lilyjacklovesgunsmoke

Gunsmoke fanfic writer and virtual ephemera collector of all things Matt & Kitty.

[steelhorse71]

[steelhorse71]

[lilyjack00]

Tools of the trade

[mrdillonsgirl]

I just adore this photo.

[lilyjack00]

How does Amanda Blake keep this dress up?  The young, handsome James Arness enjoyed watching her efforts, I am sure.  But that may be one of the reasons why the beautiful but extremely sexy frock never made it past the first episode of Gunsmoke ever filmed--Hack Prine.  I think it was also a little too much va-va-voom for American living rooms each week when there were children watching.  Those two dripped sexual tension in this photo and also during Kitty’s first filmed appearance sashaying down the staircase of the Long Branch in this stunning, barely there dress.  No wonder Matt fell head over heels for Kitty Russell--she knocked his socks off looking like sex-on-a-stick from the get-go.    

[calvera]

[lilyjack00]

Did you ever notice that James Arness, aka Matt Dillon, sometimes sits on his spurs when he squats down?  Yes, I notice these sorts of things.  I guess he’s able to do that because he has such a nice, juicy tush...plenty of padding.  Just sayin’...

[mrdillonsgirl]

Kitty comforting the Marshall

[lilyjack00]

 When Kitty wore this dress on the show, as opposed to this LIFE photoshoot, it always looked strikingly more...demure.  LIFE was obviously interested in letting Amanda Blake’s voluptuous female attributes shine in this series of photos.  And I’m sure James Arness of the roving eyes didn’t mind one little bit either.  

[mrdillonsgirl]

Series of photos taken for Life Magazine by photographer Allan Grant

[lilyjack00]

This is the relationship Matt and Kitty fans knew was going on behind the scenes throughout the series but was never shown on camera.  Allan Grant of LIFE magazine, photographer genius.

[mrdillonsgirl]

[lilyjack00]

Ask me how much I love that Bette Davis quote that Amanda Blake is one of the best.  <3

[mrdillonsgirl]

[lilyjack00]

I truly love this tantalizing photo--I’ve reproduced the scene often enough in fanfics I’ve written. But I’ve always wondered at the context of the photograph. It’s certainly not a scene that could ever have appeared in a Gunsmoke episode--the standards of the time, which wouldn’t even allow a married couple to appear in the same bed, would simply not permit it.  Is it simply a snapshot taken by a crewman on the day James Arness and Amanda Blake filmed the scene in “Doc’s Reward” in which they talk to each other on opposite sides of the water closet door?  That was pretty titillating stuff, by Gunsmoke standards.  Maybe a similar shot by a magazine photographer?  Did it ever appear in an actual magazine?  This enquiring mind sincerely wishes to know.  

[mrdillonsgirl]

James Arness “Marshall Dillon” in action

[lilyjack00]

Love me some curly headed Action Matt.  Woo.

[celiabasto]

[lilyjack00]

Be still my heart...

[mrdillonsgirl]

Amanda Blake from Gunsmoke

[lilyjack00]

I think Amanda Blake walked that line perfectly, which is one of the reasons her character is beloved to this day.  She was one of my childhood heroes way back when there weren’t a lot of smart, savvy, tough women role models for a girl to look up to.  Kitty Russell was one of a kind.

[bishopdane]

[loneliness-feelings]

[beecumingabutterfly-deactivated]

🐝

[lilyjack00]

Ride ‘em, Cowboy…

[mrdillonsgirl]

Scenes from Gunsmoke Episode Twenty Miles From Dodge

[lilyjack00]

Love this ep with Kitty’s Barbarella hair, tough girl attitude with the bad guys but motherly, tender care of the younger boys imprisoned along with her.  Then there was angsty Matt, searching for his woman and the big embrace at the end.  They don’t get much better than this.

[lezziemanville]

Sometimes I just think about Hillary Clinton and I imagine myself just out there in the woods with her, sitting on a stump. She’s in pinecone rollers because that hair isn’t on point for nothing.

“I just don’t know Hill. What was this year about? What was our takeaway? Racism, fascism, sexism, hate wins?”

“Now now, I know it’s been a hard year for minorities and for women. It’s been tough. But it will get better, I promise you.”

“I don’t know Hill. It doesn’t look promising…”

But Hillary smiles sagely, unravels the pine cones from her hair, dusts off her hiking pantsuit. She holds out her hand to me, I take it and smile sadly.

“Stronger together I suppose?” I ask her, softly squeezing her hand.

“Exactly.” She answers with a smile.

“Let’s go kiddo. Time to get out of these woods.”

And as she lowers the protective goggles over her eyes, pulls a flamethrower out from under a pile of leaves and tucks a few more hand grenades into her purse, I know she’s right.

[lilyjack00]

lilyjacklovesgunsmoke turned 4 today!

[lilyjack00]

Gunsmoke’s S5 “Big Tom” seethes with testosterone and nobility and passion - a Matt & Kitty lover’s recipe for a deliciously angsty episode.  Heroic Matt Dillon insists on battling brutal champion prizefighter Hob Creel in the stead of retired boxer Tom Burr whom Doc says will die from a heart condition if he ever fights again.  You can feel the connection between the fabled couple of Matt Dillon and Kitty Russell, who were lovers on the show only by tantalizing suggestion. But astute viewers were well aware of this relationship because of the talented actors’ use of body language, touch, innuendo and intimate gazes.  Those two could be standing in middle of the crowded Long Branch, but the whole world fell away to nothingness when Marshal Dillon and Miss Kitty looked into each other’s eyes.