
Return to Honor Full Episode – Bonanza, Season #05, Episode #25
“Return to Honor,” initially broadcast on March 22, 1964, introduced Guy Williams, renowned for portraying Zorro as Ben Cartwright’s nephew, Will. Will’s arrival hinted at his potential to fill in for Adam Cartwright should Pernell Roberts decide to depart Bonanza, as he had threatened. The narrative unfolds with Ben learning of Will’s purported murder in the neighboring Pine City. In reality, injured and seeking refuge, Will hides from a gang of counterfeiters he has tangled with over their stolen engraving plates. The episode features a cast including Arch Johnson as Butler, Robert Wilke as the Marshal, Hugh Sanders as the Doctor, Gregg Palmer as Gannett, and Bill Clark as Jenner. Jack Turley penned Return to Honor.
Delve into its plot intricacies and intriguing trivia, or view the episode below.
Table of Contents
Watch the Full Episode of Return to Honor
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Main Cast
Apart from the main cast, “Return to Honor,” the twenty-fifth episode of Bonanza Season 5 presents a diverse array of recurring and guest-supporting actors. The cast includes:
- Lorne Greene as Ben Cartwright
- Pernell Roberts as Adam Cartwright
- Dan Blocker as Eric ‘Hoss’ Cartwright
- Michael Landon as Joseph ‘Little Joe’ Cartwright
- Guy Williams as Will Cartwright
- Arch Johnson as E.J. Butler
- Robert J. Wilke as Marshal Hollister (as Robert Wilke)
- Gregg Palmer as Gannett
- Hugh Sanders as Dr. Moore
- I. Stanford Jolley as Bixby
- Bill Clark as Jenner
- James Tartan as Townsman
- Ralph Montgomery as Bartender
- Bill Borzage as Townsman (uncredited)
- John Bose as Townsman (uncredited)
- Gene Coogan as Townsman (uncredited)
- Russell Custer as Stage Passenger (uncredited)
- Herman Hack as Townsman (uncredited)
- Michael Jeffers as Townsman (uncredited)
- Bob LaWandt as Telegrapher (uncredited)
- Bob Miles as Gunman on Roof (uncredited)
- John Rice as Townsman (uncredited)
- Danny Sands as Townsman (uncredited)
- Jack Tornek as Townsman (uncredited)
Full Story Line for Return to Honor
Upon receiving news of his nephew Will’s alleged murder, Ben embarks on a journey to Pine City to pay his respects. To his astonishment, he discovers Will alive but wounded at the gravesite. Will confides in his uncle, revealing that he is evading a gang of counterfeiters from whom he had stolen engraving plates, and he wishes to maintain the façade of his demise to thwart their pursuit. Recognizing the danger, Ben resolves to bring Will back to the safety of the Ponderosa.
Full Script and Dialogue of Return to Honor
Howdy. If you're looking for a drink, it's too early. I'm looking for someone, friend of mine. Maybe just hit town. He's about my height, black hair, and a smooth talker. We got a whole town full of smooth talkers. You might ask the clerk at the hotel over there. Thanks. - Will? - In here, Jenner. I've been waiting for you. Where are the others? They're still sniffing that cold trail you left back at Rim Springs. Me, I play hunches. Especially when it's worth $5,000. Butler want me that bad? That bad. I got a better idea. I'm coming around with my hands empty, all right? All right. What's on your mind, Jenner? Let's you and me make a deal. Them plates are worth more than 5,000, even if we split between us. You're too late. I don't have them. That's too bad. But there's still the 5,000. You think $5,000 is gonna make you that fast with a gun? Butler said dead or alive. I'm betting you want it alive. That's a bad bet. Hey, what's all the shooting about? Someone better call the sheriff. Help! Stop him, he's getting away! Help, help! Something's in his pockets. All right, step aside. He's dead. - Who did it? - He took off south. But he's carrying a bullet in his side. I seen him slump when it hit. He won't get far. This is the fourth robbery and murder this month, marshal. We're getting mighty sick of it. Anybody know him? CLERK: No. We was just trying to identify him. Took these out of his pockets. Anybody who's interested can get signed up for a posse, leaving as soon as we can organized. Find anything interesting there? Nothing but $22 and a name. Will Cartwright. Well, come on, we haven't got all day. Yeah, come on, will you, Hoss? I'm getting kind of dizzy up here. Something gonna make you a lot dizzier if you don't quit yapping at me. Anyhow, it's about time one of you fellas got on this rope. No, that hook's dangerous. You might hurt yourself. Uh, I can't let you work up here, Hoss. You're liable to slip and fall off. We'd be half a day filling in the hole where you hit the ground. You two give me a pain. Hey, Pa. Joseph, will you stop fooling around up there and come on down? "Stop fooling around. Come down." Heh. "Stop fooling around." I've got some news. It was wired from the marshal in Pine City. My nephew, Will Cartwright, was killed there this morning. What happened, Pa? I don't know, it doesn't say. But I guess they must have made positive identification. Marshal just wanted to know if he was any relation to us. Well, Will's the cousin that disappeared, isn't he? Yeah. Yes, the last time I saw him, he was about 5 years old. Adam and I were coming out west, we stopped off in Ohio to see my brother, John. John was mixed up in one of those hairbrained business deals of his that never got anywhere. You remember that, don't you, Adam? Well, not really. I was about the same age as Will. But I do remember you tried to find him later on, when his father died. Yeah. I sure did try. He disappeared without a trace. I'm gonna go to Pine City, make the arrangements. - Do you want us to go with you? - No, no, no. I'll go pack a bag. Hyah! Whoa. Ben Cartwright? - Yes. - Oh, I'm Marshal Hollister. - I got the wire you were coming. - Thank you for meeting me. Well, I figured you'd like to get this over with as quick as possible. Well, yes, I would. My office is just down the street. If you're not too tired, we can take care of a few details right now. All right, good. Hank, take Mr. Cartwright's luggage to the hotel. I wish I could tell you we caught the killer, but he cold-trailed us about four miles out of town. We found his horse with a broken leg. I guess he stole himself another one. We got a shaky description of him, but maybe it'll be good enough. I hope so. Marshal? Can you tell me how it happened? Afraid I can't tell you much about that either. Witnesses didn't get there till after the shooting was over. All they saw was the killer bending over your nephew's body, going through his pockets. You think it was robbery. Well, it sounds like it, but there's one part I can't figure. Your nephew still had his watch and $22 in his wallet. The killer could've been scared off before he found what he was looking for. Let's go inside. Here they are. The money is still there, if you wanna count it. No, that won't be necessary. I gave this to his father. There's some papers to be signed, Mr. Cartwright. Receipt for the personal effects, a release for the body. Yes. Where is the, uh...? Where's my nephew? As a matter of fact, I wasn't sure whether I'd get the answer to that wire I sent you, so I went on with a temporary burying. Yeah. Well, that takes care of everything here. Maybe it'd be better if you checked in over at the hotel and let me take care of the rest. You'll be needing a wagon to take the body back. I can have everything ready in the morning. I think I'd like to pay my respects before I check in to the hotel. Cemetery's just west of town on the far side of the hill. I'll find it. Mr. Cartwright, my horse is the bay right outside. You're welcome to take him if you want. Thank you. Hold it. Drop it, Butler. My name isn't Butler. Now turn around. Slow. Who are you? Name's Cartwright. Ben? Ben Cartwright? Yeah. You picked a rotten time to visit relatives, Uncle. Will? All right, easy, Will. Easy. Not all at once. Nothing like coming back from the dead, is there? Well, I don't know what happened, Will, but whatever it was, I thank God it wasn't you in that grave. Well, I still got a fifty-fifty chance of making it. Well, we gotta get you to a doctor. No. Look, I've been carrying this slug around for two days. A couple more isn't gonna make any difference. - Oh, you're talking nonsense now. - No. That grave, the one you just paid your respects to, belongs to a man named Jenner. He was paid to kill me. Now, there are half a dozen more just like him waiting to do the same thing, unless they believe I'm in that grave. I was waiting here to see if someone would come and check it out. I never expected to find you. Well, the marshal wired when your identification was found on the body. No, no, you ride out of here. Butler and his men, they don't like anybody called Cartwright. Who's Butler? Like I say, he's a man that doesn't like Cartwrights. We're getting to a doctor now. Ben, I'm gonna do this my way. You've gotta let me help you out of here. Would you get out of here? Wait... That was a fairly nasty wound. Must have been carrying that bullet for quite a spell. You said it was a hunting accident? Yeah, happened up in the mountains. That so? Slug looks like it come from a .44. You fellows do your hunting with pistols? Of course, I guess a .44 will stop a deer quick as a rifle - if you're close enough. - Yeah. You live around here, do you? - No, we're from Virginia City. - Oh. Guess you haven't heard about the shooting we had here. Man named Cartwright was killed. Witnesses say that the killer caught a slug before he got away. Oh? More than likely just a grudge fight between a couple of saddle tramps. Yeah. Unless maybe the fellow who got away killed in self-defense. Could have. Of course, he'd have to be able to prove that. Well, maybe he can. Oh, I don't know. The town's all primed for a quick hanging. Been too many robberies, murders. Are you saying that he's convicted already even though he's innocent? Well, I'm saying he'd be smart to find a town that's friendlier, to start with. One like, say, Virginia City. Oh. Of course, being a doctor, I'm more partial to saving lives than to seeing them choked off at the end of a rope. But then I guess I'm just plain getting too old to enjoy a good Saturday hanging. Well... I doubt if you ever did enjoy one, doctor. You better have the doctor over at Virginia City check that wound when you get back. Thanks. I'll do that, doc. How soon do you think he can travel? Tomorrow morning. Oh, he can sleep on the cot in the back room. Now, just set yourself down easy. Easy. Don't worry. He won't even turn over till morning. Yeah. Oh, doctor... I'm not interested in any speeches. Past my bedtime. I gotta get up early and make some ranch calls. I'll be back about noon tomorrow, which is when I'm gonna make a report to the marshal about patching up a bullet hole. - About noon? - Mm. Thank you. Here's a blanket. There's the back door. He's welcome to use either any time he feels like it. Very good. Well, I'm locking up. Good night. Good night, doctor. - Now, Will... - Yeah? I've gotta go back to the hotel just in case the marshal comes by. Ah. Now, I'll be by to pick you up in the morning, early. You... You never give up. When you're yourself again, you can take care of your own affairs. You can do whatever you wanna do. Good night. See you in the morning. - Mr. Cartwright? - Yes? Uh, forgive me for intruding upon your moment of sorrow, but may I have a word with you? It's quite important. My name is Butler. Butler. Uh, come in, please. Thank you. I see we share the same inconvenience in the quality of our lodgings. I just arrived in town, had to settle for an oppressive room. Excuse me, Mr. Butler, I'm just in the midst of packing here. You said it was quite important? Oh, yes, to the point. Well, your nephew was a business associate of mine. My business is of a financial nature. I deal in investments, securities and stocks. - You understand. - Yes. Shortly before his tragic death, your nephew resigned from the business without notice. He took some valuable securities with him. To be blunt, Mr. Cartwright, he stole them. I'm sorry to hear that. I wouldn't have thought my nephew capable of dishonesty. - Excuse me. - Yes. Uh, to be sure. However, as a relative, you obviously inherit your nephew's personal effects. For that reason, I wonder if you would mind if I examined them, uh, only to ensure any recovery of stolen goods. Uh, I'm sure you'd like the Cartwright name to remain unsullied. Yes. Here. There was nothing else? No package? No. No, just the gun and this. That's all the marshal gave me. Perhaps the, uh, securities were the reason for my nephew being killed. Hmm. Perhaps you're right. My condolences, Mr. Cartwright. I won't trouble you any further. No trouble at all, Mr. Butler. I'm sorry that I couldn't have been more helpful. I'm sure you are. Good day. - Well, has he got them? - I'm not sure yet. Maybe I ought to talk to him myself. Your percentage in this little operation depends entirely upon a successful and inconspicuous recovery of the plates, not on your ability to kill. As long as I get my cut. I have every intention of making absolutely certain you do. Did you find Jenner? Ah, he's disappeared. And I scraped this town clean too. - Hmm. - Hey. Uh... Maybe he took the plates and decided to go in business for himself. What do you think? Jenner's greedy, but he's not stupid. You forget I still have the press, the paper and the ink and the skill. Without those, the plates are absolutely useless. Ah, he could be holed up somewhere. Remote possibility. So, what now? I think you will keep an eye on the grieving uncle for a few days in the event that he may have discovered something else in his nephew's possession, more than he would care to claim. If I get a line on the killer, Mr. Cartwright, I'll let you know. Sorry everything took so long. I'm very grateful for everything you've done, marshal. The mare's kind of bit shy. You might have to whip her across the rump a couple of times - before she settles. - I'm sure she'll be fine. By the way, there was a gent looking for you. I sent him over to the hotel. I suppose he saw you. Yes, yes, he did, marshal. It was a personal matter. - Bye, marshal. Thank you. - Goodbye. Hyah! Well, I think I'll go to the café and have me some breakfast. - You wanna join me, Bixby? - No, thank you, marshal. I've got a whole stable full of customers waiting for their own breakfast. Morning. Oh, morning. Something I can do for you? Yeah, you can saddle up that chestnut in the second stall. I knew there was something I forgot. - The one with the loose shoe, ain't it? - Right. Well, it'll only take me a minute if you wanna wait. That's all right, I'm in no hurry. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Uncle, that's the second time you've almost got it from me. - I got a wagon outside. Let's get out. - No, no, this is where I check out. - We settled this last night. - That was last night. But I feel better this morning. - That's good, then let's go. - Now, now, wait a minute. You helped me out of a tight spot, and I'm grateful. The only way to show how grateful is to put some distance between us. Oh. - Yeah. - Well... All right. Oh, uh, your friend Butler is in town. Came to see me early this morning. Imagine some of his friends are with him. You can go out there and face them down single-handed or you can get under that wagon tarp I've got outside and come with me. Well, when you put it that way, it sounds pretty clear-cut, doesn't it? Yeah, pretty clear-cut. All right, let's go. Give you a hand. This way. Now, easy. Hyah! Hyah! Whoa. - You still all right? - Oh, I'm just fine. Get up and stretch a bit. Where are we? We're just outside Virginia City. We should make the Ponderosa by nightfall. Mm. The Ponderosa. I remember my father talking about it. He said it was such a beautiful name for such rough and rugged country. Yep, rough and rugged it was, and rough and rugged it is. He always said that you'd make a success of anything you ever tried. He had his big dreams too. Only he died chasing gold in every wild-goose corner of this world. I'll tell you something about him. He may have died broke, but that man was never poor. Oh. - Piece of roti? - No. You know, I went looking for you after he died. You'd left without a trace. Well, I... I didn't wanna be part of any other family. You see, I loved and admired my father. Maybe that's why I'm like him. I've chased my dreams around the world too. As you can see, not too successfully. Well, let's get on to your Ponderosa. We'll see what you've got. - Hmm? - Yeah, I'm okay. Hyah! Hyah! Hey, I wanna send a wire. Yes, sir, where to? Pine City Hotel. Mr. E. J. Butler. Have found Will alive. Kind of a long jump, isn't it? Give up? Never. You know, Pa should have been back by now. Yeah, if he don't hurry up, supper's gonna be all dried up. He didn't say for sure when he'd be back. Well, I still think one of us should have gone with him. Yeah. Even though none of us did know this cousin Will. Couldn't have been easy for Pa. Whoa. Hey, that's him now. Whoa. Now, let me see how we can manage this. I'll give you a hand there, Pa. - Boys. Thank you. I have a surprise for you. That wire from the marshal in Pine City? It was a mistake. It's your cousin, Will. Howdy, Will. - That's Hoss. - Hoss. Little Joe. - Will, a pleasure to see you. - Little Joe. - Adam. - Adam. Like Lazarus rising from the dead. Welcome to the Ponderosa, cousin. Now, we're kind of tired. You boys save us any supper? We sure did, Pa. Come on, Will. Oh, what do you got there, Pa? Tell you about it later. Let me get this straight. You were gonna bury that man there under your name, right? That was my plan till your father showed up. Well, Will figured that if Butler accepted the fact that he was dead, Will could feel safe. Safe? Safe to do what? Spend the rest of his life running using somebody else's name, living like an outlaw? If it'll make you feel any better, I make a rotten outlaw. I think I proved that. You mean with this fellow Butler you were talking about? He cranks out a very fancy $20 bill. Oh, yeah? So it's counterfeiting this Butler was involved in, huh? Well, our friend prefers to call it the investment business. Huh. Well, nobody can say the Cartwrights don't go in for trouble in a big way. Tell me. How did you ever get hooked up with a fella like Butler? Well, when you're between jobs, Uncle, you take what's handy. Handy? You can hardly call counterfeiting handy. Now, just relax. I didn't circulate any phony money. Butler said he needed a bodyguard. The money looked good, so I signed on. That's when I found out the money wasn't quite good enough. I didn't bother to say goodbye. And he wanted to kill you for that? Oh, well, not exactly. Uh... On my way out, I borrowed his engraving plates. Ah. That's what Butler was looking for. Well, this food has made me feel like a new man. Now, if someone can lend me a razor, maybe I can look like one. Well, there's some hot water and a razor in the kitchen. Come on. Looks to me like our cousin Will has got himself into a little trouble. Yeah. All that talking he did about taking those plates from that fella Butler, he didn't mention nothing about turning them over to the authorities. That's right. And what about this running away, Pa? You're not going along with that, are you? I wanted him to give himself up. But I couldn't let him do it in Pine City. They'd have strung him up. It's an open and shut case of self-defense, so I'm hoping that he'll give himself up to Sheriff Coffee here in Virginia City. Yeah. Did he agree to that? No, not yet, but I think he will. At least I hope he will. And I think we ought to try to persuade him to. I got a feeling our cousin needs a little more help than just a shave. That's exactly what we've been talking about. And I think we're the ones that ought to help him. If he'll accept it. He seems to be pretty satisfied with his own plans. Look, Pa, we know he's a Cartwright. We know he's a relative, but how do we know he's telling the truth? I may not be the best judge of character in the world, but I think... And not because he's a Cartwright or a relative. I think that, basically, he's an honest man. Yeah, but how are we gonna persuade him to give himself up? I don't know. But at least let's show a little faith in him. All right. Bullet holes in these plates? That's right. I put them there myself just in case I didn't get a chance to turn them over to the law. Now, get me a horse and I'll leave. Put the coffin out in the barn. We'll tend to it in the morning. Thanks. For what? Well, for finally agreeing with me. What are we agreeing about? To bury that coffin out there under my name. Oh. You still think that's the thing to do? Of course it is. Listen, when Jenner doesn't show up and Butler remembers that you brought a body back here, he's gonna come nosing around, the way he would have at Pine City if you hadn't shown up. Well, so he noses around and finds a grave with Will Cartwright's name on it. Then what? Well, show it to him. I'll be out of here by then. - Where you going? - Maybe China. I've never been to China. The world's full of places, Ben. That's right, world's full of places. Full of people too. What about people, Will? Have you ever found people more important than places? Well, sure. A girl now and then, a few friends. What are you getting at? I'm just trying to figure out who you are. Well, that's simple. I like the sea, I like French food, I like to dance a fandango, if the girl's pretty. Cards, anything that's going. That's me. You might put all that together and say that I'm my father's son. Are you? Did you forget that I knew your father? We were boys together. We grew up together. I went to sea, but whenever I came back, we managed to meet somewhere, somehow. We'd talk and plan and dream. But there comes a time when a man stops dreaming and settles down to make one dream a reality, like I did. Like your father would have done if he'd lived. What about you? Not me. And not my father. I knew him better than you did. Hmm. Yeah, maybe you did. Maybe you did. I guess we'll never know what your father would have done, will we? But there's one thing that we both know about him. He was a proud man. - Yes, he was. - Yes, he was. And he was proud of his name. And he would never have done what you wanna do. Discard his name, bury it, run off to China or wherever on the pretext that it's adventure. Not John Cartwright. Maybe Will Cartwright, but not John. Well, I guess I had a long trip. I'm tired. I'm going to bed. Oh. Tomorrow we'll put whatever name you want on that grave. I sure hope we're doing right by Will. Those counterfeit plates he's gonna turn in, the government will give him a medal. Yeah, after we dispense with that little item. Well, they'll believe him, all right. What about that fellow Butler? Well, after he gets through telling the sheriff his story, it'll be Butler who'll wanna get his name changed. Hmm. Hey, Joe, come on. Yeah, I'm coming. - Better tell Pa we're ready to go. - Yeah. - Everything's all set, Pa. - Good. Sure glad you made this decision, Will. One thing I learned drifting around the world, there are a few men, not too many, mind you, that are smarter than me. Will. Your resurrection is a most welcome surprise. May I introduce a business associate of mine, Mr. Gannett? And another member of my staff. And in the unlikely event they should require some assistance, three others. It's me you want, not them. You're only partially right. I want you and the plates. I buried them. Now, if you'll let them go, I'll show you where. Will. How about it, Butler? Do we ride out of here or not? All right, hold it. Take care of them, Hoss. Yes, sir. You should have let me go with them. You could have all been killed. What, after you'd decided to keep the Cartwright name? We couldn't let the likes of them change that. We ain't about to lose a cousin that easily. Especially we've hardly had a chance to get acquainted yet. Yeah, give it a little time, you'll get used to us. How about it, Will? You got the time? All for one, huh? Well, it's better than one all alone. Well, I kind of think it's gonna take some getting used to. Well, take your time, Will. Take your time. You might get to like the idea. Let's get to town, boys.
Behind the Scenes of Return to Honor
Guy Williams appeared in five episodes towards the conclusion of the fifth season, portraying Ben’s nephew, Will. His potential to join the cast full-time in the sixth season arose due to Pernell Roberts’ desire to depart from the show. Plans were in place for a storyline involving Adam Cartwright’s departure through marriage, paving the way for Will’s integration. However, Roberts’ last-minute decision to stay another year led to Will’s departure from the series. The other three principal actors expressed dissatisfaction with adding a fourth lead and preferred to continue without this alteration. Following Roberts’ exit after the sixth season, the series persisted with just the original trio of leads.
It’s noteworthy that Michael Landon and Guy Williams shared the screen previously in “I Was a Teenage Werewolf.”
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Bonanza is an outstanding, family-friendly series, ideal for solo and group viewing. Return to Honor is the 159th episode in the series’ run of 430 episodes. Produced by NBC, Bonanza graced their network from September 1959 to January 1973, encompassing 14 seasons.
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