This ‘Gunsmoke’ Christmas Episode Features a Nine-Year-Old Jodie Foster

Most long-running Western programs mustered up some sort of holiday spirit throughout their run. Given that Gunsmoke hit a record 20 seasons between 1955 and 1975, it’s, frankly, a miracle that there weren’t more of them. But there’s one Dodge City-centered Christmas that stands out above all the others. Yes, Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness), Kitty Russell (Amanda Blake), and the rest of the cast are there to celebrate, but there’s one future star who, believe it or not, found her way to the Old West as early as nine-years-old: Jodie Foster. If you’re looking for a great Christmas Western with a notable cast, then Season 17’s “P.S. Murry Christmas” ought to be at the top of the list.

“P.S. Murry Christmas” Is a Thought-Provoking Look at Christmas in Dodge City

When “P.S. Murry Christmas” begins, we watch as guardian Miss Emma Grundy (Jeanette Nolan) forces the seven orphans under her charge — including Jodie Foster, future Happy Days star Erin Moran, and other child stars Willie Aames and Todd Lookinland — to perform a holiday pageant for some donors. But despite the apparent festivities, Miss Grundy doesn’t allow Christmas to be celebrated, prompting the children to run away with the kind (albeit, a bit absent-minded) caretaker Titus Spengler (The Dakotas star Jack Elam), who is convinced by the children to take them to California. But when their train breaks down outside of Dodge, Titus gets himself into trouble while stealing some food for the kids, and Miss Grundy shows up in no time to ensure he’s prosecuted accordingly.

But the townsfolk of Dodge, namely Kitty, Doc (Milburn Stone), Newly (Buck Taylor), and Festus (Ken Curtis), want to see true justice done. They pull the rest of the town together to host a Christmas party for the children, though Grundy refuses to allow them to attend. Having heard all the nastiness about Grundy’s Scrooge-ish behavior from Titus and the children, Kitty takes it upon herself to get the guardian drunk so that the judge will deem her “unfit” to care for the orphans any longer. This ends up working, but only after Kitty realizes that Grundy does indeed care about the children, and withholds Christmas from them as a way of looking out for their best interests (she doesn’t want to get their hopes up). As she tells Marshal Dillon earlier, she had some seriously poor experiences with the holiday as a child after her favorite present, a music box, was taken from her and given to others.

Eventually, Kitty and Titus tell the kids everything, and they choose to work to earn enough money to buy Miss Grundy a new music box, opting to stay with her instead of going to the party. But the Grinch-y guardian’s heart is indeed melted, and she accompanies the orphans to Dodge City’s impromptu Christmas party. It’s a beautiful ending to a thought-provoking tale that challenges our perceptions of the motives of others. Had the people of Dodge talked with Miss Grundy beforehand, and tried to better understand why she seemed so cold toward the children, they may have understood enough to get through to her without entrapment and deception. Either way, a Christmas miracle occurred, and Gunsmoke proved that it had something meaningful to say about the way we ought to treat one another during the holidays.

‘Gunsmoke’s Best Christmas Episode Isn’t the Show’s Only Jodie Foster Experience

As for the Jodie Foster of it all, none of the orphans are really given much of a distinct personality. They exist more as a conglomerate than individuals, with maybe the exception being the little boy who still wants to leave Miss Grundy behind at the end. The character Foster plays, Patricia, is indeed sick, and one of the other orphans takes her into town to see Doc. It’s because of her that Titus is captured and jailed by Festus. But beyond her cough, she doesn’t make much of a splash in the actual episode. Interestingly enough, Foster appeared a few years earlier in Season 15 as Susan Sadler in “Roots of Fear,” and would return later in the Season 17 episode, “The Predators,” as a new character, Marieanne (only five episodes after “P.S. Murry Christmas”). Foster had appeared in a few different Western programs in her youth, including Bonanza and the original Kung Fu.

As for “P.S. Murry Christmas,” which aired on CBS two days after Christmas in 1971, this is an hour of Gunsmoke you won’t want to miss. Aside from all the holiday hijinks and heartwarming material, it also features the very first kiss between Marshal Matt Dillon and saloon owner Kitty Russell after 17 seasons, who had long danced around any real romantic interests. While it’s only a quick exchange, and Kitty aims for the cheek rather than the lips, it’s the perfect moment with which to end this beloved Western.

Gunsmoke is available to stream on Paramount+ in the U.S.

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