Hottoceame The Age of Commercialism

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

volwolf I agree with others who have said the Earl Holliman character just didn't fit with the rest of the movie. As for Matt's mountain man look, I think there are many episodes in the series that suggest that if he hadn't become a U.S. marshal, he would have become a mountain man / trapper. But for any Gunsmoke fan, I think it was very special seeing Matt and Kitty back together one last time. Since Kitty wasn't in the last season of the regular TV series, this episode provided some closure to one of the longest screen romances of all time. I think the final scene with Matt and Kitty stayed true to the tone set by the TV series.

caricatures Gunsmoke cast regulars James Arness (Matt Dillon), Amanda Blake (Kitty) and Buck Taylor (Newly) reunite for a pretty good old fashioned western. The plot involves the release from prison of Matt's most deadly foe, Steve Forrest, reprising his role as Will Mannon, bent on revenge. Another Gunsmoke alumni is along for the ride, Earl Holliman, who does a good turn as Jake Flagg. According to reports, Ken Curtis held out for too much money and subsequently did not reprise his role as Festus, what remains of his part is filled in by character actor Mickey Jones as Oakum. Too bad, it would have been great to see him don the spurs one more time. Milburn Stone (Doc) who appears along with Festus in flashbacks, had passed away by the time this film was made. There are several minor plot holes, chief among them is that in the episode, "Mannon" the title character was killed at the end, apparently while the end credits rolled, Doc discovered that he was still alive, saved him and he was then sent to prison. All in all, this film holds true to the legacy of the great, classic TV series.

dinky-4 This made-for-TV movie picks up the "Gunsmoke" characters after Matt Dillon has retired and Miss Kitty has moved to New Orleans. Perhaps this is a miscalculation since these characters, taken past their usual milieu, seem a bit adrift, like figures in a wax museum which is being modernized. (James Arness' hair and make-up sometimes border on the grotesque.) However, fans of the show will probably enjoy this indulgence since it has in its cast a number of welcome faces and it makes effective use of flashback clips from a January 20, 1969 episode of "Gunsmoke" which featured Steve Forrest.Forrest plays a murderous character named Mannon who's first seen stripped to the waist, bound to a wooden post, and receiving a 24-lash punishment with a whip. One wonders what he'd done to warrant such a punishment on his very last day in prison but the reasons for it are never explained. One also wonders why the prison warden cuts short the punishment since Mannon is such a evil character and probably deserves whatever punishment comes his way. The whipping itself, however, is unconvincingly staged with the camera in front of Forrest and the flogger behind him. It's clear the whip is too short to actually strike Forrest's back. He simply jerks and winces whenever he hears the whip crack.One must admire Forrest for doing this bare-chest scene at the advanced age of 62, (he looks pretty good!), and it should be pointed out that he must set a record for the time elapsed between beefcake-bondage scenes. In MGM's 1954 "Prisoner of War", at the age of 29, Forrest -- stripped to a pair of snug-fitting undershorts -- endured a sweaty crucifixion-with-ropes ordeal which marked a highpoint in screen sadomasochism.

AbeStreet As only a casual fan of the original series I may not be able to compare and contrast this movie as well as some others but the producers of this tv film seem to have covered all their bases.First of all the story was very well done. By basing the movie on one of the original tv shows the viewers were given a sense of continuity that some movies that are based on previous tv shows don't have. Also, the story itself, while not all that original, was well written and suspenseful. Out of the 5 GUNSMOKE movies that were made I felt that this one was the best.Secondly, this movie did a fine job of bringing back the original cast members. Amanda Blake as "Kitty" and Buck Taylor as "Newly O'brien" helped to give this movie an authentic feel. Having said that it would have been nice if Dennis Weaver as "Chester" and or Ken Curtis as "Festus", both served as deputy under Marshall Dillon, had made an appearance in the movie.Lastly, while the movie overall was a good one it seemed to me that James Arness portrayed Matt Dillon less like the character in the original series and more like the mountain man character of "Zeb Macahon" in his other western series HOW THE WEST WAS WON. Still this movie is a good view and those who like James Arness or GUNSMOKE will appreciate it.