The Six Shooter

About The Six Shooter

The Six Shooter is the old time radio western starring James Stewart, broadcast on NBC from September 20, 1953, to June 24, 1954, and you can listen to it free online here, around the clock or as a podcast. Stewart plays Britt Ponset, a long-legged, easygoing cowhand who drifts across the frontier on his horse, Scar, and keeps stumbling into other people's troubles. It was Jimmy Stewart's only starring role in a regular radio series, and radio historian John Dunning judged that he was never better on the air.

Writer Frank Burt created Britt Ponset and wrote all but one episode, and Jack Johnstone, later the director of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, produced and directed. The character first appeared in 1952 on NBC's Hollywood Star Playhouse, and listener interest turned him into a weekly series. Stewart came to the show fresh from hard western films with Anthony Mann such as Winchester '73 and The Naked Spur, but Britt is gentler. He rarely gets into gunfights, and the stories range from tense drama to light, whimsical comedy.

Listen for Stewart's trademark: he drops to a near whisper as he narrates the tense moments. The theme, "Highland Lament," drew so many letters asking about it that the announcer had to explain on the air that it was not available on a record. The show ran only one season, and everything survives. The Six Shooter later became TV's The Restless Gun with John Payne. If you enjoy Stewart's films, this is a full season of him you have probably never heard.

What you’ll hear

• James Stewart's familiar voice, and his whispered narration when danger is close.
• Stories that swing from gunplay and posses to comedy: a county-fair preserves contest, an engagement Britt didn't know about, a Western Cinderella.
• "Britt Ponset's Christmas Carol," a Western retelling of Dickens with Howard McNear as Eben Scrooge.
• All three male stars of radio's Gunsmoke in guest parts: William Conrad, Parley Baer and Howard McNear.
• Familiar voices such as Virginia Gregg, Jeanette Nolan, Harry Bartell, Marvin Miller and Alan Reed, later the voice of Fred Flintstone.
• The theme, "Highland Lament," with music conducted by Basil Adlam.

Where to start

• Begin with "Jenny" (1953), the first episode, in which Britt brings a wounded man to a woman the town thinks little of.
• At Christmas, play "Britt Ponset's Christmas Carol" (1953), which Walter Cronkite chose for a 1999 collection of the greatest old time radio shows.
• "Rink Larkin" (1953) is a strong drama; "Myra Barker" (1954), the last episode, gives Britt a fitting farewell.
• Listen live any time, or follow the podcast, which adds a new episode every week in broadcast order.

The Six Shooter on the radio

NBC Radio, 1953-1954. With James Stewart, Virginia Gregg, William Conrad, Howard McNear, Parley Baer.

Where the recordings come from

The The Six Shooter recordings here come from the Old Time Radio Researchers' The Six Shooter Singles set (41 episodes), hosted by the Internet Archive. Our thanks to the Old Time Radio Researchers, the volunteers who found, dated and assembled the set, and to the Archive and the collectors whose uploads it rests on. The sound is our remaster of those files (rumble, hiss and hum cleaned out, levelled to steady broadcast loudness); the recordings themselves are theirs. About our sources.

Every The Six Shooter episode: the full list, with air dates and stories

More to listen to

• Gunsmoke
• Have Gun, Will Travel
• Frontier Gentleman
• Tales of the Texas Rangers
• Fort Laramie
• Christmas on old-time radio

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