Cotter's Girl

I just saw this ending; this was a special Gunsmoke and all of the cast did a great job and some were interesting though short lived. At first Roy Barcroft, long time bad guy to Roy Rogers and other good guys, was the father and then John Clarke, who recently died with a long running role on Days of our Lives, was the man who fought with him. Two parts at the end jumped out to me; the tall young man who got on the stage was a sometime double for Clint Walker. The second was when Kitty ran up behind Matt, called him Dillon and hugged him with a great big smile on her face; I have to wonder if this was an adlib.

Sorry, usually I agree with my fellow reviewers about Gunsmoke; and I concur that the scene at Ma Smalley's between Matt & Clarey was charming, after she gets a little more mature (and less goofy) and they sense a real connection, it was very well done.

Additionally, Chester again comes off so sweet in helping teach Clarey manners, curtsies & how to use a knife & fork.

That said, I cud take a 30 min episode of this, as watching this girl for an hour, hugging everyone 100 times, was a bit too much. The cuteness of her naivety wore off fast and I was hoping someone would dunk her in a trough.

Yes, Hartley was good, but to me she didn't expand the character as much as possible. It had more of a female Tarzan aura to it, even in the dialogue, as she spoke poor broken english. LOL. Not a bad episode but a pointless one where so much more was available.

This is the distaff version of "Old Companion", with the male heir replaced by a female. * It's comparably pointless -- the central conflict, of turning a tomboy into a young "lady", is of no particular consequence to anyone.

What saves this show (which could have been as awful as "Old Companion" -- see my review) is Mariette Hartley's performance. "Charming" doesn't begin to describe it. She's as fresh as a daisy and natural as spring water, unmannered and devoid of self-awareness. It's unlikely any other ingénue of the early '60s could have done remotely as well. One gets the feeling that the script was written with her in mind.

Recommended -- not for the story, but for the pleasure of watching Ms Hartley.

* In watching multiple seasons of various TV series, I'm surprised at how often episodes within a few weeks of each other are thematically similar or even identical. (This even happens /across/ series!) It's probably not an accident -- one writer's idea provokes an "I can do better reaction" in other writers.

Clarey totally disarms Matt in this episode and Arness shows his acting skills in playing against Clarey's obvious developing crush on the big man. He is at a total loss on how to handle Clarey.

The scene at the dressmaker's store is really out of character for this 'shoot 'em up' genre and series.lll

Fortunately, the other main characters in Dodge take Clarey under thieir wings, including Chester teaching Clarey to read. The scene with Doc is sensitive and touching, too. Kitty brings the clothes to fix her up, too.

Hartley's performance for such a young actress is stellar and completely in character.

The next to final scene with Clarey on Ma Smalley's porch is touching. Arness plays it so well... sort of an inward reflection as to what it could have been between him and Clarey if he was 20 years younger.

All in all, a great episode and a change up to the usual fare served up by the wild west series.

I have seen this episode several times over the years, and I watched it again today on the INSP channel, for the memorable and charming performances by Marriette Hartley and the other cast members. Hartley comes across as a totally believable young woman, on the brink of adulthood, who has grown up in isolation, and has therefore retained her unfettered, childlike view of the world, not yet tainted by society's mores and rules of propriety.

Given that all of the main characters -- Matt, Doc, Kitty, and Chester -- are single, never having raised daughters, the men are all out of their element (especially Matt, with whom she has formed a special attachment), with limited experience guiding a young girl on the brink of womanhood. Through the combined efforts of Kitty, Doc, and Chester, they have some measure of success helping her learn the skills she needs, such as how to dress, eat, read and write, and conduct herself as a lady; yet it is a bittersweet experience, for Matt and Doc especially, as they come to realize that she will have to shed some of her childlike innocence, with its impetuous behaviors, as she masters self control and learns to comport herself in the ways that "gentle society" requires.

In the last scene, as Matt sees her off to live with her aunt, you can see a mixture of emotions on Matt's face, which I interpret as including pangs of regret for some of the sacrifices he had made in his life (due to the nature of his job), such as never having had the experience of raising a daughter, not being able to continue witnessing the rest of Clarey's journey into womanhood, and a measure of sadness (like doc had expressed earlier) which all parents feel at various times as their children grow up -- knowing that her days of running barefoot, splashing in the creek to bathe, sleeping in trees, speaking her mind, and demonstrating physical affection whenever she felt like it, were about to come to an end, and would become a distant memory, eventually even forgotten (as Doc had forgotten about the joy of walking in the mud in your bare feet), as she transitioned into womanhood. Maybe he even felt some guilt for the role he had played in transforming her from a pure, natural, unspoilt child to a cultured woman conforming to the rules of society.

Ir is worth watching the episode to see Clarey's interactions with other the other characters, including Doc, Kitty, Matt, Chester, the men who laughed at her in the restaurant, and the shop lady who tried to make her put on a corset!