Jimmy Stewart - 1953
On September 20, 1953, Jimmy Stewart debuted as Britt Ponset, a drifting cowboy and a gunfighter, in the final years of the wild west on the radio western The Six Shooter on NBC.
The stories were sometimes serious western dramas, sometimes farcical, whimsical comedies but they were always entertaining. The outstanding feature of the program was Stewart's narration which was vary good and he would whisper the narrative during suspenseful scenes creating a wonderful sense of drama.
Each episode opened with this dialog: "The man in the saddle is angular and long-legged. His skin is sun-dyed brown. The gun in his holster is gray steel and rainbow mother-of-pearl, its handle unmarked. People call them both "the Six Shooter". He is a drifting cowboy with a reputation for fairness and a quick draw. Each episode tells a new story of adventure, justice, and redemption.
Some of the more prominent actors to perform on the program included Parley Baer, Virginia Gregg, Harry Bartell, Howard McNear, Jeanette Nolan, Dan O'Herlihy, Alan Reed (the original voice of Fred Flintstone on The Flintstones ), Marvin Miller, and William Conrad (often credited as "Julius Krelboyne" because he was also the star of CBS's radio show Gunsmoke, playing Marshall Matt Dillon at the time). Some did multiple episodes playing different characters.
The final episode, Myra Barker (lnk below), provided a satisfying (if melancholy)
finale to the series. Ponset falls in love with Myra, and proposes
marriage. Myra, after thinking it over, appears to accept, but then
tells Britt she has heard that Sheriff Jennings of Eagle Falls has asked
for his help, and Britt admits that he feels obligated to go. Myra
tells Britt to go and not come back, telling him some adventure will
always call him, and he will always go, or regret not going. Britt goes,
resuming his wanderings, but not before revealing to the audience that
he knows he was *not* needed in Eagle Falls, and knows Myra knows that,
too. The moment comes across as a moment of supreme self-realization by
Britt that he always will be a wanderer.
The theme music was arranged by series composer Basil Adlam and written by British film composer Charles Williams.
The radio series, comprised of 39 episodes, lasted only one season from Sept. 20, 1953 to June 24, 1954. One old-time radio directory called the program "a last, desperate
effort by a radio network (NBC) to maintain interest in adventure drama
by employing a major Hollywood movie star in the leading role."
Viewfinder links:
Best Old Time Radio ~ The Six Shooter Individual Episodes
Old Time Westerns ~ The Six Shooter YouTube links:
The Six Shooter Highland Lament
Golden Radio Hour ~
Myra Barker (28 mins., 57 secs.)
The Outlaw’s Redemption (11 hrs., 55 mins.)
Spotify ~ The Six Shooter episodes
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