"Gunsmoke" Help Me, Kitty (TV Episode 1964) Poster

(TV Series)

(1964)

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8/10
Amanda Blake makes this episode a joy to watch
kfo949423 January 2013
Warning: Spoilers
This episode begins with a sad looking woman named Hope Farmer comes walking out of the Dodge House. She walks up to a man named Ed that appears to be her husband and she says she has some things to do in Dodge and will be back soon. Hope then walks over to the Long Branch and talks with Kitty. She is the daughter of Nellie Farmer that worked there years ago and wants Kitty to help her. She had run away with this man Ed to get marriage but now he refuses to get married. She now wants to leave him and go back to Garden City to her mother's house and she is asking Kitty for help. But there is a draw back--Hope is pregnant.

But with Kitty knowing Nellie and her background, Kitty agrees to take Hope back to her mother's house will she is sure she will be welcomed. So the next stagecoach to Garden City the two will ride.

During the ride the stage is held-up. The driver and a passenger is killed leaving the two women alone. The two men that held-up the stage, Specter and Furnas, believes that both women are dead. But Kitty is able to get a look at the man called Furnas before being left to fend in the outback.

Two days later, Kitty and Hope come upon this stagecoach relay station. When the man comes out to ask them questions it is none other than Specter. Kitty is not sure about Specter but knows something is up since he is acting real strange. But when Furnas comes into the station, Kitty knows that they are the two that held-up the stage.

With Hope injured, Kitty may have to resort to violence to escape. And with Specter having no intentions of letting the two women go, it will come down to self preservation.

This is a nice tale that was interesting throughout. Betty Conner that played Hope was a little green in this episode and did not seem to fit in well as the poor woman victim. However Amanda Blake made up for any shortfalls in her rough and rowdy performance. A nice show with a closing scene as nice as any other. Good watch.
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8/10
Kitty shows her true grit
LukeCoolHand28 June 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Some reviewers did not like this episode and some did. It was a pleasure as another reviewer said, to not to have to listen to Festus with that high pitched, back woods fake voice he uses. Watch any of the earlier episodes where Curtis is not playing Festus and you'll see in those his voice is normal. All I have say is that any show with the great Jack Elam cannot be all bad. He can do comedy or a real sleezy bad man or anything in between. He is a real scene stealer even if not saying a word. I almost cheered in this episode when Kitty shot and killed Elam after he told her she didn't have the nerve to do it. Way to go Kitty. LOL.
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7/10
Weak episode
gary-6465913 June 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Kathleen Hite is normally a reliably good writer for "Gunsmoke" and other westerns. But here it's as if she chose the option of giving Kitty (Amanda Blake) a good opportunity to show her stuff saving a pregnant young woman, Hope, from the clutches of every man she meets. A "feel good" option would have been to have Hope's ultra-controlling boyfriend show up, turn over a new leaf, save the day, with the help of new friend Quint (Burt Reynolds). Instead, after the briefest introduction, unbelievably he -- the father of her child -- doesn't pursue her and is never seen again. Even ace villain Jack Elam can't save this, there are so many holes in the plot. The action slowed down remarkably so I thought it was bound to be a two-parter, but Kitty rescued everyone and was reunited with Matt all in the last 5 minutes flat. Again, unbelievably, it took her all that time to pull her gun out -- risking a fate worse than death to both women, all because she didn't want to "upset" this spoilt young 18-year-old (who looked more like 25 and was not the irresistible beauty everyone treated her as).
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10/10
Oh Jeez, Get Over Yourselves!
atomicis30 July 2021
So many whiners here reviewing! Thanks again "kfo" for another spoiler-filled "review"! (You might want to research the difference between a review and a synopsis).

I don't think I've ever seen Jack Elam actually ACT before this episode! He was really good, and not just crazy-eyed mugging in this one. Amanda Blake, as well, emotes in this one better than I can remember her ever doing. The actress playing the little pregnant girl was great, too; sad to see she didn't work much after this episode.

One more note: In another episode the trivia here said "Only time Miss Kitty and Matt embrace"... Well (tiny spoiler) they embrace here, too.
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6/10
Amanda Blake's Acting Cannot Redeem Script Deficiencies
wdavidreynolds21 December 2020
Hope Farmer is a young, 18-year-old woman who finds herself in a tough situation. She left home for a man named Ed in the hopes she and Ed would marry, but Ed is not interested in marriage. To make matters worse, Hope is pregnant. When the couple arrive in Dodge City, Hope goes to Kitty Russell for help.

12 years earlier, Hope's mother worked for Kitty at the Long Branch Saloon. Hope was a little girl at the time, but Kitty remembers her and shows great compassion for Hope's situation. Kitty agrees to escort Hope to her mother.

Unfortunately, the stagecoach carrying Kitty and Hope is attacked by a pair of thieves. The stagecoach overturns and ejects Kitty, Hope, and a male passenger. The male passenger and the driver are both killed, and the bandits assume Kitty and Hope are dead. They take the contents of the stagecoach strongbox and the cash from Miss Kitty's handbag and ride off.

Miraculously, Kitty is not badly hurt. While Hope is injured, she is able to walk. Kitty and Hope set out looking for any help they can find. When they eventually arrive at a way station, they discover it is operated by Specter, who the viewer can see is one of the two thieves. Kitty didn't get a look at Specter after the accident, but she got a clear look at his partner, Furnas. When Furnas arrives at the way station, Kitty recognizes him and realizes Specter and Furnas are the thieves.

This situation establishes the primary plot point of the episode. Hope is injured, and she and Kitty are held prisoner at the way station with Specter and Furnas.

The clear point of this episode is to show how tough and resilient Kitty Russell could be. Amanda Blake was definitely capable of carrying an episode, as she proved numerous times over the run of Gunsmoke. If not for her strong performance in this story, the episode would have been a disaster.

Jack Elam was a versatile actor, and he is fine here as the slimy Specter character, but Betty Conner is stuck with a poorly written role as the seemingly helpless Hope. Joe Conley, who plays Carl, the stagecoach driver, was best known as Ike Godsey on The Waltons. (There are many connections between The Waltons and Gunsmoke, including writers, directors, and actors.)

This isn't one of the better Kathleen Hite scripts. There are plot elements that don't make much sense: What happened to Ed, Hope's male companion? He apparently did not even care enough to protest Hope leaving him. What was the point to the odd scene with Festus, Quint, and Carl? I guess it was supposed to inject humor, but it seems out of place. Why did the bandits just assume the women were dead? Kitty found a gun, why won't she use it? The plot also bogs down and plods along at times.
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7/10
Sow day in Dodge
maskers-871263 October 2018
Slow show. Could haxe been more interesting had the Hope character not been SUCH A WINER! Just okay, gave Matt a day off and I didnt have to listen to Festus. Jack Elam is always a creepy delight.
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5/10
Another Hite Woman's Script that falls short
lrrap25 April 2021
I used to give a silent cheer every time Kathleen Hite's name appeared on screen as writer; not so much any more. I'm fine with her introducing the feminine sensibility into the male-dominated Old West---Season 8's "The Way It Is" is excellent, and Season 7's "Long, Long Trail" is a total MASTERPIECE. But her output became way too Hit-and-"Miss" as the series progressed.

LOTS of holes in the plot..many already cited here by other commentators.

Yeah...what WAS that nonsense with "Ed" in the opening..his gratuitous fight with Quint..why?? Bad choice. ALSO-- are we seriously to believe that Matt would allow Kitty and Hope to travel on the coach --carrying a big load of cash--with NO "SHOTGUN" rider to protect them? Are you NUTS?

And, after the coach disaster, a writer of Hite's intelligence would have made sure that Kitty first check the ruined coach for anything they might be able to use in their long walk back to civilization, after first having made SOME effort to see if the coach's HORSES might have stopped running anywhere nearby.

There's just WAY TOO MUCH in this script that was tossed aside in order to set up the perilous journey of the two ladies, which is really a grind to watch. Incidentally, Hope's level of pain, etc makes it seem that she's about to deliver the baby at any moment...yet the costume department (conspiring with make-up and hair stylist) makes certain that actress Betty Conner looks svelte and shapely in her tight-fitting dress; this IS the mid '60's, you know.

I really don't like scripts of this sort-- where our favorite characters are stranded, captured, brutalized..while we stress out waiting for help to arrive. Hite had created a GREAT opportunity for a real human interest story..with Hope and Ed's failed relationship, her pregnancy, Kitty's wise counsel and advice, etc.. But, NO.

I doubt that I'll be watching this one again. LR.

PS-- I DID enjoy Jack Elam's reptilian character, repulsive as it was.
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