The Julie Bulette Story

 

Plot:  Little Joe falls in love with the owner of the town's newest saloon, much to the embarrassment of his family, the chagrin of the moralizing town leaders and citizens, and the anger of the rival for her affection.
Original Air Date:  October 17, 1959
Director: Christian Nyby
Writer: Al C. Ward

 

You've watched the episode. Now it's your chance to sit in the director's chair, or better yet, sit at the editor's desk.  What would you have done differently in The Julie Bulette Story?  How would you have made the episode better?  Add a scene?  Delete a scene?  If so which one(s) and why?  Change an actor portraying a guest star? Would you have taken an entirely different route after the opening credits or before the ending credits?

 

Do you have any behind the scene tidbits to share?

Feel free to share screen shots of your favorite scene(s) from The Julia Bulette Story.

PS:  When commenting, please be respectful of the actors, directors, writers, and other Forum members.

Not seen this one yet, only clips on YouTube.  Must catch the whole ep sometime soon. 

It's not one of my favourite episodes, but it has some nice scenes in it. I like the scene when Joe fights with the one guy and Hoss and Adam don't interfere. Afterwards when Adam takes Joe over his shoulders and just drinks his beer is funny

3 minutes ago, Oxgirl said:

Not seen this one yet, only clips on YouTube.  Must catch the whole ep sometime soon. 

As a Joe fan you will certainly like it. 😊

3 minutes ago, Conny1971 said:

It's not one of my favourite episodes, but it has some nice scenes in it. I like the scene when Joe fights with the one guy and Hoss and Adam don't interfere. Afterwards when Adam takes Joe over his shoulders and just drinks his beer is funny

 

Makes you wonder if they scripted the beer drinking or if PR might have ad-libbed it.

A case where they used a real person from Virginia City's history to make a story.

2 hours ago, Conny1971 said:

It's not one of my favourite episodes, but it has some nice scenes in it. I like the scene when Joe fights with the one guy and Hoss and Adam don't interfere. Afterwards when Adam takes Joe over his shoulders and just drinks his beer is funny

 

And as Adam is picking Joe up from the floor, I love how limp Michael Landon is; like a limp noodle.    So many actors attempt to 'help' the actor who is attempting to pick them up during similar scenes and it really shows that they're not unconscious.

One of the highlights of S1 for me, which showcases what an accomplished young actor Michael Landon was.  It has many great scenes.  The fight with Jean Millain (mentioned above) being one.  

 

The scene where Ben confronts Joe over Julia is wonderful, and when Joe brings us his mother it's very tense.

 

 

Despite the age difference, the relationship between Julia and Joe is believable.  You don't doubt for one minute that Joe is attracted to her. 

 

 

 

And we get one of our first JPM.

 

 

 

Not in my favorite, but of course there are very good scenes, especially with Adam.

 

We can see in this episode, that Ben has not a real authority on Joe. 

Bonanza is a show very ambiguous : I regret the lack of red thread,  the scenarios have no links with each others, and it's created this ambiguity. For example, Ben sometimes considers his sons, even Adam like boys, and in an episode like Julia Bulette, Joe runs the countryside, falls in Love with a woman who can be his mother (I don't think they play poker game), and Ben is totally powerless in front of Joe's behavior.
Personnally, this inconsistency is disconcerting.
I regret that the scenarios are so inequal in quality, and coherence .

Well no matter, it's not a bad episode : action, romance, and good brawls, perfect ingredients for a good western.

 

Just watched it now and found it really sweet.  I loved the Julia character, the 'tart with a heart', reminded me of Belle in Gone with the Wind.  I thought it was a shame at the end when she had to hurt him.  I wasn't sure if she was going to die or not, but I would have preferred it if she had become a victim of the fever and died a tragic death instead of rejecting Joe like that.  Nice ep, though and I thought the dialogue was really good.  They never came right out and said she was of 'ill repute', just inferred it.  Poor sweet Joe.  I liked the way she gently rejected him on their first meeting in her room, she did a really good job with the role. 

 

38 minutes ago, indiana said:

Joe runs the countryside, falls in Love with a woman who can be his mother (I don't think they play poker game), and Ben is totally powerless in front of Joe's behavior.

 

Interesting perspective.  I've never looked at it that way.  For me, what's happening here is Joe is in love, rebelling against a father he believes is being prejudice and unfair to the woman he loves.  Ben still has authority over Joe, but he is powerless where Julia is concerned, because Joe loves her.   A subtle, but for me, important difference.

 

6 minutes ago, Oxgirl said:

I would have preferred it if she had become a victim of the fever and died a tragic death instead of rejecting Joe like that

 

That is where the writers are being true to real history (for once)  .  Julia Bulette was stabbed to death by Millian.

 

Joe fans seem to love this episode. It's not among my favorites, but it does showcase ML's talent for vulnerability in acting. Jane Greer was a stunning actress and perfect as Julia. The reference to her former relationship with Ben reminds the audience he is more than just a father and leaves a lot of room for speculation in fanfiction.  

 I agree with indiana though about the inconsistency in he way he treats his sons in different episodes.  In the early seasons Joe walks a fine line between boy and man, Though he is only seventeen, in those days he would have been considered a man.  And an event like this would have put him over that line in more ways than one.

 

6 minutes ago, JC* said:

in those days he would have been considered a man.  

 

Agree with you. And it's why I consider the show like ambiguous, especially the look of Ben on his adult sons in certain episodes. Ben considering his sons like boys is very disturbing for me. You cannot accept, as parent, that your young son has a behavior of an adult (drink, poker game, in love mature women), and in another time treating him (them) like teenagers, it's totally incoherent.

I know generally Bonanza fans don't like my vision, sorry about that, but it's my opinion, and it doesn't mean I don't like these nice characters.

 

Inconsistencies run rampant in Season 1, which is why I rarely watch any of those eps.  The show is trying to find itself and it's all over the place.  This ep shows us a young, rebellious Joe and a father and brothers that aren't sure how to handle the situation, which leads to conflict, which is good for any storyline.  

 

The whole discussion about Ben sending his boys to bed makes sense to me.  He wanted to talk to Joe alone and it was either bed or the barn.  There was nowhere else to go.  I see "bed" as the better choice.

5 minutes ago, jfclover said:

 

 

The whole discussion about Ben sending his boys to bed makes sense to me.  He wanted to talk to Joe alone and it was either bed or the barn.  There was nowhere else to go.  I see "bed" as the better choice.

I think  Ben could ask to his 2 adults sons in a respectful way.

 "Please, Hoss, Adam, I would like to talk to your brother in private. Thank you" 

And naturally Hoss and Adam would have left the room. It's the way you talk to adults in my opinion, even if they are your children .

 

 

16 minutes ago, jfclover said:

The whole discussion about Ben sending his boys to bed makes sense to me.  He wanted to talk to Joe alone and it was either bed or the barn.  There was nowhere else to go.  I see "bed" as the better choice.

The funniest example of this was in Love me Not.  Adam, Hoss and Joe need an excuse to leave the room, so Joan and Ben can talk after supper.  Hoss and Joe say they have some work in the barn, while Adam says "I'm more practical, I'm going to bed."  

 

 

6 minutes ago, indiana said:

I think  Ben could ask to his 2 adults sons in a respectful way.

 "Please, Hoss, Adam, I would like to talk to your brother in private. Thank you" 

And naturally Hoss and Adam would have left the room. It's the way you talk to adults in my opinion, even if they are your children .

 

 

 

Do you watch what you say when you're angry?  Ben's mad at all his sons and wants them out of the room.

32 minutes ago, jfclover said:

Inconsistencies run rampant in Season 1, which is why I rarely watch any of those eps.  The show is trying to find itself and it's all over the place.  This ep shows us a young, rebellious Joe and a father and brothers that aren't sure how to handle the situation, which leads to conflict, which is good for any storyline.  

 

 

 

This is something every family is experiencing when member try to find new ways with changing life situations. And don't forget it's the victorian area, the father is the boss and when the sons live at home they have to obey.

2 minutes ago, JoeC said:

This is something every family is experiencing when member try to find new ways with changing life situations. And don't forget it's the victorian area, the father is the boss and when the sons live at home they have to obey.

 

Exactly, Helga.  We do have to remember the time this was.  In Victorian times,  if a young man lived under his father's roof, his father was the authoritarian figure and he followed his rules and did as he was told.  Ben was never tyrannical like this, but part of his character was his temper and this would manifest itself in this way at times.  

 

18 minutes ago, Bakerj said:

 

Exactly, Helga.  We do have to remember the time this was.  In Victorian times,  if a young man lived under his father's roof, his father was the authoritarian figure and he followed his rules and did as he was told.  Ben was never tyrannical like this, but part of his character was his temper and this would manifest itself in this way at times.  

 

But they didn't always remain true to the Victorian times on the show.  And this was the frontier, a different world from the more civilized parts of our country. That aside, I think what indiana was getting at is inconsistencies from one episode to the other, and that is due to the eclectic mix of writers.

 

The Bonanza audience of the 60's didn't seem to care about continuity or consistency since the show remained immensely popular in spite of the lack of it. There were episodes written for comic relief where the sons acted more like boys than men, serious episodes where they were all definitely portrayed as men, and then there were stories than seemed less like a western than an episode of Father Knows Best, 1860-something. I enjoyed them all. 

32 minutes ago, JC* said:

But they didn't always remain true to the Victorian times on the show.

 

This is very true, but my point was it wasn't inconsistent with Victorian times and wouldn't have raised any eyebrows then.  Therefore, for Ben to do that, it isn't such a big deal.  As jfclover pointed out above, the show was chock full of inconsistencies, especially in season one, and we have to accept those and deal as best we can.  You are right about the audience and, after all, the show was for entertainment  - and did an excellent job of that.  Most of the examples of Ben's 'telling off' centred around the comic eps and were done for comic relief.  

1 hour ago, jfclover said:

 

Do you watch what you say when you're angry?  Ben's mad at all his sons and wants them out of the room.

they are not children, they are adults. I don't know I never talk to my children like this, it's totally irrealistic , my children have not this age (the eldest is 25), and I can't imagine having them under my roof and talking them like this, even if I was angry (we can be angry towards teenagers, but Adam is more than 30 years old    well my children were very nice, I admit it.)

 

Bonanza is a fiction, with a fictional family so the  situations are fictional.  If the sons were 10 years younger, it would shock me less, but not with these men (with an exception for Joe).

 

Well, it's  Bonanza, I have to think less (I am like this for every series I can watch  )) Very annoying, I know  

2 hours ago, Bakerj said:

That is where the writers are being true to real history (for once)  .  Julia Bulette was stabbed to death by Millian.

 

Oh, so she actually died at the end of the ep then?  I don't know why she had to be mean to him then, if she knew she was going to die anyway, why not leave him with happy memories of her.

I tend to just watch and enjoy each ep as it comes and not dwell too much on what was said in one ep, otherwise I'd have to ask myself, 'how come Cochise had a sex change in Marie my Love' and how come in 'The Oath' and again in 'Her Brother's Keeper' Joe said his mummy died when he was a baby and he 'never even knew her', etc. etc.  I love it when Ben shouts at the kids, it makes me laugh so much.