Pa Hack's Brood (28 Dec. 1963)

A repugnant drifter hopes to use his nubile daughter to get his hands on a piece of land.

Director:

Jerry Hopper

Writer:

Paul Savage

Stars:

James Arness, Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake

Cast

Episode cast overview:
James Arness	...	Matt Dillon
Milburn Stone	...	Doc
Amanda Blake	...	Kitty
Burt Reynolds	...	Quint
Milton Selzer	...	Pa Hack
Lynn Loring	...	Maybelle
Marianna Hill	...	Annie
George Lindsey	...	Orville
James Hampton	...	Jeb (as Jim Hampton)
Russell Thorson	...	Pa Willis
Charles Kuenstle	...	Lonnie
James Nusser	...	Louie Pheeters

Storyline

Itinerant and shiftless Pa Hack is the worthless father of three grown, ragged children. He bullies his two sons into stealing for their meager pot. When he stops by the Willis farm to beg some flour and coffee to supplement the chickens one of his boys stole, Pa Hack covets the Willis land and decides to use his ragged daughter as bait for the owner's son in order to get himself a piece of that land. Trouble is, the Willises have taken in a young woman who may get in the way. As he salivates over the land he's come to see as his by right, Pa Hack doesn't hesitate to use violence to get what he wants.

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Plot Keywords:

character name in title

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Genres:

Drama | Western

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Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 December 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 chance to see "Goober" in a very different role

"Pa Hack's Brood" recycles some of the favorite themes of "Gunsmoke" writers of the early 1960s that were aired in the preceding two seasons: grown men cowed into submission by their fathers ("The Boys," "Harpe's Blood," and others) and shiftless folk who think the easy path to land and riches is to kidnap the unsuspecting prospect and force the person into marriage ("Root Down," "Phoebe Strunk," "Marry Me"). This episode combines the two plots with only so-so results. The final scene of the episode rings false (I was minded of the old line that the person would be likely to last as long as a cockroach in a hen house) and a significant element of the plot is left dangling. Still, I found the episode worthwhile because I was able to see George Lindsey, familiar to most watchers of old television as Goober in the "Andy Griffith Show," in a dramatic role. He's under-appreciated in such roles. To see him in a really chilling role, about as unlike Goober as one could imagine, catch him in the "Alfred Hitchcock Hour"'s "Bed of Roses."