# "Big Valley" episode directed by Paul Henreid
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-valley-episode-directed-by-paul-henreid/603511
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [November 20, 2011, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-valley-episode-directed-by-paul-henreid/603511 "2011-11-20T02:15:49Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)
#### Post date: [November 20, 2011, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-valley-episode-directed-by-paul-henreid/603511/1 "2011-11-20T02:15:49Z")
I’ve discovered _The Big Valley_ reruns on Saturday night. Never watched the series the first time around (I was in high school).
Tonight’s episode credits went past and I saw the director listed as “Paul Henreid.”
Looked it up on [imdb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0524377/), and sure enough it’s THAT Paul Henreid. I find that kind of amazing. I guess because I’m immersed in a design project at the moment that has to do with _Casablanca_, and I’m surprised to see Victor Lazlo directing a campy TV show.
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [November 20, 2011, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-valley-episode-directed-by-paul-henreid/603511/2 "2011-11-20T02:22:15Z")
Paul Henreid directed a lot of tv. Maverick, Bonanza, Big Valley, and The Virginian. He seemed very comfortable with Westerns.
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### Author:  [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)
#### Post date: [November 20, 2011, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-valley-episode-directed-by-paul-henreid/603511/3 "2011-11-20T02:40:50Z")
> [@aceplace57](#):
>
> Paul Henreid directed a lot of tv. Maverick, Bonanza, Big Valley, and The Virginian. He seemed very comfortable with Westerns.
Interesting. I had no idea. Thanks!
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### Author:  [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)
#### Post date: [November 20, 2011, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-valley-episode-directed-by-paul-henreid/603511/4 "2011-11-20T02:46:20Z")
Victor Lazlo? To me he’ll always be that \*dreamy \*Gerry Durrance whom Charlotte Vale met on the cruise ship. “Oh, Gerry–why ask for the moon? We have the stars.”
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### Author:  [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)
#### Post date: [November 20, 2011, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-valley-episode-directed-by-paul-henreid/603511/5 "2011-11-20T15:15:27Z")
> [@Eve](#):
>
> Victor Lazlo? To me he’ll always be that \*dreamy \*Gerry Durrance whom Charlotte Vale met on the cruise ship. “Oh, Gerry–why ask for the moon? We have the stars.”
Tsk! It’s “Oh, Jerry, don’t let’s ask for the moon. We have the stars!” 🙂
I do love Paul Henreid in _Now, Voyager_. But I prefer him in _Casablanca_; even though so many people think Victor Lazlo is a drip, I adore him. (But then I always tend to root for the runner-up/second banana guys, which is why I like Ralph Bellamy and Joseph Cotton so much.) Henreid _kills_ in my favorite scene from any movie ever – that inspiring moment when he sings _La Marseillaise_ with a steely glint in his eyes. Anyone who doesn’t get goosebumps from that is comatose or dead inside. Dead, I tells ya.
I love that he directed _The Big Valley_. How very cool. That’s actually a pretty fun series, not bad for a western. I don’t really associated as much with the other western TV shows, maybe because there’s more of a family soap opera vibe to it. It feels more akin to _Falcon Crest_ or _Dallas_ than _The Virginian_. Or maybe it’s just my bad memory talking, as it has been at least a decade since I last watched it.
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### Author:  [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)
#### Post date: [November 20, 2011, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-valley-episode-directed-by-paul-henreid/603511/6 "2011-11-20T15:24:13Z")
Crap, missed the editing window. But I wanted to add Wendell Corey to my list of much-loved “also-rans” who often seem to end up without the girl.
(I guess Joseph Cotten doesn’t really fit that list, since he did graduate from Orson Welles’ second-banana to leading man. But I tend to think of him as Holly in _The Third Man_, Jed in _Citizen Kane_, and Tony in _Since You Went Away_.)
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### Author:  [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2011, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-valley-episode-directed-by-paul-henreid/603511/7 "2011-11-21T02:01:06Z")
Wendell Corey beat out Burt Lancaster for the girl (Katherine Hepburn) in _The Rainmaker_.