Shakespeare: Gunsmoke (August 23, 1952)

“Shakespeare” is an episode of Gunsmoke, the old-time radio show, first broadcast August 23, 1952. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Marshal Dillon and Doc Chester find an unconscious stranger collapsed on the trail outside Dodge City and bring him to town to recover. When they retrieve his wagon, they discover a dead man shot in the back inside it, and must question the stranger—an actor named Irving Henry—about how a corpse came to be hidden in his vehicle.

Dodge City, Kansas and the surrounding trail, in hot summer weather

Characters: Marshal Dillon, Doc Chester, Irving Henry, Sam Matchett

Listen for: The mystery of who killed Sam Matchett and why his body was concealed in Irving Henry's wagon; Henry's theatrical manner of speech and his quotes from Shakespeare

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.