This two-part episode does indeed play like a movie, as was noted by another reviewer. A very GOOD movie. It's a character study more than anything, with characters all beautifully acted by top notch guest stars, and James Arness at his finest, as the moral compass throughout this journey. It's also a story of judgement (including self-judgement) and forgiveness. With the exception of Willie, the young boy so touchingly played by Johnny Whitaker, none of the good guys are without sin. All are in need of some sort of redemption, or even just a glimmer of hope. Though the story is mostly character driven, it all leads to a tense climax, and also provides just enough comic touches - though not the kind that distract from the seriousness, and pathos of this excellent episode. The comic scenes are early on, before things turn south for most of the characters. While the bad guys don't seem to have any redeeming qualities, the good guys are, as I noted, multifaceted, and indeed, even Willie's grandfather, in the opening scene, comes across as not particularly likable, quoting prices - on his death bed - for the water he sells to thirsty desert travelers. If his grandson didn't love and depend on him so much, the viewers probably wouldn't care much for him, either. Even so, while the old man isn't particularly pleasant, he's no criminal, and certainly not in the same class of bad as the outlaws, led by Ben Rodman (a cool Jeremy Slate) and the despicable Preacher (David Shriner). Ruth Roman (as Maggie, the resourceful, yet weary madame to the group of fallen women), Ellen Burstyn (as Amy, the prostitute who gave up her son years ago) and Johnny Whitaker are all memorable in their respective roles and if you don't feel anything for them you should probably check your pulse. This is not a feel good episode in any way, and in that respect harkens back to the earlier, grittier B&W seasons. The title says it all. It's a story of wasted lives. Men killed - and killing - over the price of a drink of water in the desert; lives wasted loving cold unworthy, and broken men; lives wasted over plain old unbridled greed. James Arness, always a joy to watch when playing opposite women and children, shows us an older, wiser, weathered (and compassionate as ever) Matt, who while on the trail of a killer, doesn't have to think twice when life presents him with a more pressing problem in the form of the young boy, who finds himself suddenly alone in the desert wilderness, without any family, and a group of hardened, soiled women in a predicament of their own after one of their group betrays them. Matt is in essence, the storyteller by virtue of being the sympathetic ear and moral guide to Amy, Willie, and to a lesser degree, Maggie. Shug Fisher rounds out the stellar guest cast with a nicely subdued performance as Maggie's employee/companion, Jed. This is easily one of the best late season episodes, but also one of the best of Gunsmoke's entire run.
3 Reviews
The Pursuer Becomes the Pursued
wdavidreynolds4 August 2021
Marshal Matt Dillon has been chasing an escaped murderer named Ben Rodman through some treacherous country for a week. Along the way, Rodman stops at a watering hole being managed by an old man named Silas Hubbard. Silas and his grandson Willie live in a makeshift encampment and earn money from the sale of the scarce water. Rodman takes some of the water, and when the old man insists on payment with his gun, the outlaw tosses two one-dollar coins on the ground. Hubbard makes the mistake of taking his eyes off Rodman. This gives the killer the opportunity to shoot the old man and ride off.
Matt is not far behind. The Marshal can see that Silas is dying from the gunshot wound. The old man tells Matt the boy's father is dead, and his mother left six years earlier for the town of Table Rock, some twenty miles away. (This raises questions regarding the existence of Silas and Willie. Where did they get food and supplies for living?) Silas asks the Marshal to take Willie to Table Rock to find his mother, and Matt agrees.
After Silas dies, Matt and Willie make their way to Table Rock, but they find the town is deserted, except for a single drunk man. The man tells the Marshal a group abandoned the town in a wagon earlier to make their way across the badlands to a town called Whiskey Butte.
Matt and Willie catch up with the wagon which has a bad wheel and is stuck on some rocks in a stream of water. The passengers include a woman named Maggie Blaisedell, a man named Jed Rascoe, and four prostitutes Maggie manages. Marshal Dillon asks if anyone knows about Willie's mother, a woman named Sarah Hubbard. Amy, one of the women, says she knew Sarah, but she is dead.
As Matt and Jed work on the wagon, the Marshal notices some gold dust leak from the wagon. Dillon realizes the wagon has been equipped with a false bottom to conceal the gold. When he confronts Maggie about the treasure, she tells him she agreed to transport it to Whiskey Butte for some prospectors.
Another of the woman passengers named Lisa also sees the gold dust and overhears the conversation between Matt and Maggie. While everyone is asleep, she steals some of the gold dust, drains the water supply from the wagon, and rides to a hideout where Rodman and his gang are staying.
When Rodman learns of the gold, he sets out in pursuit of the wagon. The pursued has now become the pursuer. Marshal Dillon, Willie, and the remaining wagon passengers find themselves with limited water supplies and the target of Rodman's gang.
Rodman and his gang are played by several veteran Gunsmoke guest stars. Rodman is played by Jeremy Slate in the last of his seven Gunsmoke appearances. (Slate appeared in nine different one-hour episodes, but two of those were two-part installments.) Slate starred in one my favorite Gunsmoke stories: Season 7's "The Gallows."
Rex Holman plays one of Rodman's gang named Oakley. Holman appeared in sixteen Gunsmoke episodes, including a couple of thirty-minute stories in Season 6. Ken Swofford is the gang member named Speer. Don Megowan, who often played tough guys, appears in the role of the gang member named Lucas.
Character actor David Sheiner participates in his only Gunsmoke episode as the character Preacher Jones. Apparently, Preacher Jones has abandoned his position as a member of the clergy for more lucrative pursuits as part of Rodman's gang.
Johnny Whitaker -- who was often billed as "Johnnie," as he is here -- portrays the young boy, Willie Hubbard. Whitaker is best known for playing Jody Davis in the series Family Affair with Brian Keith. That series ended around the same time this episode was filmed.
In Season 7, an episode titled "Wagon Girls" features the story of a group of women traveling by wagon to Colorado. Ellen Burstyn plays one of the women on the wagon (she was going by the name Ellen McRae at the time). Burstyn returns to Gunsmoke some nine years later in this story, again as a woman traveling on a wagon. It is easy to forget that Burstyn appeared in numerous television shows before she found success in films. She would eventually win a Best Actress Oscar in 1975 for her performance as Alice Hyatt in Martin Scorsese's Alice Dosen't Live Here Anymore. Her performance as Amy Waters in this episode is her last for the series.
Ruth Roman plays the part of Maggie Blaisedell in this story. Her only other Gunsmoke participation was as a tough saloon owner named Flo Watson in Season 15's "Coreyville."
In addition to Roman and Burstyn, the other women traveling on the wagon are portrayed by Claire Brennan as Lisa, Lieux Dressler as Victoria, and Merry Anders as Shirley. This performance was the last credited in the acting career of Merry Anders. She found it increasingly difficult to find parts and chose to retire. Fans of classic television may recognize Anders from her recurring role as Policewoman Dorothy Miller in the late 1960s Dragnet reboot.
Shug Fisher, who appeared in so many Gunsmoke episodes he almost deserves regular credit, plays the part of Jed Rascoe. Fisher always played the same rough-around-the-edges character. Here he plays the character with a bit more restraint that usual.
This is another episode where James Arness is the only regular cast member seen, and all the story takes place away from Dodge City.
The first part of this two-part episode is the better of the two. It does an excellent job at laying the proper groundwork for the second part and creating intrigue and suspense.
Matt is not far behind. The Marshal can see that Silas is dying from the gunshot wound. The old man tells Matt the boy's father is dead, and his mother left six years earlier for the town of Table Rock, some twenty miles away. (This raises questions regarding the existence of Silas and Willie. Where did they get food and supplies for living?) Silas asks the Marshal to take Willie to Table Rock to find his mother, and Matt agrees.
After Silas dies, Matt and Willie make their way to Table Rock, but they find the town is deserted, except for a single drunk man. The man tells the Marshal a group abandoned the town in a wagon earlier to make their way across the badlands to a town called Whiskey Butte.
Matt and Willie catch up with the wagon which has a bad wheel and is stuck on some rocks in a stream of water. The passengers include a woman named Maggie Blaisedell, a man named Jed Rascoe, and four prostitutes Maggie manages. Marshal Dillon asks if anyone knows about Willie's mother, a woman named Sarah Hubbard. Amy, one of the women, says she knew Sarah, but she is dead.
As Matt and Jed work on the wagon, the Marshal notices some gold dust leak from the wagon. Dillon realizes the wagon has been equipped with a false bottom to conceal the gold. When he confronts Maggie about the treasure, she tells him she agreed to transport it to Whiskey Butte for some prospectors.
Another of the woman passengers named Lisa also sees the gold dust and overhears the conversation between Matt and Maggie. While everyone is asleep, she steals some of the gold dust, drains the water supply from the wagon, and rides to a hideout where Rodman and his gang are staying.
When Rodman learns of the gold, he sets out in pursuit of the wagon. The pursued has now become the pursuer. Marshal Dillon, Willie, and the remaining wagon passengers find themselves with limited water supplies and the target of Rodman's gang.
Rodman and his gang are played by several veteran Gunsmoke guest stars. Rodman is played by Jeremy Slate in the last of his seven Gunsmoke appearances. (Slate appeared in nine different one-hour episodes, but two of those were two-part installments.) Slate starred in one my favorite Gunsmoke stories: Season 7's "The Gallows."
Rex Holman plays one of Rodman's gang named Oakley. Holman appeared in sixteen Gunsmoke episodes, including a couple of thirty-minute stories in Season 6. Ken Swofford is the gang member named Speer. Don Megowan, who often played tough guys, appears in the role of the gang member named Lucas.
Character actor David Sheiner participates in his only Gunsmoke episode as the character Preacher Jones. Apparently, Preacher Jones has abandoned his position as a member of the clergy for more lucrative pursuits as part of Rodman's gang.
Johnny Whitaker -- who was often billed as "Johnnie," as he is here -- portrays the young boy, Willie Hubbard. Whitaker is best known for playing Jody Davis in the series Family Affair with Brian Keith. That series ended around the same time this episode was filmed.
In Season 7, an episode titled "Wagon Girls" features the story of a group of women traveling by wagon to Colorado. Ellen Burstyn plays one of the women on the wagon (she was going by the name Ellen McRae at the time). Burstyn returns to Gunsmoke some nine years later in this story, again as a woman traveling on a wagon. It is easy to forget that Burstyn appeared in numerous television shows before she found success in films. She would eventually win a Best Actress Oscar in 1975 for her performance as Alice Hyatt in Martin Scorsese's Alice Dosen't Live Here Anymore. Her performance as Amy Waters in this episode is her last for the series.
Ruth Roman plays the part of Maggie Blaisedell in this story. Her only other Gunsmoke participation was as a tough saloon owner named Flo Watson in Season 15's "Coreyville."
In addition to Roman and Burstyn, the other women traveling on the wagon are portrayed by Claire Brennan as Lisa, Lieux Dressler as Victoria, and Merry Anders as Shirley. This performance was the last credited in the acting career of Merry Anders. She found it increasingly difficult to find parts and chose to retire. Fans of classic television may recognize Anders from her recurring role as Policewoman Dorothy Miller in the late 1960s Dragnet reboot.
Shug Fisher, who appeared in so many Gunsmoke episodes he almost deserves regular credit, plays the part of Jed Rascoe. Fisher always played the same rough-around-the-edges character. Here he plays the character with a bit more restraint that usual.
This is another episode where James Arness is the only regular cast member seen, and all the story takes place away from Dodge City.
The first part of this two-part episode is the better of the two. It does an excellent job at laying the proper groundwork for the second part and creating intrigue and suspense.
We get the 'set-up' for part two
kfo949411 September 2013
In this part one of a two part story, we get the 'set-up' that hopefully will make the second part much more interesting offering. There is much in this part that seems almost bizarre but with the writers stretching for more stories we are bound to have to accept things that are often difficult to understand for viewing sake.
To quickly sum this first part involves Marshal Dillon, by himself, tracking a bandit, Ben Rodman, across the lonely desert where Rodman and his gang have a hideout. But along the way Matt runs into a boy, Willie Hubbard (Johnny Whitaker), his grandfather has been killed and Matt will take him to find his mother that lives in a nearby town.
When Matt gets to the mining town it has been hit by hard times and people are leaving. The last women, or saloon girls, have just pulled out and that is the only hope for finding the boys mother.
Matt just so happens comes up on the wagon that is lead by a tough woman named Maggie. She and her girls are on their way east and away from the closing ghost town. Matt finds out that Maggie is carrying some gold which is overheard by one of the ladies, Lucy, that just so happens to be a good friend of the bandit Rodman. So one night she pours out all their wagons's water out and heads out to find Rodman. Matt will have his hands full with a boy, some loose woman, gold and a gang of bandit set on getting to the gold.
To quickly sum this first part involves Marshal Dillon, by himself, tracking a bandit, Ben Rodman, across the lonely desert where Rodman and his gang have a hideout. But along the way Matt runs into a boy, Willie Hubbard (Johnny Whitaker), his grandfather has been killed and Matt will take him to find his mother that lives in a nearby town.
When Matt gets to the mining town it has been hit by hard times and people are leaving. The last women, or saloon girls, have just pulled out and that is the only hope for finding the boys mother.
Matt just so happens comes up on the wagon that is lead by a tough woman named Maggie. She and her girls are on their way east and away from the closing ghost town. Matt finds out that Maggie is carrying some gold which is overheard by one of the ladies, Lucy, that just so happens to be a good friend of the bandit Rodman. So one night she pours out all their wagons's water out and heads out to find Rodman. Matt will have his hands full with a boy, some loose woman, gold and a gang of bandit set on getting to the gold.
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