"Gunsmoke" (1955) - Review & Commentary
(05-12-2022, 08:33 PM)Dev Wrote: A general observation about the last few episodes.

Kitty doesn't appear in a couple of episodes. Matt and Chester are the only two permanent cast members credited in at least one episode.

When she reappears, Blake's acting is more animated, as if she's really starting to step into the role. Gotta wonder what happened behind the scenes during that time.

I'm not sure what Amanda Blake may have been up to, but from the book, I know that around the end of season 2, James Arness sought out coaching from a super legit older lady, and from what I could tell, she taught him some really important principles that seemed to apply to much more than just acting. It sounded like that was a really powerful time for him. "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear" type dealio, and it seemed to change his life.
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Yeah, it was the makeup. She wasn't wearing any when she looked haggard.

It's good that they shot the scene that way. It gives the viewer a glimpse of what saloon life can do to a gal. Holly Goliightly (Breakfast at Tiffany's) immediately came to mind.

Kitty is starting to look a tad older by the middle of the first season as well. She's still fairly fresh looking, but her face is showing a maturity that wasn't there before. This is concurrent with the subtle changes in her acting style mentioned above. Did Blake go away for a couple of weeks and have an epiphany that made her decide to own the character?
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S1 E22

A chick with Princess Leia buns just got slapped by an old man in the general store. I haven't established the relationship between the two characters yet.
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Nip Colors?

Laugh
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Oooooh... Kitty is getting aggressive with one of the bar girls. Two of them were sitting there making fun of the old man, and Kitty grabbed one of them by the arm.
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Bar Girl: "When did you start to run things around here?"

Kitty: "Did you ever see me fight?"

Damn. Blake has decided to take this character in some direction or another. Can't wait to see how it unfolds.
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Oh, hell. Now the old man is taking a shine to Kitty. Imagine that.
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Blake is going with the rough and tumble street kid persona.
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Sometimes I have to pause it to admire her dresses.
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Matt has this bemused look on his face when he's talking to some of these people.
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S3 E9 - "Romeo"

0:25 this Boot Hill opener footage shows his horse too, which is a first.

0:30 "Here on Boot Hill is the end of violence. These men brawling, fighting, clawing their bloody way across the frontier lie still now, harmless as the grass they feed. Empty and done. The lives of most of 'em are one long hate. Hate of other, better men. Hate of peace and order and right. Though it isn't always hate that puts a man here. Sometimes it's love. Love of a woman. That too can lead to violence, and the end of violence. I've seen it. Matt Dillon, US Marshal." https://imgur.com/a/eP5oJcU

I've always felt like these contemplative Boot Hill intros were soooo Piscean with their poeticism. For real. I thought James Arness seemed uncannily good at it, and wondered how that could be so, since he's a Gemini. Then I looked at his astrology chart and he's a Pisces rising, so that explains it... https://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/James_Arness

1:48 "You always was a night rider at heart."

2:46 HOOOOLD THE DAMN PHONEEEE, THAT'S BARBARA FREAKIN' EDEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Robert Vaughn too... all-star cast.

5:40 man these hard, controllin' types ain't none too bright... it's just gonna make her wanna be with him even more, and there doesn't seem to be any reason why she shouldn't.

6:38 "What's the matter?" ... "Well it looks like I'm just gonna have to up and get married one of these days." ... "Chester, it can't be that bad." Roflmfaoflmfaololol.

10:40 I agree with Doc. Kid needs to grow some balls and he and Judy need to run off together and get married. He'll never find a hotter chick anyway.

12:00 agh, my God. Matt is scathingly gorgeous.

13:08 Matt and them don't seem very supportive of romance at all. I mean, I guess I get it, but...

15:48 boy this whole marriage topic sure does make the marshal skittish. Tsk. I believe in freedom as much as the next guy but...

16:05 God Kitty is so sexy when she's sheltering bitches and talking about bringing food.

18:36 he broke the Fourth Wall for a SPLIT second... blink and miss it. Not intentional (directed, scripted) either.

19:05 this is so romantic... I hope it works out, but get real.

20:15 so hot.

22:11 "Now, don't make me kill you too Jake." Ugh my God, so sexy I can't even stand it.

22:36 I wonder if anyone's ever done a Gunsmoke kill count.

Quote:During the 20-year span of CBS's Gunsmoke series, the count ranges from 138 men and seven women to 303 people. If you add in the ones U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon capped in the made-for-TV movies, the total is 407.

Some of those bad guys might have only been wounded, and some might have died of their wounds later.

https://truewestmagazine.com/article/how...oke-series

nanarub

25:20 Marshal Dillon's horse walks like a total badass, like a fuckin' tank. They must have chosen a special horse for a special man.
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(05-12-2022, 09:14 PM)Dev Wrote: Matt has this bemused look on his face when he's talking to some of these people.

If you ever see his eyes scanning somebody's face up and down when he's telling them off, let me know what episode it's in. I think it's in season 1.
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(05-12-2022, 08:54 PM)Dev Wrote: Kitty is starting to look a tad older by the middle of the first season as well. She's still fairly fresh looking, but her face is showing a maturity that wasn't there before. This is concurrent with the subtle changes in her acting style mentioned above. Did Blake go away for a couple of weeks and have an epiphany that made her decide to own the character?

My guess is that Amanda Blake had a challenging life off screen. Not sure if the story is out there or not... I haven't looked for it. I've been pretty focused on James Arness. I do know that Amanda Blake was a heavy smoker and the series was even sponsored by L&M cigarettes, so I'm guessing that particularly heavy habit most likely took its toll on her over time along with whatever other stressors existed in her life.
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Toward the end of the series, she raised cheetahs and even brought her pet lion onto the Gunsmoke set.

At the end of her life, she tried to keep her ailing health to herself and wanted to keep the public from knowing about her cause of death out of fear that it would endanger the reputation of the wildlife refuge she worked hard to found.
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Quote:Her agent said he met the actress three weeks before she died. Stevens recalled, "Her last line when she walked out my door was, 'Get me a job. I want to do another job. I want to meet more people.'"

https://www.countrythangdaily.com/what-h...miss-kitty
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Kitty under suspicion for murder. LOL

I can't find the dress designers for the exact episodes that caught my eye on IMDB. They evidently had one wardrobe person for the whole cast in each episode, and they changed rather frequently.
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These two go missing after the scene in the general store, then reappear 8 minutes before the end.

Blossom with the Princess Leia buns is the old man's daughter.

His old housekeeper had been wanting to marry him all along. She's the one who shot him.
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Kitty has some kind of applique flower design stuck to her chest above the top of her dress.
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S1 E23

Doctor McCoy with bushy sideburns and beard. LOL
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(05-12-2022, 09:47 PM)Dev Wrote: Doctor McCoy with bushy sideburns and beard. LOL

Dude standing next to him looks like Jerry Seinfeld. lol
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