Gunsmoke "The Stage Holdup" William Conrad CBS 1/2/54 Oldtime Radio Drama Western

Gunsmoke "The Stage Holdup" CBS 1/2/54 Oldtime Radio Drama Western
Matt Dillon: William Conrad
Kitty: Georgia Ellis
Chester Proudfoot: Parley Baer




Doc Adams: Howard McNear

In the late 1940s, CBS chairman William S. Paley, a fan of The Adventures of Philip Marlowe radio serial, asked his programming chief, Hubell Robinson, to develop a hardboiled Western series, a show about a "Philip Marlowe of the Old West." Robinson instructed his West Coast CBS Vice-President, Harry Ackerman, who had developed the Philip Marlowe series, to take on the task.

Ackerman and his scriptwriters, Mort Fine and David Friedkin, created an audition script called "Mark Dillon Goes to Gouge Eye" based on one of their Michael Shayne radio scripts, "The Crooked Wheel". Two auditions were created in 1949. The first was very much like a hardboiled detective series and starred Michael Rye (credited as Rye Billsbury) as Dillon; the second starred Straight Arrow actor Howard Culver in a more Western, lighter version of the same script. CBS liked the Culver version better, and Ackerman was told to proceed.

But there was a complication. Culver's contract as the star of Straight Arrow would not allow him to do another Western series. The project was shelved for three years, when MacDonnell and Meston discovered it creating an adult Western series of their own.

MacDonnell and Meston wanted to create a radio Western for adults, in contrast to the prevailing juvenile fare such as The Lone Ranger and The Cisco Kid. Gunsmoke was set in Dodge City, Kansas during the thriving cattle days of the 1870s. Dunning notes, "The show drew critical acclaim for unprecedented realism."

[edit] Radio cast and character biographiesThe radio series aired from April 26, 1952 ("Billy the Kid," written by Walter Newman) until June 18, 1961 on CBS. It starred William Conrad as Marshal Matt Dillon; Howard McNear as Doc Charles Adams; Georgia Ellis as Kitty Russell; and Parley Baer as Dillon's assistant Chester Proudfoot.

Conrad was one of the last actors who auditioned for the role of Marshal Dillon. With a powerful, distinctive voice, Conrad was already one of radio's busiest actors. Though Meston championed him, MacDonnell thought Conrad might be overexposed. During his audition, however, Conrad won over MacDonnell after reading only a few lines. Dillon as portrayed by Conrad was a lonely, isolated man, toughened by a hard life. MacDonnell later claimed "Much of Matt Dillon's character grew out of Bill Conrad.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Gunsmoke
• The Stage Holdup
• Oldtime
• Radio
• Drama
• Western
• CBS
• William
• Conrad
• 1/2/1954
• Matt
• Dillon:
• Kitty:
• Georgia
• Ellis Chester
• Proudfoot:
• Parley
• Baer
• Doc
• Adams:
• Howard
• McNear

[ronetteloverz]

@epiphyticsab  That's Hollywood!

[steve7138]

CBS wouldnt let Conrad play the Tv role,'cause they thought he was too fat to represent a U.S. Marshall

[fromthesidelines]

At the time, the radio show was on Saturday nights in a 25 minute "sustaining" format (no advertising, but plenty of PSA's and network promos). Incidentally, Frank Lovejoy's edition of the "SUSPENSE" story "On A Country Road" [1/4/54] was the second version the series produced- the first featured Cary Grant in November 1950, and yet another version was staged in May 1959 featuring Howard Duff and Ida Lupino....

[navydoctrinidad]

Wonderful. The radio Matt Dillon. Great series. Did you watch him in Cannon? I always liked a lot of his work. Thanks for the video. Charlie

[davidperi]

Good old programs that I use to listen when I was a kid. Thanks for posting.