Two Bounty hunters bring in a wounded Mexican bandit worth $30,000 and find out the Mexican government might not pay for a man who dies a natural death, so they get the idea of shooting him ... Read allTwo Bounty hunters bring in a wounded Mexican bandit worth $30,000 and find out the Mexican government might not pay for a man who dies a natural death, so they get the idea of shooting him dead.Two Bounty hunters bring in a wounded Mexican bandit worth $30,000 and find out the Mexican government might not pay for a man who dies a natural death, so they get the idea of shooting him dead.
Patricia Quinn
- Amy Boyle
- (as Ariane Quinn)
- Director
- Writers
- Calvin Clements Sr.
- Norman MacDonnell(uncredited)
- John Meston(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis episode was given the 1966 Western Heritage Award for Outstanding Fictional Television by the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Westerm Heritage Center.
Featured review
A Heatwave Hits Dodge City
Kansas is immersed in a heatwave that has everyone sweaty and miserable. Two bounty hunters see a kettle of vultures overhead and find the reason for their presence is two horses and two men. One of the men is still breathing. After rummaging through the injured man's pockets, they find a watch and a wallet containing five dollars and a wanted poster offering a $30,000 reward for John Drago. When one of the bounty hunters compares the picture on the poster to the injured man, they can see he and the man in the picture are the same.
The bounty hunters transport the injured man to Dodge City where they ask Matt Dillon to put him in a jail cell while Doc Adams patches him up enough to ride to Mexico. They are planning to take Drago to the Mexican border and collect the reward. When Doc sees how badly Drago is injured, he recommends Drago be moved to a room at the Dodge House where he can treat him. Marshal Dillon refuses to allow the bounty hunters to take custody of Drago until Doc says he can be safely moved.
Naturally, the bounty hunters could not care less about Drago's wellbeing. They just want to take him to Mexico and collect the bounty. They are not pleased that Marshal Dillon is keeping Drago from them. To make matters worse, a newspaper reporter passing through Dodge tells the bounty hunters they are not likely to collect the bounty if Drago dies from his injuries, rather than being shot.
While all of this is taking place, Doc is also tending to Amy Boyle, who is experiencing difficulties with the birth of her first child. Her husband, Austin, is understandably concerned. He blames himself for the situation he and his wife are facing. They do not have money, and he chose not to take Amy to the hospital in Hays City as Doc had recommended earlier.
When Marshal Dillon deputizes Austin to help guard Drago, the bounty hunters and some of the Long Branch Saloon patrons hatch a scheme to pay Austin to shoot Drago. The bounty hunters sell "shares" of Drago in exchange for help getting him safely to Mexico and for money to bribe Austin to do their bidding.
Will Drago survive his injuries? Will Austin shoot him? Will Amy and/or the baby survive childbirth? Will the bounty hunters get their $30,000? These are all questions that will be answered before the story ends.
There are a few problems with this story. It is highly unlikely any government would have offered a $30,000 bounty for a wanted murderer during the time this story is set. A $500 bounty would have been more commonplace. Although there were some notorious criminals that had higher bounties up to $5,000, those were rare. The bounty for John Wilkes Booth after he assassinated President Lincoln was considered an extreme exception at $50,000. In this story we learn John Drago killed many people, but unless he killed the president of Mexico, or someone of similar stature, a $30,000 bounty would be very unlikely.
The wanted poster for Drago is written mostly in Spanish. The reward amount shown is "$30,000 ORO," and it is being offered in Mexico. This would imply the reward being offered is $30,000 MXN in gold, which is -- and likely would have been -- quite different than $30,000 USD in gold. (I am not sure what the Mexican Peso to US Dollar exchange rate was during the time in which this story takes place. Today, $30,000 in Pesos would be around $1,500 in US Dollars. If the reward being offered is in MXN, instead of USD, the $30,000 amount would be more reasonable, at least by today's exchange rate. However, the bounty hunters in the story clearly think it is $30,000 USD.)
Another curiosity from this story is the deputization of Austin Boyle. Matt deputizes Festus to help guard Drago, and when the Marshal suggests Thad as an additional deputy, Festus replies that Doc had him staying with Amy Boyle. However, Doc had only asked Thad to stay in the office with Amy while he went to find someone else to sit with her. Plus, wouldn't it make more sense to let Amy's husband Austin sit with her and use Thad as a deputy to guard Drago? Of course, that solution would not have allowed some of the story elements to occur.
Albert Salmi makes the first of three Gunsmoke appearances as one of the bounty hunters named "Holly." Willard Sage makes the last of his five appearances as the other bounty hunter named "Walker."
Alfred Ryder often played bad guys in television shows and a few films. Here he plays the troublemaking newspaper writer George Flint.
The part of John Drago is played by Frank Silvera in his only Gunsmoke appearance. Silvera is familiar to fans of the television westerns genre as Don Sebastian Montoya on The High Chapparal.
Richard Evans, who had appeared in the second episode of the season, "The Storm," fills the role of Austin Boyle here. (The aforementioned Willard Sage was also part of the cast of "The Storm.") Patricia Quinn -- who is billed here as Ariane Quinn -- plays Amy Boyle.
Charles Wagenheim, who appeared in 29 episodes of Gunsmoke, mostly as Ed Halligan (or, sometimes, just "Halligan"), is featured somewhat prominently in this episode.
The script for "Death Watch" was the third of five written by Calvin Clements Sr. during Season 11 of Gunsmoke.
The bounty hunters transport the injured man to Dodge City where they ask Matt Dillon to put him in a jail cell while Doc Adams patches him up enough to ride to Mexico. They are planning to take Drago to the Mexican border and collect the reward. When Doc sees how badly Drago is injured, he recommends Drago be moved to a room at the Dodge House where he can treat him. Marshal Dillon refuses to allow the bounty hunters to take custody of Drago until Doc says he can be safely moved.
Naturally, the bounty hunters could not care less about Drago's wellbeing. They just want to take him to Mexico and collect the bounty. They are not pleased that Marshal Dillon is keeping Drago from them. To make matters worse, a newspaper reporter passing through Dodge tells the bounty hunters they are not likely to collect the bounty if Drago dies from his injuries, rather than being shot.
While all of this is taking place, Doc is also tending to Amy Boyle, who is experiencing difficulties with the birth of her first child. Her husband, Austin, is understandably concerned. He blames himself for the situation he and his wife are facing. They do not have money, and he chose not to take Amy to the hospital in Hays City as Doc had recommended earlier.
When Marshal Dillon deputizes Austin to help guard Drago, the bounty hunters and some of the Long Branch Saloon patrons hatch a scheme to pay Austin to shoot Drago. The bounty hunters sell "shares" of Drago in exchange for help getting him safely to Mexico and for money to bribe Austin to do their bidding.
Will Drago survive his injuries? Will Austin shoot him? Will Amy and/or the baby survive childbirth? Will the bounty hunters get their $30,000? These are all questions that will be answered before the story ends.
There are a few problems with this story. It is highly unlikely any government would have offered a $30,000 bounty for a wanted murderer during the time this story is set. A $500 bounty would have been more commonplace. Although there were some notorious criminals that had higher bounties up to $5,000, those were rare. The bounty for John Wilkes Booth after he assassinated President Lincoln was considered an extreme exception at $50,000. In this story we learn John Drago killed many people, but unless he killed the president of Mexico, or someone of similar stature, a $30,000 bounty would be very unlikely.
The wanted poster for Drago is written mostly in Spanish. The reward amount shown is "$30,000 ORO," and it is being offered in Mexico. This would imply the reward being offered is $30,000 MXN in gold, which is -- and likely would have been -- quite different than $30,000 USD in gold. (I am not sure what the Mexican Peso to US Dollar exchange rate was during the time in which this story takes place. Today, $30,000 in Pesos would be around $1,500 in US Dollars. If the reward being offered is in MXN, instead of USD, the $30,000 amount would be more reasonable, at least by today's exchange rate. However, the bounty hunters in the story clearly think it is $30,000 USD.)
Another curiosity from this story is the deputization of Austin Boyle. Matt deputizes Festus to help guard Drago, and when the Marshal suggests Thad as an additional deputy, Festus replies that Doc had him staying with Amy Boyle. However, Doc had only asked Thad to stay in the office with Amy while he went to find someone else to sit with her. Plus, wouldn't it make more sense to let Amy's husband Austin sit with her and use Thad as a deputy to guard Drago? Of course, that solution would not have allowed some of the story elements to occur.
Albert Salmi makes the first of three Gunsmoke appearances as one of the bounty hunters named "Holly." Willard Sage makes the last of his five appearances as the other bounty hunter named "Walker."
Alfred Ryder often played bad guys in television shows and a few films. Here he plays the troublemaking newspaper writer George Flint.
The part of John Drago is played by Frank Silvera in his only Gunsmoke appearance. Silvera is familiar to fans of the television westerns genre as Don Sebastian Montoya on The High Chapparal.
Richard Evans, who had appeared in the second episode of the season, "The Storm," fills the role of Austin Boyle here. (The aforementioned Willard Sage was also part of the cast of "The Storm.") Patricia Quinn -- who is billed here as Ariane Quinn -- plays Amy Boyle.
Charles Wagenheim, who appeared in 29 episodes of Gunsmoke, mostly as Ed Halligan (or, sometimes, just "Halligan"), is featured somewhat prominently in this episode.
The script for "Death Watch" was the third of five written by Calvin Clements Sr. during Season 11 of Gunsmoke.
helpful•72
- wdavidreynolds
- Feb 11, 2021
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
- 4:3
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content