The Big Valley is an ABC network western TV series created by A.I. Bezzerides and Louis F. Feldman which starred Barbara Stanwyck, Richard Long, Lee Majors, Linda Evans and Peter Breck.
The show premiered on September 15, 1965 and ended on May 19, 1969 with a total of 4 seasons and 112 episodes.
For her role as Victoria Barkley on the show, Barbara Stanwyck won an Emmy Award for "Lead Actress in a Drama Series" in 1966 and was nominated two more times in 1967 & 1968. She also earned three Golden Globe nominations in 1966, 1967 and 1968.
Cast[]
Main[]
- Richard Long - Jarrod
- Peter Breck - Nick
- Lee Majors - Heath
- Linda Evans - Audra
- Barbara Stanwyck - Victoria
Recurring[]
- Napoleon Whiting - Silas
- Douglas Kennedy - Fred Madden
- Charles Briles - Eugene
Series overview[]
- Main article: List of The Big Valley episodes
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | Production line | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season premiere | Season finale | ||||
| 1 | 30 | September 15, 1965 | April 27, 1966 | 63xx | |
| 2 | 30 | September 12, 1966 | April 24, 1967 | 70xx | |
| 3 | 26 | September 11, 1967 | March 18, 1968 | 71xx | |
| 4 | 26 | September 23, 1968 | May 19, 1969 | 72xx | |
Background and Production[]
The TV series was based loosely on the Hill Ranch, which was located at the western edge of Calaveras County, not far from Stockton. The Hill Ranch existed from 1855 until 1931 and included almost 30,000 acres, and the Mokelumne River ran through it. 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. 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 he is mentioned to have fought the railroad 6 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 6 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 season episode "They Called Her Delilah", the telegram Jarrod received from Julia Saxon dated April 27, 1878, can be seen on screen. 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, much later than other historical references in the show.
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.
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. Due to similarities in appearance, it is sometimes believed that the Tara set from Gone with the Wind was repurposed for use as the Barkley family home in The Big Valley, but it was actually the set constructed for The Kentuckian that was used.
The theme music was composed by George Duning, who scored the pilot and 58 episodes; Lalo Schifrin was responsible for the third season, and Elmer Bernstein for the fourth. According to IMDB.com, Joseph Mullendore wrote music for two episodes, while Herschel Burke Gilbert and Rudy Schrager scored one each. Paul Henreid, of Casablanca fame, directed a number of episodes.
The series's 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 music 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 Stanwyck'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.
Home Media[]
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released the first season on DVD in Region 1 on May 16, 2006. Season 2, Volume 1 was released on January 30, 2007. On January 8, 2014, Timeless Media Group announced it had acquired the rights to the series. They have subsequently released seasons 2 & 3 on DVD. The fourth and final season was released on October 28, 2014.