Season 13 ends with a story where Marshal Matt Dillon and the people of Dodge City are preparing for a hanging. The condemned man is named Dobie Price. The hangman's job is available, but the Marshal has not found anyone among the locals willing to complete the task.
A stranger named Elihu "Huey" Gorman rides into town and expresses interest in the job. Gorman does not care so much about the money the job pays ($100, which would have been a significant amount in those times). He wants to see Dobie Price, who is his cousin, die, because of a past incident. Marshal Dillon refuses to give Gorman the job, since he is related to Price, and Gorman is emotionally invested in the task.
Price's gang rides into Dodge and breaks him out of jail. Festus was minding the jail, and he is severely injured. Gorman tells Matt he knows where Dobie Price and the gang are going, and there is no way the Marshal will be able to find them without Gorman's help.
Matt agrees to allow Gorman to help him find the gang. Oddly, the Marshal gives Gorman a deputy's badge and agrees to pay him two dollars per day.
The remainder of the story involves the pursuit of the gang by Gorman and Dillon and the uneasy tension that exists between the duo. After all, Gorman is an outlaw and was admittedly part of Price's gang before Price abandoned Gorman during an escape. The task is made more difficult by distracting circumstances encountered along the way.
In some ways, this story is similar to the "Us Haggens" story way back in Season 8 when the Festus Haggen character is first introduced. Marshal Dillon is pursuing a criminal with a member of the criminal's family joining the pursuit. Festus Haggen was much more like Elihu Gorman in those early episodes, too -- someone with a dubious background who was not beyond breaking the law when it suited them.
This episode is all about boisterous actor Chill Wills, who plays the Elihu Gorman character. Wills was one of those larger-than-life types of people both on screen and off. He tended to play the same kind of boorish, loud-mouthed, obnoxious, good-ol'-boy figure, whether he was playing a more comedic role, a dramatic part, or a combination of the two as he does in this story.
Wills enjoyed a long performing career starting as a vaudeville entertainer before becoming part of a singing group, which led to appearances in B-grade films. As his acting career progressed, his roles become more significant. He appeared in the films The Yearling, Giant, and The Alamo, which all received Best Picture Oscar nominations. Wills also received a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his performance in The Alamo. As television became more prominent, he accepted parts in numerous television shows, primarily in the Westerns genre.
Shug Fisher appeared in twenty-seven different Gunsmoke episodes. In this story, he is Dobie Price. This character is different than the typical Fisher character. He often portrayed characters with quirky, often-humorous traits, like the Festus Haggen character. Here, he is much more sinister with none of the "hill country" verbal qualities.
The familiar character actor Sheldon Allman plays Skeets Walden, one of the Dobie Price gang. It is worth noting that Allman provided the singing voice for television's Mr. Ed, and Chill Wills provided the voice for Francis the Talking Mule in that series of movies.
Richard C. Sarafian directed four different Gunsmoke episodes. He first directed the Season 10 episode, "Eliab's Aim." He directed the two-part "Vengeance" episodes, which were among the highlights of Season 13. His last directing effort for Gunsmoke was this episode. Sarafian built his directing career on episodic television, but his crowning achievement was (at least arguably) the classic 1971 car-chase film Vanishing Point.
Many of the Season 13 episodes recycle stories and tropes that are familiar to fans of the Westerns genre. It is fitting the season ends with this type of story. There is not much truly distinguishing in the story itself. We have seen other episodes where Matt Dillon and another character find themselves pursuing an individual or a gang leading to a more-or-less foregone conclusion.
However, a few things are distinctive about this episode. A hanging in Dodge City is unusual -- not unique, but rare. Matt being so willing to deputize Gorman is quite out of character for someone so usually cautious. The use of side stories (the line shack scene and the renegades) that do offer some Gorman character development but have little to do with the primary story seem more like time killers in the end. The fact that Festus is injured so seriously he cannot help in the pursuit of the gang is never explored.
This is certainly not among the best of the Season 13 episodes, but I think the performance by Wills lifts it to above average status.
A stranger named Elihu "Huey" Gorman rides into town and expresses interest in the job. Gorman does not care so much about the money the job pays ($100, which would have been a significant amount in those times). He wants to see Dobie Price, who is his cousin, die, because of a past incident. Marshal Dillon refuses to give Gorman the job, since he is related to Price, and Gorman is emotionally invested in the task.
Price's gang rides into Dodge and breaks him out of jail. Festus was minding the jail, and he is severely injured. Gorman tells Matt he knows where Dobie Price and the gang are going, and there is no way the Marshal will be able to find them without Gorman's help.
Matt agrees to allow Gorman to help him find the gang. Oddly, the Marshal gives Gorman a deputy's badge and agrees to pay him two dollars per day.
The remainder of the story involves the pursuit of the gang by Gorman and Dillon and the uneasy tension that exists between the duo. After all, Gorman is an outlaw and was admittedly part of Price's gang before Price abandoned Gorman during an escape. The task is made more difficult by distracting circumstances encountered along the way.
In some ways, this story is similar to the "Us Haggens" story way back in Season 8 when the Festus Haggen character is first introduced. Marshal Dillon is pursuing a criminal with a member of the criminal's family joining the pursuit. Festus Haggen was much more like Elihu Gorman in those early episodes, too -- someone with a dubious background who was not beyond breaking the law when it suited them.
This episode is all about boisterous actor Chill Wills, who plays the Elihu Gorman character. Wills was one of those larger-than-life types of people both on screen and off. He tended to play the same kind of boorish, loud-mouthed, obnoxious, good-ol'-boy figure, whether he was playing a more comedic role, a dramatic part, or a combination of the two as he does in this story.
Wills enjoyed a long performing career starting as a vaudeville entertainer before becoming part of a singing group, which led to appearances in B-grade films. As his acting career progressed, his roles become more significant. He appeared in the films The Yearling, Giant, and The Alamo, which all received Best Picture Oscar nominations. Wills also received a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his performance in The Alamo. As television became more prominent, he accepted parts in numerous television shows, primarily in the Westerns genre.
Shug Fisher appeared in twenty-seven different Gunsmoke episodes. In this story, he is Dobie Price. This character is different than the typical Fisher character. He often portrayed characters with quirky, often-humorous traits, like the Festus Haggen character. Here, he is much more sinister with none of the "hill country" verbal qualities.
The familiar character actor Sheldon Allman plays Skeets Walden, one of the Dobie Price gang. It is worth noting that Allman provided the singing voice for television's Mr. Ed, and Chill Wills provided the voice for Francis the Talking Mule in that series of movies.
Richard C. Sarafian directed four different Gunsmoke episodes. He first directed the Season 10 episode, "Eliab's Aim." He directed the two-part "Vengeance" episodes, which were among the highlights of Season 13. His last directing effort for Gunsmoke was this episode. Sarafian built his directing career on episodic television, but his crowning achievement was (at least arguably) the classic 1971 car-chase film Vanishing Point.
Many of the Season 13 episodes recycle stories and tropes that are familiar to fans of the Westerns genre. It is fitting the season ends with this type of story. There is not much truly distinguishing in the story itself. We have seen other episodes where Matt Dillon and another character find themselves pursuing an individual or a gang leading to a more-or-less foregone conclusion.
However, a few things are distinctive about this episode. A hanging in Dodge City is unusual -- not unique, but rare. Matt being so willing to deputize Gorman is quite out of character for someone so usually cautious. The use of side stories (the line shack scene and the renegades) that do offer some Gorman character development but have little to do with the primary story seem more like time killers in the end. The fact that Festus is injured so seriously he cannot help in the pursuit of the gang is never explored.
This is certainly not among the best of the Season 13 episodes, but I think the performance by Wills lifts it to above average status.
