F
FredLeonard
Guest
The story that John Wayne was offered the role has been repeated since Gunsmoke first aired but later sources indicate this was not so. The story did give the launch of the TV show a good deal of publicity. In addition to Arness, several members of the John Ford stock company and others with whom Wayne work regularly were involved in early seasons of Gunsmoke. Victor McLaughlin's son, Andrew, directed many early episodes and later directed Wayne in several films produced by Wayne's own production company. Ken Curtis was a regular member of Ford's stock company with Wayne and was Ford's son in law.
The original producer of TV's Gunsmoke was Charles Marquis Warren. McDonnell was producer of the radio show but CBS wanted someone with film experience for the TV show. McDonnell was named associate producer. Warren left the show during the second season over disputes with McDonnell about changes Warren had made to Gunsmoke and McDonnell took over. Warren went on to produce Rawhide. Arness' production company later took over the show and McDonnell produced The Virginian.
Gunsmoke was filmed at Republic (now CBS Studio Center) although the street used in the original opening was a different set than the street scene during early seasons of the show. The show used several Western town sets at various times including Warner Ranch in Woodland Hills (not the main Warner lot in Burbank). Warner Ranch was torn down and the land used for commercial development but other town sets, such as Corriganville, became part of parks in the San Fernando and Simi Valley areas and still stand. TV Westerns back then typically used different studio ranches regularly, not just those owned by the parent studio. Encore Westerns is now showing both the half hour Marshall Dillion episodes and the Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp. Ironically, in the episodes in which Wyatt is marshall in Wichita, the show used the same street as Gunsmoke used for Dodge City at the same time. When Wyatt moved to Dodge, a different Western town was used. In its final season, Bonanza moved production from Paramount to Warner Brothers. So, in the first episode of the season, a fire destroyed Virginia City to account for the city looking very different when rebuilt.
See more on movie ranches:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movie_ranch#Monogram_Ranch.2FMelody_Ranch
The original producer of TV's Gunsmoke was Charles Marquis Warren. McDonnell was producer of the radio show but CBS wanted someone with film experience for the TV show. McDonnell was named associate producer. Warren left the show during the second season over disputes with McDonnell about changes Warren had made to Gunsmoke and McDonnell took over. Warren went on to produce Rawhide. Arness' production company later took over the show and McDonnell produced The Virginian.
Gunsmoke was filmed at Republic (now CBS Studio Center) although the street used in the original opening was a different set than the street scene during early seasons of the show. The show used several Western town sets at various times including Warner Ranch in Woodland Hills (not the main Warner lot in Burbank). Warner Ranch was torn down and the land used for commercial development but other town sets, such as Corriganville, became part of parks in the San Fernando and Simi Valley areas and still stand. TV Westerns back then typically used different studio ranches regularly, not just those owned by the parent studio. Encore Westerns is now showing both the half hour Marshall Dillion episodes and the Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp. Ironically, in the episodes in which Wyatt is marshall in Wichita, the show used the same street as Gunsmoke used for Dodge City at the same time. When Wyatt moved to Dodge, a different Western town was used. In its final season, Bonanza moved production from Paramount to Warner Brothers. So, in the first episode of the season, a fire destroyed Virginia City to account for the city looking very different when rebuilt.
See more on movie ranches:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movie_ranch#Monogram_Ranch.2FMelody_Ranch