Dallas Goes To The Movies

[Angela Channing]

Have you noticed that so many Dallas episode titles took their names from films and other sources in popular culture? Here are a few examples:

April In Paris (Season 14 Episode 1) shares its name with a 1952 film starring Doris Day.

Fathers and Other Strangers (Season 13, episode 7). This title was probably based on the 1970 film Lovers and Other Strangers.

War and Love and The Whole Damn Thing (Season 12, episode 6) probably had its title based on the 1973 film Love and Pain and The Whole Damn Thing.

 

[Angela Channing]

Season 11 had loads.

After The Fall: Ewing Rise and After The Fall: Digger Redux (Season 11, episodes 1 & 2) were probably based on the 1964 Arthur Miller play After The Fall.

The Son Also Rises (Season 11, episode 3) was a pun on the 1957 film The Sun Also Rises:

Gone With The Wind (Season 11, episode 4) shared it's name with the novel and the 1939 film:

 

[Angela Channing]

Sticking with season 11, the next episode was The Lady Vanishes (Season 11, episode 5) which was the same title as the 1938 Alfred Hitchcock film:

Episode 7 was The Last Tango In Dallas (Season 11, episode 7), a clear reference to the 1972 Marlon Brando film The Last Tango In Paris.

Episode 8, Mummy's Revenge (Season 11, episode 8), might have been based on the English title of the 1975 Spanish film La Venganza De La Momia (The Mummy's Revenge).

 

[Karin Schill]

I have noticed some. I think the episode "Whatever happened to baby John Ross" is also a reference to the movie "Whatever happened to baby Jane" and I am sure there are even more examples. Over all it seems like the original Dallas writers were clever with paying homage to classic movies with their episode titles. I am sure this was done deliberately.

 

[Angela Channing]

I have noticed some. I think the episode "Whatever happened to baby John Ross" is also a reference to the movie "Whatever happened to baby Jane" and I am sure there are even more examples. Over all it seems like the original Dallas writers were clever with paying homage to classic movies with their episode titles. I am sure this was done deliberately.

Absolutely. As you said, Whatever Happened to Baby John Part 1 & 2 (Season 3 episodes 1 and 2) are a clear reference to the 1962 film Whatever Happened To Baby Jane.

Some are more obvious than others. For example, season 12 episode 23 was called The Sound of Money. Part of this episode was played out in Austria and April even does a lame attempt at twirling around on the top of a mountain like Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music which is probably on what the episode title was based.

 

[Angela Channing]

Season 11, episode 20 is called Farlow's Follies which is likely to be a reference to the theatre review show which was later to be made into the 1945 film Ziegfeld Follies.

A few years after this episode of Dallas was screened, there was a live musical review show in Palm Springs California which was inspired by Ziegfeld Follies and was called The Fabulous Palm Spring Follies. One of the headline acts in this new show was none other than Howard Keel, the Farlow in the episode Farlow's Follies.

 

[Angela Channing]

This one is a bit tenuous but the first episode as we all know is called Digger's Daughter (Season 1, episode 1) but could the writers have had the 1940 French film La Fille du Puisatier in their minds when they decided on the name? The English title of the film is The Well-Digger's Daughter.

 

[Karin Schill]

Funny I just watched "Digger's Daughter" tonight. The Dallas episode, not the movie!

But oh yeah I definitely agree with you about "The Sound of Money". It was inspired by "The Sound of Music" for sure.

Then there's also the episode in season 13 (DVD) which is called "I Dream of Jeannie"...

makes me think of the TV-show of course.

 

[Angela Channing]

Funny I just watched "Digger's Daughter" tonight. The Dallas episode, not the movie!

But oh yeah I definitely agree with you about "The Sound of Money". It was inspired by "The Sound of Music" for sure.

Then there's also the episode in season 13 (DVD) which is called "I Dream of Jeannie"...

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makes me think of the TV-show of course.

I Dream of Jeannie was quite a witty title for that episode: a reference to both Pam's double and to Larry Hagman's previous TV show.

Some of the episode titles used were very clever and unlike a show like Falcon Crest which had each episode title was on screen at the beginning of each show, none of the Dallas episode titles were known to the wider viewing public when they were broadcast so they had a bit more freedom it the names they chose for each show.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

A couple from Season Three:

Lover, Come Back

Ewing vs. Ewing

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Season Five:

Mama Dearest

The Sting

 

[Mel O'Drama]

And then there's Season Six's…


Hush, Hush, Sweet Jessie

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Season Seven had…


Shadow Of A Doubt

Terms Of Estrangement

Deliverance

 

[Angela Channing]

A few more.

Winds of Vengeance (season 1, episode 4) could have been inspired by the 1920 film Seeds of Vengeance.

For Love or Money (season 2, episode 15) shares it title with the 1963 film.

The Sweet Smell of Revenge (season 5, episode 5) could have been based on the 1957 film The Sweet Smell of Success.

 

[Angela Channing]

The title Black Market Baby (season 2, episode 5) might have been inspired by the 1945 film Black Market Babies.

Close Encounters (season 9, episiode 9) could have been inspired by the 1977 film Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

The title High Noon for Calhoun (season 10, episode 19) was based the 1952 film High Noon.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Their use of movie-inspired titles was kind of brilliant, especially since those titles didn't appear on screen and shouldn't have (it wouldn't have fit DALLAS' identity).

In contrast, DYNASTY named every installment "The Vendetta" and repeated it for 219 episodes.

 

[Angela Channing]

Three more:

The title Brother, Can You Spare a Child? (season 11, episode 13) must have been based on Brother, Can You Spare a Child? which was both a song and a 1975 film.

The title Start The Revolution With Me (season 4, episode 14) was based on the 1970 Gene Wilder film Start The Revolution Without Me.

The title Divorce Ewing Style (season 3, episode 21) was based on Divorce Italian Style, a 1961 Italian film with Marcello Mastroianni.