Gunsmoke (TV Series) Brother Love (1960) User Reviews

Everyone has their own type of justice.

[kfo9494 · 8/10 · 24 September 2013]

The episode begins at Jonas General Store as Gus Blake is closing the store and counting the money on a very stormy evening. In walks a man that steals the money and shoots Gus. Before dying Gus tells Matt that he got a look at the robbery and is able to give the name Cumbers out before giving up the ghost. Matt knows the Cumbers' but he is not sure if it was Frank or Nate since both of brothers.

Matt goes over to talk with Mrs Cumbers and advises her of the situation. Ms Cumbers tells Matt that if one of her sons is guilty that they have been taught to take care of their own and she will punish the boy. Matt wants it left up to the law and questions each son.

Nate has no alibi for the time of the killing, while Frank was in the company of a saloon girl named Polly. Matt has no other option than to arrest Nate for the killing. But just because Matt may arrest Nate does not mean that the Cumber's form of justice will not be served.

An interesting show that was well written. There is heartbreak for nearly the entire cast as each character will have to face some kind of justice whether or not the form justice is correct. By the end of the episode there will be a different kind of prisoner in the Dodge jail. Good watch.

Doc doesn't like Chester's coffee!

[hpringnitz · 9/10 · 30 March 2022]

That look he gave him when Chester asked what he should do with it was priceless!

That Lurene Tuttle was one heck of a good actress. Though one shouldn't be surprised as she was one of the most prolific actresses of her age. Absolutely loved her as Effie Perrine on the Sam Spade radio shows. She cracked me up! Not so much humor in this portrayal, though.

All I can say about it is; "Goodnight, sweetheart"!

One for all and all for none!

[AlsExGal · 8/10 · 4 September 2022]

Jonas, the owner of the Dodge City general store, leaves his clerk in charge of the day's money one rainy night. As the clerk is totaling up receipts and cash, a masked gunman enters the store. The robber's mask drops and he shoots the clerk to prevent him from being identified. Matt Dillon asks the clerk who did it, but he only has time to say the last name - Cumbers - before he dies.

The problem is there are two men named Cumbers -Frank and Nate, as well as their rather overbearing mother. Dillon goes to talk to each one. Frank has an alibi, but Nate does not, although he does have an explanation of where he was that night. Because Nate tries to run away and fires at Dillon while trying to escape, Dillon jails him and has him charged for the murder of the clerk.

The Cumbers family has this motto - "We take care of our own." What they really mean is that they punish wayward members of their family themselves and resent and are even shamed of the idea of the government stepping in and meting out punishment for crime.

So the obviously tragic thing about all of this is that none of the members of the Cumbers family talk to one another about what really happened that night. As a result they all come up with their own individual plan that results in a joint tragedy.

The not so obvious thing in this teleplay is that in the old west it was common for the frontiersmen to feel this way about the law interfering in a matter of justice. They felt that transgressions were a private matter, and that prison or a public hanging was how you dealt with the lower class who didn't have the discipline to "take care of their own". Over the years, you'll see this same attitude of feeling like Dillon is an interloper uttered by many a frontiersman. Realize this was not just the product of John Meston trying to come up with an interesting story.

Strong Episode

[dougdoepke · 8 February 2013]

On a stormy night, a shadowy man robs Jonas's store and kills the clerk. Before he dies, the clerk utters the last name of two brothers in the area. Matt figures one of the two must be guilty. Nate sure looks guilty with his wet clothes, while brother Frank's got a good alibi. Trouble is their ma (Tuttle) is a prairie-hardened woman who insists the family, not the law, punishes its own. So what's Matt to do.

Good episode, with well-worked out storyline from writer Meston. Solid acting from familiar faces in supporting roles. A story like this depends greatly on quality performances, but I especially like non-familiar face of Jan Harrison as Polly, the bar girl, who manages the kind of thoughtful ending the series was noted for.

As Beauty Does

[darbski · 10/10 · 3 November 2017]

**SPOILERS** The other reviewers have covered this very nicely. I've only got two small observations. One is that all Matt had to do was go over to Moss Grimmik's Livery and look over Nate's mount. If Nate had been out in the rain, and his slicker and boots were still wet, it's likely that his horse and tack were, too. If that was true, then he was telling the truth. Two, why didn't Nate tell his Ma that he didn't do it? He wouldn't have had to tell Matt, just her. She would then have known that Frank did it. Three, Polly's shooting was okay, I guess. Certainly understandable. Truth is, though, derringers usually take even more practice than normal sized pistols, unless you're REAL close up. Polly shoulda got up in his face before she squeezed off BOTH rounds. Sad, but a great episode.