Bonanza (1959–1973): Season 7, Episode 29 - Big Shadow on the Land - full transcript
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Maria...
Speak American, ah?
How many times I
got to remember you?
Papa... the word is "remind."
That's what I say, no?
Maybe you don't
hear so good, eh?
Hey, Lorenzo, how much-a
water you bringing today, huh?
Oh, molto, Papa.
We have enough
for two, three days.
Good.
I can take a bath tonight.
After the grapes, they
have enough water,
then is-a your turn.
Oh.
Buongiorno.
How are you, folks?
Howdy!
Uh, howdy. I, uh...
Uh, gee, I hope I'm
not interrupting anything.
Oh, no.
My name Giorgio
Rossi, American citizen.
Oh. Nice to see you.
Lorenzo Rossi, American citizen.
Hello. How are you?
Maria Rossi, American citizen.
My daughter, Regina,
also American...
Papa.
What?
Anyway, we all American here.
And you know who you are?
Yeah. Yeah, I'm Joe Cartwright.
You are first guest,
that's-a who you are.
Now come on.
Ma, get him something to eat.
Oh, that... that's-that's
awfully kind of you,
Mr. Rossi, but I...
That's very, very kind of you,
but a-all I... all I really
wanted was some,
- was some water.
- Water?
No, you no eat the water.
What are you, crazy, something?
You no make a meal from water.
I'm gonna cut you some bread.
Here, make some cheese.
Well, that-that's awfully kind,
but all I'm gonna do
is hold you folks up.
"Hold up"?
I gonna kill you if you try.
Oh, no, Papa, he does not
mean that kind of a hold-up.
No?
Oh, oh, no.
No, that's-that's not
what I meant at all.
No, what-what I meant was
you-you probably
have a long way to go.
No, we no go no place.
We're gonna stay right here.
You're gonna stay here?
Well, sì.
We like this place fine, no?
No, th-this is our land.
Eh, that's what I
like about America.
Your land, my land, our land...
I like American talk!
Yeah, I... you don't
seem to... Yeah.
This is Ponderosa land.
Ponderosa.
Ay, that's a beautiful name.
Maybe I call my wine that.
After the grapes grow.
United States Ponderosa
Wine Company,
made by Giorgio Rossi, eh?
- Buono.
- Uh, M-Mr. Rossi,
- you see, the Pond...
- Mmm.
The Ponderosa is a ranch
and my father owns the ranch
and this is part of the land.
I mean, you're on our land
and we-we can't
have nesters on our...
Nester?
Who's a nester?
I'm American citizen, 100%.
But come on, I
show you my papers,
- you don't believe.
- Well, no...
Look, Mr. Rossi,
I'm-I'm sure your
papers are in order.
And-and if you'd like
to stay here overnight,
that's perfectly fine.
But you can't just
live here, you...
Just a minute.
You think you so smart.
You know the Preamble
to the Constitution?
"We the people of
- the United States of America..."
- Mr. Rossi...
- "...in order to form a
more perfect union..."
-Mr... Mr. Rossi. Mr. Rossi.
Mr. Rossi, you're trespassing.
You're trespassing.
You know the branches
of the government?
Executive,
legislature, judicial.
- Now, you know it?
- Mr. Rossi,
this is our land.
You can't farm on it
because we own it.
You think you know everything.
I know my rights.
Patrick Henry's-a say,
"When the people
want to be free,
sometime they gotta fight."
If you no get off of my land,
sometime is gonna
come pretty soon.
This is not your
land, it's our land
and you're not gonna farm on it.
Now look, if you'd like
to stay here overnight...
I think sometime is-a here.
Now you get on your
horse and get off of my land.
Now!
Off of my land.
I'm gonna tell you something.
- This... this is our land.
- Ah!
- Calm down.
- Now you get on your horse
and you get off of my land.
It's not your land!
On your horse.
One minute!
Yes, you go away.
You go away
and don't come
back here no more!
You go away!
You supposed to be so smart.
He was gonna hold us up!
Well, it may sound
funny to you in the telling,
but there's nothing
funny about nesters.
No, you... you
remember what happened
over at Jim Bollen's
place last year?
Now, they dang near wrecked it.
We don't want the same
thing happening here.
- Oh, Joe...
- Oh, come, I'm serious!
There was nothing funny
about that blunderbuss
he was waving around
in my face, either.
Joe, it seems to me
like you just didn't use
enough tact, that's all.
Ha ha. Well, I
supposed you would've
handled the whole
thing a lot better, huh?
Well, I'll tell you, I couldn't
handle it much worse.
Joe, they just got
themselves a little mixed up.
Besides, nobody can grow
anything on that ground anyhow.
Yeah, you-you want to
know how mixed up they are?
Do you want to
know how mixed up?
The wine that they're gonna make
they're gonna call
"Vino di Ponderosa."
That's how mixed up they are.
Joe, he's just a poor
little immigrant fella, Joe.
I'll ride out there tomorrow
and reason with him
and handle everything,
don't worry about it.
Well, while you're
reasoning with him,
you'd better be able to
explain the Constitution
and the Bill of Rights.
Joe, look.
I'm a little older'n you are
- and I've seen...
- I know, yes,
you've seen so much
more and you've lived
and you know how
to handle these things
so much better than I do.
Well, frankly, that's right.
Well, I think I'd better
be gettin' to bed.
Fine.
Oh... Good night, Pa.
Good night...
Hey, everybody!
Come over here,
come on and look.
È bello, huh? Nice?
- Oh...
- "United States Grapes
"Vino di Ponderosa
Giorgio Rossi Proprietario."
Bella, Papa.
And some day, I gonna put
"And Son" right over there.
Ah.
You going to be big man,
United States Territory Nevada.
Maybe even governor.
Eh, maybe even presidente.
Ma, he cannot be presidente.
He's no born in America.
It says in the Constitution.
Oh, yeah?
And you know this, too?
- Ah, sì.
- Mamma mia.
What this man knows,
you couldn't hold in a book.
Mmm.
Ma, it's because I
read in American.
And when you can read,
you know, your rights.
Well, come.
We're gonna thank God
for helping us with this land.
In nomine Patris, et
Filii, et Spiritu Sancti.
Thank you, dear
God, the Lord of us all,
for help us with this land.
We promise we going to work hard
to make the grape
strong and sweet.
You help us all the
way from our home
to our new home, here,
where you give us
each other to love.
I just, uh, want to
ask one more thing.
Help-a all of my
family to learn patience.
And we going to
light a special candle
thanking Saint Antonio
for help us find this land.
In nomine Patris, et Filii,
et Spiritu Sancti. Amen.
Howdy.
Howdy, partner!
My name is Giorgio Rossi.
Uh, hi, Mr. Rossi,
I'm happy to meet you.
- I'm Hoss Cartwright.
- Mm-hmm.
My little brother came
out here and talked to you
the other day, do you recall?
Why, no.
Came out here and talked
to you about this property,
or tried to.
Ah. Young fellow.
Mouth full of very nice teeth.
Pretty horse.
- Yeah, that'd be Little Joe.
- Yeah, yeah.
He's-a no good.
Now wait a minute...
Come on, don't no feel bad.
My wife, she got a uncle.
He steal a farm
from his own sister.
Every family, they got a curse.
No, no, Giorgio, he no steal.
I told you... Is like this.
Excuse, what is your name?
Uh... Hoss, ma'am.
Oh, Hossmaam.
No, ma'am.
No... I mean, no.
Just Hoss. Hoss.
Well, Hoss, you
see, it's like this.
My uncle, he went
into Rome, in Italia,
- and while he...
- No, no, no, "Rome, Italia."
Speak American.
- "Rome, Italy."
- Oh...
My wife, she talk
pretty good American.
'Course, not so good like me.
You like have a cup of coffee?
No. No, thank you.
What-what I came
here for, Mr. Rossi,
was to-to explain
some things to you.
To sort of reason some
things out, you know.
Oh, that's nice.
Yeah, well, first of
all, uh, Mr. Rossi,
you, uh... you
just plain mistaken.
You see, this land here is ours.
I-I don't know where that
is that you're looking for,
but this ain't it.
And I know you've just made
a plain, honest mistake...
No, we no make a mistake.
You make a mistake.
You know Homestead Act?
I sure do.
Yeah, yeah, the
Ponderosa is all homestead.
Where's your dwelling?
Dwelling?
You gotta have a dwelling
for-a people to inhabit.
Oh, yeah. Well, I know what
you're talking about,
and we got one.
It's up in the piney
woods back north of here.
Well, my dwelling
is right over here.
Come on, I'm gonna show you.
Here is a dwelling.
My dwelling.
Well, fine, Mr. Rossi,
but it-it still don't
make no difference.
I mean, there just ain't no way
that this land can be yours.
Now, if you stay here,
people are gonna
say you're a thief,
and you don't want that, do you?
What's he doing?
He's going to get
a gun and kill you.
Oh.
Mr. Rossi, let's do some
more talking about this.
First, the pretty-teeth
one and now you.
- Mr. Rossi...
- Both thieves,
both trying to steal my land!
You could hurt a man
with that thing, Mr. Rossi.
You get on your horse
- and you get out of here!
- Y-You... wait a minute...
Mamma mia!
Come on, everybody,
get something!
We're gonna lose the water!
Oh!
Lorenzo!
No more fight!
No more!
I reckon all this means
that I'm somethin' less
than a decent human being,
but that just ain't so.
Dad-burnit, I came here
as nice as I knew how
and your papa just
can't understand
that this land belongs to my pa.
You got a piece of paper
what proves that this
land belong to you?
Well, no, I ain't, but...
but I reckon my pa has.
Oh. Then the next time
you want to talk to me,
you bring you papa.
I no do business
with little boys.
Come, my son.
Oh... every bruise
a badge of courage.
We have just begun to fight!
Ma'am, I'm...
I'm mighty sorry about
all that over there. I...
No matter what you might think,
I didn't come out
here to start this.
If there's anything
I can do to help...
We do not need your help.
Next time, I'm not
gonna be so easy on him.
- Papa...
- What?
Suppose he is right, eh?
You think maybe he's right?
Yeah.
Who's telling me we
grow the grapes here, eh?
Who's telling me about
the homestead law?
It was Lorenzo, sì...
Oh, you be hush up.
Papa, the word
you mean is "quiet."
And you be hush up, too!
Why you think he... he's right?
- Eh?
- You some kind of a dumb head?
No, Papa.
- I am not a dumb head.
- Ah.
Then why then you
think Hoss right?
Perché...
well, he just does not
seem like a bad man.
Ah.
- Oh...
- Ah!
He think all bad men,
they have a sign, eh?
It says "No trust
me, I'm a bad man."
No, no, no.
Oh, I'll tell you, Joe, those...
those people were hungry.
Aw, come on. Is that
what the girl told you?
Certainly not.
She didn't tell me that, they...
All you gotta do is...
look at 'em and you know
that they ain't
got enough to eat.
Well, they didn't
look so bad off to me.
Matter of fact, that girl
looked kind of pretty.
What did you think, Hoss?
Joe, that ain't got
nothing to do with it.
Oh.
Well, how do you
expect to get rid of 'em
if you're making it so
easy for them to stay?
Joe...
you catch a lot
more flies with honey
than you do with vinegar.
Hoss, you're right.
You know, you're right.
But we don't want to catch 'em,
we want to get rid of 'em!
All we gotta do is
just let 'em know
that we don't mean
no harm, that's all.
Oh, yeah, that's good thinking.
Yeah, we'll let 'em stay out
there maybe ten, 15 years.
Gradually, they'll
get used to the idea.
Then we'll break
it to 'em gently.
You know, Pa's gonna
be here in a couple of days
and if they're still out there,
you and I are in
a lot of trouble.
They ain't gonna
still be there, Joe,
but at the same time, I ain't
gonna make enemies out of 'em.
Well, the way you're
worried about that girl,
seems to me you want to
make relatives out of 'em.
Uh, just a minute.
I'm gonna ride along with you.
After all, you-you handle these
things so much better than I do,
I-I want to be there
so I can learn from you.
Look, you've only
been out there one time
and you've already
managed to empty the kitchen.
I want to be on hand
for your next victory.
Some people just ain't
got no faith, that's all.
I know.
Now, Joe, I don't want you
flying off the handle
on these folks.
Me?
Look, I'm not the one
who got in a fight with them.
Well, that was just
a misunderstanding.
As a matter of fact, this whole
thing's a misunderstanding,
so don't bring up that
homesteading thing
till they've... till they've
learned to trust us.
Now come on.
Ah, sons of Cartwright.
Oh... Why you come here?
You get off of my land!
Now just hold on a
minute, Mr. Rossi.
We-we didn't come
here to make no trouble.
Oh?
You come and maybe
make apologize to Giorgio?
Well, we, uh, we come
here to talk friendly.
Oh, that's nice!
You come, sit down.
Have-a something to eat.
- I-I don't think so...
- Lorenzo!
Mr. Rossi, I don't think
we ought to do that.
- Do you, Joe?
- Oh, we have plenty left.
Oh, we have plenty. Come on.
Sit down, please, Little Joe.
Oh, we-we don't want to take
the food out of your mouths.
- Yeah.
- Oh, look,
we have all kinds of food.
Look. You like pasta?
Uh, show 'em what you
got in the sack, Santa.
I, uh... I brung
you a little food.
Oh!
That's nice!
Ma, people what
bring other people food,
they can't be all bad.
Ah... you like, eh?
While you people are eat,
Lorenzo and I, we're
gonna go get some water.
Uh... Mr. Rossi,
talkin' about that water...
You know, that's
a mighty long haul
for you folks to have to make.
And I just been thinking...
I know this beautiful
little piece of land
about ten miles south of here...
Oh, but there is plenty
of water right here.
Here?
- Sì.
- Sì.
Now, look on the tree.
How you think they live?
I tell you.
They push them
roots way down deep,
where is the water.
Well, sure, Mr. Rossi,
I know there's many
underground rivers
all over this desert,
but they're all alkali.
I make 'em pure
again, that's all.
Finish your dinner.
What are you looking at me for?
It's very simple.
He's gonna make
the water pure again.
What's the matter with you?
Mmm!
That was good.
Sure is.
You know, Regina,
that... that papa of yours
is kind of a muley
one, ain't he?
Oh, sì.
He's nice.
That is a funny-looking
coffee pot. What is that?
Oh, is caffé espresso.
Italian coffee.
- Yeah?
- Sì.
- Oh...
- Italian coffee, huh?
You like?
Mmm...
I n-never tasted
anything quite like that.
Oh...
I think I'll take...
I think I'll take my
plate over there.
Uh, here's more dishes.
Oh, grazie.
Can I, can I give you
a hand, Mrs. Rossi?
You?
Oh, no, you poor thing.
Poor thing?
Yeah, you-you been sick, eh?
Who, me? No, I'm fine, ma'am.
Oh, you're too skinny.
Too skinny, look... look.
No-no one could even pinch you.
You want some more coffee?
N-No. No, thank you, Regina.
It's-it's fine,
but I sort of like
this wine, too.
It's mighty fine.
You, uh, like my
cocina Italiana?
Huh?
Italian food.
Oh, yeah.
I love it.
It's delicious and it...
kind of sticks to
the ribs, too, don't it?
Italian women are
all very good cooks.
Do everything to
make a man happy.
From the time
we are little girls,
we learn how to sew, to cook...
to bring happiness.
Yeah?
Look, Regina, this may not
be none of my business, but...
well, uh... have you
been spoken for?
"Spoken for"?
Not... well, I mean,
uh... have you, uh...
you got a feller you like?
Oh, sì.
Many.
Lorenzo, Papa,
you... Tonio... Tonio?
Sì.
Who's he?
Fidanzato mio.
Fidanzato?
Sì.
What's that?
Oh, he's like, um...
how you would say...
"the trusted one."
Oh. Like a friend.
Oh, well, everybody's
gotta have friends.
I mean... I mean
where would we be
if we didn't have a
few trusted ones, right?
Sì.
You know, wine is much
more than just a drink.
Wine is more than just
for cooling the tongue.
When you make wine,
you're never alone.
You are partner with
the sun and the earth.
You use God's gift
to ease the burden of man.
Wine is not just one
thing... Is-a many.
Now, when two
people, they are in love,
there is wine.
When old person sit,
watch the sun set, feel cold?
There is wine.
When a man, he want to be alone,
hear his soul...
there is wine, too.
And when a man
makes new friends,
there is also wine.
So I drink to you,
Mr. Hoss Cartwright,
Little Joe.
Salute.
- Good luck.
- Salute.
Giorgio?
What's the matter?
You no can sleep?
I been thinking.
It's a long way
from our village.
From the little house
where I take you for my bride.
Long way.
I think maybe Giorgio
Rossi's make a mistake.
Take your wife, your bambini,
and come to strange country
where nobody's know me.
Nobody cares about the wife,
the bambini, nobody.
What are you talking
about, Giorgio?
See, we have-a friends already.
Friends?
Hoss Cartwright,
Little Joe, you think...
Why, sure. They're nice boys.
Vero. Nice boys.
But they don't know how I feel,
they don't know what I want.
They don't know in here,
inside, how I feel.
In our village, everybody
know how I feel,
what I want, because
they want the same things.
You understand.
Eh, sure, I understand,
but now we come to this country.
We-we no can go back.
That's what makes me worry.
What happens if...
the grapes, they die?
- The grapes no grow?
- Ooh...
How Giorgio Rossi gonna
take care of his family?
Look, you make barrels before.
And... you make
barrels again, that's all.
I'd rather die first.
Look. Look, look at these hands.
They the hands of a farmer,
a grower of grapes
and not a barrel-maker.
My father... his grandfather...
and his father,
they all grow grapes.
Giorgio Rossi's the
only one making barrels.
I think it's very bad for a man
to try to be
something he is not.
Giorgio, look.
We gotta the land, eh?
Our land.
We gotta the grapes.
Our grapes.
We pray.
We pray our buon Dio
and the grapes, they will grow.
Don't you worry, Giorgio.
Pray.
Don't you worry.
Everything's
going to be all right.
Sì.
Our land.
I pray.
Thank you, Quinn.
Hup.
Howdy, Mr. Cartwright.
Howdy.
Hello, Ben.
Oh, hello, Seth.
- Glad to see you back.
- Well, it's good to be back.
You haven't seen
my boys, have you?
They're supposed to pick me up.
Well, it could be
they're picking grapes.
What?
Oh, you're a sly one.
Importing tenant
farmers clear from Italy
and all the time making
out you're a cattleman.
Tenant farmers?
You're gettin' old, Seth.
Well, now, there's
no need to be insultin'
just because you're on
your way to becoming
the Nevada wine king.
What are you talking about?
You mean you really don't
know what I'm talking about?
No.
Well, Little Joe'll fill you in.
How you doing, Pa?
Let me... let me
take your bag, there.
Never mind the bag.
I understand you've
got something to tell me.
- Something to tell you?
- Yeah.
Oh, yeah, sure. You-you
look, you look great.
I think it did you a lot
of good, gettin' away.
Did it?
Well, the way Seth
Hayes was cackling,
I don't know if it did.
Hey, Joe.
Oh, h-how you doing, Bill?
I hear tell you gotta
stomp them grapes
to get the juice.
Ol' Hoss has sure got
the feet for stomping.
Well, I'm gonna do a little
stomping in your direction
if you don't shut up.
Now you just hold your tongue.
Now, what's this about grapes?
- Grapes?
- Grapes.
I think I'd better show you.
"Vino di..." Ponderosa.
Giorgio Rossi, proprietor."
I didn't think you'd
be too happy about it.
Oh, that's sort of the
understatement of the year.
Ride over there.
Vino di Ponderosa.
His Honorness the Pope,
he have such a house
on the lake, uh, Lago Bano.
Ah, it is beautiful.
The lake is blue,
the trees, green.
Right. Now you're
gettin' the picture.
All it needs is just to have you
go up there and homestead it.
Sounds very good... Good.
For somebody else.
The grapes, they grow
much better in hot sun.
Hi, Pa. I...
I'm surprised to
see you out here.
Yes, I figured you would be.
Yeah, I...
My, you sure have
got a nice suntan, Pa,
and it's real becoming on you.
Pa, this is, uh,
this is Mr. Rossi.
Mr. Rossi, this is my pa.
Mr. Rossi.
Mr. Cartwright.
Maybe you like to come inside,
have some coffee?
Regina!
No, don't-don't
trouble yourself.
What I have to say will
take a very short time.
Whatever you have to
say, it sound better here.
You see, when two people have
something to say to each other,
is more better if one isn't
so far down from the other.
Sì, Papa.
Mr. Cartwright, may I
present my daughter Regina?
How do you do?
Now, Regina, please
make some coffee.
Bring inside, eh?
Mr. Cartwright.
Go easy on the coffee.
It's murder.
Now, please.
Now we talk.
Now, look, Mr. Rossi,
what I'm about to
say may seem, uh...
blunt to you.
I thank you for the hospitality,
it's been very generous, but...
this is my land
and I'm afraid I'm going
to have to ask you to leave.
Your son Hoss, he
tell me this your land.
Your other son, he
tell me the same thing,
this your land.
You got a fence?
No.
Uh, you got a sign, like me?
No.
I tell you what you got:
you got big ideas.
You think you big land barone.
Oh, I know lots of people
like you in the old country.
You think I take
off my hat to you.
I say, "Yes, sir; no, sir."
Well, you think wrong!
This America.
Is no big man, little man.
Is only men!
I... you like to have
some coffee now?
No. No, thank you.
You no understand.
You see, I work very
hard, I save money,
I bring my family to America.
They make a big
shadow on this land.
Oh, I'm sure they will.
I-I know they will, of course.
But... you see, I-I...
I agree with you.
I-I feel exactly the
same way as you do
about-about things, but...
but, you see, you-you
can't go through life
defying the law
and this is my land.
I know homestead law.
You gotta have
habitable dwelling,
you got to work the land.
Come on, what do
you think, I'm stupid?
No, of course I don't
think you're stupid.
You know, you're not
a very good listener.
Oh, I listen very good.
No, but you always come
back and say the same thing.
Your land, your
land, get off your land!
This my land.
You get off of my land!
All right, now listen to me
and listen real good.
This is my land.
You can't grow grapes on it,
you can't grow anything.
Is that understood?
I'll give you a week to get off.
And now the big land
barone give me a week.
When week go
by, I'm-a still here,
then what happen?
Then I'm afraid I'll
have to move you off.
And I'm afraid I have to fight.
I would consider
that very carefully,
if I were you, Mr. Rossi.
Just remember:
the law is on my side.
This is my land
and you are trespassing on it.
But I know the law
and I tell you
you're trespassing,
and you get off of my land!
Move over.
Hyah! Hyah!
Hyah!
Well, there we are, Mrs. Bixby.
It's not gaudy, but it's neat.
Please, mister, how
much is this hoe?
Oh, morning, Ben.
What can I do for you?
I-I'll wait.
Mr. Rossi was here ahead of me.
Well, if that's the
way you want it.
I take this one. $1.50, eh?
That'll be $2.00.
But it says $1.50.
Well, the price just went up.
Take it or leave it.
I leave it.
What's wrong, Papa?
I gotta find another
place to buy a hoe.
Howdy, partner.
Hey, Billy.
I wonder if all them
"Eye-talian" gals
are as pretty as this one.
Well, I ain't what
you'd call an expert,
but, uh, I hear Hoss Cartwright
is gettin' to be real
knowledgeable on that subject.
Maybe you could
help us out, mister.
She's your daughter, ain't she?
No put your hands on me.
Ain't no call to get feisty.
You foreigners got
some strange customs.
What for you call me foreigner?
What should I call you?
I'm an American.
I'm just so good
American as you.
Well, now, you
know you don't look it.
You take that hat, for instance.
Now, I ask you good folks:
did you ever see such a hat?
- Hold him, Billy.
- Come on. -Get him.
Hold it!
Let him go.
What's the matter
with you, Billy?
Give Mr. Rossi his hat.
You ain't siding with
this immigrant
squatter, Mr. Cartwright?
Clean off that hat
and hand it to him.
I just want everybody
to get this straight:
what's between Mr. Rossi and me
is between the two
of us and no one else.
I don't need anybody's help
or anybody meddling.
Thank you, Mr. Cartwright.
Yeah.
But... now, I still got to
find someplace to buy a hoe.
I just couldn't believe my ears.
I simply could not
believe my ears.
Billy Laner, of all people.
Ha.
I remember when his
father first came here.
Dutchlander.
Couldn't put two words together
without putting the
cart before the horse.
Foreigners.
We're all of us foreigners
in one way or another.
Pa, I've been thinking.
That land out there don't
mean nothing to us, nohow.
Why don't we
just give it to him?
Well, I'd be doing a disservice
to every other
landowner in the territory.
It'd be establishing a
precedent for-for nesters.
Well, we're not gonna
make a habit out of it.
No, that's true,
but what-what
would it do to Rossi...
A man like him, a man
with his kind of pride...
If he found out that
I'd given it to him?
Can't do that.
Pa, there's... still,
there's just two ways
you can get rid of something,
and that's either
sell it or give it away.
And he can't afford to buy it.
Well, not at the going
price, he couldn't.
Hey, Pa... Yeah, I know. I know.
Why do we have to sell it
to him at the going price?
Right. Right.
♪♪
Hello, Hosses.
Howdy, Regina.
Lorenzo.
Hello, Hoss.
Mrs. Rossi.
Is your husband around?
Ay, he's in there.
I think he's not well.
He just sits there
and he... he stares.
Oh. Is he hurt?
, he's hurt.
Huh.
You, uh, you
think it'd be all right
if I went in there and
talked to him a minute?
Mr. Rossi?
Hoss.
Please, come in.
Oh, sit down.
Thank you.
I, uh, I heard what happened
with all them yayhoos in town.
I'm sorry.
What... you-you sorry
I'm going to leave?
Leave?
I-I lose my shadow.
You know, the-the big shadow
the Rossis, they're
gonna make on the land.
You see, I have a dream.
My... here.
Why, I see the
grapes, they grow.
They get fat.
The people, they laugh.
They happy, they drink my wine.
Today, I go into town...
and the people,
they laugh at me.
They make fun of my clothes.
They throw my hat.
I lose my temper, I fight!
Why?
Why they hate me?
They don't even know me.
You know what,
that's just it, Mr. Rossi.
They don't know you.
See, they're ignorant
and that's the way with
an ignorant man, he...
he hates anything he
don't know or understand.
Let me tell you something.
That dream you had, there wasn't
nothing wrong
with it. It's good.
Where would this world be
if there wasn't men like you
that had dreams and had-had
the guts to make 'em stick?
And you ain't lost
your shadow, neither.
You can, you can cast
it right here on this land
and me and Pa and
Little Joe'll help you.
You... you want me to stay?
You doggone right stay.
I... I'm wronged.
I think I no have a friend...
I have three good friend.
Cartwright family!
My, is very good of you,
you admit you make
mistake about the land.
But, Mr. Rossi, I...
- Maria! Maria!
- Wait, Mr. Rossi, I don't think
you understand. Mr. Rossi...
Ay, set another place.
We're gonna have
a guest for dinner.
Lorenzo, come on,
we water the grapes!
Mr. Rossi, now, hold on
just a minute, dad-burnit.
Hold on to what?
I no even tell
them what you say.
Well, that's just it. There
ain't nothing to tell 'em.
Now, dad-burnit,
we're misunderstanding
one another again.
What I meant to
say in there was...
Well...
what I meant to say
in there was that we'd...
we'd sell you the land.
Sell?
Sell?
Now the big shock.
The land barone want to
take Giorgio's money, eh?
Now, listen, Rossi, if
you'll just be reasonable...
Reasonable?
Who's no reasonable? You!
Where's no sign? You!
Where's no papers? You!
Where's a dwelling? Me.
Who planted crops? Me!
And I no buy no land
what belong U.S.A. citizen!
Mmm!
Papa... You don't say nothing.
Pick up a barrel, come on.
We gonna water the grapes.
Uh, Mr. Rossi.
My son Hoss tells me that
he talked to you about...
You still think you
big land barone, huh?
Don't you know you can't
sell what you don't own?
Do you read?
Of course I can read.
Come on in.
Morning, George.
Morning.
George, get me out the plat map
of the Ponderosa,
would you, please?
Is seal of United States.
- Washington, Lincoln...
- Yep.
- Bill of Rights...
- Mm-hmm.
This, uh, official,
genuine U.S.A. office, eh?
Yeah, you can bet on it.
It is. Now look, come here,
I want to show you
something. Here.
From here... 'round
here... and there.
Ah.
That's the boundary
of the Ponderosa.
Now, see that?
You know what that is?
That's where the grapes are.
That's right?
That's it, mister.
Finita la commedia.
I gonna get off your land.
Wait.
You know, I've been thinking.
I'd sure like to get rid
of that piece of land.
I'd like to sell it.
Hey... how about $100?
One hundred dollars?
I know the value of the
land is worth much more.
No, not to me, it isn't.
Giorgio Rossi's no
take-a charity from nobody!
I'm not offering charity,
I'm offering to sell
a piece of land!
Well, please.
Maybe you think Giorgio
Rossi is pazz... uh, uh, crazy.
I don't think you're crazy.
I'd just like to get rid of
a worthless piece of land.
You can pay for it
- over a long period of time...
- Don't say no more!
Just say good-bye.
Now hold on there!
Now what are you going to do?
- Do?
- Yeah.
What about, what
about the grapes?
They gonna die.
The land go back
just the way it was.
And I'm... I'm
gonna make barrels.
You're gonna make barrels?
Hey, I make best
barrel in the whole world.
You ask anybody.
But I don't like making barrels.
I like making grapes.
It's only way I know
how to make money,
outside making grapes.
And so I gonna make barrels.
I practically tried
to give him the land.
But would he take it? No.
Huh. I've never seen a man
so prideful and
stubborn in my life.
Pa, you're a little
bit prideful yourself.
But not stubborn!
Well... well, maybe
strong-headed.
I'll tell you one thing,
he sure knows how
to work them grapes.
You know that little cuss
has got some way figured out
to get all the alkali out
of that underground river?
Some kind of a filtering
system or something.
And I'll bet you he
can make it work.
Where you going?
I gotta try to talk
a good farmer
out of being a
mediocre barrel-maker.
Mama, don't cry.
There gonna be another
time, another place.
Mama...
Now, look, Rossi,
you can't do this.
I leave. Don't worry, I leave.
No, wait a minute,
wait a minute now.
You're not going anywhere.
What's the matter with you?
You do everything you can
to make me leave, I leave!
Now wait a minute.
Can you get the black
alkali out of the water?
In Italy, we no
have so much water.
We learn to use
the water we have.
How? How do you do it?
I need to know!
You need? You need?
Mr. Rossi, I'm a cattleman.
Do you know how
many head I could run
over the other side of that
ridge if I could water them?
500, 600 head of cattle.
Do you know what that
means in dollars and cents?
Always the dollars and cents!
Oh...
Oh, I see.
Well...
I guess maybe that was another
one of those dreams of yours.
I don't know if you
could get the black alkali
- out of the water after all...
- Hey, listen.
Giorgio Rossi may
be many things,
maybe he's a little
foolish, but he's not a liar!
Come on, I show you.
I gonna build one cistern there,
another one over there.
So you'll have a lot of water
- with, uh, black alkali in it...
- Please let me finish!
In the one cistern up,
put a canvas bag full of gypsum.
Water still run downhill, no?
Yeah.
The water run through
the canvas bag,
through the gypsum,
and run down to this cistern,
come out fresca. Pure!
Yeah...
Yeah.
Mr. Rossi,
I'll trade you this
section of land
if you'll help me
set up this system
in two places.
Now, this isn't charity.
I need it.
You put 'em in writing?
And blood, if you
want it that way.
With U.S.A. seal?
With all the trimmings.
Eh, buon!
We make business!
Oh!
Everything, off with the wagon!
Maria. -Thank you, I'm so...
Mr. Cartwright.
You never know how
happy you make me.
Oh. Oh, Regina, I know...
I know how much you
care about your father.
Oh, sì, but it is
more than that.
My fidanzato arrives tomorrow,
and if we had to leave...
Oh, yeah, Hoss
told me about that.
Your friend, your trusted one.
- Sì.
- Yeah.
And if it were
not for you, well...
Oh, it's signore Cartwright.
- Howdy, partner.
- Howdy, partner. Has he arrived yet?
No.
- Ah.
- Mr. Cartwright.
My, that sure is a
pretty dress, Regina.
- Oh.
- Mm-hmm.
I got to look pretty for Tonio.
Oh, he's gonna be
such a big help to Papa.
He knows all about the grape.
You're gonna like him, Hosses.
Dad-burnit, I wish you'd
get that down to just one.
Just plain "Hoss."
Well, I don't know, I think
you're big enough to be plural.
That's not so.
I like him just the way he is.
Some of us got it and
some of us ain't, little brother.
Hey, how you doing? Mama.
Hey, you look beautiful.
You look so sweet. How you?
- Hey, ho.
- Lorenzo! Hey!
Hey, you put on
a little fat, huh?
Hey! How are you, Papa?
I like-a introduce you...
uh, this Mr. Cartwright.
- Mr. Cartwright.
- This Hoss Cartwright. -Hi.
- Hoss.
- Little-a Joe.
Mr. Joe.
Is-a Antonio.
Tonio.
Regina.
Benvenuto.
Como sei bella.
Thank you, Cartwright,
Hoss and Joe.
Don't worry. You
gonna be the first ones
invited to the wedding.
Arrivederci.
So long.
- Whew.
- Well, Hoss, you were right again.
Just like you said.
Some's got it, some ain't.
He's right, Hoss.
This has been a color production
of the NBC Television Network.
is brought to you in
living color on NBC.
♪♪
Maria...
Speak American, ah?
How many times I
got to remember you?
Papa... the word is "remind."
That's what I say, no?
Maybe you don't
hear so good, eh?
Hey, Lorenzo, how much-a
water you bringing today, huh?
Oh, molto, Papa.
We have enough
for two, three days.
Good.
I can take a bath tonight.
After the grapes, they
have enough water,
then is-a your turn.
Oh.
Buongiorno.
How are you, folks?
Howdy!
Uh, howdy. I, uh...
Uh, gee, I hope I'm
not interrupting anything.
Oh, no.
My name Giorgio
Rossi, American citizen.
Oh. Nice to see you.
Lorenzo Rossi, American citizen.
Hello. How are you?
Maria Rossi, American citizen.
My daughter, Regina,
also American...
Papa.
What?
Anyway, we all American here.
And you know who you are?
Yeah. Yeah, I'm Joe Cartwright.
You are first guest,
that's-a who you are.
Now come on.
Ma, get him something to eat.
Oh, that... that's-that's
awfully kind of you,
Mr. Rossi, but I...
That's very, very kind of you,
but a-all I... all I really
wanted was some,
- was some water.
- Water?
No, you no eat the water.
What are you, crazy, something?
You no make a meal from water.
I'm gonna cut you some bread.
Here, make some cheese.
Well, that-that's awfully kind,
but all I'm gonna do
is hold you folks up.
"Hold up"?
I gonna kill you if you try.
Oh, no, Papa, he does not
mean that kind of a hold-up.
No?
Oh, oh, no.
No, that's-that's not
what I meant at all.
No, what-what I meant was
you-you probably
have a long way to go.
No, we no go no place.
We're gonna stay right here.
You're gonna stay here?
Well, sì.
We like this place fine, no?
No, th-this is our land.
Eh, that's what I
like about America.
Your land, my land, our land...
I like American talk!
Yeah, I... you don't
seem to... Yeah.
This is Ponderosa land.
Ponderosa.
Ay, that's a beautiful name.
Maybe I call my wine that.
After the grapes grow.
United States Ponderosa
Wine Company,
made by Giorgio Rossi, eh?
- Buono.
- Uh, M-Mr. Rossi,
- you see, the Pond...
- Mmm.
The Ponderosa is a ranch
and my father owns the ranch
and this is part of the land.
I mean, you're on our land
and we-we can't
have nesters on our...
Nester?
Who's a nester?
I'm American citizen, 100%.
But come on, I
show you my papers,
- you don't believe.
- Well, no...
Look, Mr. Rossi,
I'm-I'm sure your
papers are in order.
And-and if you'd like
to stay here overnight,
that's perfectly fine.
But you can't just
live here, you...
Just a minute.
You think you so smart.
You know the Preamble
to the Constitution?
"We the people of
- the United States of America..."
- Mr. Rossi...
- "...in order to form a
more perfect union..."
-Mr... Mr. Rossi. Mr. Rossi.
Mr. Rossi, you're trespassing.
You're trespassing.
You know the branches
of the government?
Executive,
legislature, judicial.
- Now, you know it?
- Mr. Rossi,
this is our land.
You can't farm on it
because we own it.
You think you know everything.
I know my rights.
Patrick Henry's-a say,
"When the people
want to be free,
sometime they gotta fight."
If you no get off of my land,
sometime is gonna
come pretty soon.
This is not your
land, it's our land
and you're not gonna farm on it.
Now look, if you'd like
to stay here overnight...
I think sometime is-a here.
Now you get on your
horse and get off of my land.
Now!
Off of my land.
I'm gonna tell you something.
- This... this is our land.
- Ah!
- Calm down.
- Now you get on your horse
and you get off of my land.
It's not your land!
On your horse.
One minute!
Yes, you go away.
You go away
and don't come
back here no more!
You go away!
You supposed to be so smart.
He was gonna hold us up!
Well, it may sound
funny to you in the telling,
but there's nothing
funny about nesters.
No, you... you
remember what happened
over at Jim Bollen's
place last year?
Now, they dang near wrecked it.
We don't want the same
thing happening here.
- Oh, Joe...
- Oh, come, I'm serious!
There was nothing funny
about that blunderbuss
he was waving around
in my face, either.
Joe, it seems to me
like you just didn't use
enough tact, that's all.
Ha ha. Well, I
supposed you would've
handled the whole
thing a lot better, huh?
Well, I'll tell you, I couldn't
handle it much worse.
Joe, they just got
themselves a little mixed up.
Besides, nobody can grow
anything on that ground anyhow.
Yeah, you-you want to
know how mixed up they are?
Do you want to
know how mixed up?
The wine that they're gonna make
they're gonna call
"Vino di Ponderosa."
That's how mixed up they are.
Joe, he's just a poor
little immigrant fella, Joe.
I'll ride out there tomorrow
and reason with him
and handle everything,
don't worry about it.
Well, while you're
reasoning with him,
you'd better be able to
explain the Constitution
and the Bill of Rights.
Joe, look.
I'm a little older'n you are
- and I've seen...
- I know, yes,
you've seen so much
more and you've lived
and you know how
to handle these things
so much better than I do.
Well, frankly, that's right.
Well, I think I'd better
be gettin' to bed.
Fine.
Oh... Good night, Pa.
Good night...
Hey, everybody!
Come over here,
come on and look.
È bello, huh? Nice?
- Oh...
- "United States Grapes
"Vino di Ponderosa
Giorgio Rossi Proprietario."
Bella, Papa.
And some day, I gonna put
"And Son" right over there.
Ah.
You going to be big man,
United States Territory Nevada.
Maybe even governor.
Eh, maybe even presidente.
Ma, he cannot be presidente.
He's no born in America.
It says in the Constitution.
Oh, yeah?
And you know this, too?
- Ah, sì.
- Mamma mia.
What this man knows,
you couldn't hold in a book.
Mmm.
Ma, it's because I
read in American.
And when you can read,
you know, your rights.
Well, come.
We're gonna thank God
for helping us with this land.
In nomine Patris, et
Filii, et Spiritu Sancti.
Thank you, dear
God, the Lord of us all,
for help us with this land.
We promise we going to work hard
to make the grape
strong and sweet.
You help us all the
way from our home
to our new home, here,
where you give us
each other to love.
I just, uh, want to
ask one more thing.
Help-a all of my
family to learn patience.
And we going to
light a special candle
thanking Saint Antonio
for help us find this land.
In nomine Patris, et Filii,
et Spiritu Sancti. Amen.
Howdy.
Howdy, partner!
My name is Giorgio Rossi.
Uh, hi, Mr. Rossi,
I'm happy to meet you.
- I'm Hoss Cartwright.
- Mm-hmm.
My little brother came
out here and talked to you
the other day, do you recall?
Why, no.
Came out here and talked
to you about this property,
or tried to.
Ah. Young fellow.
Mouth full of very nice teeth.
Pretty horse.
- Yeah, that'd be Little Joe.
- Yeah, yeah.
He's-a no good.
Now wait a minute...
Come on, don't no feel bad.
My wife, she got a uncle.
He steal a farm
from his own sister.
Every family, they got a curse.
No, no, Giorgio, he no steal.
I told you... Is like this.
Excuse, what is your name?
Uh... Hoss, ma'am.
Oh, Hossmaam.
No, ma'am.
No... I mean, no.
Just Hoss. Hoss.
Well, Hoss, you
see, it's like this.
My uncle, he went
into Rome, in Italia,
- and while he...
- No, no, no, "Rome, Italia."
Speak American.
- "Rome, Italy."
- Oh...
My wife, she talk
pretty good American.
'Course, not so good like me.
You like have a cup of coffee?
No. No, thank you.
What-what I came
here for, Mr. Rossi,
was to-to explain
some things to you.
To sort of reason some
things out, you know.
Oh, that's nice.
Yeah, well, first of
all, uh, Mr. Rossi,
you, uh... you
just plain mistaken.
You see, this land here is ours.
I-I don't know where that
is that you're looking for,
but this ain't it.
And I know you've just made
a plain, honest mistake...
No, we no make a mistake.
You make a mistake.
You know Homestead Act?
I sure do.
Yeah, yeah, the
Ponderosa is all homestead.
Where's your dwelling?
Dwelling?
You gotta have a dwelling
for-a people to inhabit.
Oh, yeah. Well, I know what
you're talking about,
and we got one.
It's up in the piney
woods back north of here.
Well, my dwelling
is right over here.
Come on, I'm gonna show you.
Here is a dwelling.
My dwelling.
Well, fine, Mr. Rossi,
but it-it still don't
make no difference.
I mean, there just ain't no way
that this land can be yours.
Now, if you stay here,
people are gonna
say you're a thief,
and you don't want that, do you?
What's he doing?
He's going to get
a gun and kill you.
Oh.
Mr. Rossi, let's do some
more talking about this.
First, the pretty-teeth
one and now you.
- Mr. Rossi...
- Both thieves,
both trying to steal my land!
You could hurt a man
with that thing, Mr. Rossi.
You get on your horse
- and you get out of here!
- Y-You... wait a minute...
Mamma mia!
Come on, everybody,
get something!
We're gonna lose the water!
Oh!
Lorenzo!
No more fight!
No more!
I reckon all this means
that I'm somethin' less
than a decent human being,
but that just ain't so.
Dad-burnit, I came here
as nice as I knew how
and your papa just
can't understand
that this land belongs to my pa.
You got a piece of paper
what proves that this
land belong to you?
Well, no, I ain't, but...
but I reckon my pa has.
Oh. Then the next time
you want to talk to me,
you bring you papa.
I no do business
with little boys.
Come, my son.
Oh... every bruise
a badge of courage.
We have just begun to fight!
Ma'am, I'm...
I'm mighty sorry about
all that over there. I...
No matter what you might think,
I didn't come out
here to start this.
If there's anything
I can do to help...
We do not need your help.
Next time, I'm not
gonna be so easy on him.
- Papa...
- What?
Suppose he is right, eh?
You think maybe he's right?
Yeah.
Who's telling me we
grow the grapes here, eh?
Who's telling me about
the homestead law?
It was Lorenzo, sì...
Oh, you be hush up.
Papa, the word
you mean is "quiet."
And you be hush up, too!
Why you think he... he's right?
- Eh?
- You some kind of a dumb head?
No, Papa.
- I am not a dumb head.
- Ah.
Then why then you
think Hoss right?
Perché...
well, he just does not
seem like a bad man.
Ah.
- Oh...
- Ah!
He think all bad men,
they have a sign, eh?
It says "No trust
me, I'm a bad man."
No, no, no.
Oh, I'll tell you, Joe, those...
those people were hungry.
Aw, come on. Is that
what the girl told you?
Certainly not.
She didn't tell me that, they...
All you gotta do is...
look at 'em and you know
that they ain't
got enough to eat.
Well, they didn't
look so bad off to me.
Matter of fact, that girl
looked kind of pretty.
What did you think, Hoss?
Joe, that ain't got
nothing to do with it.
Oh.
Well, how do you
expect to get rid of 'em
if you're making it so
easy for them to stay?
Joe...
you catch a lot
more flies with honey
than you do with vinegar.
Hoss, you're right.
You know, you're right.
But we don't want to catch 'em,
we want to get rid of 'em!
All we gotta do is
just let 'em know
that we don't mean
no harm, that's all.
Oh, yeah, that's good thinking.
Yeah, we'll let 'em stay out
there maybe ten, 15 years.
Gradually, they'll
get used to the idea.
Then we'll break
it to 'em gently.
You know, Pa's gonna
be here in a couple of days
and if they're still out there,
you and I are in
a lot of trouble.
They ain't gonna
still be there, Joe,
but at the same time, I ain't
gonna make enemies out of 'em.
Well, the way you're
worried about that girl,
seems to me you want to
make relatives out of 'em.
Uh, just a minute.
I'm gonna ride along with you.
After all, you-you handle these
things so much better than I do,
I-I want to be there
so I can learn from you.
Look, you've only
been out there one time
and you've already
managed to empty the kitchen.
I want to be on hand
for your next victory.
Some people just ain't
got no faith, that's all.
I know.
Now, Joe, I don't want you
flying off the handle
on these folks.
Me?
Look, I'm not the one
who got in a fight with them.
Well, that was just
a misunderstanding.
As a matter of fact, this whole
thing's a misunderstanding,
so don't bring up that
homesteading thing
till they've... till they've
learned to trust us.
Now come on.
Ah, sons of Cartwright.
Oh... Why you come here?
You get off of my land!
Now just hold on a
minute, Mr. Rossi.
We-we didn't come
here to make no trouble.
Oh?
You come and maybe
make apologize to Giorgio?
Well, we, uh, we come
here to talk friendly.
Oh, that's nice!
You come, sit down.
Have-a something to eat.
- I-I don't think so...
- Lorenzo!
Mr. Rossi, I don't think
we ought to do that.
- Do you, Joe?
- Oh, we have plenty left.
Oh, we have plenty. Come on.
Sit down, please, Little Joe.
Oh, we-we don't want to take
the food out of your mouths.
- Yeah.
- Oh, look,
we have all kinds of food.
Look. You like pasta?
Uh, show 'em what you
got in the sack, Santa.
I, uh... I brung
you a little food.
Oh!
That's nice!
Ma, people what
bring other people food,
they can't be all bad.
Ah... you like, eh?
While you people are eat,
Lorenzo and I, we're
gonna go get some water.
Uh... Mr. Rossi,
talkin' about that water...
You know, that's
a mighty long haul
for you folks to have to make.
And I just been thinking...
I know this beautiful
little piece of land
about ten miles south of here...
Oh, but there is plenty
of water right here.
Here?
- Sì.
- Sì.
Now, look on the tree.
How you think they live?
I tell you.
They push them
roots way down deep,
where is the water.
Well, sure, Mr. Rossi,
I know there's many
underground rivers
all over this desert,
but they're all alkali.
I make 'em pure
again, that's all.
Finish your dinner.
What are you looking at me for?
It's very simple.
He's gonna make
the water pure again.
What's the matter with you?
Mmm!
That was good.
Sure is.
You know, Regina,
that... that papa of yours
is kind of a muley
one, ain't he?
Oh, sì.
He's nice.
That is a funny-looking
coffee pot. What is that?
Oh, is caffé espresso.
Italian coffee.
- Yeah?
- Sì.
- Oh...
- Italian coffee, huh?
You like?
Mmm...
I n-never tasted
anything quite like that.
Oh...
I think I'll take...
I think I'll take my
plate over there.
Uh, here's more dishes.
Oh, grazie.
Can I, can I give you
a hand, Mrs. Rossi?
You?
Oh, no, you poor thing.
Poor thing?
Yeah, you-you been sick, eh?
Who, me? No, I'm fine, ma'am.
Oh, you're too skinny.
Too skinny, look... look.
No-no one could even pinch you.
You want some more coffee?
N-No. No, thank you, Regina.
It's-it's fine,
but I sort of like
this wine, too.
It's mighty fine.
You, uh, like my
cocina Italiana?
Huh?
Italian food.
Oh, yeah.
I love it.
It's delicious and it...
kind of sticks to
the ribs, too, don't it?
Italian women are
all very good cooks.
Do everything to
make a man happy.
From the time
we are little girls,
we learn how to sew, to cook...
to bring happiness.
Yeah?
Look, Regina, this may not
be none of my business, but...
well, uh... have you
been spoken for?
"Spoken for"?
Not... well, I mean,
uh... have you, uh...
you got a feller you like?
Oh, sì.
Many.
Lorenzo, Papa,
you... Tonio... Tonio?
Sì.
Who's he?
Fidanzato mio.
Fidanzato?
Sì.
What's that?
Oh, he's like, um...
how you would say...
"the trusted one."
Oh. Like a friend.
Oh, well, everybody's
gotta have friends.
I mean... I mean
where would we be
if we didn't have a
few trusted ones, right?
Sì.
You know, wine is much
more than just a drink.
Wine is more than just
for cooling the tongue.
When you make wine,
you're never alone.
You are partner with
the sun and the earth.
You use God's gift
to ease the burden of man.
Wine is not just one
thing... Is-a many.
Now, when two
people, they are in love,
there is wine.
When old person sit,
watch the sun set, feel cold?
There is wine.
When a man, he want to be alone,
hear his soul...
there is wine, too.
And when a man
makes new friends,
there is also wine.
So I drink to you,
Mr. Hoss Cartwright,
Little Joe.
Salute.
- Good luck.
- Salute.
Giorgio?
What's the matter?
You no can sleep?
I been thinking.
It's a long way
from our village.
From the little house
where I take you for my bride.
Long way.
I think maybe Giorgio
Rossi's make a mistake.
Take your wife, your bambini,
and come to strange country
where nobody's know me.
Nobody cares about the wife,
the bambini, nobody.
What are you talking
about, Giorgio?
See, we have-a friends already.
Friends?
Hoss Cartwright,
Little Joe, you think...
Why, sure. They're nice boys.
Vero. Nice boys.
But they don't know how I feel,
they don't know what I want.
They don't know in here,
inside, how I feel.
In our village, everybody
know how I feel,
what I want, because
they want the same things.
You understand.
Eh, sure, I understand,
but now we come to this country.
We-we no can go back.
That's what makes me worry.
What happens if...
the grapes, they die?
- The grapes no grow?
- Ooh...
How Giorgio Rossi gonna
take care of his family?
Look, you make barrels before.
And... you make
barrels again, that's all.
I'd rather die first.
Look. Look, look at these hands.
They the hands of a farmer,
a grower of grapes
and not a barrel-maker.
My father... his grandfather...
and his father,
they all grow grapes.
Giorgio Rossi's the
only one making barrels.
I think it's very bad for a man
to try to be
something he is not.
Giorgio, look.
We gotta the land, eh?
Our land.
We gotta the grapes.
Our grapes.
We pray.
We pray our buon Dio
and the grapes, they will grow.
Don't you worry, Giorgio.
Pray.
Don't you worry.
Everything's
going to be all right.
Sì.
Our land.
I pray.
Thank you, Quinn.
Hup.
Howdy, Mr. Cartwright.
Howdy.
Hello, Ben.
Oh, hello, Seth.
- Glad to see you back.
- Well, it's good to be back.
You haven't seen
my boys, have you?
They're supposed to pick me up.
Well, it could be
they're picking grapes.
What?
Oh, you're a sly one.
Importing tenant
farmers clear from Italy
and all the time making
out you're a cattleman.
Tenant farmers?
You're gettin' old, Seth.
Well, now, there's
no need to be insultin'
just because you're on
your way to becoming
the Nevada wine king.
What are you talking about?
You mean you really don't
know what I'm talking about?
No.
Well, Little Joe'll fill you in.
How you doing, Pa?
Let me... let me
take your bag, there.
Never mind the bag.
I understand you've
got something to tell me.
- Something to tell you?
- Yeah.
Oh, yeah, sure. You-you
look, you look great.
I think it did you a lot
of good, gettin' away.
Did it?
Well, the way Seth
Hayes was cackling,
I don't know if it did.
Hey, Joe.
Oh, h-how you doing, Bill?
I hear tell you gotta
stomp them grapes
to get the juice.
Ol' Hoss has sure got
the feet for stomping.
Well, I'm gonna do a little
stomping in your direction
if you don't shut up.
Now you just hold your tongue.
Now, what's this about grapes?
- Grapes?
- Grapes.
I think I'd better show you.
"Vino di..." Ponderosa.
Giorgio Rossi, proprietor."
I didn't think you'd
be too happy about it.
Oh, that's sort of the
understatement of the year.
Ride over there.
Vino di Ponderosa.
His Honorness the Pope,
he have such a house
on the lake, uh, Lago Bano.
Ah, it is beautiful.
The lake is blue,
the trees, green.
Right. Now you're
gettin' the picture.
All it needs is just to have you
go up there and homestead it.
Sounds very good... Good.
For somebody else.
The grapes, they grow
much better in hot sun.
Hi, Pa. I...
I'm surprised to
see you out here.
Yes, I figured you would be.
Yeah, I...
My, you sure have
got a nice suntan, Pa,
and it's real becoming on you.
Pa, this is, uh,
this is Mr. Rossi.
Mr. Rossi, this is my pa.
Mr. Rossi.
Mr. Cartwright.
Maybe you like to come inside,
have some coffee?
Regina!
No, don't-don't
trouble yourself.
What I have to say will
take a very short time.
Whatever you have to
say, it sound better here.
You see, when two people have
something to say to each other,
is more better if one isn't
so far down from the other.
Sì, Papa.
Mr. Cartwright, may I
present my daughter Regina?
How do you do?
Now, Regina, please
make some coffee.
Bring inside, eh?
Mr. Cartwright.
Go easy on the coffee.
It's murder.
Now, please.
Now we talk.
Now, look, Mr. Rossi,
what I'm about to
say may seem, uh...
blunt to you.
I thank you for the hospitality,
it's been very generous, but...
this is my land
and I'm afraid I'm going
to have to ask you to leave.
Your son Hoss, he
tell me this your land.
Your other son, he
tell me the same thing,
this your land.
You got a fence?
No.
Uh, you got a sign, like me?
No.
I tell you what you got:
you got big ideas.
You think you big land barone.
Oh, I know lots of people
like you in the old country.
You think I take
off my hat to you.
I say, "Yes, sir; no, sir."
Well, you think wrong!
This America.
Is no big man, little man.
Is only men!
I... you like to have
some coffee now?
No. No, thank you.
You no understand.
You see, I work very
hard, I save money,
I bring my family to America.
They make a big
shadow on this land.
Oh, I'm sure they will.
I-I know they will, of course.
But... you see, I-I...
I agree with you.
I-I feel exactly the
same way as you do
about-about things, but...
but, you see, you-you
can't go through life
defying the law
and this is my land.
I know homestead law.
You gotta have
habitable dwelling,
you got to work the land.
Come on, what do
you think, I'm stupid?
No, of course I don't
think you're stupid.
You know, you're not
a very good listener.
Oh, I listen very good.
No, but you always come
back and say the same thing.
Your land, your
land, get off your land!
This my land.
You get off of my land!
All right, now listen to me
and listen real good.
This is my land.
You can't grow grapes on it,
you can't grow anything.
Is that understood?
I'll give you a week to get off.
And now the big land
barone give me a week.
When week go
by, I'm-a still here,
then what happen?
Then I'm afraid I'll
have to move you off.
And I'm afraid I have to fight.
I would consider
that very carefully,
if I were you, Mr. Rossi.
Just remember:
the law is on my side.
This is my land
and you are trespassing on it.
But I know the law
and I tell you
you're trespassing,
and you get off of my land!
Move over.
Hyah! Hyah!
Hyah!
Well, there we are, Mrs. Bixby.
It's not gaudy, but it's neat.
Please, mister, how
much is this hoe?
Oh, morning, Ben.
What can I do for you?
I-I'll wait.
Mr. Rossi was here ahead of me.
Well, if that's the
way you want it.
I take this one. $1.50, eh?
That'll be $2.00.
But it says $1.50.
Well, the price just went up.
Take it or leave it.
I leave it.
What's wrong, Papa?
I gotta find another
place to buy a hoe.
Howdy, partner.
Hey, Billy.
I wonder if all them
"Eye-talian" gals
are as pretty as this one.
Well, I ain't what
you'd call an expert,
but, uh, I hear Hoss Cartwright
is gettin' to be real
knowledgeable on that subject.
Maybe you could
help us out, mister.
She's your daughter, ain't she?
No put your hands on me.
Ain't no call to get feisty.
You foreigners got
some strange customs.
What for you call me foreigner?
What should I call you?
I'm an American.
I'm just so good
American as you.
Well, now, you
know you don't look it.
You take that hat, for instance.
Now, I ask you good folks:
did you ever see such a hat?
- Hold him, Billy.
- Come on. -Get him.
Hold it!
Let him go.
What's the matter
with you, Billy?
Give Mr. Rossi his hat.
You ain't siding with
this immigrant
squatter, Mr. Cartwright?
Clean off that hat
and hand it to him.
I just want everybody
to get this straight:
what's between Mr. Rossi and me
is between the two
of us and no one else.
I don't need anybody's help
or anybody meddling.
Thank you, Mr. Cartwright.
Yeah.
But... now, I still got to
find someplace to buy a hoe.
I just couldn't believe my ears.
I simply could not
believe my ears.
Billy Laner, of all people.
Ha.
I remember when his
father first came here.
Dutchlander.
Couldn't put two words together
without putting the
cart before the horse.
Foreigners.
We're all of us foreigners
in one way or another.
Pa, I've been thinking.
That land out there don't
mean nothing to us, nohow.
Why don't we
just give it to him?
Well, I'd be doing a disservice
to every other
landowner in the territory.
It'd be establishing a
precedent for-for nesters.
Well, we're not gonna
make a habit out of it.
No, that's true,
but what-what
would it do to Rossi...
A man like him, a man
with his kind of pride...
If he found out that
I'd given it to him?
Can't do that.
Pa, there's... still,
there's just two ways
you can get rid of something,
and that's either
sell it or give it away.
And he can't afford to buy it.
Well, not at the going
price, he couldn't.
Hey, Pa... Yeah, I know. I know.
Why do we have to sell it
to him at the going price?
Right. Right.
♪♪
Hello, Hosses.
Howdy, Regina.
Lorenzo.
Hello, Hoss.
Mrs. Rossi.
Is your husband around?
Ay, he's in there.
I think he's not well.
He just sits there
and he... he stares.
Oh. Is he hurt?
, he's hurt.
Huh.
You, uh, you
think it'd be all right
if I went in there and
talked to him a minute?
Mr. Rossi?
Hoss.
Please, come in.
Oh, sit down.
Thank you.
I, uh, I heard what happened
with all them yayhoos in town.
I'm sorry.
What... you-you sorry
I'm going to leave?
Leave?
I-I lose my shadow.
You know, the-the big shadow
the Rossis, they're
gonna make on the land.
You see, I have a dream.
My... here.
Why, I see the
grapes, they grow.
They get fat.
The people, they laugh.
They happy, they drink my wine.
Today, I go into town...
and the people,
they laugh at me.
They make fun of my clothes.
They throw my hat.
I lose my temper, I fight!
Why?
Why they hate me?
They don't even know me.
You know what,
that's just it, Mr. Rossi.
They don't know you.
See, they're ignorant
and that's the way with
an ignorant man, he...
he hates anything he
don't know or understand.
Let me tell you something.
That dream you had, there wasn't
nothing wrong
with it. It's good.
Where would this world be
if there wasn't men like you
that had dreams and had-had
the guts to make 'em stick?
And you ain't lost
your shadow, neither.
You can, you can cast
it right here on this land
and me and Pa and
Little Joe'll help you.
You... you want me to stay?
You doggone right stay.
I... I'm wronged.
I think I no have a friend...
I have three good friend.
Cartwright family!
My, is very good of you,
you admit you make
mistake about the land.
But, Mr. Rossi, I...
- Maria! Maria!
- Wait, Mr. Rossi, I don't think
you understand. Mr. Rossi...
Ay, set another place.
We're gonna have
a guest for dinner.
Lorenzo, come on,
we water the grapes!
Mr. Rossi, now, hold on
just a minute, dad-burnit.
Hold on to what?
I no even tell
them what you say.
Well, that's just it. There
ain't nothing to tell 'em.
Now, dad-burnit,
we're misunderstanding
one another again.
What I meant to
say in there was...
Well...
what I meant to say
in there was that we'd...
we'd sell you the land.
Sell?
Sell?
Now the big shock.
The land barone want to
take Giorgio's money, eh?
Now, listen, Rossi, if
you'll just be reasonable...
Reasonable?
Who's no reasonable? You!
Where's no sign? You!
Where's no papers? You!
Where's a dwelling? Me.
Who planted crops? Me!
And I no buy no land
what belong U.S.A. citizen!
Mmm!
Papa... You don't say nothing.
Pick up a barrel, come on.
We gonna water the grapes.
Uh, Mr. Rossi.
My son Hoss tells me that
he talked to you about...
You still think you
big land barone, huh?
Don't you know you can't
sell what you don't own?
Do you read?
Of course I can read.
Come on in.
Morning, George.
Morning.
George, get me out the plat map
of the Ponderosa,
would you, please?
Is seal of United States.
- Washington, Lincoln...
- Yep.
- Bill of Rights...
- Mm-hmm.
This, uh, official,
genuine U.S.A. office, eh?
Yeah, you can bet on it.
It is. Now look, come here,
I want to show you
something. Here.
From here... 'round
here... and there.
Ah.
That's the boundary
of the Ponderosa.
Now, see that?
You know what that is?
That's where the grapes are.
That's right?
That's it, mister.
Finita la commedia.
I gonna get off your land.
Wait.
You know, I've been thinking.
I'd sure like to get rid
of that piece of land.
I'd like to sell it.
Hey... how about $100?
One hundred dollars?
I know the value of the
land is worth much more.
No, not to me, it isn't.
Giorgio Rossi's no
take-a charity from nobody!
I'm not offering charity,
I'm offering to sell
a piece of land!
Well, please.
Maybe you think Giorgio
Rossi is pazz... uh, uh, crazy.
I don't think you're crazy.
I'd just like to get rid of
a worthless piece of land.
You can pay for it
- over a long period of time...
- Don't say no more!
Just say good-bye.
Now hold on there!
Now what are you going to do?
- Do?
- Yeah.
What about, what
about the grapes?
They gonna die.
The land go back
just the way it was.
And I'm... I'm
gonna make barrels.
You're gonna make barrels?
Hey, I make best
barrel in the whole world.
You ask anybody.
But I don't like making barrels.
I like making grapes.
It's only way I know
how to make money,
outside making grapes.
And so I gonna make barrels.
I practically tried
to give him the land.
But would he take it? No.
Huh. I've never seen a man
so prideful and
stubborn in my life.
Pa, you're a little
bit prideful yourself.
But not stubborn!
Well... well, maybe
strong-headed.
I'll tell you one thing,
he sure knows how
to work them grapes.
You know that little cuss
has got some way figured out
to get all the alkali out
of that underground river?
Some kind of a filtering
system or something.
And I'll bet you he
can make it work.
Where you going?
I gotta try to talk
a good farmer
out of being a
mediocre barrel-maker.
Mama, don't cry.
There gonna be another
time, another place.
Mama...
Now, look, Rossi,
you can't do this.
I leave. Don't worry, I leave.
No, wait a minute,
wait a minute now.
You're not going anywhere.
What's the matter with you?
You do everything you can
to make me leave, I leave!
Now wait a minute.
Can you get the black
alkali out of the water?
In Italy, we no
have so much water.
We learn to use
the water we have.
How? How do you do it?
I need to know!
You need? You need?
Mr. Rossi, I'm a cattleman.
Do you know how
many head I could run
over the other side of that
ridge if I could water them?
500, 600 head of cattle.
Do you know what that
means in dollars and cents?
Always the dollars and cents!
Oh...
Oh, I see.
Well...
I guess maybe that was another
one of those dreams of yours.
I don't know if you
could get the black alkali
- out of the water after all...
- Hey, listen.
Giorgio Rossi may
be many things,
maybe he's a little
foolish, but he's not a liar!
Come on, I show you.
I gonna build one cistern there,
another one over there.
So you'll have a lot of water
- with, uh, black alkali in it...
- Please let me finish!
In the one cistern up,
put a canvas bag full of gypsum.
Water still run downhill, no?
Yeah.
The water run through
the canvas bag,
through the gypsum,
and run down to this cistern,
come out fresca. Pure!
Yeah...
Yeah.
Mr. Rossi,
I'll trade you this
section of land
if you'll help me
set up this system
in two places.
Now, this isn't charity.
I need it.
You put 'em in writing?
And blood, if you
want it that way.
With U.S.A. seal?
With all the trimmings.
Eh, buon!
We make business!
Oh!
Everything, off with the wagon!
Maria. -Thank you, I'm so...
Mr. Cartwright.
You never know how
happy you make me.
Oh. Oh, Regina, I know...
I know how much you
care about your father.
Oh, sì, but it is
more than that.
My fidanzato arrives tomorrow,
and if we had to leave...
Oh, yeah, Hoss
told me about that.
Your friend, your trusted one.
- Sì.
- Yeah.
And if it were
not for you, well...
Oh, it's signore Cartwright.
- Howdy, partner.
- Howdy, partner. Has he arrived yet?
No.
- Ah.
- Mr. Cartwright.
My, that sure is a
pretty dress, Regina.
- Oh.
- Mm-hmm.
I got to look pretty for Tonio.
Oh, he's gonna be
such a big help to Papa.
He knows all about the grape.
You're gonna like him, Hosses.
Dad-burnit, I wish you'd
get that down to just one.
Just plain "Hoss."
Well, I don't know, I think
you're big enough to be plural.
That's not so.
I like him just the way he is.
Some of us got it and
some of us ain't, little brother.
Hey, how you doing? Mama.
Hey, you look beautiful.
You look so sweet. How you?
- Hey, ho.
- Lorenzo! Hey!
Hey, you put on
a little fat, huh?
Hey! How are you, Papa?
I like-a introduce you...
uh, this Mr. Cartwright.
- Mr. Cartwright.
- This Hoss Cartwright. -Hi.
- Hoss.
- Little-a Joe.
Mr. Joe.
Is-a Antonio.
Tonio.
Regina.
Benvenuto.
Como sei bella.
Thank you, Cartwright,
Hoss and Joe.
Don't worry. You
gonna be the first ones
invited to the wedding.
Arrivederci.
So long.
- Whew.
- Well, Hoss, you were right again.
Just like you said.
Some's got it, some ain't.
He's right, Hoss.
This has been a color production
of the NBC Television Network.