Jack Davis and card dealer Lonnie Pike get into an argument in the Long Branch Saloon. When Pike goes for his gun, Davis pins Pike's hand to the table with a knife. Matt Dillon steps in before the situation gets any worse. Pike wants Matt to kill Davis, but Marshal Dillon only throws Davis out of town.
Matt's old friend Cam Durbin rides into Dodge City with his new wife Tilda. Cam has arranged by mail with Kitty Russell and Bill Pence to run a faro game at the Long Branch. As Matt and Cam are catching up on old times, Pike enters the office complaining that no one will hire him to deal cards. When Durbin hears Pike's complaints, he offers Pike a job as a faro dealer when Durbin is not dealing, despite Matt's warning that Pike should not be trusted.
When Pike sees Tilda Durbin and Matt talking, the scoundrel plays on Cam's jealousy by telling Cam his wife and Matt are romantically involved. The toxic seeds Pike plants begin to grow as Cam becomes increasingly suspicious.
Jack Kelly makes his only Gunsmoke appearance as the Cam Durbin character. Around the same time this episode was filmed, Kelly began playing Bart Maverick in the series Maverick. Joan Tetzel also makes her only appearance in the series as Tilda Durbin.
Than Wyenn makes his third and final series appearance as the slimy character Lonnie Pike. Wyenn had also played a card dealer in the "Magnus" episode from Season 1. Wyenn's acting career was quite extensive with roles in both television shows and films.
This John Meston story is a straightforward tale of jealousy. Famed writer/director Sam Peckinpah provides one of his eleven Gunsmoke screenplays based on a Meston story. Except for a couple of mildly humorous touches, Peckinpah pretty much sticks to the original version here. One addition is a scene where Chester Goode is playing around with a knife in Marshal Dillon's office and accidentally sticks the knife through one of his boots. (Peckinpah seemed to enjoy writing humor-tinged Chester scenes.) The other is a scene involving Matt and Doc Adams dining together, and Doc begins talking about mastication and the virtues of properly chewing one's food.
Meston's version establishes Cam Durbin as an extremely jealous husband before Pike suggests something is going on between Matt and Tilda. Peckinpah chooses not to add that touch. Whether Peckinpah intended it or not, the scenes between the Matt and Tilda characters could almost be construed as minor flirtation. (This might have more to do with the actors or the direction than the writing. In the radio version, there is no question that Matt and Tilda are only friends.)
The other surprising major change Peckinpah makes is in the resolution of the story. In Meston's original version, Matt tells Tilda she will have to face charges for shooting Pike, whether he lives or dies, which would be the expected results. However, in Peckinpah's version, once Doc confirms Pike will recover from the shooting, Matt allows Cam and Tilda to leave without Tilda facing prosecution. This bit of moral ambiguity is something Peckinpah would use repeatedly throughout his career.
Matt's old friend Cam Durbin rides into Dodge City with his new wife Tilda. Cam has arranged by mail with Kitty Russell and Bill Pence to run a faro game at the Long Branch. As Matt and Cam are catching up on old times, Pike enters the office complaining that no one will hire him to deal cards. When Durbin hears Pike's complaints, he offers Pike a job as a faro dealer when Durbin is not dealing, despite Matt's warning that Pike should not be trusted.
When Pike sees Tilda Durbin and Matt talking, the scoundrel plays on Cam's jealousy by telling Cam his wife and Matt are romantically involved. The toxic seeds Pike plants begin to grow as Cam becomes increasingly suspicious.
Jack Kelly makes his only Gunsmoke appearance as the Cam Durbin character. Around the same time this episode was filmed, Kelly began playing Bart Maverick in the series Maverick. Joan Tetzel also makes her only appearance in the series as Tilda Durbin.
Than Wyenn makes his third and final series appearance as the slimy character Lonnie Pike. Wyenn had also played a card dealer in the "Magnus" episode from Season 1. Wyenn's acting career was quite extensive with roles in both television shows and films.
This John Meston story is a straightforward tale of jealousy. Famed writer/director Sam Peckinpah provides one of his eleven Gunsmoke screenplays based on a Meston story. Except for a couple of mildly humorous touches, Peckinpah pretty much sticks to the original version here. One addition is a scene where Chester Goode is playing around with a knife in Marshal Dillon's office and accidentally sticks the knife through one of his boots. (Peckinpah seemed to enjoy writing humor-tinged Chester scenes.) The other is a scene involving Matt and Doc Adams dining together, and Doc begins talking about mastication and the virtues of properly chewing one's food.
Meston's version establishes Cam Durbin as an extremely jealous husband before Pike suggests something is going on between Matt and Tilda. Peckinpah chooses not to add that touch. Whether Peckinpah intended it or not, the scenes between the Matt and Tilda characters could almost be construed as minor flirtation. (This might have more to do with the actors or the direction than the writing. In the radio version, there is no question that Matt and Tilda are only friends.)
The other surprising major change Peckinpah makes is in the resolution of the story. In Meston's original version, Matt tells Tilda she will have to face charges for shooting Pike, whether he lives or dies, which would be the expected results. However, in Peckinpah's version, once Doc confirms Pike will recover from the shooting, Matt allows Cam and Tilda to leave without Tilda facing prosecution. This bit of moral ambiguity is something Peckinpah would use repeatedly throughout his career.
