Newly falls in love with a young woman who is dying of leukemia. Later, Doc Adams offers to teach Newly how to become a doctor.Newly falls in love with a young woman who is dying of leukemia. Later, Doc Adams offers to teach Newly how to become a doctor.Newly falls in love with a young woman who is dying of leukemia. Later, Doc Adams offers to teach Newly how to become a doctor.
Photos
Duke Fishman
- Townsman
- (uncredited)
Bobby Gilbert
- Townsman
- (uncredited)
Bart Greene
- Townsman
- (uncredited)
Dorothy Hack
- Townswoman
- (uncredited)
Chester Hayes
- Townsman
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- Calvin Clements Sr.
- Norman MacDonnell(uncredited)
- John Meston(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaFifth and final appearance of Jeffrey Sayre, various uncredited characters.
- GoofsTwo items- At the beginning of the show Newly, Patricia and Johnny are in a stagecoach. At times, outside the window, the scene never changes since the coach was not moving. During the tornado the trees in the distance are not moving to the mighty wind storm.
Featured review
Newly's Tragic Love Story
Newly O'Brien meets a woman named Patricia Colby as he is returning to Dodge City on a stagecoach. Patricia is escorting a boy named Johnny as his governess. They started their journey in Boston.
When a tornado outbreak impacts the Dodge area, Johnny suffers a broken leg, which results in Patricia and Johnny stopping in Dodge longer than they had expected. Doc Adams is overwhelmed with requests for help, and he solicits Newly's help in treating people injured during the storms.
Newly once aspired to become a doctor and even attended medical school for a brief time but he found the responsibilities overwhelming. Patricia expresses her willingness to help, since she had some experience as a nurse. Newly and Patricia work together treating the injured people, and they quickly fall in love and make plans to marry.
Unfortunately, Patricia is ill. She is often tired and was given some "tonic pills" by a doctor in Boston to improve her appetite and increase her energy level and stamina. She bruises easily. When she visits Doc to obtain more medicine, Doc takes a blood sample and discovers she has leukemia. Doc knows her condition is terminal.
Actress Jess Walton portrays Patricia Colby in this story. Walton is best known for her longtime role as Jill Foster Abbott (later Jill Atkinson) on daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless, a part she still plays in 2021. This is her first Gunsmoke role. She returns for one additional appearance -- as a different character, of course -- in the final season.
Child actor Ike Eisenmann returns for the second of three Gunsmoke appearances as Johnny. After Patricia and Newly decide to marry, Johnny's father comes to Dodge to get the young man.
This is very much a Newly centric love story. Milburn Stone plays a significant role as Doc Adams. There is also an endearing scene where the Festus Haggen character presides over the wedding rehearsal for Patricia and Newly.
This is a sad story, but it is not especially original. It seems many times when a major character in a television drama falls in love, it means either a new cast member is being added, or the story will be tragic. There are many examples with the tragic outcome, but a few examples come immediately to mind:
This story also seems to serve to expand Buck Taylor's role on Gunsmoke. Up to this point, the Newly O'Brien character had been prominently featured a few times, but he is often completely absent. The character is a sort of "utility man" often used to fill distinct roles. He is a gunsmith and deputy. He has been used as a lawyer a couple of times.
Milburn Stone was growing older and had already experienced time away from the show due to a heart attack and subsequent heart surgery. By having the Newly O'Brien character resume his medical training under Doc's tutelage, it provided a likely replacement for the Doc Adams character at some point in the future. (Of course, that potential was never realized, as the show only lasted two more seasons.)
At some level, this is a cruel story, in addition to being sad. The Gunsmoke world was a strange place where none of the regular characters were allowed to marry or remain married beyond a single episode. Having seen this episode a few times, I wonder how it would have been to have a married couple featured as a regular part of the series.
Any episode where the viewer learns more about one of the main characters is "must-see" material, and this story certainly falls into that category.
When a tornado outbreak impacts the Dodge area, Johnny suffers a broken leg, which results in Patricia and Johnny stopping in Dodge longer than they had expected. Doc Adams is overwhelmed with requests for help, and he solicits Newly's help in treating people injured during the storms.
Newly once aspired to become a doctor and even attended medical school for a brief time but he found the responsibilities overwhelming. Patricia expresses her willingness to help, since she had some experience as a nurse. Newly and Patricia work together treating the injured people, and they quickly fall in love and make plans to marry.
Unfortunately, Patricia is ill. She is often tired and was given some "tonic pills" by a doctor in Boston to improve her appetite and increase her energy level and stamina. She bruises easily. When she visits Doc to obtain more medicine, Doc takes a blood sample and discovers she has leukemia. Doc knows her condition is terminal.
Actress Jess Walton portrays Patricia Colby in this story. Walton is best known for her longtime role as Jill Foster Abbott (later Jill Atkinson) on daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless, a part she still plays in 2021. This is her first Gunsmoke role. She returns for one additional appearance -- as a different character, of course -- in the final season.
Child actor Ike Eisenmann returns for the second of three Gunsmoke appearances as Johnny. After Patricia and Newly decide to marry, Johnny's father comes to Dodge to get the young man.
This is very much a Newly centric love story. Milburn Stone plays a significant role as Doc Adams. There is also an endearing scene where the Festus Haggen character presides over the wedding rehearsal for Patricia and Newly.
This is a sad story, but it is not especially original. It seems many times when a major character in a television drama falls in love, it means either a new cast member is being added, or the story will be tragic. There are many examples with the tragic outcome, but a few examples come immediately to mind:
- Doc Adams falls in love with Dr. Sam McTavish in Season 16, but she contracts an infectious disease she is attempting to treat and dies.
- The Burt Reynolds character Quint Asper plans to marry a woman in the episode "Crooked Mile," but Susan is killed by a family member.
- "Little" Joe Cartwright marries in the final season of Bonanza, but his wife is killed by outlaws.
- Lt. Art Malcolm, as played by Ward Wood in the series Mannix, marries in a seventh season episode, but his bride is killed shortly after they are wed.
This story also seems to serve to expand Buck Taylor's role on Gunsmoke. Up to this point, the Newly O'Brien character had been prominently featured a few times, but he is often completely absent. The character is a sort of "utility man" often used to fill distinct roles. He is a gunsmith and deputy. He has been used as a lawyer a couple of times.
Milburn Stone was growing older and had already experienced time away from the show due to a heart attack and subsequent heart surgery. By having the Newly O'Brien character resume his medical training under Doc's tutelage, it provided a likely replacement for the Doc Adams character at some point in the future. (Of course, that potential was never realized, as the show only lasted two more seasons.)
At some level, this is a cruel story, in addition to being sad. The Gunsmoke world was a strange place where none of the regular characters were allowed to marry or remain married beyond a single episode. Having seen this episode a few times, I wonder how it would have been to have a married couple featured as a regular part of the series.
Any episode where the viewer learns more about one of the main characters is "must-see" material, and this story certainly falls into that category.
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- wdavidreynolds
- Sep 19, 2021
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