Rock Bottom: Gunsmoke (April 7, 1957)

“Rock Bottom” is an episode of Gunsmoke, the old-time radio show, first broadcast April 7, 1957. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

Listen to Gunsmoke free, live around the clock: every episode, in the order it first aired. No sign-up.

What happens

Van Tovar, a reformed gunfighter living peacefully on a ranch with his wife and child, comes to Marshal Dillon asking for the gun he gave up two years ago. A man named Largo Grillum, whom Van shot in the leg during a fight over a girl twelve years ago in Durango, has finally tracked him down and come to Dodge seeking revenge. Van fears Largo will come after his family if he doesn't face him first.

Dodge City and the surrounding territory in the Old West, primarily the marshal's office, saloon, livery stable, and countryside.

Characters: Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal, Van Tovar, a reformed gunfighter, Largo Grillum, a killer seeking revenge, Edna Tovar, Van's wife, Doc, Chester, Kitty, Miles

Listen for: The tense confrontation between Marshal Dillon and the menacing Largo Grillum, Van Tovar's desperate moral struggle between his past and present life, and the climactic standoff at the livery stable.

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.