Gunsmoke (TV Series) Chester's Mail Order Bride (1956) User Reviews

Dennis Weaver carries each scene with perfection

[kfo9494 · 9/10 · 16 May 2013]

Dennis Weaver gives an excellent performance in this funny, yet sad, tale of life in the old west.

Chester has been pen pals to this woman back east and now she has made her mind up to come to Dodge City for marrying.. The news that she is making an appearance is much chagrin to Chester since he actually sent a picture of Marshal Dillon to the woman to let her know how he looks. And now when she gets to Dodge she will find out that he is not as handsome as the picture.

But things get even stranger when the woman, Ann Smithwright, arrives and she looks nothing like the picture she sent to Chester. Can the two make anything out of this deceitful situation that does not end with lies?

I was pleasantly impressed with this episode. Weaver's first chance to carry the show and he hits a home-run with his ability to carry every scene. Even Mary Carver as the want-to-be-bride, does a terrific job of taking her small part and putting the viewer right in Dodge. Good acting makes this a excellent watch.

Cupid's Messenger

[gattonero975 · 9/10 · 14 July 2023]

First aired on July 14 1956 First watch this on July 14th 1923 69 years later!

Dennis Weaver's character of Chester take Center Stage in this story. Once again showing Weaver's exceptional acting skills Chester, in this story, has a penpal relationship with a girl named Ann on the mail order bride platform. Theater's letters are so filled emotion and intensity, that Ann falls in love with him because of his words! She wants to see a picture of him. But Chester being shy and scared at the same time, sends one of Marshall Dillon instead! This makes Ann pack up her comfortable Philadelphia home and come straight to the wild West Dodge City immediately! What Chester doesn't know is that Ann also sent a fake/catfish pic to him!(one of her better looking sister) Once finally reunited the truth comes out but after talking it out they realize that they truly love each other despite the deception if the pics. But what Chester doesn't know is that Ann is only 17yrs old and her running away from hime caused her mother to have a heart attack! So the family hired a Pinkerton detective to find and bring Ann back home.

After some serious soul searching, Chester has a talk with Ann and convinces her to go back home with the detective, thus eliminating their engagement and marriage.

A truly warm and endearing sad episode.

Chester Gets a Hard Dose of Reality

[wdavidreynolds · 8/10 · 15 December 2021]

Chester Goode has been corresponding with a woman from Philadelphia. When she sent Chester her picture, Chester responded by sending her a picture of Matt Dillon. Now the woman is traveling to Dodge City intending to marry the man in the picture.

When Matt notices Chester is in an unusually nervous mood, Chester confesses his dilemma. Matt agrees to meet the woman at the stage depot, but he tells Chester he will have to explain the sticky situation to the woman. When the woman - whose name is Ann Smithwright - arrives, Matt discovers the woman is not the woman in the picture Chester provided. Miss Smithwright sent a picture of her older sister.

Once the awkward circumstances are confronted and resolved, Chester and Ann spend some time together and soon agree to an engagement. They plan to marry and become homesteaders. Unfortunately, Chester and his friends do not know the whole story about Miss Smithwright.

Mary Carver portrays Ann Smithwright in this story. Carver would return for three additional episodes over the run of the series. Her final Gunsmoke appearance takes place in Season 8's "Daddy Went Away" where she again plays a woman with whom Chester develops a romance. The actress later appeared in both McCloud and Stone, two subsequent series that starred Dennis Weaver.

Joel Ashley makes his second Gunsmoke appearance in this episode. He plays a character credited as "Linus," but during the story he is called Nate. In his previous appearance, he played a character named Nate. Ashley appeared in four Gunsmoke episodes over the first four seasons.

Russell Thorson also plays a role in his second Gunsmoke episode. Here he plays a Pinkerton detective named Brady. Thorson can be seen in a total of four Gunsmoke episodes. His last appearance was in Season 10.

This story begins on a lighthearted note with Chester caught in a mess of his own making (numerous sitcoms have used a similar premise), but the story takes a decidedly dark turn as it progresses. This will be true of a few other Gunsmoke installments during the years where Chester was a character on the show. In many ways, Chester Goode was a sad, pathetic character. He was always broke, he repeatedly struggled with romantic relationships, and he clearly relied heavily on Matt Dillon's help to make his way in the world.

There are a few notable incidents in this story:

• Chester is normally an easy-going, friendly type, but this story reveals he can be a belligerent drunk.

• Matt paints an extremely ugly picture of the realities of homesteading during that time.

• Kitty Russell once again manages to express doubts about any possibilities of marriage in her future. It is interesting how often the writers include references to Kitty's matrimonial interests in this first season.

Dennis Weaver provides a wonderful performance in this episode, as he often would throughout this series and everything he attempted later. His acting range extended far beyond the Chester Goode character. It is understandable why he chose to leave the series and explore other opportunities.

There is not anything in the way of gunfights or threats of violence in this story. That fact also made the original broadcast of this episode unique in the series at this early stage. Even an episode like the earlier "Magnus" included unnecessary blatantly violent events, possibly because the writers and producers thought audiences would not accept a western without such scenes.

"It's My Fault for Learning to Write"

[pattersonros · 21 May 2013]

This is one of my favorite 30-minute episodes that features Chester.

Chester has been corresponding to a beautiful blonde in Philadelphia; when she asks for a picture, he sends one of Matt (I can't say that I blame him). When "Ann" decides to come to Dodge City, Matt greets her, only to discover that she is not the blonde beauty in the picture (it's her sister). Chester and Ann have a talk and decide that what they wrote in the letters is how they truly feel, (picture mix-ups not withstanding), and they decide to get married. It seems that 17-year-old Ann ran away from home and her mother has taken ill because of it. The parents send a detective to retrieve her and bring her back home; after some soul-searching and sacrificing of his own happiness, Chester does the right thing.

This is a favorite of mine for a few reasons. When Chester tells the "gang" that he is getting married, Doc wants to say something, but Kitty practically shoots daggers at him--daring him to say something, so he passes on it. Then there's Nate, who hit Chester at the beginning of the episode, but is ready to pummel the detective on behalf of "the little feller" (Chester). The scene where Chester tells the party-goers that the wedding is off puts a lump in my throat and tears in eyes ever time I see it.

Funny and touching, conflicted by a small touch of manic musicality

[crein-411-677992 · 10/10 · 12 October 2015]

All three preceding reviews focus on Dennis Weaver's wonderful portrayal of a man mightily conflicted while striving to do the right thing. And yes, the scene where he addresses the crowd is touching and masterful. One of my own favorite scenes is where Doc procures a suit for Chester to wear; comical and touching (old fashioned, situational comedy is always by far superior to the shallow snappy comebacks that dominates TV today). Loved this episode. But there's just one thing that drove me nuts--that music they played for the engagement party. Manic, repeated over and over, nonsensical and maddening. (What in God's name were they thinking??!). Never seen anything like it. Still scratching my head. This episode is both great--but at one relatively brief point--grating. Watch it by all means!

Great episode

[LukeCoolHand · 10/10 · 10 December 2021]

This is one of my favorite non violent episodes of Gunsmoke. Mary Carver who plays Chester's mail order bride Ann, is cute as a button. She later played brothers AJ and Rick's mother on the popular show Simon and Simon.

Some reviewers are commenting that Chester and Ann are not very attractive which is totally not true. I'll say it again -- beauty must be in the eye of the beholder. Mary Carver is very attractive although not in the classical way. Chester is very handsome but not in the classical way either. Both have a quirky look but nowhere near unattractive.

Anyway great episode which displays Mary Carver's and especially Deinnis Weaver's acting chops.

On-line dating Dodge style...

[AlsExGal · 8/10 · 10 July 2022]

... in which the primary problem with such long distance romances emerges - when one or both parties exaggerate or maybe outright lie about their finer qualities. In this case, Chester has sent the girl back east to whom he has been writing a picture of Matt Dillon while passing it off as a picture of himself. And now she is coming all of the way from Philadelphia to meet Chester. Matt agrees to meet her at the railroad depot, but says Chester is going to have to do the explaining when he returns to Dodge with her. Armed with her photo so he'll recognize her, Matt gets a surprise himself. The girl Chester wrote sent him a picture of her better looking sister.

How will this all turn out? Watch and find out. It is one of early Gunsmoke's lighter episodes, which is usually the case when Chester takes center stage.

Also note that Kitty's look has changed. Up to now she has worn little extra makeup but wore extremely revealing clothing that made her look like just another saloon girl. Now she is sporting a more distinguished look in clothing, but her makeup is heavier and her mole makes its first appearance. And not the Soviet kind that everyone was paranoid about in the 1950s. This is probably done because she and Matt are having more and lengthier heart to heart talks, and there is occasional flirty talk that leads you to believe that Kitty is waiting for Matt to pop the question. Also, this gives Kitty more of the look of a proprietor of the Long Branch.

A Well Read Doc Adams

[g-36829-34138 · 8/10 · 8 July 2022]

It is evident during the entire series that Doc is well read. In this segment Doc calls Chester a 'Tin Horn Lochinvar'...Lochinvar, fictional romantic hero of the ballad "Marmion" (1808) by Sir Walter Scott.

Lochinvar is a brave knight who arrives unannounced at the bridal feast of Ellen, his beloved, who is about to be married to "a laggard in love and a dastard in war." Lochinvar claims one dance with the bride and dances her out the door, swooping her up onto his horse, and they ride off together into the unknown.

Thoroughly enjoyed this segment and story - giving Chester some deserved limelight in the script. Very entertaining.

Over the Hill

[darbski · 10/10 · 29 June 2017]

**SPOILERS** One thing any real historian will tell you when learning how to investigate history is NEVER put today's values and viewpoints into a historical perspective. If you do, you will skew the facts off the stage and into the ditch. In this case, the young lady was seventeen years old, right? Very marriageable. If she and Chester had gone through with it, there would have been little that her parents could have done. Nope, the reason for the "ain't gonna get hitched up" solution to Chester's problem was because it was either that, or she'd have to contract some terrible disease, get accidentally gunned down, run over by a runaway wagon, or have some other tragedy get her out of the way of the girls who DIDN'T want Chester to get penned up by some pesky filly. Hollywood - ya gotta love it.

Not The Marrying Kind

[StrictlyConfidential · 5/10 · 30 June 2021]

"Chester's Mail Order Bride" was first aired on television July 14, 1956.

(*Marshal Dillon quote*) - "He's been acting like a pit cock all week."

Anyway - As the story goes - An innocent correspondence turns serious when Chester's intentions are misunderstood.

Aw Shucks!

[dougdoepke · 24 August 2007]

An episode like this is largely a matter of taste. Chester corresponds with a girl back east that eventually leads to romance by mail. Feeling himself unattractive, Chester sends a photo of Matt to the girl, who promptly leaves Philadelphia to meet the man of her dreams. Now Chester's in a pickle and what will he do. Also, what will Matt do now that he's the intended Lothario.

Dennis Weaver shows what a consistently fine actor he was, particularly in the difficult confession scene before the large crowd. He and the girl, played by Mary Carver, also have a drawing-room scene together that could have easily become unbearable, but thanks to their mutual charm, is brought off in reasonable fashion. The script itself has no real suspense or drama, showing why writer John Meston was so badly needed, and how his artistic sense of dramatic tension helped to lift Gunsmoke to classic heights. There is, however, one passage of genuine inspiration-- that is the point at which Matt emphasizes the killing hardships of homesteading. This is a powerful topic that can bring together life on the American frontier and those popular beliefs so often distorted by TV, radio, books, etc. Too bad that unromanticized homesteading has been so infrequently dramatized. Perhaps that's because there is so little glamor or comfort in the grim desperation of trying to survive the real settling of the American West.

Very good show

[mikejavick · 17 April 2020]

This was Chester's finest moment ! I thoroughly enjoyed this episode.