Gunsmoke (TV Series) Abe Blocker (1962) User Reviews

A moving portrait of a man whose time has passed

[alborak-550-103578 · 9/10 · 2 May 2014]

In contrast to the other review, I find that the first portion of this episode - where Abe Blocker reflects on his life since coming west in the 1830's - is one of the warmest, most endearing and almost heart-wrenching portrayal of a warm hearted, good natured anachronism I've ever seen. Abe tells of "endless winters with not another white face in sight", and then continues to speak with lasting love of his long-dead Indian wife (and child). He says that "when I feel death on old Abe Blocker" he'll head back for the home he once shared with his wife to lie down beside their graves and share the silence forever. Chill Wills does an amazing job of portraying this Abe, the one that Matt knew, and the enraged Abe who can't cope with the "new ways, new laws, and new people" who are (to his way of thinking) ruining the land he knew and loves.

The rest of the episode is quite predictable, although extremely well acted throughout. I recorded this episode over three years ago, and continue to go back to watch the "mountain man" segment when I feel the urge to watch a master craftsman (Wills) ply his trade. I've seen most, if not all, of the original (60-minute) episodes, but this is the one that stands out in my memory. I'd give it a 10 if the whole hour was equal to Abe's elegiac near-soliloquy. Highly recommended watching!

amazing acting

[rzellmer-73567 · 9/10 · 27 December 2017]

This by far my favorite episode of gunsmoke. The scene on the mountain with Abe and Matt should have earned Chill an award for best supporting actor. No one else could have delivered a powerful and heart filled performance in this role.

One of the best Gunsmoke episodes ever.

[bepinlv · 9/10 · 21 January 2018]

I saw this episode once before, but I am still amazed at Chill Wills's acting. He was outstanding. He usually had bit roles in various Westerns, but he stood head-and-shoulders above the rest of the cast as Abe Blocker, a tragic, pathetic and unforgettable character. Totally memorable!

One of television drama's finest moments

[mayford-29578 · 10/10 · 19 August 2019]

Chill Wills' finest moment as an actor as well. The soliloquy where he reflects on his struggle to survive as a Mountain Man, his dead wife and infant son, and plans to join them in eternity is unforgettable. I strongly disagree with the one negative review here. The mountain man's use of the word "quintessence" was great because it was unexpected rather than cliched. It emphasized that there was more to this man than meets the eye. The depth of feeling displayed was incredible. It completely changed my evaluation of Wills as an actor. He was grossly underused and misused throughout his career. This episode demonstrates what a great actor he was when he had a truly talented writer (John Meston) and director (Andrew V. McLaglen). This is as good as it gets.

Legit

[maskers-87126 · 8/10 · 21 October 2018]

This was a good subject. As an elder I can relate to the passing of a familiar culture. I cant stand Chill Wills but this story had a real legit subject that is still universal.

Amazing television

[movingwater · 10/10 · 11 August 2020]

We (over 60) grew up with Gunsmoke, but from a child's eyes it was just a good cowboy show. Watching the series again as an adult, I'm amazed at how really special are some of the episodes. Abe Blocker from this season and season 7, episode 22, The Gallows, really take my breath away. Television showing what it could have become.

The West has changed

[adness · 19 June 2019]

Abe Blocker is a throwback, a last remnant of the early days when the the plains and the mountains of the West were the province of Indians and a few larger than life mountain men. The is the poignant story of an old mountain man come to the end of his days. A tour de force performance by Chill Wills highlighted by his campfire speech to Matt that highlights his role in a lot of of actual mountain man history (He helped Bent build his fort in the 30s and went to the legendary trapper reunions). Highly recommended.

Tailor Made For Chill Wills

[kmaiden-33700 · 10/10 · 29 September 2020]

Just piling on top of the heap of great reviews here. Chill Wills gives a bravura performance and the subject was thought-provoking. Excellent show.

Abe is having difficult dealing with changing times

[kfo9494 · 7/10 · 28 November 2012]

The episode main character is an aging westward pioneer named Abe Blocker. Abe has lived in the wilderness nearly all his life and he can see things changing right in front of his eyes. As he said, you could go seasons without seeing any white man but now they are moving west patching the land with farms and bring cows and hogs. He is from a different time and cannot understand why things are changing.

The first hint of trouble is when Abe threatened the Groves, a young couple of settlers trying to make it on the prairie. He is upset they they are ruining his so-called land and wants them to move. Bud groves goes into Dodge and relates the story to Marshal Dillon. Matt just happens to be an old friend of Abe Blocker and decides to go have a talk with him. The talk did not go well as Abe kept reminiscing about earlier times with less people. Even Matt thought that Abe was becoming dangerous with his wild mood swings.

So after word comes to town that the Groves had been murdered. Then more news from across the prairie that settlers are being murder by a large man in buckskin clothing. This could only be Abe Blocker.

Matt and Quint go looking for Abe but he is a better in the wild than either of them. Soon the entire area forms a posse trying to stop the killings of settlers around Dodge. But it will not be until Abe is wounded that Matt knows where he plans to make his next appearance. Alone, Matt will confront Abe perhaps for the last time.

Even though the story was pleasant, it just took a long time to tell the reason for Abe's vengeance. The first half of the episode basically deals with Abe talking about his life in the wilderness. It was becoming long and dull. I will say the second half picked up real nicely as we have Matt and the rest trying to find a very movable Abe Blocker. By the time the episode ends the viewer has been treated to an very nice story. Good Watch

A soul stirring performance by Chill Wills....

[hpringnitz · 10/10 · 18 April 2022]

....combined with the raw, gritty realism of John Meston's style of writing makes this one of the best Gunsmoke episodes. I enjoyed it very much.

But as a retired OTR trucker, I happen to know the closest mountains to Dodge City are about 500 miles west of town. So what was Abe Blocker doing in those stomping grounds anyway? Still a good episode, though.....

Kind of like those sentencing hearings for first degree murderers...

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 15 October 2022]

... In that - yes - you (the murderer) have a compelling and sympathetic story, but that doesn't change the fact that you are a murderer!

Abe Blocker (Chill Wills) is a "mountain man" and good friend of Marshal Matt Dillon. He's also somebody who has warned a couple of farmers that they have no business messing up this wild country, they don't belong here, and if they stay he'll kill them. The farmers go to Dodge City and tell the Marshal what happened. Matt is a bit confused because this does not sound like his old friend Abe. So Matt rides out to talk to Abe about what he has said. Abe has an interesting tale of how the prairie looked years ago, of his marriage to an Indian girl, and how he lost both her and their son to childbirth. He basically has nothing to look forward to now but enjoying the wilderness, and he says these settlers are ruining that for him. So he has decided he will kill them.

So Abe DOES kill the settlers and a bunch of other people with homes and farms on the prairie, and even takes out a couple of the members of the posse who has come to bring him in. The cruelty and randomness of his heinous acts remove any sympathy I'd normally have for the guy.

I give this 7/10 stars because it was very good acting by Chill Wills who is usually just a character actor in TV and movies, and this time he is the whole show. I'd recommend it on that alone.

Performance by Chill Wills

[g-36829-34138 · 10/10 · 18 June 2022]

A deeply moving and convincing performance by Chlll Wills. It was captivating. His relating of the 'good old days' and all his memories of his wife and son were as though the actor actually lived it. Gunsmoke scripts and directing brought out the best in many of the character actors that came on the show over the years. The final scene almost had a mystical quality about it. Leaving him in death over his wife and son's graves. A fine showcase for Chill Wills.

One viewing is enough

[orangelifer · 3/10 · 8 June 2021]

I don't understand why so many viewers here seem to love this episode. One called the story "pleasant". It definitely is not. This is a thoroughly sad, unpleasant episode. The young couple we are introduced to at the beginning are murdered and scalped half way through. More people are murdered. The entire story is death and killing. Gunsmoke tends to be gritty and I respect it for that. But ultimately it's intended to be entertainment. Not only is this episode depressing, in my opinion it's somewhat boring. This is not an episode I desire to watch more than once.

"Go 'way man, you don't belong here"

[ben-thayer · 9 June 2021]

Some varied reviews here, I'm throwing in with those who feel it was an excellent episode. It's one of my favorites.

Unlike some the other reviewers, I felt that Abe Blocker's musings about his life in the wild were extremely relevant and poignant. When he began speaking of his long dead Blackfoot wife and their lost child it was doubly so. The loss he felt was palpable and real. And I also agree with the other reviewers who stated that Chill Wills performance was amazing. He should've received an Emmy nomination for this role.

The voiceover at episode's end was extremely eerie, invoking the ghost stories Blocker claimed his deceased wife was so good at telling. A fitting end to a gripping story.

Excellent ep with elements of both thought an action

[bobforapples-40146 · 10/10 · 8 July 2023]

An old mountain man threatens to kills a young steaders and his great beautiful wife. He accuses the young couple of destroying his land ( even though they have every legal right to be there). The steaders goes into Dodge and tells Matt right when the latter is in the pool hall in a game. Matt goes to warn the old mountain man ( whose name is Abe Blocker) of the consequences if he makes good on his threat to the young streaders. Abe and Matt get into a long conversation ( where Abe does a lot of recollecting on his many years in the Kansas area and how times have changed so much for the worst). This is one of the best scenes with so much poignancy in Abe's stories of late wife. Eventually the couple is murdered by Abe. They are the first two of quite a few of Abe's newly murdered. Matt and Quint and a large posse go after him. Matt alone finds Abe who dies of gunshot wounds obtained earlier that day. After Matt quickly buries him he hears talking from beyond the grave and telling the lawman to go away from the gravesite. A supernatural ending!

This ep is expertly acted written. Outstanding!

PS What is this tommyrot from another poster about Quint never doing anything on the show. He killed two bad guys who killed his dad in the first ep we saw him in. And Festus was full of depth and surprise!

Abe / Chill Wills

[blfinish-15564 · 10/10 · 1 December 2021]

I thought his mountain speech was outstanding. He should have won an award for this performance. I also thought Arness did a good job in that scene also. Overall it was pretty much Gunsmoke as usual.

Quintessence of a mountain man

[gary-64659 · 9/10 · 8 March 2019]

I have to disagree with the weight of the reviews of this episode and say that John Meston let himself down in the realism department -- to which he showed such great affinity in adapting the original radio scripts for the early, half-hour "Gunsmoke" tv episodes (1955-61). An uneducated, homicidally crazed mountain man (and "squaw man") who works the word "quintessence" into a soliloquy? Come on! It was a stock character from Chill Wills' very narrow repertoire. Good work by James Arness, Amanda Blakr and Burt Reynolds though.

Talk, talk, talk and then talk some more.

[LukeCoolHand · 2/10 · 17 January 2022]

WOW . I do not get all the favorable reviews for this episode at all. The first half is Matt and Abe in the woods doing nothing but talk talk talk for 30 minutes. That is so boring I didn't even care about the last half which wasn't much better. I really love most of Gunsmoke episodes but the best part of this episode was the end credits. Maybe most of the reviewers on this are Chill Wills fans or something - I am not. I don't care for him in any TV show or film I have ever seen him in. He seems to be the actor that producers hire when they need a boring old man to do nothing but talk. Another reviewer said he thought Quint was the best second banana out of Chester, Festus, and Thad. Nope. Chester was miles ahead of any of them. In fact my order for second banana is Chester first by a long shot of course. Then Quint and Thad are next and tied because they usually have nothing to do, and then that hillbilly Festus almost ruins any episode he's in with his bulging eyeballs, whiny voice, and over acting. Anyway that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Loudmouth old psychopath

[silverpilgrim-56896 · 3/10 · 30 November 2021]

Chill Wills was always a one-note mediocrity. Here he adds homicidal loon to his repertoire. There is nothing poignant about his violent inability/unwillingness to adjust to progress and the advent of law-abiding society. As usual, John Meston portrays murderous, selfish evil as worthy of admiration. And some of the dialog is ridiculous: "quintessential" isn't even the worst of it.

The worst part of this episode is Matt's humoring of the old goon and his failure to help the people who came to him for protection.

Redeeming features; another solid appearance by Burt Reynolds. As much as I like Festus, Quint was the best supporting character to ever appear on Gunsmoke, all the Chester fanboys notwithstanding. Nice to see Harry Carey, Jr in a small part as well, and for once Lane Bradford doesn't get stuck playing a thug.