The frightened teenage daughter of a rancher enlists Matt to attempt to save her father's life by amputating his gangrenous leg.The frightened teenage daughter of a rancher enlists Matt to attempt to save her father's life by amputating his gangrenous leg.The frightened teenage daughter of a rancher enlists Matt to attempt to save her father's life by amputating his gangrenous leg.
- 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
- Trivia"Home Surgery" was presented as a radio broadcast before it aired on television. In the radio version, the daughter's name was "Tara Hantree."
- GoofsChester lost one of his own legs to amputation but he never said a word about his experience during this whole ordeal.
Featured review
Matt Dillon: Surgeon?
Matt Dillon and Chester Goode are on their way back to Dodge City after escorting a prisoner to Tascosa, Texas. They had camped overnight and are preparing to resume their journey of more than one hundred miles when someone fires a shot into their camp. A woman named Holly Hawtree soon appears. She is the person who fired the shot. After averting any hostilities, Holly asks the men to accompany her to the farm where she lives with her father.
Mr. Hawtree was injured when a horse stepped on his foot. The foot and leg became infected with gangrene. Ben Walling is a hired hand on the farm with romantic designs on Holly. Walling left a week earlier to get a doctor, but he has not returned. Matt knows Mr. Hawtree's only hope is immediate amputation. The Marshal decides he must perform the home surgery.
Matt successfully removes the leg, but the infection has spread. Mr. Hawtree is still in bad shape. Ben Walling soon returns but without a doctor. Upon further investigation, Matt realizes the situation is different than he was first led to believe.
Gloria Talbott, who first started acting as a child, was a veteran of films and early television by the time she made this Gunsmoke appearance in the Holly Hawtree role. It was not unusual to see Talbott in television dramas -- especially westerns -- in the 1950s and 1960s. She would appear twice more later in one-hour, black-and-white Gunsmoke episodes.
Joe De Santis plays Holly's father. His performance is particularly notable. He is in bed in every scene where he appears, but he plays the role with such intensity the viewer can easily empathize with his agony. De Santis returned for three more episodes of Gunsmoke.
Actor Wright King was another veteran of the television western. He portrays the Ben Walling character in this story. He would appear seven more times in Gunsmoke stories. A few years after this episode was produced, he had a recurring role in the series Wanted: Dead or Alive where he played the bounty hunter Josh Randall's (portrayed by Steve McQueen) sidekick, Jason Nichols.
This story -- which was adapted from one of the radio episodes -- is pure John Meston with its raw, brutal depiction of rural life in the middle and late 1800s. The acting is outstanding at every turn. The discussion between Matt and Mr. Hawtree over how the amputation will be performed is not for the squeamish. In fact, television does not get much more unsettling than this. The writing and direction are masterful in depicting an extremely grim situation without engaging in graphic images. Even the name of the episode is cringe worthy -- but in a good way.
Mr. Hawtree was injured when a horse stepped on his foot. The foot and leg became infected with gangrene. Ben Walling is a hired hand on the farm with romantic designs on Holly. Walling left a week earlier to get a doctor, but he has not returned. Matt knows Mr. Hawtree's only hope is immediate amputation. The Marshal decides he must perform the home surgery.
Matt successfully removes the leg, but the infection has spread. Mr. Hawtree is still in bad shape. Ben Walling soon returns but without a doctor. Upon further investigation, Matt realizes the situation is different than he was first led to believe.
Gloria Talbott, who first started acting as a child, was a veteran of films and early television by the time she made this Gunsmoke appearance in the Holly Hawtree role. It was not unusual to see Talbott in television dramas -- especially westerns -- in the 1950s and 1960s. She would appear twice more later in one-hour, black-and-white Gunsmoke episodes.
Joe De Santis plays Holly's father. His performance is particularly notable. He is in bed in every scene where he appears, but he plays the role with such intensity the viewer can easily empathize with his agony. De Santis returned for three more episodes of Gunsmoke.
Actor Wright King was another veteran of the television western. He portrays the Ben Walling character in this story. He would appear seven more times in Gunsmoke stories. A few years after this episode was produced, he had a recurring role in the series Wanted: Dead or Alive where he played the bounty hunter Josh Randall's (portrayed by Steve McQueen) sidekick, Jason Nichols.
This story -- which was adapted from one of the radio episodes -- is pure John Meston with its raw, brutal depiction of rural life in the middle and late 1800s. The acting is outstanding at every turn. The discussion between Matt and Mr. Hawtree over how the amputation will be performed is not for the squeamish. In fact, television does not get much more unsettling than this. The writing and direction are masterful in depicting an extremely grim situation without engaging in graphic images. Even the name of the episode is cringe worthy -- but in a good way.
helpful•70
- wdavidreynolds
- Nov 22, 2021
Details
- Runtime30 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
- 4:3
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