JK And "Jealousy"! :)

Howdy!

As you may know, Maverick is now airing nationally Saturday mornings at 10 AM ET on ME-TV (although local ME-TV stations sometimes substitute their own programming--check your area listings to be sure). As the Maverick episodes seem to be running sequentially from the beginning, that means Bart hasn't shown up yet. Sit tight: he makes his debut in "Hostage!", coming soon (February 25, to be exact).

That's not the only Jack Kelly treat we have to look forward to on ME-TV. Since the network is also airing the original half-hour length episodes of Gunsmoke, we'll also be seeing "Jealousy", the 1957 episode written by Sam Peckinpah in which JK guest-starred. It will be coming up soon as well (February 23).

I recently found a Gunsmoke DVD with "Jealousy", so here are some dreamy screen caps of JK from the episode as a preview.

Smilin' Jack (as "Cam Durbin") introduces big (6'7") Jim Arness ("Marshal Matt Dillon") to his wife, "Tilda" (Joan Tetzel). Cam is an old friend of Matt's.

 

Cam has come to Dodge City to deal faro at the Longbranch Saloon. While he and Tilda are chatting with Marshal Dillon, a shady character named "Lonnie Pike", who was the former dealer at the saloon, comes to plead his case with the Marshal. Pike was stabbed in the hand by a card player he tried to cheat and can no longer ply his trade as a gambler.

Cam decides to help Pike by offering him a job as a back-up dealer. Marshal Dillon tells him he's making a mistake, but Cam stands firm.

He should have listened to Matt. Pike holds a grudge against Dillon because he wouldn't shoot the man who stabbed him. He plots to get rid of the Marshal by convincing Cam that Matt is trying to steal Tilda away from him. (You see, Cam is the jealous type...and he used to be pretty good with a gun.)

Cam begins to have his doubts:

Is Tilda really cheating on him with his old friend?

The evidence seems to be mounting. Cam catches Matt and Tilda together in a restaurant (not the restaurant Tilda was supposed to meet him at):

 

Finally, he angrily confronts them on the street, and threatens to shoot Matt:

He doesn't, but it turns out someone else in the Durbin family is good with a gun. Tilda blasts Pike at the saloon for feeding false rumors about her and Matt to Cam.

Cam tries to  stop Matt from arresting Tilda, but is knocked out cold by the Marshal.

At the Marshal's office, Cam tries to reason with Matt and Tilda: 

When it appears that Pike will recover from the shooting, Matt releases Tilda:

And, the Durbins decide to get out of Dodge:

JK's role as gamblin' man Cam was good practice for when he took on the role of Bart Maverick later in 1957!  

COMING SOON: A look at another pre-Maverick JK performance, plus a post-Maverick JK performance, and a different view of Gunsmoke--stay tuned! :)