"Bonanza" Escape to Ponderosa (1960)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Charles F. Haas

Writers:

Bill Barrett (story)
Malcolm Stuart Boylan (story)

TV Series:

"Bonanza" (1959)

Original Air Date:

5 March 1960 (Season 1, Episode 25)

Genre:

Action | Romance | War | Western

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Ranch | Nevada | Half Brother | Brother Brother Relationship | Strong Man

Cast

Lorne Greene	...	Ben Cartwright
Pernell Roberts	...	Adam Cartwright
Dan Blocker	...	Eric 'Hoss' Cartwright
Michael Landon	...	Joseph 'Little Joe' Cartwright
Grant Williams	...	Lt. Paul Tyler
Joe Maross	...	Jimmy Sutton
Chris Alcaide	...	Captain James Bolton
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dayton Lummis	...	Colonel Metcalfe
James Parnell	...	Private Mertz
Sherwood Price	...	Corporal
Gloria Talbott	...	Nedda

Runtime:

USA:60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

National Broadcasting Company (NBC)

Trivia:

Copyright has expired and is now in the public domain.

Interesting Anti-Establishment Story

This is a very interesting episode which featured a lot of Ben Cartwright dealing with an abusive Army officer. In the mid to late 1960s, there were many TV shows that had episodes dealing with bad police officers, corruption, or similar themes. Presumably this was due to the 1960s counter-culture movement. However, Bonanza hit these seems very often, and many years before it became popular.

Back in 1960, when this episode aired, seeing the U.S. Army being depicted as an abusive organization seems a bit daring. Perhaps more interesting is the concept that Ben Cartwright could tell the Army to get off his land, and to aid escaped prisoners and otherwise engage in activities that were against the law. In the modern age we live in, the F.B.I. would have shot the Cartwrights down and burned down their ranch. At a minimum, Ben would be spending time in Guantanamo Base without a trial and wondering if his kids had been killed.

Anyhow, back in the 1800s, Ben gets away with giving a U.S. Army Captain a lot of backtalk. Ben also engages in some subversive activities which was surprising. The three prisoners happen to be victims of torture (Guantanamo Base?) and were being targeted for death by the sadistic Captain. I wonder what inspired this story? Was there some incident in the news back in 1959-1960 that made this story topical? Besides the Army issues, the story throws in some unrequited love, jealousy, and the old plot device of the escaped convicts turning against each other. While there is not much gun-play in this episode, there is a lot of drama and tension. It is a pretty good story.