Willie Calhoun is a simple farmer that lives a long ride from Dodge City. For the past month, he has been coming into Dodge every Saturday for a haircut, shave, and bath at Frank Teeters's Tonsorial Parlor and Pool Hall before he visits Pearl Bender, who works at the Long Branch Saloon. On this Saturday, he asks Pearl to marry him and won't take "no" for an answer.
Pearl tells Willie he is the nicest man she has ever known. What Willie does not know is Pearl is actually in love with Webb Thorne. Thorne was a faro dealer at the Long Branch, but he left town for Abilene a few weeks earlier - about the time Willie became infatuated with her. Thorne once made it known he would kill anyone that tried to take Pearl away from him. Now Thorne has returned to Dodge and wants to pick up where he left off with Pearl.
When Willie finds out about Thorne, he decides he will kill the faro dealer. Matt Dillon sees Willie get his rifle from his wagon and confronts the farmer. Willie does not hide his intentions. He contends this situation is no concern of Matt's. The Marshal takes Willie's rifle away and tells Chester to take him to the Marshal's office. Matt then asks Kitty to tell Pearl to meet him at his office, and he finds Thorne and escorts him to the office.
Matt intends to settle matters between the three people before things get out of hand. Pearl tells Willie she will not marry him, and the despondent farmer leaves to go back to his farm.
Thorne and Pearl are soon married. Pearl quits working at the Long Branch and the couple settle in a house in Dodge. Unfortunately for everyone involved, Willie cannot accept the circumstances.
Constance Ford portrays Pearl Bender in her first Gunsmoke role. She returned once more in Season 7's "Wagon Girls" episode. Ford was a very talented actress, and she plays this role perfectly. She is best known for playing the character Ada on the soap opera Another World for fifteen years.
Hardcore Gunsmoke fans know Denver Pyle was once considered for the Matt Dillon role in the television version of Gunsmoke before James Arness was hired. This story features the first of fourteen episodes where Pyle was a guest. He is outstanding as the Willie Calhoun character.
Actor Michael Emmet portrays Webb Thorne. Unfortunately, Emmet possesses nowhere near the talent of Ford and Pyle. Fortunately that is not a major factor, as the Webb Thorne character has limited screen time in this story. Emmet was best known for roles in several b-grade horror films.
Jess Kirkpatrick once again plays Frank Teeters, who is the Dodge City barber and proprietor of the Tonsorial Parlor and Pool Hall.
This is the eighth screenplay written by Sam Peckinpah based on a John Meston story. Sometimes Peckinpah stayed close to Meston's original story (for example, "Legal Revenge"), but at other times he added numerous details that were not in Meston's version, as is the case here. In Meston's story, there is no ambiguity about Pearl's relationship with Willie. She tells Willie plainly she will not marry him. Peckinpah has Pearl come across as significantly more sympathetic to Willie. In Meston's telling, Pearl only sees Willie as one of her customers, and any romance is only in Willie's mind. However, it seems she has some feeling for Willie and possibly considers marrying him in Peckinpah's screenplay.
Peckinpah improves the story by adding Thorne's temporary abandonment of Pearl and her subsequent melancholia and despair over the absence of the man she loves. He also lessens Willie's psychopathic nature slightly. In Meston's version, Willie is clearly delusional, Matt is less understanding, and the listener is not encouraged to feel much compassion for the character. Peckinpah's screenplay portrays Willie in a manner that inspires the viewer feel sorry for him.
Peckinpah adds small touches such as Chester's incessant itching. (I think Peckinpah had a special appreciation for the Chester character, because he frequently includes quirky minute details related to Chester in his screenplays.) The entire early scene in the Tonsorial Parlor with Willie's bath, Willie meeting Matt for the first time, Webb Thorne stopping in briefly and leaving because he doesn't want to wait, and Chester disgustingly choosing to take a bath in the dirty water Willie left behind was invented by Peckinpah.
This is a profoundly sad story where no one escapes unscathed. The final scene is straight from Meston's original story, but Andrew McLagen's direction is poignant as the camera pulls away from the solitary man pondering the horrible, tragic mistake he has made.
Pearl tells Willie he is the nicest man she has ever known. What Willie does not know is Pearl is actually in love with Webb Thorne. Thorne was a faro dealer at the Long Branch, but he left town for Abilene a few weeks earlier - about the time Willie became infatuated with her. Thorne once made it known he would kill anyone that tried to take Pearl away from him. Now Thorne has returned to Dodge and wants to pick up where he left off with Pearl.
When Willie finds out about Thorne, he decides he will kill the faro dealer. Matt Dillon sees Willie get his rifle from his wagon and confronts the farmer. Willie does not hide his intentions. He contends this situation is no concern of Matt's. The Marshal takes Willie's rifle away and tells Chester to take him to the Marshal's office. Matt then asks Kitty to tell Pearl to meet him at his office, and he finds Thorne and escorts him to the office.
Matt intends to settle matters between the three people before things get out of hand. Pearl tells Willie she will not marry him, and the despondent farmer leaves to go back to his farm.
Thorne and Pearl are soon married. Pearl quits working at the Long Branch and the couple settle in a house in Dodge. Unfortunately for everyone involved, Willie cannot accept the circumstances.
Constance Ford portrays Pearl Bender in her first Gunsmoke role. She returned once more in Season 7's "Wagon Girls" episode. Ford was a very talented actress, and she plays this role perfectly. She is best known for playing the character Ada on the soap opera Another World for fifteen years.
Hardcore Gunsmoke fans know Denver Pyle was once considered for the Matt Dillon role in the television version of Gunsmoke before James Arness was hired. This story features the first of fourteen episodes where Pyle was a guest. He is outstanding as the Willie Calhoun character.
Actor Michael Emmet portrays Webb Thorne. Unfortunately, Emmet possesses nowhere near the talent of Ford and Pyle. Fortunately that is not a major factor, as the Webb Thorne character has limited screen time in this story. Emmet was best known for roles in several b-grade horror films.
Jess Kirkpatrick once again plays Frank Teeters, who is the Dodge City barber and proprietor of the Tonsorial Parlor and Pool Hall.
This is the eighth screenplay written by Sam Peckinpah based on a John Meston story. Sometimes Peckinpah stayed close to Meston's original story (for example, "Legal Revenge"), but at other times he added numerous details that were not in Meston's version, as is the case here. In Meston's story, there is no ambiguity about Pearl's relationship with Willie. She tells Willie plainly she will not marry him. Peckinpah has Pearl come across as significantly more sympathetic to Willie. In Meston's telling, Pearl only sees Willie as one of her customers, and any romance is only in Willie's mind. However, it seems she has some feeling for Willie and possibly considers marrying him in Peckinpah's screenplay.
Peckinpah improves the story by adding Thorne's temporary abandonment of Pearl and her subsequent melancholia and despair over the absence of the man she loves. He also lessens Willie's psychopathic nature slightly. In Meston's version, Willie is clearly delusional, Matt is less understanding, and the listener is not encouraged to feel much compassion for the character. Peckinpah's screenplay portrays Willie in a manner that inspires the viewer feel sorry for him.
Peckinpah adds small touches such as Chester's incessant itching. (I think Peckinpah had a special appreciation for the Chester character, because he frequently includes quirky minute details related to Chester in his screenplays.) The entire early scene in the Tonsorial Parlor with Willie's bath, Willie meeting Matt for the first time, Webb Thorne stopping in briefly and leaving because he doesn't want to wait, and Chester disgustingly choosing to take a bath in the dirty water Willie left behind was invented by Peckinpah.
This is a profoundly sad story where no one escapes unscathed. The final scene is straight from Meston's original story, but Andrew McLagen's direction is poignant as the camera pulls away from the solitary man pondering the horrible, tragic mistake he has made.
