MovieChat Forums > Gunsmoke (1955) Discussion > Anyone familiar with the episode With A ...

Anyone familiar with the episode With A Smile (w James Best)?

posted 4 years ago by snepts (11123)
3 replies | jump to latest

Spoiler alert.

This is a particularly grim episode where the Best character is a privileged young man who commits murder and is sentenced to hang. There isn't much reason to believe he didn't commit the crime and the script doesn't indicate he didn't. There's not a question as to his guilt.
But on my second viewing I noticed that Chester, who is honest and honorable, is the only one who can identify the murderer as Best, and he was clearly seen as being drunk at the time the incident occurred. On top of that, we the viewer never see the face of the gunman, just a shadowy figure.
There is never any hint Best isn't guilty, but the director left a gaping hole to introduce that thought had he chosen to.
What makes this interesting - at least to me - is it's a very poignant episode, following this scared young man to the gallows, even if he does deserve it.

[–] vranger (444) 2 years ago

I remember that episode, even after watching it years ago. Gunsmoke often performed tragedies, and throughout its long, long run. No question that was one of them. As I recall, Best's character was unquestionably guilty, regardless of how likable or remorseful he was. In the day, he had to hang.

[–] snepts (11123) 2 years ago

Indeed. Thanks for knowing what I'm referencing.

Another was the Tom Skerritt ep where he wanted all the major players in Dodge to know how it feels to watch an innocent man, his Father, hang.
He was about to hang Doc Adams, for no good reason, then cut the rope because -- he wasn't that person.
He wanted them to know how it felt, as a boy, to watch his innocent Father be hanged for no good reason.

A great episode.

[–] liscarkat (18367) 10 months ago

I hadn't thought about Chester, intoxicated, as the sole evidence. He was definitely slurring words and walking unsteadily as he left the Long Branch, and the shooting took place seconds later, in the dark. That being said, in the context of the show it was clear Best's character was the shooter. Marshal Dillon accepted Chester's testimony without hesitation, and that's Goode enough for me.