GUNSMOKE: THE GUITAR (TV)
Summary
One in this series of western dramas about Marshal Matt Dillon, lawman of Dodge City, Kansas, and the people who live in and pass through that town in the closing decades of the 19th century.
In this episode, Matt spots a few drunken townsmen, Short and Tyler, shooting off their guns and intervenes, and the men introduce him to the mild-mannered Weed Pindle, a newcomer from Texas. Pindle explains that he was in the army, but on the Yankee side, which seems to anger the others. After cautioning the men to behave, Matt departs to meet with Major Holcum, leaving Chester in charge. Chester soon learns that the men are visiting every saloon in town and then planning to hang Pindle, but Doc assures him that they will not really go through with it. At the final bar, however, Chester learns that the men still blame the Yankees for hanging their fellow Southern soldiers during the war and intend to get their revenge on Pindle, and he intervenes with a gun, sending the drunken men on their way. Pindle is grateful for the help and reveals himself to be a talented guitar player. When they offer him a steady job, however, he declines, saying that he intends to keep moving.
Pindle then finds that the men have painted his donkey in order to further taunt him, and when they catch him, they destroy his beloved guitar. Matt returns and, upon learning of Short and Tyler's actions, angrily kicks them out of town. He then offers Pindle a place to stay and warns him about the lingering "Southern feeling" in the town in regards to the war. Pindle explains that he is leaving, however, and cleans off his donkey before departing. Outside of town he is again caught by the men, who are still determined to hang him, but in the morning, Matt and Chester find Short and Tyler hanged from the tree and Pindle gone. Matt vows to arrest and try whomever is guilty of the crime, regardless of the victims' actions, but no one seems to know anything, and Doc notes that the two cowboys finally got the hanging they so longed for. Includes commercials.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: July 21, 1956 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:29:11
- COLOR/B&W: B&W
- CATALOG ID: B:13399
- GENRE: Drama, western
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, western
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1955-1975
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - L&M cigarettes
- TV - Commercials - Remington electric shaver
CREDITS
- Charles Marquis Warren … Producer
- Norman MacDonnell … Associate Producer
- Harry Horner … Director
- Sam Peckinpah … Writer
- John Meston … Writer
- James Arness … Cast, Matt Dillon
- Dennis Weaver … Cast, Chester
- Milburn Stone … Cast, Doc
- Aaron Spelling … Cast, Weed Pindle
- Jacques Aubuchon … Cast, Short
- Charles Gray … Cast, Tyler
- Duane Thorsen … Cast, Delmer
- Bill Hale … Cast, Tom
- Joseph Mell … Cast, Pence