AllMovie

Fans of Westerns will take a liking to Gunsmoke, a good little "oater" that pleases with a handful of small pleasures. Gunsmoke is a modest and unassuming in its ambitions and scope, but that's one of its attractions. It's not trying to be an epic, just a little picture with some nicely delineated characters, a standard issue but reliable sort of plot and enough small surprises along the way to keep one's interest and make one come away feeling nicely served. It also boasts some very attractive cinematography from Charles P. Boyle and Harvey Gould, which captures and shows off the settings to good advantage. Nathan Juran's direction is good and solid; nothing fancy, just getting the job done, but doing so in a manner which bespeaks efficiency rather than impatience. Audie Murphy is. . .well, Audie Murphy, which means that there's nothing he does here that can't be viewed in his other films. But the part is a good fit for Murphy, and he carries the picture well. Susan Cabot adds some fire to the picture as his soon-to-be-beloved, and there's fine support from Paul Kelly, Jack Kelly and Don Randolph.