GUNSMOKE: THE PRISONER (1969, USA) ***½
Western
net. CBS Television Network; pr co. CBS Television Network; d. Leo Penn; w. Calvin Clements Sr.; exec pr. John Mantley; pr. Joseph Dackow; ph. Monroe P. Askins (Colour. 35mm. Spherical. 1.33:1); m. Leon Klatzkin; th. Rex Koury (uncredited); ed. Donald W. Ernst; ad. Joseph R. Jennings; set d. Herman N. Schoenbrun; cos. Alexander Velcoff; m/up. Glen Alden, Newton Jones, Gertrude Wheeler; sd. Vernon W. Kramer (Mono); tr. 17 March 1969; r/t. 50m.
cast: James Arness (Matt Dillon), Milburn Stone (Doc), Amanda Blake (Kitty), Ken Curtis (Festus), Jon Voight (Steven Downing), Ramon Bieri (Jarvis), Ned Glass (Pink Simmons), Buck Taylor (Newly), Paul Bryar (Sheriff Ryan), Kenneth Tobey (Bob Mathison), James Nusser (Louie Pheeters), Glenn Strange (Sam Noonan), Tom Brown (Ed O’Connor), Ted Jordan (Nathan Burke), David Fresco (Barber), Jan Peters (Cardplayer), Nick Borgani (Townsman (uncredited)), Michelle Breeze (Saloon Girl (uncredited)), Stephen Burnette (Townsman (uncredited)), Noble ‘Kid’ Chissell (Townsman (uncredited)), Fred Dale (Townsman (uncredited)), Duke Fishman (Townsman (uncredited)), Raven Grey Eagle (Townsman (uncredited)), Bert Madrid (Townsman (uncredited)), Fred McDougall (Mathison Henchman (uncredited)), Jimmy Noel (Townsman (uncredited)), Sid Troy (Townsman (uncredited)).
(s. 14 ep. 25) Voight is a prisoner being escorted by a bounty hunter (Bieri) to a town where his chance of receiving a fair trial are slim. When the prisoner saves Kitty from a near-death accident, she intervenes by winning his bounty at poker and then trying to protect the young man until the Marshal (Arness) can return. This is a well scripted and directed episode, which gives Blake centre stage. Her poker game with Bieri is well-staged and builds in tension. An embittered Tobey, the husband of the woman Voight has supposedly murdered, enters the scene in the final act to exact his own form of justice. The strong cast and interesting storyline make this an above-average segment.