"Mannon" is essentially a remake of episode #1, "Matt Gets It!". Though remakes are usually inferior, this one isn't. The extra 25 minutes make possible a richer story and deeper characterization.
Steve Forrest's Will Mannon is even more of a psycho than Paul Richards' Dan Grat. Forrest (whom I did not know until reading his bio was Dana Andrews' brother!) quietly underplays him. He might drink to excess, but he doesn't chew the scenery. *
He goes after Kitty as if he's God's gift to women, telling her he knows a lady when he sees one, and she's a lady. (Kitty knows what sort of a "lady" she is, and isn't fooled.) When she won't put out, he beats (and presumably rapes) her.
When he visits the bed-ridden Kitty -- with a gift of flowers he's stolen from a Boot Hill grave! -- her revenge is to let Mannon know, in so many words, that he could never be the man Matt is. Though she means it (of course), she figures it will sufficiently discomfit him to give Matt an advantage in the inevitable showdown.
You know how it's going to end, but the solid writing and acting carry the day.
A classic, one of Gunsmoke's high points.
* In one scene he's eating... something... that looks like an oblong pasty, with loud crunching noises as he bites it (as if it were frozen). Does anyone know what it is?
Steve Forrest's Will Mannon is even more of a psycho than Paul Richards' Dan Grat. Forrest (whom I did not know until reading his bio was Dana Andrews' brother!) quietly underplays him. He might drink to excess, but he doesn't chew the scenery. *
He goes after Kitty as if he's God's gift to women, telling her he knows a lady when he sees one, and she's a lady. (Kitty knows what sort of a "lady" she is, and isn't fooled.) When she won't put out, he beats (and presumably rapes) her.
When he visits the bed-ridden Kitty -- with a gift of flowers he's stolen from a Boot Hill grave! -- her revenge is to let Mannon know, in so many words, that he could never be the man Matt is. Though she means it (of course), she figures it will sufficiently discomfit him to give Matt an advantage in the inevitable showdown.
You know how it's going to end, but the solid writing and acting carry the day.
A classic, one of Gunsmoke's high points.
* In one scene he's eating... something... that looks like an oblong pasty, with loud crunching noises as he bites it (as if it were frozen). Does anyone know what it is?