Tunnel of Gold (1966) User Reviews (4)

Great acting saves this episode

[kfo9494 · 6/10 · 23 August 2012]

Perhaps not the most interesting show, but one thing you will carry from the episode is that a villain need not be uneducated. In this story we have Malachi Throne playing Frank Colder. Even if you do not remember anything about this episode, you will remember Frank Colder the leader of this band of criminals.

The story begins when an old friend of Victoria named Elaine Jason comes to Stockton. Elaine and her husband, Bert, are on their way to opening a general store in the growing Stockton community.

However what is unknown to Elaine is that her husband has plotted with Frank Colder- and since the store is next to the train station- they are to dig a tunnel to steal gold that is to be used for Barkley's payroll.

When Audra accidentally discovers the plan, she and Elaine are tied up in the basement of the store. And when the criminals hit a gas line, it fills the basement knocking out Audra and Elaine.

Frank Colder now has the gold and tells the others to leave the women in the basement. Bert Jason now has to either see his wife die or go against the tough Frank Colder.

Really not a bad episode but rather unremarkable. The story is predictable which lessen the interest in the show. The highlight was the actors. The regular, and guest, cast do a great job of making the characters come to life.

Merely alright

[summerfields · 6/10 · 14 April 2010]

Not a greatly admired episode personally, but it's fair.

Jeanne Cooper appears in the show for the second time, this time as a kindly old friend of the widow Barkley.

There is a underground (literally) band of thieves planning their gold heist and it's a bit contrived and mediocre in every sense.

I will say the that mastermind man is pretty despicable: a good actor, but hardly a likable personality! He's simply creepy.

The ending is trite (Audra's picking out a dress) but it's not unwatchable either: just an average 'filler' type.

Like Bradford Dillman, Jeanne Cooper appeared in the show twice: both performers did great jobs with their varied roles.

Not the best but not the worst

[mlbroberts · 6/10 · 9 May 2022]

At least Jeanne Cooper got to play a sympathetic character for a change. She was usually stuck playing creepy women, but here she is an old friend of Victoria's (Ms. Cooper also got stuck playing women older than she was, too - she was not Stanwyck's contemporary - she was actually younger than Richard Long).

Here she's the unsuspecting victim of her own husband, who turns out to be a former outlaw not so reformed. The plot is an often used one - bad guys take over a store to tunnel into the bank next door.

Not all that exciting and pretty predictable.

Larceny, Inc.

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 10 March 2016]

Fans of those old time Warner Brothers gangster films will no doubt recognize the plot of Larceny, Inc in this Big Valley story. That was the one where Edward G. Robinson bought a luggage store because it was next to a bank. He planned to tunnel into the bank and rob it with his two confederates. But Anthony Quinn chisels in on the deal and Robinson in the end becomes a good citizen.

That was played for laughs, but this one is quite serious where a new dry goods store is opened by Warren Stevens and Jeanne Cooper. Cooper never knew about her husband's murky past, but this was all a planned heist of a gold shipment arriving at a specific time at the express office next door.

Complications ensue when Linda Evans is caught in the store while Malachi Throne and a gang are doing their tunneling thing and is taken hostage.

Cooper's the star here as she learns that the man she married is definitely not what he seems to be. Stevens has to make some choices here as well as to whether he really wants an outlaw life.

If you've seen Larceny, Inc. you know how this one goes.