User Reviews

When Heath and Victoria set off to the mountain lodge they run into trouble when their wagon hitch breaks and the wagon falls on Heath. With Heath trapped in the mud and Victoria unable to move the wagon, Victoria has to set off to find help.

But as luck would have it, the man she finds to help is an escaped convict being chased by two bounty hunters. Harry Dixon (Bruce Dern) is a angry man that really had no intention of helping anyone. But with Victoria holding him at gunpoint they make their way to the wagon.

Now we get a 40 minute walk of Victoria and the criminal making their long way to the wagon. And during the walk we get the two talking about their lives, why the criminal was falsely imprisoned and avoiding the two bounty hunters. All this while the camera pans to Heath still in the mud under the wagon after each scene change. --It will come down to Harry Dixon either having to help save Heath's life or be caught by the bounty hunters.

A great guest cast with Dern, L.Q.Jones and Harry Dean Stanton all having a some part in this episode. Not the most exciting show in the lot with the long dialog and slow pace- but was a good watch. Barbara Stanwyck is again excellent in her performance which always makes the show better. We even get to hear a little singing from Lee Majors which I am sure is a treat for some.

My favorite part of this episode is the interaction between Miss Barbara Stanwyck and Bruce Dern. There are a couple of good character actors, L.Q.Jones & Harry (Dean) Stanton playing the bounty hunters who are after Dern's character. There are scenes between Stanwyck and Dern when he's telling her about his rather unfortunate childhood and his really unfortunate reunion with his mother that are movie worthy. Not really surprising that they stole the show in this episode. Miss Stanwyck & Mr. Dern are both great actors.

Barbara Stanwyck is riding with Lee Majors taking some freight to Stockton and they come to a muddy stretch. When the wagon gets stuck in it, Majors gets out to push and the thing topples down on him. Majors is pinned under the wagon and quite frankly he should have died that night.

There ain't much help out there though. What there is is an escaped convict Bruce Dern and a pair of low life bounty hunters L.Q.Jones and Harry Dean Stanton. Right there you are talking about three of the best character actors in the last 50 years.

Majors has some good scenes as he drifts in an out of consciousness thinking very rightly he will be meeting his maker shortly. But with those three in the guest cast that's reason enough to see this Big Valley episode.

For this particular episode, the Emmy Award folks decided to give the prize to Barbara "Missy" Stanwyck.

Stanwyck had won a previous Emmy for "The Barbara Stanwyck Show" in 1961 and was nominated for the Oscar four times. Stany finally got a belated honorary Oscar which she so richly deserved.

Never a great beauty (and she'd be the first to tell you this) she nevertheless had an astounding natural way of acting that - in certain instances, in "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers", for instance - she could by downright chilling.

In "The Lady Eve", she was hilariously funny.

Stanwyck had an inner fire which transferred magnificently on the screen - both big and small.

I will not spoil this special installment by giving away plot hints.

Barbara admitted to friends: "I never received as much fan mail during my years as a movie star as I have while appearing in this show" The answer was simple: Being a star on a prime-time TV show made her acting accessible to literally millions of people! And most of us admired her than not, I think

(My Aunt DeeDee couldn't stand her - and she resembled her somewhat!)

For some, Stanwyck was simply too tough.

I liked her.