7: I never heard of nobody knocking on this door before.
- 2:24Speaker 8: It's Major Harris, Mr. Dillon, from Fort Dodge.
- 2:30Speaker 5: Come in, Major. Marshal Dillon. Sit down, sit down.
- 2:35Speaker 8: I'll stand, thanks. Marshal, last Saturday, two United States Army
- 2:39Speaker 8: soldiers were murdered while driving a supply wagon from here
- 2:42Speaker 8: to Fort Dodge... Government payroll was stolen, and you seem
- 2:46Speaker 8: to have taken no interest whatsoever.
- 2:47Speaker 9: In the matter.
- 2:51Speaker 4: Well, now, Major, protecting the Army isn't exactly my job.
- 2:55Speaker 8: The Army can protect itself, Marshal.
- 2:57Speaker 4: Then how come there were only two soldiers carrying your payroll?
- 3:00Speaker 5: Where was the rest of your Army?
- 3:01Speaker 8: On maneuvers.
- 3:03Speaker 5: On maneuvers.
- 3:03Speaker 8: In my command, troops remain in garrison as little as possible.
- 3:06Speaker 5: And you were asking for trouble, Major, knowing there was
- 3:08Speaker 5: a payroll coming in.
- 3:09Speaker 8: Marshal, the arrival of the payroll was secret. Even the
- 3:12Speaker 8: two men carrying it didn't know what it was.
- 3:13Speaker 5: Somebody knew. Yes, they did.
- 3:16Speaker 8: Marshal, I regard this crime as a demonstration of your
- 3:19Speaker 8: inability to control these Dodge City ruffians.
- 3:22Speaker 9: What?
- 3:23Speaker 8: I mean it. If no arrests are made in the matter...
- 3:26Speaker 8: I'll give these bad men of yours a taste of
- 3:28Speaker 8: martial law. We'll see how they like that.
- 3:30Speaker 5: Now, wait a minute, Major.
- 3:31Speaker 8: This town will be patrolled 24 hours a day.
- 3:34Speaker 4: Look, Major, you don't know these men. You run the
- 3:36Speaker 4: army in here and they'll fight. There'll be trouble.
- 3:39Speaker 5: Bad trouble.
- 3:39Speaker 8: They brought it on themselves.
- 3:40Speaker 5: No.
- 3:41Speaker 4: You made a mistake and you gotta find somebody to
- 3:43Speaker 4: blame it on.
- 3:47Speaker 8: I want whoever committed those murders. And I want that money, Marshal.
- 3:50Speaker 8: Within a week. And if any more crimes are committed
- 3:53Speaker 8: against the army meantime... We'll take this town over at once.
- 3:58Speaker 8: Good day, gentlemen.
- 4:00Speaker 3: Good day.
- 4:18Speaker 5: Hello, Matt. Evening, Kitty.
- 4:21Speaker 6: This is Marshal Dillon, Jenny. Matt, this is Jenny Lane.
- 4:24Speaker 5: Ah, how do you do, Jenny?
- 4:25Speaker 6: Pleased to meet you, Marshal. Sit down, Matt.
- 4:27Speaker 8: Ah.
- 4:29Speaker 5: You're new in Dodge, aren't you, Jenny?
- 4:30Speaker 6: Oh, I've been here most of the month now. Oh,
- 4:32Speaker 6: she's only been working at the Long.
- 4:33Speaker 8: Branch about a week, Matt.
- 4:35Speaker 5: Ah, how do you like it?
- 4:36Speaker 6: Fine, but I'm kind of worried now.
- 4:38Speaker 8: Oh?
- 4:39Speaker 10: It's this Army business everybody's talking about. Will it be bad, Marshal?
- 4:43Speaker 5: Yeah, it could be.
- 4:44Speaker 6: You think it'll happen?
- 4:46Speaker 5: Might, especially if there's any more trouble.
- 4:49Speaker 6: Say, Jenny, has your corporal been in? He was earlier. Well,
- 4:53Speaker 6: how do the soldiers feel about all this? Well, he
- 4:56Speaker 6: says they sure aren't.
- 4:57Speaker 10: Anxious to mix it with all these gunmen and buffalo
- 5:00Speaker 10: hunters and the like.
- 5:01Speaker 6: But he's not my corporal, Kitty. He's just a lonely kid.
- 5:05Speaker 11: He's not so lonely. He spends more time here than
- 5:08Speaker 11: he does at the fort. How does he manage it, anyway?
- 5:11Speaker 10: Oh, they made him a clerk, a sort of a bookkeeper.
- 5:14Speaker 10: His time's pretty much his own.
- 5:16Speaker 6: Well, he's lucky. Good, safe job, too. Yeah, I suppose
- 5:19Speaker 6: it is. Well, I'd better get busy. I'm glad to
- 5:23Speaker 6: have met you, Marshal.
- 5:24Speaker 5: Glad to have met you, Jenny.
- 5:25Speaker 6: I'll see you again.
- 5:26Speaker 5: Sure.
- 5:28Speaker 6: Nice girl.
- 5:29Speaker 9: Mm-hmm.
- 5:30Speaker 5: Where's she from, Kitty?
- 5:33Speaker 6: Hay City, last.
- 5:37Speaker 5: What's the name of this corporal who's been sniffing around?
- 5:40Speaker 8: Stark.
- 5:41Speaker 6: Corporal Stark's all I ever heard.
- 5:43Speaker 5: What else do you know about Jenny, huh?
- 5:46Speaker 6: She doesn't talk much about herself, Matt.
- 5:49Speaker 5: Well, uh, maybe you can get her to, huh?
- 5:54Speaker 1: All right.
- 5:55Speaker 5: I'll try.
- 5:56Speaker 4: Meantime, I'm going to wire the sheriff in Hayes City.
- 5:58Speaker 4: He might know something.
- 6:00Speaker 11: You must have some reason for all this interest, Matt.
- 6:02Speaker 5: No, I haven't, Kitty. But I might find a reason
- 6:05Speaker 5: for him through.
- 6:08Speaker 9: I got it, Mr.
- 6:10Speaker 11: Dillon. Just come in.
- 6:12Speaker 3: Now what?
- 6:35Speaker 8: The answer to that telegraph you sent to Hayes City
- 6:37Speaker 8: last night.
- 6:38Speaker 9: Oh.
- 6:39Speaker 1: Here.
- 6:39Speaker 5: Oh, thanks. I don't know what it says or anything.
- 6:48Speaker 4: Jenny Lane left Hayes about a month ago with a
- 6:50Speaker 4: stranger called Nate Brand. Nothing against girl, but believe Brand
- 6:55Speaker 4: a wild one.
- 6:57Speaker 5: Regards, Clint Adams.
- 6:59Speaker 2: I never heard of no Nate Brand.
- 7:01Speaker 5: No, neither have I. What's he doing, hiding him somewhere? Matt. Yeah,
- 7:06Speaker 5: what is it, Doc? Trouble. Oh, what kind of trouble?
- 7:12Speaker 5: A shooting.
- 7:13Speaker 7: Out behind the Texas Trail.
- 7:15Speaker 6: What?
- 7:15Speaker 5: It's bad, Matt. It's real bad. Well, a shooting's always bad, Doc.
- 7:19Speaker 7: Yes, but this one's going to lead to a lot
- 7:20Speaker 7: more shooting. Somebody just killed a soldier. There he is,
- 7:40Speaker 7: you know, planting the weeds over there.
- 7:43Speaker 5: How come there's no crowd around here? There isn't a
- 7:46Speaker 5: man inside. No. Who told you about this, Doc? The bartender.
- 7:53Speaker 7: He said he heard a shot and went out back
- 7:55Speaker 7: and found him.
- 7:57Speaker 6: He sure looks dead, all right.
- 8:02Speaker 5: He's dead. Is that all the bartender had to say?
- 8:06Speaker 5: That's about all.
- 8:08Speaker 7: Except that when he went back into the saloon and
- 8:10Speaker 7: told everybody there about it, they didn't move a hair.
- 8:14Speaker 5: I guess maybe they was thinking about the army taking
- 8:16Speaker 5: over Dodge. Why didn't the bartender come to me first?
- 8:19Speaker 7: Well, I don't know, Matt, but I've got the feeling
- 8:21Speaker 7: that maybe nobody knows whether you're going to be on
- 8:23Speaker 7: their side or the army's.
- 8:26Speaker 5: They never do trust me, do they? Chester. Yes, sir?
- 8:29Speaker 5: Give Doc a hand here. I'm riding out to Fort Dodge.
- 8:47Speaker 8: Marshal Dillon.
- 8:48Speaker 5: Hello, Major.
- 8:49Speaker 8: What brings you to Fort Dodge, Marshal?
- 8:52Speaker 5: Murder.
- 8:53Speaker 8: What?
- 8:53Speaker 5: Murder.
- 8:55Speaker 8: A soldier?
- 8:55Speaker 5: Uh-huh. Who? I don't know. Some private.
- 8:59Speaker 8: Dodge City, of course.
- 9:00Speaker 5: That's right. Have you arrested the murderer? Nobody saw it happen, Major.
- 9:04Speaker 5: I see.
- 9:08Speaker 8: Well, Marshal, you leave me no choice.
- 9:09Speaker 5: Wait a minute, Major.
- 9:10Speaker 4: I didn't ride out here just to bring you the news.
- 9:12Speaker 4: I want something from you.
- 9:15Speaker 5: From me?
- 9:16Speaker 4: I want you to keep all the soldiers out of Dodge.
- 9:18Speaker 5: For the next 48 hours. Put it off limits.
- 9:20Speaker 8: That's not exactly what I had in mind.
- 9:22Speaker 5: Listen, Major, Dodge City's an armed camp.
- 9:24Speaker 4: It's full of men who fought Indians, who fought the
- 9:26Speaker 4: war between the states, who fought.
- 9:28Speaker 5: Each other ever since they could spit. They'll fight you next.
- 9:32Speaker 5: And I'll make you hate it.
- 9:33Speaker 8: They can't fight the army.
- 9:34Speaker 5: They can and they will.
- 9:35Speaker 4: And a lot of men will die on both sides.
- 9:41Speaker 5: But I'll make you a deal, Major. A deal?
- 9:43Speaker 4: You give me 48 hours and I'll find your killers.
- 9:46Speaker 4: You better take it.
- 9:48Speaker 5: Because it'll get you out of a lot of trouble.
- 9:51Speaker 9: All right.
- 9:53Speaker 8: But I want the criminals delivered here. To me.
- 9:56Speaker 5: Sure.
- 9:56Speaker 4: But I might have to kill them to get them here.
- 9:59Speaker 9: What?
- 10:18Speaker 11: Oh, Matt!
- 10:18Speaker 8: Ah, hello, Doc.
- 10:21Speaker 6: I've been waiting for you to get back.
- 10:22Speaker 5: Anything more happen?
- 10:24Speaker 7: Not yet, but I found a letter on that soldier.
- 10:28Speaker 8: His name was Ravitch.
- 10:30Speaker 5: Anything else? Yes.
- 10:31Speaker 7: I dug the bullet out of him, Matt.
- 10:33Speaker 5: And you know something?
- 10:35Speaker 7: I haven't seen lead like that since I mustered out
- 10:38Speaker 7: in 65.
- 10:39Speaker 5: What do you mean, Doc?
- 10:41Speaker 7: That soldier was shot with a cavalry pistol.
- 10:44Speaker 5: He was?
- 10:45Speaker 6: I'd swear to it.
- 10:48Speaker 5: Thanks, Doc. I'll see you later.
- 10:50Speaker 6: Now, where are you going?
- 10:52Speaker 5: Into the Long Branch. I want to talk to a
- 10:53Speaker 5: friend of mine.
- 10:59Speaker 11: I've been expecting you, Matt.
- 11:02Speaker 8: Have you, Kitty?
- 11:03Speaker 11: Chester was in a while ago. He told me about
- 11:05Speaker 11: that telegram from Hay City.
- 11:06Speaker 5: Look, Kitty, I've got to work fast. There's going to
- 11:08Speaker 5: be a war around here soon.
- 11:10Speaker 11: I found out a couple of interesting things, Matt. One is,
- 11:13Speaker 11: Jenny's been seen riding horseback at night... towards the Arkansas,
- 11:16Speaker 11: down by Brandy Bend.
- 11:18Speaker 9: Oh?
- 11:18Speaker 11: It might have something to do with that man she
- 11:20Speaker 11: left Tay City with, Nate Brand.
- 11:22Speaker 8: Yeah.
- 11:24Speaker 11: I think he's hiding out down near Brandy Bend.
- 11:26Speaker 5: Any idea of why?
- 11:27Speaker 6: Corporal Stark and.
- 11:28Speaker 11: Jenny went for a ride one night.
- 11:30Speaker 5: When was that?
- 11:31Speaker 11: The night before that army payroll was robbed.
- 11:34Speaker 8: Uh-huh.
- 11:36Speaker 5: Where's Jenny now, Kitty?
- 11:38Speaker 11: Over at Delmonico's.
- 11:40Speaker 6: Having supper.
- 11:43Speaker 11: Kitty.
- 11:43Speaker 6: What?
- 11:44Speaker 5: I'm the only one who can ever thank you for it, but.
- 11:49Speaker 4: I think you just saved an awful lot of lives.
- 11:51Speaker 9: Evening, Jenny.
- 12:07Speaker 6: Well, hello, Marshal. Won't you sit down?
- 12:11Speaker 5: You sure Corporal Stark won't mind?
- 12:14Speaker 6: Don't be silly. Besides, he's out at the fort.
- 12:17Speaker 5: When did you see him last?
- 12:18Speaker 6: About noon, I guess.
- 12:21Speaker 5: Anybody with him?
- 12:22Speaker 10: Private Ravitch. Corporal Stark didn't shoot him, Marshal. They were
- 12:29Speaker 10: good friends. They worked together in the bookkeeping office.
- 12:31Speaker 5: I see.
- 12:33Speaker 4: That's a pretty good job, isn't it? Handling expenses, figuring
- 12:36Speaker 4: out the payroll, things like that.
- 12:38Speaker 8: I don't know.
- 12:39Speaker 6: He never talked about it much.
- 12:40Speaker 4: Also, he'd be in a good spot to know when
- 12:42Speaker 4: to expect payroll money in, wouldn't he?
- 12:44Speaker 5: Even when it was kept secret?
- 12:47Speaker 6: You'd have to ask him, Marshal. But this isn't why
- 12:52Speaker 6: you found me here, is it?
- 12:56Speaker 5: No, of course not, Jenny. I'm sorry. You look real
- 13:01Speaker 5: pretty tonight.
- 13:03Speaker 6: Thank you, Marshal. You really mean that?
- 13:05Speaker 9: Sure.
- 13:06Speaker 5: Sure, I mean it.
- 13:08Speaker 10: Uh, Marshal, I have to work late tonight, but I
- 13:11Speaker 10: can get off tomorrow. I know it's bold on me,
- 13:15Speaker 10: but couldn't we, uh, maybe take a ride together?
- 13:18Speaker 6: There'll be a moon.
- 13:19Speaker 5: Uh, where would we ride to, Jenny?
- 13:21Speaker 6: Oh, I don't know. Anywhere. Maybe down along the Arkansas.
- 13:26Speaker 6: I know. Let's ride down toward Brandy Bend.
- 13:28Speaker 5: All right, Jenny. We'll ride down toward Brandy Bend.
- 13:51Speaker 4: The idea of a moonlight ride by the river with
- 13:53Speaker 4: as pretty a girl as Jenny Lane was fine. Except
- 13:57Speaker 4: that it was going to end with a man dead.
- 14:00Speaker 4: Either me or her friend, Nate Brand. She was obviously
- 14:05Speaker 4: leading me into an ambush.
- 14:06Speaker 5: And there wasn't a thing I could do but go
- 14:08Speaker 5: cheerfully along. I met her the next night. We started
- 14:12Speaker 5: out together. But a mile or so.
- 14:14Speaker 4: Before we got to Brandy Bend, I pulled up and
- 14:17Speaker 4: suggested we dismount and let the horses.
- 14:19Speaker 5: Blow a little.
- 14:24Speaker 6: They won't run away, will they?
- 14:26Speaker 5: The horses? No. Now, don't worry. Ah, here's a good
- 14:29Speaker 5: place to sit. What's the matter? You nervous, Jenny?
- 14:39Speaker 1: No.
- 14:40Speaker 6: No, of course not.
- 14:41Speaker 5: Ah, sit down. Take it easy, then.
- 14:44Speaker 6: All right. This better?
- 14:51Speaker 8: Sure.
- 14:51Speaker 5: That's a nice night, isn't it? Yeah.
- 14:57Speaker 6: That's beautiful.
- 15:00Speaker 5: You're not even looking at it. Is something on your mind, Ginny?
- 15:04Speaker 11: No.
- 15:05Speaker 6: Why should there be?
- 15:06Speaker 5: Why, you tell me.
- 15:08Speaker 6: That's nothing, Marshal.
- 15:10Speaker 5: Really. Let me ask you something, Ginny. Did you ever
- 15:16Speaker 5: see a man killed? What?
- 15:19Speaker 6: Why'd you say that?
- 15:20Speaker 5: What, did you?
- 15:22Speaker 6: Yeah, once in the saloon.
- 15:24Speaker 5: Tell me, did he have a fair chance?
- 15:28Speaker 6: Of course, he even drew first.
- 15:29Speaker 5: Then you never saw a man shot in the back
- 15:31Speaker 5: or ambushed, huh?
- 15:35Speaker 6: What are you driving at, Marshal?
- 15:38Speaker 4: Oh, I'm just thinking about people, Jenny. Like, sometimes a
- 15:43Speaker 4: person isn't really bad... He just falls into bad company.
- 15:49Speaker 6: What's that got to do with me?
- 15:50Speaker 5: Well, I think.
- 15:52Speaker 4: It sort of goes against your grain, the idea of
- 15:54Speaker 4: a man being killed without a fair chance.
- 15:59Speaker 6: Why'd you come with me, Marshal?
- 16:03Speaker 5: Somebody had to.
- 16:07Speaker 6: I suppose you know about everything.
- 16:10Speaker 4: I think Private Ravitch got killed by Corporal Stark because
- 16:13Speaker 4: he found out about the payroll deal between you and
- 16:15Speaker 4: Stark and Nate Brand.
- 16:19Speaker 5: Sure.
- 16:22Speaker 6: Well, what are you going to do now?
- 16:23Speaker 4: I'm going to ride the branded bend with you.
- 16:27Speaker 5: But why? Because I'm gambling that.
- 16:30Speaker 4: You're still decent enough inside to let me have that
- 16:33Speaker 4: fair chance I was talking about.
- 16:34Speaker 6: That's quite a gamble, Marshal.
- 16:37Speaker 8: Yeah?
- 16:38Speaker 6: Yeah.
- 16:39Speaker 5: But we'll ride slow. And you'll have a little time
- 16:43Speaker 5: to think about it.
- 16:44Speaker 4: Yeah, it'd make a nice camp down here. Plenty of wood,
- 17:06Speaker 4: get your water right out of the river there. It's
- 17:08Speaker 4: real nice, don't you think, Jenny? A man could hide
- 17:11Speaker 4: out real easy down here.
- 17:14Speaker 6: Marshal.
- 17:14Speaker 4: I could be safe here even while the army was
- 17:16Speaker 4: trying to move into Dodge and a lot of men.
- 17:18Speaker 5: Were being killed over it. Yeah, it's real peaceful down here.
- 17:23Speaker 6: Marshal, I can't do it.
- 17:25Speaker 5: All right, tell me, Jenny.
- 17:29Speaker 6: That big cottonwood up ahead.
- 17:31Speaker 5: On the left.
- 17:32Speaker 6: Okay.
- 17:33Speaker 5: Now keep moving. When we get close, I'm going to
- 17:35Speaker 5: ride ahead fast. You stay back out of gunfire. All right. Yeah,
- 17:42Speaker 5: it sure is pretty down here, Jenny. Maybe someday we
- 17:45Speaker 5: can come down and go fishing, huh?
- 17:47Speaker 4: This river's full of catfish. You ever eat a real
- 17:49Speaker 4: catfish dinner? That can be mighty good if we're small enough.
- 17:55Speaker 5: All right, stay back, Jenny. Jenny!
- 18:16Speaker 1: Jenny!
- 18:25Speaker 5: He's dead, Jenny.
- 18:26Speaker 6: Oh, God, no.
- 18:31Speaker 5: I have to do it. I know.
- 18:37Speaker 6: I'll be all right, Marshal.
- 18:39Speaker 5: Sure.
- 18:42Speaker 6: He killed your horse. I'll show you where he hid
- 18:46Speaker 6: his and the payroll money.
- 18:50Speaker 5: Okay, Jenny.
- 18:52Speaker 6: Then you can take me back to jail.
- 18:57Speaker 5: Yeah.
- 18:59Speaker 4: But there's one thing, Jenny. What you did tonight is
- 19:03Speaker 4: going to get you out of jail real soon. Because
- 19:07Speaker 4: I'm going to see you get your chance, too.
- 19:44Speaker 2: Gunsmoke, produced and directed by Norman McDonald, stars William Conrad
- 19:48Speaker 2: as Matt Dillon, U.S.
- 19:49Speaker 8: Marshal.
- 19:50Speaker 2: Our story was specially written for Gunsmoke by John Meston,
- 19:53Speaker 2: with music composed and conducted by Rex Corden.
- 19:56Speaker 5: Sound patterns by.
- 19:57Speaker 2: Tom Hanley and Ray Kemper. Featured in the cast were
- 20:00Speaker 2: Virginia Christine and John Daner. Harley Bear as Chester, Howard
- 20:05Speaker 2: McNair as Doc, and Georgia Ellis as Kitty.
- 20:12Speaker 1: This concludes Gunsmoke, episode 182, Good Girl, Bad Company. Until
- 20:18Speaker 1: our next broadcast, good night.