When the parents of a daughter who was raped refuse to accept the girl's baby, Marshal Dillon must find a home for the child.When the parents of a daughter who was raped refuse to accept the girl's baby, Marshal Dillon must find a home for the child.When the parents of a daughter who was raped refuse to accept the girl's baby, Marshal Dillon must find a home for the child.
Buck Taylor
- Newly
- (credit only)
Michelle Breeze
- Saloon Girl
- (uncredited)
David S. Cass Sr.
- Brawler
- (uncredited)
Ted Christy
- Townsman
- (uncredited)
Vic Christy
- Townsman
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- GoofsWhen Maylee goes into Kitty's room to see the baby, she is wearing gloves. When she reaches into crib to touch the baby, her hand is bare. When she stands up, she is wearing gloves again.
- Quotes
Festus: [Festus making goo-goo sounds to baby only to turn around and see Doc] Why don't you let a fella know you're around? You come slipping up like a blamed old coyote through a fog.
Doc: What are you doing to that baby?
Festus: Well, I'm making her laugh!
Doc: Making her laugh? With an ugly face full of whiskers like that? You'll scare her to death!
Featured review
Mama Kitty Russell?
Eli and Maylee Baines live on a farm near Dodge City and are in town to pick up supplies. Eli is normally a gentle, decent, hard-working man, but when he drinks, he becomes violent. After purchasing the supplies, Eli goes to the Long Branch Saloon where he gets drunk and begins fighting and breaking things.
Nathan Burke alerts Marshal Matt Dillon that Eli is wreaking havoc in the Long Branch. When Matt responds, Eli hits the Marshal and starts to draw his gun. Matt shoots and kills Eli in an act of self-defense.
Matt is profoundly troubled by his actions. Kitty Russell and Doc Adams try to tell their friend that he had no choice, and Matt knows this, but he also has trouble accepting the fact that he killed someone he considered a good man. The Marshal's response to this existential crisis is to leave town for a few days of solitude and self-reflection.
When Matt seeks refuge in a cave during a rainstorm, he discovers a young woman and baby. The baby has recently been born. (This is a problematic story element that is never explained. How does a young, inexperienced woman that has lived an isolated existence give birth to a baby with no assistance, and yet the umbilical cord has obviously been cut, and the baby has been cleaned and appears to be perfectly healthy?)
The girl tells Matt she is not married, and the baby is the result of being assaulted by one of a group of buffalo hunters that had stopped at their house while her parents were away. She does not want the child, and her parents -- people with some extremely distorted ethics shaped by their religion -- consider the child "evil" because of how it was conceived.
Marshal Dillon takes the baby back to Dodge. In a rude move, he wakes Kitty and hands her the baby, turns, and then walks away! Fortunately, Kitty proves to be a willing and capable caretaker for the infant.
Doc suggests approaching Maylee Baines about adopting the baby, and when asked if she is interested, the widow enthusiastically agrees. (This raises another question: how does a woman living along on a farm have the means to care for herself, let alone a baby?) Conflict arises, however, when Kitty decides she wants to keep the child.
This episode features another strong cast of actors, some new to the series, and some veterans.
Character actor Don Collier makes the second of his two Gunsmoke appearances in this story. His screen time is limited, because he plays Eli Baines, who is killed early in the episode. Although Collier only appeared in two episodes of the series, he also had parts in two of the Gunsmoke made-for-television movies.
Bonnie Bartlett makes her Gunsmoke debut as the Maylee Baines character. Bartlett returns for another appearance in Season 20.
Kay Lenz portrays Lettie Graham, the young woman with the baby. This is the only Gunsmoke appearance for Lenz, and it takes place early in her acting career.
Familiar actor Donald Moffat appears in his lone Gunsmoke role as Lettie's father Joseph, who wields his rigid, religion-based self-righteousness as a weapon. Dran Hamilton plays his wife Agnes, who is not as harsh as her husband, but still holds to the same unyielding beliefs. This is also Hamilton's only Gunsmoke appearance.
There are two distinct, separate stories embedded within this episode. The first deals with the Graham family, the circumstances surrounding Lettie's pregnancy, and the family's reaction to the baby. It is heartbreaking that someone would view a baby as inherently evil because of the horrid method in which it was conceived. The whole situation seems archaic and ignorant, but 150 years later, there remain countless examples of similar thinking. It is a sad portion of the story, but I could not help but think it was better for the baby that she did not have to grow up in the toxic environment in which the Graham's lived.
The idea of Matt Dillon carrying a baby on a horse on a journey of some distance back to Dodge City is curious and amusing. Did Matt change the baby's diaper? Did he feed the baby? When he finally delivers the baby to Kitty, the baby is not crying.
The second story involves Kitty's attachment to the baby and her decision to keep and raise it. This is the more predictable part of the story, as there is never much suspense as to how the story will end. I could not help but wonder if a judge in 1870s America would be likely to grant custody of an orphan to a single woman, since the only adoption candidates mentioned are single women. One of those women is a saloon owner -- and likely runs a brothel upstairs, although this is never mentioned in the television series. The other is recently widowed with no apparent means of support.
The Gunsmoke writers and producers seemingly had an affection for stories about orphans and their disposition as there are several episodes built around orphaned children. The attempt at providing an emotional story mostly fails due to trite, lazy attempts at audience manipulation.
Nathan Burke alerts Marshal Matt Dillon that Eli is wreaking havoc in the Long Branch. When Matt responds, Eli hits the Marshal and starts to draw his gun. Matt shoots and kills Eli in an act of self-defense.
Matt is profoundly troubled by his actions. Kitty Russell and Doc Adams try to tell their friend that he had no choice, and Matt knows this, but he also has trouble accepting the fact that he killed someone he considered a good man. The Marshal's response to this existential crisis is to leave town for a few days of solitude and self-reflection.
When Matt seeks refuge in a cave during a rainstorm, he discovers a young woman and baby. The baby has recently been born. (This is a problematic story element that is never explained. How does a young, inexperienced woman that has lived an isolated existence give birth to a baby with no assistance, and yet the umbilical cord has obviously been cut, and the baby has been cleaned and appears to be perfectly healthy?)
The girl tells Matt she is not married, and the baby is the result of being assaulted by one of a group of buffalo hunters that had stopped at their house while her parents were away. She does not want the child, and her parents -- people with some extremely distorted ethics shaped by their religion -- consider the child "evil" because of how it was conceived.
Marshal Dillon takes the baby back to Dodge. In a rude move, he wakes Kitty and hands her the baby, turns, and then walks away! Fortunately, Kitty proves to be a willing and capable caretaker for the infant.
Doc suggests approaching Maylee Baines about adopting the baby, and when asked if she is interested, the widow enthusiastically agrees. (This raises another question: how does a woman living along on a farm have the means to care for herself, let alone a baby?) Conflict arises, however, when Kitty decides she wants to keep the child.
This episode features another strong cast of actors, some new to the series, and some veterans.
Character actor Don Collier makes the second of his two Gunsmoke appearances in this story. His screen time is limited, because he plays Eli Baines, who is killed early in the episode. Although Collier only appeared in two episodes of the series, he also had parts in two of the Gunsmoke made-for-television movies.
Bonnie Bartlett makes her Gunsmoke debut as the Maylee Baines character. Bartlett returns for another appearance in Season 20.
Kay Lenz portrays Lettie Graham, the young woman with the baby. This is the only Gunsmoke appearance for Lenz, and it takes place early in her acting career.
Familiar actor Donald Moffat appears in his lone Gunsmoke role as Lettie's father Joseph, who wields his rigid, religion-based self-righteousness as a weapon. Dran Hamilton plays his wife Agnes, who is not as harsh as her husband, but still holds to the same unyielding beliefs. This is also Hamilton's only Gunsmoke appearance.
There are two distinct, separate stories embedded within this episode. The first deals with the Graham family, the circumstances surrounding Lettie's pregnancy, and the family's reaction to the baby. It is heartbreaking that someone would view a baby as inherently evil because of the horrid method in which it was conceived. The whole situation seems archaic and ignorant, but 150 years later, there remain countless examples of similar thinking. It is a sad portion of the story, but I could not help but think it was better for the baby that she did not have to grow up in the toxic environment in which the Graham's lived.
The idea of Matt Dillon carrying a baby on a horse on a journey of some distance back to Dodge City is curious and amusing. Did Matt change the baby's diaper? Did he feed the baby? When he finally delivers the baby to Kitty, the baby is not crying.
The second story involves Kitty's attachment to the baby and her decision to keep and raise it. This is the more predictable part of the story, as there is never much suspense as to how the story will end. I could not help but wonder if a judge in 1870s America would be likely to grant custody of an orphan to a single woman, since the only adoption candidates mentioned are single women. One of those women is a saloon owner -- and likely runs a brothel upstairs, although this is never mentioned in the television series. The other is recently widowed with no apparent means of support.
The Gunsmoke writers and producers seemingly had an affection for stories about orphans and their disposition as there are several episodes built around orphaned children. The attempt at providing an emotional story mostly fails due to trite, lazy attempts at audience manipulation.
helpful•72
- wdavidreynolds
- Oct 18, 2021
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