ANTONY ELLIS 

                                                                 When blossoms fall




          Known today as a Gunsmoke and CBS radio writer--  
and husband of radio's Kitty, Georgia Ellis--  
Antony Ellis was also an actor, director, and producer, 
and worked in television as well.  

          Most of his acting is in miscellaneous supporting bits 
scattered throughout shows like Suspense and Escape.  

          Two years before Gunsmoke started, 
Georgia Ellis and Antony Ellis appeared together 
as the main characters in the Romance adaptation 
of The Apple Tree.  
          John Galsworthy's sad but enriching short story 
was produced twice before on The Mercury Theatre.  
But without the ego and the ham and the affectation, 
Antony Ellis easily outdoes Orson.  
          Another place where Ellis' voice can be easily heard 
is in the Suspense episode 'Telling,' 
which he himself adapted from Elizabeth Bowen's short story.  


          In the Escape episode 'The Abominable Snowman,' 
Antony Ellis puts the 'abominable' back into 'metohkangmi.'  
Or rather, that's where it was, when this episode aired in 1953.  
          In our time when everyone is scandalized 
by Hawking's gall in suggesting that aliens may not 
land so benevolent and soft-footedly on our planet, 
it's refreshing to hear a horror story unfettered 
from the brainwashed, the naive, the corrected, 
and the feeble-minded touchy-feely.  
          Experience a horror movie the way they were in the 50s--  
with a monster murderous, evil, cannibalous.  



          Of the eight Gunsmoke episodes written by Antony Ellis, 
Georgia Ellis appeared in four:  
          Kitty, Christmas Story, Pussy Cats, Gonif.  


          Any frontier Oprah will tell you 
that in the last two months of 1959 
and the first two weeks of 1960, 
Georgia Ellis shook off her domestic shawl 
and was credited as 'Georgia Hawkins' 
at the close of eleven Gunsmoke episodes.  
These were Westbound, Cavalcade, The Square Triangle, 
Paid Killer, Hard Lesson, Big Chugg Wilson, 
Don Matteo, Beeker's Barn, Pucket's New Year, 
Trojan War, and Luke's Law.  
          This period of uncertainty lasted 
from November 1, 1959 to January 10, 1960.  
          However, come January 17, 1960, 
in the closing credits of 'Fiery Arrest,' 
she resumed being identified as Georgia Ellis. 
          And, till the end of time, 
i.e. when Gunsmoke's last episode 
'Letter Of The Law' aired on June 18, 1961, 
Kitty was still played by...  Georgia Ellis.  



          Intentionally or not, Antony Ellis' script 
for 'Kitty'  (November 29, 1952)  is structurally patterned 
after John Meston's earlier script 
for  'Never Pester Chester'  (July 5, 1952 ):  
          -Matt gets Chester/Kitty into trouble 
          -Chester/Kitty is hurt 
          -Matt cannot exact a completely satisfying revenge 
          -Matt cries over Chester/Kitty.  



          Antony Ellis wrote a one-of-a-kind scene, 
which can be found in 'Pussy Cats':  
          A Bonnie and Clyde-type couple wait 
in a Hemingwayesque way for their pursuers, 
and proceed to massacre them when they arrive. 
          So what's unique about this Texas Trail tableau? 
          Well, the deadly gunplay happens without Matt 
being involved.  He had been disarmed and he is behind 
the bar like everyone else, trying not to get hit 
and being covered by the glass from the bottles 
exploding above.  But let's get something straight--  
Matt is dodging bullets, not dodging. 
Everyone else behind the bar on their hands 
and knees, hiding and cowering. 
Matt is only...  uh, taking cover.  




January 3, 2006 



Copyright © 2006-2011 E. A. Villafranca, Jr. 
All Rights Reserved