Mannon

When Matt finally rides into town, Mannon is chomping on a piece of meat. Others here have claimed it was ridiculously loud, crunchy chicken, But it was clearly a pig's foot. My question was how was he eating that? They don't usually have lots of centrally located meat. If anyone knows what he was eating, I'd be obliged.

Meanwhile, Kitty claims to give Matt an advantage in instilling self-doubt into Mannon's mind. Shaking his confidence. And yet? Matt survives as a fluke, a piece of luck. Not really sure what we're supposed to make of that.

What is that song Mannon sings so many verses of? Steve Forrest was a classically trained baritone.

"Mannon", first aired January 1969, has guest star Steve Forrest as Will Mannon, "twice as fast" a gun hand as Marshal Matt Dillon according to Deputy Festus Haggin (Ken Curtis). In addition, Mannon is a sworn sociopath new to TV westerns, holding ruthlessness as a life principle, portrayed as William Quantrill's right-hand killer-in-chief in the historic raid on Lawrence, Kansas. The showdown is set and it is a gripping countdown with Mannon having the entire town bulldogged by the time the Marshal returns one night to Dodge. To prove his credentials, Mannon works over Miss Kitty (Amanda Blake) and almost kills Festus and Matt. My only problem with this plot -- and it's a big one -- is its near total unbelievability. Mannon arrives in town having shot Festus and left him for dead, riding Festus's mule (ably played by Ruth) with a transparently false story in explanation to Deputy Newley and other townspeople. Yet when Mannon shoots up the Long Branch, refuses to pay for bottles of whiskey, then challenges Newley and Sam the bartender (Glenn Strange) gets the drop on Mannon with his double-barreled shotgun, Miss Kitty steps in to summarily castrate the forces of law and order, orders them to lay down their weapons in favor of Mannon -- and effectively leaves the town in his grip. This only changes for Kitty when she herself and her man, Matt, are personally threatened by Mannon, and it is only by sheer fluke that they survive -- at Mannon's expense.

Westerns such as this one, where Steve Forrest plays yet another of Quantrell's psychopaths and thieves, are morality plays so uniquely American in that without the one hero- the one willing to give his life for a cause- whole masses of people are paralyzed into fear and submission; women are abused, the town is plundered ( a bit ) by the psychotic who has lost normal fear!

He has no conscience whatsoever and only vaguely seems to even recognize why he's there- a 19th C fantasy we believe in the 21st century?

Without a leader, the rest of the town debates why they are impotent to do anything and even when Mannon TELLS Newly Doright he'll be naked in a tub momentarily, their unable to act- except for Sam.

The problem for me for 65 years child to codger is this: if I need to kill a declared killer/ archvillain, I can a) blow his brains out while he's in a bathtub or playing poker, or b) I can doom myself and have a 99% death occurence by standing out in the street in broad daylight?

Except for the English redcoats for a few months, and poor Alexander Hamilton, prooblem solved!

Festus encounters stranger Will Mannon who shoots him for his mule. Of course, he hangs on and makes it back to Dodge to tell a tale of the fast gun stranger. Even the town slow wits like Burke put two and two together when Mannon rides up on Ruth. All that is left to do now is to identify Mannon and you got your guy. Except Festus turns coward and would rather forget the whole thing. Next Newly pretends to stand up to him but gives himself an out. Matt is out of town, so he is unavailable.

This leaves Mannon free reign of Dodge as everyone else is equally afraid. So, he spends his time strutting around while merrily singing a song, sipping whiskey, performing feats of marksmanship, and creating fear. Mannon hits what he aims at, or better yet, doesn't have to aim, but simply points in a general direction and the bullet magically finds its way to its intended target. Except he only wounded Festus, I guess that was the one time his aim was off.

The cowardly town offers to pay Mannon to leave Dodge, but he instead takes their money and hangs around. The town's folk are not only gutless, but not very smart. All they would have to do is to get everyone with a gun to walk up behind and arrest him, but no one thinks of that. I guess being a fast gun makes him invincible. If that were that case, then why not fight The Civil War with all fast guns if it were that effective. Just stand there and outdraw the enemy.

Kitty gets in on the act of trying to pay off Mannon. Not sure what good that would do, once you paid him, he would only come back. A very unflattering portrayal of Dodge and everyone in the town. I guess the point of the episode is to demonstrate how the citizens of Dodge are like lost children without Matt around. He gets back just in time for a lackluster ending.

This is a very simple plot that is played out for the entire 52 minutes of air time. Will Mannon (Steve Forrest)is a crazed ex-civil war vet that has one of the fastest draws in the west. He is such a bad-butt that he is willing to kill just for the sport. He first shoots Festus outside Dodge and rides his mule into town. Now his sights are set on Marshal Matt Dillon.

Matt is out-of-town while Will Mannon intimidates the entire town. The townsfolk are so scared of him that while playing poker Mannon says he has four aces and no one questions him. And to show how bad he is- he even assaults Ms Kitty causing her to need Doc Adams for her injuries.

Newly finally finds Matt and tells him about Mannon and the injured Ms Kitty. The climax of the show appears when Matt rides into town and faces Mannon on the street of Dodge.

Steve Forrest did a good job of making the character of Mannon come to life. This could have been a long painful episode but Forrest's acting ability brought great interest to the show.