User Reviews

Live to watch gunsmoke as I love older 55-63 episodes and Burt Remolds Chester and kitty and Matt. This was one of Reynolds best and really showed him as a handsome man and as usual Chester as a good human being. God bless all the cast and crew because there will never ever be another series like this that has stories that really hit home and in some Show a beautiful country mountain backdrop.

The Neff family is moving to Oregon from Illinois. They stop in Dodge City where the father, Cyrus, arranges with a man named Clardy to act as their guide and provide the equipment necessary to help the family travel north to Nebraska where they will join a wagon train on the Oregon Trail. Unfortunately for the Neffs, Clardy is a crook. He uses equipment that belongs to someone else to sell Mr. Neff guide services, collects $3,000 in payment, and then disappears.

Upon discovering Clardy's disappearing act, Cyrus visits the Dodge City jail to report the swindle, but Marshal Dillon is out of town. Chester hears Neff's story and decides he will offer his services as a guide to Nebraska. However, upon his return, Matt does not believe Chester is well suited for such a task, and talks Quint Asper into taking the job. Chester isn't happy about Matt's lack of confidence in his trailing abilities. In a somewhat surprising scene, Chester is very forthright about his disappointment with Matt's lack of confidence in his abilities. It makes Chester "tired."

There are two story arcs at play. Quint leads the Neff family on their journey north, while Chester does "law man work" and pursues the swindler Clardy.

This is the second episode in a row written by Kathleen Hite, and neither is up to Hite's usual high standards. Interestingly, both of the episodes involve women and their unrequited desire for a man. The arc with Quint leading the Neff family on their journey to Nebraska is oddly written and played, with the daughter, Belle, attempting to engage Quint in romance after openly flirting with Matt Dillon. The other story arc with Chester is more satisfying.

There are some enjoyable little scenes in this episode and more humor than one might expect. The scene with Chester and Moss Grimmick discussing Clardy's whereabouts is a nice touch. It highlights how Chester's friendships around Dodge benefit his ability to always seem to know what is going on behind the scenes. (This is a bit of an unheralded trait Chester brings to working for the Marshal. He always seems to have insider knowledge of all of the Dodge City gossip.) The scene where Kitty tells Matt and Doc she hopes Chester is successful in his pursuit of Clardy underpins how much Matt's and Doc's assessment of Chester's talent misses the mark. Some of the scenes near the end where we see the results of Chester's efforts offer some redemption for the story.

Everett Sloane, as Cyrus Neff, is good, but Sharon Farrell's portrayal of Belle seems a bit off. I don't think it is Farrell's fault -- she was a fine actress. The resolution of the story arc is rushed, despite the fact the story arc itself drags down the episode overall.

Don Haggerty, who plays Clardy, had recently appeared in the Season 9 episode "Legends Don't Sleep." Haggerty played tons of small roles in television and films over the years, with many appearances in b-grade movies.

Watch for a mustachioed Charles Seel in a small part as the man who owns the rig Clardy uses to scam Cyrus Neff. (Clardy paid the man on $50 to use the rig for a short time.) Seel would later appear in several Gunsmoke episodes as the telegraph operator Barney Danches.

This episode comes during the time when Dennis Weaver was preparing to leave Gunsmoke. Years later, this fact makes Chester's behavior in this story more thought provoking. Although Chester's departure was never explained, one can imagine Chester deciding to leave town because of the lack of confidence Matt shows in Chester's abilities in this story. (That lack of confidence is not unwarranted given the many times Chester's blunders caused problems for Matt in episodes from earlier seasons.)

That's two episodes in a row written by Kathleen Hite where a sexually repressed young lady gets rebuffed by the man of her dreams. And neither show is very convincing.

Too bad that the great combo of Hite and director Harry Harris seems to have hit a wall--- too much emphasis on frustrated, neurotic women that alters the character of Gunsmoke in a detrimental way. I'm fine with a certain amount of insightful female characters dealing with the male-dominated, rough 'n tough Old West setting--- but it seems that Hite was going for too much of a 20th-century sensibility and approach, at least for my taste.

The early scenes with Everett Sloane and his family in the hotel are pretty lame; Shirley O'Hara (Sloane's wife Florie) overacts to a degree that's surprisingly bad for a Harry Harris show; I'm sure she was very effective on stage, but her affected, artificial delivery is really off-putting in front of the camera. The daughter (Belle) is barely any better. Everett (and the audience) deserved better.

And WHY IN THE WORLD would Everett Sloane give a total stranger $3,000 without any witness, notary-- AT LEAST a signed receipt with Clardy's signature and the whereabouts of his shack--ANYTHING! It's just plain stupid, but necessary as a plot device.

The episode also has a real structural problem: it features two different plots, each which would have made a solid 1/2-hour show. Chester gets a late-inning chance to shine in the series, and his final scene when he returns the money to Everett Sloane provides a very satisfying conclusion-- to HIS story.

The other story-- which rates the show's title and involves Everett Sloane's family, finally gets underway about half-way through, but never really hits its stride. Near the end, the young lady says "Quint, I'll never forget you..." -- a great line for a fully-developed plot with lots of depth and personal drama. But we spend so much of our time watching Chester conversing with Matt about his talent as a lawman, roping hapless Don Haggerty at his cabin, etc---that the young lady's relationship with Quint hardly seems to matter; it never had time to register emotionally with the viewer.

Don Haggerty's final scene--roped by Chester and brought into the hoosegow-- is definitely worth a look. It's pretty funny (if you're interested, check out Haggerty's brief scenes in the classic "Asphalt Jungle", as the detective who interviews Marilyn Monroe at Louis Calhern's bachelor pad. Haggerty's reaction when his boss (John McIntyre) asks hims "How'd you find the girl?" is truly, subtly, funny). LR

Here is an example where the minor story line is more interesting than the main plot of the story. The main plot is that a family is looking to go out west when a family member is accused of a crime. The play going on behind the scenes is that Chester is out to catch a guy that stole from the family. The Chester scenes are much more entertaining that the bland plot of the this show.

Cyrus Neff his wife and daughter, Belle, are in Dodge to buy a wagon to take them to Oregon. They first run into a man named Clardy that steals $3000 from them when he says that he can provide wagons and lead them on the trail. He never shows back up again. So when Cyrus goes to the Marshal's office, he talks with Chester that says he can lead them up north.

When Matt gets to the office, he knows that Chester is not the man for the job. He gets Quint to lead the family up north. Chester is not happy since he thinks people are laughing at him but Matt tells him that each man is good at a certain job and Quint is good at tracking and leading.

Anyway on the trip North we learn that the young daughter has killed a man that forced himself on her. Now she starts making advances toward Quint and she does not look like someone you want to know.

For whatever reason this did not play well. The plot was uninteresting and the ending confusing. Never really understood the sudden change in the daughter Belle but time was long and they needed an ending. The Chester sub-plot was much better and more interesting than the rest of the show. Too bad they had to get off on the weird wagon train.