Crooked Mile

... for you have Katharine Ross five years before raindrops are falling on her head, George Kennedy three years before he won best supporting actor for Cool Hand Luke, and then there is Burt Reynolds who will be a headliner in films all during the 1970s.

In this episode, blacksmith Quint (Burt Reynolds) is seriously seeing Susan (Katherine Ross). Her dad, Cyrus, is furious about their dating. For once it seems it is not racism associated with Quint being half Comanche. Instead, Cyrus doesn't want anybody to take his daughter away from him. He somehow feels that because he spent his life raising her, she owes him her time as an adult taking care of him. Susan's mother died when she was seven.

Realizing he can't handle this situation, Cyrus calls his relative Praylie to "get rid " of Quint. But what they have here is a failure to communicate. Praylie considers killing the same as getting rid of Quint. Cyrus just wanted him scared away. Praylie is further agitated that Cyrus didn't tell him that Quint has powerful allies in Festus and Marshall Dillon. This disagreement turns tragic and violent. I'll let you see exactly what I mean by that.

I'm really starting to like the Festus/Quint friendship. This week there is a humorous scene between the two of them - and doc -in the Long Branch on the subject of making the perfect ham.

Good episode but unsettling. the way george kennedy obsessed over katherine ross is down right cringy. royal dano is always excellent. burt reynolds is a bit too blase and nonchalant towards the man who's charged to kill him.

Always good acting with the regulars, but this episode had great guest acting, the exchange between George Kennedy and Katherine Ross really showed her skills and she could hold her own with a veteran actor like George Kennedy, the episode was well written with many layers to it.

Gunsmoke was such an amazing vehicle for talent - this episode is one of the best in which, beyond the usual Gunsmoke core (Matt, Doc Festus, and Kitty), you had near-future major stars George Kennedy and Katherine Ross on screen with Birt Reynolds. Very entertaining episode on so many levels! a must-watch!

George Kennedy was usually a bad father on TV shows. A wooden lack of expression and a monotone robotic voice made it hard to know if he had any feelings. Condemning his kids for whatever they were happy doing made it hard to like him as a Dad.

In this episode, Kennedy is upset that his super hottie daughter (Katherine Ross) is sparking with Quint Asper (Burt Reynolds). Reynolds was another actor who had a hard time emoting. He could smile or frown, but that was about as far as it got.

So these two guys are fighting with each other over Ross, and along comes Royal Dano, another guy that had zero range of expression. Normally Dano played dim-wits, hill-people, miners, etc.

This time Dano plays the tough hill-man from the Dagler family tree. Kennedy is his cousin, and called him down to Dodge so he can kill Quint, the man his daughter loves. Not very great family values.

Festus knows Dagler, and he gets added to the mix of tough characters. This was back when Festus was a tough hill-man himself, before the last years, when the writers watered him down into a hillbilly goofball.

Reynolds and Ross are going to elope, but even though Quint can see that trouble is brewing, he wants to do it on his own time. Ross wants to go sooner, because she knows her Dagler family is dangerous, and that all hell is about to break loose.

Unfortunately Quint leads the beautiful Katherine Ross into a major family conflict, and then leaves her hanging there, and she pays the price. Not a great moment for Quint.

Quint should have protected Ross, by eloping with her, or he should have stayed and fought it out with Royal Dano, and her father, George Kennedy. That would have been a great action-packed finale, and they could have lived happily ever after.