Other reviewers thought this episode was not that great. However I for one really enoyed it. I wont go into the plot as others have already done that. I admit there are better episodes of Gunsmoke but they all have little flaws. This episode kept me entertained for the whole hour. Watching Fay Spain and Leonard Nimoy play entirely different characters in Gunsmoke is a real pleasure.
7 Reviews
Well crafted ep.
bmulkey-8159719 April 2023
Warning: Spoilers
The idea of a person getting killed a day if Matt does not go to Hayes City and let the gang rob the Dodge City-located bank is a dramatic one indeed. The gang are shown pretty early in the ep then they disappear for about the next 2 acts. Then they show up again. Making the gang a mostly unseen deadly menace worked to the ep's great advantage far more than showing them a lot ( while performing their promised murderous deeds) would have.
I would like to point out that when the Billiard Parlor lady tells Chester she is from the same town the murderous gang is also claiming to hail from he fails to make a connection. But we don't.
One final note. This ep has a plot point that die hard James Bond fans may appreciate. Remember how the gang goes to the bank and finds no money. The writers of the '64 Bond film Goldfinger had a similarly scripted plan for thief Auric Goldfinger to break into Fort Knox and find out it ( Fort Knox)was all a decoy and that the gold was not stored there at all. The joke would have been on Goldfinger! That scene did not make it to the final draft and in the finished product Goldfiñger and gang did find a gold supply. But diehard Bond fans knew what the original script was going to be like and this ep is reminscient of that hit Bond film's earlier script.
I would like to point out that when the Billiard Parlor lady tells Chester she is from the same town the murderous gang is also claiming to hail from he fails to make a connection. But we don't.
One final note. This ep has a plot point that die hard James Bond fans may appreciate. Remember how the gang goes to the bank and finds no money. The writers of the '64 Bond film Goldfinger had a similarly scripted plan for thief Auric Goldfinger to break into Fort Knox and find out it ( Fort Knox)was all a decoy and that the gold was not stored there at all. The joke would have been on Goldfinger! That scene did not make it to the final draft and in the finished product Goldfiñger and gang did find a gold supply. But diehard Bond fans knew what the original script was going to be like and this ep is reminscient of that hit Bond film's earlier script.
Opening Scene Itself is Better than Entire Movies
TheresaWhetstone19 April 2022
Warning: Spoilers
PLOT (Possible Spoilers)
This episode's opening scene is probably one of the most hilarious of any Gunsmoke folly I've had the pleasure to watch.
Chester and Doc are headed to a "friendly" game of billiards. But Chester gets unexpectantly side-tracked by a new face in town, a woman named Bessie Lee.
Suddenly, Chester and Doc's friendly game is replaced by a Chester and Bessie's friendly talk. Poor neglected Doc has no other choice but to quietly shuffle out the billiard hall.
But don't let this light-heartedness trick you.
As the story develops, Bessie's friendliness is just a front for a deadly gang, one of the most dangerous Dodge has ever seen.
Murder and mayhem suddenly surround the town of Dodge and of course only one man can lead the fight to justice, Marshal Matt Dillon.
THOUGHTS/INSIGHTS I'm a big fan of these black and white episodes and this one in season 7 introduced us to a young Leonard Nimoy, 5 years before his iconic role of Mister Spock on the original Star Trek TV show.
He went on to guest star on Gunsmoke 3 more times, the last in 1966, the same year he began his odyssey on a new frontier.
MUST WATCH SCALE: 10/10 A Man A Day was my favorite episode until it was edged out by Old Yellow Boots. Both of these episodes have a strong female lead, yet both are every bit as hard hitting. Others may disagree, but for me... Entertaining, must see.
Chester and Doc are headed to a "friendly" game of billiards. But Chester gets unexpectantly side-tracked by a new face in town, a woman named Bessie Lee.
Suddenly, Chester and Doc's friendly game is replaced by a Chester and Bessie's friendly talk. Poor neglected Doc has no other choice but to quietly shuffle out the billiard hall.
But don't let this light-heartedness trick you.
As the story develops, Bessie's friendliness is just a front for a deadly gang, one of the most dangerous Dodge has ever seen.
Murder and mayhem suddenly surround the town of Dodge and of course only one man can lead the fight to justice, Marshal Matt Dillon.
THOUGHTS/INSIGHTS I'm a big fan of these black and white episodes and this one in season 7 introduced us to a young Leonard Nimoy, 5 years before his iconic role of Mister Spock on the original Star Trek TV show.
He went on to guest star on Gunsmoke 3 more times, the last in 1966, the same year he began his odyssey on a new frontier.
MUST WATCH SCALE: 10/10 A Man A Day was my favorite episode until it was edged out by Old Yellow Boots. Both of these episodes have a strong female lead, yet both are every bit as hard hitting. Others may disagree, but for me... Entertaining, must see.
Dillon Undoes a Deadly Web
jeffstonewords22 September 2023
An outlaw gang intent on robbing Dodge's bank plants an attractive mole named Bess (Fay Spain) in a small billiards parlor. Swayed by Bess' beauty and charm, Chester fails to recognize the incongruity of a female hostess in such a place and doesn't notice at least one verbal clue Bess drops inadvertently.
Chester meets Bess in the humorous opening scene. An ostensibly busy Doc tries to squeeze in a quick game with a distracted Chester but eventually leaves in frustration-which Chester doesn't seem to notice for a while. Chester does, however, keep noticing Bess and takes on the task of showing her around the town. This greatly eases her job of gathering info for the gang.
The leader of the gang eventually sends a note requesting Marshal Dillon's presence at a certain farmhouse. A duty-pressed Dillon sends Chester in his stead, much to the chagrin of the gang. Nonetheless, they share their demands with Chester: Marshal Dillon must leave town, which will allow them to rob the bank, or the gang will begin killing a man a day-starting with "unimportant" people while moving up the ladder toward the marshal's closest friends.
Chester soon realizes the gang has considerable intel on the denizens of Dodge. A menacing Grice (Leonard Nimoy) makes this clear in chilling fashion when he says how much he would personally like to kill Chester after he makes threats toward Kitty and Doc.
Marshal Dillon assigns bodyguards to the stubborn Kitty and irascible Doc, who both try to refuse any protection. But the marshal's orders are firm and the bodyguards are so dedicated to the task and feel so obligated to their friends that they won't even accept the three dollars per day offered as a wage. Nonetheless, tension builds as men die and the lovely Ana (Ann Morell) is accosted by one of the vulgar killers, who forces Ana to serve him supper after four members of the gang murder a worker on the farm where she lives.
While the pressure mounts and the gang's confidence increases, Dillon gathers his own intel and devises a plan to unravel the killers' brutal scheme. The plan includes subterfuge common in an episode of Gunsmoke, so common it perhaps gets taken for granted sometimes. Regardless, it's an essential plot twist in this episode. But none of it happens without Dillon's willingness to carefully study and ability to clearly understand the motivation of the criminal(s) in each particular case.
This episode features a tremendous cast that doesn't disappoint. The exchange at the end between Dillon and Bess is particularly compelling. It is not only wonderful acting but also a great piece of psychological warfare. As so often happens in an episode of Gunsmoke, a particularly ruthless, diabolic, greedy, arrogant, or otherwise repulsive antagonist is not merely defeated; the adversary is ripped into shreds by the inertia of reaching too far or too fast or in the wrong direction.
Chester meets Bess in the humorous opening scene. An ostensibly busy Doc tries to squeeze in a quick game with a distracted Chester but eventually leaves in frustration-which Chester doesn't seem to notice for a while. Chester does, however, keep noticing Bess and takes on the task of showing her around the town. This greatly eases her job of gathering info for the gang.
The leader of the gang eventually sends a note requesting Marshal Dillon's presence at a certain farmhouse. A duty-pressed Dillon sends Chester in his stead, much to the chagrin of the gang. Nonetheless, they share their demands with Chester: Marshal Dillon must leave town, which will allow them to rob the bank, or the gang will begin killing a man a day-starting with "unimportant" people while moving up the ladder toward the marshal's closest friends.
Chester soon realizes the gang has considerable intel on the denizens of Dodge. A menacing Grice (Leonard Nimoy) makes this clear in chilling fashion when he says how much he would personally like to kill Chester after he makes threats toward Kitty and Doc.
Marshal Dillon assigns bodyguards to the stubborn Kitty and irascible Doc, who both try to refuse any protection. But the marshal's orders are firm and the bodyguards are so dedicated to the task and feel so obligated to their friends that they won't even accept the three dollars per day offered as a wage. Nonetheless, tension builds as men die and the lovely Ana (Ann Morell) is accosted by one of the vulgar killers, who forces Ana to serve him supper after four members of the gang murder a worker on the farm where she lives.
While the pressure mounts and the gang's confidence increases, Dillon gathers his own intel and devises a plan to unravel the killers' brutal scheme. The plan includes subterfuge common in an episode of Gunsmoke, so common it perhaps gets taken for granted sometimes. Regardless, it's an essential plot twist in this episode. But none of it happens without Dillon's willingness to carefully study and ability to clearly understand the motivation of the criminal(s) in each particular case.
This episode features a tremendous cast that doesn't disappoint. The exchange at the end between Dillon and Bess is particularly compelling. It is not only wonderful acting but also a great piece of psychological warfare. As so often happens in an episode of Gunsmoke, a particularly ruthless, diabolic, greedy, arrogant, or otherwise repulsive antagonist is not merely defeated; the adversary is ripped into shreds by the inertia of reaching too far or too fast or in the wrong direction.
Gang of thieves kill one citizen a day till Matt leaves town
kfo949415 November 2012
Warning: Spoilers
For whatever reason this episode did not perk the old generator of interest to a degree that other shows from the season 7 have sparked. But it did have an ending that will be remembered long after the credits roll.
A gang of thieves has moved into the Dodge area with the purpose of robbing the bank in town. They are willing to pay Marshal Dillon $1000 if he just gets out-of-town for a few days until the job is done. As we all know Matt refuses to leave so the thieves now place a demand for him to leave or a person from Dodge will die each day.
Sure enough for the next two days someone around town is killed forcing Matt to rethink his approach to the situation. Matt knows that someone in town must be giving the outlaws information since they know that Matt is still around town.
Thinking he knows who the fifth member of the outlaw team may be- he sets a trap to catch the crooks. But will the trap be good enough to catch the outlaws or will other members of Dodge have to die.
The story was not really that bad but some of the acting was suspicious. There were two guest women in this episode that seemed almost frighten to say their lines. One of the ladies in the show had a hair-do more worthy of 1960 than 1860. When I notice these things it has to be very obvious to others.
A gang of thieves has moved into the Dodge area with the purpose of robbing the bank in town. They are willing to pay Marshal Dillon $1000 if he just gets out-of-town for a few days until the job is done. As we all know Matt refuses to leave so the thieves now place a demand for him to leave or a person from Dodge will die each day.
Sure enough for the next two days someone around town is killed forcing Matt to rethink his approach to the situation. Matt knows that someone in town must be giving the outlaws information since they know that Matt is still around town.
Thinking he knows who the fifth member of the outlaw team may be- he sets a trap to catch the crooks. But will the trap be good enough to catch the outlaws or will other members of Dodge have to die.
The story was not really that bad but some of the acting was suspicious. There were two guest women in this episode that seemed almost frighten to say their lines. One of the ladies in the show had a hair-do more worthy of 1960 than 1860. When I notice these things it has to be very obvious to others.
Fay Spain and Leonard Nimoy
kevinolzak4 October 2012
"A Man a Day" presents Marshal Dillon with a vicious gang led by Nick Cooner (Val Dufour), who offer Matt money to make himself scarce while they rob the Dodge City bank, otherwise they will murder one person each day until he knuckles under, threatening Doc, Chester, and Kitty as well. The next two days reveal the threat to be genuine, forcing Matt to set a trap for the deadly outlaws. Many familiar faces abound, including Fay Spain, Tom Fadden, and Arthur Peterson (The 'Major' on SOAP). As gang member Elias Grice, Leonard Nimoy gets at least one standout sequence with Dennis Weaver, smiling as he yearns for the opportunity to kill Chester. Still three years before his starring turn as Spock on STAR TREK, Nimoy was coming off an even better showcase in an episode of RAWHIDE, "Incident Before Black Pass."
not particularly engaging
grizzledgeezer7 January 2014
Warning: Spoilers
This is one of the rare Meston duds.
When a new character shows up who has no obvious raison d'etre, you know they're there for a plot-related reason. In this case, it's an attractive woman who's taken a low-paying job at the billiards parlor. It comes as no surprise that she's the contact for the guys planning to rob the bank.
Their plan -- actually hers! -- is to bribe Matt Dillon into leaving town for a day so they can rob the bank. If he can't be bribed, he'll be coerced, by the death of "a man a day", starting with unimportant people, and working up to Doc, Kitty, and Chester.
In my review of "The Invisible Boy", I pointed out that heroes invariably acquiesce to the villain's demands, simply to save people's lives. "The Invisible Boy" was the /only/ exception to this I had ever seen. Well, "A Man a Day" is another. Matt simply waits to see what happens (why doesn't he agree, then warn the bank, etc, etc, etc?), and two people die before he's able to stop the gang.
"Gunsmoke" was originally conceived as "Philip Marlowe out West", and "A Man a Day" looks an awful lot like something out of film noir. (Note the atmospheric photography during the bank robbery; it would never have worked in color.) This wasn't unusual for Meston -- he captured this "noir detective" quality better than any other "Gunsmoke" writer, and his scripts are often brutal and nasty, with unpredictable endings. But this episode seems mostly contrived concept, with little dramatic payoff. When Matt lies to the woman to screw up the gang's plans, the ending is inevitable and obvious.
Definitely well-below par for "Gunsmoke".
When a new character shows up who has no obvious raison d'etre, you know they're there for a plot-related reason. In this case, it's an attractive woman who's taken a low-paying job at the billiards parlor. It comes as no surprise that she's the contact for the guys planning to rob the bank.
Their plan -- actually hers! -- is to bribe Matt Dillon into leaving town for a day so they can rob the bank. If he can't be bribed, he'll be coerced, by the death of "a man a day", starting with unimportant people, and working up to Doc, Kitty, and Chester.
In my review of "The Invisible Boy", I pointed out that heroes invariably acquiesce to the villain's demands, simply to save people's lives. "The Invisible Boy" was the /only/ exception to this I had ever seen. Well, "A Man a Day" is another. Matt simply waits to see what happens (why doesn't he agree, then warn the bank, etc, etc, etc?), and two people die before he's able to stop the gang.
"Gunsmoke" was originally conceived as "Philip Marlowe out West", and "A Man a Day" looks an awful lot like something out of film noir. (Note the atmospheric photography during the bank robbery; it would never have worked in color.) This wasn't unusual for Meston -- he captured this "noir detective" quality better than any other "Gunsmoke" writer, and his scripts are often brutal and nasty, with unpredictable endings. But this episode seems mostly contrived concept, with little dramatic payoff. When Matt lies to the woman to screw up the gang's plans, the ending is inevitable and obvious.
Definitely well-below par for "Gunsmoke".
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