Gunsmoke - 50th Anniversary Collection, Volumes 1 & 2

Gunsmoke - 50th Anniversary Collection, Volumes 1 & 2
by Clyde Ware, John Dunkel, David Alexander, James Landis, Abner Biberman

Gunsmoke - 50th Anniversary Collection, Volumes 1 & 2
List Price: $68.99
Our Price: $49.99
You Save: $19.00 (28%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $39.76 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases


(Click here)
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada

DVD Cover Information

Actor: Charles Seel, Dabbs Greer, Hank Patterson, Roy Roberts, Tom Brown
Director: Abner Biberman, Clyde Ware, David Alexander, James Landis, John Dunkel
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Color, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 1145 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-01-03
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Paramount

Movie Reviews of Gunsmoke - 50th Anniversary Collection, Volumes 1 & 2

Movie Review: For Gunsmoke fans
Summary: 3 Stars

this compliation of some of Gunsmoke's classics is a good bargain to the show's fans but I would recommend start buying the complete series versions first.

Summary of Gunsmoke - 50th Anniversary Collection, Volumes 1 & 2

Gunsmoke: 50th Anniversary Edition Volume 1 is a winning collection of episodes from the long-running CBS Western's first nine seasons, with an accent on special guest stars who had yet to find fame. A few key storylines are in the mix, too, including Gunsmoke's first episode, dated September 10, 1955 and introduced by John Wayne, who more or less suggests that the series' beefy star, James Arness, is cut from the same heroic cloth as the Duke himself. No matter who drops in for a guest spot, however, or whether Gunsmoke was a half-hour or hour-long program (the show doubled its running time by season 8), the running storyline and core characters are as constant as the prairie stars.

Arness plays plain-speaking U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon, who keeps the peace over a wide territory from his perch in Dodge City, Kansas, a rough-and-tumble town where prospectors, farmers, bounty hunters, outlaws, and the occasional lunatic pass through. Dennis Weaver lends support as Dillon's deputy, Chester, a courageous clown; Amanda Blake is saloon keeper Kitty; and Milburn Stone plays irascible Doc, apparently Dodge City's only physician. Volume 1 highlights feature a couple of episodes with Charles Bronson, including "The Killer," in which the future Death Wish star portrays a psychopath preying on the weak. Mogul Aaron Spelling, at one time a character actor, appears as a spacey wanderer who nearly gets lynched in "The Guitar." Cloris Leachman is very good as a woman with a diabolical edge in "Legal Revenge," Angie Dickinson is memorable as an Arapaho Indian whose marriage to a white settler incites racial anger, and Jack Lord portrays a pair of brothers who threaten Doc's life. Burt Reynolds, who joined the cast of Gunsmoke as the half-white, half-Comanche character Quint, is introduced in the very effective drama "Quint Asper Comes Home," while Ken Curtis, whose goofy Festus effectively replaced the departing Chester in season 9, enters the series in "Prairie Wolfer."

Volume 2 picks up exactly where Volume 1 ends, with the long-running series entering its 10th year, each episode an hour long and Ken Curtis now a permanent member of the cast as the buffoonish Festus. A couple of other actors will come and go as cast regulars, but the core group remains: James Arness as U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon, Amanda Blake as saloon keeper Kitty, and Milburn Stone as Doc. This collection of programs cherry-picks its way through season 19, emphasizing guest stars of note including Leonard Nimoy, excellent as a wry Indian and skinner in "Treasure of John Walking Fox," and William Shatner as a wily outlaw posing as a deputy sheriff in "Quaker Girl." (Arness, who provides a brief, vocal introduction to each episode, notes that Shatner was already starring on Star Trek by the time "Quaker Girl" was broadcast in 1966.)

Bette Davis, Bruce Dern, and Tom Skerritt all appear in "The Jailer" (the first color episode in this collection), in which the legendary Davis plays a vengeful widow who kidnaps Kitty in order to lure Matt to his own execution. Ed Asner provides optional commentary for "Hung High," in which he stars, while a young Dennis Hopper turns up as a villain out to kill a bounty hunter (a charismatic John D. Barrymore, father of Drew). Carroll O'Connor is very effective in "The Wrong Man," Jon Voight (in the same year as Midnight Cowboy) makes a splash as a convicted murderer who saves Kitty's life in "The Prisoner," and Kurt Russell is solid and sympathetic as a young man determined to avenge the death of his father in "Trail of Bloodshed." Special features include a couple of gag/blooper reels, a 1968 Emmy Award presentation to Milburn Stone, and a pair of old television interviews with Amanda Blake. --Tom Keogh


Marshall Matt Dillon is responsible for bringing law and respectability to the Dodge City in this western action-drama. The show still holds the record for being the longest running primetime drama series in television history.

Westerns DVD Video

DVD Video
Movies most talked about in The Best TV Series DVD Boxed Sets
Perry Mason (50th Anniversary Edition) ImagePerry Mason (50th Anniversary Edition)
PARAMOUNT PICTURES; Release date: 2008-04-08; DVD
Best price: $29.00
Price in other shops: $49.99
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea: Season One, Vol. One ImageVoyage to the Bottom of the Sea: Season One, Vol. One
Release date: 2006-02-21; DVD
Best price: $14.68
Price in other shops: $29.98
The Time Tunnel Volume One ImageThe Time Tunnel Volume One
Release date: 2006-01-24; DVD
Best price: $19.85
Price in other shops: $39.98
Remington Steele - Seasons 1-5 ImageRemington Steele - Seasons 1-5
Release date: 2008-03-25; DVD
Best price: $79.99
Price in other shops: $169.92
The Saint Megaset ImageThe Saint Megaset
Release date: 2003-07-29; DVD
Best price: $35.99
Price in other shops: $199.95
Ultimate Flint Collection (Our Man Flint / In Like Flint) ImageUltimate Flint Collection (Our Man Flint / In Like Flint)
Ultimate; Release date: 2006-11-07; DVD
Best price: $10.88
Price in other shops: $19.98
Get Smart: The Complete Series ImageGet Smart: The Complete Series
Get Smart the Complete Series --Season 1-5 DVD Box Set; Published: 2006; DVD
Best price: $226.99
The Sweeney - The Complete First Series ImageThe Sweeney - The Complete First Series
BCI ECLIPSE LLC; Release date: 2007-06-05; DVD
Best price: $18.79
Price in other shops: $34.98
The Dick Van Dyke Show - The Complete Series ImageThe Dick Van Dyke Show - The Complete Series
Image Entertainment; Release date: 2005-05-24; DVD
Best price: $168.12
Price in other shops: $249.99
The Wild Wild West - The Complete First Season ImageThe Wild Wild West - The Complete First Season
PARAMOUNT PICTURES; Release date: 2006-06-06; DVD
Best price: $27.90
Price in other shops: $38.99
Similar DVD Movies
Big Valley - Season 1 ImageBig Valley - Season 1
TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2006-05-16; DVD
Best price: $27.82
Price in other shops: $39.98
Best of Bonanza (34 episodes) ImageBest of Bonanza (34 episodes)
Mill Creek Entertainment; Release date: 2007-04-10; DVD
Best price: $5.38
Price in other shops: $14.98
Cheyenne - The Complete First Season ImageCheyenne - The Complete First Season
Release date: 2006-06-06; DVD
Best price: $27.75
Price in other shops: $39.98
Gunsmoke: The Second Season, Vol. 2 ImageGunsmoke: The Second Season, Vol. 2
PARAMOUNT PICTURES; Release date: 2008-05-27; DVD
Best price: $19.00
Price in other shops: $36.98
The Bonanza Collection ImageThe Bonanza Collection
Release date: 2005-10-04; DVD
Best price: $14.90
Price in other shops: $19.98
Gunsmoke - The Second Season, Vol. 1 ImageGunsmoke - The Second Season, Vol. 1
PARAMOUNT PICTURES; Release date: 2008-01-08; DVD
Best price: $21.07
Price in other shops: $36.99
Rawhide - The Complete First Season ImageRawhide - The Complete First Season
PARAMOUNT PICTURES; Release date: 2006-07-25; DVD
Best price: $36.92
Price in other shops: $49.99
Gunsmoke Movie Collection (Return to Dodge/The Last Apache/To the Last Man) ImageGunsmoke Movie Collection (Return to Dodge/ The Last Apache/ To the Last Man)
Release date: 2004-05-11; DVD
Best price: $24.60
Price in other shops: $35.98
Gunsmoke - The First Season ImageGunsmoke - The First Season
PARAMOUNT PICTURES; Release date: 2007-07-17; DVD
Best price: $28.41
Price in other shops: $38.99
Gunsmoke - The Directors Collection ImageGunsmoke - The Directors Collection
Release date: 2006-11-14; DVD
Best price: $26.40
Price in other shops: $36.99
Compare prices and read customer reviews for more than one million DVD titles.
Oscar 2005 Winners