It's a test of wills when Quint witnesses a murder and the father of one of the prime suspects lowers Quint into a well to try to force him to promise his silence.It's a test of wills when Quint witnesses a murder and the father of one of the prime suspects lowers Quint into a well to try to force him to promise his silence.It's a test of wills when Quint witnesses a murder and the father of one of the prime suspects lowers Quint into a well to try to force him to promise his silence.
Photos
- Director
- Writers
- John Meston(uncredited)
- Norman MacDonnell(uncredited)
- Charles Marquis Warren(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIt is shown in this episode that Miss Kitty uses spectacles to read.
- GoofsWhen Web leaves Yuma's house the first time, she playfully smashes his hat down sideways on his head. But when he turns around to leave, his hat is on straight .
Featured review
A Rare Clunker
Season 9 of Gunsmoke contains some of the finest episodes in the series. This is definitely not one of them. As a matter of fact, I consider it among the worst in the entire run of the series. (I acknowledge there are fans of Gunsmoke that despise ANY criticism of the show. Gunsmoke is my all-time favorite classic television drama but not every episode is outstanding.)
Yuma is married to a man named Dave, but she is also fooling around with two other guys, Web and Jeff. When one of the two kills Dave, Quint Asper happens to be riding by and hears the shot. Quint goes to Dave, who whispers the name of the man who shot him to Quint just before he dies.
Ira, who is Web's father, happens to be in Dave's barn for some reason. While Quint is tending to the dying Dave, Ira knocks Quint unconscious and ties him up. Ira is afraid his son will be blamed for Dave's death, and he wants Quint to sign a paper stating that Jeff killed Dave. When Quint refuses, Ira and Web throw Quint into an old, dry well, hence the name of the episode. (This entire plot element is puzzling. First, just because Quint signs a paper stating Jeff is the killer is meaningless. Quint could simply say later he signed the paper under duress. Second, how does Ira expect to get away with this?)
Part of this story concerns Matt Dillon trying to solve the mystery of Dave's death while Yuma shamelessly flirts with him. The other part of the story involves Quint's plight as he is held hostage by Ira and Web in the dry well. The whole thing is a mess with too many stupid characters doing too many stupid things and plot holes so large a stagecoach could be driven through them.
Ned Glass and Tom Simcox were generally solid character actors, but they aren't given much with which to work in this script. Karen Sharpe as Yuma was a true beauty in those days, but she wasn't an especially good actress.
The idea behind this story isn't that bad, but the execution here is. It is particularly annoying that John Meston intentionally introduced plot elements to try to deceive the viewer in an attempt to provide a surprise ending.
Yuma is married to a man named Dave, but she is also fooling around with two other guys, Web and Jeff. When one of the two kills Dave, Quint Asper happens to be riding by and hears the shot. Quint goes to Dave, who whispers the name of the man who shot him to Quint just before he dies.
Ira, who is Web's father, happens to be in Dave's barn for some reason. While Quint is tending to the dying Dave, Ira knocks Quint unconscious and ties him up. Ira is afraid his son will be blamed for Dave's death, and he wants Quint to sign a paper stating that Jeff killed Dave. When Quint refuses, Ira and Web throw Quint into an old, dry well, hence the name of the episode. (This entire plot element is puzzling. First, just because Quint signs a paper stating Jeff is the killer is meaningless. Quint could simply say later he signed the paper under duress. Second, how does Ira expect to get away with this?)
Part of this story concerns Matt Dillon trying to solve the mystery of Dave's death while Yuma shamelessly flirts with him. The other part of the story involves Quint's plight as he is held hostage by Ira and Web in the dry well. The whole thing is a mess with too many stupid characters doing too many stupid things and plot holes so large a stagecoach could be driven through them.
Ned Glass and Tom Simcox were generally solid character actors, but they aren't given much with which to work in this script. Karen Sharpe as Yuma was a true beauty in those days, but she wasn't an especially good actress.
The idea behind this story isn't that bad, but the execution here is. It is particularly annoying that John Meston intentionally introduced plot elements to try to deceive the viewer in an attempt to provide a surprise ending.
helpful•19
- wdavidreynolds
- Nov 17, 2020
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Filming locations
- Stage 3, CBS Studio Center - 4024 Radford Avenue, Studio City, Los Angeles, California, USA(Dodge City Western Street)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
- 4:3
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