Falcon Crest/Dallas crossover confirmed?

[Richard Denault]

I don't know why this discussion started in the first place since it is obvious that this is not Barbara Bel Geddes. It's nothing but wishful thinking. This scene was filmed at Spring Mountain Vineyards in the Napa Valley in July 1985. The lady resembling Miss Ellie is not Barbara Bel Geddes, of course, but was a local hire in the Napa Valley, hired by Susan Robbins, the Wine Country casting director. Unfortunately, I can't remember what her name was. The other extra behind Lorenzo was Helen Catado, by the way, also a local hire. "Dallas" fans on this forum will know "Dallas" filmed approximately at the same time in Texas, so from that perspective alone it clearly wasn't Barbara Bel Geddes.

It is true that Barbara had no contact with Jane or Cesar Romero throughout their careers.
But it could not be shot at the end of July because the final draft is July 31 and the script modifications have dates of 8-08, 8-.09.8.10 and 8-29 The last day of filming was September 24 in Los Angeles. It could be that the 9-minute party with all the protagonists was shot part in Napa and part in Los Angeles

 

[Matthew Blaisdel]

But why would they do that partly split, with 2 times hiring party extras?!

 

[Richard Denault]

But why would they do that partly split, with 2 times hiring party extras?!

At the party there are many close-ups with few extras. In the plane in question there are only Apolonia Lance and Ellie's lookalike and another extra
When Apollonia arrives at the party she only dates Lance. She does not greet Angela or any of the other main actors.
Apollonia had commitments and she couldn't be at the party?
In addition, it is a very long sequence, nine minutes, and it is possible that some shots were shot in Los Angeles.

 

[TJP]

It is true that Barbara had no contact with Jane or Cesar Romero throughout their careers.
But it could not be shot at the end of July because the final draft is July 31 and the script modifications have dates of 8-08, 8-.09.8.10 and 8-29 The last day of filming was September 24 in Los Angeles. It could be that the 9-minute party with all the protagonists was shot part in Napa and part in Los Angeles

Ana, thanks for bringing the script revision dates to my attention.

I double-checked some more production documents in our archives and have to correct my original post. I made a mistake in my original post because I overlooked that # 107 <5.09> was from the second 6-episode "Napa block".
Here are the exact shooting days of that episode:
- Distant location (Napa Valley): August 7, 9, 15, 19, 23, 27 and 29, 1985.
- L.A.: August 30 and September 5 and 10, 1985.

The party scene was completely filmed on location at Spring Mountain, as you can see clearly in all the party segments. I spoke to Helen Catado, who was one of the local Napa Valley extras in the party, and she confirmed the party was filmed on two consecutive shooting days because they did not get all the scenes in the can on one day.
There is no reason to speculate that Apollonia might not have been at Spring Mountain. She actually was and did film all her scenes for the party there. There are even lots of publicity photos of her and Lorenzo on the driveway and near Villa Miravalle.