Episode 313: The Cabin

[00:00:27] Speaker A: Welcome to mysterious old Radio Listening Society Society, a podcast dedicated to suspense, crime, and horror stories from the golden age of radio. I'm Eric. I'm Tim. [00:00:37] Speaker B: And I'm Joshua. [00:00:38] Speaker C: We love mysterious old time radio stories, but do they stand the test of time? That's what we're here. [00:00:43] Speaker B: To find out today, I chose an episode of Gunsmoke entitled the Cabin. [00:00:48] Speaker A: Gunsmoke was created by direct Norman McDonald and writer John Meston. The legendary program aired on CBS Radio from April 1952 to June 1961. Author John Dunning notes the show drew critical acclaim for unprecedented realism and today is regarded as among one of the best shows of any kind at any time. In other words, you don't have to be a fan of westerns to enjoy Gunsmoke's brand of well crafted, emotionally resonant storytelling. [00:01:17] Speaker C: Gunsmoke's success led to a television adaptation in 1955. Despite the popularity of the radio series, CBS made the controversial decision not to feature William Conrad and the rest of the radio cast. Instead, the network recast the roles, including James Arness as Dylan and Dennis Weaver as Chester. The television series lasted a historic 20 years, from 1955 to 1975, returning in the late 1980s and early ninety s for a series of made for tv movies. [00:01:44] Speaker B: The cabin was written by Gunsmoke cocreator John Messon, who had a particular dislike for the archetypal western hero as portrayed in programs like the Lone Ranger and Hop along Cassidy. In contrast, Mestin strived to make Matt Dylan a distinctly fallible hero, one who lost just as much as he won. According to Meston, Dylan was almost as scarred as the homicidal psychopaths who drifted into dodge from all directions. [00:02:12] Speaker A: And now let's listen to the cabin from Gunsmoke. Starring William Conrad. With Viv Janice, John Daner and Harry Bartel. First aired December 27, 1952. [00:02:26] Speaker C: It's late at night and a chill has set in. You're alone and the only light you see is coming from an antique radio. Listen to the sounds coming from the speaker. Listen to the music and listen to the voices. [00:02:48] Speaker D: Around Darge city and of the territory on west. There's just one way to handle the killers and the spoilers, and that's with A-U-S. Marshal and the spell of gun smoke. Stop. William Conrad. The story of the violence that moved west with young America. The story of a man who moved with it. Matt Dylan, United States marshal. [00:03:48] Speaker E: It was. [00:03:48] Speaker F: Over a hundred miles back to dodge, but I figured I could make it easy. In a day and a half, I'd been in Hayes city as a government witness in a murder trial, and I was anxious to get back, so I rode out of Hayes one morning a couple of hours before light. The ground was clear as snow, but it was midwinter, and it was sharp cold. When the day came, there was no sun, only dark, gray sky drilled by a high, cold, searching wind. The air was as thin as I could ever remember it being. And behind me in the north lay a great slab of blackness. When I saw that, I should have turned back, for the wind stood out of the north, too. And sooner or later, it would drive that black slab right down on top of me. This was blizzard weather. The kind of weather that kills the land and everything on it. I don't know why I went on. Maybe because of the wind. You know, a high wind will distemper a man, make him drunk like. Anyway, I didn't turn back. And about noon, the sky began to turn white with snow, and I could smell a touch of moisture in the air. And finally it came, the sleep shrilling in on the wind like small buckshot as the blizzard howled down the prairie. I couldn't look right or left without being stung blind. But as long as I kept the wind on my back, I knew I was headed south. 2 hours of this, and I could feel my horse slowing down and weakening under me, my own body stiffening with a cold. Men died when they got caught in a thing like this. They died easy. Another hour passed, and my horse was carrying his head close to the ground. I figured he'd stumble soon, so I kicked my feet out of the stirrups and braced myself against the horn. By now the wind had really gotten into me, and when I saw the blur of a Ranch house up ahead, I thought maybe it was a trick. But a few minutes later, we rounded a corner of the place and stood at last in the lee of the storm. I slid down and got up to the door and pounded on it. And I waited. Then I pounded again. Then the door came open, and the figure stood in the light. Who are you? [00:06:14] Speaker E: Bring him in, Albie. Any man out in that weather's been made harmless. Get inside. Out of the way, Alvi. A fool. All right, stranger. Hands in the air. High. That's better. Unload him, Alvie. [00:06:42] Speaker G: Nice gun, hack. Real nice gun. [00:06:45] Speaker E: Shut up. Take him down, stranger. You can come up to this stove now, but don't try nothing. I'll cut you in half with buckshot. [00:06:56] Speaker F: He was a burly man with flush cheeks and a wild red beard and a great shock of red hair. Even his hands and fingers bristled with it. He sat on a stool by the stove, a shotgun across his knees, and his eyes never left me. The other one, Alvi, had a body of an underfed boy, but he was completely bald and his skin was tight and dry. He looked like a naked skull. And his eyes. Well, something had touched Alvie. [00:07:31] Speaker E: You look half froze, stranger. You must have wanted something real bad to go out in weather like this. [00:07:37] Speaker G: I never saw him around here before, hack. [00:07:40] Speaker E: He's a stranger, Alvi. He don't belong around here. [00:07:43] Speaker G: Of course, we don't know anybody, but I've seen a few and I never seen him before. [00:07:48] Speaker E: Maybe he's seen you, Alvie, somewhere. [00:07:51] Speaker G: Not me. He never saw me nowhere. [00:07:52] Speaker E: How do you know that? [00:07:54] Speaker G: Maybe he was just looking for some cows and got lost in a storm. [00:07:58] Speaker E: You're just a kid. Alvi always said you don't know much. Belle. Belle. Get on out here. [00:08:07] Speaker F: She was a pretty girl, but with a dark, half wild look that I'd never seen before in a woman. Her eyes jumped from man to man and then came to rest on me, fixed and curious. And then after a moment, she looked away and moved into a chair across the room. [00:08:27] Speaker G: Supper ready, Belle? It's awful cold out. [00:08:30] Speaker E: You recognize him, Belle? You ever see him before? [00:08:32] Speaker H: Nope. [00:08:33] Speaker E: You're sure now? Maybe. Hayes City. Maybe you saw him up there sometime. [00:08:39] Speaker H: I don't know him. [00:08:40] Speaker E: You sure? [00:08:41] Speaker H: Yes. [00:08:42] Speaker E: If you're lying to me, you know what I'll do to you. [00:08:45] Speaker H: Never saw him before. [00:08:46] Speaker G: He come in here half froze right out of the blizzard. Must have been looking for some cows and got lost. [00:08:51] Speaker E: Shut up, Albie. We don't know what he's doing here, Belle. [00:08:55] Speaker H: Why shouldn't a man get out of the storm, even in here? [00:08:59] Speaker E: That's enough. All right, stranger. We never saw you before. We don't know who you are. And as soon as I think you're lying, I'm going to blow a big hole in you. [00:09:09] Speaker F: What about my horse? I like to put him in the. [00:09:12] Speaker E: Barn if you've got one, Alvin. [00:09:15] Speaker G: Oh, no, hack, I ain't going out there. I'd freeze. [00:09:18] Speaker E: And the horse will freeze if you don't. [00:09:20] Speaker G: It's his horse. [00:09:22] Speaker E: We might need it. Go on, Alvi, before I get cross. [00:09:27] Speaker G: All right, I'll go. [00:09:29] Speaker E: I don't know why a horse is so important. Elvie's a good boy. He'll put your horse up. [00:09:42] Speaker F: Thank you. [00:09:43] Speaker H: Supper's about ready. [00:09:44] Speaker E: Leave it. I want to talk to our friend here first. Maybe we won't have to feed him. [00:09:50] Speaker H: Potatoes will get mealy. [00:09:51] Speaker E: They better not, that's all. I'm right curious about you, Mr. [00:09:58] Speaker F: I've noticed that. [00:10:00] Speaker E: I'll blow your guts all over the wall. You make fun of me. Don't get me mad, mister. I got the shotgun. [00:10:07] Speaker H: Meat will be boiled to shreds if we don't eat soon. [00:10:16] Speaker E: You just won't understand any other way, will you, Belle? [00:10:19] Speaker F: What is it you want to know about me? [00:10:23] Speaker E: I can tell, mister. I can handle you. Easy, now. [00:10:26] Speaker F: What do you mean? [00:10:27] Speaker E: All I got to do is wallop the girl, and you'll talk. I don't have to do nothing to you. [00:10:34] Speaker F: All right if I take my jacket off? Have warmed up now, I mind. [00:10:39] Speaker E: You might have a gun hit out in there. [00:10:42] Speaker H: He can raise his hands all. I'm Buttner. [00:10:45] Speaker E: Well, now, that's right smart of you, Belle. [00:10:50] Speaker H: Oh, I'll hide it. [00:10:53] Speaker F: No, leave it be. [00:10:59] Speaker E: Bald. Come over here, Bell. Drop the jacket, Bell. Now, hold out your other hand. Open it, Belle. Open your hand. That's real bad what you did, Belle. Real bad. You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to put you outside for a spell. Out in the weather, after supper. After you've cleaned up supper. You can be thinking about it. Till then. United States marshal. You're in bad company, Marshall. You shouldn't have come here. [00:11:53] Speaker F: It looks to me like I sort of struck gold coming here. [00:11:56] Speaker E: Now, why do you talk like that, marshal? I still got the shot. [00:12:01] Speaker F: Let me get that stole. [00:12:05] Speaker G: Seems like it's getting colder and colder. [00:12:07] Speaker E: You didn't see sign of nobody outside, did Yalvi? [00:12:10] Speaker G: What? [00:12:11] Speaker F: Who? [00:12:12] Speaker E: Somebody might have come along to cover the marshal here. [00:12:15] Speaker G: Marshal? What marshal? [00:12:17] Speaker F: Me. I'm a marshal. [00:12:19] Speaker E: Alvi, put him back. [00:12:20] Speaker G: Shoot him. [00:12:21] Speaker E: Shut up and answer me. Was there sign of another horse, footprints, anything like. [00:12:26] Speaker G: Oh, I didn't see nothing. [00:12:28] Speaker E: Maybe you didn't. [00:12:29] Speaker F: Look, would I have walked in here the way I did if I'd been after you people? [00:12:33] Speaker E: Maybe your head got muddled with the cold. Where'd you ride from, Marshall? [00:12:38] Speaker F: Hey, city left there this morning. [00:12:41] Speaker E: It was a full thing to do with a blizzard coming up. [00:12:44] Speaker F: Maybe. [00:12:45] Speaker E: Did you think you could get the jump on us easier in a storm? Was that it, Marshall? [00:12:50] Speaker G: Yeah. You knew we'd be trying to keep cozy in here. [00:12:54] Speaker F: I'm curious, Hack. What are you and Alvie on the run for? [00:12:58] Speaker G: Don't you tell him, Hack. I don't trust him at all. [00:13:04] Speaker E: Alvi. It'd be mighty dough without you, boy. [00:13:07] Speaker H: Don't laugh. [00:13:08] Speaker F: At me, Hack. Now, stop it. [00:13:11] Speaker G: I don't like laughing. You know that, Hack. And don't you do it no more. I got ways. [00:13:21] Speaker E: Yeah, I've seen you and your ways. But don't try them on me, Alvi. [00:13:27] Speaker G: Maybe I won't. [00:13:29] Speaker E: Look, Alvi, now, you don't understand. It's all right to tell the marshal about us. He ain't going. No, no, of course not. We'll kill him, Alvi. We'll kill him and bury him somewhere. [00:13:41] Speaker G: Sure. Now, why didn't I think of that? [00:13:44] Speaker E: Because I do the thinking for us, Alvi. That's why. Now, what was it you like to know, Marshall? [00:13:52] Speaker F: Stop playing games, Hack. [00:13:55] Speaker E: Me and Alvi are wanted for murder. [00:13:57] Speaker G: Up in Cheyenne, Wyoming. [00:14:00] Speaker E: Seems it might unfair, though. We didn't aim to kill nobody. It just happened that way. [00:14:04] Speaker G: We was robbing a bank. [00:14:05] Speaker E: Yeah, and a couple of the people there wouldn't do what we told them. So Alvie used his knife on one, but it just made the man holler. [00:14:12] Speaker G: You could hear him all over town. [00:14:14] Speaker E: And we had to shoot our way out after that. Must have killed three or four people. [00:14:18] Speaker G: I know. I killed two. [00:14:20] Speaker E: Worst of it was Marshall. All we wanted just then was some money. We didn't care about killing anybody. But you know how it is, Marshall, when you're robbing a bank and all. [00:14:30] Speaker F: Yeah, sure. [00:14:33] Speaker E: Now, I don't suppose you do it that. Anyway, we're wanted for murder, and we didn't even get any money. [00:14:39] Speaker G: Narrator. [00:14:41] Speaker E: So we rode out here and lighted for a spell. [00:14:43] Speaker F: I see. What about Belle? And whose place is this, anyway? [00:14:51] Speaker H: My place, now that Pa is gone. [00:14:54] Speaker F: You mean you were living here alone? [00:14:56] Speaker H: No. [00:14:59] Speaker F: It killed your paws, Edit. [00:15:01] Speaker H: Yes. [00:15:02] Speaker F: How long ago? [00:15:04] Speaker H: I don't know. Maybe a month. [00:15:06] Speaker E: Yeah, it's been about a month, hasn't it, Alvi? [00:15:08] Speaker G: 35 days. [00:15:10] Speaker E: There, you see? Alvie always knows just how long everything's been. [00:15:14] Speaker F: Now, that's fine. Tell me what you do with him. Who? The old man. [00:15:21] Speaker E: Oh, we buried him out back. Couldn't afford a funeral, could we, Alvie? [00:15:28] Speaker G: Hack. Hack. We told him that. Now let's shoot. [00:15:31] Speaker E: No, no. I've been thinking it over. People in Hayes City know he started for Dodge, and when he don't show up, they might come looking for him. [00:15:39] Speaker G: But you said we'd bury him, Hack. That's what you said. [00:15:42] Speaker E: Yeah, that's right. But we can't bury his horse, too. Not in this ground. It's froze solid. And if we turn the horse loose and they find it and can't find the marshal's body. Then they'll suspect something. [00:15:52] Speaker F: You're pretty smart, Hack. Too bad you don't know enough to stop killing people. [00:15:57] Speaker E: Too bad for you, anyway. [00:15:59] Speaker G: Well, what are we going to do, Hack? I'm getting hungry. [00:16:02] Speaker H: That supper won't be fit to eat it. [00:16:04] Speaker E: Shut up. [00:16:06] Speaker F: One more word out of you, Bella. [00:16:07] Speaker E: Now WHOOP you good. [00:16:09] Speaker G: Come on, Hack. I'm really hungry. [00:16:11] Speaker E: No, listen to me, Elvie. Now, my idea is to knock the marshal on the head and throw him outside to freeze. Now, he'll keep real good that way. And when the storm breaks, we can carry him off 20 miles or so and dump him on the ground. Look like he got throed and hit his head and froze. [00:16:27] Speaker G: That's fine, Hack. That's just fine. [00:16:30] Speaker E: Then we'll break his horse's leg, make it easier for them to find him. [00:16:34] Speaker F: You just don't care about anything, do you, Hack? [00:16:38] Speaker E: Just me sometimes, Albie. [00:16:42] Speaker G: Sure. Me and Hacker are friends, ain't we, Hack? [00:16:45] Speaker E: Of course, if it don't want snowing, we'll have to think of something else. Can't leave tracks for them to follow back there. [00:16:51] Speaker G: Oh, Hack, ain't we going to kill him now? [00:16:54] Speaker E: Sure we are, Alvie. I didn't mean that. [00:16:56] Speaker G: Let me hit him. You keep the gun on him, and I'll get up behind and hit him. There was a Brandon iron around here somewhere. [00:17:03] Speaker F: I'll hit him with that, Hack, you've sunk pretty far, but I'm sort of wondering just how far. [00:17:10] Speaker E: What do you mean? [00:17:11] Speaker F: I'm wondering if you're low enough to kill a man before he's been fed. [00:17:18] Speaker G: Here it is, Hack. [00:17:19] Speaker H: Here. [00:17:19] Speaker F: See? [00:17:20] Speaker G: I found it. [00:17:22] Speaker E: Leave it be, Alvi. We're going to eat first. [00:17:46] Speaker D: We will return for the second act of gun smoke in just a moment. But first, this Sunday night, Lionel Barrymore is your host and Joseph Cotton, the star on Sunday night Playhouse's gripping historic drama based on the life of Peter Marshall. Hear how a scottish immigrant lad rose to the position of chaplain of the United States Senate. A story you'll agree is far more fascinating than fiction. Remember, it's tomorrow night when Lionel Barrymore introduces another Sunday night playhouse on most of these same CBS radio stations. Now for the second act of gun smoke. [00:18:41] Speaker F: In the afternoon. But the blizzard had darkened the land, and its blackness showed in at the windows. Here and there along the walls of the ranch house. Tricklets of snow blew in through the warped timber in the kitchen. Hank sat directly behind me while I ate. Later, changed places with Alvie and fed himself heartily, as though he had nothing at all on his mind. Pac was just a nerveless brute, born with no conscience at all. His intelligence was the instinct of an animal that snapped at or killed whatever got in its way of survival. Every living thing was his enemy. An Alvi. There was no way to figure Alvi. Too much of him was missing my only chance, laying the girl, Belle, even though Hack had pretty well beaten all resistance out of her. Supper was over soon enough, but Hack seemed in no particular hurry to get on with his plans. [00:19:52] Speaker E: I've eaten better food on the trail than that. Can't blame me for get it cleaned up, Belle. You can talk your head off when you're outside alone. And you're going outside. I'll learn you to heal if I have to break your neck. [00:20:04] Speaker G: No, don't do that, Hack. Not till we're ready to pull out, anyway. [00:20:08] Speaker E: Why? [00:20:09] Speaker G: Well, I ain't going to do the cooking. [00:20:11] Speaker E: Well, I hope not. I've eaten your cooking. [00:20:14] Speaker G: My sister was a good cook. [00:20:16] Speaker E: Yeah. We should have brought her along, Alvie. [00:20:19] Speaker G: No, I don't like her. [00:20:21] Speaker F: Where are you from, anyway? [00:20:23] Speaker E: Which? Me or Alvie? [00:20:25] Speaker F: How about you? [00:20:26] Speaker E: To start with, Wyoming. Place called Crowhard. I didn't stay there long, though. [00:20:31] Speaker F: What about you, Alvie? [00:20:32] Speaker E: Now, where were you born, Alvi? I never did know. [00:20:35] Speaker G: Republican river. [00:20:38] Speaker E: That's not a place, you fool. [00:20:40] Speaker G: That's what they told me. Republican river. They always lived in a wagon. My maw and paw had a lot of kids, too. Of course, most of them died. I'm about the only one that made out any good at all. [00:20:54] Speaker E: You did fine. I'll be fine. Give me the shotgun. All right, Marshall, let's get back by the stove while Belle cleans this mess up. [00:21:05] Speaker G: Shall we hit him and throw him out to freeze up now, Hack. [00:21:08] Speaker E: Not yet. I want to punish Belle first. [00:21:11] Speaker F: You know, someday you're going to get caught without that shotgun, Hack. Somebody's going to tear you apart. [00:21:18] Speaker E: That's fair enough, Marshall. [00:21:21] Speaker F: Give me a fair chance at you, then. Bare handed. [00:21:26] Speaker E: No. [00:21:26] Speaker F: Oh, you're bigger than I am, Hack. Might be fun for you. [00:21:31] Speaker E: I don't know nothing about fun. I ain't going to kill you because it's fun. [00:21:36] Speaker G: Oh, come on, Hack. I want to go to bed. [00:21:38] Speaker F: Belle. [00:21:39] Speaker E: Belle, come out here. Get outside like I told you. And don't open that door so wide you'll blow the lamp out. [00:22:00] Speaker F: Belle had walked through the room and out the door without a glance at any of us. I figured she'd go down to the barn, where she'd be all right for a little while, anyway. But I knew I'd have to make a move soon. I sure wasn't going to sit there like a fall hog and let Alvi knock me in the head whenever he got ready. But it didn't take much more sense to try to jump hack in that shotgun and let him blow me all over the place. It was a beggar's choice, and the more I thought about it, the I got. Hack. [00:22:37] Speaker G: I'm sleepy. I'm going to hit him and go to bed. You can do what you want after, but I ain't staying up all night. [00:22:48] Speaker E: Alvi's got his mind made up, Marshall. I can tell. [00:22:52] Speaker F: Just what do you call his mind, hack? [00:22:55] Speaker G: I got ways to fix you, Marshall. [00:22:58] Speaker E: Never mind, Alvie. Wrap something around that iron. Otherwise it won't look like he hit his head on a rock. [00:23:04] Speaker G: What difference it makes? [00:23:05] Speaker E: Do what I say, Alvie. [00:23:07] Speaker G: All right, Hack. Here, I'll use this curtain. [00:23:15] Speaker E: Now. Keep your eyes on me, Marshall. [00:23:20] Speaker F: Alvie moved around behind me and was getting a good grip on his Brandon iron. I leaned slightly forward in the chair and was tensed and waiting for the split second when my instinct had told me to jump. And then suddenly the door was flung wide open and the wind roared in, almost lifting the room as it came. The lamp flared and then went out as I pointed sideways from the chair. Didn't you hit him, Albie? [00:23:44] Speaker E: Didn't you hit him, you bloody fool. Don't you try nothing, Marshall. I got some more shells right here. Don't you move now. [00:23:54] Speaker F: I crawled across the room and was off the door before Hack could reload in the snow outside. I stood up and turned to find Belle waiting by the side of the door, a pitchfork in her hand. I couldn't see her face very well in the dark, but I could tell she was shaken with cold. I reached out and took the fork from her and then flattened myself against the wall and waited. [00:24:17] Speaker H: I was afraid it was you he shot. [00:24:19] Speaker F: That was a smart trick, Belle throwing the door open that way. [00:24:23] Speaker H: He shot Alvi, didn't he? [00:24:24] Speaker F: Yeah. [00:24:25] Speaker H: Good. [00:24:26] Speaker F: I think he's found out I'm not in there. [00:24:28] Speaker H: What are you going to do? [00:24:30] Speaker F: Wait. [00:24:31] Speaker E: Marshall. [00:24:32] Speaker F: Marshall. [00:24:34] Speaker E: I'm going to kill you and the girl both. [00:24:37] Speaker F: Now. I waited, praying he'd come through the door before my hands got too cold to hold the pitchfork. And finally the barrel of the shotgun appeared waist high and began to focus way around in our direction. It was stupid of him, but a man behind a gun often gets a false sense of power. I let him shove it out three or four inches and then I slammed down on it. Then I jumped into the room. Act tried to club me with a gun, but he missed it. And I got in under him with a fork and lifted him off his feet. And he struggled for a moment like a spirit fish and then went lip and I let him fall. One of the prongs had reached his heart. [00:25:28] Speaker H: Did you get him, Marshall? Is he dead? [00:25:31] Speaker F: Yeah. The light's a lamp. [00:25:41] Speaker H: I can't do it, Marshall. My fingers are too stiff. [00:25:45] Speaker F: Here, I'll do it. There. Quite a mess in here. Why don't you wait in the kitchen, Belle? [00:26:03] Speaker H: I'm all right, Marshall, but I can't help you much till I get warmed up. [00:26:07] Speaker F: Well, then you'll stay by the stove. I'll lug these people outside. [00:26:14] Speaker H: Thank you. Marshall. Marshall. Marshall. Dylan. [00:26:37] Speaker F: What? Oh, morning Bell. [00:26:41] Speaker H: Come on out in the kitchen, Marshall. It's warm there and I got some hot coffee waiting. [00:26:47] Speaker F: That sounds. It looks like the storm's lifted. [00:26:54] Speaker H: It has. The wind's gone. But it's mighty cold out. [00:26:57] Speaker F: I don't mind the cold. It's that wind that breaks a man down. [00:27:07] Speaker H: There. Get some of that in you. [00:27:16] Speaker F: You make mighty good coffee, Belle. [00:27:20] Speaker H: Tell me something, Marshall. Tell me the truth. [00:27:25] Speaker F: Oh, sure, Belle. What is it? [00:27:30] Speaker H: Are you married? [00:27:35] Speaker F: I'd make a poor husband, Belle, for any woman. [00:27:40] Speaker H: Why? [00:27:41] Speaker F: Well, in my profession it's too chancy. [00:27:50] Speaker H: Thank you, Marshall. Thanks for putting it that way. [00:27:54] Speaker F: Now Belle, I didn't mean. [00:27:56] Speaker H: Forget it. I'm leaving this place, Marshall. [00:28:00] Speaker F: What? [00:28:01] Speaker H: As soon as you go. I've packed what I need and I'm clearing off. [00:28:05] Speaker F: Where'll you go? [00:28:06] Speaker H: I got three horses. I'll ride up to Hayes City and sell them. [00:28:10] Speaker F: Then what? [00:28:12] Speaker H: I'll buy some pretty clothes and I'll find a place. Won't be hard after this. [00:28:23] Speaker F: I wish I could help you, Belle. [00:28:26] Speaker H: You have, but I mean, I can take care of myself, Marshall. I just want to get away from here, that's all. [00:28:34] Speaker F: Sure. I'll stop at the nearest ranch and tell the men to come over here and take care of hack and alfie. As soon as it warms up. [00:28:43] Speaker H: Whatever you like, Marshall. [00:28:46] Speaker F: Well, goodbye Belle. [00:28:51] Speaker H: Goodbye, Marshall. Look me up in Hay City next time. You're sure? [00:28:56] Speaker F: Sure I will. But Belle, don't let all this make you bitter. There are a lot of good men in the world. [00:29:09] Speaker H: So they say. So long, Marshall. [00:29:20] Speaker F: So long, Bell. A few minutes later I'd saddled up and was on the trail to Dodge. The sky was low and a slate gray all over, but there was no wind. The blizzard had gone, leaving the land still and white and bitter cold. There wasn't a sign of life anywhere. It was like riding through a vast tomb. I found myself feeling like a trespasser, as though something had gone wrong. [00:30:07] Speaker E: And. [00:30:08] Speaker F: I wasn't supposed to be there at all. [00:30:29] Speaker D: Gunsmoke, under the direction of Norman McDonald, stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, US Marshal. Tonight's story was specially written for Gunsmoke by John Meston, with music composed and conducted by Rex Corey. Featured in the cast were John Daner as hack, Harry Bartel as Elvie, and Vivi Janice as Bell. Gunsmoke is heard by our troops overseas through the facilities of the Armed Forces Radio service. Join us again next week as Matt Dillon, US marshal, fights to bring law and order out of the wild violence of the west in gun smoke. [00:31:14] Speaker F: Starts. [00:31:15] Speaker D: This Monday, a new run for road of life. Returning to CBS Radio to join the rest of your daytime listening favorites at the star's address, road of life, telling the day to day story of surgeon scientist Dr. Jim Brent, will keep your interest at a high point. Every Monday through Friday on most of these same stations. Remember, starting this coming Monday, road of life, in its 16th year, will be heard again on CBS Radio. Roy Rowan speaking America now listens to 105,000,000 radio sets and listens most to the CBS radio network. [00:32:35] Speaker A: That was the cabin from Gunsmoke here on the mysterious old Radio Listening society podcast. Once again, I'm Eric. I'm Tim. [00:32:43] Speaker B: And I'm Joshua. [00:32:44] Speaker A: Well, thank you, Joshua, for bringing that, because you know how much I love Gunsmoke. And everything that you wrote in our opening is exactly 100% how I feel about this show. It's like I don't have to say it ever again. Just read what Joshua wrote. That's why I love Gunsmoke. It's absolutely perfection in that opening. But before I ask you why you brought it, I also want to thank you for not just bringing Gunsmoke, but I believe this was a Christmas gift because it was blizzard and snowstorm sound effects, and it was for me, wasn't it? [00:33:21] Speaker C: Boiled meat. [00:33:23] Speaker B: I knew this would not be a hard sell. [00:33:27] Speaker A: It was like Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, except with a good story and acting. Why'd you bring it? [00:33:34] Speaker B: I found this episode interesting for a very specific reason, and I listened to it for the first time for this podcast. I was just listening through a bunch of Gunsmoke episodes, and I found it utterly riveting and suspenseful while at the same time acknowledging that beat by beat, it's a really cliche, time worn story, and every element of it is predictable. So my question immediately after finishing it and loving it is why? [00:34:08] Speaker F: Right. [00:34:09] Speaker B: And knowing that in a different series and something that was written in a different way, I would probably lay into it for many of those reasons. [00:34:18] Speaker A: For being trophy. [00:34:19] Speaker B: Yeah. And then I remembered something that Tim had said that stuck with me, even though it confused me in the particular episode. But about a month or so back, you brought an episode of Mysterious Traveler. No grave can hold me. And you applauded it for being a well made cheeseburger. [00:34:38] Speaker A: Yes. [00:34:39] Speaker B: And I thought, that's a great expression. I kind of think it's a poorly made ketchup sandwich. But I really like that idea of you take something incredibly basic, and what you're doing is you're showing off your skill in all the tiny details. And I even went so far as to send this episode to my son, who's working on his final theater project for college. [00:35:05] Speaker C: My son, who was trapped in a cabin. [00:35:09] Speaker B: But his final project is to write his own audio drama. And I said, you should listen to this. It's very instructional. [00:35:16] Speaker A: Yeah. It reminded me of a lot of stories, but I think that it's standing out not only because of performance, but because of the relationships, even though those are somewhat trophy as well, between each other. For example, the son. I can't remember if he's his son or not. No, not his son. [00:35:41] Speaker C: They know each other. [00:35:41] Speaker A: They know each other, but he is. [00:35:43] Speaker F: Yeah. [00:35:43] Speaker B: They're born Alvi. [00:35:44] Speaker C: Right. [00:35:45] Speaker B: The guy who maybe has a screw. [00:35:46] Speaker A: Loose with far distant eyes. And you can tell that there's something not right. [00:35:51] Speaker B: Something had touched. [00:35:52] Speaker A: Something had touched Alvie. And then there's the description of how they look like a naked skull, I think, is one of the descriptions. And then the woman isn't in cahoots, like a Bonnie and Clyde scenario. She's not only somewhat of a hot. Not so much. [00:36:11] Speaker C: The more story you learn about her. [00:36:13] Speaker B: They'Re like, oh, right. [00:36:14] Speaker A: That was terrible, how calm she is when she comes out. You're led to believe she might be in cahoots. So she's incredibly strong or beaten down or given up because it's been 30 days since they killed her husband. And so I think the relationships. But here's what I think it boils down to Joshua. Not only performance, all those things, but I think it's the writing. Being able to paint this very vivid picture through the words. Yes, performance. Yes. Sound effects, yes, all that. But just the way it's written is really well done. [00:36:48] Speaker C: It struck me as well, listening to it, how many things that seemed to refer to this, like other stories, other bits of media, but everyone I could think of came after this hateful eight. This really evoked that to me, of this cabin in a storm where there's a lot of tension and murder is just half a second away the whole time. Also, at the very end, it's the play about the blind girl, Helen Keller. No, I know I can beg you to edit this out, and you will leave this excruciating googling process in for what I'm sure the listeners are yelling at their radio, pretty much saying it. [00:37:31] Speaker A: Helen Keller, not. [00:37:36] Speaker C: Alan Arkin. Oh, this is gripping stuff. Wait until dark. It also reminded me of wait until dark, you know, the play about the blind girl who is being terrorized, and at the end, all the lights go out, and so it's a fight in the dark. And even, like mad Max, the extreme appearance of these guys, they're so far away from civilization to beyond western that this is apocalypse land they're in. They are fighting over the barest of resources. [00:38:12] Speaker B: This is really a horror story, though. And that's what I was thinking of as a cliche of the car that breaks down and you end up at the castle or in a frightening house. I've listened to Hermit's cave episodes like this, the suspense episodes like this. The trespassers will be experimented upon. [00:38:31] Speaker A: The Stephen King novel where she. [00:38:33] Speaker B: Misery. [00:38:33] Speaker A: Misery. Yeah. [00:38:34] Speaker C: Oh, you get that one top of your head. You can just name a thing up. Radio reference right on top of your head. [00:38:38] Speaker A: Don't stop. [00:38:38] Speaker B: No, he spent five minutes googling. I just edited it out. [00:38:43] Speaker A: Yeah, Tim, you just got to ask him to edit. [00:38:48] Speaker C: I also particularly love this because often one of the advantages of radio is you can paint a picture of anything anywhere, and this is a tight little confined space where every inch of real estate counts. And it matters who's where and who's standing where. And it just infused every bit of this with stakes. It all matters. [00:39:10] Speaker B: What struck me in here were all the really small choices, whether they be by the actors, whether they be by the director, or a combination thereof. The moment when they let Dylan into the cabin and they're talking to each other, pat him down and everything. And just underneath it all, Conrad is just doing that shivering breathing, several moments like that where it just has this real texture to it. There is that urge, I think, in a lot of earlier radio to never overlap, anything to keep it really clean and make it really clear. And by this point in radio, they're getting the idea that we can just create this texture not just with sound effects, but with performances. Another use of sound effect that I thought was horrific but great. That moment when hack realizes that his hostage has palmed what turns out to be his marshall badge. [00:40:15] Speaker A: Right. [00:40:17] Speaker B: And they're just these three quick slaps. And over the top are those just little breaths of her receiving each blow. So it's horrible. But to, I think, Eric's point about how calm she was. And so a, it suggests at that moment, like, boy, how traumatized has she been over this period of time. But also, it foreshadows a little that she's biting her time. She's going to suck it up. And as soon as she gets a chance to get to a pitchfork. [00:40:48] Speaker A: Right. [00:40:48] Speaker B: These guys are in trouble. [00:40:50] Speaker A: I like that choice, not only by the actor, but by the writers to make her character, I think is the most compelling in the story. And what they decided, instead of hysterical, she's not panicking. And as you just said, joshua, we're led to believe that either traumatized or just a very strong human being makes this for a much less trophy story of a trophy story. [00:41:21] Speaker B: Yes. [00:41:22] Speaker C: As someone who's grown up in the midwest, I'm a huge fan of Midwest history. This was so textured and real, down to including at the very end when she is like, are you married? [00:41:35] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:41:36] Speaker C: That's not like, oh, I've suddenly fallen in love with this man. [00:41:39] Speaker B: It's a practical. [00:41:40] Speaker A: Yeah, it's practical. [00:41:41] Speaker C: I managed to survive this month. I still got a whole lot of living to get through and not a lot of things on my side right now. [00:41:49] Speaker A: And you seem decent. [00:41:50] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:41:51] Speaker A: Also, I like the hesitation and the regret of having to stay true to what he knows would be a huge mistake is a little heartbreaking. [00:42:04] Speaker C: Yeah. And specifically, you are in this position because your dad just died on you all of a sudden out of the blue, and I don't want to be the next guy to die on you suddenly, out of the blue. [00:42:15] Speaker A: Right. Yeah. [00:42:16] Speaker B: And I think that pause that Dylan has before he answers is open to a lot of interpretation. And I maybe fill in, based on other episodes of Gunsmoke, I've heard that some of that is not just that he thinks his profession is bad for marriage. I think he thinks he's bad for marriage. [00:42:38] Speaker A: Well, we all are. [00:42:39] Speaker B: We hear this and we go, she is exactly the kind of woman for you. That's a lie. This is the type of woman who could handle your profession. He just doesn't trust himself or he just doesn't want to have to compromise in any way. I think this goes back to Mestin's desire to make him a complicated character and one who you don't necessarily always like. The sound effects in here throughout are just. They've perfected them. And even though they're probably recorded sounds, they have perfected the range. You can pinpoint the size of objects, how far they dropped when they hit the floor. [00:43:21] Speaker A: The wind is perfectly done so that it is outside to the point of when they wake up when the blizzard's over. It's jarring. The silence is, where'd that noise go? Which I think is a really nice moment. [00:43:38] Speaker C: I don't know if I missed it or if it was left a little deliberately vague of why was he going this way? [00:43:44] Speaker A: He was coming back from Hay City, heading back to Dodge, and he got caught in the blizzard. [00:43:50] Speaker C: I didn't know if there was the implication, like, actually, I am here hunting you guys. [00:43:53] Speaker A: I don't think so. [00:43:53] Speaker E: No. [00:43:54] Speaker B: He was testifying in a murder trial, right? [00:43:56] Speaker A: That was it. [00:43:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:43:58] Speaker A: But no, it wasn't an ambush. [00:44:01] Speaker B: I just remembered my favorite use of vocalizations and sound effects that they do. It's after the badge has been dropped and they have the footsteps of hack going over, followed by John Daner's just slight groan, which is just perfect. In that groan, you can see him bend over to pick up that badge. And, I mean, this is back. And you talked about this in Gunsmoke before where it's just like, how did they do that, right? [00:44:29] Speaker A: Other than maybe actually physically moving around the stage with microphones. [00:44:33] Speaker B: I wonder if they mic'd him just bending over to pick up a quarter. [00:44:37] Speaker A: Maybe the mics are taped to their head like Hunter S. Thompson and fear and loathing in Las Vegas. Is anybody else relieved? When I was really hoping they would let me off the hook. And they did when he said at the very end. So I saddled up my horse and rode back. And I went, oh, good, the horse made it. He got it into the barn. It was warm enough to live through the night. I was worried that that was not going to be told to me. [00:45:06] Speaker C: I was worried up until the point that he sent his little baldy buddy out there to put him in the barn and took a long time handling in the barn that I felt, okay, horse is good. But yes, I was worried about that. [00:45:17] Speaker A: Horse, and I didn't want them to leave me hanging like well, no one cares what happened to the horse? No, please tell me. Is the horse okay? I'm thinking about the horse a lot. [00:45:26] Speaker B: I don't know if you guys noticed, but Dylan uses. And Meston wrote both scripts, so maybe it's Meston, not. Dylan uses a similar tactic in this episode, as in never Pester Chester, where he's about to be killed, and he says, hey, aren't you going to let a man have his last meal? [00:45:45] Speaker A: Right? [00:45:46] Speaker B: He does the same thing in never pester Chester. He gets some pork chops out of the deal, and here he gets whatever Belle was making. Boiled meat. Yep. But it's a great moment of suspense, because then they all have to sit down, and there's all this tension, and there's a great bit of unexpected tension. Albie comes back in from putting the horse in the barn, and he finds out. [00:46:08] Speaker A: Horses in the barn. [00:46:10] Speaker B: He's not just going to kill Dylan. Right. And up to then, you feel like, okay, I understand the relationship between Hack and Alvie. Hack's the alpha criminal, Alvie's subordinate. But there's that moment where Alvie turns on him and says, I got ways. And you can hear in Hack's voice that he's a little afraid of. [00:46:29] Speaker A: Yeah, boy. Don't laugh. Yeah, you know how I don't like laughing. Yeah, you're absolutely right. There's a moment. Who's in charge here? [00:46:37] Speaker B: He doesn't show outright fear, but his demeanor softens for one moment. It's just a moment of hesitation, and you see how he handles Alvie in that moment. And so Alvi becomes much more of a wild card in the scenario at that point. And then you hear the backstory that he's knifed some guy in the bank. [00:46:58] Speaker C: Robbery, didn't even get any money. [00:47:02] Speaker B: I will say my only disappointment in this entire episode was that I was hoping they would let Belle stick someone with the pitchfork. Yeah, there's that nice moment where the door opens, and you totally know the door is going to open. I mean, again, this is just like a testimony to how great all the details are that you just, yay. The door opened, just like I thought it would, but the wind and the sound, and you hear Alvie Shriek, and then we hear she's holding a pitchfork. So in that moment of confusion, I was like, oh, did she just run out? But of course, he got shot by. [00:47:36] Speaker A: Hack one of the times. Hit his heart. [00:47:40] Speaker C: And again, the texture of this highly focused little thing is I was not disappointed by Belle because it was so gritty and real. If she had been out in that cold for so long that she had the door open and that's all she could do. And Dylan's going through the beats of like, all right, he's not focused. He is poking that gun out the door without really knowing what he's doing. And it is that demonstration of Dylan has a lot of experience in these sorts of fights and this guy doesn't. [00:48:09] Speaker B: And even Dylan's concerned that he's already been out in the cold too long to be able to keep a hold of the. Yeah, yeah. [00:48:15] Speaker A: Right. [00:48:15] Speaker B: I think it's justified in the story. I don't think it's a weakness in the character of Bell. It's just a total, like, don't be realistic for once. [00:48:23] Speaker A: Right. [00:48:24] Speaker B: I just enjoy that. [00:48:26] Speaker A: There is one thing about gunsmoke that is jarring in every episode. These very difficult stories with difficult things happening and the tension and the sadness or whatever words you want to use that are tear you apart a little or make you think. And then it goes. And then you're like, this is a little horse hose. Yeah. It never matches the mood you're in when that thing ends. [00:49:03] Speaker C: This been such a love fest. I do need to say that the part of this whole thing that I loathe, that I absolutely hated it, is November in Minnesota right now. We are in for a long, cold winter. I can only assume it's going to be blizzards nonstop for the next three months. I will be trapped in a cabin. Bandits might come and kill me and hold my wife hostage to make food for them. I have to live this. And I know Eric's very excited about these upcoming snowstorms. [00:49:29] Speaker B: Oh, he's super excited. He shovels with a Pitchfork. It's weird. [00:49:33] Speaker A: I hope to get locked in there. Then people can't come and find me and talk to me and make me do things. [00:49:40] Speaker C: I mean, this is like listening to a story about doing laundry. No matter how good a story it is, it's still about doing laundry. [00:49:50] Speaker B: Last thing I have to say, and then we can vote is I always a fan of both John Danner and Harry Bartel. But I think these are two of my favorite performances I've heard from them and combined, I think they stand out. Just their timing, their choices of when to modulate their voices, when to give a line, a little extra emphasis for meaning. They are a truly terrifying duo. And what's more, at no point me listening to this do I go, oh, it's the frontier gentleman and the Petri wine guy, right? You just don't hear that at all in their performance. [00:50:31] Speaker A: Should we vote? [00:50:31] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:50:32] Speaker A: I'm going to say, surprisingly, this is not a classic. It is up against other gunsmokes that are for starters too. As Joshua said, not an original story. It does stand the test of time and it is extremely well done and it is up to par, as far as my opinion goes, with an amazing show that has a very high bar. And this was really great. It was fantastic. I just can't throw the classic at it, but it's a beautifully well done episode of radio drama. [00:51:08] Speaker C: Eric, you're wrong in every way. This is my favorite gunsmoke episode I've ever heard. This is a classic. It is so focused. It's got such a talented and again, focused ensemble that creates such a huge world and a huge story in a small little space of both time and space. Every time I get handed gunsmoke, I'm wondering, like, is this going to be the one that pokes a hole in the ship? And this was not the one. I loved this to pieces. [00:51:35] Speaker A: I agree. It's a classic. It's the best gunsmoke ever. Can we be friends again? [00:51:40] Speaker C: Well, of course we can. [00:51:42] Speaker B: Yeah. I think it is a master class in how to put a fresh coat of paint on a familiar old story. I already said it all. It's like every element of the production combines to elevate every other element of production. And I think I would give it classic just because it does that amazing thing in that it defies your expectation while fulfilling every single one of them at the same time. And that's really hard to do. So classic. [00:52:13] Speaker C: Another small thing. I know we get bad sometimes about voting and then going back and talking more, but this is an interesting version of Gunsmoke, and it pulls Dylan out of his environment and all of his community. [00:52:22] Speaker A: He is totally no resources. [00:52:24] Speaker B: Yes. [00:52:25] Speaker C: And it is interesting. And what his character is when he's not talking to his friends. Like when he is, he's not really even in his job. He's just in a different space doing different things, and his character is still the same guy. It's still so. [00:52:39] Speaker A: Cause like, when I'm not around you guys, I talk totally different. Tim, tell him stuff. [00:52:48] Speaker C: Please go visit ghoulishtolites.com, home of this podcast. We have a bunch of other episodes there you can listen to, including some more gunsmoke. If you want to compare contrast for yourself. You can also link to our social media pages, go to our threadless store and get some swag. Or you can link to our Patreon page and support us on Patreon. [00:53:05] Speaker B: Yes. Go to patreon.com slash them. Do like Tim said, support this podcast. It is just a really great thing to do. I mean, there are a lot of needs out there in the world, a lot of people who are hurting right now, but forget about them. Support this podcast and you'll get a lot of stuff in return. I mean, feed starving people, they don't give you anything. It's just the truth. [00:53:38] Speaker A: No. [00:53:41] Speaker B: Where'd everybody go? [00:53:42] Speaker F: Come back. [00:53:43] Speaker A: Hey, is this thing on? Hey, if you'd like to see us performing live, the mysterious old radio listening society is also a theater company that does recreations of classic old time radio shows and audio dramas and a lot of our own original work live on stage monthly. And we've been doing it for seven, eight years now. If you'd like to find out what we're performing and where we're performing every month, find out and come and see us. Go to ghoulishdelights.com to see where we are and how to get tickets. And if you can't make it, if you're a Patreon, we do film them and you can watch us perform that way. And that's part of being a Patreon. You get that? Hey, what's coming up next? [00:54:25] Speaker B: Next we have a listener request from our patron, Dave. We will be listening to the black room from CBS radio mystery theater. Until then, I let him shove it. [00:54:36] Speaker F: Out three or four inches and then I slammed down on it. Then I jumped into the room. Hack tried, had clubbed me with a gun, but he missed it. And I got in under him with a fork and lifted him off his feet. And he struggled for a moment like a spirit fish, and then went lip and I let him fall. [00:54:57] Speaker C: It is November in Minnesota right now. [00:54:59] Speaker F: One of the prongs had reached his heart. [00:55:01] Speaker C: I have to live this.