Barbara Bel Geddes – Dallas Decoder

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 14 – ‘Survival’

April 19, 2012 by Chris Baker 12 Comments

Bobby Ewing, Dallas, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy, Survival

Crash of the titans

Larry Hagman and Patrick Duffy appear three times in “Survival:” twice in the first act, when J.R. and Bobby board the Ewings’ private plane and when the aircraft begins its descent into Louisiana swampland, and again in the final scene, when the brothers return to Southfork, battered and bruised.

It’s a testament to the strength of “Dallas’s” ensemble that the show’s biggest stars aren’t missed that much. “Survival” seems designed to showcase “Dallas’s” other cast members, and they make the most of it – particularly Barbara Bel Geddes and Jim Davis, who do some of their finest work in this episode.

In one of my all-time favorite “Dallas” scenes, a tense Miss Ellie is talking with Ray in the Southfork foyer when someone knocks on the door. She opens it to find a snoopy newspaper reporter seeking a quote about the crash.

“Ray, get me the shotgun out of the hall closet,” Ellie says. Holding the gun, she tells the reporter, “Anybody on my land, without invitation, is a trespasser. So unless I see your tail heading out of here right now – and fast – I’m going to blow it off.”

I love the sight of Ellie, wearing pearls, wielding a shotgun and forcing a stranger off her property. The words and images are quintessential “Dallas:” modern people defending old values like land and family.

(TNT’s “Dallas” revival appears to pay homage to this scene in promos for its first episode, when elegant Brenda Strong, playing Southfork’s new lady of the manor, is shown cocking a shotgun.)

In another great “Survival” scene, Jock stands on the darkened Southfork patio and orders Ray to join the search party for J.R. and Bobby. “No matter how it turns out, dead or alive, bring my boys home,” Jock says.

Davis delivers the line with characteristic solemnity, but he pauses briefly before and after the “dead or alive” part, as if Jock has to muster the courage to utter the words. It’s a nice, gravity-adding touch.

Davis also does a nice job at the end of the episode, when Jock receives Ray’s call and learns J.R. and Bobby are alive. With quivering lips and wet eyes, he tells the ranch foreman to “bring them home.”

If you’re able to watch Davis here and not get choked up yourself, you’re a tougher “Dallas” fan than me.

Grade: A

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Call waiting

‘SURVIVAL’

Season 2, Episode 9

Airdate: November 12, 1978

Audience: 15.6 million homes, ranking 18th in the weekly ratings

Writers: D.C. Fontana and Richard Fontana

Director: Irving J. Moore

Synopsis: The Ewings’ plane crashes with J.R. and Bobby aboard. The family spends a tense night at Southfork awaiting word of their fate. Ray brings the brothers home, bruised but otherwise OK.

Cast: Barbra Babcock (Liz Craig), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Jim Davis (Jock Ewing), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Andy Jarrell (Ken Jackson), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), John Zaremba (Dr. Harlan Danvers)

“Survival” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (Classic), Opinion Tagged With: Barbara Bel Geddes, Jim Davis, Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy, Survival

Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘We’ve Had a Good Life, Ellie’

April 12, 2012 by Chris Baker 3 Comments

Barbara Bel Geddes, Bypass, Dallas, Jim Davis, Jock Ewing, Miss Ellie Ewing

Heart to heart

In “Bypass,” a second-season “Dallas” episode, Jock (Jim Davis) lies in his hospital bed, talking to Miss Ellie (Barbara Bel Geddes).

JOCK: [Smiling] You know, Ellie, sometimes I worry I, I don’t think I’ve been a very good father.

ELLIE: Yes, you have.

JOCK: Gary pulling out. Drifter. Maybe I could’ve done better by him but just didn’t know how.

ELLIE: Jock, don’t. Look at J.R. He may get on your nerves once in awhile, but he’s done wonders for Ewing Oil – a natural born businessman. And Bobby’s working the ranch. I like that. Maybe that’s the way to solve the whole problem.

JOCK: Maybe. [Serious] Ellie if, if anything happens to me, you keep the family together, you hear?

ELLIE: Nothing’s going to happen.

JOCK: Promise me. It means a lot.

ELLIE: [Smiling] To me, too. [Chuckles] Remember when my daddy didn’t give us five years together? [Jock laughs.] Sometimes I think he was right. We’re both so headstrong. Well, we’ve raised a family – and we’re still together.

JOCK: [Pushes a tray table away and Ellie moves closer] We’ve had a good life, Ellie.

ELLIE: We still do.

She kisses him.

Filed Under: Dallas Scenes of the Day, Dallas Scenes of the Day (Classic), Features Tagged With: Barbara Bel Geddes, Bypass, Jim Davis

Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘Then Go Get Him’

April 11, 2012 by Chris Baker 3 Comments

Barbara Bel Geddes, Dallas, Miss Ellie Ewing, Old Acquaintance, Pam Ewing, Victoria Principal

Don’t forget the miracle whip

In “Old Acquaintance,” a second-season “Dallas” episode, Pam (Victoria Principal) is brushing a horse’s mane when Miss Ellie (Barbara Bel Geddes) approaches.

ELLIE: Where’s Bobby?

PAM: I don’t know. He’s probably with Jenna.

ELLIE: You’re taking it well.

PAM: You think so? It doesn’t show then. It’s awful watching somebody you love slide away. Bobby’s known Jenna a lot longer and a lot of different ways. But I can handle Jenna. It’s the little girl that worries me. The child could tip it. There, I may be outmatched, Miss Ellie.

ELLIE: If you take that attitude, you are. Jenna was never stoical about anything in her life. When she goes down, she goes down kicking and screaming.

PAM: I don’t think kicking and screaming would help.

ELLIE: [Smiling] I knew a woman once. Her man couldn’t decide whether or not to do right by her. So she took a horsewhip to him. Helped him make up his mind fast.

PAM: I don’t think a horsewhip would work with Bobby.

ELLIE: I don’t see why not. It worked on his daddy all right.

PAM: [Smiling] Miss Ellie!

ELLIE: [Chuckles] Of course, I really wanted his daddy.

PAM: [Serious] I really want Bobby.

ELLIE: Then go get him.

PAM: Yeah. [She turns and walks toward the house.]

Filed Under: Dallas Scenes of the Day, Dallas Scenes of the Day (Classic), Features Tagged With: Barbara Bel Geddes, Old Acquaintance, Victoria Principal

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 8 – ‘Old Acquaintance’

April 11, 2012 by Chris Baker 14 Comments

Bobby Ewing, Dallas, Jenna Wade, Morgan Fairchild, Old Acquaintance, Patrick Duffy

Devil in a red blouse

“Old Acquaintance” should not be forgotten. This isn’t one of “Dallas’s” all-time best episodes, but it includes one of my all-time favorite “Dallas” scenes: the pep talk Miss Ellie gives Pam when it looks like her marriage to Bobby is on the rocks.

The conversation begins with Pam lamenting Bobby’s preoccupation with his old flame Jenna Wade and her daughter Charlie.

“I knew a woman once,” Ellie says. “Her man couldn’t decide whether or not to do right by her – so she took a horsewhip to him. Helped him make up his mind fast.”

“I don’t think a horsewhip would work with Bobby,” Pam responds.

“I don’t see why not. It worked on his daddy all right.”

It’s fun to imagine Ellie as a young spitfire, whipping Jock into shape. It isn’t a difficult mental picture to draw, either. Barbara Bel Geddes is wonderful as the Ewings’ wise, soft-spoken matriarch, but if you’ve seen her spirited performance in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 classic “Vertigo,” you know Bel Geddes, like Ellie, had a lot of spunk when she was younger.

Speaking of elegant actresses: Morgan Fairchild makes a marvelous Jenna Wade.

Fairchild is remembered as one of the great vixens of 1980s television, so it’s a bit surprising to see how restrained she is here. The actress resists the temptation to make Jenna bitchy. Instead, she plays her as a woman whose machinations are rooted in desperation, not vindictiveness.

“Old Acquaintance” is also memorable thanks to Robert Jessup’s sumptuous cinematography, particularly in Bobby and Jenna’s scenes in the park and during Ellie’s pep talk, when Victoria Principal’s raven hair pops against the backdrop of that green-gold Southfork pasture.

Of course, not everything here works: “Old Acquaintance” makes Pam seem pretty foolish when Bobby takes her to meet Jenna and Charlie at the little girl’s school.

During the visit, Pam sits in Bobby’s car and admires Charlie’s ragdoll Jewel – then accidentally leaves with it. You have to wonder: How does Pam not realize she’s holding the doll when she and Bobby drive away?

Forgetting an old acquaintance is understandable, but come on, Pam. You just met Jewel!

Grade: B

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Blonde in a bind

‘OLD ACQUAINTANCE’

Season 2, Episode 3

Airdate: October 7, 1978

Audience: 9.6 million homes, ranking 58th in the weekly ratings

Writer: Camille Marchetta

Director: Alex March

Synopsis: Jenna Wade, Bobby’s old flame, turns to him when her married lover ends their affair. Bobby suspects he may be the father of Jenna’s daughter Charlie and begins spending his free time with them. Pam confronts Jenna, who admits Bobby isn’t the father, and Bobby and Pam reconcile.

Cast: Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Jim Davis (Jock Ewing), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Morgan Fairchild (Jenna Wade), Laurie Lynn Myers (Charlie Wade), Nicki Flacks (Melissa Anderson), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Peter Mark Richman (Maynard Anderson), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing)

“Old Acquaintance” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (Classic), Opinion Tagged With: Barbara Bel Geddes, Morgan Fairchild, Old Acquaintance, Robert Jessup, Victoria Principal

Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘You Ought to Know That, Miss Ellie’

April 9, 2012 by Chris Baker Leave a Comment

Dallas, Jim Davis, Jock Ewing, Reunion Part 1

Mr. Ewing, tear down those walls

In “Reunion, Part 1,” “Dallas’s” second-season opener, Jock (Jim Davis) is on the Southfork driveway with J.R. and Sue Ellen (Larry Hagman, Linda Gray) when Miss Ellie (Barbara Bel Geddes) comes rushing out of the house.

ELLIE: He’s coming home!

JOCK: Who’s coming home?

ELLIE: Gary.

JOCK: Gary?

ELLIE: He met Bobby and Pam in Las Vegas, and they talked – and Jock, he’s just fine – and they’re all flying home this morning. Did you hear, J.R.?

J.R.: [Smiling] Yes, Mama, I heard.

ELLIE: So you just forget about the office this morning. And Sue Ellen, you won’t wanna be going into town, either.

SUE ELLEN: Of course not, Miss Ellie.

ELLIE: Because I think we should all be here when he arrives. [Serious] I don’t want anything to go wrong. Nothing. Do you hear, Jock? Whatever is done is done. Leave it that way. He’s still our son. [To J.R.] And your brother. You give him what he needs to fit back in. [To Jock] Don’t go putting up walls – either of you.

Jock begins walking away.

ELLIE: Jock? Jock, did you hear me?

JOCK: [Stops and faces her] What kind of a man do you think I am? My son’s coming home. I hardly know him. I’m not thinking about putting up walls – I’m thinking about tearing them down. You ought to know that, Miss Ellie.

He continues walking. She follows him.

Filed Under: Dallas Scenes of the Day, Dallas Scenes of the Day (Classic), Features Tagged With: Barbara Bel Geddes, Jim Davis, Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, Reunion Part 1

The Art of Dallas: ‘Barbecue’

April 6, 2012 by Chris Baker Leave a Comment

Jock and Miss Ellie (Jim Davis, Barbara Bel Geddes) are seen in this 1978 publicity shot from “Barbecue,” “Dallas’s” first-season finale.

Filed Under: Art of Dallas, Art of Dallas (Classic), Features Tagged With: Barbara Bel Geddes, Barbecue, Jim Davis

Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘Guess You’re Elected, Sugarplum’

April 5, 2012 by Chris Baker 1 Comment

Charlene Tilton, Dallas, Lucy Ewing, Winds of Vengeance

Be still

In “Winds of Vengeance,” a first-season “Dallas” episode, Miss Ellie (Barbara Bel Geddes), Lucy (Charlene Tilton) and Pam (Victoria Principal) sit on the living room sofa while Payton (Cooper Huckabee) points a gun at them, trying to decide who he’ll rape.

LUCY: [Crying] Ray used to go with Pam before she married Bobby!

ELLIE: [Holding Lucy] Lucy!

LUCY: Grandma, why should I have to…?

ELLIE: Lucy, you be still!

PAYTON: [To Pam] That true, beautiful?

PAM: Yeah.

PAYTON: Did pretty good for yourself.

PAM: I think I did.

PAYTON: So you was one of us?

PAM: I still am.

PAYTON: Well, then, you’re off the hook. We didn’t come here looking for one of us. We come looking for two of them. [To Lucy] Guess you’re elected, sugarplum.

Filed Under: Dallas Scenes of the Day, Dallas Scenes of the Day (Classic), Features Tagged With: Barbara Bel Geddes, Charlene Tilton, Cooper Huckabee, Victoria Principal, Winds of Vengeance

TV Critics Had Little Love for the Ewings at First

April 3, 2012 by Chris Baker 4 Comments

Barbara Bel Geddes, Bobby Ewing, Charlene Tilton, Dallas, Jim Davis, Jock Ewing, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, Lucy Ewing, Miss Ellie Ewing, Pam Ewing, Patrick Duffy, Victoria Principal

What’s not to love?

Television critics never loved “Dallas” – especially in April 1978, when CBS introduced the series as a late-season replacement for “The Carol Burnett Show.”

The New York Times’ John J. O’Connor dismissed “Dallas” as a “daytime soap opera gussied up with on-location Texas settings.” He called the show “enervating” and made the curious observation it offered “innumerable scenes of people getting into, driving or getting out of cars.”

O’Connor also lamented how “the fine stage actress” Barbara Bel Geddes was relegated to “wandering around among the players with about three lines of dialogue,” and he described Charlene Tilton as “sulking sexily through was appears to be an audition for a remake of ‘Baby Doll.’”

According to Barbara A. Curran’s 2005 book “Dallas: The Complete Story of the World’s Favorite Prime-Time Soap,” the Hollywood trade publication Variety assailed “Dallas” as “dull and contrived,” “the TV equivalent of women’s-magazine fiction” and “a limited series with a limited future.”

The Associated Press was a bit kinder, praising CBS for filming “Dallas” in Texas. “[T]he look it gives the show was worth the effort,” wrote the wire service’s critic, who wasn’t given a byline.

This critic also pointed out how “Dallas” was conceived as a star vehicle for “a certain glamorous actress” – Linda Evans, although the review doesn’t name her – and suggested Larry Hagman stole the spotlight from Victoria Principal, who was cast as Pam after Evans was dropped from consideration.

“By far, the meatiest role, at least in the opener, goes to Hagman,” the AP’s critic wrote. “He is deliciously wicked as he attempts to reject Miss Principal from the family bosom by any foul means.”

In the Globe and Mail, a Canadian newspaper, Blaik Kirby declared Hagman “curls a lip better than anyone,” while the Los Angeles Times’ Cecil Smith asserted the actor’s “smiling villainy is the role you remember.”

Smith also praised Jim Davis’s “flinty ferocity,” but the critic bemoaned how “Dallas’s” first episode spent so much time introducing the characters and their backstories “that there isn’t much room for plot.”

Still, Smith saw some promise in the new series.

“[T]he scene is set,” he wrote, “for some very steamy drama to come on the arid Texas plains.”

What did you think of “Dallas” the first time you watched it? Share your comments below and read more features from Dallas Decoder.