Neal Amber visits Matt Dillon seeking help. Amber Is desperate, broke, and does a lot of vague talking about murder before running from the office. The Marshal did not know Amber previously, but now he is curious. He learns from Mr. Jonas that Amber owes him about $200. He comes into town periodically for supplies, and he sometimes pays a little on the account.
The conversation is interrupted by a sound from the back room. Amber is trying to steal a bag of seeds. Over Mr. Jonas's protests, Matt tells Amber to take the seeds. He also has Jonas put together some provisions and put them and the seeds on the Marshal's account at the store.
When Matt visits the Amber farm, Sarah Amber relates the desperate situation in which she and her husband find themselves. They have no money, their crops from the recent season were a total failure, and Mr. Amber is clueless when it comes to farming. Even worse, Mrs. Amber's brother, the wealthy, self-righteous, Bible-quoting Peak Fletcher, essentially holds them hostage. Fletcher gave the Ambers the land they inhabit, but he refuses any additional help. He has warned if they try to flee, he will pursue them and force them to return.
Later, Matt and Chester Goode encounter Fletcher and his son Simon on the trail. This sanctimonious pair contend the Ambers are suffering because God is punishing them for some unnamed sins. The Fletchers continue to torment the Ambers until Sarah disappears.
Paul Richards returns for the second of his four Gunsmoke appearances. He portrays Neal Amber in this episode. His previous role was in the series debut as the gunfighter Dan Grat who nearly kills Marshal Dillon. Richards excelled at playing this kind of dark, brooding character.
Gloria McGehee portrays the pitiful Sarah Amber. Her performance is the highlight of the episode, but there aren't many sadder, more miserable, more pathetic characters. This is the first of three roles McGehee filled in the series.
Ainslie Pryor appears for the third time in the series. He portrays Peak Fletcher in this story. He would make one additional appearance in the third season before his untimely death in 1958.
Bing Russell makes the second of eight series appearances in this story where he plays Simon Fletcher. Russell was a frequent guest in many dramas, especially the Westerns variety, during his career. Actor Kurt Russell, who also appears in a couple of later Gunsmoke episodes, is Bing's more famous son.
This is another John Meston story that was adapted for the screen by David Victor and Herbert Little, Jr. Victor and Little changed the original story considerably. In Meston's original version:
It is puzzling why Victor and Little chose to change the story as they did. Meston's version makes much more sense and is even more tragic. (Note: I am admittedly not a huge fan of most of the thirteen scripts Victor and Little contributed to Gunsmoke. All but two were produced in the first season. The remaining two episodes appear in Season 2.) However, the Fletchers' religious piety adds a creepy facet to the story that is absent from the Meston original. It is never clear exactly what sins Neal and Sarah Amber are supposed to have committed that deserve the divine retribution Peak Fletcher repeatedly promises.
There are a few times over the course of the series Gunsmoke delves into some extremely dark themes, and this story is arguably the most extreme early example. Meston was a master of this kind of despairing tragedy. The dark content and excellent performances, especially from McGehee, make this Gunsmoke installment worth viewing. I only wish the story more closely followed Meston's original version.
The conversation is interrupted by a sound from the back room. Amber is trying to steal a bag of seeds. Over Mr. Jonas's protests, Matt tells Amber to take the seeds. He also has Jonas put together some provisions and put them and the seeds on the Marshal's account at the store.
When Matt visits the Amber farm, Sarah Amber relates the desperate situation in which she and her husband find themselves. They have no money, their crops from the recent season were a total failure, and Mr. Amber is clueless when it comes to farming. Even worse, Mrs. Amber's brother, the wealthy, self-righteous, Bible-quoting Peak Fletcher, essentially holds them hostage. Fletcher gave the Ambers the land they inhabit, but he refuses any additional help. He has warned if they try to flee, he will pursue them and force them to return.
Later, Matt and Chester Goode encounter Fletcher and his son Simon on the trail. This sanctimonious pair contend the Ambers are suffering because God is punishing them for some unnamed sins. The Fletchers continue to torment the Ambers until Sarah disappears.
Paul Richards returns for the second of his four Gunsmoke appearances. He portrays Neal Amber in this episode. His previous role was in the series debut as the gunfighter Dan Grat who nearly kills Marshal Dillon. Richards excelled at playing this kind of dark, brooding character.
Gloria McGehee portrays the pitiful Sarah Amber. Her performance is the highlight of the episode, but there aren't many sadder, more miserable, more pathetic characters. This is the first of three roles McGehee filled in the series.
Ainslie Pryor appears for the third time in the series. He portrays Peak Fletcher in this story. He would make one additional appearance in the third season before his untimely death in 1958.
Bing Russell makes the second of eight series appearances in this story where he plays Simon Fletcher. Russell was a frequent guest in many dramas, especially the Westerns variety, during his career. Actor Kurt Russell, who also appears in a couple of later Gunsmoke episodes, is Bing's more famous son.
This is another John Meston story that was adapted for the screen by David Victor and Herbert Little, Jr. Victor and Little changed the original story considerably. In Meston's original version:
- Peak Fletcher is Pete Fletcher
- Fletcher and Sarah Amber are not related
- The character Simon Fletcher does not exist
- A character named Jim Baird is part of the story (Baird does some of the same things as Simon Fletcher in the screenplay, but he is not related to Pete Fletcher)
- Pete Fletcher exhibits none of the odd religious beliefs of Peak Fletcher
- Fletcher is motivated to drive the Ambers off the land because he wants it
- Nate Amber is not an incompetent farmer so much as the Ambers have experienced a run of extremely bad luck
- Fletcher conspires with Baird to place the calf in the shed to implicate Sarah Amber
- Sarah commits suicide
It is puzzling why Victor and Little chose to change the story as they did. Meston's version makes much more sense and is even more tragic. (Note: I am admittedly not a huge fan of most of the thirteen scripts Victor and Little contributed to Gunsmoke. All but two were produced in the first season. The remaining two episodes appear in Season 2.) However, the Fletchers' religious piety adds a creepy facet to the story that is absent from the Meston original. It is never clear exactly what sins Neal and Sarah Amber are supposed to have committed that deserve the divine retribution Peak Fletcher repeatedly promises.
There are a few times over the course of the series Gunsmoke delves into some extremely dark themes, and this story is arguably the most extreme early example. Meston was a master of this kind of despairing tragedy. The dark content and excellent performances, especially from McGehee, make this Gunsmoke installment worth viewing. I only wish the story more closely followed Meston's original version.
