General Parsley Smith

When General Parsley Smith arrives in Dodge City he certainly goes well out of his way to really stir up the local citizens against businessman, Drew Holt who has recently come to town in order to open up a new bank.

Through his loud, public rantings, opposing Holt, Smith soon finds himself under direct fire from Holt's ornery armed guard, Ed Nash.

And, at this point - Things go from bad to worse when Marshal, Matt Dillon gets involved in the escalating turmoil that Smith's tall tales have obviously generated.

This is the type of episode that makes Gunsmoke very different at times and very watchable. Other episode are better but these types help keep it going. Another off the beaten path episode was the episode "Marry Me"

I never saw an episode in my whole life that had Chester in it except for the very first one that I had purchased as a VHS tape from Ebay 15 years ago.. Gunsmoke started in 1955 when I was 4 years old and came on at 10:30 which was past my bed time so I never saw the early first run episodes. They only showed the later color episodes for the last 40 years ??? I think the pandemic got the older episodes going with people having to stay at home. Now I have 3 different channels showing the older B&W episodes and am in Gunsmoke Heaven.

Nifty half-hour that generates some real suspense. General Smith sounds and looks like an authentic Civil War general. The plot thickens when he imperiously informs the marshal that the town's new banker is a swindler intent on absconding with depositors money at the first opportunity. The trouble is the new banker has a state-provided charter and acts like a perfectly reasonable businessman. Even the town's established banker, Mr. Botkin, vouches for him. Something's amiss somewhere, but where? Somebody's either mistaken or lying. Yet it's hard to know which since both appear credible.

Clever premise from story by Meston and screenplay by John Dunkel. There're enough twists and turns to keep viewers interested. And just when everything seems settled, there's yet one more twist. Good central performance by Raymond Bailey as the general. Still and all, I think the gunman's presence is unnecessary to the plot and possibly detracts. Nonetheless, an interesting and offbeat episode.

So if you want an actual, really good review, all of the prior ones i read are great! i'm only here bc i felt compelled to share my SHOCK! lol well i guess General Parsley Smith finally turned a certain way or something ... anyway it suddenly occurred to me that the actor was Raymond Bailey! aka "Mr Drysdale" of The Beverly Hillbillies! Once i realized this i couldn't look away! i mean, there was the full beard and everything but WHY didn't I see it sooner?! It's so obviously him! And my answer is: he's was simply THAT GREAT of an actor! Used to him acting and appearing a different way, his character was soo "out of character" that i failed to actually "SEE" him. Who i did see was the crazy character that he was playing. ARGH! Tryna say imho that only PROVES what an EXCELLENT ACTOR HE WAS! lol now i feel REALLY STOOPID for never knowing this sooner!

Don't let the name fool ya. This is an excellent episode, and another that leaves you guessing to the very end, with strong performances from all involved. Sure, you could watch solely to admire the beauty of a very young James Arness, but there's so much more to this fine episode. Milburn Stone was especially good in this, showing us Doc's gentler nature. An entertaining, classic episode well worth watching.