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"Gunsmoke" (1955)

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21 Nutzerkommentare insgesamt

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41 out of 45 people found the following comment useful :-
Gunsmoke will be remembered as the finest television western series of all time., 28. November 1998
Author: Steve Richmond (sfwr@earthlink.net) von Brea, Ca. USA

I remember watching Gunsmoke in the late 1950's. In black and white or in color it was consistently good, in large part, due to its talented cast. Originally John Wayne was offered the part but felt TV was not his cup of tea. He recommended a tall, good looking James Arness to play Matt Dillon and the rest is history.For the first 9 years, Dennis Weaver played Matt's devoted friend and deputy. Amanda Blake was perfect in the role of Miss Kitty, who ran the local Dodge City saloon. Milburn Stone, a long time screen actor, was given the part of Doc Adams, an outspoken man with a heart of gold. Then there was Ken Curtis who played Festus Hagen, a lovable deputy who was an equal replacement for Dennis Weaver. For 20 years, Gunsmoke graced the television line up at CBS. It was a different western in that its scripts were often filled with emotional stories that developed its characters. It employed many of our finest actors in guest roles. Realistic filming in Thousand Oaks, Ca. and in southwest Utah added to its appeal. It still runs today on Nick at Night and continues to captivate its audience. It is just plain good!!!

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35 out of 40 people found the following comment useful :-
Matt Dillon was a hero in the truest since of the word., 26. Oktober 2002
Author: (dhsmith@bellsouth.net) von Atlanta, GA

Having Tivo (a system that records programs automatically) has re-introduced Gunsmoke to me. I was a young boy when it began in the 1950's. I loved the early shows. The 1962 shows are being aired on TV Land right now and I have about a dozen recorded for future viewing. I wanted to make an observation about James Arness's character, Matt Dillon. He was my hero growing up and watching the show. After seeing the shows again, 40 years later, I know why. Matt was justice. He meted out retribution to those who were evil. Here he was, standing 6 feet seven inches with a voice like God.

Watching Matt save the day in episode after episode made me realize how great it would to have a Matt around today: someone who would stand up to the bully, step in a wield his gun at the villains taking advantage of anyone in sight. I guess we all had heroes, but who could ever match James Arness. He was fair, gentle, understanding, but had the strength and skill to ward off any foe.

I miss Matt Dillon. We won't see his like again. Even Clint Eastwood, with his Dirty Harry justice, did not have the depth of Matt with his combination of gunplay and compassion.

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22 out of 26 people found the following comment useful :-
Not only a good Western,but action drama at its best, 30. April 2002
Author: raysond von Chapel Hill,North Carolina

For the 20 years that it ran on CBS,"Gunsmoke" was the essential Western to watch. Not only it was about a Marshal who retain law and order in Dodge City in the 1800's,but set against the breathtaking backdrop of the Kansas frontier. The stories kept its viewers on edge no matter what its characters were going through as Matt Dillon(played by James Arness) kept the peace alongside his deputies Chester Goode(played by Dennis Weaver from 1955-1963),Quint Aspen(played by Burt Reynolds from 1961-1964),Festus Hagen(played by Ken Curtis from 1963-1975),and Newly(played by Buck Taylor from 1967-1975). It also had Dillon saving Miss Kitty(Amanda Blake)for great danger in some of the episodes which in some sparked a love interest. It may have been cancelled,but CBS executives saved the series in the late 1960's as it switched from Saturday nights(where it ran for 10 years including the extension to an hour format in 1961,and in 1965 which the show made the transition to color) to Monday nights(where it stayed until the show's final episode in 1975,marking the end of the TV western) outdoing its precessdor Bonanza,which was on a rival network for an astounding 14 seasons.

The series afterward spawn three Gunsmoke TV movies that followed and there will be a fourth installment of the series which CBS is producing. Kudos to James Arness,the true Marshal Dillon. Catch the episodes(some of the color and black and white installments)on TV Land!!!

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21 out of 27 people found the following comment useful :-
The best of the series, 21. Juli 2001
Author: dane4385 von Anniston, Alabama

The best of the series is the first five years when John Meston did most of the writing. He had a real feel of, what I perceive to be, the Old West to be really like. He did not go in for all of the frivolousness of later episodes. He did not rely on loud talking and grandiose brashness by the actors.

People in the earlier episodes gave the impression that they were ordinary, hard working people who barely eked a living out of a hard land. They did what they had to do to get by, out on the lonely Kansas plains. When they met disaster, it was "implied" on screen and the viewer could use his imagination as to what happened. Those shows did not have all of the "Hollywood" glitz that pervaded later episodes.

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18 out of 22 people found the following comment useful :-
Best T.V. Series - ever, 22. Dezember 2003

Author: napalmzappa von St. Cloud, MN USA

Unfortunately, I am a real 'greenhorn' when it comes to this show, being such a latecomer and all (endless thanks & kudos to 'The Western Channel') - but I know a quality series when I see one. I can't take my eyes off this thing once an episode gets going, and the characters, storylines and acting are all in a class of their own. All I can say is God Bless Marshall Dillon, Festus, Miss Kitty, Chester, Quint, Sam, Doc and all the rest of the characters and the actors who played them. There will never be another show that can even spit-shine the dust from Gunsmoke's boots.

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14 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
Highest rated episode in Gunsmoke's twenty year run, 9. März 1999
Author: S. L. Kotar (gsfe@aol.com) von St. Louis, MO

The original title of "Kitty's Love Affair" was "End of the Run." The story depicted a gunfighter who fell in love with Kitty and hoped that, by buying a ranch and settling down, he could encourage her to marry him. The original ending had the gunfighter (Richard Kiley) hanged. Unfortunately, John Mantley, the producer, decided that, yet again, Matt would save the day. Before Mr. Kiley was cast in the role of Will Stambridge, the writers (S.L. Kotar and J.E. Gessler) were told there could be no kissing scenes between the gunfighter and Miss Kitty because "Gunsmoke fans would never allow it." After Richard accepted the role, the script was altered to allow Will to kiss Kitty four times! This was the highest rated episode in the twenty year history of Gunsmoke.

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9 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
"The Deadly Innocent" in Cowboy Hall of Fame, 2. September 2003
Author: (zphilmmaker@hotmail.com) von Los Angeles, CA

This episode, "The Deadly Innocent", filmed in 1973-75, guest starring Russell Wiggins as Billy, was inducted into the Cowboy Hall of Fame for the sensitive portrayal of mental retardation. It portrayed Marshall Dillon and Festus as helping a mentally handicapped man find a productive place in society in the Old West.

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10 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
Great show of course..., 5. Januar 2000
Author: gazzo-2 von United States

This one lasted 20 years, was in the top 10 '50s, '60s, and '70s(as late as '72...) You name the western character actor-Dub Taylor, Gerald McRaney, Richard Kiley, Forrest Tucker, etc. chances are, they turned up in here. I always preferred Ken Curtis to Dennis Weaver myself, but Chester was okay too.

This has to be the #1 Western of all time, Arness, Blake, Stone and company made this a classic. By all means, if its carried somewhere, see it. It's one of the best.

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12 out of 19 people found the following comment useful :-
The best television series ever. And not just of Westerns, but of all genres., 29. August 2005
Author: jmgalvan-1 von United States

"Gunsmoke" is simply the best television series ever and is obviously the most successful. It ran for twenty years (from 1955-1975) and had over six hundred episodes, some in black-in-white (1955-1966) and the rest in color (1966-1975). There are several reasons to why "Gunsmoke" was so successful. First of all, it had great actors. James Arness, Dennis Weaver, Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake, Ken Curtis, Buck Taylor, Burt Reynolds, and the others added to the greatness of this series. And we saw several familiar faces through many guest appearances in the series such as Jeremy Slate (who also starred in True Grit). "Gunsmoke" was also not only a Western, but consisted of action, drama, comedy, and even romance in some episodes. In just about every episode there is at least one gunshot and usually, somebody gets killed. That's what I really like about this show. Always some good action and laughs to entertain us. I am yet to see a "Gunsmoke" episode that I have not liked and I probably never will since this series was such a great success. I highly recommend this to any fan of the Western genre. Two episodes play every day on the Westerns Channel. One at 5 and one at 6 in the afternoon and the same in the following morning.

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12 out of 20 people found the following comment useful :-
The three eras of TV's classic western, 10. März 2002
Author: schappe1 von N Syracuse NY

Gunsmoke

That Gunsmoke is the greatest TV western of all time is hard to dispute. it may be the great TV show of all time. Think of what your favorite show might have been like after 20 years on the air and then compare it to Gunsmoke, which was probably as good as anything on TV for it's entire twenty year run. Not too many shows were on so long that their runs can be divided into eras, but Gunsmoke has three of them. The first is the half hour black and white era, (1955-61). This is the most praised era of the show and the era of it's greatest popularity, (it was the #1 show on TV the last four of those years). Critics praise the "tight scripting" of those days and James Arness has said he prefers John Meston's "little morality plays" to the later hour episodes, which some critics have called "bloated". I like the half hours because they show the program in it's formative years, when the cast was young, (and the right age for their characters). I also like you can get four of them to a cassette, rather than two. But these shows are basically about incidents, rather than stories. They lack character and story development. The second era is the hour long black and white era. This is my favorite, firstly because it's the earliest one I remember from the times I watched it with my father and secondly because it's the best. With the extra hour to work with and a new group of writers to do the work,. the series matured. The supporting cast became stars, (nearly every famous episode featuring Chester, Festus, Doc or Kitty comes from this period). It also is the era when the second lead was introduced. the first and best was Burt Reynolds as Quint Asper, who's entire run is in this era. The writers also increased the scope of the show by focusing on "guest characters" with the regulars as supporting players. Unfortunately, the general public didn't share my enthusiasm for this era, (or they found something better to do on Saturday nights). Gunsmoke fell from #1 to #36, (in an era where there were only three networks), and actually got briefly canceled until William Paley saved it. But the old Saturday night spot was taken by Mannix so the show was moved to Tuesday, where it was expected to die a natural death among shows intended for younger viewers. In the greatest upset in TV ratings history, the show was discovered by a new generation and rebounded to #2, earning it another 8 years on the air, by which time the western craze it had started was long over and all it's rivals, even Bonanza, were long off the air.

By this time, color had taken over. And it didn't do the show much good. Magazine reporters used to say: black and white for drama, color for excitement. Gunsmoke was about drama. Gunsmoke used to use an outdoor set for daytime Dodge City scenes. That disappeared in favor of an indoor set about 1960. In black an white the indoor set sufficed. In color it looked garish and stagy. Color had the same effect on the actors who were now too old for their roles. Real western marshals served for a few months at a time, (and, by the way, US Marshals were never town marshals). it became increasingly ridiculous to see Matt Dillon still gunning down the young whippersnappers after a decade or more. Miss Kitty went from a purdy young thing to a middle aged painted lady. Doc became increasingly enfeebled as Milburn Stone's health declined. Somehow the color film brought out all the wrinkles more than black and white. There where compensations. Each season began with a movie-caliber two parter shot on location in some national park. the overall script quality remained high as the cadre of writers continued to expand. They even got an outdoor set to use again in the later years, although it didn't look much like the Dodge City we had come to know.

The TV movies? The first one was terrible. The second one was quite good. the third one stunk and I didn't bother with them after that.

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