With a Smile

This has one of the most powerful endings of any 'Gunsmoke' episode in the entire series. Making this episode one of the best I have seen in a very long time.

The show centers around Major Creed (RG Armstrong) who is a large land and farm owner outside of Dodge City. He has a son named Dal Creed (James Best) that happens to be a weak coward which is totally opposite from his father.

Dal happens up on the Long Branch one evening and tries to strong-arm a saloon girl named Lottie. However Lottie is in a relationship with Pat Kane who just happens to be a ex-worker of the Creed ranch that Dal got fired. Anyway Pat don't take kindly to have his girl roughed up by Dal so they get into a fist fight until broken up by Marshal Dillon.

The next night while Lottie and Pat are leaving the Long Branch, shots ring out and Lottie is killed. Chester happens up to the scene and witnesses Dal getting on his horse and riding off. So Matt and Chester go out to the Creed farm to arrest Dal.

After a guilty verdict with the penalty of hanging, Major Creed uses all his political power to try to get a retrial or pardon. When he tells Dal that all attempts so far have failed - Dal goes into a crying and whining fit that embarrasses all that witness the spectacle. His father apologizes for his son's action and begins to think of a way that his son can die with a smile on his face.

The sheriff where the hanging is to take place tells Dal that his father has paid him and others to fake the hanging. Dal will look like he was hung but will be safe under the boarded up scaffold. Upon hearing this news Dal changes from a crying coward into a arrogant bully. It will be with the flare of arrogance that Dal ascends the steps to the hangman's noose. But all is not the truth.

Whatever the reason, at the end of this episode I knew I had witnessed a great entertaining story. From the script to the acting the entire episode was solid. James Best was perfect as the coward. R.G. Armstrong was a perfect cast as the father figure. Even minor characters such as the sheriff of Hays City was brilliant to the script. One of the most solid shows in the entire 'Gunsmoke' collection.

I just finished watching this show and when the final scene completed I said to myself, "that was probably the finest Gunsmoke episode i have ever seen in my life!" and then I read the other reviews ... you guys were spot on! If more westerns scripts were written like this, the genre would have survived the march of time... well done.

I also always liked the actor James Best (the "hanged" guy), but I never liked the characters he played... too bad they had to type cast him so his entire career, he really was a decent actor. Kind of a B movie kind of actor, until he finally found Dukes of Hazzard, which totally type cast him for the rest of eternity... now this Gunsmoke episode will be the way I remember him.

One of the best.

It's remarkable how cruel and violent a series "Gunsmoke" had become by the mid '60's. A couple of nasty, vicious characters figure prominently in this story, much to the misfortune of poor Lottie. The first of them is thrashed by Quint in a hail of Chickens in the barn...and I guess he dies, even though Burt Reynolds' line confirming the death was clearly dubbed. But it's fun to watch the prop guys flingin' chickens into camera range during the melee, which keeps things visually interesting.

The conflict between Lottie, Dal and Pat Brady is excellently laid out in the script, and Quint always seems to be around when his help is needed. Still, it's not enough to ensure a happy ending for the pair of lovers. A real bummer.

The plot then shifts to the relationship between the gruff, no-nonsense R. G. Armstrong and his pathetic son Dal, a conflict which is also convincingly defined; the pivotal scene near the end, with R. G. sitting in the bar by himself (joined by Matt) is, again, expertly written, directed and performed. James Best-- an actor whose talent was definitely underrated, deftly moves between sadistic bully and quivering, spineless weakling. Damn' good performance.

As is the performance of Dick Foran as the Hays City Sheriff. Like the true old pro that he is, Mr. Foran is a model of control, authority, and honesty as an actor. The casting director REALLY nailed it by engaging Foran for this part.

Big Jim Arness is also in top form, as the subtlety and command in his final scenes with Best, R. G, and Foran again demonstrate. Keep in mind that he's the only major character in the final scene who is UNAWARE of what's going on. Great scripting (even though the ending was not impossible to predict during the scene between Best and Foran in the jail cell). And---better late than never-- it's good to see Chester get involved in the action, IN ADDITION to his whimsical scene with Doc and his glass o' beer.

MY ONLY COMPLAINT--- the selection of library/musical cues leaves much to be desired. For the opening business with Chester and the stove-pipe, the Music Supervisor must have gone to his file of cues labeled "Monkey Business" or something similar; pretty amateurish stuff. For the big fight in the barn (with the chickens), the garish music cue sounds like Hans Salter or Albert Glasser on an off day, and the brass fanfare stuff for the scene where Dillon and Chester visit the Major's ranch also seems out-of-place. These cues are all too flashy and jarring, and tend to undermine the sober, downbeat tone which is essential to this story.

BUT---OVER ALL-- "With a Smile" is ANOTHER First-Rate accomplishment from the Gunsmoke gang. It's amazing to see how they were able to deliver such high quality so consistently. LR.

This is one of my favorite Gunsmoke episodes! Seen it several times now but luckily i never forget the first time! Not tryna be a 🚨spoiler person🚨 so i'll just say the ending is BRILLIANT! Still recall (during first viewing) how i went from being angry and disappointed in the supposed outcome to THRILLED and, well, AMUSED when i realized what really happened. Absolutely HATED the "Dal" character but now i'm old and i see what a great actor James Best was! imo it was Mr Best who RULED this episode. Actually everyone did a terrific job in their roles but the part of Dal had to be a pussified braggart, a sniveling fool. Now, i can't imagine anyone else in that part. Just wouldn't have worked! So the actors were superb and so was the writing! lol i LOVED the ending so much that i can watch this story over & over! ... siiiiiigh ... but it will NEVER be as AWESOME as the first time!

As previous reviews mention, this episode starts in a way that's a little distanced from the main story. Multiple watchings show how disjointed the action is, because what begins with a would-be rapist trying to have his way with an isolated daughter leads to the father's murder and the daughter eventually ending up killed. It is after her killing that the main plot begins.

Practically from the time Dal Creed is in custody, he veers wildly between being a callous, sadistic bully and a hysterical coward. This guy is truly psychotic mess and James Best turns in an outstanding performance. It is a pity that Best is best known as the one-dimensional Roscoe P. Coltrane on The Dukes of Hazzard. This episode shows how he was capable of more. Just look at his eyes as he becomes more and more desperate toward the end.

Arness is typical in this one...empathetic but somewhat stoic in true Dillon form. But really the heavy lifting is being done by Best and R. G. Armstrong.

I haven't heard a lot of praise in these reviews for R. G. Armstrong and his portrayal of Dal's father, the Major. This is a different kind of role than I usually see Armstrong in, and he understands the character here and how to portray him. Armstrong's Major starts out defensive and in prideful denial, then everything changes as the episode comes to a close. Watching him watch his son unravel as his fate approaches is watching something tragic. To me, his performance makes the episode just as much as Best's does.

I would have given this episode a full 10 rating if the beginning weren't so awkward. Really, the episode should have started with Dal's sick cruelty and progressed from there.

Episodes like this one show just what Gunsmoke was capable of being in its better moments.