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Andrew Rines
Welcome to the old Time Radio Westerns. I'm your host, Andrew Rines, and let's get into this episode. This episode is going to be Gunsmoke Original Air date is November 27, 1955 and the title is Amy's Good Deed. Let's get into it. And I hope you enjoy.
Narrator
Gunsmoke. Brought to you by Chesterfield. To put a smile in your smoking, always buy Chesterfield made modern way. With accuray. Around Dodge City and in 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 smell of gun smoke. Gunsmoke. Starring William Conrad. The transcribed story of the violence that moved west with young America. And the story of a man who moved with it.
Matt Dillon
I'm that man. Matt Dillon, United States Marshal. The first man they look for and the last they want to meet. It's a chancy job, and it makes a man watchful and a little lonely. Chester.
Chesterfield Announcer
Chester.
Amy Slater
Chester.
Matt Dillon
What? How can I think with that racket going on?
Doc Adams
Oh, well, I'm all through now, Mr. Dillon.
Matt Dillon
What are you doing anyway?
Doc Adams
I'm nailing up a picture. Here, I'll show it to you. Ain't that a beautiful thing, Mr. Dillon?
Matt Dillon
It's got an awful lot of color. Yeah, but what is it?
Doc Adams
Why, that's William Henry Harrison whipping them Indians at Tippecanoe.
Matt Dillon
Oh, well, this is the first time I knew he ever did it by himself.
Doc Adams
Well, now, what do you know? I never noticed that. But it sure is pretty though, ain't it?
Matt Dillon
All right, come in, ma'. Am.
Amy Slater
So you're Matt Dillon?
Matt Dillon
Yes'm. What Can I do for you?
Amy Slater
You can call me Amy, for one thing. My name's Amy Slater.
Matt Dillon
All right, Amy.
Amy Slater
I'm 50 years old and I look 60. The prairie done that. Prairie and some other things, Marshall.
Matt Dillon
Where you from, Amy?
Amy Slater
I've been living in Wichita the last year and I heard you were here, so I took the Santa Fe Railroad and I come to Dodge.
Matt Dillon
Oh, why'd you want to see me?
Amy Slater
I've been waiting a long time to see you. I've been living for it, but I'm about through living.
Matt Dillon
What?
Amy Slater
I come here to die, Marshall.
Matt Dillon
Oh, well, if you're sick, maybe Doc Adams can help you.
Amy Slater
I sick?
Matt Dillon
Then why are you talking about dying?
Amy Slater
I've only got enough money to last me about two days, Marshall.
Matt Dillon
Well, if it's money you need, maybe I can help.
Amy Slater
Oh, you're going to help me, but not that way.
Matt Dillon
Well, how?
Amy Slater
You're going to kill me, Marshall.
Matt Dillon
What?
Amy Slater
I said you're going to kill me. Now.
Matt Dillon
Amy, wait.
Amy Slater
I've been waiting, Marshall. A long time.
Andrew Rines
Stop.
Matt Dillon
Start smoking with a smile.
Doc Adams
With Chesterfield?
Narrator
Yes. Put a smile in your smoking. It's as easy as abc. Because Chesterfields made with accuray are A always milder. B, better tasting. C, cooler smoking. Yes, A Chesterfield is always milder.
Chesterfield Announcer
Accuray controls your Chesterfield in the making, gives it a more even distribution of fine tobaccos that burn more evenly. Smoke much milder.
Narrator
A Chesterfield is better tasting.
Chesterfield Announcer
An accurate Chesterfield draws more easily, lets you enjoy all the flavor.
Narrator
And the Chesterfield is cooler smoking.
Chesterfield Announcer
14% more perfectly packed than cigarettes made without. Accurate you enjoy cooler smoking. No hot spots, no hard draw.
Narrator
So always buy Chesterfield.
Matt Dillon
Put a smile in your smoke and just give them a try. Light up a chest to feel, they satisfy. The prairie does different things to different people. Some it gives knowledge to and strength. Others it breaks and leaves lost and twisted and wandering. Amy Slater was one of the lost. I let her go without trying to reason with her. I thought in a day or so I'd find her and buy her a ticket back to Wichita and that'd be the end of it. But it didn't work out that way. She found me first. It was the next morning, just before noon. Chester and I were crossing the plaza when I saw her standing about 30 yards away, holding the rifle.
Doc Adams
What's she up to, Mr. Dillon?
Matt Dillon
She's aiming that rifle at me. Chester, you better get out of the way.
Doc Adams
She's crazy. Shoot her, Mr. Dillon. She'll kill you.
Matt Dillon
I can't shoot a woman. Just.
Doc Adams
Come back, Mr. Dillon.
Amy Slater
Next Chapter. Go through your heart, Marshall.
Matt Dillon
I won't do you any good, Amy.
Amy Slater
I mean it.
Matt Dillon
I'm not gonna draw. Amy.
Amy Slater
You afraid to fight?
Matt Dillon
Give me that rifle.
Amy Slater
All right, take it.
Narrator
I will.
Amy Slater
You're afraid. You're a coward.
Matt Dillon
Why did you try to make me shoot you? Amy, what's this all about?
Amy Slater
You wouldn't fight.
Matt Dillon
You weren't trying to kill me.
Amy Slater
Do you know I wasn't?
Matt Dillon
You were shooting close. You were trying to make me draw.
Amy Slater
I'll destroy you yet, Marshal.
Matt Dillon
Making me shoot a woman, is that it? That'd be the end of me as a lawman, wouldn't it?
Amy Slater
It'd be the end of you as any kind of man.
Matt Dillon
You must hate me an awful lot if you're willing to die for it. Why, Amy, what have I done to you, Amy?
Doc Adams
Ain't you gonna arrest her, Mr. Dillon? You're just gonna let her walk off like that?
Matt Dillon
Arrest and I wouldn't do any good, Chester.
Doc Adams
After what she done?
Matt Dillon
It didn't work, Chester. She's licked now. I feel kind of sorry for her. This is really gonna drive her crazy.
Doc Adams
Just look at the men lined up at that bar, Mr. Dillon. My, I wished I owned this saloon.
Matt Dillon
Cheap whiskey at fancy prices is always a good business. Chester.
Doc Adams
He ain't getting none of my money.
Matt Dillon
Oh, what did you come in here for?
Narrator
To play a little Pharaoh?
Matt Dillon
Oh, well, that makes sense.
Doc Adams
Yes, sir. I ain't squandering a nickel at that bar. Not me.
Matt Dillon
Well, good luck, Chester.
Doc Adams
Thank you.
Matt Dillon
Evening, M. How are you, Kitty?
Amy Slater
Sit down.
Matt Dillon
Psychic. That looks like a busy night.
Amy Slater
It'll get worse. Wait till some of those boys really get a skin full.
Matt Dillon
Well, I hope they play gentle. I've been shot at once today.
Amy Slater
I heard about that. Some old woman with a rifle.
Matt Dillon
Yeah, Amy Slater.
Amy Slater
What's she after you for?
Matt Dillon
I haven't any idea, Kitty. And she feels pretty strong about it.
Amy Slater
I guess she does.
Matt Dillon
Anyway, her plan didn't work, so maybe that's the last I'll hear of her.
Amy Slater
You don't give women enough credit, Matt. She'll think of something else.
Matt Dillon
I hope not.
Amy Slater
Why don't you throw her in jail?
Matt Dillon
Oh, I'd look fine throwing an old woman in jail, wouldn't I? Especially one that's after me.
Amy Slater
You got a right to. Besides, when a woman gets to hating somebody, it's usually worse than when a man does. Women don't do things by halves. With them, it's all or nothing.
Matt Dillon
Well, all I know about women is that some of them are pretty and Some aren't.
Amy Slater
You're a lion. But I won't argue with you.
Matt Dillon
Good.
Chesterfield Announcer
Marshall.
Narrator
Dylan.
Matt Dillon
It'S Amy.
Amy Slater
And she's got a six gun. Stand up, Marshall.
Matt Dillon
You better get out of the way, kitty.
Amy Slater
Yeah, you better. Step out here, Marshall.
Matt Dillon
What are you up to now, Amy?
Amy Slater
I want to show you how I can handle a six gun. I want to show you what I can do with it.
Matt Dillon
Throw the gun down, Amy.
Amy Slater
Not till I'm through with it. You can't fool me this time, Marshall.
Matt Dillon
Throw it down, Amy.
Amy Slater
No. You shot me. You shot me.
Doc Adams
Come in. Come in. Oh, hello, Matt.
Matt Dillon
Well, how is she, Doc?
Doc Adams
Oh, she's about the same. She's asleep now. Now, you scared her half to death, man.
Matt Dillon
Well, I had to shoot that gun out of her hand, Doc. Another second and she'd have killed me.
Doc Adams
I guess she really was after you this time, wasn't she?
Matt Dillon
What I don't understand is a woman brave enough to go gunning for a man fainting like her.
Doc Adams
Well, she's got a fever, Matt. She's not well. Oh, but what she's really suffering from is hysteria. There just isn't much I can do for that.
Matt Dillon
Well, she can't go on like this.
Doc Adams
No, I suppose not. She'd probably be all right if she got over this business with you.
Matt Dillon
She won't even say why she's after me. Duck. What are you gonna do with her? You can't keep her here.
Doc Adams
Well, I can't throw out in the street. You told me she doesn't have any money.
Matt Dillon
Doc, I got an idea.
Amy Slater
Yeah?
Doc Adams
Well, what's that?
Matt Dillon
You know Ma Smiley?
Doc Adams
Oh, of course I know. She's been doing my laundry for years.
Matt Dillon
Oh, she lives alone. Maybe. Maybe she'd like company. Amy could help her with the work. Huh?
Doc Adams
Amy shouldn't do any work at all for a couple of weeks, Matt.
Matt Dillon
Then I'll pay for her room and board.
Doc Adams
You'll pay for the woman. So you're being awful good to a woman who just tried to kill you.
Matt Dillon
I feel sorry for her, Doc.
Doc Adams
Maybe Amy won't like the idea of you helping.
Matt Dillon
Now, don't you tell her. Tell her you're doing it, huh? All right, look, why don't you go see Ma right now, and I. I'll stay out of it.
Doc Adams
All right, I'll go then. Oh, but there's one thing that you ought to keep in mind, Matt.
Matt Dillon
Now what?
Doc Adams
Just because she didn't make it tonight doesn't mean Amy won't try to kill you again. Stop shop for all your friends this.
Matt Dillon
Year this easy way Give Chesterfields this year so bright and gay Wrapped and ready they're the best to buy Cartons.
Narrator
Of Chesterfields they satisfy this Christmas give everyone Chesterfields Chesterfields are easy to give because they come ready to give In a bright red special holiday carton that's wrapped in its own colorful Christmas ribbon Everyone enjoys Chesterfield's smoother cooler smoking pleasure so to all your friends this year say Merry Christmas with cartons of Chesterfields no wrapping, no tying they're easy to give because they come ready to give Chesterfields in the bright red special holiday.
Matt Dillon
Carton Wrapped and ready they're the best.
Doc Adams
To buy Cartons of Chesterfields they satisfy.
Matt Dillon
Doc talked to Ma Smiley that night, and the next day Amy moved in with her. I didn't have to worry about any trouble for a while. Doc ordered her to bed and he saw to it that she stayed there. But she never talked. She never told anybody why she was after me. A couple of weeks passed before Doc reported she was up and about again and that she'd soon be able to go to work. At least I hoped it was work she'd be doing, not gunning for me. Few days later, I found out Chester and I were sitting in the office after dinner.
Doc Adams
Mr. Dillon, you remember that fellow, Jeremy Cracker, who used to live around here?
Amy Slater
Yeah.
Matt Dillon
It'd be hard to forget him. Chester.
Doc Adams
I was thinking about the time he run a rusty nail into his foot. Remember how he went over to the Texas trail and bought hisself two pints of raw whiskey? And he went outside and filled his shoe with one pint and his self with the other and slopped around town that way for days till he got cured. Why, my gracious, he likes.
Matt Dillon
Hello, Amy.
Amy Slater
Hello, Marshall. Chester, hello. It's all right, Marshall. I ain't got a gun.
Matt Dillon
Sit down, Amy.
Amy Slater
Here.
Doc Adams
Here's your chair.
Amy Slater
Thank you.
Matt Dillon
How you feeling?
Amy Slater
Pretty good, Marshall. But I'm going to feel a lot better when I tell you what I come for. Oh, I'll say it simple, Marshall. I've been wrong hating you the way I have. It's done me more harm than you. I wanted to ruin you, but it's near ruined me instead. You understand?
Matt Dillon
What's changed your mind, Amy?
Amy Slater
Doc. Doc. He took it on himself to tell me. Figured out a no. Told me how you been paying for my keep with Ma Smiley. And after all I tried to do.
Matt Dillon
To you, you needed help. Amy, I don't bear grudges.
Amy Slater
I do. At least I have till now. I Want to pay you back, Marshall.
Matt Dillon
Now, Amy, there's no need to repay me anything.
Amy Slater
I've got to. For my own sake, I've got to. But I don't mean money. I've got no money.
Matt Dillon
Well, what do you mean?
Amy Slater
Jim Band had a partner, Marshall. Jim Band, Dakota Territory. You remember.
Matt Dillon
Yeah. A long time ago. Jim Band tried to shoot me. He hit me, but I killed him.
Amy Slater
That's right.
Matt Dillon
Amy. What's your name?
Amy Slater
I'm his sister, Marshall.
Matt Dillon
Ah, I see.
Amy Slater
Jim's partner's name was Emmett Gold.
Matt Dillon
Yeah, I remember him.
Amy Slater
I never saw him after the shooting. Until today.
Matt Dillon
Till today?
Amy Slater
About a half hour ago, he was walking into the Texas trail. He's come to Dodge after you, Marshall. I know he has. He must have heard you was here somehow. And he's come to kill you.
Matt Dillon
After all these years, huh?
Amy Slater
I didn't forget, did I?
Matt Dillon
No.
Amy Slater
It's not easy to warn you about him, Marshall. Like I say, I'm doing it for my own sake. I won't be troubled no more now. I've done what's right.
Matt Dillon
Yeah.
Amy Slater
We're even now, ain't we? You and me?
Matt Dillon
Yeah, we're even, Amy. And I'm mighty happy about it.
Doc Adams
You just gonna walk in on this fellow, Mr. Dillon?
Matt Dillon
Might as well get it over with. Chester, you stay out of the way now.
Narrator
Yes, you.
Matt Dillon
Hell. There he is. Emmett Gold. Hello, Dylan. You remember me? Sure I do. You're marshal now. Yeah, that's right. Been a long time. Mm. We was never friendly, Marshall. No.
Narrator
What do you want?
Matt Dillon
What are you doing in Dodge, Cole? I'm riding through. Headed for Colorado, soon as I finish this drink. Is that all?
Narrator
That's all.
Matt Dillon
What do you think I'm doing here? Looking for me?
Narrator
Looking for you.
Chesterfield Announcer
What for?
Matt Dillon
I shot Jim Band, didn't I? It was a fair fight. Yeah, of course it was.
Narrator
You got shot, too, didn't you?
Matt Dillon
I didn't get killed. Wait a minute, Marshall. You think I'm after you for killing.
Narrator
Jim Band, don't you?
Matt Dillon
Yeah, well, if that don't beat all.
Amy Slater
What?
Matt Dillon
You remember where that fight happened? I was on the prairie somewhere. And Jim's bullet knocked you out. When you come to again, we was gone, wasn't we? You packed him off and buried him. No, I didn't. I didn't bury him. He wasn't dead. You didn't kill him. He changed his name, went out to Virginia City. That's where he got killed in a brawl with the law about two years ago. So long, Marshall.
Doc Adams
Well, I never heard anything like that in my whole life.
Matt Dillon
Mr. Dillon. Now you think it's true. I have no reason to lie. Chester.
Narrator
Well, what's Amy going to think?
Matt Dillon
She isn't going to know. Chester What?
Doc Adams
Why not?
Matt Dillon
Amy did a big thing for herself telling me about gold being here.
Doc Adams
But it was all useless.
Matt Dillon
No, not unless we tell her it was. And I wouldn't spoil what Amy's done for anything.
Narrator
In a moment, our star, William Conrad Put a smile in your smoking. It's as easy as ABC because Chesterfields made with Accuray are a always milder.
Chesterfield Announcer
Smoke, much milder, burn evenly B Better tasting, draw more easily, you enjoy more flavor C cooler smoking 14% more perfectly packed than cigarettes made without accurate no hot spots, no hard draw.
Narrator
So always buy Chesterfield. Remember an Accuray Chesterfield is always milder, better tasting, cooler smoking, you know, on.
Matt Dillon
The frontier feed for stock was scarce during the long winter months and on our next Gun Smoke a man dies because of a load of hay. So until then, good night.
Narrator
Gun Smoke produced and Directed by Norman McDonald Stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, US Marshal Our story was specially written for Gun Smoke by John Meston with music composed and conducted by Rex Corey, sound patterns by Tom Hanley and Bill James. Featured in the cast were Virginia Gregg and Harry Bartel, Harley Bear As Chester, Howard McNair as Doc and Georgia Ellis as Kitty. Christmas Seals Give your cards and packages that holiday look help fight tuberculosis. Buy and use Christmas Seals. Make Christmas their Red letter day Their L, M Red letter day. Give them the Christmas card and full of America's best. Yes, Give L&M's on Christmas Day to friends who smoke the builder Wave. L M's got everything to give for Christmas Day. This is it for Christmas L and M filters and the handsome Christmas carton. No fuss with ribbons or paper it's all wrapped and ready to give this Christmas Give L and M Christmas Cartons. Join us again next week for another specially transcribed story as Matt Dillon, U.S. marshal fights to bring law and order out of the wild vilest of the west in Gun Smoke.
Andrew Rines
This has been a presentation of otrwesterns.com and we hope you enjoyed. Please take some time to like and rate our shows in your favorite podcast application. Follow us on Facebook by going to otrwesterns.com Facebook subscribe to our YouTube channel by going to otrwesterns.Com YouTube and send us an email podcasttrwesterns.com you can call and leave us a voicemail 707-986-8739 this episode is copyright under the Attribution Non Commercial Share Like Copyright for more information go to otrwesterns.com copyright have a great day and thanks for listening.
Matt Dillon
Ra.
This dramatic episode of Gunsmoke centers on the mysterious arrival of an embittered woman, Amy Slater, who seeks out Marshal Matt Dillon in Dodge City. What unfolds is a tale of vengeance, misunderstanding, and the long shadow cast by old wounds from the violence of the American West. The episode explores redemption, pride, and the challenge of facing the past, punctuated by moments of tense confrontation and eventual reconciliation.
The episode features the hard-edged, earnest dialogue typical of Gunsmoke: stoic, measured, and emotionally restrained, but with flashes of compassion and hard-won insight. Matt Dillon is steady and understanding, even as circumstances turn dangerous. Amy Slater is raw and haunted, her bitterness gradually giving way to relief and the beginnings of healing.
“Amy’s Good Deed” is a compelling exploration of misunderstanding and mercy in the Old West. Through Matt Dillon’s unwavering moral center and Amy Slater’s tortured need for resolution, the story delivers a bittersweet lesson: the past can wound, but compassion and truth can offer a path forward—as long as we let them. The episode concludes on a note of quiet redemption, with Dillon choosing kindness over candor, and Amy (unknowingly) freed from her burdensome hate.