Aunt Thede

Great visual angles by cinematographer Harry Stradling Jr.

Festus' feisty Aunt Thede (Jeanette Nolan) rolls into town and kick-starts one of the zaniest and yet most endearing Gunsmoke episodes ever. Thede is a shotgun-toting illiterate moonshiner and preacher from the hills of Missouri who counsels a lovestruck couple. She believes her copy of Little Women is actually "The Book" (or the Holy Bible), which she adamantly declares is supportive of her distilling activities-pursuits that are in clear conflict with laws Marshall Dillon must uphold.

"Haybill, Matthew, you can't go agin' the Good Book!" - Festus, pleading the case of the good nectar and virtues of moonshining.

In addition to the fabulous regulars, there are some great stars in this episode: Jeanette Nolan (a witch on The Twilight Zone, Thriller, Night Gallery...), Howard McNear (Floyd the Barber from The Andy Griffith Show), Dyan Cannon (twelve Oscar nominations), Frank Cady (Green Acres, Petticoat Junction, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Shasta Grape Soda and other ads...), James Stacy (Lancer)... Even James Arness' daughter (Jenny Lee Arness) makes an appearance. But Nolan is the star of the show and she puts on a delightful performance.

I rather enjoyed this episode, and I liked more insight into Festus' amusing family - I, like other reviewers, don't mind the Festus character too much, and I like to see the Haggen clan show up every once in awhile. This aunt especially - Jeanette Nolan, a wonderful actress in anything she's in, does a great job of down home quirky and is fun to watch, at least to me. It was also nice to see a young Dyan Cannon, so lovely and good on her role.

Another commenter mentioned how tragic James Stacy's life turned out, and though that was certainly true, I cant help but think how much of that he brought on himself (read up on Google his list of self-caused legal issues), and it's a shame such a talent went so south.

Overall, I found this episode a pleasant change from such baddies and really awful people that populated so many of the episodes surrounding this one. Silly in parts maybe but, rather a relief from all the dark ones.

James Stacey ( who had a tragic end to his life) plays his usual charming rogue. Dyan Cannon, looking like something out of a Gode print ( highly unlikely in a farmgirl on the 1880's Kansas plain) and Jeanette Nolan as an annoying female version of Festus ( who is annoying enough in his own right) tell a tale not worth telling. The title should have been A Little Bit of Hagen Goes a Long Way.

The man credited as townsman is actually HapGlaudi, then sports director of WWL TV in New Orleans. He probably earned this cameo appearance because WWL is one of the highest rated cbs stations in the country. Another actor making a very brief appearance is Jenny Arness, daughter of James Arness and neice of Peter Graves. Dyan Canon went on to marry Carey Grant just a few short months after this episode aired. Howard Macnear played a storekeeper named Howard. He is most known as Floyd the barber on the Andy Griffith Show. And then there is Frank Cady who played the part of Sam Drucker on Green Acres.