Bitter Wine (15 Feb. 1958)

It's a small-scale Irish/Italian war when Paladin attempts to make peace between an oilman and a vintner.

Director:

Andrew V. McLaglen

Writers:

Ken Kolb, Herb Meadow (creator),

Stars:

Richard Boone, Eduardo Ciannelli, Rita Lynn

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Richard Boone	...	Paladin
Eduardo Ciannelli	...	Renato Donatello
Rita Lynn	...	Teresa Donatello
Richard Shannon	...	Tim Gorman
Donald Foster	...	Fair Chairman
James Waters	...	First Guard
Val Benedict	...	Second Guard

Storyline

Paladin is hired to mediate a dispute between an Italian vintner and an Irish oilman. The wine maker claims that the runoff and smoke from the oil site are damaging his grapes. Paladin attempts to find a compromise before the dispute escalates and parties on both sides get hurt.

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Plot Keywords:

oil well | wine tasting | italian cook

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Genres:

Drama | Western

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 February 1958 (USA)

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), Filmaster Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

26 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Paladin: That's Omar Khayyám again.
Renato Donatello: Is it?
Paladin: Fitzgerald translation.

User Reviews

Have Wine, Will Ferment

This seems to be an attempt to recreate the success of the earlier season one episode "Helen of Abajinian", in which Paladin came to the aid of an Armenian wine maker. Only this time the wine maker is Italian. His name is Donatello (Yes, like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle) and he is played by Eduardo Cannelli.

Only this time the story is more serious. Donatello is a prize wine maker (Paladin meets him while judging a wine contest) whose vineyards are going to ruined by his next door neighbor, who has discovered oil on his property. He calls on Paladin to get rid of the neighbor (Richard Shannon) but Paldin decides to find a way to mediate instead.

While not as enjoyable as "Helen", this episode has its good points as well, demonstrating how Paladin likes to use reason and compromise to solve problems rather than his gun. Boone doesn't get a lot of help from his co-stars in this one (Shannon comes off as just a little more than an extra, and Cannelli is okay at best) but at least he has a good scene holding a torch over the oil well as he threatens to destroy the well and everything around him.