User Reviews

Matt has business in Hay City so he asks Doc Adams to bring back some money for him from the Cimarron Mining Company. On his way back a buffalo hunter named Abihu Howell tops a hill to see two men over Doc's body looking at his wallet. Howell shoots at the men and the ride off. When the buffalo hunter gets up to where Doc is located, he has a severe head injury. From his remaining items in his pockets he know he is a doctor and takes him to the nearest town which just so happens to be Dodge.

When Howell gets to Dodge, he relates the entire story to as many people that want to hear. And with drinks flowing freely the story gets more stretched each time he tells the tale.

For TV reasons, the two bandits do not decide to make a run for it. Instead they turn around and start for Dodge. It is not long before Festus and lawyer, Breck Taylor, have captured the the men and take them into Dodge to await the Marshal.

In Dodge, the town are in an uproar. The beloved Doc is injured and the townsfolk want to take justice into their own hands instead of waiting on Matt. With buffalo hunter Howell leading the pack, Breck sends a boy to find the Marshal. Will Matt make it back in time to save the men from a lynching?

A very nice show that was interesting the entire time. We do get to see a scene taking right out of the Saturday afternoon cowboy movie when Festus jumps off a cliff onto on the the bandits knocking him off his horse- which brings back memories. Nice acting by all involved and a plot worthy of the series. A well written script makes this episode a good watch.

A loud-mouthed, hard-drinking buffalo hunter named Abihu Howell (I always wondered where the Gunsmoke writers came up with some the names that were used for various guest characters on the show) happens upon two men hunched over a body on the trail. When the men see Howell, they take off. When Howell investigates the injured man, the viewer can see it is Doc Adams, and he has a bad head injury.

Howell loads Doc in his wagon and takes him to Dodge City. Matt Dillon is away in Hays City. Doc is severely injured. He was returning from a trip to a mining company to treat someone with a broken leg, and the Marshal had asked him to bring back $1,500 that was waiting at the mining company.

When Howell relates his story of seeing the two men with Doc, Festus Haggen and Breck Taylor, the lawyer who first appeared in the earlier Season 10 episode "Breckinridge," set out to find the two suspects. It doesn't take them long to catch up with the men, take them into custody, and transport them back to the Dodge City jail to await Matt's return.

Howell enjoys the attention he gets from the Dodge townspeople and embellishes his account of seeing the two men on the trail with every telling. Doc is well loved, of course, and the people become increasingly upset that two "bushwhackers" everyone knows are guilty are being held in the town jail. Even Festus isn't so sure the two men deserve any protection from the mob.

Breck Taylor is concerned about the environment that is developing in Dodge. He sends a young man to alert the Marshal to what is happening. Will Matt get back before the situation in Dodge is completely out of control?

A little comedy is even injected when Festus tries to explain "due process" to some of the angry men that think the two men deserve lynching.

This episode features another stellar cast of familiar character actors. Harry Townes plays Abihu Howell. Townes specialized in playing boisterous, highly animated characters, as is the case here. Ben Cooper reprises his role as Breck Taylor, but this would be the last Gunsmoke episode that would feature the attorney character and the last that would include Cooper in any role.

George Lindsey, who was best known for his performances on The Andy Griffith Show as Goober Pyle, was an underrated actor. His performance here as Billy Yeager, one of the two robbery suspects, is excellent. Jay Ripley, who was usually cast in roles as an excitable, impetuous kid, is Yeager's partner Ned Moore.

There are several uncredited performances in this episode by the various townspeople. Many are familiar faces that often appeared in Gunsmoke stories.

There is nothing especially unique or profound about this episode, but it does offer an entertaining hour of television.

Note: As some of the other reviewers point out, this episode is sometimes confused in television listings with Episode 35, "The New Society." On some networks, the episode listed as "Two Tall Men" is actually "The New Society," and the episode listed as "The New Society" is actually "Two Tall Men."

Concerning the confusion about this Episode, I ran into the same thing in 2016 as reviewer ReneFaye77 did.

As I was reading the review online from my TV App... it listed 'Two Tall Men' was to be airing.. the synopsis online says about Doc Adams and some Money.... etc etc.... Matt to the rescue..etc..

I quickly realized this was not what was unfolding on my TV.. Luckily, 'renafaye77' had a review that made sense, BUT other reviewers were describing the episode that was on my TV App.

So, for many years now and across different TV Stations, the Episode "Two Tall Men" is listed when the actual episode is "The New Society" which is posted on IMDb as the 35th Episode of Season 10.

I hope 'Two Tall Men' is a good as 'The New Society'. Which was Very Good.

It is sad when a reviewer will complain and then will not take the time to look up the episode anywhere on the computer. If renafaye had just take the time to Google the episode plot then she would know that the first reviewer was correct.

The show is about two men that is accused of seriously injuring Doc after some buffalo hunter gives a made up story to the people at the Long Branch. They town wants to kill the men instead of waiting for a trial. The episode that renafaye is referring is called The New Society. This episode was well written and well done by the actors. A special treat is that George Lindsey who is known as Goober from Andy Griffith is playing a dramatic part. And actually does a good job of making you believe that he could have been a semi-serious actor if fate had not acted.