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Western drama · NBC

The Six Shooter

July 15, 1953 – June 24, 1954 · 40 broadcasts

The rare radio Western built around a genuine Hollywood movie star, The Six Shooter gave James Stewart one season as Britt Ponset -- an ambling, soft-spoken gunfighter drifting through the closing years of the Old West. NBC launched it in 1953 as, in one contemporary's words, a last effort to keep adventure drama alive by putting a major film name in the lead, and Stewart made the gamble pay: Britt carried the wry, decent, faintly melancholy warmth of the same actor deepening his screen Westerns in those very years. The stories swung freely from straight frontier drama to whimsical comedy and quiet character pieces -- a homely woman sheltering an outlaw, a Dickensian Christmas carol retold on the trail, a Cinderella square dance -- unified by Stewart's trademark whispered narration that tightened every tense scene. Created and largely written by Frank Burt, produced and directed by Jack Johnstone, and backed by a peerless West Coast radio company (Parley Baer, Virginia Gregg, Harry Bartell, Howard McNear, Barney Phillips, Jeanette Nolan, and a moonlighting William Conrad among them), the series ran 39 episodes from September 1953 to June 1954. It never found a second season, but its single year -- capped by the elegiac finale "Myra Barker," in which Britt rides on rather than settle down -- stands among the most fondly remembered of all radio Westerns.

Collection status: 40 of 40 held (100% complete)
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Episode Spine

Grouped by year. Jump to the full list below, or open a season on its own page.

1953

July 15, 1953 Audition Show Listen (MP3)
The program's audition recording, framed by a personal on-air pitch from James Stewart; the story was later reworked as the episode 'Ben Scofield.'
September 20, 1953 Jenny Listen (MP3)
A plain, kind-hearted woman shelters a wounded outlaw and hides him from the sheriff, only for him to die of his wounds.
September 27, 1953 The Coward Listen (MP3)
A reformed gunman who swore to his wife never to draw again is pushed to the brink when a land-grabber moves against their ranch.
October 4, 1953 The Stampede Listen (MP3)
On a cattle drive to Abilene, an older brother finds his wife's love letter to his younger sibling and starts a stampede to kill him.
October 11, 1953 Silver Annie Listen (MP3)
A dying town's plan to revive itself with a railroad stalls when Silver Annie refuses to surrender her property to progress.
October 18, 1953 Rink Larkin Listen (MP3)
A boy searching for his father learns the man was an outlaw, killed in a failed bank robbery.
October 25, 1953 Red Lawson's Revenge Listen (MP3)
Convinced that Dan Mayler murdered his brother, Red Lawson sets out for vengeance.
November 1, 1953 Ben Scofield Listen (MP3)
Britt helps a sheriff hunt an outlaw whose description fits the lawman's own son.
November 8, 1953 The Capture of Stacy Gault Listen (MP3)
A jittery town braces for the outlaw Stacy Gault, and a lone stranger's arrival nearly gets him lynched by the posse.
November 15, 1953 Escape from Smoke Falls Listen (MP3)
Two rivals for a young woman's affection must join forces to run down an outlaw killer.
November 22, 1953 Gabriel Starbuck Listen (MP3)
The town thinks old sheriff Gabe is past his prime, but no one can bear to strip him of his life's work.
November 29, 1953 Sheriff Billy Listen (MP3)
A young man takes the sheriff's badge hoping to find his long-lost father -- and discovers the father is the outlaw he is hunting.
December 6, 1953 A Pressing Engagement Listen (MP3)
Rumor sweeps the town that Britt is about to marry Helen Flint.
December 13, 1953 More Than Kin Listen (MP3)
Britt turns actor to help a pair of down-on-their-luck theatrical friends.
December 20, 1953 Britt Ponset's Christmas Carol Listen (MP3)
Meeting a runaway boy on the trail, Britt retells Dickens's 'A Christmas Carol' with a Western twist and sends him home a believer.
December 27, 1953 Cora Plummer Quincy Listen (MP3)
A son bristles at his widowed mother's remarriage barely ten months after his father's death.

1954

January 3, 1954 A Friend in Need Listen (MP3)
Britt vouches for an old friend accused of killing his stepbrother, then learns the friend lied and must bring him in.
January 10, 1954 Hiram's Goldstrike Listen (MP3)
Old Hiram strikes gold and, with Britt's help, survives the robbery that follows.
January 17, 1954 The Silver Buckle Listen (MP3)
Two train robbers who killed and looted a passenger pose as lawmen to Britt, who sees through them.
January 24, 1954 Helen Bricker Listen (MP3)
A whole town turns on Helen Bricker after she marries a wild outlaw killer.
January 31, 1954 Trail to Sunset Listen (MP3)
Britt kills a horse thief in self-defense, and a guilt-stricken posse realizes it has lynched the wrong man.
February 7, 1954 Apron Faced Sorrel Listen (MP3)
A boy sent to a ranch for the summer beats the horse that threw him, then admits his fear; Britt helps win him over.
February 14, 1954 Quiet City Listen (MP3)
An aging sheriff wants his law-school-bound son to succeed him, fearing the town is wilder than it looks.
February 21, 1954 Battle at Tower Rock Listen (MP3)
Pressed into judging a county fair, Britt tries to reconcile two feuding families.
March 7, 1954 Cheyenne Express Listen (MP3)
A gang member who shot a partner in the back flees by train toward Cheyenne to escape the others' revenge.
March 14, 1954 Thicker Than Water Listen (MP3)
A gambler returns to find his wife dead and his son raised to resent him; he hides his identity, but the boy wants to follow in his footsteps.
March 21, 1954 Duel at Lockwood Listen (MP3)
A young gunfighter itching to make his name by killing Britt is headed off outside town, sparing the sheriff who cannot stop the fight.
April 1, 1954 Aunt Ema Listen (MP3)
Britt's Aunt Ema arrives to settle down with him in Powder Creek.
April 8, 1954 General Gillford's Widow Listen (MP3)
A town honors General Gillford as a dead hero -- until Britt meets both his widow and the general himself, alive and hiding in cowardice for five years.
April 15, 1954 Crisis at Easter Creek Listen (MP3)
Britt is charged with raising the money for a new church organ in Easter Creek.
April 22, 1954 Johnny Springer Listen (MP3)
After a young man kills a hotel owner, Britt and the sheriff track him down with the help of the girl he loves.
April 29, 1954 Revenge at Harness Creek Listen (MP3)
A killer will surrender only to Britt, who must deliver him to the marshal for a fair trial after the sheriff's brother is slain.
May 6, 1954 Anna Norquest Listen (MP3)
A Swedish immigrant comes west to marry her pen pal, only to find him convicted of murder -- and she believes him innocent.
May 13, 1954 The Double Seven Listen (MP3)
Britt calms ranch hands who blame homesteaders for rustling, then hunts the real thief.
May 20, 1954 The Shooting of Wyatt King Listen (MP3)
Credited with capturing an outlaw called the Wyoming Kid, Britt wants the true hero recognized instead.
May 27, 1954 Blood Relations Listen (MP3)
A man schemes to stop his sister from eloping with a murderer's younger brother, but she gets her way in the end.
June 3, 1954 Silver Threads Listen (MP3)
A friendly singing cowboy Britt meets on the trail may have robbed and killed a rancher.
June 10, 1954 The New Sheriff Listen (MP3)
In a crooked-versus-honest election, Britt is swept into the sheriff's office as a write-in.
June 17, 1954 When the Shoe Doesn't Fit Listen (MP3)
A Cinderella tale on the range: Britt and a peddler conspire to get an abused girl to a rancher's square dance.
June 24, 1954 Myra Barker Listen (MP3)
In the series finale, Britt falls for Myra Barker and proposes, then realizes he is a wanderer by nature and rides on rather than bind her to a restless life.
The Story

The rare radio Western built around a genuine Hollywood movie star, The Six Shooter gave James Stewart one season as Britt Ponset -- an ambling, soft-spoken gunfighter drifting through the closing years of the Old West. NBC launched it in 1953 as, in one contemporary's words, a last effort to keep adventure drama alive by putting a major film name in the lead, and Stewart made the gamble pay: Britt carried the wry, decent, faintly melancholy warmth of the same actor deepening his screen Westerns in those very years. The stories swung freely from straight frontier drama to whimsical comedy and quiet character pieces -- a homely woman sheltering an outlaw, a Dickensian Christmas carol retold on the trail, a Cinderella square dance -- unified by Stewart's trademark whispered narration that tightened every tense scene. Created and largely written by Frank Burt, produced and directed by Jack Johnstone, and backed by a peerless West Coast radio company (Parley Baer, Virginia Gregg, Harry Bartell, Howard McNear, Barney Phillips, Jeanette Nolan, and a moonlighting William Conrad among them), the series ran 39 episodes from September 1953 to June 1954. It never found a second season, but its single year -- capped by the elegiac finale "Myra Barker," in which Britt rides on rather than settle down -- stands among the most fondly remembered of all radio Westerns.

Full story — coming soon while it's being curated.
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