Festus is shot by the killer he is pursuing in the blazing desert, only to be helped by a crazed hermit and forced to tote water to try and get him to a town 80 miles away.Festus is shot by the killer he is pursuing in the blazing desert, only to be helped by a crazed hermit and forced to tote water to try and get him to a town 80 miles away.Festus is shot by the killer he is pursuing in the blazing desert, only to be helped by a crazed hermit and forced to tote water to try and get him to a town 80 miles away.
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- Director
- Writers
- Jim Byrnes
- Norman MacDonnell(uncredited)
- John Meston(uncredited)
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaStrother Martin's character has a pet snake which he later uses as a weapon .The year before Martin played a scientist researching snakes and developing a serum to turn men snakelike in the film 'SSSSnake'.
- GoofsBen Snow's pet rattlesnake ("Homer, stop that buzzing! Festus here is a guest!" is supposed to be in two scenes (one in each hour), but when he's seen it's obviously stock footage that doesn't match the environment - particularly in his second appearance.
Featured review
Festus and the Deranged Desert Hermit: Part 1
Matt Dillon and Festus Haggen deliver a prisoner named Gard Dixon to Sheriff Grimes in the town of Cottonwood. Marshal Dillon has to leave immediately to testify at a trial the next day. Festus stays behind with plans to get some rest before returning to Dodge City.
Sheriff Grimes is careless and Dixon stabs Grimes. Dixon escapes with the sheriff's gun and a rifle. Sheriff Grimes yells that the prisoner is escaping, and Dixon shoots him. Dixon takes a horse and rides away.
Festus hears the shot, finds the fatally wounded Sheriff Grimes, and sets out in pursuit of Dixon. Dixon heads northwest into a desert area. When Dixon realizes Festus is close behind, he finds a vantage point in a rocky area and shoots the Deputy. The bullet only grazes the side of Festus's head, but it is enough to make him lose consciousness.
Ben Snow has been living alone in the desert for many years. When Snow sees vultures circling overhead nearby, he investigates and finds Festus wounded. He takes Festus back to his camp, which is next to a water source, where he nurses him back to health.
Years earlier, Snow and a partner named Sam Bristol had found gold in the desert and were returning to a town called Ten Strike when they were caught in a sandstorm that lasted for days. By the time the sandstorm ended, he and Bristol were stranded with little water. Bristol shot Snow in the leg for the water, left him to die in the desert, and went to Ten Strike.
Snow was alone, lost, and injured, with no horse, pack mule, or supplies. A wild burro led him to the only water source for miles around, and Snow set up residence there. Over the many years, Snow has managed to accumulate a significant cache of gold, but he has no way to transporting it out of the desert. Snow's only "companion" is a rattlesnake named Homer he feeds mice.
The solitude has given time for Snow's lust for revenge against Sam Bristol to fester. He tries to convince Festus to help him get to Ten Strike, but Festus is determined to return to Cottonwood for a fresh horse and supplies so he can resume his pursuit of Dixon.
Festus underestimates Ben's desperation, however. The hermit manages to get the Deputy's gun, forces him to put on his own manacles, and turns Festus into a human pack mule. They set out for Ten Strike on foot with Festus carrying a supply of water and the gold.
After Sheriff Grimes is killed in Cottonwood, someone from a neighboring town goes to Cottonwood until a sheriff can be found. He sends Matt a telegram in Dodge alerting him to the Dixon's escape and Festus's pursuit. Matt and Newly O'Brien leave Dodge to investigate.
The guest cast for this episode is relatively small. William C. "Bill" Watson fills the role of Gard Dixon in this story. Watson's intense, fast-talking style made him an ideal actor for playing villains. Including this performance, he appeared in four Gunsmoke episodes, with his role in this two-part episode his last in the series.
The great Strother Martin portrays Ben Snow. Martin appeared in eleven different episodes of the series, including the two parts of this episode, but his previous appearance came ten years earlier in Season 9's brilliant "No Hands" episode. Of course, Martin is an eminently recognizable character actor. His career featured parts in various television shows from Gilligan's Island to The Rockford Files, but he was also a familiar face in many iconic Westerns films, including The Sons of Katie Elder, Cool Hand Luke, True Grit, and its sequel Rooster Cogburn. Sam Peckinpah cast Martin and Martin's friend L. Q. Jones -- another frequent Gunsmoke guest star -- in prominent roles in his films The Wild Bunch and The Ballad of Cable Hogue. Martin's performance in "Island in the Desert" is one of his most extreme performances. Martin and Ken Curtis are quite the dynamic duo.
Actor Regis Cordic appeared in five Gunsmoke episodes, and all but one of those roles was as either a sheriff or marshal. His previous appearance was in Season 18's "Jesse" where he played Marshal Halstead, who was also killed.
Like Cordic, Hank Brandt made five appearances as a guest on Gunsmoke. In this story, Brandt portrays John Lipon, who is temporarily acting as sheriff in Cottonwood until a permanent sheriff can be appointed. Brandt played a much bigger role in the Season 15 episode "Morgan," where he portrayed Morgan's right-hand man.
I was in high school when this episode first aired, and it is one of the episodes I can distinctly remember watching at that time. I have seen it many times since, and it always fascinates me.
There are some scenes in part one that are especially worth noting:
One aspect to this story that puzzles me is why Festus is so compliant. Although Snow repeatedly threatens to shoot the Deputy if he does not do what the hermit says he must do, Festus has the upper hand. Snow is helpless without Festus, and it would seem Festus could use that fact to his advantage. He almost does a couple of times when he becomes frustrated at Snow for repeatedly poking him with his stick and when he insists on taking a drink of water.
There is a scene early in the episode when Nathan Burke delivers a telegram to Matt informing him about Dixon's escape. Matt is sitting alone in the Long Branch Saloon with a beer, which I cannot recall ever seeing before.
Will Snow and Festus make it to Ten Strike? Will Matt and Newly catch up with them? That and more will be revealed in the second part.
Sheriff Grimes is careless and Dixon stabs Grimes. Dixon escapes with the sheriff's gun and a rifle. Sheriff Grimes yells that the prisoner is escaping, and Dixon shoots him. Dixon takes a horse and rides away.
Festus hears the shot, finds the fatally wounded Sheriff Grimes, and sets out in pursuit of Dixon. Dixon heads northwest into a desert area. When Dixon realizes Festus is close behind, he finds a vantage point in a rocky area and shoots the Deputy. The bullet only grazes the side of Festus's head, but it is enough to make him lose consciousness.
Ben Snow has been living alone in the desert for many years. When Snow sees vultures circling overhead nearby, he investigates and finds Festus wounded. He takes Festus back to his camp, which is next to a water source, where he nurses him back to health.
Years earlier, Snow and a partner named Sam Bristol had found gold in the desert and were returning to a town called Ten Strike when they were caught in a sandstorm that lasted for days. By the time the sandstorm ended, he and Bristol were stranded with little water. Bristol shot Snow in the leg for the water, left him to die in the desert, and went to Ten Strike.
Snow was alone, lost, and injured, with no horse, pack mule, or supplies. A wild burro led him to the only water source for miles around, and Snow set up residence there. Over the many years, Snow has managed to accumulate a significant cache of gold, but he has no way to transporting it out of the desert. Snow's only "companion" is a rattlesnake named Homer he feeds mice.
The solitude has given time for Snow's lust for revenge against Sam Bristol to fester. He tries to convince Festus to help him get to Ten Strike, but Festus is determined to return to Cottonwood for a fresh horse and supplies so he can resume his pursuit of Dixon.
Festus underestimates Ben's desperation, however. The hermit manages to get the Deputy's gun, forces him to put on his own manacles, and turns Festus into a human pack mule. They set out for Ten Strike on foot with Festus carrying a supply of water and the gold.
After Sheriff Grimes is killed in Cottonwood, someone from a neighboring town goes to Cottonwood until a sheriff can be found. He sends Matt a telegram in Dodge alerting him to the Dixon's escape and Festus's pursuit. Matt and Newly O'Brien leave Dodge to investigate.
The guest cast for this episode is relatively small. William C. "Bill" Watson fills the role of Gard Dixon in this story. Watson's intense, fast-talking style made him an ideal actor for playing villains. Including this performance, he appeared in four Gunsmoke episodes, with his role in this two-part episode his last in the series.
The great Strother Martin portrays Ben Snow. Martin appeared in eleven different episodes of the series, including the two parts of this episode, but his previous appearance came ten years earlier in Season 9's brilliant "No Hands" episode. Of course, Martin is an eminently recognizable character actor. His career featured parts in various television shows from Gilligan's Island to The Rockford Files, but he was also a familiar face in many iconic Westerns films, including The Sons of Katie Elder, Cool Hand Luke, True Grit, and its sequel Rooster Cogburn. Sam Peckinpah cast Martin and Martin's friend L. Q. Jones -- another frequent Gunsmoke guest star -- in prominent roles in his films The Wild Bunch and The Ballad of Cable Hogue. Martin's performance in "Island in the Desert" is one of his most extreme performances. Martin and Ken Curtis are quite the dynamic duo.
Actor Regis Cordic appeared in five Gunsmoke episodes, and all but one of those roles was as either a sheriff or marshal. His previous appearance was in Season 18's "Jesse" where he played Marshal Halstead, who was also killed.
Like Cordic, Hank Brandt made five appearances as a guest on Gunsmoke. In this story, Brandt portrays John Lipon, who is temporarily acting as sheriff in Cottonwood until a permanent sheriff can be appointed. Brandt played a much bigger role in the Season 15 episode "Morgan," where he portrayed Morgan's right-hand man.
I was in high school when this episode first aired, and it is one of the episodes I can distinctly remember watching at that time. I have seen it many times since, and it always fascinates me.
There are some scenes in part one that are especially worth noting:
- The scene where Festus is awakened by Ben Snow carrying on a conversation with Homer the rattlesnake is amusing in an unnerving way.
- Snow's transformation from appreciating the mere presence of another human being when he first finds Festus to telling Festus if he cannot provide the pack mule services, he will be shot like a lame mule and forcing Festus to carry the water and gold as they walk across the desert is remarkable. A tenuous friendship becomes an adversarial, abusive relationship. What was initially good fortune for the deputy becomes burdensome.
One aspect to this story that puzzles me is why Festus is so compliant. Although Snow repeatedly threatens to shoot the Deputy if he does not do what the hermit says he must do, Festus has the upper hand. Snow is helpless without Festus, and it would seem Festus could use that fact to his advantage. He almost does a couple of times when he becomes frustrated at Snow for repeatedly poking him with his stick and when he insists on taking a drink of water.
There is a scene early in the episode when Nathan Burke delivers a telegram to Matt informing him about Dixon's escape. Matt is sitting alone in the Long Branch Saloon with a beer, which I cannot recall ever seeing before.
Will Snow and Festus make it to Ten Strike? Will Matt and Newly catch up with them? That and more will be revealed in the second part.
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- wdavidreynolds
- Nov 7, 2021
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