On a stagecoach returning to Dodge, Kitty and her traveling companions are waylaid and held for ransom.On a stagecoach returning to Dodge, Kitty and her traveling companions are waylaid and held for ransom.On a stagecoach returning to Dodge, Kitty and her traveling companions are waylaid and held for ransom.
Milburn Stone
- Doc
- (credit only)
Paul Barselou
- Mr. Scott
- (uncredited)
Pat Cardi
- Josh Starkey
- (uncredited)
Ted Jordan
- Outlaw
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDarren McGavin and Gerald S. O'Loughlin both appear in this episode. McGavin would later appear in the pilot for The Rookies (1972) TV series playing Lt. Eddie Ryker. When the show was picked up by ABC, he was replaced by O'Loughlin.
Featured review
Painful to sit through
When I saw director Mark Rydell's name on the opening credits, I was encouraged, since his recent work on "The Lady" was Class-A. But what a huge disappointment.
I HATE "Hostage" episodes...Kitty kidnapped, or Doc, Matt, Festus, etc; these shows are designed to manipulate us viewers in the worst way. We know that our heroes will be rescued in the end (usually about at the 48:00 mark), but the writers seem to delight in tormenting US along with the unfortunate onscreen captives, who are usually brutalized and abused, while we nervously wait for help to arrive. These are definitely what I would call "one-note" plots, and I can't stand to sit through them (even a fine film like "The Desperate Hours"). "20 Miles" has more than its share of cruelty and shock, which unfortunately would become the norm as Gunsmoke moved into the color era, and the producers would insist on more sensational, sadistic plot elements...to "keep up with the times", you understand.
Poor old Everett Sloane becomes the bad guy's punching bag, and the teenager (Tony Haig) is beaten savagely (twice) within an inch of his life (check out Haig's superb performance in Route 66's heartbreaking "Ten Drops of Water" from 1960).
Strong points: 1.) pretty cool to see TV icons Kolchak, Helen Crump, and Chief O'Hara all contained in a single stagecoach (even though you barely recognized Stafford Repp in the background, who only groans a couple of times). 2.) the relationship between McGavin and Miss Kitty, capped off by his very last "Miss Kitty". 3.) the superb villainy of Gerald McGloughlin, who nevertheless was dispatched FAR too easily at the end, cheating the viewer out of the satisfaction of real poetic justice.
But I digress.
The pathetically inept "big climax" we've all been waiting for, which looks haphazard in its scripting, direction and editing, is an INSULT to the viewers, who have been kept in torment for most of the show. This lame, slap-dash resolution lasts a mere 17 SECONDS onscreen (a total rip-off!) and features a poorly staged, split-second shot with Everett Sloane and the miraculously revived Tony Haig in the far background, apparently overpowering the bad guys. And we never see them again.
Also-- I deduct a full rating star because of the outrageous waste of time in the very opening, with the kid with buckshot/salt in his rump, which ate up almost TWO FULL MINUTES (!) of screen time that was desperately needed at the end. This is more than bad judgement; it's downright incompetent.
Observation: I noticed that IMDB "Photo Gallery" accompanying this episode includes 22 photos, 21 of which feature the two little boys in the show (some photos are nearly duplicates). I found that odd. Hopefully, it's a person who's a real-life acquaintance of one of the child actors. LR.
I HATE "Hostage" episodes...Kitty kidnapped, or Doc, Matt, Festus, etc; these shows are designed to manipulate us viewers in the worst way. We know that our heroes will be rescued in the end (usually about at the 48:00 mark), but the writers seem to delight in tormenting US along with the unfortunate onscreen captives, who are usually brutalized and abused, while we nervously wait for help to arrive. These are definitely what I would call "one-note" plots, and I can't stand to sit through them (even a fine film like "The Desperate Hours"). "20 Miles" has more than its share of cruelty and shock, which unfortunately would become the norm as Gunsmoke moved into the color era, and the producers would insist on more sensational, sadistic plot elements...to "keep up with the times", you understand.
Poor old Everett Sloane becomes the bad guy's punching bag, and the teenager (Tony Haig) is beaten savagely (twice) within an inch of his life (check out Haig's superb performance in Route 66's heartbreaking "Ten Drops of Water" from 1960).
Strong points: 1.) pretty cool to see TV icons Kolchak, Helen Crump, and Chief O'Hara all contained in a single stagecoach (even though you barely recognized Stafford Repp in the background, who only groans a couple of times). 2.) the relationship between McGavin and Miss Kitty, capped off by his very last "Miss Kitty". 3.) the superb villainy of Gerald McGloughlin, who nevertheless was dispatched FAR too easily at the end, cheating the viewer out of the satisfaction of real poetic justice.
But I digress.
The pathetically inept "big climax" we've all been waiting for, which looks haphazard in its scripting, direction and editing, is an INSULT to the viewers, who have been kept in torment for most of the show. This lame, slap-dash resolution lasts a mere 17 SECONDS onscreen (a total rip-off!) and features a poorly staged, split-second shot with Everett Sloane and the miraculously revived Tony Haig in the far background, apparently overpowering the bad guys. And we never see them again.
Also-- I deduct a full rating star because of the outrageous waste of time in the very opening, with the kid with buckshot/salt in his rump, which ate up almost TWO FULL MINUTES (!) of screen time that was desperately needed at the end. This is more than bad judgement; it's downright incompetent.
Observation: I noticed that IMDB "Photo Gallery" accompanying this episode includes 22 photos, 21 of which feature the two little boys in the show (some photos are nearly duplicates). I found that odd. Hopefully, it's a person who's a real-life acquaintance of one of the child actors. LR.
helpful•102
- lrrap
- Nov 8, 2021
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Filming locations
- Stage 3, CBS Studio Center - 4024 Radford Avenue, Studio City, Los Angeles, California, USA(Dodge City Western Street)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
- 4:3
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