User Reviews

Lucas Murdoch is a famous U. S. Marshal who has a warrant signed by the Attorney General of the United States to find and execute Amos Carver and his gang for multiple crimes committed over an extended period. Three of the names included on the warrant are "John Doe," because the identities of the men are not known. Of course, this gives Murdoch free reign to hang anyone he can capture along with Carver.

Much to Matt Dillon's chagrin, Murdoch has successfully tricked Carver into believing a gold shipment is due to arrive at the freight office in Dodge City. Murdoch enlists the help of Marshal Dillon and deputies Festus Haggen and Newly O'Brien, along with his own deputies, in ambushing the gang when they ride into town to rob the freight office.

The robbery is planned to coincide with a Fourth of July celebration going on in Dodge. Since the celebration will take place on River Street -- a part of town away from the freight office -- Carver and his gang reason they can rob the office with little or no interference.

The ensuing gunfight scene is a rarity at this point in Gunsmoke history. It plays like an extremely toned-down version of the classic train station robbery scene that opens Sam Peckinpah's classic film The Wild Bunch, albeit with much fewer people, far less graphic violence, and no lingering, blood-splattering slow-motion shots. (Since this episode was produced shortly after the time The Wild Bunch premiered, it is reasonable to think director Robert Totten was inspried by that scene while planning this scene.)

Some of Carver's gang are killed, but Carver and four others manage to escape, although one is severely injured. Outside Dodge, they agree to go their separate ways and meet later at a designated location. Amos Carver goes in one direction. Les Townsend goes in another. The injured man and his friend take shelter in a barn.

Marshal Dillon and the deputies soon catch up with the pair in the barn. The uninjured man surrenders so his friend can obtain medical assistance. Festus escorts the pair back to Dodge.

As Festus is leading the uninjured man to the jail, Murdoch confronts them and is shocked to learn it is his son, Scott. The remainder of the episode involves the continuing pursuit of Townsend and Carver, while Lucas and Scott Murdoch deal with their troubled relationship.

The great character actor Jack Elam portrays Lucas Murdoch. It is nice to see Elam play a character that is not a villain, a drunk, or a more humorous role. Everyone knows Elam had a bad eye, and that fact is even written into a key element of the story. Elam's son in real life is named Scott (Jack's middle name was Scott), and his son in this episode is also named Scott. Elam appeared in a total of fifteen different Gunsmoke episodes.

Other guest stars include several Gunsmoke veterans:

• Robert Random portrays Scott Murdoch on his final of seven appearances on the show. Random seemed to specialize in playing angry young men, as he does again here.

• Jim Davis plays Amos Carver in one of his eleven Gunsmoke guest roles.

• Anthony Caruso tops both Random and Davis with a total of fourteen Gunsmoke appearances. Here he plays Les Townsend. Neither Davis nor Caruso have that much to do in the story.

As the Dodge City gunfight scene is developing, a young boy waving a sparkler rides a stick horse into the street in front of the freight office where the tension is building. The young boy is played by Clint Howard, brother of Ron Howard. Clint began his career at only two years old playing the silent, messy-faced, sandwich-toting kid named Leon on The Andy Griffith Show. This scene is a nice little touch used to add tension to the situation.

Robert Totten had a hand in several Season 16 episodes of Gunsmoke as an actor or a director. He directs this entry. Although he never achieved the notoriety Sam Peckinpah did - and was never offered the high-profile films Peckinpah made - Totten was often compared to Peckinpah. A year or so prior to filming this episode of Gunsmoke, Totten directed several familiar Gunsmoke guest stars (Steve Forrest, Vera Miles, Jack Elam, Dub Taylor, Frank DeKova, Morgan Woodward, Woodrow Chambliss, Karl Swenson, Mills Watson, and Rance, Ron, and Clint Howard) in Disney's The Wild Country. Ron Howard later credited Totten for helping shape his (Howard's) directing career.

A couple of years following this Gunsmoke installment, Totten's made-for-television movie The Red Pony, starring Henry Fonda, won several Emmys, including an award for Totten for writing. (Jack Elam also appears in this film.) Although Robert Totten was involved in several noteworthy projects, most of his career was spent directing and acting in episodic television. Totten guest stars in the next Season 16 episode of Gunsmoke titled "Cleavus."

There is nothing particularly outstanding about this story. The first half of the show is a standard tension-building exercise as the two Marshals and their deputies await the arrival of the Carver Gang. The last half deals more with the formulaic father and son relationship between Lucas and Scott Murdoch. The ending is predictable. The individual performances, especially by Jack Elam, along with the brief gunfight in the streets of Dodge, make this episode worth viewing.

Jack Elam is one of the great character actors. Regardless of the role, his performances are marked by intelligence, restraint, and subtlety -- even when he's playing an over-the-top villain or a comic character. Rather remarkable for an actor with a skewed eye (which is worked into this story). In "Murdoch", everyone else comes off as second-rate.

The basic story is not merely trite, but stale -- an estranged father and son are reconciled. (Had John Meston written it, the son would have died.) I'd like to think that the casting director thought "We need a really good actor to make this work. Let's get Elam."

I don't like making what might be taken as ad-hominem remarks, but the other reviewer doesn't seem aware that a story need not have a neatly wrapped-up ending. Ambiguity is not necessarily a bad thing, and is one way of getting the viewer more-deeply involved. (Though I have to admit I find absolutely nothing ambiguous or confusing about the way /this/ story ends.)

If the script has a fault, it's that it's not clear why Murdoch's son suddenly decides his father is worthy of respect. The most-plausible reason is that the father rides into Carver's encampment to directly confront him.

The story line about this episode seemed to spark an interest in viewing. A notable lawman is after the Carver Gang and it just so happens that the lawman's son happens to be a gang member. Perhaps I was expecting too much but when the abrupt ending came there were questions needing an answer but left the viewing hanging in a state of confusion. A state where the great Jack Elm could not have rescued us even with multiple flotation devices.

Lawman Lucas Murdoch comes into Dodge and alerts Marshal Dillon about the Carver Gang intention of robbing the freight office. So along with his men the office is guarded and the robbery attempt is foiled leaving four dead, one seriously injured and three able to make a get away. The injured bandit is a young teenager being cared for by Scott Murdoch (son of the lawman) Carver tells him to leave him behind and meet up late in another city. But Murdoch refuses and later has to surrender so that his friend will be able to see a doctor.

When Festus brings the two bandits in, one goes to the doc and the other goes to the Marshal's office. Lucas sees his son and just tells Festus to lock him up. Lucas has a 'John Doe' warrant and immediate execution degree on all members of the Carver Gang and his son is a member.

The rest of the show sinks into a world where Lucas wants his son to tell where Carver is located and his son, who never felt loved, refuses to give up the information. As with any father/son story the writer wants us to know that there is still some love deep inside every person's heart. This show is no exception.

When the end of the episode happens make sure not to blink or you could miss the ending. When the screen fades to black there are more question than answers. Felt cheated for watching so long and getting rip at the end. Jack Elam did all he could in the episode as his acting was very pleasant. The problem was the script.