An inflexible father believes that his son is needed more on the farm than attending school. The local schoolteacher believes different and after being assaulted by the father will try to fo... Read allAn inflexible father believes that his son is needed more on the farm than attending school. The local schoolteacher believes different and after being assaulted by the father will try to force the need for mandatory education in court.An inflexible father believes that his son is needed more on the farm than attending school. The local schoolteacher believes different and after being assaulted by the father will try to force the need for mandatory education in court.
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Buck Taylor
- Newly
- (credit only)
George DiCenzo
- Mr. Bruce
- (as George Di Cenzo)
Karen Obediear
- Sallie Harker
- (as Karen Oberdiear)
Benjie Bancroft
- Juror
- (uncredited)
Al Beaudine
- Townsman
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- Jim Byrnes
- Norman MacDonnell(uncredited)
- John Meston(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis episode was recognized with the National Education Award.
Featured review
A Teacher Attempts to Educate an Entire Community
Oliver Harker is a struggling farmer that lives near Dodge City. His children, Tommy and Sallie, attend the Dodge City school. Tommy is an exceptionally gifted student, but his father wants Tommy to work on the farm. When an incident occurs where a fox kills some chickens because Tommy was distracted while reading "The Iliad," Oliver considers Tommy's education too distracting and decides he no longer needs to attend school. Furthermore, he orders Tommy to stop any educational pursuits, including reading books.
Henry Decory is the teacher at the Dodge City school, and he attempts to appeal to Oliver's sense of reason to allow Tommy to continue attending school. Mr. Decory even volunteers to tutor Tommy at night, but Oliver insists Tommy has enough knowledge to be a farmer and requires no additional education.
Tommy chooses to defy his father and returns to the school. Oliver goes to the school and begins to forcibly remove Tommy from the classroom. When Mr. Decory tries to intervene, Harker hits the teacher. As a result, Mr. Decory files charges against Harker for assault with the intention of making the need for education the focus of the subsequent trial.
Allen Garfield was an accomplished actor by the time he made this appearance on Gunsmoke as Henry Decory. He played a key role in Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation. Around the same time he appeared in this Gunsmoke episode, he played the character Barnett in Robert Altman's Nashville. He only made this one Gunsmoke appearance.
Lance Kerwin portrays young Tommy Harker in his only Gunsmoke role. Kerwin was a popular child actor in the 1970s, but drug and alcohol problems plagued him in his twenties. More recently he says he has found sobriety through religion.
Actor John Vernon joins Garfield and Kerwin as a one-time Gunsmoke guest with this performance as the stern Oliver Harker. Vernon played the mayor of San Francisco in Dirty Harry and Captain Fletcher in The Outlaw Josey Wales, both starring Clint Eastwood. He played the iconic character Dean Vernon Wormer in National Lampoon's Animal House.
Diane Shalet portrays Ami Harker, Oliver's wife and Tommy's mother. This is her second and final Gunsmoke appearance. Karen Obediear makes her only Gunsmoke appearance as young Salli Harker.
George DiCenzo (credited as George Di Cenzo) returns to Gunsmoke as the attorney who defends Oliver Harker, Mr. Bruce. DiCenzo's other appearance in the series was as a lecherous drifter in Season 19's "Susan Was Evil."
A couple of longtime recurring characters make their last appearances in the series with this episode. Charles Wagenheim plays the Dodge resident Halligan, and Herb Vigran plays Judge Brooker for the last time. Since the episode is set in Dodge with courtroom scenes, several actors make their final appearances in uncredited roles.
This episode marks the final series installment where Milburn Stone's Doc Adams character plays a significant role. While Doc appears in some of the final episodes, the character will not be as pivotal again as he is here.
Victor French handles the direction again for this episode. Jim Byrnes provides another stellar script.
This story was rightfully recognized with the National Education Award. It is the best episode of Season 20, and one of the most remarkable in the twenty-year run of the series. The acting is -- again -- outstanding by everyone involved.
The "villains" in this story are ideas. The idea that a father has authority over his family, even to the point of brutally beating one or more of the family members and interfering with their desire to learn. The idea of willful ignorance in the face of educational opportunities. Mr. Decory tries to make the point that the farmers can benefit from the knowledge afforded by education. For example, Harker's farm has not produced as well in recent years, and Harker admits he has never heard of techniques like crop rotation.
The obvious references to Nazi Germany and the burning of books can be seen as a warning that such ideas are not isolated to any particular culture. Authoritarians tend to fear ideas, and it is just as true in 2021 as it was in the 1870s or the 1930s.
It is worth noting that Matt Dillon sides with the "wrong" side of the issue by telling Mr. Decory he should mind his own business. (From a legal standpoint, the Marshal is correct, but it is interesting this issue puts Doc Adams and Matt at odds with one another.) Additionally, Matt seems to disappear as this episode moves toward a conclusion.
(Side note: Of course, Nathan Burke loudly states his opposition to Mr. Decory's assertions. Why is it that Burke is almost ALWAYS wrong about everything? The character is as deliberately unlikable as any non-villain in television history.)
The "Fires of Ignorance" is Gunsmoke at its best, and this late series episode should not be missed.
Henry Decory is the teacher at the Dodge City school, and he attempts to appeal to Oliver's sense of reason to allow Tommy to continue attending school. Mr. Decory even volunteers to tutor Tommy at night, but Oliver insists Tommy has enough knowledge to be a farmer and requires no additional education.
Tommy chooses to defy his father and returns to the school. Oliver goes to the school and begins to forcibly remove Tommy from the classroom. When Mr. Decory tries to intervene, Harker hits the teacher. As a result, Mr. Decory files charges against Harker for assault with the intention of making the need for education the focus of the subsequent trial.
Allen Garfield was an accomplished actor by the time he made this appearance on Gunsmoke as Henry Decory. He played a key role in Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation. Around the same time he appeared in this Gunsmoke episode, he played the character Barnett in Robert Altman's Nashville. He only made this one Gunsmoke appearance.
Lance Kerwin portrays young Tommy Harker in his only Gunsmoke role. Kerwin was a popular child actor in the 1970s, but drug and alcohol problems plagued him in his twenties. More recently he says he has found sobriety through religion.
Actor John Vernon joins Garfield and Kerwin as a one-time Gunsmoke guest with this performance as the stern Oliver Harker. Vernon played the mayor of San Francisco in Dirty Harry and Captain Fletcher in The Outlaw Josey Wales, both starring Clint Eastwood. He played the iconic character Dean Vernon Wormer in National Lampoon's Animal House.
Diane Shalet portrays Ami Harker, Oliver's wife and Tommy's mother. This is her second and final Gunsmoke appearance. Karen Obediear makes her only Gunsmoke appearance as young Salli Harker.
George DiCenzo (credited as George Di Cenzo) returns to Gunsmoke as the attorney who defends Oliver Harker, Mr. Bruce. DiCenzo's other appearance in the series was as a lecherous drifter in Season 19's "Susan Was Evil."
A couple of longtime recurring characters make their last appearances in the series with this episode. Charles Wagenheim plays the Dodge resident Halligan, and Herb Vigran plays Judge Brooker for the last time. Since the episode is set in Dodge with courtroom scenes, several actors make their final appearances in uncredited roles.
This episode marks the final series installment where Milburn Stone's Doc Adams character plays a significant role. While Doc appears in some of the final episodes, the character will not be as pivotal again as he is here.
Victor French handles the direction again for this episode. Jim Byrnes provides another stellar script.
This story was rightfully recognized with the National Education Award. It is the best episode of Season 20, and one of the most remarkable in the twenty-year run of the series. The acting is -- again -- outstanding by everyone involved.
The "villains" in this story are ideas. The idea that a father has authority over his family, even to the point of brutally beating one or more of the family members and interfering with their desire to learn. The idea of willful ignorance in the face of educational opportunities. Mr. Decory tries to make the point that the farmers can benefit from the knowledge afforded by education. For example, Harker's farm has not produced as well in recent years, and Harker admits he has never heard of techniques like crop rotation.
The obvious references to Nazi Germany and the burning of books can be seen as a warning that such ideas are not isolated to any particular culture. Authoritarians tend to fear ideas, and it is just as true in 2021 as it was in the 1870s or the 1930s.
It is worth noting that Matt Dillon sides with the "wrong" side of the issue by telling Mr. Decory he should mind his own business. (From a legal standpoint, the Marshal is correct, but it is interesting this issue puts Doc Adams and Matt at odds with one another.) Additionally, Matt seems to disappear as this episode moves toward a conclusion.
(Side note: Of course, Nathan Burke loudly states his opposition to Mr. Decory's assertions. Why is it that Burke is almost ALWAYS wrong about everything? The character is as deliberately unlikable as any non-villain in television history.)
The "Fires of Ignorance" is Gunsmoke at its best, and this late series episode should not be missed.
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- wdavidreynolds
- Nov 13, 2021
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