Bonanza: El Jefe (1970)
Season 12, Episode 10
Agreed!
30 January 2017
I agree with the poster from Buffalo. This is a wonderful "little movie" and convinced me I was wrong to write off Bonanza as a soap opera with holstered guns. Like the poster says, it belongs to Rodolfo Acosta, who's played more Indians and crooks than many an actor. He had a regular slot as Vaquero on High Chaparral.

The entire cast is perfect, and that's rare. Apart from Acosta, Shug Fisher stands out. He's just magical in a small but important role. I recognised him recently in a Gunsmoke episode. It must be hard to be moving in a series TV western. Somehow Shug pulls it off with so much written on his face. He's a superb actor and deserved wider recognition.

Two more movie names are here; Pepe Hern, who was in The Magnificent Seven, and Jaime Sanchez, whose death in The Wild Bunch kicks off the final, massive gun battle.

The Mexican town set makes a refreshing change to the usual locations. Bonanza improved when it left Paramount's fake western set and moved to Warner's. Good though it was, Gunsmoke suffered from its stuffy stage set with its wooden street. I wonder how many towns in the old west had wooden streets!
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