Gunsmoke (TV Series) The Mark of Cain (1969) User Reviews

A thought provoking episode

[lhpetersen · 9/10 · 19 March 2021]

Here's a quote from this episode which summarizes a way to view past injustices: "It is my personal and private opinion that if they put your brains in a mustard seed, they'd rattle like a peanut in a boxcar. Now shut up.

First, The law is the law and in times of war there is no law. Doesn't make any difference where I was. Doesn't make any difference where anyone was. In times of civil war it all disappears.

Second, A man's past is his past. It's what he contributes to the present that matters."

spoken by Doc to Burke re: Burke's self righteous indignation about civil war injustices done by a town citizen.

A Thought-Provoking Examination of the Effects of War

[wdavidreynolds · 8/10 · 1 June 2021]

As for the plot of this story, I recommend reading the excellent historical perspective provided by kenstallings-65346. I also agree with the reviewer grizzledgeezer. The strength of this episode is that Tim Driscoll's situation is resolved, but the larger issue is not. As such, this episode can be interpreted as a statement about the horror of war and its lingering effects.

Robert Totten's performance as Corley truly shines among a strong cast of guests. Totten guested in eight different Gunsmoke episodes over the years, and he directed twenty-five episodes between season 11 and 17, including the "Waco" episode from earlier in Season 14. He contributed the story for one Gunsmoke epsiode, Season 13's "Nowhere to Run." A vastly different looking Bob Totten sans facial hair would star in another Season 14 episode, "The Long Night."

Nehemiah Persoff makes another of his many Gunsmoke appearances as the Tim Driscoll character. Louise Latham, who previously appeared in that Robert Totten directed "Waco" episode earlier in Season 14, is Louise Driscoll, Tim's wife.

Talented actor Robert DoQui makes one of his two Season 14 appearances in a Gunsmoke episode as one of Corley's companions named Sadler. DoQui's only other Gunsmoke performance was in the episode "The Good Samaritans" later in the season.

Another fine talent, Kevin Coughlin, plays Tom Driscoll, the son of Tim and Louise. This was Coughlin's first participation in the show, but he would eventually appear in four other episodes before he was hit by a speeding car and killed when he was only 31 years old.

One of the oddest guest performances is from Stanley Clements as the character McInnerny, who snores through most of every scene where he is present.

Those looking for a lot of action and gunplay are likely to find this episode disappointing. It is not often the Gunsmoke writers and producers would delve into historical events in this manner. This is a highly recommended, thought-provoking installment of Gunsmoke.

(A mildly curious side note to this episode: Early in the story, the drunken Corley character is shown shucking and eating raw oysters. The chalkboard in the restaurant reads, "Today's Special, Oysters $2 per dozen." Two dollars in 1875 would be more than fifty dollars today! The price probably makes sense under the circumstances. It seems quite unlikely a restaurant in Dodge City, Kansas during the time this episode is set would go to the trouble of acquiring raw oysters, keeping them on ice - considering the difficulty of making ice during the time, and then offering them at that price. It is not likely many people in the area would have paid that exorbitant amount, even if they had the means.)

good storytelling

[grizzledgeezer · 8/10 · 11 July 2013]

What makes "The Mark of Cain" an exceptional episode is that nothing is resolved. Doc says all that matters is how a man acts now (as if one's bad deeds can be automatically wiped out). Driscoll says he might very well be guilty -- but not for the reasons given. President Grant's general amnesty is a deus-ex-machina that resolves the situation without answering any of the moral issues. In short -- a drama without pat answers to difficult questions.

Milburn Stone is rarely given a chance to shine. Here he gets to deliver an interesting, well-written speech.

Robert Totten -- who was also a director and writer of "Gunsmoke" episodes -- gives an engagingly over-the-top performance as a buffalo hunter. (The synopsis talks about "buffalo soldiers", possibly because the writer is confused because one of the hunters is black.)

An episode with historic overtones

[kenstallings-65346 · 10/10 · 4 February 2018]

This episode is an homage to the Confederate commander of the infamous Andersonville POW camp in Georgia during the American Civil War. Unlike the character in this episode, the real life commander, Captain Henry Wirtz, was one of the very few Confederate soldiers who stood trial for war crimes. He was found guilty in a military tribunal and was executed. The tribunal declared him guilty a mere five months after the officer was captured in May 1865.

The tribunal is today considered one of the worst miscarriages of justice in American military history. This Gunsmoke episode did a good job providing much of the background reality that the actual tribunal ensured was kept out of the record. Like the Driscoll character, Captain Wirtz made many significant efforts to lesson the deprivations of his camp, pleading for increases in provisions as well as a transfer of prisoners to lessen the overcrowding.

Other gross injustices included the false testimony of the court's star witness, who ended up proven to be a Union deserter, who was never captured and therefore never at Andersonville. He was an employee of the US Department of the Interior at the time of the tribunal, but was fired after his desertion was discovered.

Other inmates testified to Wirtz's humanity amid impossible conditions. Robert E. Lee and his son Fitzhugh Lee both testified that Wirtz did all he reasonably could to get the prisoners food and that it was the Union blockade that prevented the arrival of medical supplies to the camp. The prison was overcrowded at four times it's designed capacity, and with Georgia starving, there simply were not the provisions available that Wirtz repeatedly begged for. All of these facts were introduced into testimony, but because the one star witness perjured himself to say he saw Wirtz personally murder a prisoner, this exculpatory testimony was ignored.

The Confederacy offered to release all Union POW's under the condition they would not take up arms, but Lincoln refused this offer because the North had the manpower to absorb the losses of troops, while the South did not.

It is rare that a fictional TV series captures important historical realities, but this is one of those rare episodes that does. Milburn Stone's character's speech is of particular poignancy. As the character said, "In times of civil war the code of humanity disappears completely." This episode serves as a social reminder that the victor in war must preserve his sense of justice toward the enemy, else succumb to lesser forces that undermine his own moral foundation.

Past is Prologue

[darbski · 8/10 · 2 February 2018]

***SPOILERS*** I don't disagree with the other reviewers; they both make very strong points. The thing the makes this episode worthwhile is he acting. The story? History is written by the victors. Vengeance is a righteous cause, however being consumed by it will write it's own destiny: the equal of the first desire. "Those who live by the sword"...

Northern AND Southern P.O.W. camps were both unnecessarily filled to capacity, and, it was very difficult to keep up with prisoner needs of any kind. The North (and, I'm a dyed in the wool Yankee), had a lot less excuse. Sure, the war demanded a lot of industry and farming, but it was still a humane need to care for those who were captives. The South was simply overwhelmed. EVERY thing that could be spared was going to the war, and the soldiers fighting it. Don't get the idea that I excuse the leadership. If they truly had a good cause, there was a very real way to alliviate the problem of overcrowding: continue the paroles with the provision that the parolee would never again bear arms against the South. R.E.Lee, Jeff Davis just would not do it. They were as inhumane to their own soldiers and civilians as if they were prisoners, too. End of speech.

Buffalo hunters want respect? Well, they could do what drovers, cowboys, and teamsters did. Get a shave, haircut, bath, clean clothes, and not act like they couldn't be civilized. Most of them did just that. It doesn't fit the Hollywood picture, but most of them wanted to get rid of the fleas and the stink.

Festus getting taken again? Par for the course. Frankly, I'm still surprised that a ten year old couldn't just kick the door to the crackerbox jail they had. There was a blacksmith in town, why not get decent doors with serious lockbars? For that matter, the office was badly designed in the first place. Kitty's kindness to Mrs. Driscoll was a high point of this episode, as was Doc's lecture on war.

The acting was top shelf, and the message about amnesty was very nice, but Grant was probably looking for amnesty himself. He was the one who stopped the prisoner exchange in the first place. I'll give it an 8.

1st appearance of a black man in Gunsmoke

[consultinggroupusa · 7/10 · 9 April 2022]

Even though it has been historically recorded that a least 20% of the cowboys were black men and that black people made contributions to the pioneering spirit that made settling the west possible, it only took 14+ years for Gunsmoke to have a black man appear on the show. Am I mistaken?

Just took too long to get this story moving

[kfo9494 · 5/10 · 11 July 2013]

Not as impressed with this episode as others as the entire show was very slow developing. Even though the show ended quite well it still could not get over the long build up to the climax that we all anticipated from the very beginning of the program.

It centers around an aging man, Tim Driscoll, that has moved to Dodge and living his educated life right out of town. One day a buffalo hunter advises that Driscoll is really Carl Martin Craig that was over a confederate prison where many union soldiers died a horrible death. Sure enough Driscoll confesses to being the commandant of the prison and is thrown in jail much to the pleasure of nearly everyone in Dodge.

While the buffalo hunter is busy trying to get the citizens to revolt and lynch Driscoll the only friends that he has is his family that was unaware of his past life. Things get worse as the buffalo hunter vows to personally kill Driscoll for the death of his father. Matt and Festus will have their hands full.

Just could not get over the slow and uneventful opening to this episode. It was very easy to lose interest until the story picked up nicely closer to the end. This appeared to have been better as a great thirty minute episode- instead we have an hour show that has so much fluff and useless dialog that I am sure many did not make it toward the end. It was nice to see the young actor, Kevin Coughlin, who had his promising career cut down to early in a odd automobile accident. He had a face that many in the 60's and early 70's remember fondly.