A DECK OF ACES
A Deck of Aces - first shown
'Bradley Meredith, Ben's exact look-alike, takes advantage
of the resemblance to collect money from selling part of the Ponderosa to the
railroad.'
Guest Stars: Alan Oppenheimer as Wentworth, Linda Gaye Scott
as Dixie, Jeff Morris as Turk, Charles Dierkop as Nicholson, Stephen Coit as
Mel Waters, Guy Wilkerson as Milt Jarvis, Jack Collins as Ned Blaine
*****
This is a comedy adventure featuring Ben almost exclusively
with a marvellous dual role performance from Lorne as upstanding Ben Cartwight
and the scheming Bradley Meredith.
The Cartwrights are negotiating a land sale to Wentworth, a representative of
the Central Pacific Railroad. Wentworth doesn't
care about the environmental impact of clearing the land but Ben (ahead of his
time again!) has brought along an environmental student who agrees with Ben
that the land should not be sold because of the likely resultant damage.
Meanwhile Bradley Meredith, with his two dim-witted accomplices, arrives in
The comedy then develops around the interweaving of Bradley's and Ben's
activities in town, Wentworth's land offer being alternately accepted/rejected,
some blackmail from Dixie and poor Hop Sing in a complete spin when both
Bradley and Ben are in the ranch house at the same time!
Eventually Ben captures Bradley and delivers him to Roy Coffee and jail. In a
last twist Bradley outwits Ben, escapes with
I thought this was a terrific episode with a marvellous performance from Lorne
in both roles. He is absolutely wonderful as the dapper, eloquent, scheming
Bradley. (A lovely touch is the occasional use of spectacles which add to
Bradley's elegance.)
A word of praise too for Lewis Allen's direction - fast paced, amusing and a
"What's going to happen next?" feeling.
This is almost exclusively a Ben episode but very entertaining whether you are
a Ben, Hoss or Joe fan. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing some the excellent range of
Lorne's acting talents. Definitely recommended and I would also watch this
episode again