Lover Boy (5 Oct. 1963)

A charming cowboy apparently is guilty only of breaking hearts until he gets to Dodge, where he finds two women who may make a killer of him.

Director:

Andrew V. McLaglen

Writer:

John Meston

Stars:

James Arness, Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake

Cast

Episode cast overview:
James Arness	...	Matt Dillon
Milburn Stone	...	Doc
Amanda Blake	...	Kitty
Burt Reynolds	...	Quint
Sheree North	...	Avis
Ken Curtis	...	Kyle
Alan Baxter	...	Ab
Carol Byron	...	Terry
Richard Coogan	...	Luke
Allan Hunt	...	Boy

Storyline

Ken Curtis, who will return later in the season as Festus, appears here as Kyle Kelly, a love-'em-and-leave-'em cowboy. As the episode opens, he leaves brokenhearted a girl who had expected a marriage proposal from him. He arrives in Dodge and soon takes up with the bored wife of a homesteader. Though there's no sign that Kelly has killed before, he and the wife make plans to get rid of her husband. Meanwhile, Kelly walks into the Long Branch and improbably encounters the girl he most recently left behind, now in Dodge and employed as a saloon gal. He gets into a fight over her and is humiliated. Next day he rides out to get his revenge on the man who bettered him; then he and the homesteader's wife hatch a plan to pin the killing on her husband.

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Genres:

Drama | Western

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 October 1963 (USA)

Filming Locations:

CBS Studio Center - 4024 Radford Avenue, Studio City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Arness Production Company, Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

User Reviews

A treat for fans of Ken Curtis

As a fan of Ken Curtis, I liked this one (despite its largely formulaic plot) because we see him in what I think is his last appearance on the show--after his debut as Festus in "Us Haggens" the previous season--as someone other than Festus. Indeed, not only is he not the character who would become the marshal's deputy here, but he's the villain of the piece. He's a true lady's man, a suave cad, as at ease with the ladies as he is attractive to them. His Festus drawl is not heard (it was also considerably less evident in "Us Haggens" than it was to become in the established Festus character) and he even seems to stand taller and to be more good-looking. I liked the rascal so well that it was a pain to realize that he must be dealt with in the Old Testament style so favored by screenwriter John Meston (and no doubt dictated as well by the Hollywood code of the time).