Smoking Out the Nolans

Clay Young is one of the largest landowners in the Dodge City area. He wants to sell some land to Mr. Burgess, but Josh Nolan and his wife live in a sod house on a portion of the property, and Mr. Burgess does not want anyone living on the land. Young and his men try to force the Nolans off the property, but they shelter inside the house and refuse to leave -- even when Young cuts off their ability to get food and water.

Eventually, Young goes to Matt Dillon and asks him to forcibly evict the Nolans from the property. When the Marshal and Chester Goode go to the house with Young, they find the Nolans insist they bought the house and a small portion of the property from Young, but Young disputes their claim.

When Matt investigates, he finds there was no deed filed at the Land Office in Dodge, and with no deed, the Nolans have no legal claim to the land. Matt has Chester drop sulfur into their chimney and cover the chimney so the sulfur smoke will force the Nolans out of the house. The Marshal provides a room at the Dodge House for the poor Nolans, and he and Chester remove their meager belongings from the house.

This appearance as Clay Young is the first of seven Gunsmoke episodes for excellent character actor John Larch. Larch was involved in numerous memorable performances throughout his prolific acting career. He played the father of monstrous Anthony Fremont in the classic episode of The Twilight Zone "It's A Good Life." He appeared with Clint Eastwood in the films Play Misty for Me and Dirty Harry. His character seriously wounds Steve McGarrett in an episode of the original Hawaii Five-O...and those are just a few examples.

Ainslie Pryor portrays Josh Nolan in this story. Pryor was a busy actor during his career which was tragically cut short when he contracted brain cancer and passed away in 1958. He appeared in four Gunsmoke episodes over the first three seasons of the series.

Actress Jeanne Bates appeared in two Gunsmoke episodes, and they were broadcast consecutively. She played Mrs. Wyatt in the previous "Night Incident" episode, and she plays Mrs. Nolan in this story.

Ed Platt plays Mr. Burgess in his only Gunsmoke role. Platt can be seen in many television shows throughout the 1960s and 1970s. His most famous role was as Maxwell Smart's boss -- known only as "Chief" -- on the series Get Smart. Around the time he appeared in this episode of Gunsmoke, he had significant roles in Rebel Without a Cause with James Dean and Illegal with Edward G. Robinson.

This story is intriguing, as the central mystery is not resolved until the very end of the episode. This is a story that does not have a true villain so much as one of the characters is trying to perpetuate a false narrative.

I love the scene where Doc Adams and Kitty Russell are sitting on the steps leading to Doc's office and Matt stops to talk with them. It is a small, wonderful glimpse into the personal lives of the characters.

The Lady Gay Saloon is shown late in the story. In the both the radio version of Gunsmoke and the early television episodes, there are several different saloons mentioned and shown in Dodge City. In the later seasons, The Long Branch and The Bull's Head are the only saloons ever shown or mentioned.

This is a predictable episode that had an ending unworthy of any show when someone confesses to a lie, for really no reason, when they have been quiet the entire show. It was just too easy of an ending with very little anticipation.

Clay Young is trying to evict the Nolans that he said has been squatting on his property. He even has a eviction notice signed by a Judge and he goes to see Marshal Dillon for help. When Matt meets with Josh Nolan, he is told by Josh that they paid for the land and Clay was suppose to get the deed recorded at the land office.

With the Nolan refusing to come out of the house, Matt needs to get them out without anyone getting hurt. So he sends Chester to pour sulfur down the smoke stack which will force the people out of the house. Sure enough it works and the Nolans are forced to leave their home.

Matt knows someone is not telling the truth but he may not have time to find out which person. Josh Nolan is determined payback Clay Young with a bullet.

Even though this is a typical western story the program just did not play well. None of the characters were really likable so the viewer did not really side with either parties in the situation. It was just to predictable with a rather uneventful ending.

Excellent opening scene that immediately engages the audience. Big rancher Clay (John Larch) and two cowhands have squatters Nolan (Ainsley Pryor) and wife trapped inside their crude sod dugout and won't let them out for food or water. Clay doesn't seem like a bad guy and neither does Nolan who just wants to hang on to what little he has. So what's the problem. Clay finally fetches Matt to enforce a court-order mandating the Nolans' eviction. Clay says one thing and Nolan another. Somebody's lying, but who?

Different kind of story-line, nicely done by director-scriptwriter Charles Marquis Warren who produced and directed these earliest installments. The staging at the sod dugout lends a lot of realistic atmosphere. Also, a well-thought-out and satisfying climax, with good turns by both Pryor and Larch. Notable too, for Kitty's passing innuendo about Matt's intentions toward the lovely saloon owner. Their exact relationship was a touchy one the producers never could resolve. As a result, it was left hanging year-in and year-out, and probably wisely so.

We know when we hear about the deed just who is guilty, yet we're not sure that matter will ever be resolved. A lawman's life is tough. He has to serve an eviction notice even if he doesn't have all the facts. "Evict them now, figure it out later." that seemed to be the motto in this episode.

My favorite scene in this episode is Kitty and Doc's sitting on the stairs together. In Season 1, Kitty is so pretty and young. Like the first episode, we get a hint that Kitty and Matt have a thing going. Kitty's comment of "Why don't you ever tell me down in the daytime." is a classic line. The whole scene is classic, actually, since it nicely sets up the show for future episodes. I haven't figure out who my favorite character is yet. I like them all for different reasons...