Matt Dillon boards a train looking for a fugitive named McCabe wanted for robbery. When he finds him, McCabe, with a woman at gunpoint forces Dillon to make a deal. Dillon agrees and they se... Read allMatt Dillon boards a train looking for a fugitive named McCabe wanted for robbery. When he finds him, McCabe, with a woman at gunpoint forces Dillon to make a deal. Dillon agrees and they set off for McCabe's farm where his wife lies dying. She dies before they arrive and McCabe'... Read allMatt Dillon boards a train looking for a fugitive named McCabe wanted for robbery. When he finds him, McCabe, with a woman at gunpoint forces Dillon to make a deal. Dillon agrees and they set off for McCabe's farm where his wife lies dying. She dies before they arrive and McCabe's son Dodie feels nothing but anger and bitterness towards his father for leaving them alo... Read all
Photos
- Doc
- (credit only)
- Kitty
- (credit only)
- Festus
- (credit only)
- Newly
- (credit only)
- Ami McCabe
- (as Tani Phelps)
- Abigail Hartly
- (as Marie Cheatam)
- Director
- Writers
- Jim Byrnes
- Norman MacDonnell(uncredited)
- John Meston(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaFinal work of Trevor Bardette. He retired after finishing this episode.
- GoofsKipp cocks his rifle twice before firing the first shot.
When McCabe sees the Marshal approaching, he grabs a woman passenger as a hostage and orders Dillon to let him go. The Marshal points out the crime for which McCabe is wanted would carry a maximum sentence of five years, but the sentence for kidnapping would be twenty years. McCabe then proposes a deal: if Matt will allow him two days' time, he will release the woman, relinquish his weapon, and surrender. Surprisingly, the Marshal agrees.
Meanwhile, in a small farmhouse a woman lies dying in bed. Dobie, her son is comforting her. She asks for Dobie's father. When Dobie tells her his father is not there, she insists with her dying breath that he will be there.
McCabe and Marshal Dillon make their way to the farmhouse, but McCabe wants to avoid Bowie Flats, a town due south. McCabe has "had some trouble there." They arrive at the farmhouse and meet young Dobie. Of course, Dobie's mother is McCabe's wife who the outlaw has not seen for several years...since Dobie was four years old.
Dobie is furious that his father left them, and his mother could never get over the loss. The kid is disappointed to learn that his father is only wanted for robbery and will get a maximum sentence of five years. Dobie was hoping his father was going to be hanged.
Dobie rides into Bowie Flats and tells Sheriff Shackwood that McCabe is at the farm. McCabe had killed two men during a fence war years earlier. Although it is never clearly stated, this was presumably the reason McCabe fled the area. When the Sheriff learns that McCabe is in Marshal Dillon's custody, he has no interest in crossing Dillon and refuses to take action.
A local rancher named Clay White wants to see McCabe hanged for the earlier killings of the men who were his friends. He and his men ride to the farm where Matt Dillon and McCabe have been busy burying the dead woman. When McCabe sees the men approaching, he hits Marshal Dillon in the head with his shovel and attempts to run away. White and his men catch McCabe and take him back to Bowie Flats to stand trial for the charge of murder.
In Bowie Flats, Judge Claiborne sentences McCabe to hang, but Marshal Dillon sends someone to the nearest telegraph office to request McCabe be released back into the Marshal's custody. This begins a race to see if an order from the governor will be received before a scaffold can be constructed and McCabe hanged.
Dobie quickly begins to regret his actions. He can see the trial held in the town is a sham, and he realizes McCabe shot the two men he is convicted of murdering as an act of self-defense. With Matt's encouragement, Dobie spends some time with his father and begins to develop an affection for him.
Dan Kemp portrays John McCabe. This is Kemp's only appearance in a Gunsmoke episode. He is a bit of a mystery as his acting career was relatively short. He had parts in several other television dramas, mostly Westerns. He had a small part in the film Cahill U. S. Marshal, starring John Wayne.
Mitch Vogel, who began playing the character Jamie Hunter (later Jamie Hunter Cartwright) on Bonanza around the time this episode was made, fills the role of Dobie McCabe. He would return for two more Gunsmoke stories in future seasons. Vogel had the brooding teenager character down pat, but his characterizations were often more annoying than entertaining. He plays that character here, but it makes sense under the circumstances.
Several other notable character actors make appearances in this story. Jim Davis plays Sheriff Shackwood. Jon Lormer is Judge Claiborne. David Brian portrays grudge-holding Clay White, while Robert Sorrells, Mills Watson, and Lew Brown all play his obedient ranch hands.
Trevor Bardette makes his final Gunsmoke appearance in a brief scene as the conductor of the train. Bardette had an extensive resume of work in films such as Gone with the Wind and The Grapes of Wrath. Once he moved to television, he often appeared in small parts in Westerns. He retired from acting following his role in this episode.
"McCabe" offers some intrigue, as there are two stories at play with McCabe's extremely questionable death sentence in the small town and the reconciliation of the father and son. However, there are questionable aspects as well. First, it is difficult to imagine Matt Dillon making such an arrangement with an outlaw. When McCabe offers to release the hostage if Dillon will agree to give him a couple of days of freedom, the Marshal would have more likely replied, "No deal." McCabe is not a cold-blooded killer and offers little in the way of a true threat to his hostage.
Furthermore, why is Matt so sympathetic to McCabe's situation? There is never any animosity between the two, even after McCabe hits the Marshal in the head with a shovel.
Dobie's transformation from seething hatred for McCabe to loving son happens too quickly. Such a relationship rift would take months or years to reconcile. To think the relationship could be repaired in a matter of hours is not reasonable.
Finally, we have yet another Season 16 episode where the regular cast members other than James Arness are absent. There are a considerable number of episodes during this season where the rest of the cast is either totally absent, as is the case here, or they play a minimal role in the story.
- wdavidreynolds
- Jul 19, 2021