Bonanza (TV Series) The Crucible (1962) User Reviews

In the Top 5 Best, of the Entire Series

[samwa-27311 · 10/10 · 1 November 2020]

Hi,

I don't know where other reviewers have been, but this one is so well-known, to be one of the very best in the entire 14 years, by most fans.

The acting by Roberts, and Marvin, IS one of the reasons, for the absolute brilliant, dramatic and tense story.

The utter cruelty of Lee Marvin and the acting of Pernell, mesh, to make an excellent episode.

Not for the squeamish.

An ending you won't want to miss.

Pernell acted his tail off

[scmoxy · 10/10 · 9 October 2021]

I saw a different side of Adam Cartwright. I fell in love with his character from here on. The ending broke my heart when he cried out to his Pa. He was great!!!!!!! This is one of my favorites now. I get the 24/7 Bonanza and until I see them all the channel will remain on Bonanza! I can remember my dad watching this when I was a child and I'm 57 years young and thoroughly enjoy the show and can now relate to his liking after he himself has passed.

I have learned so much about their lives in reality and as their character it's unreal. To loose them all to a bazaar death has been touching to say the least. I love them all!!!!!

One of the best

[LukeCoolHand · 10/10 · 1 March 2022]

Watched this episode on it's original run as an 11 year old boy and I loved it. It was my favorite episode for years. Later I read that Pernell Roberts had read the script and told David Dortort that he thought Dortort was going to get some half baked actor to play the bad guy. So to shut Roberts up he made a special effort to get a very famous actor, so he got Lee Marvin and Roberts was shocked. The episode goes on and on a lttle too much with the same type scenes but still a good watch.

Stupid, But Still Entertaining

[verbusen · 6/10 · 8 November 2017]

This was a memorable episode as it is not typical in any way. I am guessing here but I think they let Pernell Roberts have input on the script, or they wrote him into this exclusively to somehow appease him to last through his contract. A Bonanza fan site says "This episode was one of Pernell Roberts' personal favorites, as it gave him the best opportunity to showcase his acting abilities." (Bonanza Wiki). I was curious how far in to Roberts' Bonanza run this episode was, it was released in 1962 so he still had two more seasons to act in, perhaps without this episode Roberts' Bonanza run would have been even less? I was surprised that he was in 200 episodes, that's a long run for a TV show, and he got out around the half way point! Back to the story, this seemed so far fetched, I lost all belief and decided to watch it as a Lee Marvin vs Pernell Roberts death match fight. Things I noticed, a bath tub scene with Little Joe (hey ladies, lol). Also, the make up department had a field day with everyone here making them all deep brown tanned. The tan part must have been tied into early color TV and how they could make the show appealing on an early color TV? Part of my disappointment in this episode is that Marvin's role is weak and more typical of his wacko self from the 50's like in episodes of Dragnet, and not the more developed character he developed in his own show (M Squad) and the films he was in at the time (Liberty Valance). Sad that he was not in any more episodes but he was a busy actor on the way up at the time. He would have been a great gang leader that threatens to kill ALL the Cartwright's! Instead this is all we get from Lee Marvin on Bonanza. I predicted to my wife, who was also watching, that Ben Cartwright would kill Marvin (I was wrong). I was ready to give this episode a lower mark but the ending is a real tearjerker and Adam really looks delirious in the end so that brought it up for me. Even though the episode is silly and unrealistic, the ending made it an entertaining episode for me to watch, 6 or 10.

Without Horse, Water, Gun, Or Food

[bkoganbing · 4/10 · 14 July 2010]

This particular episode of Bonanza is centered on Pernell Roberts as Adam Cartwright. After making a successful cattle deal, Adam is robbed in the desert and left their without, horse, water, gun or food. He manages to make it to a mine where Lee Marvin is working a claim in the middle of nowhere.

Believe it or not, this was the frying pan into the fire for Adam. What Marvin wants is a slave to work the mine and when he hears who Adam is all his pent up resentments about class and the rotten life Marvin has had burst forth.

Though Lee Marvin and the regulars do a grand job, the story was way too unbelievable for me. If you see it you will not believe that Adam Cartwright would have been as civilized as all that.