Cliff Osmond once again plays a gigantic lumbering moron. This time he kills someone. Apparently when he heard the screaming and the bones cracking he thought that meant to squeeze harder.
Like in the 1970 Gunsmoke episode "Celia," Osmond (the father of Donny & Marie Osmond) is in love with a very pretty girl. Like in "Celia" she only sees a big demented steaming lump, and so Osmond is jealous of the normal guys that spend time with his dream girl, played by Beverly Garland. The sweet and beautiful Garland was 32 in 1968, and was a bit old for her role.
Beverly Garland's boyfriend was Billy, played by Tim O'Kelly, who was 15 years younger than Garland. When big Cliff sees Garland and Billy making out in the livery stable, he goes nuts and Billy ends up dead. Was it an accident? Marshal Dillon thinks so, but Billy's Dad wants a lynching.
Billy's Pa is played by James Gregory, who was great at playing nasty drunks, bigots, and back stabbing characters in Westerns. He always reminded me of the nastier version of Forrest Tucker. They looked very similar, and I always wished they had played evil brothers in a Gunsmoke episode.
The key to what really happened is Beverly Garland, but she is not talking out of fear of Billy's Dad. Dillon is up against James Gregory and the whole angry town. Cliff Osmond is no help at all because he just wants to stand around and look pretty. Before long, all hell breaks loose. Will an innocent man hang? Is he innocent? Should he hang regardless?