Just arriving in Dodge, Molly McConnell looks for her husband. When she finds out he's been killed, and Dillon is responsible, she wonders why he didn't tell her in the first place and sets ... Read allJust arriving in Dodge, Molly McConnell looks for her husband. When she finds out he's been killed, and Dillon is responsible, she wonders why he didn't tell her in the first place and sets out to learn how to shoot so she can kill him.Just arriving in Dodge, Molly McConnell looks for her husband. When she finds out he's been killed, and Dillon is responsible, she wonders why he didn't tell her in the first place and sets out to learn how to shoot so she can kill him.
Photos
- Barfly
- (uncredited)
- Townsman
- (uncredited)
- Townsman
- (uncredited)
- Townsman
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- Gustave Field
- Norman MacDonnell(uncredited)
- John Meston(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn newspapers of the time, this episode got more publicity than usual because it was to be part of Hutton's return to acting after a four-year absence. Hutton had a dwindling fan base at the time and had already experienced failure on CBS television with the short-lived Desilu sitcom Goldie in 1959-1960, after which she took a sabbatical. Several articles were written about this guest appearance, including Hutton revealing that Amanda Blake was "very mean" to her on the first day and the next day Blake did not even show up to the set. Another article was an interview with Blake where she said she did not approve of episodes with major guest stars like Hutton and Jean Arthur because she felt audiences watched Gunsmoke for the main characters. Publicity revealed that this episode was originally scheduled to be broadcast on Saturday, April 24, 1965. However, NBC then countered by scheduling a showing of Hutton's Annie Get Your Gun (1950) in the same time spot. At the last minute, CBS moved this episode to one week later, May 1, 1965.
- GoofsBetty Hutton sang songs that had not been written. Frankie and Johnny wasn't written until 1904 and She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain in 1899. Little Brown Jug was accurate for the time. It was written in 1869.
- Quotes
Molly McConnell: Oh, Kitty. He belongs to you?
Kitty: Matt's a man with no strings on him. Let's just say he's more mine than anyone else's.
- SoundtracksSilver Threads Among the Gold
(uncredited)
Written by H.P. Danks and Eben E. Rexford
Performed by Betty Hutton
Sy Sherne was Calvin's partner. From what little we know about Sherne, he has lived much of his life on the fringes of the law but managed to stay out of prison. He lies and tells Molly the Marshal murdered her husband. (No one is sure who killed McConnell, but he was part of the group that was engaged in a gunfight with the Marshal and the posse he was leading. Since both sides were firing at the other, it is not possible to make a precise determination with late 1800s technology.) Molly, who refuses to accept her husband was an outlaw or even carried a gun, then decides she must avenge her husband's death by killing Matt. She purchases a gun and begins learning to use it with Sherne's help.
Meanwhile, Molly needs a job. Kitty Russell agrees to give her a job performing at the Long Branch Saloon, and her act proves to be quite popular with the saloon crowd.
Many of these events take place while the Marshal is out of town, which gives Molly time to gain some basic shooting and gun-handling skills. Of course, the story reaches its climax when Matt returns from his trip.
As other reviewers have noted, this episode is not one of Gunsmoke's better installments. Betty Hutton, who plays Molly McConnell, joins a list of notable Season 10 guest stars, which includes Theodore Bikel, Eileen Heckart, and Jean Arthur. By this point, Hutton's acting career was pretty much over. She had a reputation for being difficult and demanding. In fact, Amanda Blake clashed with Hutton during filming and reportedly refused to come on set during one day the episode was in production.
Hutton's performance here is an absolute disaster. She constantly overacts and her exaggerated, breathy delivery of each line is annoying. The musical numbers are awful -- although they were clearly intended to be entertaining -- and serve no purpose other than to kill time in an episode that lacks substance.
At least part of the blame for Hutton's performance should probably rest with the director, Michael O'Herlihy. O'Herlihy directed two other Gunsmoke episodes during Season 10, and both were far superior to this stinker. He directed many television shows over the years, and was clearly a capable director. It is difficult to think any director viewed Hutton's performance and found it acceptable. Maybe there wasn't much O'Herlihy could do about the situation.
If Hutton's performance wasn't bad enough, Matt Dillon's stubborn refusal to tell Molly what happened when her husband was killed is frustratingly unnecessary. If the Marshal had properly explained the circumstances of Mr. McConnell's death when he and Molly first met, the resulting actions could have been avoided. Instead, Dillon only tells Molly her husband was shot by accident and then refuses to offer any additional explanation.
This episode is one of two written by prolific television writer Gustave Field. His other entry is another poorly written Season 11 entry, "Sweet Billy, Singer of Songs."
The familiar character actor Claude Akins fills the Sy Sherne role. His performance here is good enough, but I personally found it difficult to accept that any man would be as attracted to Hutton's character as he was in this episode.
The best part of this episode is the last line uttered by James Arness. Not only is it funny and appropriate, it signals the end of this poor story.
- wdavidreynolds
- Jan 19, 2021
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Filming locations
- Stage 3, CBS Studio Center - 4024 Radford Avenue, Studio City, Los Angeles, California, USA(Dodge City Western Street)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
- 4:3