Dry Well

This was by far one of the most confusing scripts in any 'Gunsmoke' episode.

Dave Linse is heading off to town like he does every Monday. He leaves his wife Yuma at home and he will return as usual near dusk. But little does Dave know that his wife is cheating on him, not with one man but two. Every Monday Web Vickers comes riding up to the house till noon and then at 1pm Jeff Daley takes his turn. But today Dave gets home a little early and sees a rider leaving his property. Dave believes that the man he saw was Web Vickers.

A few days later Dave tells Web, in front of his father Ira, to stay away from his house. He will only get one warning. Then Web sees Jeff at the Long Branch and tells him to stay away from Yuma because she is his. Web says that he is going to take care of both Dave and Jeff.

If this sounds confusing-- then you are right. Was not really sure how each other knew who was seeing Yuma but for the story's sake we have to go along with the script.

Anyway Quint rides out to the Linse's farm and sees that Dave has been shot. About that time Ira hits Quint in the head knocking him out. When Quint awakes, Ira wants him to sign a paper saying that Jeff killed Dave. (still confused on how HE knew about Jeff) Quint refuses and they throw him in a dry well.

The rest of the episode seems almost bizarre. Matt goes over to Yuma's house and sure enough Jeff and Web makes an appearance. Ira comes up and starts shooting at Matt. They finally make it back to Ira's house and Web starts shooting. And the one not in this shootout is the one that caused the entire situation -- Yuma.

This was a messy script. It was like someone had a good story in their heads but could relate it to paper. The acting was poor, the story was poor and the characters confusing. Not one of the better shows.

Season 9 of Gunsmoke contains some of the finest episodes in the series. This is definitely not one of them. As a matter of fact, I consider it among the worst in the entire run of the series. (I acknowledge there are fans of Gunsmoke that despise ANY criticism of the show. Gunsmoke is my all-time favorite classic television drama but not every episode is outstanding.)

Yuma is married to a man named Dave, but she is also fooling around with two other guys, Web and Jeff. When one of the two kills Dave, Quint Asper happens to be riding by and hears the shot. Quint goes to Dave, who whispers the name of the man who shot him to Quint just before he dies.

Ira, who is Web's father, happens to be in Dave's barn for some reason. While Quint is tending to the dying Dave, Ira knocks Quint unconscious and ties him up. Ira is afraid his son will be blamed for Dave's death, and he wants Quint to sign a paper stating that Jeff killed Dave. When Quint refuses, Ira and Web throw Quint into an old, dry well, hence the name of the episode. (This entire plot element is puzzling. First, just because Quint signs a paper stating Jeff is the killer is meaningless. Quint could simply say later he signed the paper under duress. Second, how does Ira expect to get away with this?)

Part of this story concerns Matt Dillon trying to solve the mystery of Dave's death while Yuma shamelessly flirts with him. The other part of the story involves Quint's plight as he is held hostage by Ira and Web in the dry well. The whole thing is a mess with too many stupid characters doing too many stupid things and plot holes so large a stagecoach could be driven through them.

Ned Glass and Tom Simcox were generally solid character actors, but they aren't given much with which to work in this script. Karen Sharpe as Yuma was a true beauty in those days, but she wasn't an especially good actress.

The idea behind this story isn't that bad, but the execution here is. It is particularly annoying that John Meston intentionally introduced plot elements to try to deceive the viewer in an attempt to provide a surprise ending.

It was refreshing seeing Ned Glass playing a tough ruthless character. He usually played weak cowering characters on Gunsmoke. A wicked woman caused lots of trouble in this morality play. It is worth a watch just to see Doc playfully coming on to Kitty.

...just a bit unfocused and illogical.

You can understand that old Dave is having trouble keeping track of who's "doing" his pretty wife on Mondays when he's away in town; and that dust storm during Dave's murder does confuse ALL of us. But, the show is not that hard to follow.

Karen Sharpe-- another "Gunsmoke" actress whose mid-60's glamorous looks totally blows the 1870's Kansas setting, does very well with the type of role that's difficult to pull off well...especially with all of the tight-shots and close-ups. I was just reading how she abandoned acting in the late 60's to marry Stanley Kramer and manage his estate; she was obviously "hot property" in her early years, with John Wayne also taking an interest in her.

William Henry--who plays her hapless hubby Dave, had a LONG career in Hollywood, and it's good to see him in a decent part. Old pro Ned Glass similarly gets a chance to do some serious acting as the proud, protective (but crazed) father, Ira.

But there's lots of silliness here, too. Are we really to believe that Quint couldn't SLUG his way out of the barn before (or after) he's tied up with wire, prior to being dumped in a well with a bucket-o'-rocks hanging over his head??

ALSO-- why the H___ didn't Kitty IMMEDIATELY tell Matt about the nasty conversation she overheard in the Long Branch between the two jealous lover boys, which could have prevented a lot of violence and mayhem? Of course, if she did that, this episode could have been wrapped up in a HALF hour.

TWO EXCELLENT "TIME-FILLER/WASTER" dialogue scenes between the regulars, both of them witty and charming. DOC and KITTY (mentioned by other commentators here), and DOC and MATT, as Doc gently chides the big guy about wasting time. Maybe I'll watch this episode again for these scenes. LR

This issue has been on my mind soon after I began binge watching Gunsmoke.

Was Gunsmoke sponsored in the early Sixties by Maxwell House, or some other coffee? In absolutely every episode in Season 7 to this time, the characters have coffee, either around the campfire, around the dinner table, at Delmonico's, at the Marshal's Office. In most instances, the word "coffee" is used several times to call attention to the fact that coffee is being served. I know that the selection of non-alcoholic beverages was limited, but really--EVERY episode, when coffee forms no part of the plot?

And oh, yes, check out the roaming chickens.

This episode also was rather good, I thought.