Sun 25 Jun 2023
A TV Western Episode Review: BONANZA “The Spanish Grant†(1960).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , TV Westerns[6] Comments
BONANZA. “The Spanish Grant.†NBC, 06 February1960 (Season 1, Episode 21.) Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, Dan Blocker, Michael Landon. Guest cast: Patricia Medina (Isabella Maria Ynez Y Castra De La Cuesta / Rosita Morales), Sebastian Cabot, Celia Lovsky. Director: Christian Nyby. Currently strreaming on YouTube (see below).
Bonanza was one of the most popular and long-lived TV westerns of all time – but not, of course, the most – we all know what that one was – and by this far into the first season both the audience and players knew who was who without a lot of (or any) explanation or preparation for their characters.
This episode begins with a gang of things on horseback attacking a pair of homesteaders, and killing the husband, under the guise of the law. It seems as though a claimant (female) to an old Spanish grant has appeared, and she, under her uncle’s guidance, is asking all of current residents to clear out, or pay the price. Among those resisting are the men of the Ponderosa (father and three sons), a part of whose holdings is among those claimed by the stunningly beautiful (as it so happens) Isabella Maria Ynez Y Castra De La Cuesta, played by the stunningly beautiful Patricia Medina.
A question quickly arises in the viewer’s mind – and soon enough the Cartwrights as well — is she who she says she is? Adam (Pernall Roberts) takes the lead on this one, romancing the lady while investigating the possibility that she is not.
Standard enough western affair, even if stolen from other sources (e.g., the Anastasia controversy). But what makes the story line so enjoyable is that it manages to never quite answer the question, even after Adam locates the grand old lady of the Spanish family who, under the law, own the land. Bringing her to Virginia City to settle matters leads, quite surprisingly, to a most satisfactory ending anyway.
June 25th, 2023 at 12:03 pm
The first season of Bonanza in particular made nice use of actual 1860s Nevada history and personalities, as I discovered when I taught a course on Nevada History at Las Vegas College about 23 years ago. At that time (maybe still?), courses on Nevada History and the US Constitution were degree requirements at Nevada universities, even for an associate’s degree. I was hired to teach both; the Constitution was a snap, but Nevada History was pretty specialized, so with the help of the librarians at the excellent Clark County Public Library, I read up but FAST. I spent hours every night reading and preparing the next day’s lectures. (I was teaching two sections, two hours / day each, M-Th for six weeks for each of the two courses, which followed one another to make a full semester.) This kind of immersion was hectic but also a real pleasure, and I am passionate about Nevada history to this day. Much later I lived in Carson City for a year, and got to visit the historic sites in northern Nevada (Bonanza territory).
June 25th, 2023 at 3:40 pm
Back in high school and collage, and having signed up as a math major in the latter, I thought the history courses I had to take were a waste of time. How wrong I was! I know a lot better now.
June 25th, 2023 at 12:38 pm
I don’t care about Bonanza at all, but Pat Medina was a friend and she never looked more lovely.
June 25th, 2023 at 3:47 pm
Yes, she most certainly was a beautiful woman. I think that when she did this TV western, her movie-making days were over, but she was the primary reason that when I came across it on YouTube, I watched it through to the end.
I think that BONANZA was one the first TV dramas of any kind to be shown in color, which is why it was such a big hit from the beginning. But even back then, I thought the story lines were, to coin a word, kind of corny, especially when compared to GUNSMOKE, or my favorite, HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL.
June 25th, 2023 at 5:28 pm
That is about right, or at least my thinking, Steve. Have Gun Will Travel was the best of these.
June 25th, 2023 at 8:41 pm
Pa and the boys were a bit less homogenized the first season than in later ones. Pa was less kindly and more of an empire builder, Adam more cynical, Little Joe too fast with his gun, and Hoss a bit slow with a touch of meanness. As the series went on they all became standard heroes, often so idealized some of the drama was gone.
I was never a big fan, I liked the comical episodes with Blocker, found Little Joe tiresome, Adam underused, and Pa a bit of a pain in the nether region, but it was a weekly event unlike most series and its impressive run went through numerous cast changes.
Some episodes do stand out: Charles Dickens shows up, Mark Twain (Howard Duff), a young Geronimo, Hoss boxing a cruel British Prize fighter, Geronimo, a two parter on the Pony Express, Pa’s various short lived wives, the boys always tragic love affairs, and the great appearances of Arthur Hunnicutt. Not a lot scattered over that many seasons, but enough.