Robber Bridegroom: Gunsmoke (May 14, 1955)

“Robber Bridegroom” is an episode of Gunsmoke, the old-time radio show, first broadcast May 14, 1955. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

A wealthy businessman named Franklin Reeves arrives in Dodge City to marry a young woman named Laura who is coming from Denver by stagecoach. When the stage is robbed of $50,000 in gold and Laura is kidnapped by the bandit, Marshal Dillon pursues the outlaw across the prairie to rescue her.

Dodge City and the surrounding prairie in Kansas

Characters: Matt Dillon, Chester, Franklin Reeves, Jim the stage driver, Doc, Kitty, Laura

Listen for: The Marshal's determination to rescue the kidnapped girl despite the challenges of pursuing the bandit across open country; Reeves's true nature revealed through Kitty's account of his behavior and past dealings.

Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.