Although it is still true today, the '60s and '70s had very few roles for women that didn't fit the trope of a young ingenue. Especially in the past, the world of movies was unfairly inhospitable to ladies over 40.

However, in 1965, the then-58-year-old Barbara Stanwyck found refuge on TV's The Big Valley. The medium provided her with a new home, and she took shelter from the storm of being a "woman of a certain age" in Hollywood. Where she'd struggled to find film roles that suited her tastes, as Victoria Barkley on The Big Valley, Stanwyck was able to continue showcasing her commanding presence. She also commanded the respect of everyone onset, which may not have been the case had she chosen to pursue other creative outlets.

For instance, around this time period, one of the few bankable genres for a woman Stanwyck's age was horror. An entire subgenre rose to make use of aging starlets of Old Hollywood. This cycle of movies, called "hagsploitation," is oftentimes also referred to as Grande Dame Guignol and hag horror. And while there are certainly examples of successful films within this subgenre, Barbara Stanwyck wanted more.

Compared to contemporaries such as Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, who willingly exploited their age in movies such as What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? and Strait-Jacket, Barbara Stanwyck just wasn't a fan. Westerns, it seems, were more her style.

"I'm crazy about old movies and watch quite a bit of television," Stanwyck told The Kansas City Star in 1967. "I especially like the Westerns... both the movies and the competition, the series. I want to see what the competition's doing.

As for horror, well, Stanwyck "really doesn't care about doing the type of thing" Crawford and Davis found profitable during the era. 

"The problem is," said Stanwyck, "that they really don't write good roles for women anymore, and if they don't write them, where the hell are you going to get a role? Sure, I'd like to do movies, but when you get my age you have to be realistic. It's a different plateau, and it's different to get a role in a movie. 

As for her dreams at that particular moment in her career, Stanwyck wanted one more bite at the apple.

"I'm not going to do a version of Mother Knows Best... But I would like one great part before I take the veil." 

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