Radio dramas of the forties saw the rise of the Hard-Boiled detective. These independent heroes appealed to the returning WWII veteran who might have been craving a return to the excitement he had experienced while serving in the military. The fifties were the time of the Adult Western, perhaps better labeled as "Cowboys and Injuns for Thinking People". The mature-person's Westerns did not replace crime thrillers, but they did provide a choice of entertainment with a little less murder.
Thoughtful Westerns reached a high point with the gritty reality of Gunsmoke in 1952. Created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston, the genesis of Gunsmoke was a desire expressed by CBS boss William Paley for a "Philip Marlowe in the Old West". U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon was every bit as hard-boiled as the most noir-ish Private Eye, just with dust and horses instead of urban grime, and many critics consider Gunsmoke to have been a high-point in Radio as a story-telling art form. Unfortunately, the mid-Fifties also saw the rise of network dedication to growing Television as the preferred medium. Macdonnell stated to anyone who would listen that Gunsmoke was "perfect for radio" and that confining it to the small screen was a mistake.
The network proceeded to put Gunsmoke on TV, and as one of the longest-running scripted live-action dramas on TV (1955-1975), it is hard to say that the move was a mistake on CBS's part. Macdonnell and Meston were allowed to keep the radio version on the air until 1961, but to have their greatest creation "taken" for TV remained a sore spot. Perhaps as proof of their concept, while TV Gunsmoke was halfway through its first season, Meston and Macdonnell brought a new mature-person's Western to Radio, the military drama Fort Laramie.
The drama took place on a remote military post, deep in Indian country, and certainly had the potential to attain the high standards set by Gunsmoke if it had lasted more than a single season. Fort Laramie would also be a victim of television, but not in the way Gunsmoke had been. The stories were built around Captain of Cavalry Lee Quince, played by Raymond Burr. Quince's military experience had left him nearly as hard-boiled as Matt Dillon. Burr had a solid background in Hard-boiled radio, having appeared in most or all of Jack Webb's projects, including Pat Novak for Hire Johnny Madero Pier 23, Jeff Regan Investigator, Dragnet, and Pete Kelley's Blues. He had also been a contract player for RKO, appearing with James Stewart in Hitchcock's Rear Window (1954).
While Marshal Dillon had been the ultimate authority in Dodge City, Captain Quince was part of a chain of command of his own troop of cavalrymen but answerable to post commander Major Ned Daggart, played by Jack Moyles. Quince's "Chester '' was the green but enthusiastic Lt Seiberts and the troop's senior enlisted man was Sgt Gorse played by Vic Perrin. In modern military parlance, Quince was a "mustang officer" who rose to the officer corps from the enlisted ranks. Mustangs rarely rise to "flag" rank (which reinforces the notion that an officer's commission is a "gentlemanly" calling), they tend to have greater respect from the men serving under them as someone who has "been there, done that''. Quince chafes at the social responsibilities of the officer class (often to the frustration of Major Daggart's pretty niece Terrie Lawson).
Military culture in 1956 was at an interesting stage. As the Cold War deepened, most of the senior enlisted, well known as the strong backbone of any military organization, would have the memories of combat during the World War, or at least in Korea. The senior officer corps would have been small unit commanders during those same conflicts. With the memories of hard-fought victories still fresh, these soldiers in the mid-1950s would have found themselves training the latest crop of draftees (estimates state that for every man drafted, three or four 'volunteered' to avoid being drafted). There was a greater emphasis being placed on building reserve forces (which, until the 1980's, where generally less well trained than the active component and often equipped with inferior or obsolete materiel). Manpower itself was seen as less vital as Eisenhower's "New Look" military forces began to emphasize airpower and the nuclear option as means to prosecute warfighting. Just months before Fort Laramie went on the air, however, American boots were on the ground in what had been French Indo-China, now commonly referred to as Vietnam.
Captain Quince was junior enough that he rode, ate, fought, and bedded down with his men and got to know them as individuals. His were also "the boots on the ground" when it came to dealing with civilians, settlers, and tribesmen, and although Quince would never disobey orders, he was often closer to the reality of a situation than policymakers back East, or even the command structure safely ensconced in the Fort.
Fort Laramie had many lessons to teach about leadership as well as the importance of service and the conscience of the military mind, lessons whose value would have increased as the Nation staggered through the Cold War and into the morass of Vietnam. However, the program was canceled after its first season, not because of any lack of quality or poor reception from the public. Macdonnell and Meston had created a follow-up worthy of Gunsmoke, and that says something.
Like Gunsmoke star William Conrad, Burr was rather rotund to be Star material on TV, but he auditioned for the part of prosecutor Hamilton Berger on CBS-TV's upcoming adaptation of Perry Mason. When creator Erle Stanley Gardner saw the test, he pointed at the screen and emphatically stated, "That's Perry Mason." After dropping 60 pounds on a crash diet, Burr played the wily defense attorney for the next nine seasons and appeared in 26 Perry Mason TV movies. Lest we think that Burr turned his back on radio, it should be noted that 180 Radio Row players were employed in guest roles during just the first season of Perry Mason.
There is a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6656 Hollywood Blvd to honor Contributions to Television by Raymond Burr.
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