(As reported in the LA Times)
The job of Dodge City peacekeeper is proving to be one of the most desirable assignments around.
Several top-flight actors are in the running to play Marshal Matt Dillon, the lead lawman in CBS Films' big-screen adaptation of the classic western television show "Gunsmoke," which starred James Arness.
Brad Pitt has emerged as a top contender for the role, with Ryan Reynolds also a candidate for the juicy, gunslinging part.
As incarnated first on the midcentury radio serial and later in the CBS prime-time hit, Dillon is the western hero charged with maintaining law and order in a period Kansas town filled with colorful vagrants, misfits and desperadoes. He carries on in these adventures with the help of town physician Doc Adams and tavern owner Miss Kitty Russell. FULL STORY
