Product Details

• Actors: James Arness, Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake, Ken Curtis, Dennis Weaver
• Format: Box set, Black & White, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Paramount
• DVD Release Date: October 5, 2010
• Run Time: 497 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B003XEKXYI
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,775 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Gunsmoke: Fourth Season, Volume One" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

"You're one of those hard-nosed lawmen," say two gamblers, sizing up Dodge City lawman Matt Dillon (James Arness) after he turns down their bribe to run a crooked game in the Season Four episode "How to Kill a Friend." Hard-nosed and then some. In "Stage Hold-Up," a bandit forces Dillon's hand and is shot by the Marshal. When Dillon informs him he didn't have the evidence for a conviction, the bandit groans, "You sure ain't one to let a man die happy." "A man makes his dying by the way he lives," the laconic Dillon responds. It's this hard-learned frontier wisdom that made the Marshal an iconic radio and TV character, and this season television's top-rated show. Season Four is a worthy follow-up to the series' Emmy® Award-winning Season Three. The season's first 19 black-and-white half-hour episodes on this three-disc set are taut character-driven stories, most of them written by series cocreator John Meston. Some subvert Western convention. In "Robber Bridegroom," audience sympathy is with a love-smitten kidnapper and not with the woman's wealthy, upstanding fiancé. Others explore the theme of violence, "the only kind of action that brings any respect," Dillon reflects in one episode, adding, "We're not civilized." But Dillon aims to change that, even when he's framed for murder in the season opener. No less than Wild Bill Hickok has been sent to bring him in. It's all Dillon can do not to tear his lying accuser apart, and when justice finally does prevail, Hickok asks him if he would have resisted arrest. Dillon replies, "I've been working for the law too long to break it just 'cause it's going against me." Dennis Weaver earned an Emmy this season as the simple-hearted deputy Chester, one of TV's great sidekicks. One of his best outings is a rare comic episode, "Marshal Proudfoot," in which Chester's uncle visits Dodge City believing that Chester is the Marshal. Dillon's relationship with Long Branch Saloon co-owner Miss Kitty (Amanda Blake) remains as cagey as ever. In one episode, when Kitty tells him he has much to learn about women, Dillon responds, "I'm learning." Kitty's comeback: "At the pace you've set, I'll be in my grave before you ever get out of the first grade." Milburn Stone, as crusty, irascible Doc, has another memorable episode in which he runs afoul of a man who hates and distrusts doctors, an attitude not helped when the man's wife dies under Doc's care. Gunsmoke completists will appreciate one of this set's bonus features, the Season Two episode "How to Cure a Friend," which was left off that boxed set. Sponsor spots in which the cast hawks Remington shavers and L&M cigarettes add nostalgic fun to this high-caliber collection. --Donald Liebenson

Product Description

Matt Dillon (James Arness) is in charge of Dodge City, a town in the Wild West where people often have no respect for the law. He deals on a daily basis with the problems associated with frontier life: cattle rustling, gunfights, brawls, standover tactics, and land fraud. Such situations call for sound judgment and brave actions: of which Marshal Dillon has plenty.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Correcting an error..., July 28, 2010

By 

Nathan Redmond "Brade Runnar" (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gunsmoke: Fourth Season, Volume One (DVD)

You may recall that when Season 2, Vol. 1 of Gunsmoke was released, it accidentally substituted an episode entitled "How to Cure a Friend" (airdate November 10, 1956) with one from this season entitled "How to Kill a Friend" (airdate November 22, 1958).

Well, as a solution, the season 2 episode in question is being included as a bonus feature on this set. It's not the best solution they could have used, but at least they have now given us the missing episode. "Sponsor spots" are also listed as a bonus feature.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Earlier Gunsmokes Are Outstanding, November 24, 2010

By 

Buster49 (Utica, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gunsmoke: Fourth Season, Volume One (DVD)

I'm 61 and, as a kid, I remember enjoying the early Gunsmokes when Dennis Weaver was part of the cast as Chester. I didn't realize just how terrific the series was until its release on dvd and watching it from an adult perspective. I've been watching the hour episodes on Encore Western channel as well, when Chester was still a character on the show (Dennis Weaver left in 1964) and these early episodes are uncompromising in their outcome. Likeable characters are often killed. You just never know what is going to be the outcome of a particular situation. John Meston and Kathleen Hite are two writers who have been responsible for many of these outstanding pre-1965 Gunsmokes. The chemistry among the cast (Matt, Kitty, Doc, Chester) is perfection. I agree with everyone that all subsequent seasons should have been released as one volume like season 1. Since they're not, I'll pay the price. I have to own these.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars oldie but a goodie!!!, November 14, 2010

By 

Larry G. Wiseman (st. albans, wv usa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Gunsmoke: Fourth Season, Volume One (DVD)

I'M GLAD THEY ARE FINALLY RELEASING THE NEXT INSTALLMENT OF GUNSMOKE! IT IS WELL WORTH THE WAIT, BUT BY THE TIME THEY GET AROUND TO RELEASING ALL (?) THE SEASONS, I PROBABLY WON'T BE AROUND TO ENJOY THEM!! AT LEAST CUT THE TIME IN HALF AND RELEASE THEM AT THE COMPLETE SEASONS EDITIONS INSTEAD OF VOL. 1 & VOL 2. WHICH BY THE WAY, IS PROBABLY WHY THEY ARN'T SELLING REAL GOOD!!!
I LOVED THE SHOW THEN,(WHEN I WAS A CHILD) AND I LOVE THEM NOW (60).

A WESTERN LOVER,
LARRY w.