BreakDown Gunsmoke 55-64: S2 Episodes 1 & 2 Cow Doctor and Brush at Elkader

In Cow Doctor, Marshal Matt Dillon and Doc Adams ride to the Pitcher farm after the father sends his son Jerry for help. Stubborn rancher Ben Pitcher distrusts doctors but allows Doc to treat the animal. When tempers flare, Ben stabs Doc during a confrontation, and Matt performs emergency surgery under Doc’s guidance to save him. Days later, when Ben falls ill, Doc returns to treat the man who nearly killed him, showing that duty and compassion still matter on the frontier.

In Brush at Elkader, a quiet night outside the Long Branch Saloon turns deadly when Ben Williams is gunned down. Only the name Elkader gives a clue, sending Marshal Matt Dillon and Chester to the fearful town. Once there, they encounter frightened citizens unwilling to speak against a dangerous man, and Matt begins piecing together the clues. Fear, suspicion, and silence make it clear that uncovering the truth will be as perilous as the journey itself.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:09

Welcome to Breakdown Gunsmoke Season 2, where we dive deep into the stories, characters, and themes behind one of television's greatest questions. I'm Jennifer Packard, writer, host, and long time fan of TV's Dodge City.

SPEAKER_01 0:24

I'm Steve Latshaw, director of the Museum of Western Film History of Lone Pine, California. I'm a lifelong fan of Gunsmoke. In each episode, we're going to explore plots, characters, and themes that made this show a TV legend. Plus, we'll share some fun facts and angles you might not have noticed before.

SPEAKER_00 0:42

For season two, we're keeping the heart of what we do, but with sharper summaries and deeper character moments. In each episode, we'll revisit two classic adventures from Dodge City and spotlight a Matt Doc Chester or Kitty moment that will help define why the series still matters. So saddle up, we're heading back to Dodge. Today we're taking on two adventures in one episode. And first up, we have Cal Doctor, which aired September 8th, 1956. The episode opens with Matt's boot hill narration on how men come to town to settle conflicts, with Doc Adams there to mend what violence breaks, and how he, Matt, will do anything to protect Doc. As the episode opens on Front Street, Chester and Kitty arrive at Matt's office. Matt tries to talk, but Chester babbles nervously, eventually admitting he ran into an old army friend stationed nearby. Matt allows Chester a brief leave to go and visit him, leaving him time to talk to Kitty. A young boy named Jerry arrives seeking Doc, whose father, Ben Pitcher, distrusts all doctors. Matt and Doc ride to the Pitcher farm where Mrs. Pitcher directs them to the barn. Ben's cow is sick, and despite mutual dislike, Doc tends to it. But Ben refuses to pay if the cow dies. There is a tense standoff, and tensions erupt further when Jerry returns from Dodge mentioning Mrs. Hill's death back in town, a death that Doc feels he could have prevented. So Doc and Ben take turns again at each other, but when Ben mouths off to Doc, Doc punches him. But Ben retaliates by stabbing Doc. Matt knocks Ben out cold to perfect to protect his friend. They take Doc to the pitcher house for treatment, and with Matt performing surgery under Doc's guidance, Doc stabilizes but is exhausted and wakes up in his room back in Dodge as Kitty tends to him. Four days later, Jerry arrives to report Ben is now ill. Matt, Doc, and Jerry ride back to the Pitcher cabin. Doc carefully treats Ben despite resistance from Mrs. Pitcher, who initially threatens them. And after stabilizing him, Doc leaves with mixed feelings over Mrs. Pitcher's change in attitude and Ben being stubborn as always. My general afterthoughts, Ben is such a universal stereotype. He's so annoying. But I like Jerry. He seems to have a mind of his own. But I wanted to think about the moment when Kitty comes into the office. Matt's very, very pleased, but Chester's kind of interfering. But Matt knows Chester, and he knows that if he says it, Chester will accept the idea and go. So it's interesting to see Matt's interactions with Kitty and with Doc and his willingness to break the law to revenge Doc if need be.

SPEAKER_01 4:07

Yeah, that was an intense moment where Matt said, you know, I'm gonna forget I'm gonna law and and I'm gonna I'm gonna kill you. I mean, it's it it intense. Uh the ending of this episode literally brought a tear to my eye. That that moment when Matt says, Doc, I think you got paid. And it was it was a really nice ending to a very, very tense episode. And another moment I loved was when they get Doc back after he's been stabbed, and he wakes up, you know, in the hot in his room, and and um Kitty's taken care of him, and he immediately becomes, as I expected, the worst possible patient. You know, just impossible to deal with. And and after four days of it, you know, he's demanding that they put some corn whiskey in his corn liquor in his water, otherwise he's not gonna drink it. It's like the he becomes the patient from hell.

SPEAKER_00 5:03

Yes, he does. Well, this episode's Dodge moment belongs to Jerry. There's a scene where he courageously goes to Dodge to report that his father is sick, even though he knows the pictures are difficult and dangerous. It's a small moment, but it shows Jerry's initiative, resourcefulness, and sense of responsibility. Qualities that make him stand out in the chaos around him, especially with his parents.

SPEAKER_01 5:33

Well, let's go into um let's get into themes. Um justice and morality. This episode explores what's right versus what's lawful, particularly Matt's choices to protect Doc and enforce consequences on Ben. Community fear and complicity, the pitcher households fear and defensiveness reflects how communities react to intimidation and danger. And conflict resolution. Violence erupts, but resolution comes through skill, negotiation, and and medical care, not just brute force.

SPEAKER_00 6:07

Other themes, loyalty and friendship. Matt's willingness to risk legal trouble and personal danger to protect Doc highlights the strength of true loyalty. There's pride versus humility. Ben's stubborn refusal to acknowledge Doc's expertise contrasts with Doc's professional humility, showing how pride can obstruct cooperation. And then courage in the face of threat. Jerry's initiative to get help and Matt's courage in confronting Ben emphasize bravery in difficult situations. And for the character arcs, Ben Pitcher starts as aggressive and controlling, but he remains stubborn. He ultimately faces consequences for his behavior. Chester shows loyalty and eagerness to help, but is gently guided by Matt's leadership, illustrating learning and obedience. Even though he's barely in the episode. And then Kitty, she functions as both witness and caretaker. Her reactions highlight empathy and attentiveness to those around her.

SPEAKER_01 7:16

Matt displays subtle leadership and strategic thinking, managing Chester and protecting Doc while maintaining his moral compass. Jerry moves from observer to active participant, showing initiative and independent thinking in a tense situation. And Doc, well, despite personal dislike for Ben, he demonstrates professional integrity and perseverance, showing how duty can override personal feelings. He says, you know, when they're pulling him out of his bed to go take care of Ben, he says, I don't care who it is, it's my job, you know.

SPEAKER_00 7:49

Yep. For our guest cast, we have Robert H. Harris as Ben Pitcher. He lived from 1911 to 1981. He was an American character actor known for playing shady roles on TV and film. He appeared in Gunsmoke, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Perry Mason, Raw Hyde, and 77 Sunset Strip, and in movies like Valley of the Dolls and Mirage.

SPEAKER_01 8:14

This guy, you know, he he plays those kind of roles, but this was a different role for him in that he plays a guy, he's not shady, he's just dumber in a bag of hammer handles and stubborn. He's dumb and stubborn, and that's a bad combination. I happen to love him. He had a very memorable role as a mad horror movie makeup artist who unleashes the teenage Frankenstein and the teenage werewolf against the movie studio execs who fired him in the drive-in classic How to Make a Monster.

SPEAKER_00 8:49

Next, we have Dorothy Adams as Mrs. Pitcher. She lived from 1900 to 1988. She was an American film and television character actress. She appeared in Gunsmoke and dozens of TV wests and dramas and in films, including The Best Years of Our Lives, The Ten Commandments, and 310 Diuma. Later, she taught acting at UCLA.

SPEAKER_01 9:12

In addition to a stellar career, she was also married to a legendary mild-mannered character actor named Byron Folger. And if you look him up, you'll recognize him anywhere.

SPEAKER_00 9:23

Tommy Kirk portrayed Jerry Pitcher. He lived from 1941 to 2021. He was an American actor and Disney favorite in the 50s and 60s. And he guest starred on Gunsmoke early in his career and was best known for Old Yeller, The Shaggy Dog, The Absent-minded Professor, and The Misadventures of Merlin Jones.

SPEAKER_01 9:44

You know, it's he's so good in this. I mean, you you're watching a child actor, and the moment he shows up on screen, he's as good as any of the top-notch experienced character actors that you see in this, which is obviously why he became a huge star with Disney, because he's really, really good. Uh he ended up parting ways with Disney in 1965. Um he was gay, and word got out, and Disney Studios fired him, which also cost him a very strong lead, co-lead role in The Sons of Katie Elder with John Wayne and Dean Martin. Uh so that was tragic. Uh American International Pictures hired him, um, and he did a number of films uh with them, including Pajama Party, Ghost in the Invisible Bikini, and I believe his last Disney film was The Monkey's Uncle with Annette Funicello and The Beach Boys, but a very talented actor. And uh a good friend of mine made a movie in 1994, and and one of his guest stars was uh Tommy Kirk, and Kirk was great in the film and uh was a great experience for everybody who worked on it.

SPEAKER_00 10:55

The story is by John Meston, the screenplay by John Dunkel, director Andrew McLaughlin, and producer Charles Markey Warren. So a little behind-the-scenes info on Andrew McLachlan. He lived from 1920 to 2014. He was a British-born American film and TV director known for his prolific work in westerns and action films. He directed 96 episodes of Gunsmoke and long runs on Have Gun Will Travel and Rawhide. He helmed major features with stars like John Wayne, McClintock, and Chisholm, and James Stewart like Shenandoah and The Rare Breed.

SPEAKER_01 11:35

Okay, Andy McLaughlin is one of my all-time favorite directors, and he did a ton of gunsmokes. He did a ton of have gun will travels, and he was just it was like this guy was so good. Um his father was renowned British character actor Victor McLaughlin. And uh Andy learned his trade working on John Ford movies like The Quiet Man. And in the late 70s, he had a career resurgence as director of three British action movies that were all huge hits. Uh the first one was the they were all adventure action-adventure films. The first one was The Wild Geese, which starred Richard Burton, Richard Harris, and Roger Moore. And then he did The Sea Wolves with uh Roger Moore, David Niven, and uh Gregory Peck, which was a World War II film. And then he did another spy film with Roger Moore that was Roger Moore's all-time favorite movie he did. Moore, it the movie was called Folkes, and Roger Moore played uh an intelligence operative named Folkes, who was the guy that you called in if um terrorists had shown up. He was the guy that would take them out. And Folkes was a very odd character. He loved cats, had very various protective cats, he loved scotch, and he had no patience with women whatsoever. He thought they were just just stupid. And so he has some some encounters with women that are actually much smarter, and so he has to, you know, begrudgingly um step away from that attitude. But that's McLaughlin's career. Phenomenal career, and j take a look at his films because they're well worth seeing.

SPEAKER_00 13:24

Next we ride into episode two, Brush at El Cater, which aired September 15th, 1956. There is no Boot Hill opener. The episode begins at night outside the Long Branch saloon. A man quietly exits and is suddenly gunned down. The men inside, including Chester, rush out, but no one sees the shooter. The victim is Ben Williams. Chester runs to get Doc. Inside the Long Branch, Kitty quietly returns to her place at the end of the bar and takes a drink. Matt arrives, but Doc confirms Ben is already dead. Before dying, Ben mentioned Elcator, the name of a town. Matt quickly tells Chester to ready their horses. Before leaving, Matt asks Kitty what she saw. Ben had spoken about a place he had once had in Elcator and a man there who made him nervous, Lou Shippen. Kitty is especially angry because the killer rode up after the shooting and fired one more shot into Ben before leaving. Matt and Chester ride to Elcator, where the townspeople become uneasy as soon as they learn Matt is a marshal. The stable owner first agrees to take their horses, then backs out, but Matt insists. The same resistance happens at the hotel before they finally settle in, and Matt believes the town is protecting someone out of fear. At the telegraph office, Matt pretends to send a message to someone asking for a full description of Lou Shippen to the telegraph operator, Mr. Hinkle. Hinkle never actually sends it. Later at the saloon, Matt loudly spreads the same story to Bait Shippen. That night, they watch the telegraph office. When a writer arrives, Matt challenges him and they fire. The man, Lou Shippen, tries to fake being dead and shoots at Matt, but Matt fires again and kills him. Shippen admits he killed Ben simply because he didn't like him. Chester calls that plum crazy, and Matt labels him a mad dog. With Shippen dead, the frightened Hinkle finally emerges from his office as Matt and Chester leave the scene and then the town. So my general afterthoughts, it's a fun episode. I always enjoy the rare moments when Matt works a case outside of Dodge, and the entire town of El Cater is clearly terrified of Lou Shippen. And the way the story keeps him hidden in plain sight makes it hard to even pick him out before that final confrontation. Kitty also seems unusually shaken after witnessing the murder, which gives the opening a bit more of a natural, unsettling feel that pulls you right in.

SPEAKER_01 16:16

Yeah, you know, I spent the the the whole scene in the bar, I'm watching the uh the table trying to figure out which guy it was, and I finally made my choice that it was a it was a guy that was smoking a cigar, but I don't think that was the guy at the end of the episode, so I think I guessed wrong. You know, they did a similar episode to this, very similar story in season one. So it was it was basically for me, they were kind of repeating the plot almost as if they said, Hey, you remember this episode we did where the, you know, Matt goes out of town to find a kid? Let's do that one again. But I still loved it. I loved the hunt. And it was clear that Matt and Chester were gonna get their man. Dodge moment for this episode, I would say, probably belongs to Kitty. Because, at least for me, because they tell Matt when he comes up after the shooting at the beginning, they say, Well, you probably ought to talk to Kitty. She pretty much saw everything. And so after giving everybody the eye and talking to people in the saloon, he finally walks over and asks her, and I'm thinking, ask Kitty, ask Kitty. And he finally does it, and they talk, and she describes how she'd observed this going on, she'd had the conversation with the guy with the guy that got killed, and that he had been edgy and nervous. And when he went outside, she goes to the window to watch. And for me, that's that's Kitty. She's always keeping an eye on things. So uh that was that was it for me. Getting into themes, uh, loyalty and courage, Matt and Chester demonstrate unwavering loyalty for justice even when facing danger in a town full of wary or hostile residents. Strategy and intelligence, the episode highlights Matt's cleverness in outsmarting Lou Shippen and manipulating the townspeople to expose the killer. And that's something that we noticed in season one that I really love is when they Matt's really smart, and when he's he's he's tricking somebody, he's really good at it. And fear and intimidation, the story explores how fear governor governs the townspeople's behavior and the impact of a threatening figure like Shippen on a on a community.

SPEAKER_00 18:26

Other themes we have justice versus law. Matt takes actions outside strict legal boundaries to ensure the guilty are stopped, raising questions about morality and duty. There's deception and perception. The episode plays with appearances showing how clever manipulation can force truth out of hiding, and then isolation and vulnerability. The Alcader setting The Alcader setting underscores how strangers in a fearful town must navigate social tensions to achieve justice. Then for the character arcs, Matt exhibits strategic brilliance and moral decisiveness, managing Chester, the townspeople, and the killer while maintaining authority and composure. Chester demonstrates loyalty and support, following Matt's lead while learning the nuances of strategy and timing. And Kitty shows perceptive observation, sensing danger, and reacting naturally to the tense events at the saloon and in town.

SPEAKER_01 19:32

Lou Shippen. He moves from hidden menace to exposed criminal, ultimately undone by Matt's intelligence and the manipulation of appearances. The telegraph operator, Hinkle, he shifts from passive compliance to active support, showing how fear can give way once leadership and strategy are evident.

SPEAKER_00 19:50

For our guest cast, we have Gage Clark as Hinkle the Operator. He lived from 1900 to 1964. He was a familiar face in 50s television westerns, a dependable character actor. He appeared 12 times on Gunsmoke in different roles. And Clark also guest starred on The Lone Ranger, Cheyenne, and Perry Mason, often playing clerks, shopkeepers, or nervous townsmen.

SPEAKER_01 20:17

Yes. You noticed in 64. His last film was opposite Tommy Kirk from the last episode the other episode we did on this episode. He was in The Monkey's Uncle with Tommy and Annette Foot and Shell, or it was released after his death. Another actor in this episode, uh Alf Linder, he co-starred with Linder in a movie called The Invisible Boy.

SPEAKER_00 20:42

Well, Alf Linder is next on our list. He played the hotel clerk in El Cater. He lived from 1902 to 1957. He was a German-born character actor working in Hollywood during the 1940s and 50s. He appeared in films such as The House on 92nd Street, 13 Rue Madeline, Canyon City, Tight Spot, and The Invisible Boy, and made guest appearances on series including Adventures of Superman and Gunsmoke.

SPEAKER_01 21:11

And his last feature film was The Invisible Boy alongside Gage Clark from this episode.

SPEAKER_00 21:17

We have Paul Lambert as Lou Shippen, who lived from 1922 to 1997. He was a versatile character actor who appeared in more than 300 television productions. His film roles included Spartacus, Planet of the Apes, and All the President's Men. He was also seen on series like The Twilight Zone, Perry Mason, and the man from Uncle and Several Westerns.

SPEAKER_01 21:42

Yes, he uh he was a he was a lieutenant in the Army Air Force during World War II, saw combat as that. Of course, um amazing career. This is another guy that showed up in everything I watched on TV in the 60s and 70s. Movie Spartacus, what a what a start for a career that is.

SPEAKER_00 22:04

We have Malcolm Atterbury, who lived from 1907 to 1992. He was a versatile American character actor. He was known for prolific supporting roles in film, television, and on stage. He often played authority figures, bankers, the old codger type of roles. He's best remembered for his appearances in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds and North by Northwest. I I did just throw that in there because I realized I'd never made it in.

SPEAKER_01 22:34

Yeah, Malcolm Atterbury, again, was one of these guys that worked constantly. I love him and everything I see him in. He also had a tendency to play some cowardly weasels, too, but he was one of those actors that could literally do anything.

SPEAKER_00 22:45

We have Dennis Cross as the Al Qaeda bartender. He lived from 1924 to 1991. He was an American actor and former Marine, known for his roles in the 56 in the 50s and 60s TV westerns and action series. He played Commander Arthur Tex Richards in The Blue Angels from 60 to 61. He appeared in several episodes of The Rifleman and Gunsmoke and featured in films like The Brass Legend and How to Make a Monster in 1958, and he was the father of Randy Cross, a former NFL player and broadcaster.

SPEAKER_01 23:21

Yes, another guy that worked a lot. And I also want to mention one other actor that's in this. He's not accredited in the actual episode. Legendary B Western heavy Charles King is was cast in this episode as Barfly. Now Charlie King was the main bad guy in countless B Westerns in the 30s and 40s. He was heavy set, had a big drooping mustache, uh, he did tremendous fight scenes, and he also had great comic timing. But in the 30s and forties, particularly with lower budget companies like Monogram and PRC and later Columbia, he was the bad guy in just about all of them. Now, by the fifties those movies were dying out, and so a lot of people on uh uh would give him extra jobs, and the people that ran Gunsmoke must have been fans because they put him in several episodes uh in the first and second season as an extra. Uh the legend has it that he was actually playing a corpse on an episode of Gunsmoke and died during the scene. But uh he did this shows you how how much they wanted to keep him working and keep him fed. He did twenty-nine episodes of Gunsmoke. So look for Charlie King. You can find his listing in these episodes in IMDB. I'm gonna have to go back and look at this episode to see if I can find it.

SPEAKER_00 24:49

We have a screenplay by Les Crutchfield, a story by John Maston, directed by Ted Post, produced by Charles Marky Warren, associate producer Norm McDonnell. Now, a little bit behind the scenes, according to Wikipedia, reused set pieces was a common practice back in the earlier days of TV. The El Cater Hotel scene in the story is actually the Dodge House set from the main show. It was repurposed with the reception desk moved. Uh the Swiss chalet style, b I think this is bollusters of the staircase, are identical in both settings, and it's just a fun little detail for set design lovers.

SPEAKER_01 25:34

Yeah, when you're when you're breaking down the locations on a show like this, they're not gonna go to a different western town to shoot a different town. So it really, the the director and a production manager are gonna sit down and figure out okay, this is the pieces of Dodge that we're gonna shoot as Dodge, and then let's find a piece of this the Western street that we can shoot for this other town. We'll put some signage up, and the audience will not know the difference. And for the most part, especially in those days, they they didn't.

SPEAKER_00 26:00

You can kind of sometimes tell with the pattern that they put on the glass windows that it's the same sets over and over. But you know, again, the audience back then would not have known the difference. Word of mouth keeps shows like this growing.

SPEAKER_01 26:34

If you have memories, questions, or favorite gunsmoke moments, send them our way. We might feature them in a future episode.

SPEAKER_00 26:40

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SPEAKER_01 27:07

Until next time, keep your boots on the ground and your sick shooter at your side.