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.

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.

I was always in love with Sharon Farrell (along with all the men that married her) from adolescence-on. She had a wide range, but her portrayal of wide eyed innocence is spot-on here. Linden Chiles as the noble cowpoke wronged by James Best at his smarmiest. What a cast!!! They play to type but at a perfect pace. It's so good to watch actors trained and practiced in their art! Story: somewhat run of the mill but elevated by the ensemble's performance and great guest stars! Plenty of bits for everyone to do and the director spread it around so no one misses out. Andrew McLaglen was top-notch as is evident here! Nothing touches it today!

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!

Major Creed has a cowardly bully, Dal, for a son. Dal tries to bully one of his father's ranch hands, and when he won't be bullied Dal says he might put a bullet in his leg. Dal backs down when the hand actually challenges him to a gunfight. The Major comes out and gets only Dal's side of the story and fires the ranch hand. This scene is probably included to illustrate what kind of a person Dal is.

The the scene changes completely to show the ranch hand who didn't get fired attempting to assault a local girl, Lottie, and murdering her father when he attempts to intervene. Quint hears the gunfire, fights with the murderer, and has to kill him to contain him.

Lottie ends up working at the Long Branch since her father's farm had to be sold to pay her debts. She and the ranch hand who got fired from the Creed ranch strike up a romance. When Dal tries to get romantic with Lottie against her will, he once again is shown up as a coward by that same ranch hand. Later that night he tries to shoot the ranch hand down in cold blood as he walks along with Lottie, but hits and kills Lottie instead, by accident. Dal exchanges gunfire with Chester, who clearly sees him. Dal is tried for murder, convicted, and sentenced to hang.

Everything up to this point has just been to get to the essence of the plot - That Dal is a completely worthless person who cannot take responsibility for what he has done and thinks his father will find some way to bend the system - his friendship with the governor, his money, something to get him off the hook for murder, because dad has been getting him off the hook for everything his whole life. He doesn't realize that what he has done is so despicable that nobody is going to keep him from hanging. I wondered why there was that violent scene at Lottie's ranch that seemed to have nothing to do with anything in what came before or after, except perhaps for this - If Lottie had been some random girl whose sad past you did not see, the audience might not hate Dal quite so much. And the author of this piece obviously wants you to really hate this guy.

As the date of his execution nears, Dal melts down into a whiny mess. The major can see he is going to shame both of them when he does die, and he says something interesting to Dillon - That he would rather he die than see his son shame him by dying a coward. What did he mean by that? Watch and find out.