There were a few episodes featuring insanely jealous jerks on Gunsmoke. In this one, Andy Coe is the loudmouth who is always presuming that his wife is being chased by other men. Coe is played by Lew Brown, who is usually the third string thug on Gunsmoke. This time he gets to yell at his wife a lot.
His hapless wife Millie Coe is played by Leah Waggner, in her only appearance on Gunsmoke. Her acting career was active from 1951 to 1966. Here she plays the virtuous wife who is trying to help her hot-headed husband get a job, and who is also afraid of her volatile and violent husband.
The villain in this story is played by Robert Karnes, a veteran actor who had 203 acting credits, and appeared on Gunsmoke eleven times. He starts out as a nice guy, trying to help out the Coes after he accidentally side-swiped and smoked their old beater wagon with his commercial freight wagon. He gives Andy a job at the freight office.
Andy resents Karnes because Karnes is successful, and Andy is a total loser. He is immediately suspicious of Karnes, and starts bad-mouthing his boss. This episode makes you wonder, was the reason Karnes went after Millie Coe is because Andy was such a jerk, as payback for Andy's own expectations? Did Karnes originally help out Andy so he could chase Millie? Did Karnes have bad intentions, or was Karnes reacting to Andy's jealousy and low expectations of his own wife?
The action is pretty predictable if not outright dumb. In a small town, would any prominent business man risk it all over a married woman with plain looks and a dim personality? Millie Coe is no Miss Kitty. The end is typical of a John Meston story. Nobody wins. Somebody was beat up and assaulted, somebody got killed, and the only bright spot is that Andy Coe declares in shock that his wife was not a tramp after all. I was really hoping Marshal Dillon would have shot his nuts off at the very end.
His hapless wife Millie Coe is played by Leah Waggner, in her only appearance on Gunsmoke. Her acting career was active from 1951 to 1966. Here she plays the virtuous wife who is trying to help her hot-headed husband get a job, and who is also afraid of her volatile and violent husband.
The villain in this story is played by Robert Karnes, a veteran actor who had 203 acting credits, and appeared on Gunsmoke eleven times. He starts out as a nice guy, trying to help out the Coes after he accidentally side-swiped and smoked their old beater wagon with his commercial freight wagon. He gives Andy a job at the freight office.
Andy resents Karnes because Karnes is successful, and Andy is a total loser. He is immediately suspicious of Karnes, and starts bad-mouthing his boss. This episode makes you wonder, was the reason Karnes went after Millie Coe is because Andy was such a jerk, as payback for Andy's own expectations? Did Karnes originally help out Andy so he could chase Millie? Did Karnes have bad intentions, or was Karnes reacting to Andy's jealousy and low expectations of his own wife?
The action is pretty predictable if not outright dumb. In a small town, would any prominent business man risk it all over a married woman with plain looks and a dim personality? Millie Coe is no Miss Kitty. The end is typical of a John Meston story. Nobody wins. Somebody was beat up and assaulted, somebody got killed, and the only bright spot is that Andy Coe declares in shock that his wife was not a tramp after all. I was really hoping Marshal Dillon would have shot his nuts off at the very end.