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Bonanza/Death at Dawn
| Death at Dawn | |
| Season 1, Episode 32 | |
| Airdate | April 30, 1960 |
| Written by | Laurence Mascott |
| Directed by | Charles F. Haas |
| Produced by | David Dortort |
| ← 1x31 Dark Star |
2x01 → Showdown |
| Bonanza — Season One | |
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Death at Dawn is the thirty-second episode of the first season of Bonanza.
A powerful gang, led by millionaire mining tycoon Sam Bryant, uses extortion and intimidation to bully Virginia City. When a general store owner tries to stand up to one of Bryant's henchmen, he is killed in cold blood. When the sole witness is kept under witness protection at the Ponderosa, Middleton has Ben kidnapped and threatens to hang him unless the killer is allowed to go free.
Starring:
Michael Landon (Little Joe Cartwright),
Lorne Greene (Ben Cartwright),
Pernell Roberts (Adam Cartwright),
Dan Blocker (Hoss Cartwright)
Special Guest Star: Robert Middleton (Sam Bryant)
Featuring: Gregory Walcott (Farmer Perkins), Morgan Woodward (Sheriff Biggs), Nancy Deale (Beth Cameron), Paul Carr (McNeil), Wendell Holmes (Judge Scribner), Hugh Sanders (Dr. Brahm), Peter Leeds (Norton), Ric Marlow (), Anthony Jochim (Hangman), Bill Edwards ()
Contents |
Plot Overview
In the end, Perkins is hung, after hours of scoffing whether he would really die on the gallows. Meantime, Bryant agrees to bring out Ben and offer a token exchange. One of Bryant's henchmen, McNeil, decides he's had enough of being a bully and being bullied around, and after exposing Bryant for who he was, shoots him. The Cartwrights return gunfire and have no choice but to shoot McNeil. Ben is freed, and remarks he has never been so glad to see his sons.
It can be presumed that, with Bryant and two members of his gang dead, the Bryant gang soon splinters apart and crime goes back down.
Notes
Arc Advancement
Happenings
Characters
Referbacks
Trivia
The Show
- Nancy Deale, who played Beth Cameron (the widow of the storekeeper), married Lorne Greene in 1961. The two remained married until Greene's death in 1987.
- During the first season, a number of lawmen were sheriffs of Virginia City, including Sheriff Biggs in this episode. It wasn't until Season 2 (1960-1961) when a consistent sheriff – Roy Coffee, played by Ray Teal – would be the top law enforcement officer of Virginia City, a role he'd serve until the end of Season 13 (1971-1972). Several deputies would serve under Coffee and his predecessors, until Clem Foster (Bing Russell) midway through season 4, with Foster eventually becoming the sheriff.
