Although I'm not a big fan of Gunsmoke -- this episode was so good that I had to research it, and yes... even give it a review as well.
While it's a black & white episode from 1962... I'd have to say it's perhaps one of the BEST Gunsmoke episodes of all time.
Amanda Blake was especially attractive in this episode of the Gunsmoke TV series, which was already in it's eighth year of production.
Having seen mostly color versions of Gunsmoke from the latter years of the series, I had no idea exactly how attractive Amanda Blake was in her earlier years.
Miss Blake was born in 1929, and was 33 at the time of the episode.
Meanwhile, James Arness & Milburn Stone did some honest-to-goodness, quite sincere, and seriously realistic acting that was quite convincing and deserving of Emmy nominations.
The supporting actors weren't particularly noteworthy, with the exception of Elen Willard, who played the character of Althea.
Ironically, the talented Miss Willard had an extremely brief acting career, which lasted only six years.
Of course great credit should be given to the writer, Jack Curtis. The story was well written, sensitive, touching, and not necessarily as predictable as one might imagine.