Search

» » Gunsmoke The Other Half (1955–1975)

Short summary

Identical twins Jay and Jess and local girl Nancy vowed in childhood that the three of them would always stay together. But now that all are grown, Nancy and Jess have quietly paired off. Someone is seen going into the twins' store one night, and Jess is found shot dead. While arguing that Matt is not doing enough to catch his brother's killer, Jay moves in on Nancy, telling her that he knows about the planned marriage and insisting that he now take the place of Jess in her life. Nancy is unsure. It appears that Jay and Jess may not have been at all alike, as Nancy is discovering, and Jay's father confesses to Matt that if one of his sons had to die, he wishes it had been Jay. Matters come to a head when a man, not knowing of the death of Jess, comes to the store looking for him, telling Jay he's negotiated a price for the piece of land in another state to which Jess had planned to move with Nancy.

Final role of Lee Kinsolving.

User reviews


  • comment
    • Author: Kulasius
    This unfortunate story is played well by the actors involved making for a watch that is a sad tale of a family situation. After watching and taking sometime to digest then entire program, I found this to be a episode that was almost Shakespearean in nature.

    Two brothers Jess and Jay Bartell have been running their father's feed and seed store since their widower father has been in poor health. Even though everyone in town had called the twins 'two peas in a pod' there was a notable different in the two for the people that knew them. Jess was the hard worker and management person while Jay was more of the dreamer. It will be difficult for their father to take when Jess is killed working late at the store after what appeared to be a robbery.

    There is a suspect as Festus and Jess's girlfriend Nancy had seen a older gentleman with a mustache and smoking a pipe talking to Jess before the murder. But no one in town knew who the man's name nor anything about him.

    But when the gentleman, Agus MacIntosh, returns we learn that he was selling a house to Jess so that he could marry Nancy and move away leaving Jay to run the business. But when Jay decides that he now wants to buy the house for Nancy, it begins a spiral downfall that will leave the entire situation unpleasant for the entire cast.

    A very sad tale that plays out right before us. We, as viewers, know that it was only a story script to a show but if felt more real than we ever wanted. A good watch.
  • Episode cast overview:
    James Arness James Arness - Matt Dillon
    Milburn Stone Milburn Stone - Doc
    Amanda Blake Amanda Blake - Kitty
    Ken Curtis Ken Curtis - Festus
    Lee Kinsolving Lee Kinsolving - Jess Bartell / Jay Bartell
    Donna Anderson Donna Anderson - Nancy
    Paul Fix Paul Fix - Sam Bartell
    Patric Knowles Patric Knowles - MacIntosh
    Larry J. Blake Larry J. Blake - Mr. Hoover (as Larry Blake)
    David S. Cass Sr. David S. Cass Sr. - Minister (as Dave Cass)
    Bob Gravage Bob Gravage - Barney (as Robert Gravage)
    All rights reserved © 2017-2024 hd.thomson-multimedia.com