Gunsmoke (TV Series) The Choice (1959) User Reviews

Matt takes a big chance on a young man

[kfo9494 · 8/10 · 14 August 2013]

A young man, Andy Hill, comes to Dodge wanting to get a job. When Andy has to kill a man for making advances toward Kitty, we learn that the young man can handle a gun. Even with Andy's mysterious background, Matt takes a shine to the young buck. Matt gets Andy a job of riding shotgun on the stage.

When Andy does not kill a man that was robbing the empty strongbox, he is fired from the stage job. It is not long before Matt finds out about the young man's past. But even with this revelation, Matt will put his reputation on the line when he asks to place Andy back as a shotgun man. Matt is taking a big risk and can only hope his gamble pays off.

A nice story that could have went either way till the very end. Darryl Hickman was excellent playing the young man with the hidden past. His face is was soft to the eye but also demanded attention when appearing on screen. It was a near perfect cast for the direction the story was taking. An entertaining episode.

Weak

[maskers-87126 · 7/10 · 1 November 2018]

I know Matt can show mercy and kindness but when did hebecome a social worker with scant respect fòr the law?

Am i right?!

[birdgoog · 8/10 · 7 October 2020]

Cool. i see kfo's here, lots of reviews. So i can discuss just ONE THING that's driving me NUTS!! Now listen, about four minutes into the episode ...

MISS KITTY: "You should've seen it Matt. He had his gun out before Andy even STARTED to draw!"

Now that's verbatim. Break it down maybe? So "he" is the bad guy who accosted Miss Kitty. Ok then, HE had his gun out (Kitty is saying he/bad guy out drew Andy) before Andy (good guy) even started to draw ... (Kitty is saying ANDY never had a chance!) ... all at once now: that dialogue said to me that Miss Kitty is excitedly telling Matt that the bad dude drew before Andy could draw his own gun. Riiiiight?!? Isn't that, in fact, EXACTLY what she said?! But also, isn't that COMPLETELY OPPOSITE of what actually happened?!? And she's acting like she's bragging about Andy but her WORDS say otherwise! Listen PLEASE, is this just me or what?!? Did the writers (or did Amanda even) get that comment twisted? Or is it that i'm just completely misunderstanding what she said?! Wish this episode was on YouTube so ppl could answer me! lol i've played that part over & over! Unless someone can explain to me how Miss Kitty didn't really say what i think she said ... but i'm afraid that might take more imagination than i'm able to muster. At this time. But anyhoo. Am i right? i AM aren't i?! Yeah. Pretty sure i'm right. ... i think?

Which Way Will He Go

[dougdoepke · 9 August 2013]

A fast-draw young man comes to town looking for a job. Matt helps him get a shotgun-riding job with the stage though the youngster appears to be hiding something. On his first trip, the kid apparently screws up and is fired. But Matt remembers when he was given a break as a young man, and talks the stage owner into rehiring the kid. Then Matt learns about the youngster's past.

It's a Darryl Hickman (Andy) showcase. I wouldn't have suspected he could handle the role of the young tough as well as he does. But he's really compelling, and it's on that aspect that the episode turns. There's good suspense trying to figure out which way the kid's going to go, and I like how Matt refers to his own past while helping Andy. On the whole, it's another excellent entry penned by head writer John Meston.

Not Dobie

[darbski · 10/10 · 19 September 2017]

**SPOILERS** Plain Jane, "my faith in you will tell us true" episode in which Darryl Hickman shows us why he had a serious career. Anybody who also watched Perry Mason can tell you that he plays a great bad guy as well. In this show, he is a young gun from other parts, and wanted in Oklahoma Territory. Yup. It was NOT a state. so, getting Matt to arrest him in Kansas would require a Governor's warrant, or a Federal warrant. Usually, if the bad guys made it across a state line, they had a chance of not being tossed in the hoosegow.

Bounty Hunters, however, could be a problem. Unless an official warrant charging a Federal Marshal with an arrest, it was hands off; until the bad guy misbehaved within their jurisdiction.

So, Matt could, and did use his own discretion in some of these cases. On this show, what he did was something that actually had to happen in reality. Mercy. Andy (young gun) was trying to go straight, Matt saw it, and the writer (Meston) gave it some drama. It worked. It's a very good episode, and one that Darryl Hickman shows how good he is. another standout in this one is Robert Brubaker a fine actor with many credits to his name (Thanks, IMDb).

Try to remember this fact when you judge westerns. Some writers make it seem like NOBODY worth his salt survived. History shows us differently, and frequently people could, and did change themselves for the better.

Andy Rides With Jim Buck

[StrictlyConfidential · 6/10 · 9 March 2021]

(*Andy Hill quote*) - "I don't want nobody to get killed."

Marshal Dillon goes well out of his way to help young gunman, Andy Hill, by getting him a job riding shotgun on the regular stagecoach.

Andy is fast on the draw, but he's got a chip on his shoulder.

Can Marshal Dillon rely on Andy to be trustworthy in his new job position?

Too Much Blind Faith

[jamdifo · 2/10 · 12 September 2013]

I'm always amazed when someone gets killed in the bar, they just take the body out and go on like nothing happened. The violence back then, and they say people are numb to violence in 2013 with all of it on TV.

Anyway, this episode made no sense to me. Andy kills a guy at the Longbranch because the guy wanted to buy Miss Kitty a drink, but Kitty said no. Andy really eggs the guy on for a shootout, but Kitty and Chester tell Dillon it was self defense. So what does Dillon do? He finds Andy a job.

This episode is so ludicrous. Dillon finds out later Andy is wanted for robbery. What does Dillon do? He releases Andy from jail (he already had him arrested) and lets him have his job as shotgun on the stagecoach again. Really? It ends with Andy bringing back his old partner in crime back to town dead. Of course, Dillon believes his story and unbelievably tells Andy he will do everything to make Oklahoma not want him anymore. This episode was so unDillonlike and so unGunsmokelike. And when will Chester realize he can't win in a draw. Its so ridiculous seeing him going to get a gun for a shootout.