Gunsmoke (TV Series) Tall Trapper (1961) User Reviews

Well acted episode that was entertaining.

[kfo9494 · 9/10 · 24 September 2013]

Here is another fine written episode that was played out very well by all actors involved. It begins when a wagon occupied by a married couple, Marv and Tassie Rowley, park for the night next to a trapper named Ben. Marv is rather hard on his wife and us viewers can tell that Ben is not happy seeing the young woman ordered around like a horse.

Two days later, Marv rides into Dodge wanting the Doc to come out to the wagon and check on Tassie that has been feeling ill. When Doc gets to the wagon, Tassie is dead after being beaten. They ride back to Dodge where Marv tells the Marshal that the tall trapper, Ben, is the one that did the killing.

Matt and Chester ride out to the wagon to investigate and sure enough find Ben around the scene. They take the lonely trapper back to Dodge to stand trail for the murder of Tassie.

Strother Martin, whom I have come to respect his acting ability, is again perfectly cast as the man claiming his wife was murdered by the trapper. And Tom Reese, as the trapper, has one of the best character parts seen in the series in a long time. A very good show.

Avid Gunsmoke fan.

[tomeads44 · 10/10 · 16 January 2021]

I grew up watching Gunsmoke and am now 66 years old. I'm now watching all of the half hour shows and am on season 6. Just finished watching the episode "Tall Trapper" and enjoyed it very much. I will not leave any spoilers so you can read this before watching this particular episode. I will say, you'll enjoy it!

Top Scum

[darbski · 10/10 · 2 November 2017]

**SPOILERS** Quick take on a fast, fine episode. The acting was top notch, with Tom Reese playing kind of a poor man's Fess Parker, and it was a pleasure to watch him get the drop on Chester and lock him up. Later found by Matt, eating the prisoner's lunch, He and Matt have to find Ben (Reese) and Marv (Strother Martin), but get there only in time for Marv to confess to killing his wife. Strother Martin referred to himself as "The Scum of the Plains", and nobody could top him when it came to playing just that part.

Trapper vs. Prairie Scum

[Johnny_West · 4/10 · 23 April 2020]

Tom Reese, who usually plays thugs, henchmen, and second-rate gunslingers is the good guy in this episode. I cannot remember him ever playing a good character before or ever again. Reese was a guest on Gunsmoke fourteen times. In Tall Trapper, Reese is a trapper who happens to meet Strother Martin and his wife, played by Jan Sheppard on the trail.

Jan Shepard was on Gunsmoke four times. She was also the roommate of Amanda Blake before Blake got her big break as Miss Kitty on Gunsmoke. Strother Martin was on Gunsmoke eleven times. Martin was a great character actor, and was on several movies with John Wayne, and had a very solid acting career.

The story is sad and depressing, which is typical of John Meston. It would have been a lot better if Tom Reese saved Jan Shepard from her abusive husband, Martin, but that would have meant a happy ending. John Meston never wrote any happy endings. So it becomes a murder mystery, with Martin going to Matt Dillon to claim that the trapper (Reese) beat his wife to death. Eventually the morbid, sinister, and evil truth comes out. Another "Everyone Dies" story by John Meston.

No accountability for incompetence

[netflixnkill · 18 November 2023]

I'm sorry but I am getting kinda tired of Chester's incompetence being portrayed as this round about thing that ultimately saves the day. 2 episodes back to back where his lack of brain function unintentionally works out in the end. Sitting in an open cell with your back turned to a man while just discussing how guilty you believe his is LOL this is a joke.

What's annoying is the characters and stories themselves seem to NEVER hold Chester accountable for his dimwit ways. Gunsmoke is known for its realistic sense of the Old West and the people in it but this is the most unbelievable aspect of it all! Matt never gets mad when he screws up big time and the writing makes his blunders seems like an asset. Now in reality if someone was that dumb they'd constantly get yelled at and not given so much responsibility as Chester does.

Most of the time I try to overlook it because I love watching and don't want to become obsessed with hating Chester but c'mon something's gotta give. What next? Is he gonna accidentally kill a man by not paying attention somehow then it turns out he's some big outlaw who's wanted all over? Let's continue rewarding the idiot for being an idiot smh.