Gunsmoke Trivia

MistWolf · Post by **MistWolf** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 11:21 am

I really like Gunsmoke, both the radio show and the TV program. For fun, let's have a trivia quiz thread. I'll start and whoever gets it right can ask the next question.

What was the name of the first marshal of Dodge City and who played him?

RIHMFIRE · Post by **RIHMFIRE** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 11:34 am

I was not around for the radio version or the beginning...but i do know
tv roll was offered to John Wayne....but he did not want to have to work every week
so he recommended James Arness for the roll....and the rest is history...as they say

Radio I read it was the fat guy from Canon...or jake and the fat man...Conrad

MistWolf · Post by **MistWolf** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 11:45 am

Robert Conrad played Matt Dillon on the radio show. But he didn't play the first marshal of Dodge City and Matt Dillon isn't the name of the first marshal.

They did originally want John Wayne. He declined the role and recommended James Arness who had been doing stunts for Wayne. John Wayne made a TV appearance to introduce Arness and Gunsmoke.

John Wayne was, if I recall, 6'3". James Arness was even taller! There was a movie that Wayne & Arness starred in together and when they stood side by side, Arness was a good two or three inches taller!

Terry Murbach · Post by **Terry Murbach** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 12:18 pm

WILLIAM CONRAD WAS MATT DILLON ON THE RADIO.

Post by **Old Savage** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 12:24 pm

Sgt Dan Matthews was Matt Dillon - why this is a wild and dangerous land.

BTW - there are a couple of trivia questions embedded.

MistWolf · Post by **MistWolf** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 12:28 pm

Terry Murbach wrote:WILLIAM CONRAD WAS MATT DILLON ON THE RADIO.

DOH!! You're right. I got the two mixed up!

Old Savage, who is Sgt Dan Matthews?

Post by **Old Savage** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 12:38 pm

Broderick Crawford - Highway Patrol - another or the names that sound enough alike to meld in the memory.

redlevel42 · Post by **redlevel42** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 1:14 pm

MistWolf wrote: There was a movie that Wayne & Arness starred in together and when they stood side by side, Arness was a good two or three inches taller!

Hondo

Stan in SC · Post by **Stan in SC** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 3:38 pm

James Arness' size earned him his first movie role.He played the alien who terrorized the ice station in "IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE".Movie was remade later but he played in the original.

Stan in SC

RIHMFIRE · Post by **RIHMFIRE** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 4:44 pm

MistWolf wrote:John Wayne was, if I recall, 6'3". James Arness was even taller! There was a movie that Wayne & Arness starred in together and when they stood side by side, Arness was a good two or three inches taller!

Hondo and Island in the Sky

RIHMFIRE · Post by **RIHMFIRE** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 4:51 pm

What was Ken Curtis's .........Festus,.......last movie?
I think he was a darn good actor and made the show!
He also got his start with John Wayne...

J Miller · Post by **J Miller** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 6:37 pm

RIHMFIRE wrote:What was Ken Curtis's .........Festus,.......last movie?
I think he was a darn good actor and made the show!
He also got his start with John Wayne...

His last movie was Conagher filmed in 1991. He played Seaborn Tay, Cattle Rancher.
He died April 28, 91 at age 74.

He actually appeared in a bunch of movies before he appeared as regimental singer in the John Wayne movie Rio Grande in 1950.

Joe

piller · Post by **piller** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 7:20 pm

RIHMFIRE wrote:
MistWolf wrote:John Wayne was, if I recall, 6'3". James Arness was even taller! There was a movie that Wayne & Arness starred in together and when they stood side by side, Arness was a good two or three inches taller!
Hondo and Island in the Sky

And in "Big Jim McClain". One of the female characters in the movie called John Wayne "76" because 76 inches was, as the character put it, "a lot of man."

jeepnik · Post by **jeepnik** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 7:39 pm

Old Savage wrote:Broderick Crawford - Highway Patrol - another or the names that sound enough alike to meld in the memory.

Yes, Broderick Crawford played Dan Mathews on Highway Patrol. Buthe wasn't a sgt. He was in charge of the CHP. Why in one episode, he and his sgt were pinned down by a man with a "high powered" hunting rifle. The sgt plays dead, Mathews challanges the shooter, and stands to face him. The sgt kills the sniper guy with a single shot from his 6" barreled .357. This was before Newhall, tragic as that was.

piller · Post by **piller** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 7:49 pm

Whch actor played a blacksmith for a short while, and then was replaced by the character "Newly"?
Which actor, while playing an outlaw, actually knocked out a front tooth and the scene with the blood running out his mouth was left in?

Hint, first actor once told his friend Clint, "I can learn to act, but you are going to have one hell of a time hiding that Adams Apple."
Hint, second actor once played opposite Sean Connery, and Connery's character thought the actor's character had died "Just when he was getting old enough to be interesting."

765x53 · Post by **765x53** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 9:38 pm

Ken Curtis was also with the Sons of the Pioneers in the late '40s and '50s.

Post by **Old Savage** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 9:41 pm

Burt Reynolds

Chief Dan Matthews

piller · Post by **piller** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 9:45 pm

O S, yes on the blacksmith, now how about the outlaw.

RIHMFIRE · Post by **RIHMFIRE** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 10:19 pm

765x53 wrote:Ken Curtis was also with the Sons of the Pioneers in the late '40s and '50s.

That boy could sing....check him out in rio grande with John Wayne

Post by **Old Savage** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 4:28 am

piller - only so many extraneous facts sitting around in there - that is not one of them.

piller · Post by **piller** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 1:00 pm

The one who broke out his tooth when falling on his face and hitting the prop gun was Harrison Ford. Yes, he has a partial front plate because Matt Dillon killed him. It is actually more of a Harrison Ford trivia question, but it did happen on Gunsmoke.

Ben_Rumson · Post by **Ben_Rumson** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 2:23 pm

Arness played "The Thing" in a movie so named.. I don't think he was in "It Came From Outer Space". Look for Ken Curtis as a sailor in "Mr Roberts" too.

Motex66 · Post by **Motex66** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 3:00 pm

If you want to listen to the Gunsmoke radio shows an many others go here: alhttp://www.radiolovers.com/so
The radio show used the same scripts as the tv in later years. Theres 400 or so radio shows.

John

Post by **Old Savage** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 3:27 pm

Well now,

MistWolf · Post by **MistWolf** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 4:12 pm

Motex66 wrote:If you want to listen to the Gunsmoke radio shows an many others go here: http://www.radiolovers.com/
The radio show used the same scripts as the tv in later years. Theres 400 or so radio shows.

John

Fixed the link and thank you very much for it.

They used some of the stories from the radio show for the TV show.

Old Savage, that's a good picture of Georgia Ellis who played "Miss Kitty" on the radio.

Anyone want to take a stab at the original question? What was the name of the first Marshal of Dodge City and what actor played him?

Beaker · Post by **Beaker** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 5:51 pm

Whats the name of the mountain range between Dodge City and Hays?

GonnePhishin · Post by **GonnePhishin** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 6:19 pm

MistWolf,

That is Amanda Blake from the TV series. Very Pretty lady. Too bad Marshall Dillon never married her on the show.

Stan in SC · Post by **Stan in SC** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 7:49 pm

Ben Rumson is correct and I was wrong.The name of the movies was "The Thing".

Stan in SC

Rube Burrows · Post by **Rube Burrows** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 7:54 pm

Let me see if I can stump yall.

What kind of pocket watch does Doc carry? You see it in tons of episodes but I only remember it showing the face one time where you could read it.

How many rifles are in the gun rack at the Marshal's office?

Post by **Chuck 100 yd** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 8:16 pm

Ken Curtis could sing like a bird! Several of you guys beat me to that one.

Us guys on the left coast get in late on the action.

bunyan · Post by **bunyan** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 8:52 pm

Someone beat me to it, but I was gonna say that you can listen to old radio programs on the web. Around the Washington DC suburbs you can tune in on sunday evenings for the big radio show on the local NPR station, nothing but old radio programs, including gunsmoke, dragnet, fibber magee and molly, life of riley, the shadow, and more. They even play some of the old radio commercials too! I'm only 34, but I still enjoy listening to those shows. Some may call them simple, but they're no more formulaic than most modern tv programs out there nowadays.

piller · Post by **piller** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 9:19 pm

The hills would be the Red Hills, also known as the Gyp Hills. Not far from Dodge are a couple of hills known as dot and dash.

What river used to flow by Dodge City? In the show I do not remember it being featured, but it was there until a dam in Colorado completely stopped it.

Where was James Arness when he acquired his limp and what was he doing?

Name another actor who played a deputy, and later starred in his own series.

765x53 · Post by **765x53** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 10:47 pm

Who was the only man who ever kissed Miss Kitty?
I honestly can't remember his name.
In the 70's he played a truck driver on a TV series. I always get him mixed up with Neville Brand.

I just remembered! Claude Akins.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Akins

Post by **Old Savage** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 10:53 pm

Claude Aiken?

MistWolf · Post by **MistWolf** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 4:59 am

UncleBuck wrote:MistWolf,

That is Amanda Blake from the TV series. Very Pretty lady. Too bad Marshall Dillon never married her on the show.

I've been batting a thousand, haven't I? My face is red with embarrassment

RIHMFIRE · Post by **RIHMFIRE** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 6:29 am

piller wrote:The hills would be the Red Hills, also known as the Gyp Hills. Not far from Dodge are a couple of hills known as dot and dash.

What river used to flow by Dodge City? In the show I do not remember it being featured, but it was there until a dam in Colorado completely stopped it. No Clue!

Where was James Arness when he acquired his limp and what was he doing?
No Clue! ..........He fell in the tub with Miss Kitty

Name another actor who played a deputy, and later starred in his own series.

Dennis Weaver.....

Terry Murbach · Post by **Terry Murbach** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 9:52 am

IF MEMORY SERVES JIM ARNESS GOT HIS LIMP FROM BEING WOUNDED AT THE ANZIO BEACH-HEAD.

yooper2 · Post by **yooper2** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 9:57 am

I believe James Arness got his limp when he wounded during WWII. I read somewhere they used him to check the depth of the water in different places due to his height. Regardless, Gunsmoke is my second favorite show (Rifleman with Chuck Connors beats it) and this thread is a fun one.

Eric

Post by **Old Savage** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 10:00 am

Here is a greeting on the official site.

"Welcome! Please feel free to browse around and drop me a line. I love hearing from all of you and will personally keep you posted on what is going on in my life. I extend my heartfelt gratitude and thanks to all of you for your continued interest in my life and career. It has been my great pleasure to have been a part of your lives."

James Arness

piller · Post by **piller** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 12:01 pm

James Arness was wounded in the service to our Country. That limp did make Matt Dillon even more memorable. As Terry stated, it was at Anzio Beachhead. Arness was an Infantry Soldier in the 3rd Infantry Division.

I did like Dennis Weaver in McCloud, but I preferred the deputy Festus played by Ken Curtis to deputy Chester Goode.

The Arkansas River is dry, and since I was a child, has been so. Even the Cimarron River is now dry in South Western Kansas.

Beaker · Post by **Beaker** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 5:50 pm

What is the beautiful vista one see's when taking in the view from the senic overlook just north east of Dodge City on US 50?

Griff · Post by **Griff** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 7:05 pm

What is the color horse Marsall Dillon almost always rode and how many were used in the course of the series?

What did Deputy Goode carry for protection?

In answer to the OP: Joshua Stryker, played by Morgan Woodward.

93marshooter · Post by **93marshooter** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 7:45 pm

I was watching Dillions fast draw today on TV. It looked like he was using a flat top Ruger with a 7 1/2 inch barrel like SAA.

Griff · Post by **Griff** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 9:20 pm

93marshooter wrote:I was watching Dillions fast draw today on TV. It looked like he was using a flat top Ruger with a 7 1/2 inch barrel like SAA.

Looks like a S&W to me!

Actually, there's a photo on his website that ckearly shows his holster slung over his shoulder and a portion of the gun us visible; ckearly a Colt hammer.

RIHMFIRE · Post by **RIHMFIRE** » Sat Aug 20, 2011 9:11 am

What movie did James Arness star in that was produced by John Waynes Batjac
Production Company

Griff · Post by **Griff** » Sat Aug 20, 2011 10:22 am

765x53 wrote:Who was the only man who ever kissed Miss Kitty?
I honestly can't remember his name.
In the 70's he played a truck driver on a TV series. I always get him mixed up with Neville Brand.

I just remembered! Claude Akins.

I don't know this myself, but my folks told me that Marshall Dillon kissed Miss Kitty in the pilot, their only kiss. If so, Aiken wouldn't be the only character she kissed, but the only other one!

Rube Burrows · Post by **Rube Burrows** » Sat Aug 20, 2011 11:54 am

Griff wrote:
765x53 wrote:Who was the only man who ever kissed Miss Kitty?
I honestly can't remember his name.
In the 70's he played a truck driver on a TV series. I always get him mixed up with Neville Brand.

I just remembered! Claude Akins.
I don't know this myself, but my folks told me that Marshall Dillon kissed Miss Kitty in the pilot, their only kiss. If so, Aiken wouldn't be the only character she kissed, but the only other one!

Dillon kissed Kitty on the cheek on the show.....the real kiss on the lips happened ONLY on a TV commercial.

Now to answer my questions that no one answered.

Doc's pocket watch is an Elgin

There are 4 rifles in the gun rack in the Marshal's Office and one Coach Gun.

Also, Chester was never an actual deputy.....just sort of a gopher or helper.

How many notches does Matt Dillon have on his gun?

Rube Burrows · Post by **Rube Burrows** » Sat Aug 20, 2011 12:21 pm

93marshooter wrote:I was watching Dillions fast draw today on TV. It looked like he was using a flat top Ruger with a 7 1/2 inch barrel like SAA.

When you say "first draw" are you meaning the first opening gunfight when the show is coming on or his actual first time he drew his gun in an episode?

Griff · Post by **Griff** » Sat Aug 20, 2011 1:55 pm

Rube Burrows wrote:How many notches does Matt Dillon have on his gun?

One.

MistWolf · Post by **MistWolf** » Sat Aug 20, 2011 4:43 pm

Griff wrote:In answer to the OP: Joshua Stryker, played by Morgan Woodward.

Interesting. According to my sources, the first Marshal of Dodge City was "Mark Dillon" in "Mark Dillon Goes To Gouge Eye". The first recording was made in 1949 with Rye Billsbury as Marshal Dillon. A second audition was done with Howard Culver playing the Marshal. However, Culver was starring in "Straight Arrow" and hos contract prevented him from accepting the role. A third "Gouge Eye" audition starred Jon Dehner in 1952 and it was this rendition that finally sold the series.

Griff, what have you got?