User Reviews

Somebody at Bonanza forgot that Mark Twain while he was still writing under his birth name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens had already made a Bonanza appearance in the very first season. Howard Duff played him then. But here in the last season of Bonanza Ken Howard takes on the part.

Here Howard is an investigative reporter who's story about some mysterious disappearances of some miners has someone's back up. And it's Lorne Greene who backs him up.

Nice story, but did David Dortort the producer really think Bonanza fans wouldn't remember?

Very good episode with the appealing premise of Sam Clemens' time as editor on Virginia City's "Territorial Enterprise". The issue of "Freedom of the Press" & journalism's sacred principle of a reporter's right to protect his or her sources of information may've been influenced by the unfolding Watergate scandal, though this episode would've been written & filmed a good bit in advance of that now long-ago era in U. S. political history. So the story probably wasn't influenced by Watergate, more likely an intriguing coincidence. Ken Howard does well as Clemens, his low-key witticisms & laconic attitude in general quite convincing & smile-inducing. This episode occurs in a time long before the great author achieved national or international fame. The overall plot got a little beyond me after a point, becoming slightly convoluted, but remained very interesting & enjoyable. The gravedigging scene toward the end was eerily evocative & rivetting. This, combined with the cemetery-shootout, visually was a stunning surprise. A really good, long-forgotten, late-in-the-series'-run episode!

Ken Howard plays Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain. Known for putting tall tales in print Clemens writes about an influential man who is linked to murder. A libel suit follows against Clemens. Last season of Bonanza involved episodes unlike previous seasons due to casting.Lorne Greene and Michael Landon get plenty of screen time in this one. Howard was a brilliant character actor, and he delivers one of his best performances.