Distant Drummer (19 Nov. 1960)

Two roughnecks (Sloat and Grade) cruelly harass Raffie Bly, a confused and defenseless young man who suffered a serious head trauma while serving as a drummer in the Civil War.

Director:

Arthur Hiller

Writers:

John Meston (teleplay), Marian Clark (story)

Stars:

James Arness, Dennis Weaver, Milburn Stone

Cast

Episode cast overview:
James Arness	...	Matt Dillon
Dennis Weaver	...	Chester Goode
Milburn Stone	...	Dr. Galen 'Doc' Adams
Bruce Gordon	...	Sloat
Jack Grinnage	...	Raffie Bly
George Mitchell	...	Bill Grade
George Selk	...	Moss Grimmick
William Newell	...	Green
Phil Chambers	...	Hugo

Storyline

Two roughnecks (Sloat and Grade) cruelly harass Raffie Bly, a confused and defenseless young man who suffered a serious head trauma while serving as a drummer in the Civil War.

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Genres:

Drama | Western

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 November 1960 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Arness and Co., Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Chester: Well, at least Raffie's gonna have plenty to eat and someplace to sleep now. You know, he must've had a pretty terrible time in the war.
Doc: Yeah, I guess it addled him some, too.

User Reviews

Interesting Kolchak Connection

Two mule skinners named Grade and Sloat delight in tormenting young Raffie Bligh, a former wartime drummer boy. Bligh is pretty incredible. He plays an innocent, traumatized, simple kid who is a veteran of the drum corps. Presumably a Civil War vet.

His performance is jaw-dropping. He goes from innocent child, to happy, to scared and terrified, sad, and then shifts to being determined to get revenge. A few minutes later, he is filled with forgiveness. It is a lot of emoting for such a small role. He hits all the ranges of emotions, and he does a convincing job.

Bligh is being tormented by a couple of mule skinners who want to humiliate him. There is a certain subtext here for those of us who saw the movie "Deliverance." It seems like these middle-aged hill folks have too much interest in the young boy.

After a series of abuses and confrontations, one of the mule skinners turns up dead. Bligh is accused of the crime by the survivor, but Marshall Dillon has other ideas.

This is a top notch episode. One of the great things about Gunsmoke was that on many occasions, a guest actor was featured and most of the rest of the cast was not in the episode for more than a minute or two. In this case, Bligh was played by a young Jack Grinnage, who later appeared regularly as one of Carl Kolchak's (Darrin McGavin) fellow INS reporters on the 1974 series, Kolchak: The Night Stalker.