User Reviews

Once the first of MANY (many..) cues of "Irish Washer Woman" kicks in on the soundtrack, we know that we're watching a somewhat lighter episode, of which the ENDING is not too difficult to predict. But it's a welcome change of pace in the midst of all of the dark, violent shows of Season 8.

Despite its predictability, the script itself-- the Journey through the story from beginning to end---is very well written. Lots of rancorous encounters between the two Irishmen (including a great Saloon brawl, with Richard Jaeckel doing a lot of his own stunt work), plenty of intrigue with a trio of crooks (which includes Robert Mitchum's real-life brother) etc , etc---all of which moves at a quick, energetic pace.

Michael Higgins (a fine actor) is always singing "I'll Take You Home, Kathleen" (his girlfriend back in Ireland's name). If they would have tossed in "My Wild Irish Rose" and "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" somewhere along the way (with the aforementioned "Washer Woman"), we would have had the 4 greatest folk hits of the Emerald Isle in one episode. On second thought......

I'm not sure why Richard Jaeckel would be cast as an Irishman, complete with mostly-convincing brogue--- nor, for that matter, why English actor Ben Wright's character Harris speaks with a German accent. But that's the good-old U.S.A. melting pot of the 1870's at work, I guess.

All kidding aside, this is an enjoyable episode with several excellent action scenes and lots of outdoor location footage to boot. Some may complain that the plot is run-of-the-mill, but "Gunsmoke" can't ALWAYS feature complex psychological studies of the human condition....which many modern viewers seem to hold against episodes like this one.

ALSO-- catch the moment near the end--- at 48:28"-- when Michael Higgins stops JUST short of using the "B-word" to refer to his colleen back home in Ireland. I had to chuckle. LR

The world of John Ford's had always been rather the domain of Gunsmoke - Victor McLaglen's son the director of this and many other Gunsmoke episodes, Ken Curtis a frequent guest star and then a regular member of the cast, James Arness once a colleague of John Wayne's and so on. So on this, the day before St. Patrick's Day, Gunsmoke does a tribute to the Emerald Isle of sorts with the story of two Irishmen and partners and one time friends now enemies, their relationship soured over the romance of one with a woman that the other says is no good. The woman is not in this episode, so it is left to the viewer's imagination as to which viewpoint is correct.

The actual villains are a group of men who want to take over the title to the land of the feuding pair, because of the rock salt mine on it. But it's not your typical Gunsmoke situation with the villains just riding out to where they live and killing them at point blank range. Instead there is all kinds of undermining at work. Then, when the two get into a knock down drag out fight at the Long Branch and do over two hundred dollars worth of damage, a princely sum in the 1870s, a judge does a completely unconstitutional thing and says that if either of them is found murdered and no third party can be found responsible, the other will be hanged without trial. Complications ensue.

This sounds like it could be a heavy episode, but it really is light and breezy, although perhaps not as light and breezy as the Bonanza episode "Hoss and the Leprechauns" which aired later this very same year.

,... Jane Taylor was one of the saloon girls for years on that show. A stunning brunette and one of Kitty's gal friends. I'm trying to download this episode in particular.

Too many things going on with no real connection to the plot.

"Two of a Kind" is the sort of weak "Gunsmoke" episode one forgets because it isn't bad enough to stick in one's memory.

Two stereotypical Irishmen are feuding because one of them has unkind things to say about the other's putative * fiancé. Things go from bad to worse, to the point where Judge Brookings declares an "a priori" verdict of death by hanging, if one is found dead and the other has no alibi.

In the meantime, the villainous Kent Smith is plotting to get rid of both, so he can buy the land for its valuable rock-salt mine.

Though I normally have nothing but praise for Gene Feldman's tasteful cobblings from the CBS music library, here 75% of the score is annoying repetitions of "The Irish Washerwoman" (which is rather like scoring a show set in Mexico to "The Mexican Hat Dance" -- the tunes even have a vague similarity).

Besides Smith, the only interesting thing about the episode is Richard Jaeckel, always an agreeable chunk of eye candy. Oh, and two of the villains are killed. That was enough to raise my rating from 4 to 5.

The ending is thoroughly icky, with the two Gaels kissing and making up (only figuratively, alas). (Prior to the invasion of Christianity, Gaelic men were far more "demonstrative". In real life, they would likely have indulged in "sughaim sinae" to seal their bond.)

* Putative, not puta-tive.