User Reviews

John Meston wrote scripts through "Gunsmoke"'s tenth season. Why he quit isn't clear, but he was quoted as saying that, had he known how long "Gunsmoke" would run, he never would have gotten involved!

This seventh-season episode is ur-Meston. A cruel, greedy husband (William Windom at his nasty/snivelly best) decides to make it look as if his wife has been unfaithful, so he can blackmail his wealthy father-in-law, in exchange for not spreading around the tale. Naturally, the plan backfires, leaving a pile of corpses.

As usual, Meston shows us how to tell a good story. The basic idea is simple, and it develops complexity in plausible ways -- yet we can't anticipate how it's going to turn out. Meston isn't afraid of cruelly unhappy endings.

* "Gunsmoke" was originally conceived as a "noir" Western. Some of the early episodes wouldn't be out of place as hard-boiled crime thrillers.

And those two things along with a real story. Is what its all about. Being able to spot and emply a gunfighter at the drop of a hat is a bit implausable but mostly the story is strong and all acting excellent. Powerful ending.

Husband and wife Lee and Nina Sharkey live on a ranch about five miles outside Dodge City. To describe their marriage as troubled is an understatement. Nina's father is wealthy, and Lee-a lazy, loud mouthed, boor given to drink and verbal and physical abuse-married Nina with the expectation that her father's money would allow him to live an easy life. Nina's virtuous father-who never appears in the story-apparently does not care for Lee or the marriage and refuses to give Lee and Nina any money. Lee resents Nina for it.

Lee concocts a scheme to hire Jim Garza, a drifter he meets in the Long Branch Saloon, to stay on the ranch with Nina while Lee spends a couple of weeks in Wichita. When Lee returns, he will accuse Garza and Nina of having an affair, and Garza will confirm it as truth. Lee will then go to Nina's father and demand payment in return for Lee's silence regarding Nina's indiscretion. Lee reasons that Nina's father will be willing to pay money to protect the family's reputation. Lee agrees to pay Garza $250 for his assistance with the extortion plan.

Lee's scheme doesn't work out exactly as he expects, and a series of events are set in motion that will lead to an outcome that should not be too surprising for regular Gunsmoke viewers given this is a John Meston story.

This is the first of two Gunsmoke appearances for noted method actress Lois Nettleton. She would return for Season 12's "The Returning." Nettleton is outstanding in this role as the beleaguered Nina Sharkey.

William Windom plays the Lee Sharkey character. Windom, one of the more prominent character actors of the 1960s and '70s, excelled at playing this kind of overly dramatic slimeball type.

Actor Ron Foster portrays the Jim Garza character. Foster can be seen in several different television roles during his extensive acting career, but many of the parts were small. He is likely one of the few (if not the ONLY) of the Gunsmoke guests that also appeared in an episode of Sesame Street. This is Foster's second and final Gunsmoke role.

The usually menacing Johnny Seven appears here as a gunfighter named Harry Blucher. Seven's only other Gunsmoke participation was as one of Mace Gore's gang in Season 11's memorable "Seven Hours to Dawn."

This is the first of three episodes in the series directed by Tay Garnett. Garnett directed a number of highly regarded films in the 1930s and 1940s, including the original The Postman Always Rings Twice with John Garfield and Lana Turner and 1949's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court with Bing Crosby. With the increasing popularity of television in the 1950s and '60s, Garnett turned his talents toward that medium.

There are a couple of scenes that feature those endearing little touches often included in Gunsmoke episodes. The opening scene where Chester Goode tears the cloth on the pool table while Doc Adams is watching is one example. The other is later in the story when Matt Dillon and Chester are sitting with Kitty Russell in Delmonico's, and Matt and Chester order breakfast.

There is also a great exchange between Matt Dillon and Harry Blucher shortly after Blucher arrives in Dodge.

Matt (approaching Blucher in front of the Dodge House): "Blucher." Blucher: "Marshal." Matt: "Where you from?" Blucher: "Colorado. Pueblo." Matt (nodding): "Mm hm. Well that's not far. You ought to be back there in a week." Blucher: "What are you saying?" Matt: "I'm saying if you get on that horse and ride, you'll be there in time for church next Sunday." Blucher: "I don't go to church, Marshal." Matt: "Yeah, I bet you don't."

While the outcome of this story should not surprise viewers, the journey to the end contains some clever surprises and plenty of Meston's trademark tragedy. This is another example of an intriguing story with an outstanding cast and excellent performances.

Evidently there were a lot of good women married to lousy men 150 years ago. This is another example of this and because it's a Gunsmoke episode it was expertly done and held the viewer's attention till the end, The regulars had little to do except stay out the way. There were a lot of episodes like this one over the 20 year run. The reason... Great writing.

William Windom had the perfect face to portray phonies and weasels, and he often did. Windom appeared on Gunsmoke three times. He had a very long movie and television acting career, spanning from 1949 to 2006. In this episode Windom portrays the incredibly nasty Lee Sharkey.

Sharkey married Nina for her father's money, but her Pa refused to give her any. So Windom has become increasingly verbally abusive to Nina, and threatens to beat her also. Windom had a talent for portraying sleazy characters, and he really delivers a convincing performance as the scum of the earth.

Windom wants to humiliate his wife in the eyes of her father, and get a divorce after her father pays him blackmail. Windom's plan is to pay another man to seduce his wife. Windom thinks her father will pay him to keep it quiet. However, considering that the threats would have to be by mail or telegram to her father, it seems kind of hard to pull off such a swindle.

Windom pays John Garza $250.00 to seduce his wife. Garza is played by Ron Foster, who appeared on Gunsmoke three times. Foster comes out to the farm pretending to be a hired hand, and his job is to seduce Nina. Lois Nettleton played Nina Sharkey, the lonely and abused wife. Ms. Nettleton only appeared on Gunsmoke twice, but she had a very long and successful career, from 1953 to 2006.

Nettleton delivers a very subtle, yet powerful performance as a demure, loyal wife whose heart is broken, and who is tired of being treated like a sub-human. When Garza gets hired to seduce Nina, he sees how awful her husband treats her, and he feels compassion for her. That compassion turns into love.

The main flaw with this story is that both Nina and Garza lack any common sense. Whether or not Windom deserved for her to leave him, they both knew that he was an evil, immoral, and vindictive man. Their smart move would have been to put everything that they could carry on a wagon, and drive off to another state, without telling anyone. But since John "Never a Happy Ending" Meston wrote this, Nina and Garza took the path that guaranteed somebody would die.

When Windom finds out that Garza is not going to help him set Nina up so that he can blackmail her father, he is furious. Even more so when Garza and Nina tell Windom that they are in love, and want to get married. Windom frantically tries to figure out a way to get even, as anyone could have predicted. Windom plays his role of sleazeball really well. Windom hires Johnny Seven to kill Garza. Seven was on Gunsmoke twice. He later played Inspector Reese on Ironside (1968-1975).

The rest of the story is typical John Meston. Only the strong survive!