The Osage Council has found Two Bears guilty of murder. His daughter rides into Dodge seeking Matt's help but he's out of town chasing horse thieves so Thad tries to help. He finds out that ... Read allThe Osage Council has found Two Bears guilty of murder. His daughter rides into Dodge seeking Matt's help but he's out of town chasing horse thieves so Thad tries to help. He finds out that he and Matt are really riding the same trail.The Osage Council has found Two Bears guilty of murder. His daughter rides into Dodge seeking Matt's help but he's out of town chasing horse thieves so Thad tries to help. He finds out that he and Matt are really riding the same trail.
Noah Beery Jr.
- John-Two-Bears
- (as Noah Beery)
Bert Madrid
- Townsman
- (uncredited)
Jimmy Noel
- Townsman
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaFans of Star Trek will recognize stars of two fan favorite episodes. France Nuyen who played Elaan of Troyius and Michael Ansara who portrayed Klingon commander Kang in the Day of the Dove.
- GoofsNear the end of the story when the Osage Indian chief first sticks the spear in the ground in the middle of the circle of stones, there is no shadow cast upon the stones, yet on the cut shot to the stones there is a shadow of the spear falling across one of the stones.
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A Clash of Cultures
An Osage council votes to sentence Chief John-Two-Bears to death after finding him guilty of murder. The chief's daughter, Sarah, knows her father is innocent, but women have no standing within the tribe. (It is interesting that Sarah has little regard for the council's authority in this matter regarding her father.) Two-Bears has accepted his fate, although he knows he is not guilty. He considers obeying the council's decision more important than his life.
Sarah travels to Dodge City out of desperation in the hopes of soliciting "white man's justice" in the situation with her father. She visits the Marshal's office where she encounters Thad Greenwood. Thad is minding the office while Matt Dillon and Festus Haggen are away investigating a recent rash of horse thefts. Thad returns to the Osage reservation with Sarah, despite Doc Adams's advice to stay out of the matter.
Thad's arrival on the reservation is seen as an unwelcome intrusion. Thad does not understand the actions of the Osage council, and he does not respect the limited autonomy the Osage are afforded. Elias Franklin, the U. S. government agent assigned to liaison with the Osage, finds Thad's approach frustrating and places Thad under arrest.
Eventually, Matt Dillon's investigation points to Osage involvement in the theft of the horses, which leads him to Franklin and Thad. Thad is released to the Marshal, and Matt and Thad continue to attempt to discover the link between the thefts and the internal situation with Two-Bears and the Osage council.
This story is a bit of a confusing mess, but it is ultimately a conflict between Osage factions. The older members of the tribe want to maintain peace with "the white man," while some of the younger members embrace revolution to restore what they consider the past power and prominence of the Osage. The situation in this story is complicated by the cultural differences that exist between the Osage and "the white man."
To confuse matters even more, the writers chose to introduce a sort-of love story between Sarah and Thad, although this is only minimally explored.
The casting of this episode is odd. Noah Berry Jr. Portrays John-Two-Bears and George Keymas plays one of the Osage known as Thunder Man. I am not sure who thought applying a ton of makeup and having those two veteran character actors fill American Indian roles was a good idea.
Syrian actor Michael Ansara is once again tapped to fill an American Indian role as the character Grey Horse. Fans of television Westerns will certainly recognize Ansara from his stint as the Apache Chiricahua Chief Cochise in the series Broken Arrow, and the Harvard-educated Apache U. S. Marshal Sam Burkhart character in two episodes of The Rifleman and the short-lived series Law of the Plainsman.
Ralph Moody, who was frequently cast in American Indian roles for some reason, plays the elder Osage Chief Joseph-Walks-In-Darkness.
French actress France Nuyen is Sarah. While she plays an American Indian in this story, she would return in Season 12 as an Asian character in the Gunfighter, R. I. P episode.
Another aspect to this episode that works against it is Roger Ewing's prominent role. This is the first episode since Clayton Thaddeus Greenwood's arrival in Dodge where Ewing is included as a central character, and his performance flounders. There is absolutely no chemistry between Nuyen and Ewing. Even Ewing's performance in the scenes with James Arness comes across as stiff and awkward.
"Honor Before Justice" is distinguished as - at least arguably - the worst episode of Season 11. The perplexing script, the curious casting, and the unusually poor performances fell short of what Gunsmoke fans had come to expect.
Sarah travels to Dodge City out of desperation in the hopes of soliciting "white man's justice" in the situation with her father. She visits the Marshal's office where she encounters Thad Greenwood. Thad is minding the office while Matt Dillon and Festus Haggen are away investigating a recent rash of horse thefts. Thad returns to the Osage reservation with Sarah, despite Doc Adams's advice to stay out of the matter.
Thad's arrival on the reservation is seen as an unwelcome intrusion. Thad does not understand the actions of the Osage council, and he does not respect the limited autonomy the Osage are afforded. Elias Franklin, the U. S. government agent assigned to liaison with the Osage, finds Thad's approach frustrating and places Thad under arrest.
Eventually, Matt Dillon's investigation points to Osage involvement in the theft of the horses, which leads him to Franklin and Thad. Thad is released to the Marshal, and Matt and Thad continue to attempt to discover the link between the thefts and the internal situation with Two-Bears and the Osage council.
This story is a bit of a confusing mess, but it is ultimately a conflict between Osage factions. The older members of the tribe want to maintain peace with "the white man," while some of the younger members embrace revolution to restore what they consider the past power and prominence of the Osage. The situation in this story is complicated by the cultural differences that exist between the Osage and "the white man."
To confuse matters even more, the writers chose to introduce a sort-of love story between Sarah and Thad, although this is only minimally explored.
The casting of this episode is odd. Noah Berry Jr. Portrays John-Two-Bears and George Keymas plays one of the Osage known as Thunder Man. I am not sure who thought applying a ton of makeup and having those two veteran character actors fill American Indian roles was a good idea.
Syrian actor Michael Ansara is once again tapped to fill an American Indian role as the character Grey Horse. Fans of television Westerns will certainly recognize Ansara from his stint as the Apache Chiricahua Chief Cochise in the series Broken Arrow, and the Harvard-educated Apache U. S. Marshal Sam Burkhart character in two episodes of The Rifleman and the short-lived series Law of the Plainsman.
Ralph Moody, who was frequently cast in American Indian roles for some reason, plays the elder Osage Chief Joseph-Walks-In-Darkness.
French actress France Nuyen is Sarah. While she plays an American Indian in this story, she would return in Season 12 as an Asian character in the Gunfighter, R. I. P episode.
Another aspect to this episode that works against it is Roger Ewing's prominent role. This is the first episode since Clayton Thaddeus Greenwood's arrival in Dodge where Ewing is included as a central character, and his performance flounders. There is absolutely no chemistry between Nuyen and Ewing. Even Ewing's performance in the scenes with James Arness comes across as stiff and awkward.
"Honor Before Justice" is distinguished as - at least arguably - the worst episode of Season 11. The perplexing script, the curious casting, and the unusually poor performances fell short of what Gunsmoke fans had come to expect.
- wdavidreynolds
- Jun 4, 2024
- Permalink
Details
- Runtime1 hour
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
- 4:3
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