User Reviews

If you ever see this episode it will be something that you will never forget. A better title would have been 'Victoria Barkley meets The Three Stooges'.

In this episode the writers want to do something like a comedy that involved the incredible Barbara Stanwyck. They succeed in making a story that will go down in history as the one of the most famous episodes of 'The Big Valley' series.

The story starts out as Victoria and Audra are waiting on a rural train in a primitive part of the west. When three very inept brothers decide to rob the train station. They are after the safe that they think contain a few hundred dollars.

Now these three brothers may have been bandits but they were raised proper. All they really wanted to do was get a few dollars and start a ranch. Hurting people was not on their agenda.

So when they try to rob the station they are met with a foe that they were not prepared for- Victoria Barkley.

She watches the three men try to open a safe by means of a hammer, a high fall and even dynamite. All the while Victoria is telling them they they are doing it wrong. But the oldest brother, and leader, named Duke- does not want to hear women talk. He is going to do it his way no matter what another person has to say.

Duke did not feel like he was doing anything wrong until he has to get physical with Victoria. Stealing the railroads money was nothing to him. Not until he hits Ms Barkley that Duke realizes that he is a criminal.

The story does take a sweet side when the youngest brother, Shorty, wants more than to be a bandit. And through Audra, he finds out that he is someone other than a brother of Duke.

Even though Victoria and Audra knew the names of the persons that stole the safe and kidnapped them- they will keep silent. Not because of threats but because they know they have helped a family turn their life around.

I really like this episode. Barbara Stanwyck, with even some comedy of her own, was a delight to watch. But fret not BV fans- they do throw in a little headstrong Nick (Peter Breck) to make you feel good about it being a western.

Sit back and enjoy this episode for what it is- a good show.

Accent is on comedy in this Big Valley story. Barbara Stanwyck and Linda Evans arrive at a train station to catch the train to Stockton when the place is held up by three rustic peckerwood brothers, Warren Oates, Kelton Garwood, and Christopher Cary. They've heard tell of the fact the safe in the railroad depot is always full of cash. But the thing isn't working and the rest of the episode is devoted to their efforts to open the safe. They wreck the depot in their determination among other things.

Watching this episode put me in mind of the beginning of The Shootist where John Wayne gets the drop on some would be outlaw trying to rob the legendary J.B. Books. I remember his line to the wounded outlaw he leaves on the Nevada desert, "you'd better get another line of work cuz this one don't fit your pistol".

That about sums it up for these three idiots. Garwood and Cary are just going along with their brother Oates who wants this money to get a new start in life, a small ranch they can work. They've lived hardscrabble lives and you kind of feel sorry for them.

At least that's what Barbara Stanwyck feels. Her facial expressions as the two keep trying to open the safe are priceless as she busies herself with her knitting.

A really funny story.

Now a comedy western is right up my alley and this one captures my funny bone! Audra and Victoria are caught in a train station and these hicks come in to steal the safe. It is slapstick comedy at its finest and I really enjoyed every minute of it!! The gags are great for 1966 TV. The camera action and color are worth watching every minute. "Grits and sow bellies aren't the only thing in this world and I want some of it. . " You've got to watch this one if it's ever on. I never knew the comedic skills of Big Valley until I watched this episode.The country bumpkins add to the laughter and the musical score is perfect for every scene.

This was supposed to be a comedic episode, and the bumbling characters were funny. But toward the end, one of them slapped Victoria in anger so hard, she fell to the ground. Was she ever struck like this at anytime during the series' four year run?

Bungling hillbillys try to rob a safe at a train Depot, they take Victoria and her daughter hostage. This episode was not funny at all, I read the other reviews and thought I might give it a try.

It just comes off as weary and contrived, Barbara Stanwyk and Warren Oats just can't seem to say or do anything funny. There is a whimsical mood throughout, constant dueling between Stanwyk and Oats, poor attempts at physical comedy and it falls flat, all of it. The Barkley women laugh off every threat of violence. One of the goon Brothers has an English accent as well.

You want Western comedy at its finest; watch 'They Call me Trinity' and 'Trinity is Still my Name'. The only redeeming thing about this episode is Kelton Garwood as a yuck mouthed simpleton, the rest is just bad comedy.