Gunsmoke (TV Series) To Ride a Yeller Horse (1974) User Reviews

The ending is as sad as it gets.

[kfo9494 · 8/10 · 7 February 2013]

In this rather simple plot we have a woman, Joan Shepard (Louise Latham) that has two young adults that want to live her life through them. She has already distance her son with her hateful words. Now she is after her daughter, Anna May, and wants her to pick a husband that she wished she had picked in her younger days.

Anna May is being courted by Newly but her mother does not think he is good enough and wants her to marry Steven Rogers which has just came back from a school back east and set to take over his father's business. Joan sees her daughter marrying into money and do all the things she wished she had done in her life. Then we get to see the psychotic side of Joan Shepard as she tries to eliminate all suitors thinking she knows what is best for her daughter.

The ending is not a pleasant one. It is a sad reminder that even our own family members may need help and sometimes we really do not know the right remedy to give. A melancholy show where the viewer cannot do anything else but watch till the end.

You can't live your children's life.

[withersa · 9/10 · 20 September 2006]

Louise Latham usually plays the part of a dissatisfied woman. Either with her husband or as in this case her own life. She often feels sorry for herself. Here she is trying to live her life through her children in a very overbearing way. She wants each one of them to be wealthy as she never was. The only way she can do this is to try to match her daughter up with a boy from a wealthy family. This doesn't work because that is not what she wants for herself. Her son has seen what his Mother does & he has pulled away from her to some extent. It is hard for the girl to do her Mother that way even though she wants to rule her own life. Louise has not lived her life like she wanted. Somewhere back down the way, she wanted a young man that was from a wealthy family and that did not work out & she has let it eat at her all of her life. The son seemed like he was very sad she was this way, but I wished they had explained more about his feelings in the story. His part did not have a very defined story line.

A disturbing episode with a valuable moral lesson

[kenstallings-65346 · 9/10 · 30 June 2018]

This episode doesn't end well.

In fact, from the start to the finish, it is a disturbing episode, dealing with a widow mother's psychosis. She married her husband in a void of unhappiness lamenting a dream unfulfilled. Obsessed about her own supposed missed opportunity, she dominates her two children's lives until she chases her son away, and then ultimately tries the same overbearing, and often unprincipled manipulations, of her younger daughter.

The ultimate moral lesson presented is that if a mother destroys the dreams of her children, for whatever reason, the pain never subsides, and the parent is often left alone and distraught.

It was a painful lesson to watch in fictional drama, but the message was delivered in a starkly honest method. There was no happy ending in this episode. The ending was bitter.

While her daughter isn't driven completely away, the mother's ongoing efforts to manipulate the daughter's life continues unabated, despite the painful moral lessons that should have been learned from the previous destructive actions.

We are left in the final scene presenting a son filled with angst, torn between wanting to support his mother, but also knowing he needs to keep proper distance so that he can pursue his own dreams, as well as his knowledge that he must help prevent his mother from harming his sister's life in the same way his mother harmed his own.

This is another Gunsmoke episode unafraid to tell a stark story, presenting in realistic tones the negative outcomes of manipulation, especially manipulation of those you love the most.

My mother the snob

[martinxperry-14868 · 4/10 · 20 June 2018]

This is a horridly slow episode. Well acted but an hour devoted to watching a wanabe socalite mother manipulate everyone she encounters is a bit much. This one drags on as she tries every trick in the book to get her way is just too much. Aside from Newlie being set up to take the fall for in one of the snbish mothers manipulations, the rest or the regulars are on vacation. This is just seems to drag on and on watching a failed socalite mom fail at everything she touches. The ending is frustrating.

A Delusional, Manipulative Character Infects Everyone She Touches with Her Misery

[wdavidreynolds · 2/10 · 22 October 2021]

Joan Shepherd is a profoundly unhappy woman living a life filled with regrets about the unrealized dreams of her past. In fact, her bitterness is such that she seeks to impose the aspirations never attained in her life on the lives of her son and daughter. Chester, her son, can see through his mother's manipulation and manages to resist her efforts to control his life, but Anna May, her daughter, is younger and less willing to confront the truth.

Louise Latham has the unenviable job of portraying the miserable character Joan Shepherd. This is Latham's sixth and final appearance in the Gunsmoke series. Latham perfectly reflects the character of someone who is so thoroughly obsessed with controlling the lives of her children that it has crossed over into delusional territory.

Kathleen Cody plays the part of Anna May Shepherd. Vincent McEveety, who directed this episode, was Cody's mentor and close friend. Cody's most prominent role was in the series Dark Shadows: The Vampire Curse in the early 1970s. She appeared in several television roles until the mid-1970s. She eventually decided to quit acting and devote all her time to her family. She had previously appeared in the two-part "Women for Sale" episode at the beginning of Season 19. She returned for a final appearance in the series during Season 20.

Thomas Leopold portrays Chester Shepherd in this story. This is Leopold's only Gunsmoke role, and he only appeared in a few television shows and movies. Many of his acting roles occurred in situation comedies. He is better known for his work as a writer and producer. His writing and production work includes episodes of Cheers, Ellen, Caroline in the City, Will & Grace, Madigan Men, and Hope & Faith.

Actor John Reilly makes the first of two Gunsmoke appearances with this episode. He plays a farmer neighbor of the Shepherd's named Orlo Baker who is quite interested in a relationship with Anna May, but since he does not measure up to Joan's ideal for Anna May, she discourages any interaction between the two.

Simon Scott and Parker Stevenson portray father and son Mr. Rogers and Steven Rogers. Mr. Rogers is a local, wealthy businessman, and Joan considers Steven the kind of man Anna May should marry. Mother Shepherd's overt attempts to try to manufacture a relationship between Steven and Anna May are embarrassing.

The Gunsmoke star featured in this episode is Buck Taylor. Taylor's Newly O'Brien character is another of Anna May's would-be suitors, but, of course, Joan does not approve. The gunsmith/deputy/medical professional does not meet Mrs. Shepherd's lofty standards for Anna May. The other main characters are relegated to the sidelines or missing for this story, and they should have considered that an act of mercy. We do get Festus Haggen calling a square dance, and Doc Adams tending to an injured Orlo. Kitty Russell is absent.

The only real drama in the story is the result of a conflict between Newly and Orlo where Orlo is injured. The incident occurs due to more of Joan's manipulative insinuations and lies, and the woman does everything she can to turn the event into a criminal charge against O'Brien.

There is no escaping the fact that this is a miserable story. It develops with agonizing slowness. Many of the characters are immensely unlikable, especially Louise Latham's haughty Joan Shepherd. Latham's character is not only annoying, but the fantasy world she has constructed is pitifully sad. It is difficult to understand the producers reading Calvin Clements, Sr.'s script and thinking it would be advisable to go forward with the production.

Like the previous "Cowtown Hustler" episode, this is another installment of the series set in Dodge City with minimal involvement by anyone related to Gunsmoke other than Newly O'Brien. Including Newly as one of Anna May's potential beaus appears to merely be a device to involve one of the main characters in the story. It is also notable that the Newly O'Brien character had been mostly absent since "The Town Tamers" episode earlier in the season. He was due for a story where he had a more significant -- or any -- role.

The performances prevent this episode from reaching the absolute bottom of the barrel for the Gunsmoke series. Despite the acting, this story still ranks near the bottom for me.