Dallas: The Early Years

TV Movie
1986
3h

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Larry Hagman, Dale Midkiff, David Marshall Grant, and Molly Hagan in Dallas: The Early Years (1986)

Digger Barnes is furious when his friend Jock Ewing starts dating the love of his life Ellie Southworth. He is also convinced that Jock has cheated him out of his share in their oil fields. ... Read allDigger Barnes is furious when his friend Jock Ewing starts dating the love of his life Ellie Southworth. He is also convinced that Jock has cheated him out of his share in their oil fields. And so begins the decades long Barnes-Ewing feud.Digger Barnes is furious when his friend Jock Ewing starts dating the love of his life Ellie Southworth. He is also convinced that Jock has cheated him out of his share in their oil fields. And so begins the decades long Barnes-Ewing feud.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.9/10

471

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys
- 2 nominations total

Photos

Storyline

Edit

Did you know

Edit

Trivia
It was originally intended for the character of Miss Ellie played by Barbara Bel Geddes to introduce this movie but because of ill health, the story was written to have J.R. (played by Larry Hagman) do the intro.

Goofs
In the last scene, young Cliff pulls his sister Pam away from a swing being pushed by little Bobby. In the next shot, as the camera pulls back from him, Bobby is no longer standing behind the swing but clear to the side of it.

Quotes
[first lines]
J.R. Ewing: Well, I don't know how much help I can give you. Daddy didn't keep any records in the early years.

Connections
Spin-off from Dallas (1978)

User reviews5

Review

Featured review

Was this flashback a dream?

I always wondered that since "Dallas, The Early Years" came out during the Dallas season that was later learned to be Pam's dream, if perhaps this flashback movie was also a dream.

I thought this movie didn't focus a lot of attention on the actual occurrence of the Jock-Digger breakup. I was a little underwhelmed by that. Basically, it focused on Jock and Digger's 1933 partnership and them fighting with Newman and the townfolk. Jock meets Ellie, and then Digger basically fight because Jock takes away Digger's liquor, then they immediately flip a coin to decide Ewing Oil? It appears that Jock is going to give Digger his share and doesn't consider it binding. Then the movie goes away from that theme, focuses on Jock's very quick romance with Ellie. Then it cuts to Digger being unhappy and then back to 1951 with Digger talking about Jock badly (just like he did in the real "dallas" show). But they never really talk about Jock's alleged stealing of Ewing Oil from Digger in 1933. Nor does Digger ever confront Jock and Ellie about their romance back in 1933. It just shows Digger mad a Jock in '51, which just as easily could have been 1978.