Gunsmoke has several episodes regarding various racist characters who are in love with an Indian woman. In this case the formula is slightly changed to cover hatred of Asians. A lot of Westerns, including Gunsmoke, dealt with this type of racism from the point of view of the whites.
The story itself is disappointing. The formula of the white man being abusive and rejecting the minority that loves him is hard to take, even back in the day. I saw this episode as a kid, and I did not like the verbal abuse of Ching Lee (Frances Nuyen). In all of these type of stories, the abusive white man later changes his mind and accepts the minority woman who loves him. It always seems like the woman is being accepted in spite of being a minority. Either way it feels racist.
McGavin was not much of a romantic lead actor, and his scenes with Ching Lee (Frances Nuyen) look really awkward. Five minutes after McGavin tells her that he does not love her and does not want her, he changes his mind and now he is in love with her. It also seemed like Ching Lee's feelings do not matter, and even after he rejected her, she is supposed to be happy and grateful that he changed his mind?
I am a big fan of Darren McGavin, and I have seen McGavin in dozens of other performances, and he was a great actor. McGavin can make any role come alive like few other actors can. Check out Kolchak, The Night Stalker and you can see McGavin make any script look great. McGavin had great charisma.
James Arness is only in this episode for the final scene. The showdown between McGavin and Arness was good, and there was an unexpected twist. I would have enjoyed this episode more without the romance sub-plot.
Doc Adams always worked hard in every scene. You can see that he enjoyed his role, and loved his work. In this episode he is the cast member who gets the most screen time.
The story itself is disappointing. The formula of the white man being abusive and rejecting the minority that loves him is hard to take, even back in the day. I saw this episode as a kid, and I did not like the verbal abuse of Ching Lee (Frances Nuyen). In all of these type of stories, the abusive white man later changes his mind and accepts the minority woman who loves him. It always seems like the woman is being accepted in spite of being a minority. Either way it feels racist.
McGavin was not much of a romantic lead actor, and his scenes with Ching Lee (Frances Nuyen) look really awkward. Five minutes after McGavin tells her that he does not love her and does not want her, he changes his mind and now he is in love with her. It also seemed like Ching Lee's feelings do not matter, and even after he rejected her, she is supposed to be happy and grateful that he changed his mind?
I am a big fan of Darren McGavin, and I have seen McGavin in dozens of other performances, and he was a great actor. McGavin can make any role come alive like few other actors can. Check out Kolchak, The Night Stalker and you can see McGavin make any script look great. McGavin had great charisma.
James Arness is only in this episode for the final scene. The showdown between McGavin and Arness was good, and there was an unexpected twist. I would have enjoyed this episode more without the romance sub-plot.
Doc Adams always worked hard in every scene. You can see that he enjoyed his role, and loved his work. In this episode he is the cast member who gets the most screen time.