Earthquake

It had its good points and bad points. Stanwyck got to shine in this one, trying to get herself, an obstinate alcoholic Charles Bronson, and a pregnant Indian girl out of the basement of a church when they are trapped together after an earthquake. The rest of the Barkleys are terrified because they can't get to her, so they dig and fight and try to find some other way in, while Stanwyck is trying to find some other way out with Bronson and the pregnant girl in tow. Complication - the father of the girl's baby is a white man who is doing what he can to keep her (and therefore Stanwyck and Bronson) from being rescued.

The plot isn't the best, but it's a good vehicle for Victoria Barkley to show her muscle. A curiosity - Lee Majors as Heath has a big part in this episode but is missing from the last scene. Word is he had a disagreement with Stanwyck and walked off the set, so did not appear. Also apparently got fired from the show for his behavior, but his agent got him back in again, Stanwyck had a talk with him about how he needs to get his act together, and he was rehired. Saved his career.

Here we have Victoria visiting the local Mission and gives the Padre a generous donation of money.

Soon afterward, the whole world is shaking: EARTHQUAKE! Victoria is inside the ruined church were she's among a pregnant Native-American girl and a drunken scoundrel (played by Charles Bronson!) whom Nick had fired as a Barkley farmhand due to his imbibing.

The show is famous for it's larger-than-life aura and for it's lessons in morality.

Most every episode is worth watching and the colorful scenery and musical score is really excellent when viewed on the re-mastered (I would assume) DVD's

This episode is the first one of the series that features Barbara Stanwyck nearly exclusively. This proves to some of the viewers that Ms Stanwyck was not going to be this women that sits at the house and waits for her boys to come home- instead she is seen as a person wanting to make this show work for all the actors involved. She is not going to sit on her movie career but is putting all she has in the show. This episode proves that she is a professional no matter if it is on the large screen or the small screen.

The show starts as Victoria enters a small church to leave a donation with the padre. Inside the church is a very pregnant Indian girl named Naomi (Aliza Gur) who happens to be praying. Before Victoria can leave the church she encounters Tate (Charles Bronson) who has just been fired from the Barkley Ranch for drinking. He wants Victoria to try to get his job back but she wants nothing to do with him.

As the conversation turns ugly an earthquake hits the town of Stockton and the church comes tumbling down.

From what I could gather, our three characters fall into the basement and cannot get out due to the debris blocking their path. But hold on- Victoria remembers that there use to be an old Barkley mine shaft that ran under the church and through the shaft they will try to escape without harming each other.

The director's of this episode do a good job in creating a believable earthquake. Most of the time all we see is the camera shaking and people stumbling and that is the extent of the special effects. In this show they do have a lot of debris but the camera takes us back to the Barkley's house to see shaking and falling ceiling plaster. And they even went as far as to have the trees shaking more like a real earthquake than the usual camera shake. (I guess I look for that stuff). They only thing I found normal during the quake was that Nick barely missed being hit by falling boards off the barn- but with Nick I expected some kind of drama.

I thought Barbara Stanwyck did a good job of acting in this episode. She was hard as nail at times and was soft when needed. She did get dirty in the mine shaft but always seemed to have her make-up and eye-lid paint as nice as when the show started.

Anyway a good hour of TV.

It's sad that a powerful performance by Barbara Stanwyck has to wasted in a story that is completely spoiled by a rotten and incredible ending. She's in quite a pickle but Victoria Barkley is one strong willed woman who will survive any way she can.

She's in a church when an earthquake strikes and she's buried in the church cellar with a former Barkley ranch hand who likes to drink too much and a pregnant Modoc Indian girl who's very very due. Charles Bronson is the former Barkley employee who doesn't relish being trapped with the Barkley matriarch and Alizia Kar is the pregnant woman.

The church was built on top of old mine tunnels and the three look for a way out. There's some crackling dialog with Stanwyck and Bronson who I believe never worked together on the big screen. Kar is a truly sad figure who was impregnated by a frequent white visitor to her reservation.

I can't say more, but trust me the ending is ridiculous. And I guess I can say Stanwyck survives for more episodes of The Big Valley.