Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge (1987)

James Arness plays retired marshal Matt Dillon, who is on his way to trade furs he’s collected when an old enemy shows up.

He disarms the man and plans to take him to Dodge City. Instead, they’re ambushed by thieves intent on stealing Matt’s furs and rifles.

Wounded in the scuffle and left floating down a river in a canoe, Matt winds up in Dodge anyway.

Once there, he encounters an old friend (Amanda Blake as Kitty Russell), who’s rushed back to town when she heard of his plight.

He also encounters a pair of mew problems.

A $1,000 reward has been placed on the head of an old friend named Jake Flagg (Earl Holliman), who allegedly broke out of jail and killed the warden.

Indeed, Flagg broke jail. But the warden was killed by a man named Mannon (Steve Forrest)

And the reason he broke jail was to warn Dillon that Mannon was out of prison and determined to kill everyone who helped put him there, including for former marshal of Dodge City.

Mannon also has an old score to settle with Miss Kitty.

James Arness as Matt Dillon, trying to help an old friend in Gunsmoke,: Return to Dodge (1987)

Amanda Blake as Kitty Russell, back by Matt Dillon’s bedside in Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge (1987)

Review:

This TV movie came a dozen years after “Gunsmoke” finished its 20-year, 635-episode run on TV (1955-1975) and finds star James Arness spry and in fine form at age 64.

Amanda Blake, Bucky Taylor and Fran Ryan also reprise roles they played in the TV series, and Forrest recreates a character who caused havoc in Dodge in a 1969 episode called “Mannon.”

The movie benefits from a tight script that features plenty of action — four shootings or showdowns of sorts in the first 14 minutes — and introduces some likeable new characters in rambunctious Lt. Brian Dexter (Ken Olandt), determined to bring Flagg in, and Bright Water (Patrice Martinez), just as determined to distract him since Flagg is her father.

There’s also a rather bizarre scene in which Mannon forces Kitty to her knees in front of him and demands that she fasten his gun belt for his final showdown with Dillon (she throws it out the window instead) and a quite abrupt ending.

Have no fear. Four more Gunsmoke movies would follow, though they would be without Miss Kitty. Amanda Blake died at age 60 in 1989, two years after this movie was released.

Several series regulars show up in flashback scenes, including Doc (Milburn Stone) and barman Sam (Glenn Strange) are memorialized in the closing credits. For those wondering, Ken Curtis (Festus) was still alive, but CBS apparently wouldn’t match his asking price to appear in the film.

Steve Forrest as Mannon, out of Black Fork Prison and out for revenge in Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge (1987)

Earl Holliman as Jake Flagg issuing a warning to Matt Dillon in Gunsmok:, Return to Dodge (1987)

Directed by:
Vincent McEveety

Cast:
James Arness … Matt Dillon
Amanda Blake … Kitty Russell
Buck Taylor … Newly O’Brien
Fran Ryan … Miss Hannah
Earl Holliman … Jake Flagg
Ken Olandt … Lt. Brian Dexter
Patrice Martinez … Bright Water
Steve Forrest … Will Mannon
Tantoo Cardinal … Little Doe
William Morgan Sheppard … Digger McCloud
Tony Epper …. Farnum McCloud
Mickey Jones … Oakum
Frank Totino … Logan
Robert Koons … Warden Amos Brown
Walter Kaasa … Judge Collins
Georgie Collins … Mrs. Collins

Runtime: 100 min.

Ken Olandt as Lt. Brian Dexter, determined to bring in his man in Gunsmoke:, Return to Dodge (1987)

Patrice Martinez as Bright Water does her best to distract Lt. Dexter in Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge (1987)

Memorable lines:

Logan, a convict looking to get revenge, after being disarmed by Dillon: “You don’t leave a man a lot, do you marshal?”
Matt Dillon: “Mister, you didn’t bring a whole lot with ya.”

Jack Flagg: “Dammit, Harry, if you don’t get him (the warden) in here, I guarantee to eat you alive. Now get him in here.”
Harry, a prison guard: “You are crazy.”

Kitty, after a compliment from Matt: “You quit that, cowboy. I’ve got you out from underneath my fingernails, and you’re going to stay out.”

Newly O’Brien, when the lieutenant insists on tracking down Jack Flagg in Indian territory: “Dedicated, isn’t he?”
Matt Dillon: “Dedicated, but you could put his brains in a teacup. He’s got to be stopped.”

Mannon, to a man he’s about to kill: “You called me the product of the devil’s loins.” He shoots the man. “Product of the devil’s loins. Kinda catchy.”

Lt. Dexter: “You no be afraid. Me no hurt.”
Bright Water, coming to from a head wound. “No hurt. You shot me?”
Lt. Dexter: “You speak English.”

Buck Taylor as Newly O’Brien, new marshal of Dodge City in Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge (1987)

Fran Ryan as Miss Hannah, Miss Kitty’s confidant at the Long Branch Saloon in Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge (1987)

Tantoo Cardinal as Little Doe, Flagg’s Indian wife in Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge (1987)

Tony Epper as Farnum McCloud and William Morgan Sheppard as Digger McCloud, brothers after the reward on Flagg’s head in Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge (1987)

Steve Forrest as Mannon has a reunion with Miss Kitty (Amanda Blake) in Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge (1987)

James Arness as Matt Dillon, ready to ride to the gunfire in Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge (1987)