Henry Huckaby is another poor dirt farmer who is sick of eating oatmeal and potatoes and struggling to make ends meet. Huckaby reminds me of Caleb Marr in episode 26, "Caleb." Both men are facing an existential crisis. While Caleb Marr seeks meaning in life, Henry Huckaby thinks money will solve his problems. Like Marr, Huckaby decides to make his way to Dodge City to seek a solution.
Huckaby isn't too concerned with the ethical ramifications of his quest. He wants to make his fortune with as little effort as possible. He considers gun running, stable tending, blacksmithing, and even tries gambling, and finds none of them particularly lucrative.
As Huckaby continues his quest for a moneymaking idea, he witnesses a fight between a man named Otto and an ornery cowboy named Jake. Jake picks the fight with Otto on the streets of Dodge, but Jake doesn't know Otto is a trained boxer. Otto easily wins the fist fight. Huckaby introduces himself to Otto, and Otto tells him he is willing to fight anyone, anywhere.
Huckaby recalls meeting a Fort Dodge soldier named Johnny Towers who is supposed to be very good with his fists, and Huckaby decides he will become a fight promoter, therefore the name of the episode. Huckaby is able to get Otto and Towers to agree to fight, and he manages to make all of the arrangements for the fight to take place in the Dodge City freight yard.
Of course, the events do not transpire quite like Huckaby expects, and the resulting situations move this John Meston story along.
The cast for this episode is huge compared to most Gunsmoke stories, as a matter of fact, it was the largest cast used in a single episode of the entire series up to this time. There are many lesser known but familiar faces among the cast, but most are uncredited.
Vic Perrin is the Henry Huckaby character. Perrin performed in many television episodes during the 1960s and 1970s. He had previously appeared in the Season 9 Gunsmoke episode "Now That April's Here," and he was featured in other Gunsmoke episodes. He played different roles in many different episodes of Dragnet and Adam-12 in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Later in his career he was noted for his voice work in animated features.
Wilhelm Von Homburg's Otto character was based on Von Homburg's career as a boxer, and director Andrew McLaglen had Von Homburg flown to the U.S. from Germany especially for this episode.
John Newman's performance as Johnny Towers is notable as an unusually non-stereotypical portrayal by a person of color during the time this episode was made. The Towers character is treated with dignity and respect, which was not always the case during this time.
Huckaby isn't too concerned with the ethical ramifications of his quest. He wants to make his fortune with as little effort as possible. He considers gun running, stable tending, blacksmithing, and even tries gambling, and finds none of them particularly lucrative.
As Huckaby continues his quest for a moneymaking idea, he witnesses a fight between a man named Otto and an ornery cowboy named Jake. Jake picks the fight with Otto on the streets of Dodge, but Jake doesn't know Otto is a trained boxer. Otto easily wins the fist fight. Huckaby introduces himself to Otto, and Otto tells him he is willing to fight anyone, anywhere.
Huckaby recalls meeting a Fort Dodge soldier named Johnny Towers who is supposed to be very good with his fists, and Huckaby decides he will become a fight promoter, therefore the name of the episode. Huckaby is able to get Otto and Towers to agree to fight, and he manages to make all of the arrangements for the fight to take place in the Dodge City freight yard.
Of course, the events do not transpire quite like Huckaby expects, and the resulting situations move this John Meston story along.
The cast for this episode is huge compared to most Gunsmoke stories, as a matter of fact, it was the largest cast used in a single episode of the entire series up to this time. There are many lesser known but familiar faces among the cast, but most are uncredited.
Vic Perrin is the Henry Huckaby character. Perrin performed in many television episodes during the 1960s and 1970s. He had previously appeared in the Season 9 Gunsmoke episode "Now That April's Here," and he was featured in other Gunsmoke episodes. He played different roles in many different episodes of Dragnet and Adam-12 in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Later in his career he was noted for his voice work in animated features.
Wilhelm Von Homburg's Otto character was based on Von Homburg's career as a boxer, and director Andrew McLaglen had Von Homburg flown to the U.S. from Germany especially for this episode.
John Newman's performance as Johnny Towers is notable as an unusually non-stereotypical portrayal by a person of color during the time this episode was made. The Towers character is treated with dignity and respect, which was not always the case during this time.