EPISODE: A Rose for Lotta

by Betty Jo

Episode 1, Season 1, Originally aired September 12, 1959

Guest Stars: Yvonne DeCarlo, George Macready

Written by: David Dortort

Directed by: Edward Ludwig

SUMMARY:

The view of Lake Tahoe is breathtaking as we watch Ben and Adam ride up and look out across it for the very first time. "Feast thine eyes on a sight that approaches heaven itself."  That was the feeling that was presented throughout the entire series. The men's love of the land and desire to protect what was theirs was evident from the start. After a conversation with his father, Adam leaves Ben to go and find Little Joe, who was supposed to have brought a report to them and didn't show up. As Adam makes his way to the house to confront his brother, Ben stops off at the barn to speak with Hoss. It is then that Hoss informs his father that Adam had gone to the house to talk to Little Joe. Expecting trouble they follow him.

Our first view of Little Joe Cartwright shows his energetic, fun loving side. Adam watches as the boy jumps around practicing his fencing. Angry and thinking Joe had shirked his responsibilities, Adam grabs him by the arm and asks him if he knows what it means to be a Cartwright. It is during this scene that we hear the famous, "New Orleans monkey pick you got handed down to you from your French Quarter mother." from Adam. Of course, not one to back down, Little Joe comes back with his own remarks and the fight is on. Adam, mad at his brother’s comment, slaps him across the face. He does this twice before hitting Joe with his fist. Hoss and Ben come in as the fight is taking place and Hoss moves in between them to break it up. In doing so he catches a good lick from Joe. Throwing Joe across the room and knocking Adam into the grandfather clock, he is finally able to put a stop to it. After a few words from Ben, Joe offers Adam his hand, saying he was sorry. Wanting to make his point, Adam proceeds to complain that Joe should have been working instead of playing with his epee. Joe informs them all that he had completed his task that morning. After calling Adam a Yankee granite head for the first time ever, Joe promises that he did it and didn't loose nary a one of the cattle he was to move.

In Virginia City, three men sit around discussing their plan to get the needed timber for their mines. Ben had refused to sell them any more of his tree, not wanting to ruin the land. Only thinking of the profits they were missing, Troy and two others had hired an actress to lure on of the Cartwright sons into town. Their plan was to kidnap one of them and hold them until which time Ben agreed to give them all the timber they needed.

After watching Adam get thrown from a bronc, the men notice a carriage racing across their land, and take off after it. Coming upon it they notice that it has lost a wheel. Upon questioning the driver of his reasons for being there, all the men are stunned to find the beautiful Lotta Crabtee inside the carriage. Miss Crabtree steps out letting them know how she feels about their actions. Convincing them to put away their guns, she introduces herself. Ben tells Little Joe to take the lady to the house for a cool drink. 

While Little Joe is busy taking care of the lady, Ben and the boys work to fix the carriage. As they finish, they are startled to see the cook, Hop Sing, racing up in the buckboard. Ranting in Chinese first, he finally tells them that he had to "thlow away roast pig, all dly up". He proceeds to tell them of inviting the lady for dinner, but she didn't have time, she had to get to Virginia City. It was then that his family realized that Joe had went into town alone, knowing how dangerous it was.

Convincing the driver to talk, he finally tells them that it was Troy that hired him to drive the lady up around these hills. Dispatching Adam and Hoss off to gather up men to come after them if they weren't back by morning, Ben ties up the driver and leaves him with Hop Sing, with orders to kill him if they didn't return.

After Little Joe drops off Miss Crabtree at the hotel, with a promise of a possible dinner date after the show, she meets with Troy and his cohorts. It is now that we find out that she was paid 10,000 dollars just to get the boy to town, and they offer her another 10,000 to get him up to her room after the show. She agrees as long as they promise not to harm the boy.

Little Joe visits Hop Ling, father of Hop Sing and picks a red rose for the lady and leaves Cochise with him before attending the show. The show was entertaining to him as he watched the lady dance and sing, not realizing the whole time he was being watched by Troy.

The meeting in Lotta's room tells us a lot about Little Joe. It's obvious that they have different things on their minds. Joe is only thinking about being alone with the lady, while she is just stalling for time. We find out that Joe's mama was from New Orleans, that Ben met her on a business trip there, and that Joe was only four when she was killed. But in this episode only she is referred to as Felicia, and not Marie. Hearing the boy’s story just causes Lotta to like him even more and changing her mind on the plan, she tells him what’s going on.

Ben and Hoss barge into the saloon looking for Troy. They find him and the other two mine owners sitting there waiting on him. Before Ben even gets started good, Troy informs him to direct any questions to his hired gun, Langford Poole. Poole threatens to kill Ben if he doesn't leave. Adam comes in and confronts Poole and accepts the fight, wounding Poole. Troy still refuses to tell Ben where Joe is and tells him that if he thinks his brat is still in town, then to find him.  Ben and Hoss stay at the saloon after finding out where Lotta is, while Adam goes to find his brother.

Refusing to leave, Joe is confronted by the two men hired by Troy to kidnap him. He fights with them before ducking out the window. Jumping from the balcony he takes off to Chinatown.

Adam makes it to Lotta's room and confronts her about where Joe is. Not getting the answers he wants, he returns to the saloon. There he tells Ben that he hasn't found Joe but did find Cochise. They leave the saloon, a threat hanging in the air against Troy.

The men hired by Troy go through Chinatown destroying it, looking for Little Joe. They end up burning tents and demolishing the laundry that Hop Ling runs. They didn't find Joe even though he was hidden inside one of the laundry carts. After dodging a well aimed iron thrown by Hop Ling, Joe goes outside to see the men being beaten by several others. Being Little Joe, he couldn't just stand there. With a loud YAHOO, he jumps right into the fight.

Riding down the street, Ben, Hoss and Adam, leading Cochise, heard the unmistakable laugh of the missing Cartwright inside the restaurant. Dismounting, they enter to find the boy alive and well, and dancing with Miss Crabtree. The look of relief quickly turns to anger as Ben realizes he is alright. "YOU...YOU SCAMP! IS THIS WHAT YOU'VE BEEN DOING ALL NIGHT!!" he yells and startles his young son. "A-all night...Pa? I thought I was just gettin' started." Joe stammers. Taking the ladies hand in his, to kiss it, he once again hears his fathers booming voice. "OUT...OUT YOU LITTLE RAPSCALLION...BEFORE...BEFORE I SKIN YA ALIVE." Ben bellows as he helps his son out the door with a hefty swat to his backside. Noticing Adams attraction with the lady, he and Hoss leave. No words are spoken as Adam takes her in his arms and kisses her. With a smile and a tip of his hat, Adam rides off with his family, leaving Miss Lotta watching from the door.

REVIEWS:

“This episode shows the bonds this family shares with one another and the links they will go through to protect each other when one of them is being threatened. Three mine owners put their resources together and hire a famous actress, Lotta Crabtree, to lure one of the boys to town. The plan is to hold that son hostage until Ben agrees to sell them his trees. To the Cartwrights the land is not there for profit, it there to be cared for and protected for future generations.....” Betty Jo

“Hey, for me it has Adam.  Enough said.  I loved your mention of Joe, being Joe and yelling out that Yahoo! as he jumps into the fight in China Town. I am glad that Ben's character mellowed after a few episodes, as he did not come across as warm as we came to know him.  The fight between Adam and Joe, in the opening of the episode still has me chuckling. The two were pretty nasty to each other, and it takes Hoss to put an end to their rough housing. Typical brothers/family battle. I watched it a few months ago and thought how young Joe looked, as well as how he was treated as being just "a kid", right through the end.  I am still wondering about Hoss' nudging Adam before he left with Pa and Joe, kind of like urging oldest brother to entertain the lady.  Hmmm.  At least it was a quick kiss, followed by a tip of the hat and a nod before the DDG one left Lotta to realize that even she with all her charms and what not could not break the Cartwrights we all adore so much.” Miss Maggie

“I always wince a bit when I watch this episode because Ben and the boys (and Hop Sing) are almost caricatures of the people we ended up liking so much. But I suppose it's helpful to see where they started because it helps us understand how much they grew and evolved.” Susan Grote

Sometimes I think it's a wonder Bonanza ever made it to a series with this pilot. "Old Ben" hurts my ears with all his shouting. The worst is when we meet Hop Sing for the first time, when Ben just stands in the middle of the great room and, well, SHOUTS. And what a loving family: not only does Adam insult LJ's dead mother, but LJ's deadly serious response is if Adam weren't his brother, he'd kill him for that. KILL him? The overacting and the sometimes over-the top dialogue make me cringe ("you with the smell on you of the charnel house" etc!). But obviously they saw something that could be salvaged from this camp, and made some much-needed changes before going forward with the series. For starters, they toned down Ben, dropped LJ's accent, made Hoss appear less of a half-wit, and decided Adam didn't need to be the family hit man. But seriously, while I tend to remember the worst of it, one can see the seeds of what developed into a great show. The most telling sign for me comes at the end, when the worried family finally finds LJ. Ben tries to appear the stern parent to his youngest son - and succeeds in LJ's eyes - but we see the tender father in the brief grin he shares with Adam and Hoss upon walking into the room, and a few moments later in the little smile Ben can't quite suppress after LJ says that he thought he was just getting started. Overall, let's just say the pilot was, er, colorful.” Sue W.

“I've seen this a thousand times and it still makes me laugh!!!  I cringe at the corniness of the whole episode.  The only character which rings true to me is, of course, my beloved Adam "family hit man" notwithstanding LOL.  I love that Sue!” Gail (whoa bunny, bonanza)

“Now it makes us cringe, looking at it from the perspective of a more sophisticated time. But don't forget when it was made, and (what we think of now) as the campyness and corniness of all westerns and a lot of other drama shows made at that time.” Ginny

“This was on at the same time as Roy Rogers, Wyatt Earp with the humming and chanting singers in the background and the Lone Ranger telling Tonto what to do. I can also see how Pernell Roberts got annoyed with what he was first offered and how the show evolved.  The original had OLD Ben as the crotchety father and Little Joe as the  bratty kid brother and Adam as the cool, sexy hero and right hand man of OLD  Ben. He was a fast gun too. Ben got less old and more warmed up and a bit sexier. Little Joe got less bratty and more roguish and a lot more of the romantic, sexy, fast gun, hero too.” Robin

“I love this episode because it introduces all of the characters, focusing on their individual personalities.  Being the pilot episode the writers seemed to take that to the extreme, with fight scenes between Joe and Adam, Hoss' strength, Ben's love of the land and Joe's attraction with the opposite sex. It's funny to watch Joe's southern accent but wonderful to see him use an epee and be so mischievous.  I love when they show Ben, Adam and Hoss in the saloon and Hoss is so menacing, but hate the boots over the pants, yuck!!!! My favorite scene is at the end though when they let Adam shine which you said so well below...” Nancy

“Well, at least from the very beginning, they established that Adam was the fastest gun in the family by outdrawing the Sissy Dude wearing that fancy perfume.  Also, Adam looked much better in that green jacket than he did when they let it fade to the yellow/mustard color it was in the rest of the series...” Eileen "Fluffy" ;o)

“This was the first episode I ever watched - I was probably 10 - and I remember that it took me about a year's worth of episodes to figure out that Little Joe did not grow up in New Orleans and Adam did not grow up in New England!  I do remember my feelings for Joe though - love at first sight!” Debbie L.

“How can you help but not love em'!  When he throws the rose to Lotta on stage...my heart melts! Can I just comment too?  My son of 8 was watching the scene with Hop Ling and Joe hiding in the laundry!  He laughed and laughed, it was too cute!” Nancy

“I always enjoy watching this episode because it was the first, but the writing is way over the top and sometimes racial, particularly the imitation of Hop Sing's dialect.  I think they (writers, producers) had an idea of what they wanted but without the input of the actors, their ideas were not fully developed. That is the amazing collaboration process that happens with long-term series or plays. Certainly Lorne Green's, Dan Blocker's, Pernell Robert's, and the amazing Michael Landon's (I'm prejudice, I admit) was needed to bring us the characters we so love.” Sylvia