Bonanza (TV Series) The Storm (1962) User Reviews

A Bonanza bride

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 8 March 2017]

An old friend of Ben Cartwright, sea Captain Frank Overton arrives with his daughter Brooke Hayward for a visit to the Ponderosa. Back when they were kids Michael Landon and Hayward had a short case of puppy love. Now that they're older and have hormones working that's looking to grow. But not if Overton can help it.

This is a tender romantic story and should be viewed on its own merits. Unfortunately that old joke about the brides for the boys on Bonanza is what comes to play here. Some excuse was always found to keep the Ponderosa a bachelor household. Usually the bride was killed off. Those of us in my age group who were regular viewers of Bonanza in its first run are somewhat jaded for the reruns.

Still Landon and Hayward really personify a Waterloo Bridge, Love Story type love.

One Of the Series Best Episodes!!!

[ralsalongi · 5 September 2008]

I have seen most of the Bonanza Episodes; however, not very many moved me as much as this one did.

This episode begins when Laura White and her Father Captain Matthew White come to visit the Ponderosa. The White's were old friends of the Cartrights when they lived in New Orleans and Little Joe & Laura were childhood friends. The next day Joe & Laura go for a carriage ride to the lake and cabin. While there, both realize they have a strong attraction for each other. It begins to storm heavily (thus the title) and they are forced to take shelter in the cabin. They spend the day together & then the romance begins. Upon arriving home, Captain White is outraged at Joe for being gone so long with his daughter; he even goes so far as to hit Joe, knocking him down!!! Joe then surmises that the man simply does not like him. Despite this, Joe loves Laura and asks her to marry him. He then along with Hoss & Adam decide to fix up the old cabin to be his & Laura's home after they are married. He has them promise him not to tell her; he want it to be a surprise!!! A few weeks pass and the cabin is finished. Joe however is afraid to ask Captain White for Laura's hand in marriage; he's convinced White dislikes him. Ben agrees to speak to Matthew for him. When Ben confronts him, at first he does not want to talk about it. Finally, he informs Ben that Laura is terminally ill and has less than a year to live; however he couldn't bring himself to tell her. He explains that he really has nothing against Little Joe; he couldn't encourage their marriage under the circumstances. Ben states that they both must know at once.

When Ben tells Joe the news, he is devastated; and that night Laura upon receiving the news from her father runs away up to the cabin. Joe follows her and finds her at the cabin, dying. Joe tells her he loves her and she dies in his arms.

A few days pass and Joe goes to pay one last visit to the cabin. Ben comes in to comfort him. He gives him the same advise Adam's Grandfather gave him when Adam's mother died: "Keep a warm place in your heart for her, but don't carry her on your shoulder for the rest of your life".

This was truly a excellent episode; one of the few episodes that almost made me cry. The other one was "Forever" from season 14; please see it if you have the chance!!!

The "Storm"

[sconnor10 · 9/10 · 31 May 2009]

Michael Landon was the only actor that could make me cry..in this episode he was great. One of the best Bonanza episodes..and there were many. It almost seemed like a prequel to Little House when he was working on the cabin for their home. He topped himself in Little House and even Highway to Heaven. His ability to cry and show real sincere emotion on screen i believe was unequaled by any actor I've seen in my day.

Im almost 61 and I've seen many. His death at such a young age was a true loss for all of us who watched him. But if the screen was any indication of what kind of man he was down deep (i believe it was), then he was quite a man.

The original "Love Story!"

[taylorgs8 · 10/10 · 30 May 2014]

Bonanza has always been my favorite show ever! The stories and classic episodes make this show unequaled! What a joy that these episodes are available to view on You Tube. Without giving away the plot I just wanted to say that the chemistry between Michael Landon and Brooke Hayward is electric! It's refreshing to see shows like this where the whole gamut of emotion is depicted in a way that challenges the intelligence of the viewer...The acting was superb and in my opinion superior to anything that Hollywood releases today!

Actors of today can learn from the value of a show like Bonanza.

Brooke Hayward had an innocence and beauty about her that made her so appealing! And the charisma of Michael Landon is unequaled. Michael's legacy is so powerful. We need more actors of the caliber of Michael Landon in Hollywood.

The show is pure romance! The beauty of the two young actors is so appealing! You actually feel like they were in love...perhaps they were. Brooke Hayward is the daughter of Margaret Sullavan and Leland Hayward. Margaret Sullavan was known for her role in "The Little Shop Around the Corner"...the classic with Jimmy Stewart! I can see the essence of Brooke's mother in her acting..

The love scenes between Michael and Brooke are electric! This is how a romance should be shown...the only contemporary actress I would say that comes close in appeal is perhaps Sandra Bullock...like in films like Hope Floats and The Lake House. But this particular Bonanza episodes outshines them all! I've seen this one a few times and it moves me every time!

Thank you Brooke and Michael for an inspired performance. And also Lorne, Pernell and Dan for your contributions to this marvelous show....

"The Storm"

[Scififan54 · 10/10 · 28 April 2021]

Probably the best Bonanza episode ever.

Laura White, a childhood friend of Little Joe's, and her father visit the Ponderosa. It is obvious she is in love with Joe, and always has been, for she keeps a souvenir he gave her as a child, a dried flower. At first it does not seem the feeling is reciprocal, but they get caught out in a storm and take refuge in an old, supposedly haunted cabin. Joe, forever the warm-hearted romantic, falls in love with the delicate, vulnerable young woman. They decide to get married and Joe gets his brothers to help him fix up the cabin as a home for him and Laura.

In true Bonanza fashion, it is not to be. Her father reveals she is dying and has only a very short time to live. The devastated Laura makes her way back to the cabin, and Joe finds her just in time for her to die in his arms, his name on her lips.

The beautiful early 60s colour photography is at its best, as is the poignant music. Mike Landon is at his most gloriously handsome as he strives to come to terms with his heartbreak and Brooke Hayward is marvellous as.the besotted Laura. She stands out in the long chain of Joe's girlfriends as the.most straightforward and beautiful in spirit.

Yes, it's corny, yes, it's formulaic, but if you take it the way it's meant, you will need a whole box of tissues for this tear-jerker.

As if we weren't tortured enough the last time a Cartwright went into heat

[glitterrose · 1/10 · 21 December 2021]

I tried my best to sit through it and just couldn't do it. Had to end up fast forwarding through the episode for Pernell's scenes and wanted to touch base on something else I noticed.

I'm not a fan of the romance episodes because these men fall in love at the drop of a hat. I realize Adam will have a girlfriend later on where they can at least try and build something up instead of "Wow, would you look at how hot that chick is! I'm in luv." I grew up reading "The Baby-Sitters Club" and 13 year old Stacey is a lot like the Cartwright men. In love today and then tomorrow it's on to somebody else.

And before anybody criticizes me for what I'm saying. I realize you'd probably have people cracking jokes on if the men are gay if you saw the Cartwrights NEVER showing any interest in the opposite sex. I get having some episodes like this. But man, you gotta dig for other types of storylines. I would've loved to have seen more episodes centered on Hop Sing. The few I've seen centered on him were interesting and they didn't play out like a huge joke. The two I'm thinking of are the "chops" episode when bullies cut off Hop Sing's pigtail, Joe's accused of murder and Hop Sing's helping to clear his name. I also liked when he met "Missy". That was honestly a romantic episode that was well done even though the episode let you know that Hop Sing and Missy would never make it in a world they live in.

And I just gotta ask....what in the world happened to Michael Landon's acting? I stopped to watch the crying scene towards the end and he did a great job with it. Ditto with the episode when Joe goes blind and Jo Van Fleet's character has to come help him out. He got on Little House and the crying acting went out the window. It's more comical seeing him trying to blink back tears instead of actually crying when he's hearing devastating news. Example: Mary's going blind. I think you can squirt some out for that. The constant blinking makes him look like a hammy actor on William Shatner's level and he's a better actor than that...He only does that for emotional scenes. I wouldn't be saying anything if he was doing it all the time on Little House. I'd assume he was having some sort of health problem and it was something beyond his control and I definitely wouldn't be snarking at a health problem.