Elwood James Hardacre is another of the Season 9 men facing some existential dilemma (see also: "Caleb" and "The Promoter.") In this case, Hardacre visits a traveling charlatan selling a useless elixir. This fraudulent "doctor" informs Hardacre that he only has about three months to live due to an illness he calls "calcification of the liver." Of course, the only remedy for the affliction is to take the elixir several times per day. Unfortunately, the North Fork sheriff runs the phony medicine man out of town, and Hardacre's only bottle of elixir is broken.
In the town of North Fork where he lives, Hardacre has surrounded himself with people who bully him. The woman that runs the boarding house where he lives chastises him constantly for one thing or another. His supervisor at the bank where he works -- a cantankerous Scrooge-like man named Arbuckle (his subordinates call him "Warthog") -- despises him and complains about his work effort, or lack thereof. Even the children in the town speak abusively toward Hardacre.
Upon learning of his terminal illness, Hardacre decides he will withdraw all of his money from the bank and go to California. When he boards the stagecoach, he sees a woman named Annie Gilroy who he had met at a saloon in North Fork. Annie was kind to Hardacre, and the man is smitten with her.
Annie is on her way to Dodge City because she wants to get away from an abusive relationship with a tyrant named Meade Agate. She is hoping to get a job working for Miss Kitty at the Long Branch Saloon.
On the trip to Dodge, Hardacre and Annie become better acquainted. Hardacre decides he will stop in Dodge for a few days, primarily thanks to Annie's presence there.
In Dodge, Hardacre is a much different man than he was in North Fork. He is friendly and outgoing. People like him, although as a stranger in town, people are curious about him.
Problems arise when Agate follows Annie to Dodge. Agate is extremely jealous, but his interest in Miss Gilroy is about possession and control, not love. Hardacre wants to protect Annie from Agate, and since he thinks he has nothing to lose, he is more bold than he might be otherwise.
Herbert Anderson, who had played Henry Mitchell in the series Dennis the Menace just prior to appearing in this episode, fills the role of Hardacre well. It is interesting how he does not really begin to live until he thinks he has nothing to lose. This is Anderson's only appearance in a Gunsmoke episode.
Sharon Farrell is her usual lovely self in the part of Annie. This is her last appearance on Gunsmoke. Her previous two appearances had occurred late in Season 8's excellent "With A Smile" and earlier in Season 9's "Quint's Trail."
H.M. Wyant often played heavies, as he does here in the Meade Agate role. It is nice to see Percy Helton in the role of Arbuckle. Helton had a long career in television and films from the mid 1940s well into the 1970s.
Although there is a bit of gunplay in this story, it is uncharacteristically gentle by typical Gunsmoke standards. This script was written by John Dunkel, who contributed a number of stories, some of them mild in nature, to both the radio and television versions of Gunsmoke. One can only imagine how this story would have received different treatment if it had been written by John Meston.
In the town of North Fork where he lives, Hardacre has surrounded himself with people who bully him. The woman that runs the boarding house where he lives chastises him constantly for one thing or another. His supervisor at the bank where he works -- a cantankerous Scrooge-like man named Arbuckle (his subordinates call him "Warthog") -- despises him and complains about his work effort, or lack thereof. Even the children in the town speak abusively toward Hardacre.
Upon learning of his terminal illness, Hardacre decides he will withdraw all of his money from the bank and go to California. When he boards the stagecoach, he sees a woman named Annie Gilroy who he had met at a saloon in North Fork. Annie was kind to Hardacre, and the man is smitten with her.
Annie is on her way to Dodge City because she wants to get away from an abusive relationship with a tyrant named Meade Agate. She is hoping to get a job working for Miss Kitty at the Long Branch Saloon.
On the trip to Dodge, Hardacre and Annie become better acquainted. Hardacre decides he will stop in Dodge for a few days, primarily thanks to Annie's presence there.
In Dodge, Hardacre is a much different man than he was in North Fork. He is friendly and outgoing. People like him, although as a stranger in town, people are curious about him.
Problems arise when Agate follows Annie to Dodge. Agate is extremely jealous, but his interest in Miss Gilroy is about possession and control, not love. Hardacre wants to protect Annie from Agate, and since he thinks he has nothing to lose, he is more bold than he might be otherwise.
Herbert Anderson, who had played Henry Mitchell in the series Dennis the Menace just prior to appearing in this episode, fills the role of Hardacre well. It is interesting how he does not really begin to live until he thinks he has nothing to lose. This is Anderson's only appearance in a Gunsmoke episode.
Sharon Farrell is her usual lovely self in the part of Annie. This is her last appearance on Gunsmoke. Her previous two appearances had occurred late in Season 8's excellent "With A Smile" and earlier in Season 9's "Quint's Trail."
H.M. Wyant often played heavies, as he does here in the Meade Agate role. It is nice to see Percy Helton in the role of Arbuckle. Helton had a long career in television and films from the mid 1940s well into the 1970s.
Although there is a bit of gunplay in this story, it is uncharacteristically gentle by typical Gunsmoke standards. This script was written by John Dunkel, who contributed a number of stories, some of them mild in nature, to both the radio and television versions of Gunsmoke. One can only imagine how this story would have received different treatment if it had been written by John Meston.
