Gunsmoke (TV Series) Blind Man's Buff (1972) User Reviews

The only suspense is the ending the rest is rehashed material

[kfo9494 · 4/10 · 30 May 2013]

In this episode we have a plot that has been written about since the beginning of type. From comedy to drama, amnesia (memory loss) has been connected with story telling when language was first developed. And this 'Gunsmoke' episode proves that it is a plot that is overused, uninteresting and rehashed when the writers have no other direction for a show. Newly lost his memory just a season ago and two season later Matt will get the dreaded amnesia so this plot is far from over.

The good thing about this episode is that Victor French puts all he has into the story making it as interesting as can be when he is shot by two cowboys during a robbery. Later he staggers to the house that is occupied by a woman named Phoebe Frazer. The wounded man has a head injury and has lost all memory so Phoebe tells him that his name is Jed Frazer her husband.

When Jim sees one of the cowboys that robbed him on the road, he takes after the guy and a fight breaks out. But then he cannot tell Marshal Dillon why he was after the man. The two cowboys know if his memory returns then he could identify them and they could be looking a jail time.

But as we all know from watching this plot, Jed's memory begins to return. So really the only thing that we as the viewer can anticipate is if the writers are going to make this a happy or sad ending. it is the only suspense in the entire program.

NOTE- this could be considered a SPOILER ALERT so read at your own risk. > I have seen this episode many times but recently just watched it again on TV Land where they cut the episode to bits. Right near the end when Jed is at the train station all of the sudden Matt shows up. Why did he just happen to be at the train depot at night? Well TV Land cut the scene where Phoebe runs into the Marshal's office and confesses about the man being her husband and that he may be in danger at the depot. That info was very critical to the story but TV Land felt obligated to cut it out and add more commercials.

An Obligatory Script to Fill an Hour of Television

[wdavidreynolds · 5/10 · 27 August 2021]

A woman named Phoebe Preston has been lonely since the death of her father several months earlier. Her life was devoted to caring for her father, and now she thinks her life lacks purpose or meaning. She lives near Dodge City and visits Doc Adams because of her hypochondria.

A man is camping near the farmhouse where Phoebe lives. Two scoundrels named Charlie Clavin and Hank McCall are roving the countryside when they come upon the man camping. They act in a friendly manner toward the man, but he clearly does not trust the duo and wants to be left alone.

Clavin and McCall leave the man, but they move to a place where they can watch him. They are only interested in his horse and any material possessions he might have. From a distance they shoot him with a rifle, rob him, and leave him to die.

The man finds the strength to make his way to Phoebe's house. He walks into the terrified woman's house, but he collapses. Although she is initially terrified, the woman begins to see an opportunity to care for someone again, much like she did for her father.

When the man regains consciousness, he cannot remember who he is or why he is in this stranger's house. Phoebe seizes upon the opportunity this presents and tells the man his name is Jed Frazer. She insists they are recently married.

As time passes, the man -- who now answers to Jed Frazer -- begins to have flashes of memories from his past. When he and Phoebe attend a dance in Dodge, he sees Hank McCall and is compelled to attack him, although he does not know why.

Actress Anne Jackson portrays Phoebe in this story. Jackson's acting career included sporadic appearances in films and television shows. She was married for over 65 years to famed actor Eli Wallach. Her only Gunsmoke role is in this episode.

Victor French returns for one of his eighteen Gunsmoke guest-starring roles as the mysterious man to which Phoebe gives the name Jed Frazer. Oddly, French would play a man who shoots and abandons Matt Dillon in Season 19's "Matt's Love Story." Matt develops amnesia because of his injuries in that episode like what happens to French's character in this story.

George Lindsey and Charles Kuenstle are two Gunsmoke veterans who participate for the last time in the series with this episode. Lindsey plays Charlie Clavin in this story. This episode was produced after the so-called CBS "rural purge" in 1971 when the series Mayberry R. F. D. Where he played Goober Pyle was canceled. Around the time this episode was filmed, he was appearing on the series Hee Haw as basically the same Goober character he played on The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry R. F. D. Lindsey and Kuenstle had previously appeared together in the Season 9 episode "Pa Hack's Brood."

Once again, we have a Gunsmoke episode that involves the Dodge City setting and has most of the regular characters on the periphery of the story, but it could have just as easily been set in most any other Western series. Especially since the amnesia trope has been so widely used in television, there probably WERE similar episodes in many of the more formulaic Westerns. (I'm looking at you, Bonanza.)

Anne Jackson and Victor French are convincing in their roles, but the story is so predictable the episode appears to be more of an obligatory effort to fill an hour of television. (I do give the writer, director, and producers credit for avoiding the revelatory scene where French's character suddenly fully regains his memory.)

It is one of the 635 episodes, so Gunsmoke fans will want to watch it. Just don't expect much other than solid acting.

Note: There is a Season 8 episode with the title "Blind Man's Bluff." This episode is titled "Blind Man's Buff." Both episode titles refer to the same children's game where a person is blindfolded and tries to tag other participants without being able to see them. The original name of the game is Blind Man's Buff.

Bad ep. Anne Jackson is miscast indeed

[belanger75 · 5/10 · 16 January 2020]

Although not an eyesore just to look at, Miss. Jackson was a method actress and her performance here is just plain bad. She is supposed to know both Festus and Miss. Kitty and she acts like an utter stranger to both regular performers playing opposite her. No chemistry at all! Did she have no time to familiarize with them before shhoting? Practically everyone whoever runs across Miss. KItty and/or Festus manages to act familiar with them (whether the guest knew Blake and/or Curtis before the ep shooting or not). What is Jackson's serious problem? Would have better had her character been rewritten to be a stranger to the two long-time Dodge City residents ( "Oh! You must be the one they call 'Festus'") then a lack of chemistry would have been more understandable. Victor French, who also guest stars, did a way better Gunsmoke ep where he was a military man suffering torment and delusions.