S12.E3

The Jailer

Episode aired Oct 1, 1966
TV-PG
1h

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Etta Stone is a very bitter, older, woman who has Kitty and Matt captured, and thrown into a homemade jail, and now she plans on hanging Matt for the execution of her husband 6 years before.Etta Stone is a very bitter, older, woman who has Kitty and Matt captured, and thrown into a homemade jail, and now she plans on hanging Matt for the execution of her husband 6 years before.Etta Stone is a very bitter, older, woman who has Kitty and Matt captured, and thrown into a homemade jail, and now she plans on hanging Matt for the execution of her husband 6 years before.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.7/10

681

YOUR RATING

14User reviews

See production info at IMDbPro

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
When the actors learned who they would be working with Bette Davis (who was already a big fan of the series), they couldn't believe it. James Arness told the Archive that Davis "was dynamite" and that Amanda Blake "was absolutely petrified at the idea of working with this great lady." Davis and Blake's characters share many tense scenes together. "Amanda was scared to death," said casting director Pam Polifron, but added that "they really did become great friends." After her initial fear subsided, Amanda Blake got to know Bette Davis as more than just the legendary performer she admired. They were just two actors in a scene together and, as Arness put it, Davis was "right down to earth, no monkey business at all, and she went out of her way to work well with Amanda."

Goofs
When Lou Stone knocks Matt Dillon unconscious by hitting him on the back of the head with his gun, it was an obvious "swing-and-a-miss" poorly executed stunt. Lou clearly makes no near contact and furthermore, if he had held the pistol by the barrel and used it like a hammer, it would have been a much more effective tool (a rubber prop gun perhaps) for the task than the fake glancing blow that puts the marshal out cold on the ground. It did not look convincing at all.

Quotes
Matt Dillon: [waiting to be killed by the family] Kitty, I'm sorry you got mixed up in this. You should have gotten out of here, by yourself, when you had the chance.
Kitty: And leave you here! Not on your life! Or is that a bad joke?

Connections
Featured in TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All-Time (1997)

Soundtracks
The Old Trail
(uncredited)
by Rex Koury and Glenn Spencer
Aspen Fair Music, Incorporated (ASCAP)

User reviews14

Review

Featured review

A magnificent episode

I have seen many wonderful episodes of Gunsmoke over the years but this one is one of the best.

PLUTO TV allows me to follow these episodes continuously over a period of however much time until they start over once again. To me, the best part of the series is when the color episodes begin in season 12 back in 1966(still my favorite season of the whole series).

"The Jailer " in episode 3 had many accomplished actors such as Bette Davis and Bruce Dean just to name a few. A twisted rotten to the core family if ever there was one. Davis played the role of a criminally minded vengeful matriarch to perfection who ruled her house and children with an iron fist and God forbid anyone who crossed her(son Jack found that out the hard way). Revenge motive based episodes are fairly common in television but this one was so well played throughout. You knew eventually the Stone family would trip up along the way causing their own demise but may not have ever happened were it not for some good apples mixed in with the bad ones. Good always triumphs over evil on television.

A few things do puzzle me in this episode though.

Since there was no trail left behind when Kitty and then later on Matt were kidnapped, just where was anyone supposed to start looking for either one of them. Yet Festus begins to go out anyways with a posse aimed at finding them. Where did they go?

Plus, it was mentioned a few times how the Stone family were putting their own nooses around their necks but could never figure out how they were ever going to be caught considering nary a soul knew who kidnapped Matt and Kitty and where they were being held. They probably would have been buried right on the grounds where they were hung and no one would have been any the wiser.

When you think about it, it was quite an ingenious and twisted plan.

The only thing that could have tripped them up was son Lou took an awful chance hanging around Matt's office in broad daylight waiting for Matt to come back and then having to orchestrate their exit. Anyone else could have walked in on them at any time. Hard to figure what Lou would have done then.

Still a very gripping story with great music and even better acting.

A must see episode.