An old flame of Matt's comes to town, but her presence in Dodge may be motivated by more than sentiment.An old flame of Matt's comes to town, but her presence in Dodge may be motivated by more than sentiment.An old flame of Matt's comes to town, but her presence in Dodge may be motivated by more than sentiment.
Chuck Webster
- Sheriff Benson
- (as Charles Webster)
Budd Knapp
- Mr. Botkin
- (as Wilfrid Knapp)
George Huggins
- Townsman
- (uncredited)
Charles King
- Barfly
- (uncredited)
Bert Rumsey
- Bartender
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaMatt Dillon (James Arness) and Cara (Jorja Curtright) talk about St Louis "busting at the seams" (referring to it being so big). In the era of this series, the 1870s, Saint Louis Missouri had a population over 310,000 and was the 4th largest city in the United States.
- GoofsIn the early part of the show, when Matt asks Kitty for help with Cara, Kitty's mole on her upper right cheek is covered up, as to appear it's non-existent. Later on, her mole reappears.
- Crazy creditsHoward Culver's character, as proprietor of the Dodge House hotel, is listed in the credits as Mr. Uzzel; however, the character's name is never spoken.
Featured review
Lovers and Liars
Howie Uzzell asks Doc Adams to come to the Dodge House where a woman guest has made a weak attempt at suicide. The woman asks Doc to tell Matt she wants to see him. Her name is Cara.
When Matt visits Cara at the Dodge House, it is a reunion. Cara and Matt had a romantic relationship in Yuma, Arizona twelve years earlier. Matt later tells Kitty Russell he left Yuma "to prove himself," and by the time he completed his objective, the relationship was over.
Matt thoughtlessly asks Kitty to help his old flame. Kitty does not enjoy the idea of taking on the task, but she agrees to do it. (Amanda Blake looks every bit the girl boss throughout this episode.) As the story progresses, she becomes less and less happy to have Matt's old girlfriend around.
Sheriff Benson from another town visits Dodge. He is just passing through, but he warns Matt about a wanted bank robber and murderer named Jack Tolliver who has been spotted in Kansas. He can't tell Matt much about the man because no one knows what Tolliver looks like. However, Tolliver works with a female partner who arrives in the towns Tolliver is about to hit about a week in advance to perform reconnaissance. When Sheriff Benson describes the woman, Matt realizes it is Cara.
Matt begins to watch Cara as he suspects she will provide clues to Tolliver's arrival in Dodge so the crimes can be stopped.
Jorja Curtright makes her only Gunsmoke appearance as Cara. Curtright's acting career was not extensive. Her lackluster performance in this episode may shed some light on why that was the case. She had a distinctive career later as an interior designer. She was married to author Sidney Sheldon for thirty years.
Douglas Odney portrays the Jack Tolliver character. Like Curtright, this is his only Gunsmoke appearance, and his acting career was short-lived, as is his screen time in this story.
Actor Charles (Chuck) Webster's acting career was more prolific than his other guest co-stars, but his small role as Sheriff Benson is his only participation in the series.
Wilfred (Budd) Knapp makes another appearance as Sam Botkin, the bank president. Note the brief glimpses of the sign at the bank shows the name is "Botkin Bank," and the safe inside is labeled "Botkin's Bank." It would later become the Dodge City Bank.
The premise of this story is intriguing enough, but the theme of an old flame coming back into the hero's life with nefarious intentions would be used repeatedly in other westerns over the years. At least one more episode features one of Matt's past loves, Season 18's "Sarah."
The story never reaches its potential, and the performance by Curtright falls flat. There is a sort of chess match element between Matt and Cara, but the David Victor and Herbert Little, Jr. Script always keeps the Marshal one step ahead, which eliminates any real suspense.
When Matt visits Cara at the Dodge House, it is a reunion. Cara and Matt had a romantic relationship in Yuma, Arizona twelve years earlier. Matt later tells Kitty Russell he left Yuma "to prove himself," and by the time he completed his objective, the relationship was over.
Matt thoughtlessly asks Kitty to help his old flame. Kitty does not enjoy the idea of taking on the task, but she agrees to do it. (Amanda Blake looks every bit the girl boss throughout this episode.) As the story progresses, she becomes less and less happy to have Matt's old girlfriend around.
Sheriff Benson from another town visits Dodge. He is just passing through, but he warns Matt about a wanted bank robber and murderer named Jack Tolliver who has been spotted in Kansas. He can't tell Matt much about the man because no one knows what Tolliver looks like. However, Tolliver works with a female partner who arrives in the towns Tolliver is about to hit about a week in advance to perform reconnaissance. When Sheriff Benson describes the woman, Matt realizes it is Cara.
Matt begins to watch Cara as he suspects she will provide clues to Tolliver's arrival in Dodge so the crimes can be stopped.
Jorja Curtright makes her only Gunsmoke appearance as Cara. Curtright's acting career was not extensive. Her lackluster performance in this episode may shed some light on why that was the case. She had a distinctive career later as an interior designer. She was married to author Sidney Sheldon for thirty years.
Douglas Odney portrays the Jack Tolliver character. Like Curtright, this is his only Gunsmoke appearance, and his acting career was short-lived, as is his screen time in this story.
Actor Charles (Chuck) Webster's acting career was more prolific than his other guest co-stars, but his small role as Sheriff Benson is his only participation in the series.
Wilfred (Budd) Knapp makes another appearance as Sam Botkin, the bank president. Note the brief glimpses of the sign at the bank shows the name is "Botkin Bank," and the safe inside is labeled "Botkin's Bank." It would later become the Dodge City Bank.
The premise of this story is intriguing enough, but the theme of an old flame coming back into the hero's life with nefarious intentions would be used repeatedly in other westerns over the years. At least one more episode features one of Matt's past loves, Season 18's "Sarah."
The story never reaches its potential, and the performance by Curtright falls flat. There is a sort of chess match element between Matt and Cara, but the David Victor and Herbert Little, Jr. Script always keeps the Marshal one step ahead, which eliminates any real suspense.
- wdavidreynolds
- Dec 14, 2021
- Permalink
Details
- Runtime30 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
- 4:3
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