Bonanza (1959–1973): Season 9, Episode 32 - Pride of a Man - full transcript

ANNOUNCER: The following program
is brought to you in living color on NBC.

- Hi, Willie.
- Joe.

- Billy, how you doing?
- All right.

What are you two doing here?

We heard you was sparking
the new schoolteacher.

We figured we'd
come over, take a look.

I thought you were thinking
about going to school.

[LAUGHING] You know we
don't hold with no book learning.

- We gonna be hog farmers.
- Just like Pa.

Well...

Psst! Psst!



[GIGGLING]

Class is dismissed.

It is such a lovely day
for horseback riding,

and you are so
thoughtful to suggest it.

It's my pleasure,
Miss Pettigrew. Abby.

Class is dismissed.

[LAUGHTER]

Come on.

- Joe!
- [BELL RINGING]

Those are wedding bells!

- Come on. Let's go.
- [BELL CONTINUES RINGING]

Oh, he's so beautiful.

You shouldn't talk like that in front of
him. He's liable to get a swelled head.

- Joe, do you think I could ride him?
- Sure, why not?



He's real gentle with ladies.

Abby!

Abby. Abby, are you all right?

- I'm sorry. How stupid of me.
- Why are you? Wasn't your fault.

- Ooh. Ow.
- What’s the matter?

- Ooh, it's my ankle.
- Easy.

Beginning to swell.
I think it's broke.

Now, now, now, we'll
hear no more of that.

Mr. Cartwright, I just can't stay
here as a long-term house guest.

You can't stay at your own place
with a broken ankle, can you?

No. You're the best thing that's
happened around here in a long time!

- [LAUGHS]
- You might even get to like us.

- Yes.
- Thank you, Candy.

[DOOR OPENS]

- BEN: Well?
- JOE: No luck.

I thought I could get Mrs. Ferguson,
she was a good substitute teacher,

but she can't quit her
job at the millinery store.

It ought to be easy enough to find
somebody. No big deal teaching school.

- CANDY: I got an idea, Joe.
- JOE: What’s that?

Seeing as it's no big
deal, why don't you do it?

- Why don't I do what?
- Teach school for a couple of weeks.

[LAUGHING] Oh, come on!

What are you looking
at me like that for?

I was just thinking.

Miss Pettigrew, how do you think
Joseph would make out as a teacher?

ABBY: Well, he says it
would be easy enough.

- I think he'd make a fine teacher.
- I think he'd make a great teacher.

You know, as a matter of fact I
would. I'd make a great teacher.

I just have a lot of work
to do here, that's all.

- No problem. I'll do the work for you.
- I'll do my work myself, thanks.

Joseph, every man,
married or single,

owes something to the
children of his community.

Now, what have you done for
the children of your community?

- Well, I...
- Nothing. Absolutely nothing, Joseph.

Now, don't you think it's about time
you assumed some responsibility?

Look, Pa, I'm willing to do my
share, but I'm not gonna teach school.

[CLEARS THROAT]

Look, I'm not kidding. I am not
gonna teach school. N-O. No. That's it.

I... I don't want to do it.

What do you think of
our new teacher, Billy?

- He look kind of natural, don't he?
- Mm-hm.

What do you two want?

Well, uh... me and Billy,

we was thinking about how Miss Pettigrew
always wanted us to come to school.

We thought we'd
come over and enroll.

- You two want to enroll?
- Sure, why not?

- We’re as good as anybody, ain't we?
- Don't sit on the desk.

If you want to go to
school, take a seat.

- Oh. Any place in particular?
- JOE: Yeah.

Right up front, where I
can keep an eye on you.

- Right here.
- Anything you say, Joe.

From now on, the
name is Mr. Cartwright.

- Oh, Mr. Cartwright?
- Mm-hm.

You hear that, Mr. McNab?
From now on, Joe ain't Joe.

- Joe is Mr. Cartwright.
- [CHUCKLES] Yes, sir, Mr. Cartwright.

- Take off your hat.
- Yes, sir, Mr. Cartwright.

Show some respect.

[SIGHS]

Cathy?

Cathy?

- What’s the matter with her?
- She's scared, Mr. Cartwright.

- Scared of what?
- She never had a man teacher before.

Cathy?

Cathy, honey, you're
not scared of me, are you?

Oh, how can that be, after all
the times I've taken you on rides

and been over your
house to see your pa?

Now, you can't be afraid of me.

Let me see a little bit of a
smile. Okay, that's better.

Hey, all you... All you kids.

I accidentally made Miss
Pettigrew hurt her leg,

so I'm gonna have to be
your teacher for a little while.

I don't know too much about being a
teacher, so it's up to you to help me.

- Now, will you help me?
- ALL: Yes, sir.

Okay. Good. How about you
showing me where you sit, huh?

- Where’s your seat, Cathy?
- Over there.

There you go, honey.

Um... My desk's over
there, Mr. Cartwright.

Go sit down, Mary.

[LAUGHTER]

- All right, erase it, Willie.
- Why me, Joe?

The name's Mr. Cartwright.
I said erase it.

If you say so.
Go erase it, Billy.

- Sure, Willie.
- Not you, Billy. You.

You know, you really shouldn't
get all fretted-up, Mr. Cartwright.

My pa, he always says

a man get fretted-up, he's
just gonna wear himself out.

BILLY: That's right.

A man getting fretted so early
in the morning, Mr. Cartwright,

gonna be plumb tuckered
out before the day's over.

Yeah, that's right.

I think we had enough school
for one day, don't you, Billy?

BILLY: Yeah.

See you tomorrow,
Mr. Cartwright.

"And then, Chicken
Little said..."

Uh... "Then Chicken Little
said, 'The sky is falling.""

Yes, Cathy?

That's not the way
Miss Pettigrew said it.

She did it with
different animal sounds.

That was Miss Pettigrew. You don't
expect me to do it that way, do you?

- CHILDREN: Yes.
- Yes, you do.

Well, all right,
I'll... I'll try.

"And then Chicken Little said...

[CROAKY] 'The sky is
falling! The sky is falling!

I must go and tell the king. ""

[CHILDREN LAUGH]

Children, I think I'll find
another story to read, all right?

I got a much better one for you.

[LAUGHING]

Chicken Little?

[MIMICS] Chicken
Little, the sky is falling.

Oh, the sky is falling
on my head. Oh, mercy.

[CANDY LAUGHS]

You stay right here. I'm
gonna go tell the king.

[CLUCKING]

[LAUGHING]

Hey, get back
inside. Quick! Quick!

The sky is falling!
The sky is falling!

[CLUCKING]

[MUTTERS]

Where you boys been? I
ain't seen you since sun-up.

We've been at school, Pa.

Joe Cartwright, he's taken over for
Miss Pettigrew now that she's laid up.

We just kind of
been pestering him.

This, uh... Miss Pettigrew.

She ain't got you boys hankering
to go to school, has she?

Us, Pa? What would
we do with schooling?

Well, there’s
them that values it.

It looks to me like we got everything
right here we're ever gonna need.

That's right, Pa.

Get out and get your
chores done. It's getting late.

- Right, Pa.
- Right.

Hey, Joe. Joe,
you hear the news?

Chicken Little just came by.
The sky falls off till next Thursday.

- Hm.
- [CANDY LAUGHS]

Abby, have you met
my friend, Chicken Little?

[CANDY LAUGHING]

- What was that all about?
- Oh, nothing. He thinks he's funny.

How did your first day
go? Many problems?

Well, the McNab boys showed
up, if you consider that a problem.

Joe, that's wonderful!

I have been trying to get
them to enroll for the past year,

but their father's been
dead set against it.

Yeah, well, he's been
doing you a favor.

Why? Did they cause
you a lot of trouble?

Oh, not too much. They didn't
stay in school long enough.

Joe, they need an education.

And if you could just give them
the special attention they need...

I'm not gonna bend over
backwards for the McNab boys.

If they come back to school, they'll get
the same treatment the other kids get.

If they start fooling around, they'll
get something the other kids don't get.

- You surprise me.
- Why?

I just didn't think
you would admit

the McNab boys could get
the better of you, that's all.

Well, I didn't say they could. I
just said they'd better not try.

I think you have a lot to
learn about being a teacher.

Yeah, well, you got a lot to
learn about the McNab brothers.

GIRL: "Time will
bring you your reward.

Try, try again.

All that other folks
can do, why with..."

Patience.

"patience, should not you?

Only keep this rule in view,

try, try again."

That was very good, Mary.

That was very good, Mary.

Thank you.

Sit down.

We've all been working real hard. You
young folks, why don't you take a rest?

The older ones can
work on their arithmetic.

- Work on your arithmetic.
- Right.

- Mr. Cartwright?
- Yeah?

We thought it was getting
kind of chilly in here.

So, could we put some
more wood on the fire?

Well, that’s very
nice, Willie. Thank you.

[FIRECRACKERS EXPLODING]

[LAUGHTER]

Mr. Cartwright! You
should have seen your face!

- That was real funny, huh?
- Yeah.

I just wonder how funny you're
gonna look splitting wood this afternoon.

We're gonna need a cord.

Yeah.

[CHUCKLES]

One, and I raise you two.

Oh. You see that? For a nice lady,
you know a lot about playing cards.

Well, I find it's more knowledge

of the science of mathematical
probability is to be great at.

Hey, Joe.

- [JOE SIGHS DEEPLY]
- Little late today, huh?

Yeah, I had to keep a couple
of little boys after school.

- You tired?
- Yeah.

Joe, I hope you're not too tired to
read me a story before you go to sleep.

- Yeah, funny.
- Owl and the Pussycat's my favorite.

Yeah, it figures.

Perhaps you're finding
taking care of a bunch of kids,

to use your words, is more
difficult than you thought, Joe.

Was it Willie and Billy that
you kept in after school?

Oh, yeah. It was Willie and
Billy. Of course I'm not too worried.

I figure in two or three days,
they'll stop coming to school.

- That seems like a pity, Joe.
- Well, that’s your opinion.

I agreed to teach these kids.

I didn't say anything about
raising Willie and Billy McNab.

You know teaching is only
a part of a teacher's task.

Concern for the boy's
future welfare is the rest of it.

Oh, for some reason, I thought
that was their father's job.

They need to look up to someone
more than their father, Joe.

- You could be that someone.
- Oh, come on, will you, Abby.

These kids don't give a
darn about going to school.

- All they want to do is horse around.
- Well, maybe they're testing you.

Maybe they want to make sure
that you're worthy of their admiration.

The admiration of Willie and Billy
McNab are the least of my worries.

I just hope I can keep them
from burning the school down.

[CHILDREN PLAYING]

[RINGING]

All right, kids. Come on.
Everybody inside. It's late.

Come on! Hurry up!

Come on.

Come on. Inside,
everybody. Come on. You too.

All you kids keep your
coats on. I'm a little bit late.

- I got to start a fire.
- Good morning.

- Good morning, Mary.
- WILLIE: Morning, Mr. Cartwright.

- Morning.
- What time's recess?

There we go.

We ain't gonna do any
writing till our hands warm up.

I'll put some problems on the board
and you just shout out the answers.

Four!

[BILLY GIGGLING]

- JOE: All righty. Two plus two.
- [CHALK SCRATCHING BOARD]

Four plus four.

Three plus four.

Two plus four.

Four plus four.

- [COUGHING]
- All right.

- Mr. Cartwright?
- Yeah, Tommy. You got a problem?

No, but I think you do. Look.

[COUGHING]

All you kids outside. Go on,
outside till the smoke clears!

[COUGHING] Fire!

Outside till the smoke clears.

Not you two. All right, what
did you do to the stove?

Why, Mr. Cartwright,
you're plumb suspicious.

When school's over I'm
gonna check that stove.

If somebody's been fooling with it, that
somebody's gonna be in a lot of trouble.

We'd better get out of here,
Mr. Cartwright, it's bad in here.

You'll get out of here when I tell
you to. Now, sit down. Sit down!

[LAUGHTER]

What’s something like that
doing up a chimney, Mr. McNab?

All right.

You want to act like little boys,
that's just how I'm gonna treat you.

- Which one of you wants to go first?
- Now, hold on, Joe.

It ain't nothing to
get in a sweat over.

Just a little old smoke.

I said which one of
you wants to go first?

Now, Billy didn't have
anything to do with that chimney.

Why don't you just let
him get on out of here?

- All right, Billy. Get on home.
- I done my share. I want to stay.

Billy, you get.

Look, Joe, you been having yourself
a time just playing schoolteacher.

That’s fine. I'm going
right along with you.

But a tanning? No.

I'll fight you. I'll fight you like
a man and no hard feelings.

Nobody going to
pants-whip me but my pa!

Ow!

All right, that's
enough, Willie.

I told you that's enough.

Go on, get out of here.

JOE: I didn't want to hit him.
He didn't give me any choice.

I'm just sorry I
let him get to me.

- Well, is he all right?
- Oh, he's fine.

I didn't hit him hard. His
pride's hurt worse than anything.

One thing for sure, he
won't be back to school.

I suppose that's
best for both of us.

Joe, that is where you're wrong.

Look, you've accomplished
something that I could never do.

Well, I’d like to
know what that is.

You've got them to go to school.

Now, regardless of
their motives, it's a start.

Now, that is the
important thing.

Well, important or not,
it's too late. It's over.

Joe, it's not over. You
must talk to those boys.

[SIGHS] Abby, look, if I couldn't
get through to them before

I certainly am not going to be
able to get through to them now.

- Joe, as a teacher you...
- You keep saying "as a teacher."

I am not the teacher,
Abby, you are.

That's right, I am their teacher,
and their future is my responsibility.

Now it's your responsibility.

Not anymore.

Joe.

For what it's worth,
I think Abby's right.

I'd love to know why you two are
getting so upset over the McNabs.

Oh, and you're not?

Pa, I did the best I could.

- And that's the end of it?
- JOE: Yeah, that's the end of it.

I seem to recall you being sent
home from school on several occasions.

I don't remember the
teacher quitting on you.

And you didn't
quit on me, either.

You set me straight and
you sent me back to school.

Why can't their father
do the same thing?

I don't know. Why
don't you ask him?

You boys staying mighty
close to home today, ain't you?

It's Saturday, and we
just ain't got nothing to do.

Wouldn't have nothing to do with them
bruises you keep trying to hide, would it?

Oh, I seen them last night
when you come sneaking in.

- Well, Joe Cartwright.
- Hi, Mr. McNab.

- Haven't seen you in a long time.
- It's been a while. Good to see you.

- Come and sit a spell.
- Thank you.

Billy, Willie, how
are you doing?

Pa was wondering why you
haven't come by for a visit.

Well, seems the older I
get, the closer I stay to home.

Um... You ain't here because of
something my boys have done, are you?

Why? Did they say
they'd done something?

Well, they said they'd
been funning you some,

and last night, Willie come home
looking like he'd been in a fracas.

Well, they have been
funning me a little bit,

but I don't know
anything about a fracas.

You know anything
about a fracas, Willie?

- Huh?
- You know anything about a fracas?

No, I guess not.

You boys go find yourself some
chores. Me and Joe got some talking to do.

Now, then... tell me
what's on your mind, Joe.

First, I was wondering
when you're gonna butcher.

We'd like some of those hams of
yours hanging in the smokehouse.

Ain't gonna be long now.
Cold weather's coming in.

- Me and the boys need some things.
- Yeah, boys need things.

- They been complaining?
- No. No, nothing like that.

Well, they’d better
not complain.

They got just about everything
a hog farmer needs to have.

What about an education?

- I thought that's why you was here.
- All right, that's why I'm here.

I was hoping you'd tell
them to go back to school.

- No, sir. I just don't see it that way.
- How do you see it?

It's a bunch of foolishness
for a hog farmer.

The boys are gonna
take over when I leave off.

They got the house,
the land, the stock.

You keep saying hog farmer.

I just don't see where it makes any
difference what a man does for a living.

He still needs an education.

Joe, I don't want you putting any
highfalutin ideas in them boys' heads.

I came here hoping you'd put
some highfalutin ideas in their heads.

I can't read or write,
and I get along good.

So will they.

I guess that's it then. Be sure to let us
know when you get those hams ready.

I'll sure do it.

So long, boys.

Pa, what did Joe have to say?

Said he wanted to buy hams.

Mostly, he just tried to get me
to send you boys back to school.

He didn't say anything about me?

Was there some reason he should
have said something about you?

- I guess not.
- Go on, tell him.

Me and Joe, we
locked horns yesterday.

And... Well, he
whipped me pretty good.

- I figured as much.
- I couldn't go back there now anyhow.

- Why not?
- Because I got my pride.

Well, that kind of pride you don't
need. I expect you was in the wrong.

If you got to eat crow, eat crow, but
you don't have to go back to school.

I just can't see no sense in
taking time off from your chores

to learn something
you don't need to know.

Pa, you're dead set against
us going to school, huh?

I am, but I want to know how you
feel about it. You want to go to school?

- No. No, I... I don't want to go.
- You want to go to school?

No, I... I don't
want to go, either.

It's settled then. I don't
want to hear no more about it.

- Willie?
- Yeah?

Why do you figure Joe never
told Pa about that ruckus you had?

How do I know?

Seems like that would be the
first thing a teacher would do.

Why don't you just hush up?

He ain't hardly like any
man I ever knowed before.

You did a real fine job.

I can't say doing it was easy.

Pa says if a man's got to eat
crow, he should go ahead and eat it.

That the only reason
you cleaned the place up?

Look, you didn't tell Pa we had
a fight, so I figured I owe you one.

Kind of hoped you did it because
you want to come back to school.

We don’t need any
schooling, do we, Billy?

Willie, I... I've been thinking.

- You know what Ma used to say...
- Hey.

- Just remember what Pa said.
- Yeah.

Don't need no schooling
to be a hog farmer.

I don't like to go against
your Pa, but I think he's wrong.

I think you need schooling.

I think a hog farmer can be a better
hog farmer if he's got an education.

Look, Joe... Mr. Cartwright.

We just done made up our minds.

We got a lot of chores to
do. Now, come on home.

Now, come on!

Mr. Cartwright, this
here is Ma's Bible.

Before she died, she
wrote something inside.

I sure would appreciate it
if you could read it to me.

Willie?

I guess it don't hurt none.

"My dear sons.

I have so little to leave you, I must
count each thing I have with care.

I leave you with my love with
the hope it will warm and guide you

through all the years to come.

I leave you the brave
plans I had for you...

knowing that, somehow,
you will make them real.

And I leave you this book, the
word of God, to light your way.

Live by it...

Live by it... and remember
my love is with you always."

Thank you, Mr. Cartwright.

- [CHILDREN'S VOICES]
- It's about time to start school, huh?

- Tommy?
- Yeah, Mr. Cartwright?

- Ring the bell.
- Sure, Mr. Cartwright.

[BELL RINGING]

[BELL RINGING]

Good morning, Mr. Cartwright.

Yes, it is, Mary. Yes, it is.

Willie, light a fire.

Yes, sir, Mr. Cartwright.

All right, here we go. "Cat."

- C-A-T.
- Good. "Dog."

- Dog. D-O-G. Dog.
- "Try."

Try.

T.

R... I.

- Y. Y. Remember that. Y.
- Y.

"Now."

Um... N-O-W. Now.

C... [CHILDREN LAUGH]

- All right, that's enough.
- [LAUGHTER SUBSIDES]

The C's backwards.
Just turn it around.

"Is... the... cat...

on... the...

the...

[WHISPERS] Mat.

Mat?"

[LAUGHTER]

JOE: Willie!

Very good. Sit down.

- Not too bad, huh?
- That was good. That was good.

Billy, you're next.

Go on.

Go on!

Eight, nine, ten, eleven.

- Six and five is eleven...
- Willie?

- What?
- What’s that word?

"What."

"What" is that word.

Now I lost count.

Four and two is six. Seven,
eight, nine, ten, eleven.

Eleven...

- I thought so.
- We was just studying a little bit, Pa.

I can read...

some.

I thought we agreed that hog
farmers didn't need no book learning.

Joe Cartwright read us
what Ma wrote in our Bible

and we thought she'd like it
if we could get some learning.

I could read it to you if you'd
like, Pa. I memorized it by heart.

Pa.

Pa, Joe says a man is only
half a man without any learning.

[RINGING]

All right, kids, come
on. Everybody inside.

Come on, hurry up. It's late.

Go on.

Thank you, Mortimer.
They're lovely.

Hey. Psst.

ALL: Welcome
back, Miss Pettigrew.

Thank you, and I'm
so glad to be back.

And we're all glad you're back.

We got a surprise for you, a little
program planned. Everybody sit down.

All right, Tommy, you can start.

The Gettysburg Address by
President Abraham Lincoln.

"Four score and seven years ago,

our fathers brought forth to
this continent a new nation,

conceived in liberty

and dedicated to the proposition
that all men are created equal."

"Now we are engaged
in a great civil war,

testing whether that nation

or any nation so conceived and
so dedicated can long endure."

"We are met on a great
battlefield of that war.

We have come to dedicate
a portion of that field

as a final resting place for
those who here gave their lives

that that nation might live."

"It is altogether fitting and
proper that we should do this.

But in a larger sense, we cannot
dedicate, we cannot concentrate..."

[WHISPERS] Consecrate.

"Consecrate.

We cannot hallow this ground.

Brave men, living and
dead, who struggled here

have consecrated it far beyond
our poor power to add or detract.

- The world will..."
- [FOOTSTEPS]

Will, good to see you. Why
don't you come on in and sit down?

I come for my boys.

I think your boys would
like to stay in school.

You two get on home.
There's chores to do.

JOE: No, Will.

I'm gonna fight you on this.
These boys need an education.

Fight me, huh? Now, there's
something I been waiting to hear.

Come on outside.

Wait a minute, Will, that’s not
what I meant when I said fight.

You told my boys that a man with
no learning was only half a man.

Well, I'm gonna prove you wrong.

I'll be waiting for you outside.

[MOUTHING]

ABBY: Children!

Now, you sit down at your desks.

[WOOD CLATTERING]

Children, this will
give me an opportunity

to find out just how much you've
learned since I've been away.

[FIGHT CONTINUING]

- That's enough, Pa.
- [COUGHING]

Stay out of the way, boys.
I'll show him who's half a man.

You're a man, Pa.
You proved your point.

So is Joe.

If you're gonna do
any more fighting,

you're gonna have
to fight me and Billy.

You boys fight me?

Yeah.

Willie, I don't want
you fighting your pa.

If schooling for me and
Billy is worth Joe fighting for,

I guess it's worth me and Billy fighting
for, too, agin you or agin anybody.

[WATER SPLASHING]

You okay, Mr. Cartwright?

Yeah.

Why don't you go finish that
program for Miss Pettigrew?

Yes, sir.

The fight's over.

My pa and Joe...
Mr. Cartwright are fine.

Oh.

Would it be okay if I
went on with the reading?

Please do, Willie.

WILLIE: "The world will little note,
nor long remember what we say here,

but it can never forget
what they did here.

It is for us, the living
rather, to be dedicated here

to the unfinished work

which they who fought here
have thus far so nobly advanced.

It is rather for us
to be here dedicated

to the great task
remaining before us.

That from these honored dead
we take increased devotion,

to that...

to that cause for which they gave
their last full measure of devotion.

We here highly resolve that these
dead shall not have died in vain.

That this nation under God
shall have a new birth of freedom.

And that the
government of the people,

by the people, for the people,

shall not perish
from the earth."

ANNOUNCER: This has
been a color production

of the NBC television network.