Bad Lady from Brookline

This is one of the worst Gunsmoke episodes ever. The character Molly is loud and annoying. Singing was awful. I can't get over other reviewers calling her a bombshell. She's hardly that. Molly is hardly a character to carry the bulk of this episode.

Molly McConnell exits the stage in Dodge with her young son looking to meet up with her husband. As she asks around to find his whereabouts, she learns he has been shot and killed. Enemy of Matt, Sy Sherne tells Molly it was Matt who did the shooting. Although Matt was with the posse when he was shot, it wasn't his shot that killed him, but he allows Molly to believe it just so she doesn't try and go looking up anyone else.

The plot starts to take the path of the typical revenge story, where the surviving party refuses to take into account, the deceased initiated the shooting. Sort of a boring start to the show, but right about then it breaks off into a far more interesting story line. Molly talks to Kitty at the Long Branch and tells her she thinks she can sing. Kitty gives her a chance, but Molly's style is all wrong for saloon patrons. In a fine Kitty moment, she helps to reinvent Molly's persona which transforms her into a real show stopper. She knocks em dead with her voice and performance.

The show has a first rate human interest story going on, with down on her luck recently widowed, not cut out for the old west, young woman finding a way to make good by discovering talent she only remotely suspected she had. Great idea for a script, except one thing, it veered from that path and careened headlong back into the revenge story, in a tragic waste of a potentially great story. From there we get utter silliness, with Molly going from nightclub singer, to gunslinger under the tutelage of Sy.

I didn't much buy into Betty Hutton's acting performance for the show, however I did like here singing, albeit was lip synched. On top of that her performance during the songs is where she was right at home, confident and assured, in addition to really working the crowed. She sizzled in those scenes. That's what made this such a frustrating episode, the show's creators had the goods if they would have just realized they were right in front of them. Could have been a story of a triumph of the human spirit but chose instead an inane and recycled plot. Another thing is, the western genre could always have used a greater input from stories about females. They had one in their hands right here, and let it slip away.

The real problem with this episode is Betty Hutton's poor line delivery; her first scenes are embarrassingly bad, and I doubt there was much director O'Herlihy could have done about it. Around this time the network decision was made to hire more prominent guest stars for "Gunsmoke", since ratings had slipped significantly.

So, let's see..there's Betty Davis (in the future), Jean Arthur, Eileen Heckart, and..." Betty Hutton?? Clearly, the episode was written and built around her special talents..few of which are obvious in this show.

STILL...once Betty settles in--starting with her scene with Kitty...it's really NOT ALL THAT BAD and, in fact, there's something oddly appealing and sympathetic about her, in a pathetic sort of way. Ms. Hutton's voice was clearly worn out by this point in her career, and her big "bombshell" numbers fail to inspire. But the male extras in the saloon scenes didn't seem to mind.

O' Herlihy's direction keeps things flowing nicely, with numerous well-framed shots, and the performances of Ken Curtis and Glenn Strange are very good. But there are some pretty lousy plot contrivances (as another commentator mentions): the fact that everyone knew that Dillon didn't kill Mr. Hutton, but nobody (including the stubborn Dillon himself) will tell her. Hutton's last scene with Kitty..where Kitty's attachment to Matt becomes clear, is bizarre: Betty is unexpectedly sympathetic and touching, then immediately reverts to her insanity. Also-- I AGREE...what's with the townsfolk of Dodge?? Matt's relationship to them is often troubling, since they often seem to be a crude, bloodthirsty group that have little regard for the big guy. They apparently find Betty's plan to gun down Matt (with Claude Akin's assistance) pretty entertaining. Weird...but that's the primitive Old West, I guess.

In the end, things worked out nicely. The ridiculous musical cue when Betty and her mob march into town sounded more fitting for one of Barney Fife's "tough guy" scenes and threatened to undercut any drama that had been built up. THAT was a dumb choice by the musical staff, as was the very obvious stunt man seen in Dillon's brief fight with Claude Akins.

But, in the end, I laughed out loud at Matt's final lines, and it was nice to see Claude Akin's nicer side come through. Most importantly, it was a relief to see Betty Hutton leave Dodge. A better actress and a couple of script re-writes would have elevated this episode significantly. As it is, it's not NEARLY as bad as its reputation; I 'd watch this episode any-day-of-the-week before I'd sit through "Help me, Kitty" or "20 Miles from Dodge" again.

Notice that this episode has MANY MORE "reviews" (mostly negative) than most any other Gunsmoke; that's because people love to jump on the bandwagon and talk trash. Try to resist the "let's pile-on Betty" syndrome when you watch it. It's really quite entertaining. LR.

I've only seen a handful of bad episodes of Gunsmoke and this has to be the worst. Slow and not enough Matt Dillon, Festus or Doc. Just wasn't a very good episode, an hour I'll never get back.

Betty Hutton was spunky but tone deaf. Good actress, but Her singing, even after they cleaned it up, was off key and sour. Yuck.........................