Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge

It was interesting to see another Gunsmoke chapter.However,with a few changes this could have been a joy to watch.The storyline itself is very good.The poor set lighting (particularly on night and interior shots) is way too dark and makes viewing a chore.The Long Branch scenes really suffer due to this problem.In 20 years of the TV series the production quality was excellent.This made for TV movie looks amateurish due to the dim lighting. James Arness needed drastic makeup help.He looked like someone out of a horror film rather than the clean cut Matt Dillon we knew for 20 years.The Dillon character would not have changed his grooming habits at his age. With better lighting,makeup and camera angles Amanda Blake would have benefited as well. Where the production really missed was in casting.The character Earl Holiman played (Matt's friend) should have been cast with Ken Curtis as Fester Haggen.This would have made the entire story and movie more satisfying.That character's motivation would have been stronger and we the audience deserved as many familiar Gunsmoke regulars as were still living (if Curtis absolutely refused to appear then Dennis Weaver as Chester Goode should have been cast as the friend.Why were Ted Jordan and Tom Brown excluded also?) Steve Forrest as Mannon did the best acting whether in flashback or present.He was a real scene stealer. I agree with the IMDb review that Miss Kitty deserved more than she got at the end from Matt in the final scene. This could have been a much.much better movie.Why wasn't it?

This last Gunsmoke movie returns to Dodge City where Matt Dillon has to face once again someone from his past when he was marshal there. Steve Forrest who is one sick puppy of a villain has been released from prison and is looking for Dillon whom he shot before, but who was caught anyway.

This film with flashback scenes from a Gunsmoke episode from 1969 gives us the background of the story. Obviously someone was inspired by the Star Trek film The Wrath Of Khan.

For good measure the blame is thrown on another old time convict Earl Holliman when Forrest shoots the warden after his release. James Arness is trailing him for most of the film with the non-help of shavetail army lieutenant Ken Olandt who has his orders to bring Holliman in. Olandt is quite good in his role, brave and loyal, but a bit of a jerk.

James Arness looking craggy which befits his role as the retired marshal. The flashback sequences give a real time feel to this film because it is real time.

The confrontation scene is well staged and unforgettable. In fact both of them, the one with Holliman and Arness standing off some bounty hunters and the one with Forrest. The one with Holliman is borrowed straight out of Ride The High Country.

One very fitting coda to the life and career of Matt Dillon.

Gunsmoke cast regulars James Arness (Matt Dillon), Amanda Blake (Kitty) and Buck Taylor (Newly) reunite for a pretty good old fashioned western. The plot involves the release from prison of Matt's most deadly foe, Steve Forrest, reprising his role as Will Mannon, bent on revenge. Another Gunsmoke alumni is along for the ride, Earl Holliman, who does a good turn as Jake Flagg. According to reports, Ken Curtis held out for too much money and subsequently did not reprise his role as Festus, what remains of his part is filled in by character actor Mickey Jones as Oakum. Too bad, it would have been great to see him don the spurs one more time. Milburn Stone (Doc) who appears along with Festus in flashbacks, had passed away by the time this film was made. There are several minor plot holes, chief among them is that in the episode, "Mannon" the title character was killed at the end, apparently while the end credits rolled, Doc discovered that he was still alive, saved him and he was then sent to prison. All in all, this film holds true to the legacy of the great, classic TV series.

As only a casual fan of the original series I may not be able to compare and contrast this movie as well as some others but the producers of this tv film seem to have covered all their bases.

First of all the story was very well done. By basing the movie on one of the original tv shows the viewers were given a sense of continuity that some movies that are based on previous tv shows don't have. Also, the story itself, while not all that original, was well written and suspenseful. Out of the 5 GUNSMOKE movies that were made I felt that this one was the best.

Secondly, this movie did a fine job of bringing back the original cast members. Amanda Blake as "Kitty" and Buck Taylor as "Newly O'brien" helped to give this movie an authentic feel. Having said that it would have been nice if Dennis Weaver as "Chester" and or Ken Curtis as "Festus", both served as deputy under Marshall Dillon, had made an appearance in the movie.

Lastly, while the movie overall was a good one it seemed to me that James Arness portrayed Matt Dillon less like the character in the original series and more like the mountain man character of "Zeb Macahon" in his other western series HOW THE WEST WAS WON. Still this movie is a good view and those who like James Arness or GUNSMOKE will appreciate it.

Yesterday was the 60th anniversary of the premiere of "Gunsmoke", so I watched "Return to Dodge". Is this TV movie as bad as some people say it is? No. It's worse.

The story can be briefly summarized as "A lot of people are out to kill Matt, and a few to help him." That's it.

"Kill Matt" was not an uncommon story line, and several excellent episodes were built around it ("The Jailer", "Matt Dillon Must Die"). These episodes worked, because they had dramatic elements that took the story beyond whether Matt would live or die. This is important, students, because... "We know Matt isn't going to die!"

"Return to Dodge" has all the dramatic punch of a thrice-used tea-bag. In addition to the requisite clips from series episodes, most of the story has people running around and shooting at each other, and little else.

It only gets involving in the last five minutes, when Matt has his final confrontation with Will Mannon, in which Kitty plays an important role. (Kitty never took **** from anybody, while remaining "feminine".) It's the only satisfying part of the story, and you have to wait one hour and 55 minutes for it to arrive.

Attention must be paid to the horrible makeup and costuming. Kitty often looks as if she just crept out of the crypt. And it seems some unattractive animal attached itself to Matt's head and died there. * (He wears his hat through most of the second half, likely after seeing a rough cut of the first half.)

I don't understand reviewers' objections to Matt being a trapper. He's fundamentally a loner, unable to commit himself to close relationships -- especially with women.

Ken Curtis didn't appear in "Return to Dodge", supposedly because he was offered less than Amanda Blake. This is probably true, but I wouldn't be surprised if he'd read the script (little more than a rehash of "Mannon") and decided to avoid contact with this turkey.

Given that the production team (including a writer and director who'd worked many years on the series) presumably had more than a decade to work on this story, its abject failure is startling.

* Mountain men, plainsmen, etc, often wore their hair long. Matt's "do" bears zero resemblance to how such long hair actually looked (qv, Custer and Hickok).