A Lonely Man
First shown
'While on vacation, Hop Sing meets a shy, confused, young
woman names Missy. At first she keeps away, but eventually she warms up to him.
Soon he decides he wants to marry her. But there is a law prohibiting Chinese
men marrying American women.'
Guest Stars: Victor Sen Yung as Hop Sing, Kelly Jean Peters as Missy Hamilton, Peter Hobbs as Judge Hill, Henry Wills as Sand.
**********
This is the only Bonanza episode to feature Victor Sen
Yung/Hop Sing in the central role. The moving story features a romance
destroyed by racism and reflects both the bigotry of the times and Hop Sing's personal
tragedy of lost love. Victor gives a magnificent performance and evokes the
understanding and sympathy of the audience throughout. I only wish we could
have seen him in more central roles. I had never seen this episode before so it
was a real treat for me.
The episode opens with wonderful insights into the private life of Hop Sing. We
see him riding well, singing happily (I love "My Darling Clementine"
sung in Chinese!) and wearing ordinary western clothes as opposed to his housekeeper'
outdoor life as well. This time he only expects to cook for himself! I did
enjoy the touching scenes where Hop Sing feeds a tame squirrel that he calls
"little friend" and talks to an inquisitive blue jay. It gives the
viewer a chance to see the gentle, kindly side of Hop Sing.
Early on, he catches sight of a poorly dressed and secretive young woman
(Missy) and he thoughtfully leaves out food for her. (I felt quite hungry
watching him cook those delectable pancakes LOL!) After a time, they strike up
some one-sided conversations but it is a good while before Missy begins to
speak at all. During these conversations
there are some excellent insights into Hop Sing's past – his courage to leave
China, how ill he was on the boat coming over, his arrival on the west coast of
America etc. I also liked the way that he took such pride in his work as
"No.1 cook on Ponderosa" and of his pride in the Cartwrights and
their home – "probably biggest ranch in
Quite literally "back at the ranch" there is a tremendously funny scene
where Hoss has taken over cooking responsibilities. Dan gives a marvellous
portrayal of Hoss (with Hoss's inimitable, cheerful charm) making biscuits and
talking to himself during the process. Despite the self talk, Hoss displays a
fine disregard for "them fellers that
wrote the <cook> books" and casts measuring to the winds, whacking ingredients
into a mixing bowl anyhow. Dan's portrayal was so funny and endearing that I
was literally laughing out loud! There is also a brief but classic Hoss `n` Joe
scene where Joe criticizes Hoss's biscuit making, complaining that the previous
biscuits were so hard
that they broke the plates! It's a simple line but one which is brilliantly
exploited by Dan and Michael.
Meanwhile Hop Sing and Missy have decided that they wish to marry and a
thrilled Hop Sing dashes back to the Ponderosa with Missy to introduce her to
Ben and share the glad news. The subsequent scenes are both funny and sad. Hop
Sing, thrilled to bits, stands at Ben's desk and announces his news. Ben's face
is a study in amazement and pleasure. In a hilarious reaction Hop Sing grabs
Ben's arm and runs with him in tow to introduce him to Missy. The sight of the
tall Ben running along, being dragged by the small Hop Sing is so funny!
However the humour ends there. As soon as Ben recognises that Missy is White,
he is immediately aware of the racist laws in
Sing to no avail. Lorne's expressions during these scenes are excellent, his
sorrow and compassion as Ben being expressed as much in his face as in his
words. Hop Sing drives to
At first their presence as a couple only elicits cruel stares but, when their application
for a licence is refused and they emerge into the street, a hostile crowd
jostles them, terrifying Missy so that she flees. Hop Sing is cruelly beaten until
Ben steps in and delivers a well aimed punch to the chief culprit while Clem
Foster uses his authority and a gun to disperse the crowd. As a tragic touch of
irony, this scene takes place near the church where Hop Sing and
Missy will never be able to marry.
Hop Sing traces Missy to his holiday location at the mine and, grieving, sends
her home. Part of their tragedy is that neither can fully comprehend the racist
laws that forbid them to marry.
The final scene is so moving. Hop Sing is working industriously in the
Ponderosa kitchen when Ben comes in to see how he is. At first, Hop Sing is his
usually brisk self, telling Ben that everything is fine – Missy is alright back
at her home, he is alright back at the Ponderosa, everybody is alright. But the
façade gradually breaks down and ends with Hop Sing, tears running down his
face, admitting that "Hop Sing is very big liar." Ben, filled with
compassion and
sadness, can only put a comforting hand on Hop Sing's shoulder. It's a very
moving scene and exquisitely acted by both Victor and Lorne.
This episode had all the makings of one of the all time great Bonanza episodes
and was so, for me, in terms of Victor, Lorne, Dan and Michael. However, I
found both the writing and direction of Missy to be poor and inappropriate.
This was very surprising since John Hawkins was one of Bonanza's finest writers
(and Michael's mentor) and William Claxton a fine, regular director. Had Missy
been much better written and directed then I think that "A Lonely
Man" would have been up there with the best of the Bonanza episodes.
Missy is meant to be a very naïve, isolated countrywoman with very little
education and almost no knowledge of the outside world and perhaps with
learning difficulties that we would recognise today as requiring help. While I
could sympathise with the concept, I found her behaviour irritating and boring
as it was portrayed – no criticism of Kelly Jean Peters who clearly gave of her
best as Missy.
There were other issues that made me feel that the Missy/Hop Sing relationship
was poorly portrayed. When Missy arrives, she is clearly very strange and
desperately shy, not even telling her parents that she has gone. (At first I
thought that perhaps she was escaping from a bad home but no.)
I am sure that the kindly and sensible Hop Sing would have made every effort to
take her home, asking the Cartwrights for help if necessary. Hop Sing also had
a sense of propriety and I cannot imagine that he would have considered it
proper to spend so much time alone with a woman in such a remote location.
I could not understand why Hop Sing wanted to marry her, even for companionship,
as I cannot see that, other than loneliness, they would have had anything in
common. Also there was no romance – no holding of hands (except to lead her to
the water), no embracing, no kissing.
I think that the Missy role needed a lot of re-writing (Michael, where were
you??!!) and I would have liked to see an older actress like Jo van Fleet in
the part.
That said, I enjoyed this episode enormously, watched it several times, and
would thoroughly recommend it to any Bonanza fan. Perhaps the finest tribute I
can pay to Victor is to say that he was so good that I didn't miss the Cartwrights
who really only played a supporting role. Despite the tragic theme, it was
wonderful to learn
more about Hop Sing and have a chance to appreciate Victor's considerable
acting talents.