The Big Valley
The Big Valley is an American Western drama television series that ran on the American Broadcasting Company Network (ABC) from September 15, 1965, to May 19, 1969 — four seasons. The series is set in the mid- to late 1800s on the fictional Barkley Ranch in Stockton, California. The one-hour episodes follow the lives of the Barkley family, one of the wealthiest and largest ranch-owning families in Stockton, led by matriarch Victoria Barkley (Barbara Stanwyck) and her sons Jarrod (Richard Long), Heath (Lee Majors), and Nick (Peter Breck), and daughter Audra (Linda Evans). The series begins about 6 years after the death of the family patriarch, Thomas Barkley. Although he is never shown in the series (other than a painting), the character of Thomas Barkley is referred to as a major plot point many times. The character of Heath Barkley is introduced in episode one as the illegitimate son of Tom Barkley. His presence and claim to the Barkley name is the focus of many of the dramatic plots in season one. While the successful and rich are often portrayed, in present day, as the unscrupulous villains, the Barkley family is portrayed as the upstanding citizens of Stockton, modeling justice, fairness, and oftentimes, going against popular sentiment to uphold the underdog's rights. The series was created by A.I. Bezzerides and Louis F. Edelman, and produced by Levy-Gardner-Laven for Four Star Television.
The Big Valley | |
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Title card | |
Genre | Western |
Created by | A.I. Bezzerides Louis F. Edelman |
Starring | Barbara Stanwyck Richard Long Lee Majors Linda Evans Peter Breck |
Composer | George Duning |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 4 |
No. of episodes | 112 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Running time | 50 minutes |
Production companies | Levy-Gardner-Laven Productions Four Star Television Margate |
Distributor | Four Star International |
Release | |
Original network | ABC |
Audio format | Monaural |
Original release | September 15, 1965 – May 19, 1969 |
Historical setting
The TV series was based loosely on the Hill Ranch, which was located at the western edge of Calaveras County, not far from Stockton.[1] The Hill Ranch existed from 1855 until 1931, included almost 30,000 acres, and the Mokelumne River ran through it.[1] The source is from an episode in which Heath is on trial in a ghost town with another man (played by Leslie Nielsen), and tells the judge how much land they have. Lawson Hill ran the ranch until he was murdered in 1861. His wife Euphemia ("Auntie Hill") then became the matriarch. During their marriage, they had four children, one daughter and three sons.[1] Today, the location of the ranch is covered by the waters of Camanche Reservoir. A California state historical marker standing at Camanche South Shore Park mentions the historic ranch.
In the first episode, titled "Palms of Glory", the grave of Thomas Barkley (1813–1870) is shown after it is commented that he had fought the railroad six years before. Later in the same episode, Frank Braun reminds Nick, Jarrod, and Eugene "Six years ago, your daddy and mine fought and died for this," indicating the year is 1876. The episode "The Odyssey of Jubal Tanner" gives conflicting information. Audra states that her father died six years ago, which would—per "Palms of Glory"—point to 1876, but Jubal seems to imply that he has been gone 30 years since his wife Margaret Tanner's death, her grave marker showing that she had died in 1854, which would put the year around 1884. In the second-season episode "Hide the Children", Nick makes reference that President Ulysses Simpson Grant is in the White House. Grant's term of office was from March 4, 1869, to March 4, 1877. In the fourth- and final-season episode "They Called Her Delilah", the telegram Jarrod received from Julia Saxon dated April 27, 1878, can be seen on screen.[2] In the fourth-season episode "The Prize", Heath buries the wife of an outlaw, adding a grave marker dated May 5, 1878. In the episode "The Jonah", the band at a town dance can be heard playing Johann Strauss II's "Emperor Waltz" or "Kaiser-Walzer". The waltz was first performed in Berlin on October 21, 1889, which, by the time it would have reached the American West, would indicate a time period of 1890 or later. However, since that seems to be much later than other historical references in the show, it may well have been a simple production mistake.
Characters
Main
- Victoria Barkley, portrayed by Barbara Stanwyck, was the widow of Thomas Barkley. She was the head of the wealthy, influential Barkley family who lived in 19th-century Stockton in California's Central Valley. She was the main character of the series. Victoria Barkley was the owner and head of the Barkley ranch. In fact, Stanwyck's refusal to portray Barkley as fragile was controversial at the time. Barkley's husband Tom had been killed six years before the beginning of the series. Victoria Barkley loved and was proud of all her children, including her late husband's illegitimate son Heath, to whom she would refer as "my son". Stanwyck, who went from the refined, elegant lady of the manor to a jean-clad cowgirl as tough as any cowboy, appeared the most, in 103 of the 112 episodes. Her episodes were often surprisingly hard-hitting, seeing her character either locked away in a lunatic asylum to prevent her testifying as eyewitness at a murder trial ("Down Shadow Street"), taken prisoner in a prison wagon to replace a dead female convict ("Four Days to Furnace Hill"), impersonating a thief to go undercover at a women's prison to report on conditions there ("Alias Nellie Handley"), or trapped underground following a cave-in ("Earthquake").
- Jarrod Thomas Barkley, the eldest son, was a respected attorney-at-law. Richard Long played the role of the educated, refined and calmer of the Barkley sons, who handled all of the family's legal and business affairs. While Jarrod, a skilled lawyer, preferred the law to settle disputes, he was known to resort to frontier justice and violence when necessary. He was briefly married in one episode ("Days of Wrath"), only to see his new wife murdered with a bullet intended for him. An enraged Jarrod lost his calm and genteel manners, then relentlessly tracked down the killer. He was in the midst of killing him with his bare hands before he was stopped by Nick and Heath. Jarrod was a veteran of the American Civil War. He served as a cavalry officer in the Union Army. He commanded a cavalry troop of black soldiers as referenced in the episode "The Buffalo Man". Long appeared in 98 of the 112 episodes.
- Nicholas "Nick" Jonathan Barkley, the hot-tempered younger son, was portrayed by Peter Breck. Nick managed the family ranch. He wore a black leather vest, large black hat, and black leather gloves, and was distinguished by his brawling ways and loud demeanor. Nick had served as a soldier in combat in the Union Army during the Civil War as referenced in the episode "Forty Rifles". He was always ready for a fight, and at times would fight with his brothers, as well. Underneath his gruff exterior, he was fun-loving, had a great sense of humor, was warm and caring, and loved his family deeply. Breck appeared in 98 of the 112 episodes.(Several years prior to starring in The Big Valley, Breck starred in his own series for Four Star Television, Black Saddle, which aired on NBC).
- Audra Barkley, played by Linda Evans, was Victoria's only daughter. Audra was somewhat self-absorbed, bold, and forward. Far from demure, she performed daring stunts and rode astride, like her brothers. Like Nick and Jarrod, Audra was initially leery of Heath's story that he was their father's son. Early, she attempted to seduce Heath so as to expose him as a fraud, but was unsuccessful. As the series progressed, Audra and Heath formed a very close brother-and-sister bond. Audra also had a caring side as seen by her tending to children at the local orphanage. A few episodes dealt with her romances, and one notable episode was "My Son, My Son" in which Robert Walker Jr. guests as a suitor who proves to be mentally unstable. During the series' final two seasons, Evans' appearances were reduced because she wanted to spend more time with her husband John Derek. Evans appeared the least, in 82 of the 112 episodes.
- Heath Barkley was the illegitimate son of Victoria's late husband, and he had to literally fight his way into the Barkley home. Lee Majors portrayed even-tempered but rough and tumble Heath, who was often angry and aggressive throughout the early episodes due to his belief that Tom Barkley had abandoned his real mother after she became pregnant, as well as the resistance he initially received from some of his new siblings. In truth, Tom Barkley never knew about Heath, as Heath's mother had never told him, and never told Heath until she was on her deathbed (as revealed in the third episode of season one, "Boots with My Father's Name".) Heath gradually gained acceptance from the rest of the Barkley clan as the first season progressed until he became as much a "Barkley" as the rest of the family, and his love for them became equal. Heath came to call Victoria "Mother" when speaking to her directly and about her with his siblings. In the episode "Boots with My Father's Name", Heath told Victoria, "you know that there isn't anything that I wouldn't do for you," indicating how deeply he cared for Victoria. Although Nick was initially leery of Heath and felt he had to test Heath's mettle, Heath proved himself worthy of Nick's acceptance, and eventually Nick seemed to grow even closer to Heath than he was to Jarrod, perhaps in a sense due to Heath having more in common with him than did Jarrod. In "The Lost Treasure", the series' season-two premiere, one of a few episodes taken out of the show's initial syndication runs, Heath met Charlie Sawyer (comic Buddy Hackett in a rare dramatic turn), a con man who claimed to be his actual father (the final moments show him admitting he did romance Heath's mother, but left her years before she gave birth). In the same episode, Beah Richards returns as Hannah, the black quasi-nanny who helped raise Heath with his mother. Heath was a veteran of the Civil War as referenced in the episode "The Guilt of Matt Bentell". He served as a soldier in the Union Army in combat operations in New Mexico, and was held as a prisoner of war for seven months by Confederate forces. Heath was also established in the episode "The Death Merchant" as having been involved in the Lincoln County War (1878), where he came to know the hired killer "Handy", who had tracked down and killed Tom Barkley's murderer, but who is known by Heath as a merciless killer who changed sides - or played both sides - whenever the money was good. Majors appeared in 97 of the 112 episodes.
In addition to the Barkley family members, the episode plots typically revolved around morally conflicted protagonists and antagonists, a common theme in the mythology of the American West in the 19th century.
Minor
- The youngest Barkley son was Eugene, a medical student studying at Berkeley, played by Charles Briles. Like his older brothers, he was known to have a temper as seen in the season-one episode "Boots with My Father's Name". He appeared in eight first-season episodes. Then, he was drafted into the Army. Only once was his name ever mentioned again.
- More Barkley family lore: In one episode, when Victoria is absent, she is said to be visiting her unnamed sister in Denver. In the episode "Image of Yesterday", she is revealed to have almost married a dreamer named David Wincup (Dan O'Herlihy) before settling with her husband.
- Douglas Kennedy, formerly of Steve Donovan, Western Marshal appeared 20 times as Sheriff Fred Madden.
- The regular cast was rounded out by Napoleon Whiting as Silas, the Barkley's majordomo, who appeared 35 times. In several episodes, his character showed the trauma of slavery ("Joshua Watson"), life for blacks after the Civil War ("The Buffalo Man"), and meaning in his own work for the family ("Miranda").
Episodes
Season 1: 1965–66{{Episode list
Season 2: 1966–67
Season 3: 1967–68
Season 4: 1968–69
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Guest stars
The Big Valley was well known for its many guest stars, including:
- Julie Adams
- Claude Akins
- Jack Albertson
- Chris Alcaide
- Marty Allen
- John Anderson
- Richard Anderson (who later co-starred on The Six Million Dollar Man with Lee Majors)
- Tige Andrews
- R. G. Armstrong
- Lew Ayres
- Diane Baker
- Joe Don Baker
- Rayford Barnes
- Anne Baxter
- Alan Bergmann
- Milton Berle
- Karen Black
- Antoinette Bower
- Charles Bronson
- Brooke Bundy
- Michael Burns
- Ellen Burstyn
- Joseph Campanella
- Judy Carne
- John Carradine
- Conlan Carter
- Jeanne Cooper
- Kelly Corcoran
- Noreen Corcoran
- Walter Coy
- Yvonne Craig
- Johnny Crawford
- Dennis Cross
- Royal Dano
- Quentin Dean
- John Dehner
- Bruce Dern
- Colleen Dewhurst
- Bradford Dillman
- Richard Dreyfuss
- Don Dubbins
- Andrew Duggan
- Maurice Evans
- Richard Farnsworth
- Paul Fix
- Robert Fuller
- Vincent Gardenia
- Sean Garrison
- Arlene Golonka
- Harold Gould
- Robert Goulet
- Lee Grant
- Dabbs Greer
- James Gregory
- Charles Grodin
- Buddy Hackett
- Kevin Hagen
- Julie Harris
- Peter Haskell
- Dennis Hopper
- Ron Howard
- Steve Ihnat
- Anthony James
- Russell Johnson
- I. Stanford Jolley
- L. Q. Jones
- Robert Karnes
- Dan Kemp
- George Kennedy
- Sajid Khan
- Yaphet Kotto
- Martin Landau
- Cloris Leachman
- Robert Loggia
- Julie London
- Lynn Loring
- Carol Lynley
- Gavin MacLeod
- Mako
- Flip Mark
- Nora Marlowe
- Frank Marth
- Strother Martin
- Marlyn Mason
- Frank McGrath
- John Milford
- Read Morgan
- Leslie Nielsen
- Kathleen Nolan
- Dan O'Herlihy
- Simon Oakland
- Warren Oates
- Susan Oliver
- Gregg Palmer
- Leslie Parrish
- Nehemiah Persoff
- Regis Philbin
- John M. Pickard
- Eve Plumb
- Chips Rafferty
- Ford Rainey
- Lou Rawls
- Beah Richards
- Pernell Roberts
- Wayne Rogers
- Katharine Ross
- Bing Russell
- Jill St. John
- Albert Salmi
- William Shatner
- Olan Soule
- Harry Dean Stanton
- Warren Stevens
- Susan Strasberg
- Dub Taylor
- Malachi Throne
- Harry Townes
- Robert Walker Jr.
- Fritz Weaver
- Adam West
- James Whitmore
- Van Williams
- Morgan Woodward
- Anthony Zerbe
Popularity
Despite the series' popularity, its ratings never made the top 30 in the yearly ratings charts. The Big Valley was cancelled in 1969 as the TV Western craze began to fade, and to make room for more modern series.[3] In Ella Smith's 1973 biography, Starring Miss Barbara Stanwyck, Smith noted that The Big Valley had been cancelled by ABC mainly due to a poor time slot. In better times, the series had been enough of a hit to outlive various time-slot rivals during its run (mainly on Mondays at 10 pm), including The Jean Arthur Show, Run for Your Life, and I Spy. According to Broadcasting magazine (September 27, 1965), its debut episode (actually Wednesday at 9 pm, where the series aired for half the season) placed 39th in the Nielsen ratings for the week of September 13–19, 1965.
The Big Valley also was ranked as one of the top-five favorite new shows in viewer TVQ polling (the others were Get Smart, I Dream of Jeannie, Lost in Space, and F Troop). Early into its second season, The Big Valley was still a midrange performer, placing 47th out of just 88 series during the week of October 28, 1966, which was higher than such shows as That Girl, Daniel Boone, Petticoat Junction, and The Wild Wild West. Even so, The Big Valley was popular enough to warrant at least three TV Guide covers. It also acted as a launching pad for two projected spin-offs from special episodes. A 1968 episode guest-starring Van Williams was meant to lead to a Rifleman-like series titled Rimfire. A March 1969 episode, "The Royal Road", guest-starring heartthrob Sajid Khan as a young rogue, was also hoped to lead to a series, but by that year, the rising popularity of CBS's The Carol Burnett Show — and vocal complaints by Joey Bishop, ABC's late-night talk show host, that the show's faltering ratings were not helping to provide his program with a proper lead-in — ultimately led to the drama's demise. In syndication, The Big Valley proved exceptionally popular in the United States, Europe, and Latin America.
In the comedy film Airplane! (1980), the wacky air traffic controller Johnny, played by Stephen Stucker, paid homage to Big Valley's penchant for big drama in one of his many asides. After Lloyd Bridges' character frets about a pilot who cracked under pressure, Johnny says: "It happened to Barbara Stanwyck!" and "Nick, Heath, Jarrod – there's a fire in the barn!"[4] The Big Valley also has seeped into the darker cinematic subconscious. In Bug, an acclaimed 2006 thriller starring Ashley Judd and Michael Shannon as drug addicts, their characters spiral into a hallucination that leads them to imagine tiny bugs have invaded their dwelling, with one referring to the little critters as "matriarchal aphids" that act "like Barbara Stanwyck in Big Valley."[5]
Awards and nominations
In 1966, for her first season as Victoria Barkley, Barbara Stanwyck won the Emmy for lead actress in a drama series. She was nominated two more times (1967 and 1968) for her work in The Big Valley and earned three Golden Globe nominations as Best TV Star for the part, as well (1966, 1967, 1968). On March 15, 1967, Stanwyck was named favorite TV actress at the Photoplay magazine awards, which aired as a special episode of The Merv Griffin Show (David Janssen of The Fugitive was named favorite TV actor). Richard Long helped present Stanwyck her Gold Medal at the event.
The Big Valley was also recognized during its run for its polished production. In 1966 and 1968, the American Cinema Editors named Valley the year's Best Edited Television Program (for the episodes "40 Rifles" and "Disappearance", respectively).
Music
The series’ main title theme and primary incidental music were composed by George Duning and feature sweeping musical elements highly reminiscent of classic American cinematic Westerns. For at least the first pilot episode, the theme song starts with a more relaxed woodwinds introduction leading into the title refrain at a moderate tempo. For the remainder of season one, the tempo is increased and the intro is shortened, with much more aggressive phrasing. For seasons three and four, the main theme was reworked again, with a much more brass-heavy orchestration. The final refrain (when Miss Barbara Stanwick's credits are shown), includes an underlying Spanish rhythm outlined with tambourine that is similar to that of The Magnificent Seven main title. Therefore, at least three versions of the theme song were recorded for the series.
In 1966, a soundtrack album was released in both monoaural and stereo versions, featuring suites of various music cues from the series, re-recorded for the LP release (ABC-Paramount; ABC 527). The album featured the iconic main theme song, but at slower tempos, giving them a more cinematic mood. To date, the album has not been re-released on compact disc or streaming. In 1980, the LP was reissued on vinyl on MCA Records for the Japanese market.
Re-recordings of the main theme song to The Big Valley have appeared on several Western movie-music compilation compact discs, and can currently be found on most music streaming services.
Production notes
While The Big Valley is set primarily in and near the city of Stockton, the filming of the series took place in Southern California. It was partially filmed in Wildwood Regional Park in Thousand Oaks, California.[6][7]
A bit of Hollywood history: Nick's girlfriend in "The River Monarch" wears an open-weave/knit gray coat with red trim that was worn by Olivia de Havilland as Melanie Wilkes in the Atlanta train station Christmas scene in Gone With the Wind.
Crew
The theme music was composed by George Duning, who also scored the pilot and four episodes; Lalo Schifrin, Elmer Bernstein, and Joseph Mullendore also scored episodes. Paul Henreid, of Casablanca fame, directed a number of episodes.
Wilfred M. Cline,Technicolor associate cinematographer on Gone with the Wind (1939), was director of photography for several Big Valley episodes, together with Chas E. Burke.
Adaptations
Comic book
Dell Comics published a short-lived comic book for six issues in 1966-69. (The last issue reprinted the first, and came out two years after issue #5). All issues had photo covers.
Film
Film columnist Patrick Goldstein reported in the Los Angeles Times in July 2009 that filmmakers Daniel Adams and Kate Edelman Johnson were producing a feature-film version of The Big Valley with production to begin in April 2010 in New Mexico and Michigan.[8] In 2012, the aforementioned film version of The Big Valley, which was to have first starred Susan Sarandon and then Jessica Lange in the role of Victoria Barkley, was put on hold indefinitely after the film's would-be director, Daniel Adams, was indicted for fraud pertaining to two previous films and sued by investors in "Valley" who claimed foul, as well.[9][10][11][12]
Several episodes of the original TV series have been combined into concurrent-running feature-length TV movies, while the notable two-part episodes, "Legend of a General" and "Explosion!", have also been made into feature-length TV movies. These have been issued as TV movies on DVD as a box set, along with seasons one and two.
Home media
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released the first season on DVD in Region 1 on May 16, 2006.[13] Season 2, Volume 1 was released on January 30, 2007.[13]
On January 8, 2014, Timeless Media Group announced it had acquired the rights to the series.[14] They have subsequently released seasons 2 & 3 on DVD.[15][16] The fourth and final season was released on October 28, 2014.[17]
In Germany, all four seasons have been released as individual season sets, plus a complete four-season box set in region 2 PAL format.
Syndication
The series was aired on #Talking Pictures TV. in the UK (2018).
In the United States, the series was formerly seen in syndication on the Starz! Westerns Channel. It is now currently airing on MeTV and INSP: The Inspiration Network (2018)
References
- http://womenwest.blogspot.com/2012/09/euphemia-hill-rancher-of-calaveras.html
- "They Called Her Delilah." aired Sept 30, 1968, second episode in the fourth and final season.
- Westerns on television
- "The Best of Johnny from Airplane! from AirplaneFan". Funnyordie.com. 2008-10-09. Retrieved 2014-07-16.
- Solomons, Jason (November 10, 2007). "Bug". The Guardian. London.
- Schad, Jerry (2009). Los Angeles County: A Comprehensive Hiking Guide. Wilderness Press. Pages 35-36. ISBN 9780899976396.
- Medved, Harry and Bruce Akiyama (2007). Hollywood Escapes: The Moviegoer's Guide to Exploring Southern California's Great Outdoors. St. Martin's Press. Page 279. ISBN 9781429907170.
- "The Remake Watch: 'Big Valley' edition". Los Angeles Times. 2009-07-15. Retrieved 2009-07-26.
- Fernandez, Jay A. "Susan Sarandon eyeing 'Big Valley'". The Hollywood Reporter.
- Archived June 3, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
- "Movie Director Indicted in $4.7 Million Tax Rebate Fraud Case". The Hollywood Reporter. December 12, 2011.
- "Courthouse News Service". Courthousenews.com. 2012-07-31. Retrieved 2014-07-16.
- "The Big Valley DVD news: Revised Artwork No Longer Worth $12 Million". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on 2014-07-30. Retrieved 2014-07-16.
- A Long-Awaited (and Complete) 'Season 2' DVD Set is Coming! Archived 2014-02-22 at the Wayback Machine
- "The Big Valley DVD news: Revised Box Art for The Big Valley - Season 2". TVShowsOnDVD.com. 2014-01-31. Archived from the original on 2014-07-30. Retrieved 2014-07-16.
- 'Season 3' is t Scheduled: Date, Cost, Package Art Archived 2014-04-13 at the Wayback Machine
- The 4th and 'Final Season' is Scheduled for DVD this Fall Archived 2014-08-10 at the Wayback Machine
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Big Valley. |