Sun 24 Jun 2012
A Western TV Review by Mike Tooney: GUNSMOKE “The Fourth Victim.”
Posted by Steve under Reviews , TV Westerns[2] Comments
“The Fourth Victim.” An installment of Gunsmoke: Season 20, Episode 8. First broadcast: 4 November 1974. James Arness (Matt), Ken Curtis (Festus), Milburn Stone (Doc), Buck Taylor (Newly), Leonard Stone, Ben Bates, Alex Sharp, Al Wyatt Sr., Frank Janson, Biff McGuire, Lloyd Perryman, Victor Killian, Woody Chambliss, Howard Culver, Paul Sorensen, Ted Jordan. Writer: Jim Byrnes. Director: Bernard McEveety.
Genuine whodunits set in the Old West are certainly rare, which makes this episode of Gunsmoke from its final season slightly more interesting.
A serial killer (seen only in silhouette and shadow) equipped with a .30-caliber rifle and a silencer is stalking Dodge City, murdering at will, sniper-style. Since there seems to be no obvious connection of the victims with one another, his motive is completely opaque.
Marshall Matt Dillon must turn detective to find the connection, which he does — and yet, technically speaking, he really doesn’t — halfway through the show, prompting him to think Doc Adams will be the next victim.
Using a willing Doc as bait, Dillon sets a trap, which is only partially successful, resulting in a severely damaged chair in Doc’s office and a wounded and therefore doubly dangerous sniper — who courteously sends Matt a note swearing revenge on him for interfering in his plans and calling him out for a midnight showdown — alone.
Feeling he has no better choice, Dillon appears on the deserted streets of Dodge, unaware that Doc and Festus have a surprise in store — but now fully aware of who the sniper really is ….
Since the plot centers on a woman, it’s interesting that there are no speaking parts for them in this episode. (By this time, Amanda Blake [Miss Kitty] had left the show after an argument with the producer.)
Unusually for this series, the episode takes place entirely on indoor sound stages.
Ben Bates makes an appearance in the same scene with James Arness, which is of interest since he was Arness’s stunt double throughout the run of the Gunsmoke series.
The mystery and suspense level of “The Fourth Victim” is gratifyingly high, although experienced mystery aficionados should be able to figure it out early on. If only the writer had surreptitiously introduced the final clue sooner, say in the first act, Matt’s solution near the end wouldn’t have had that rabbit-from-a-hat feel to it.
As it is, however, “The Fourth Victim” is still worth a view. It can be seen in its entirety on YouTube here.
June 25th, 2012 at 10:20 am
I was a big fan of GUNSMOKE when it first began, which was 1955. I’m not sure whether I watched the first one or not, the one that was introduced by John Wayne.
Probably not, but my memory sometimes would like to think so.
When I watched the opening to this particular episode on YouTube, it took me by surprise that was in color, which was Dumb, because of course it was. But I don’t think I ever saw an episode in color before.
I had to look it up. The first season in color was 1966. By this time I was married, in grad school, and if we had a TV, it was a black and white one. We probably didn’t watch even GUNSMOKE. On a Saturday night? We were at the movies.
I have the first season on DVD and have begun watching it, but I’m stretching it out so I don’t overload by watching too many at once. I see the first half of Season 6 will be released in August. It will be long time before they get to Season 20, but I’m sure they will before I do.
June 25th, 2012 at 11:44 pm
Jim Byrnes worked over fifty episodes of GUNSMOKE so it is not surprising he wanted to (and was allowed to) try something different.
It didn’t feel like a Western, with its modern TV suspense soundtrack and the unbelievable weapon of choice. More clues would have been nice, but some suspects would have been better as the killer was no surprise. The killer’s motive was hinted at when Matt gets the guys together to patrol the curfew. And they played fair, with the killer not using his wounded arm to do something after the last death.
It was a good TV suspense story but I wonder if the regular viewers wanted a good TV Western instead.
Most Westerns had a moral. This one’s was “Kill ‘em all and let God sort it out.” If only Sam Peckinpah had told Doc and the others earlier.