Ho hum episode with a highly unlikely plot. Weak show for Reynolds finale. He deserved better.
7 Reviews
Ho hum
maskers-8712616 October 2018
Dodge City and bust!
gary-6465910 July 2019
Written by John Meston, this could have been a very good scenario if handled very, very differently. For some reason, bad guy Jacques Aubuchon, usually a good actor, was allowed to mug "comedically" all over the place in a way that could only have been attempted by Edgar Buchanan (but with similar, inevitably disappointing results). The roles of the bereft parents, played by Harry Carey Jr and Gail Kobe (who are wasted here), are written so badly as to be unbelievable. These people were too stupid to survive more than 10 minutes alone on the prairie never mind make it as far as Dodge. Of the guest actors only Virginia Christine as the put-upon and cowed "mother" of the bank-robbing band, came out with much credit. And Burt Reynolds, given lines to compassionately express his sorrow for these extra-dumb characters. is left to smile is his way indulgently through a passle of wilfully ignorant white folks, as ever.
Too Many Questionable Plot Elements
wdavidreynolds13 January 2021
Bert Clum is one of those typical John Meston villains. He doesn't care for anyone or anything that does not directly benefit him. He is an abusive tyrant to his wife, Bess, and son, Milton. He spends most of his time scheming how to take advantage of others for his own gain. He thinks he is shrewd, but he is quite the opposite.
When Clum and his family approach Dodge City, they encounter another traveling family named Fisher. The Fishers have a baby, and for some reason, Clum decides the baby might come in handy as he hatches a plan to rob the bank that includes kidnapping the child. Clum reasons having a baby with them will prevent anyone from shooting at them when they rob the bank, which is odd since the plot he eventually executes relies on being able to rob the bank undetected.
There are so many problems with this script, it is difficult to know where to start. Jim Fisher -- the baby's father -- immediately jumps to the conclusion "Indians" have kidnapped their baby. There is no evidence of any involvement by any group of indigenous people, but Fisher is so stubbornly insistent on his conclusion, he refuses to listen to reason.
In the final appearance of Burt Reynolds in a Gunsmoke episode, we must once again endure his Quint Asper character being repeatedly described as a "half breed."
It is astounding that the Clum family shows up in Dodge with a baby around the same time as the Fisher family who have had their baby kidnapped, but no one seems to connect the two events, or at least suspect the Clums.
Bert Clum's robbery scheme involves having Milton set a fire in a barrel in the alley behind the bank to create a distraction. It is difficult to imagine so many townspeople becoming so excited over a relatively small fire inside a barrel! The fire is quickly extinguished, but the distraction provides the cover Bert needs to take the money from the open safe as Mr. Botkin, the bank president, and all the other bank employees run outside to see the fire.
Pretty much all of the main characters in this story behave so stupidly, they all get what they deserve. The only exceptions are Mrs. Clum, who will become the somewhat unexpected hero of the story, and Quint, who at least quickly recognizes the kidnapping was not the work of "Indians."
Jacques Aubuchon plays Bert Clum. It is worth noting that Aubuchon appeared in the very first season of Gunsmoke in one of the best episodes from that season, "The Guitar," and he also appeared in the very last episode of Gunsmoke that aired, Season 20's "The Sharecroppers." Virginia Christine, who baby boomers will likely best remember as Mrs. Olsen in Folger's coffee commercials, is the standout performance in this episode as Bess Clum. Hampton Fancher is Milton Clum. Here he fills a role very similar to the role he played in Season 8's "The Hunger." Gail Kobe and Harry Carey, Jr. are the Fisher couple.
This is a throw-back episode in many respects. By the time this episode aired, Philip Leacock had taken over as producer of Gunsmoke, but this episode was produced earlier when Norman MacDonnell was still involved. According to the production numbers, this was the fifth episode of the season produced. It was apparently filmed much earlier but held for some reason until the 26th episode to be aired.
As this episode is the final appearance on Gunsmoke by Burt Reynolds, it is worth mentioning that later in his life Reynolds did not view his Quint Asper role as being particularly important to his acting career. He preferred to fondly remember the friendships he made on the set of the show with James Arness, Amanda Blake, Milburn Stone, and Ken Curtis.
When Clum and his family approach Dodge City, they encounter another traveling family named Fisher. The Fishers have a baby, and for some reason, Clum decides the baby might come in handy as he hatches a plan to rob the bank that includes kidnapping the child. Clum reasons having a baby with them will prevent anyone from shooting at them when they rob the bank, which is odd since the plot he eventually executes relies on being able to rob the bank undetected.
There are so many problems with this script, it is difficult to know where to start. Jim Fisher -- the baby's father -- immediately jumps to the conclusion "Indians" have kidnapped their baby. There is no evidence of any involvement by any group of indigenous people, but Fisher is so stubbornly insistent on his conclusion, he refuses to listen to reason.
In the final appearance of Burt Reynolds in a Gunsmoke episode, we must once again endure his Quint Asper character being repeatedly described as a "half breed."
It is astounding that the Clum family shows up in Dodge with a baby around the same time as the Fisher family who have had their baby kidnapped, but no one seems to connect the two events, or at least suspect the Clums.
Bert Clum's robbery scheme involves having Milton set a fire in a barrel in the alley behind the bank to create a distraction. It is difficult to imagine so many townspeople becoming so excited over a relatively small fire inside a barrel! The fire is quickly extinguished, but the distraction provides the cover Bert needs to take the money from the open safe as Mr. Botkin, the bank president, and all the other bank employees run outside to see the fire.
Pretty much all of the main characters in this story behave so stupidly, they all get what they deserve. The only exceptions are Mrs. Clum, who will become the somewhat unexpected hero of the story, and Quint, who at least quickly recognizes the kidnapping was not the work of "Indians."
Jacques Aubuchon plays Bert Clum. It is worth noting that Aubuchon appeared in the very first season of Gunsmoke in one of the best episodes from that season, "The Guitar," and he also appeared in the very last episode of Gunsmoke that aired, Season 20's "The Sharecroppers." Virginia Christine, who baby boomers will likely best remember as Mrs. Olsen in Folger's coffee commercials, is the standout performance in this episode as Bess Clum. Hampton Fancher is Milton Clum. Here he fills a role very similar to the role he played in Season 8's "The Hunger." Gail Kobe and Harry Carey, Jr. are the Fisher couple.
This is a throw-back episode in many respects. By the time this episode aired, Philip Leacock had taken over as producer of Gunsmoke, but this episode was produced earlier when Norman MacDonnell was still involved. According to the production numbers, this was the fifth episode of the season produced. It was apparently filmed much earlier but held for some reason until the 26th episode to be aired.
As this episode is the final appearance on Gunsmoke by Burt Reynolds, it is worth mentioning that later in his life Reynolds did not view his Quint Asper role as being particularly important to his acting career. He preferred to fondly remember the friendships he made on the set of the show with James Arness, Amanda Blake, Milburn Stone, and Ken Curtis.
Burt Reynolds last show was just too bland.
kfo94948 February 2013
This episode does not have the usual flare that we are accustom to in recent shows. It is a nice story but nothing really stands out making the program memorable nor a show that you would want to watch again. The script seemed almost bland compared to other shows in the seasons selection.
Bert Clum (Jacques Aubuchon) is a cad of a father and husband that treats his wife and son more like animals and human beings. They have been camping outside Dodge and nearly all their supplies have ran out. When some settlers camp near them, Bert gets an idea when he see that the young couple, known as the Fishers, have a small baby. He sneaks into their camp and steals the baby.
For some reason, that is not really clear in the show, he thinks that having a baby will help him rob the Dodge Bank. The only reason that I can come up with is that they might not shoot at him when fleeing the scene. But he has an old wagon and an old horse so the baby would not be real protection.
Anyway, Bert gets friendly with banker Botkins when his son set to the back of the bank. With people distracted, Bert is going to take the money in the open safe. It seems all goes as plan till one of the family members refuses to be about of something so sinister.
The episode was really not bad but it just seemed to clean. There was a side-plot when the Fishers believe the baby was stolen by Indians and now blame Quint because he is a half-breed. That side-plot has been used so many times it seemed old. The acting was fine but it was the script that lead this to just an average type show.
NOTE- Last episode that features Burt Reynolds as Quint.
Bert Clum (Jacques Aubuchon) is a cad of a father and husband that treats his wife and son more like animals and human beings. They have been camping outside Dodge and nearly all their supplies have ran out. When some settlers camp near them, Bert gets an idea when he see that the young couple, known as the Fishers, have a small baby. He sneaks into their camp and steals the baby.
For some reason, that is not really clear in the show, he thinks that having a baby will help him rob the Dodge Bank. The only reason that I can come up with is that they might not shoot at him when fleeing the scene. But he has an old wagon and an old horse so the baby would not be real protection.
Anyway, Bert gets friendly with banker Botkins when his son set to the back of the bank. With people distracted, Bert is going to take the money in the open safe. It seems all goes as plan till one of the family members refuses to be about of something so sinister.
The episode was really not bad but it just seemed to clean. There was a side-plot when the Fishers believe the baby was stolen by Indians and now blame Quint because he is a half-breed. That side-plot has been used so many times it seemed old. The acting was fine but it was the script that lead this to just an average type show.
NOTE- Last episode that features Burt Reynolds as Quint.
Golden Age Dud
Johnny_West25 May 2022
I love the Golden Age of Television, but it was hard not to notice that a fair amount of the recurring "character" actors were horrible. You had to wonder how they kept getting parts?
Jacques Aubuchon, like Edgar Buchanon, Chill Wills, Andy Devine, and many others, was a horrible actor. In this episode of Gunsmoke, he plays the incredibly nasty derelict bum who has a family living in a wagon for years because he just drifts from town to town stealing food, etc.
Aubochon plays the most craven character on Gunsmoke in a while. He steals a baby from a nearby wagon, he wants to use the baby to go into Dodge and pretend he has a growing family. He also wants to use his wife to carry the baby when he robs the bank, so that she and the baby can be human shields if the Marshal tries to shoot at him.
Aubochon is constantly referring to his wife and son in degrading terms, and he plans to dump them once he gets the bank money. Really crass lowlife who acts like he is some kind of criminal genius, and he just makes the entire episode even worse than it should have been.
His moronic son is played by Hampton Fancher, whose acting is equally horrifyingly bad. Fancher shows how dumb he is by walking around with his arms swinging from side to side. I wonder what acting school taught him that?? Twenty years later Fancher wrote the screenplay for Blade Runner (with Harrison Ford) and some of its sequels (including the cartoons).
The only bright spot is the sour-faced Virginia Christine, who is perfect for the role of Aubuchon's victimized wife. When Aubuchon decides to steal a baby in order to go to Dodge and use the baby as a decoy to rob a bank, Christine is put in charge of the baby. Thanks to her miserable personality, Christine looks like she is suffering through hell taking care of the child. On a few occasions she also makes some remarks that highlight that she knows what a horrible lowlife her husband is.
Into what is already a sordid mix of bad writing and bad acting is Harry Carey, Jr. And Gail Kobe, who plays his wife. For a woman who just had her baby stolen, she is pretty ho-hum about it.
Carey on the other hand, decides it must be Indians, so he spends the entire episode verbally and physically attacking Quint Asper (Burt Reynolds) and yelling bigotry at him. Towards the end, Reynolds recovers the baby, and Carey says that is even more proof that Reynolds is a vile half-breed.
Since this was Reynolds last episode, he should have ended his role by cutting Carey's guts out with his hunting knife, and leaving him on the ground with his entrails squirming. Burt Reynolds should have left Dodge as a fugitive, vowing to return to his native people as a warrior.
I never understood how Gunsmoke brought attention to racism by promoting it constantly in numerous episodes. There was rarely any accountability for the racist characters. Quint Asper got viciously abused by racists on several episodes during his brief stint on Gunsmoke, and he never got to raise a hand against the abusers.
There is a fair amount of action towards the end, and finally there is some measure of Justice delivered to some of the trashy people that pollute this episode.
Jacques Aubuchon, like Edgar Buchanon, Chill Wills, Andy Devine, and many others, was a horrible actor. In this episode of Gunsmoke, he plays the incredibly nasty derelict bum who has a family living in a wagon for years because he just drifts from town to town stealing food, etc.
Aubochon plays the most craven character on Gunsmoke in a while. He steals a baby from a nearby wagon, he wants to use the baby to go into Dodge and pretend he has a growing family. He also wants to use his wife to carry the baby when he robs the bank, so that she and the baby can be human shields if the Marshal tries to shoot at him.
Aubochon is constantly referring to his wife and son in degrading terms, and he plans to dump them once he gets the bank money. Really crass lowlife who acts like he is some kind of criminal genius, and he just makes the entire episode even worse than it should have been.
His moronic son is played by Hampton Fancher, whose acting is equally horrifyingly bad. Fancher shows how dumb he is by walking around with his arms swinging from side to side. I wonder what acting school taught him that?? Twenty years later Fancher wrote the screenplay for Blade Runner (with Harrison Ford) and some of its sequels (including the cartoons).
The only bright spot is the sour-faced Virginia Christine, who is perfect for the role of Aubuchon's victimized wife. When Aubuchon decides to steal a baby in order to go to Dodge and use the baby as a decoy to rob a bank, Christine is put in charge of the baby. Thanks to her miserable personality, Christine looks like she is suffering through hell taking care of the child. On a few occasions she also makes some remarks that highlight that she knows what a horrible lowlife her husband is.
Into what is already a sordid mix of bad writing and bad acting is Harry Carey, Jr. And Gail Kobe, who plays his wife. For a woman who just had her baby stolen, she is pretty ho-hum about it.
Carey on the other hand, decides it must be Indians, so he spends the entire episode verbally and physically attacking Quint Asper (Burt Reynolds) and yelling bigotry at him. Towards the end, Reynolds recovers the baby, and Carey says that is even more proof that Reynolds is a vile half-breed.
Since this was Reynolds last episode, he should have ended his role by cutting Carey's guts out with his hunting knife, and leaving him on the ground with his entrails squirming. Burt Reynolds should have left Dodge as a fugitive, vowing to return to his native people as a warrior.
I never understood how Gunsmoke brought attention to racism by promoting it constantly in numerous episodes. There was rarely any accountability for the racist characters. Quint Asper got viciously abused by racists on several episodes during his brief stint on Gunsmoke, and he never got to raise a hand against the abusers.
There is a fair amount of action towards the end, and finally there is some measure of Justice delivered to some of the trashy people that pollute this episode.
Even the NAME Bert Clum is silly..
lrrap19 September 2021
Warning: Spoilers
A sub-par episode with a number of plot flaws, etc but the real problem is the performance of Jacques Aubuchon as "Bert Clum"; you might as well have cast "Curly" Joe deRita in the part.
This is a major fault of the director, too...to allow Aubuchon to play the part in a broad, almost cartoon-y way, which makes his despicable character almost laughable. By the midpoint of the show, credulity is strained beyond the breaking-point, as CLUM parades around town in his scummy duds, bragging about (and pointing out) his newborn baby, waltzing into the bank office at will, etc, while the normally cautious, suspicious Matt Dillon, Mr. Botkin, etc never suspect a thing.
Burt Reynolds, Virginia Christine ("Mrs. Olsen" of Folger's fame), and Hampton Fancher (in a touchy role that required expert control) all manage to maintain their dignity, while we wait for Bert CLUM's fat ass to be blown away at the end...which thankfully happens, leaving his wife and son to begin to pick up the pieces. Without these performances, a 4-star rating would have been appropriate for this episode, IMO.
Gail Kobe sports what are probably the biggest, phoniest '60's eyelashes seen thus far in Gunsmoke. LR.
This is a major fault of the director, too...to allow Aubuchon to play the part in a broad, almost cartoon-y way, which makes his despicable character almost laughable. By the midpoint of the show, credulity is strained beyond the breaking-point, as CLUM parades around town in his scummy duds, bragging about (and pointing out) his newborn baby, waltzing into the bank office at will, etc, while the normally cautious, suspicious Matt Dillon, Mr. Botkin, etc never suspect a thing.
Burt Reynolds, Virginia Christine ("Mrs. Olsen" of Folger's fame), and Hampton Fancher (in a touchy role that required expert control) all manage to maintain their dignity, while we wait for Bert CLUM's fat ass to be blown away at the end...which thankfully happens, leaving his wife and son to begin to pick up the pieces. Without these performances, a 4-star rating would have been appropriate for this episode, IMO.
Gail Kobe sports what are probably the biggest, phoniest '60's eyelashes seen thus far in Gunsmoke. LR.
Last Hoorah for Quint Asper (Burt Reynolds )
LukeCoolHand1 April 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Where do I start ? How about this - Qiunt has one of the stupidest line of the series.. A couple's baby has been stolen and is missing for almost the entire show. Quint acquires the baby and returns him to it's parents. The father asks Quint where did he find him to which Quint says something like " What difference does that make, you got him back didn't you" Wow. This episode as another reviewer said was a sad way for the last show with Quint.
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