Bonanza (TV Series) Company of Forgotten Men (1969) User Reviews

A story made better by the actors.

[kfo9494 · 8/10 · 25 February 2014]

James Gregory plays a retired army Sergeant named Mike Russell who has retired from military service after thirty years and is bitter that he receives no pension from the government. Sgt Russell leads a group of retired men that seem to roam from town-to-town living off the good nature of others.

Candy just happen to be under Sgt Russell during his military service and when the two meet Candy invites Sgt Russell and his men to camp on the Ponderosa property where they are well treated by the Cartwrights. But there is something more sinister that just camping for Sgt Russell and his comrades, they want to blast there way into the Carson Mint and take the money they feel is owed for their military service. And when Candy learns about their plan, he is not even safe.

James Gregory does an excellent job of playing the likable, nearly insane, sergeant and comes across as real believable in the part. The make-up department was very generous with the silver paint as they seem to go overboard spraying any type of hair to make the characters appear older. With the interesting story and the fine acting this episode was enjoyable. Plus it is always nice to see I.Stanford Jolley in any acting part. Good watch.

One of the series best ep--never surpassed

[smithbea · 10/10 · 26 August 2020]

This ep has Candy riding by a man who turns out to retired Sgt. Russel-a man he served under in the US army. Russell leads a ragtag force of retired Army men. He claims they (he and the other vets) want to settle on the Ponderosa to grow ginseng and sell it to Chinese living in America. Ben agrees to let them. Soon however, the ex-soldiers real motive surfaces-they want to rob in the Mint in Carson City. Superbly acted, intelligently written, finely directed. A winner of an ep.

Awesome Episode, Plus Lots of Star Trek Actors!

[verbusen · 10/10 · 23 September 2022]

There are always people with different tastes but as you can judge by the number of very positive reviews, this is a great Bonanza episode! Especially if you consider this was one of the show's later seasons. Candy is in this one, I really don't remember any Candy episodes but this one is an exception. Carson City is getting ready for a Mint heist by older retired soldiers led by James Gregory. Which led me to start counting Star Trek actors in this episode, starting with Gregory, the evil leader of the mind control asylum in Star Trek. Then I recognized Ken Lynch, who was in the lava monster episode, and finally last but not least, the star of this Bonanza episode for me, Charles Maxwell who plays the explosives' mastermind and was in the OK Corral episode of Trek. Pretty cool episode reminded me of The Wild Wild West because the heist was so daring, plus the bad guys are smart, probably something the show's creators wanted to do. As a veteran myself, I like that the old veterans were portrayed as physically fit and mentally sharp, usually that's not the case on TV. 10 of 10, but disclaimer, I love a lot of Bonanza episodes and this one is full of action so it probably isn't really that awesome but I loved it! Sergio Leone'sh Bonanza?

Action packed, cleverly set, interesting ep--one of the best!

[smithbea · 10/10 · 26 August 2020]

Candy rides along and spots retired Sgt. Russell, someone the former served in the army with. Russell and a bunch of other retired servicemen ask for the right to settle on Ponderosa land. They claim they want to get ginseng from the land, and sell it to Chinese merchants in California. . Ben agrees to let them settle despite objection from Carson City officials who claim the retired soldiers are very big trouble. Soon, it becomes completely apparent the vets have no intention at all of getting ginseng from the land. In fact, they are planning to bluntly rob the Carson City Mint and in a sense hold the illegally-obtained gold hostage and make the US government give more pensions to retired veterans who were unjustly denied and thus robbed of such pay (as Russell and his men were).

Some warped thinking

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 1 August 2018]

This episode has David Canary being revisited by his old army past in the person of James Gregory is former top sergeant. While visiting the Ponderosa he and his men get some supplies, but they also lift some blasting caps.

The bitter Gregory for reasons not explained has been denied his pension as have the others of his bunch. The big plan is to rob gold from the Carson City Mint and hold it for ransom. Back in the day it was those precious metals that backed our currency.

To say this was warped thinking is putting it mildly. How he or any of the others thought this would succeed if they pulled it off is too much. Yet Gregory and David Canary have some nice scenes together.

Still it's an off the wall story.