MovieChat Forums > Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge (1987) Discussion > 'Festus'

'Festus'

posted 18 years ago by PeterBlues
3 replies | jump to latest

I used to watch the series Gunsmoke (1955-1975) some years ago after school, and then these newer movies later on, and i was really, really dissapointed that James Arness's right hand man "Festus" didn't appear in this reunion movie.

last night you visited me again,
we were going throw some old things, from the time thats been,
alote of people are missing you, since the day you passed away,
it's been some years, but i'm sure some still got things they want to say,
that they aren't able to share, small and big moments during their life,
i supose there is a big empty space, since the day you had to say goodbye,
when they have something to share, you can still see them picking up the phone,
before they realise that youre not there, and they are no longer able to the call home.

[–] jlinendoll 15 years ago

an article at the time quoted Arness as saying Ken Curtis wanted more money than Amanda Blake, so the part was rewritten and given to Earl Holliman. Earl was great, but I'm sure we'd all prefer Festus back...

[–] gringott 13 years ago

Earl was great, but as for Festus, he was no Chester!

[–] ronaldt49 13 years ago

Dennis Weaver was in his thirties while stiff-legging it around Dodge during his stint as Matt's helper. He would have been 63 or so had he participated in this movie. If we allow Chester's infirmity to possibly progress another 25 years or so since he last was in Dodge he may not have been able to even walk at the time Return was based.

A couple of lines thrown in explaining Chester's and Festus' current status would have been nice, though even if they weren't physically in the movie.