GUNSMOKE SEASON 14 VOLUMES 1 & 2: MORE MATT

For not years but decades, two of them to be precise, GUNSMOKE was a TV series that families gathered around and watched every week on CBS. From 1955 through 1975 each week we watched the story of U.S. Marshall Matt Dillon (James Arness) as he handled things in the west and in Dodge City in particular. Arness not only originated the role on TV he stuck with it for all 20 of those years.

CBS Home Video has been releasing the series on DVD for some time now but believe it or not is only up to season 14 so far on disc. With 6 more seasons to go before the entire series is available one has to wonder why the show stayed on for all those years. Watching these now gives you some kind of clue to answer that question.

Wikipedia offers a quote from Los Angeles Times critic Cecil Smith who wrote: “GUNSMOKE was the dramatization of the American epic legend of the west. Our own Iliad and Odyssey, created from standard elements of the dime novel and the pulp Western as romanticized by Ned Buntline, Bret Harte and Mark Twain. It was ever the stuff of legends.” He’s absolutely correct. The series was the stuff of legends, not just in the stories it told but behind and in front of the camera as well.

Season 14 contains great examples of the types of stories that GUNSMOKE told, not all played for drama with a few humorous episodes tossed in as well. And these stories didn’t just focus on Marshall Dillon taking on some gunslinger, many had to do with various issues as well. The season opens with a story of a lawman past his prime using his son to have vengeance on the outlaw who damaged his hands finally being released from prison. What he finds is not at all what he expected.

Other episodes involve cattle rustlers, reward seekers, escorting a prisoner via train, a swindler falling for the woman he set out to fleece, bounty hunters, a former Quantrill Raider, former slaves that aid Dillon and more. Each episode would have been an hour long on television and each one tells a complete story. And they do it so well.

Do they seem quaint by today’s standards? Perhaps. It is obvious much of the time that Dodge City is a set but that doesn’t matter. It’s the story that counts and the actors bringing that story to life. And they do it well. Arness was a tall man’s man type who made Dillon come to life. Milburn Stone as his best friend Doc could play the part cantankerous when it called for it and concerned at other times. Ken Curtis as the rascally Festus who became a right hand man to Dillon played the role as slightly buffoonish but at the same time with a sense of street smarts that came in handy. And of course Amanda Blake as saloon owner Kitty and the always potential love interest of Dillon was smooth in her performances.

This series was what westerns were all about at their peak on television. It was one of the first to appear and one of the last to leave creating a hole that has never been filled since. But you can go back and enjoy the series again with these discs being released. This is binge watching to the extreme with all those seasons already available. My guess is that by the time you catch up the rest will be on their way even if only one season gets released each year.

It’s time to take a trip on the nostalgia train and visit the old west once again. Strap on your gun belt, wander the dirt strewn streets of Dodge, step in for a drink at Miss Kitty’s and visit Doc if you get hurt while in town. Pay your respects to Marshall Dillon and stay out of trouble. And have fun while watching this latest season of GUNSMOKE available now. This release is in two volumes.

Click here for volume one.

Click here for volume two.