A WHIFF OF `GUNSMOKE`

Matt Dillon has come to Texas.

For the better part of a month, he has traveled through the rock and cactus of Southwest Texas, kicking up the same caliche dust as Gus McRae and the Hat Creek Outfit of ”Lonesome Dove.”

He has camped in the shadow of John Wayne`s ”Alamo.”

It has been a fitting journey for James Arness and his alter ego, the stoic marshal from Dodge. It is a trail that helps outline ”Gunsmoke`s”

historical place in television.

For it was Wayne, bigger than life and a box office titan, who pursuaded his friend Jim Arness to take the role of Dillon. It was a gamble for the little-known actor, but one that paid off in 20 years of constant, productive work.

From 1955 to 1975, ”Gunsmoke” ruled television. When the show finally ended, Arness went on to other things-”How The West Was Won” and ”13 Days to Glory”-but his public never allowed him to step too far away from the quiet, hulking U.S. marshal.

Two years ago, he pinned the badge to his leather vest again and

”Gunsmoke” returned as a two-hour movie. There were plans to do one movie each year for three years, but a writers` strike broke the cycle.

Next Sunday, from 8-10 p.m. on CBS-Ch. 2, we will see ”Gunsmoke: The Last Apache.” It well may be the last ”Gunsmoke,” considering unpredictable ratings and the worrisome health of Arness.

He looks fit, still imposing in size but inviting in manner.

At 66, the face is deeply etched, with each line looking as though it was crafted to expedite his wide, welcoming smile.

It is hard to separate Dillon from Arness, but Arness says, ”As for the issue of the on-screen personality and the real person, there`s no comparison, no way. I couldn`t hold down the job of a U.S. Marshal for a week. You might think playing the same character all these years must be a piece of cake, but if you look at it from the standpoint of reality, it is always a mountain to climb.

”In this case, we`ve been away from it for a long time,” he said of his Dillon character. ”It is a matter of getting back into the feel of it, and it does take a certain amount of time.”

It takes longer this time because he has none of his friends to play off of. Milburn Stone has been gone for several years, Ken Curtis has retired and Amanda Blake died last year, reportedly of AIDS.

Arness places few conditions on an interview. But he won`t discuss Blake`s death and he won`t speculate on the cause. She was his friend and colleague and he chooses to leave it at that.

Nor will he talk about his own health. It isn`t good.

During the World War II landing at Anzio, Arness was hit in the leg by enemy machine-gun fire. He was patched up and never made a big deal of the wound. But he was warned by doctors that eventually the damaged leg would bring on hip and back problems as well.

That time has come, and Arness now struggles painfully to mount a horse, climb a step or throw a punch.

Even before ”Gunsmoke” finished its run in 1975, producers brought in a double to take the stress off Arness.

Ben Gage, a former Marlboro Man, studied Arness in the character of Dillon and can now match him step for step. Still Arness` double, Gage is essential to the portrayal of Matt Dillon.

It is an unspoken reality around the ”Gunsmoke” set. Everyone knows it, but it`s not discussed because Arness is so well-liked and well-respected.

No one realizes the situation more than John Mantley, the executive producer of ”The Last Apache” and the man who guided the series through 11 years of its 20-year run.

The production schedule for this two-hour TV movie was 21 days, ample in favorable weather. But unseasonable cold and limited daylight compressed the shooting schedule.

Still, time must be taken to carefully shoot Arness and Gage in interchangeable positions. Time must be given for Arness to dress and walk slowly to his mark.

It is a strain, but to Mantley it is a small and necessary price to pay. He, more than anyone, understands that there would be no ”Gunsmoke,” no Matt Dillon, without Arness.

”He has less ego than any man I know,” Mantley said of his star. ”He has always been that way. In fact, perhaps more than anything else, the thing that has given the show longevity is the absolute unselfishness of the actors who portrayed the various parts.

”They had enormous respect, admiration and love for one another,”

Mantley said. ”And I just think the audience sensed that. That, more than anything else, accounted for the series` running for so long.”

Arness calls the extraordinary mixture of personalities a matter of good fortune. He said the traits and differences in each actor were put aside for the betterment of the show.

”We didn`t agree on every single thing that happened,” he said. ”But basically we were coming from the same place, trying to make it as real as we could. (The `Gunsmoke` radio show) had something like 250 of these old scripts that were marvelous.

”Here we were, young actors, trying to take over these roles, and there was a whole audience out there who were very familiar with all this. They had their preconceptions. On one hand, it was wonderful to have these great stories and scripts. On the other hand, it was stressful because it was like slipping into a pair of new boots. It was like a substitute quarterback who has to get the ball into the end zone in the last few seconds.”

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On radio, William Conrad, now known as the Fatman in ”Jake and the Fatman”, was the voice of Matt Dillon. His Dillon was a little rougher around the edges than Arness`. Doc was a tough old bird in radio, not so much a philosopher as he would later become. Miss Kitty did what everyone thought she did, but never talked about. She was a hooker with a heart.

By Arness` estimation, it was some two years before people accepted the TV ”Gunsmoke” over the radio version. But by television standards alone,

”Gunsmoke” was an immediate hit.

Arness was under contract to Wayne`s company at the time. He had been in Hollywood for only a few years and had limited success in films, partly because of his towering 6-foot, 6-inch frame. His first role was in ”The Farmer`s Daughter” in 1947. That was followed by ”Battleground” in 1949.

His biggest boost came a year later when he was invited into the inner sanctum of Westerns by John Ford for the filming of ”Wagonmaster,” starring Ben Johnson, Harry Carey, Jr., and Ward Bond.

Arness had a string of Westerns after ”Wagonmaster,” and they led to Wayne`s recommending him for the ”Gunsmoke” job.

The ”Gunsmoke” ratings stayed high for nearly eight years. A new production team was assembled and the show went to color, but the ratings eventually declined. Finally, CBS canceled the show.

But the head of the network, William Paley, had been vacationing in Bermuda at the time of the cancellation and when he returned, he ordered

”Gunsmoke” back on the network schedule.

There was enormous publicity over the network infighting, and when

”Gunsmoke” returned, it was met by a much larger audience. It was successful the remainder of its run.

”We began to do shows that were a little different than before, a little more people-oriented,” Mantley said. ”The thing that put us in the No. 1 spot was the death of the Kennedys and Martin Luther King Jr., because that created a tremendous feeling of anger by the American people against all kinds of violence.

”I think television became a scapegoat because no one wanted to admit that we are, from our very origins, a violent nation. So the first thing that happened was that we, the producers of action shows, were sent back into the cutting rooms to remove violence from shows.

”The most extraordinary thing about that was that nobody knew what to do with an action-adventure show if you didn`t have violence.”

At first, Mantley felt a sense of superiority in this nonviolent process. He concluded that since he had the best four actors in television, he could basically craft each week`s story around them.

”It turned out to be a ridiculous assumption,” Mantley said, ”because in order to have a story, you have to have conflict. And I couldn`t create conflict between these four. They liked one another, respected one another;

they admired one another so much it was impossible.”

The conflict had to come from the outside. Mantley began bringing in guest stars to build the story on. And instead of violence, he used social issues to create the action and turmoil.

”It was a kind of slight-of-hand we were practicing,” he said. ”We had rich characters and contemporary, socially important stories, but we were playing them out with a Western in the background.”

That process is still the foundation for ”Gunsmoke.” ”The Last Apache” deals with love and commitment. It takes a second look at the government`s handling of the Indians in the West. And it continues to show Dillon`s fallibilities and frailties.

Richard Kiley returns to the series. Amy Stock-Poynton, Joe Lara and Hugh O`Brien make their first guest appearances.

The most important character is played by Michael Learned. In 1973, Learned played in an episode called ”Matt`s Love Story.” He is wounded and loses his memory. He forgets about Kitty and falls in love with Learned`s character, the woman who nurses him back to health.

Eventually, his memory returns and the two are separated. We never did know what went on between them.

Now, we will. In ”The Last Apache,” Dillon is summoned to her ranch and when he arrives, he finds it burning from an Apache raid. He finds that he has a 21-year-old daughter by his former love, and that daughter has been kidnapped in the raid. He sets out to get her back.

How the story ends is guarded by Mantley and the crew.

But if ”Gunsmoke” is finally ending, this is the right place for it. Matt Dillon is the only ”Gunsmoke” regular in this two-hour movie. He is traveling on hallowed ground.

He has come full circle.