Gunsmoke (TV Series) The Wrong Man (1966) User Reviews

The Story of a Loser

[wdavidreynolds · 7/10 · 16 July 2019]

Hootie Kyle is a badly struggling farmer faced with the dilemma of knowing he cannot afford to support his family while trying to maintain his farm and some measure of dignity. He desperately needs water for his farm, but the well he has been digging has not yielded water. Mr. Purvis at the store in Dodge City cuts off Hootie's credit pending payment of the $100 he already owes.

Desperate men sometimes do foolish, desperate things, and this episode is essentially a tale of someone--namely Hootie Kyle--desperately, stubbornly, often foolishly refusing to face reality with potentially tragic results.

The viewer knows all the details as the story unfolds, but the characters involved do not. This leads to even more poor decisions on Hootie's part.

I enjoy the way this episode slowly builds. The viewer can feel Hootie Kyle's frustration as he continues to make one wrong decision after another. The conclusion seems inevitable from the beginning, but it is easy to continue to root for Hootie's fortunes to reverse.

Carroll O'Connor is great in this episode in the Hootie Kyle role. The rest of the supporting cast is strong, too. This isn't the best episode in the series by far, but it is very well done.

Slow first half but picks up nicely near the end

[kfo9494 · 6/10 · 18 September 2012]

Carroll O'Connor plays, Hootie Kyle, a down-on-his-luck farmer that is desperately in need of money to feed his family. As a proud man he has to lower himself to borrow money from Matt and Festus just to get some supplies for the family. When the store refuses to provide any more credit until he pays off the entire amount, Hootie has to find a way to get more money. So he joins a card game with the money given to him.

When Hootie loses the money to a card-shark named Tenner Jackson, he feels like he has been cheated. So he meets Tanner on his way home and demands his thirty dollars back. He then hits Tanner, knocking him to the ground, and take the thirty dollars from the large amount of money in Tanner's wallet.

Later Hootie feels remorse and decides to return the money. Matt informs Hootie that Tanner is dead. Tanner had been shot and all his money stolen. Hootie is placed in jail waiting for trial. But Hootie's family may not want their father to stand trial and face possible hanging.

The first half of this episode is slow for action. One could even lose interest in the story before it picks up nicely near the end. If you survive the first half, you will be rewarded in the end.

Pretty weak episode.

[YoungHorse45 · 3/10 · 31 August 2021]

One of those episodes where I kept waiting for it to get good, but it never did happen. Just a sad sack story with a sad, unsatisfying ending. Plus, when Matt is listening to Hootie's side of the story about the death of the gambler, he says that the rest of the money could have "blown away". Well, why not take a dozen men out and see if you find any money?

Again, a weak "sad sack" story with an unsatisfying ending. I'll never get my hour of life back. Rated it a 3.