MAVERICK Mondays: "Escape to Tampico" (1958)

MAVERICK Mondays: Number 32 

MAVERICK: "Escape to Tampico" (Warner Brothers/ABC-TV 1958) Starring James Garner as Bret Maverick, Gerald Mohr as Steve Corbett, Barbara Lang as Amy Lawrence, John Hubbard as Paul Brooks, Paul Picerni as Rene Gireaux, Tony Romano as Chicuelo, Louis Mercier as Raul Gireaux, Ralph Faulkner as Ziegler, William D. Gordon as Sam Garth, Nacho Galindo as Carlos.  Written and Directed by Douglas Heyes.

A lengthy case of runbad on a riverboat trip to New Orleans leaves Bret Maverick flat busted and open to an intriguing business proposition from Rene Gireaux, who offers a $1,000 advance, to be quintupled later.  Gireaux needs an American citizen, of "exquisite tastes, but bankrupt" to bring Steve Corbett, murderer of his son, to justice.  No, not at gunpoint: Bret's task is to merely persuade Corbett back to U.S. soil from Tampico, where he runs a casino.

The opportunity to replace his full bankroll and then some sends broke Bret across the Gulf of Mexico to La Cantina Americana in the titular city.  After finding employment in the genial Corbett's establishment, Bret also finds himself believing the expatriate's claim of innocence and nullifies the agreement with Gireaux.  Maverick's expertise assists Corbett in weeding out cardsharps and disloyal employees who are cheating the proprietor, and grateful Corbett rewards the gambler with a fair share of the savings.  When sultry singer Amy Lawrence entices Corbett to follow her to Corpus Christi, Bret is left in charge--but also smells a trap, leaving Maverick with a difficult decision.  Should he stay or should he go?

Gifted writer-director Douglas Heyes wrote a MAVERICK styled noir for each lead during the second season: Prey of the Cat for Jack Kelly and Escape to Tampico for Garner.  The former is far grimmer but surprisingly the more successful of the two.  Part of the problem is the setup: while Bart is the femme fatale's victim in Cat, giving us a much higher emotional investment in the proceedings, Bret is essentially a spectator in his installment which really highlights a cynical Gerald Mohr in a role that plays off the actor's resemblance to Humphrey Bogart.

Visually, Escape to Tampico looks like Heyes' version of a MAVERICK CASABLANCA, even using the same sets as that 1942 classic.  Steve Corbett operates a nightclub/casino, wears a white suit, refuses to ever drink with the customers and can't return to his homeland.   Sounds familiar--but that last problem really points towards this episode's larger inspiration: ALGIERS.  In the 1938 American version, Charles Boyer's Pepe Le Moko (title of the original French film) is a wanted man elsewhere turned pillar of the local community.  His Achilles heels? Longing for both the France he can't return to and the visiting femme fatale who reminds him of it.  (Mohr fits only the second qualification for most of Escape to Tampico--more on that below.)

Heyes doesn't entirely do away with humor in Escape to Tampico: Bret pulls a humorous con to get the casino job originally refused him and has a ready quip for each crooked patron he dismisses from La Cantina Americain.  That's about it, though, and as Bret's immediate problem of bankroll health subsides, Steve's unrequited love moves to the fore.  We eventually learn that Steve killed Victor, but he hints it was justified, and it seems out of character for Bret to make himself the last line of defense against a man who saved his life earlier.  Bret he also proves his erstwhile self description as the "second slowest gun in the west" inaccurate as he outdraws the expatriate.  With less than convincing incentive to play the hero and an often peripheral role here, this is arguably the least satisfying Garner solo episode of the usually stellar 1958-59 batch. 

Steve would likely sniff out the trap if he questioned the patron who triggered Amy's sudden departure, since it appears the customer really has no connection to the American beauty.  It appears that Steve's cool is being melted by desperation and loneliness (again, paralleling Boyer rather than Bogart) but on the whole all motivations (save Gireaux') are nowhere near as delineated as in Prey of the Cat.  Does Steve have a death wish?  He might--after all, was it inexperience that had his dealers pulling the wool over his eyes or distraction?  Corbett gives the impression of being grateful for Bret's help, which would seem to indicate his life still has meaning to him.  Corbett's closing line also rings a little false: stating he didn't want to die in Mexico hints of a longing for the U.S.A.  It's another clear homage, as Bogart's Rick fought for the losing side of the Spanish Civil War.  But Corbett smuggled services for the losing side of the U.S. Civil War for a Confederacy that no longer exists, so that parallel doesn't translate so smoothly.  

Mohr's the focus here but actually had a better showcase in You Can't Beat the Percentage a season later, an episode more faithful to the MAVERICK universe than this one.  Escape to Tampico isn't terrible, just a couple of steps down from Heyes' usual contributions--it could have been an episode of just about any straight-faced Western of the period.  For MAVERICK or for Douglas Heyes that's a letdown.  Hey, nobody's perfect. 

HOW'D BRET DO AT POKER?

Disastrously.  He lost $2,311 at the tables on his Riverboat trip from Memphis to New Orleans (plus the $47 he spent on the trip), then the $1,000 dollar bill safety pinned in his coat at the table in The Big Easy.

BOTTOM LINE:

It's a close race between Hargrove and Heyes as to who had the better MAVERICK track record.  Heyes had success with several atypical installments, but the reduced emphasis on Bret and uncharacteristic lack of clarity makes Escape to Tampico the weakest of his second season contributions.  Not terrible but in the end unsatisfying.  In a landmark season, average looks worse than it is.  Still worth a look for the typically strong contribution from Gerald Mohr and even more references to the cinema classics above than I listed--it'll take more than one viewing to catch them all.  (**1/2 out of four)

 

MAVERICK currently airs at 5 A.M. Central on Heroes and Icons (Dish Channel 293) and 9 A.M. Saturdays on MeTV (Dish Channel 55).

MAVERICK Mondays: "A Flock of Trouble" (1960)

MAVERICK Mondays: Number 31

 

MAVERICK: "A Flock of Trouble" (Warner Brothers/ABC-TV 1960) Original Air Date: February 14, 1960.  Starring James Garner as Bret Maverick, Myrna Fahey as Dee Cooper, Merritt Bohn as Big Coley, George Wallace as Verne Scott, Tim Graham as Jensen, Armand Alzamora as DeBasco, Donnelly Rhodes as Cain, Chet Stratton as Crabhill, Irving Bacon as McFadden.  Written by Jim Barnett, Ron Bishop and Wells Root.  Directed by Arthur Lubin. 

When his three Kings bests Big Coley's trip Queens during an impromptu poker game while their stagecoach is delayed, Bret Maverick finds himself the owner of "three thousand head" in lieu of the considerable cash he's just taken from Coley.  As was the case in Relic of Fort Tejon, Bret has misunderstood the loser: upon arriving at his new ranch, he finds himself the proud owner of 3,000 sheep, not cattle.  

And since Bret's new spread is right in the heart of cattle country, he finds himself inheriting a range war to go with the acreage.  The cattlemen, headed by Scott, are hankering to meet up with this "new owner Maverick", so Bret alertly introduces himself as Gordon W. Howitzer, range inspector from Washington, D.C.  Scott is immediately suspicious of this "federal man" who smells of sheep, but "Gordon" makes a needed ally in the richest owner of the bunch--Ms. Cooper.  Since she's Scott's intended, Howitzer has his wary eye at all times but reinforces the bond by treating the tomboyish Dee like a lady.

A Flock of Trouble is easily the best of three teleplays from the team of Ron Bishop and Wells Root (The  Maverick Line).  Lifting the premise from THE SHEEPMAN and working from a story by F TROOP co-creator Jim Barnett, the duo strikes the right balance this time, as Bret Maverick again wins a poker prize that might well be more Trouble than it's worth.  After belatedly realizing he's been sold a bill of goods, Bret deftly charms the one cattle owner who can save his neck by reading her correctly: underneath that tomboy is a beautiful young woman eager to let her feminine side shine.

Dee's no-nonsense if not tough exterior (instilled by her father, who wanted a boy) melts considerably once Bret charms her with poetry and a dress, but Maverick's charm only hardens Verne Scott's deep distrust.  No points for figuring that Scott has an ulterior motive to "merge" with Cooper's considerable spread, but despite this predictable twist A Flock of Trouble stays lean and amusing throughout.

As in the aforementioned Relic of Fort Tejon, Bret gets to deal with a scene stealing animal--in this case, a sheepdog named Heather.  In fact, the funniest scene involves Bret sweating being outed by the adoring canine in a cantina full of disapproving cattlemen. 

The unfortunately unsung Myrna Fahey was usually relegated to bland "good girl" roles and barely more than a bit player in Duel at Sundown.  She got her best MAVERICK role here and made the most of it, looking revelatory in her new dress.  Dee might seem a little too willing to buy Howitzer's line, but one can see how she'd crave the gentlemanly attention to that point: intended Wallace is too cold (basically treating her like one of the boys) and everyone else is way too intimidated by him to provide any competition.  

Director Arthur Lubin loomed largest in season three, with 9 of his 11 episodes coming in this batch. Originally airing on Valentine's Day, A Flock of Trouble doesn't quite reach the heights of his classic Maverick and Juliet (arguably the season's very best) but is a vast improvement for director and writers from their prior collaboration, the too-silly Cats of Paradise.   With "Seward's Folly" in Alaska figuring prominently in the plot, this one almost certainly takes place in 1867.  

HOW'D BRET DO AT POKER?

What should have been a hefty win ended up being muted by a typical Maverick misunderstanding on property taken in lieu of cash. Still, Bret's ending net was roughly $500, since he was into the game for $1,000 by his own estimate, and he received $1,500 for his 3,000 head of sheep.  Far short of his anticipated $36,000 windfall, and took a considerable amount of grief to get, but as any poker player understands, a profit is a profit.

WISDOM FROM PAPPY?

"Lightning can strike twice in the same place."  This was the Wise One's initial reaction to the birth of son Bart, according to Bret.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

A pretty lady gets Bret in a bit of trouble with a corrupt insider, after Bret fails to vet a poker foe's substitution for a lost stake.  I know, stop me if you've heard it.  But isn't that everything one expects from MAVERICK?  Delivered in a tight script from Bishop, Root and Barnett, A Flock of Trouble would make a solid addition to any season.  Not quite top tier but not too far from it, with lots of amusement if few surprises and a choice role for an overlooked starlet who died way too young (Fahey was 40 when she passed away in 1973).  (***1/2 out of four)

MAVERICK airs every Saturday morning at 9 A.M. Central Time on MeTV, and every weekday morning at 5 A.M. Central Time on Heroes and Icons. 

MAVERICK Mondays: "A Tale of Three Cities" (1959)

 

MAVERICK Mondays: Number 30  

MAVERICK: "A Tale of Three Cities" (ABC-TV/Warner Brothers 1959) Original Air Date: October 18, 1959.  Starring Jack Kelly as Bart Maverick, Pat Crowley as Stephanie Malone, Ben Gage as Sheriff John Hardy, Ray Teal as Sheriff Murray, Ed Kemmer as Sherwood Hampton, Barbara Jo Allen as Mrs. Hannah Adams, Louis Jean Heydt as Jim Malone, Frank Richards as Sam, Leake Bevil as Pete.  Written by Leo Townsend and Robert Vincent Wright.  Directed by Leslie H. Martinson.

The first of our titular cities is Gold Flats, where Bart Maverick wins $800 in a poker game and is promptly relieved of it by businesslike but polite female bandit Stephanie.  The next morning Bart finds that Sheriff Murray will be of no help, since it was the mayor Bart bested in last night's game.  Forced on the next stage out of town by the lawman, Bart ends up in our second city, Brotherly.

After chatting up Mrs. Adams on the stage over, Bart finds a reception to match the name despite the clean nature of Brotherly.  Brotherly Bart charms Adams' Ladies Aid group with an inspiring story of his triumph over the evils of gambling.  Even better, Maverick recognizes Ms. Malone in the group by her ring and perfume, and learns the real reason she robbed him--to pay off her father's debt, incurred in a card game in neighboring Hampton, where one can find all the evils expunged from Brotherly.  You guessed it: Bart completes the trifecta by entering Mr. Hampton's (crooked) game next door.

The third season of MAVERICK brought an almost entirely new group of writers to the show, and A Tale of Three Cities was the first contribution for both Robert Vincent Wright (The Bold Fenian Men) and Leo Townsend (Maverick Springs).  This crucial first sale for 40 year old Wright was the first step away from his Seattle day job: supervisor of motion pictures in Boeing's engineering division.  Wright only provided the story in his debut but with encouragement from producer Coles Trapnell, he would go on to script The People's Friend and the hilarious Greenbacks, Unlimited solo.  Wright literally stayed with MAVERICK to the end, authoring the 1962 series finale, One of Our Trains is Missing.

Roy Huggins observed that Jack Kelly would sometimes deliver a punchline with "a little too much care", and this comes to pass during reformed gambler Bart's luncheon speech.  That said, Kelly mostly acquits himself well during both sermon and the season's heightened emphasis on the show's comedic elements, getting several witty lines from Townsend and some perfectly played physical humor during the barnyard climax--featuring some unhelpful surprises from a chicken and a rake.  

Best of all is the opportunity for Bart to make himself at home during incarceration, giving Kelly some choice interaction with Ben Gage, reprising his James Arness imitation after a very memorable performance in Gun-Shy.  John Hardy is far less hypocritical than Mort Dooley but more constrained by the book and more competent overall.  With Gage playing the role and Gun-Shy so prevalent in MAVERICK memories, it's a subversion of expectations to see Hardy bonding with Bart and proving to be a capable, if still rigid, Sheriff (though his blind spot is exploited in a big way by Hampton).

Helped by Martinson's sure hand, the writers debut with a great grasp of MAVERICK and Maverick.  Bart might be caught off guard by his thief, but his resourcefulness has rarely been on display so frequently in one segment: charming the Brotherly ladies enough to have them petitioning to his release (and making him the most comfortable prisoner in city history), picking up on Hampton's cheating before he even joins the game (a nice touch by Martinson with a simple cut of the cards), and staying several steps ahead of his adversary afterward.  (Yes, a woman can get the drop on Bart, but three men can't--nice rebound, Bart!)  Interestingly the cheat Bart sidesteps is lifted from UNHOLY PARTNERS, in which executive producer William T. Orr co-starred early in his acting career.

A Tale of Three Cities does contain one very noticeable misstep: Hampton's rather foolhardy gagging and binding of the Sheriff, who is left awake to witness the cardsharp's theft.  The villain's impatience makes little sense with little more than a week to go on Bart's sentence, and permanently, flagrantly getting on Hardy's radar makes even less.  It's the MAVERICK swan song for the always welcome Pat Crowley (The Rivals), but Ben Gage would return to parody Marshal Dillon twice more.

HOW'D BART DO AT POKER?

Maverick won $800 in Gold Flats as noted, and another $2,000 in Hampton Center.  He ended up giving Stephanie $1500 of the winnings in total (the additional $700 voluntarily) and $100 more went to the Brotherly saloon owner for property damages, leaving Bart with a still solid $1200 profit.

WISDOM FROM PAPPY?

The Ladies Aid Luncheon speech contained a trifecta of pearls: "The only way to throw dice is to throw them away"; "Son, shun the roulette wheel as if it were the Devil's turntable" and finally "Get out, and work with your hands".  Real quotes or not?  Since Pappy was always consistent in telling the boys to stick to poker and had a dim view of other casino games, they could be authentic.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Consistently intriguing and amusing entry despite the rather glaring misstep late, A Tale of Three Cities remains highly watchable.  The situation seems less perilous than in the show's top tier installments, but everyone involved is in good, if not great form.  A solid addition to the MAVERICK queue, if not the first I'd choose for either the series or the season.  Wright and Townsend both had better scripts ahead of them, but overall A Tale of Three Cities is a pretty good start for both.  (*** out of four)

There's ample opportunity to catch MAVERICK these days: on MeTV at 9 A.M. Central every Saturday; on Encore Westerns every weekday at 3:35 P.M. Central, and on Heroes & Icons every weekday at 5 A.M. Central.  Regardless of where you watch it, it's a legend of the west and always worth catching. 

  

MAVERICK Mondays: "Two Tickets to Ten Strike" (1959)

MAVERICK Mondays: Number 29








MAVERICK: "Two Tickets to Ten Strike" (ABC-TV/Warner Brothers 1959)  Original Air Date: March 15, 1959.  Starring James Garner as Bret Maverick, Connie Stevens as Frankie French, Andrea King as Mae Miller, Lyle Talbot as Martin Scott, William D. Gordon as Eddie Burke, Adam West as Vic Nolan, Roscoe Ates as Joe the Barber.  Written and Directed by Douglas Heyes.


During the long stage ride to Ten Strike, New Mexico from Tucson, Bret Maverick makes the acquaintance of dance hall girl French.  He does so with reluctance, but finds the effervescent young lady hard to shake.  With only one hotel in town, Maverick is gentlemanly in spite of himself: Bret ends up moving Frankie's considerable baggage and losing a much anticipated hot bath to the showgirl.

Maverick also finds himself unwelcome in Ten Strike: Nolan and Burke strongly advise him to be on the next stage the morning after his arrival.  Later, they drive the point home physically.  Frankie gets a far warmer greeting.  In fact, she's been summoned to the New Mexico town for her "everlasting benefit" by a mysterious benefactor.  She's flattered, but increasingly smitten with Maverick, who wonders just who wants him out of town.  And why.

Douglas Heyes' penultimate MAVERICK begins as light comedy, with the ever put-upon Bret finding himself constantly intertwined with French long beyond their shared stagecoach ride.  True to form, he makes her pay for the stolen bath but allows himself to be guilted into sharing his meal after it breaks her.  The contrast between perky Frankie and laconic (at least until he's had his coffee) Bret allows for plenty of quick bantering punctuated by Maverick's repeated denials of romantic interest.

"My Pappy told me there's just about three reasons most men do anything: Greed, Curiosity and Anger."

Frankie is intrigued more by Bret's character than her secret admirer's (presumed) money, and Maverick's failure to heed the friendly warning has her thinking the feeling is mutual.  Nope: it's Pappy's first option that keeps his son past curfew: Bret outstays the stage at Ten Strike's poker tables.  The session is far from profitable, but Pappy knew his offspring well.

"Pappy said most men, but he was looking right at me when he said it".

A considerable amount of MAVERICK's appeal stems from watching that greed in action, but it was always overstated in comparison with Bret's curiosity, which gets him into more hopeless (but not serious) situations that he'd care to admit.  Upon arrival, Maverick doesn't expect a lengthy stay in the titular town, but sure enough, Pappy's second reason keeps Bret there for the rest of Two Tickets to Ten Strike.

"I bought some hats!  I always buy hats when I'm confused."
"I believe it.  I've seen some of 'em."

Pappy didn't mention "love" as one of his three reasons, and while Bret never appears to fall for Frankie, the daffy damsel certainly grows on him.  Maverick ends up kissing her three different times, and actually leaves a poker table when he hears she's been jailed!  For once, it appears that Bret's resistance to matrimony might well be futile!  In the end, though, Stevens and French were both one and done in the MAVERICK universe despite this auspicious debut.  You can probably thank her long-running HAWAIIAN EYE berth (which began just a few months later) for that--she's one of Bret's very best leading ladies.

Stevens has formidable competition in the vavavoom department from the always photogenic Andrea King, beginning to make the rounds at Warner Brothers television after a healthy run in features.  King scored multiple appearances on 77 SUNSET STRIP and THE ALASKANS, but despite her memorable turn here as the proprietress with a past, this was her only MAVERICK.  Too bad--you can't take your eyes off her.

West and Gordon

Two Tickets to Ten Strike is the first of three episodes for Adam West, who would return in Pappy and A Fellow's Brother during the third season.  And since it's a Douglas Heyes Joint, future screenwriter William D. Gordon is here, too, as West's partner in crime.  A poker dealer in both Escape to Tampico and (uncredited) Two Beggars on Horseback, Gordon would end up writing and producing for IRONSIDE and TWELVE O'CLOCK HIGH among others.  This was the last of his four segments; Gordon's most substantial MAVERICK role was that of a suspicious ranch hand turned would-be vigilante leader in Heyes' frightening Prey of the Cat.

HOW'D BRET DO AT POKER?

He lost $200 learning how the game is played in Ten Strike, and was preoccupied the rest of the time.  Even when he belatedly made his way out of town, he got dragged away from his next game when a stranger piqued his curiosity.  Speaking of that....

WISDOM FROM PAPPY?

The first proverb from the Maverick patriarch is discussed above, but we get another dose later, and  the second Pappyism is my personal favorite of the entire series: "A coward dies a thousand deaths.  A brave man only once.  A thousand to one is a pretty good advantage."

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Not quite on a par with Two Beggars on Horseback, but a solidly drawn addition to the eclectic mix Heyes contributed to MAVERICK's finest season.  Two Tickets to Ten Strike bookends a plot-heavy middle with as close as the show got to classic screwball comedy.  On the downside, the repartee between Garner and Stevens is missed when disappearing for the intrigue.  But there's much more to savor: Roscoe Ates' deadpan cameo, an atypically sympathetic role from LOVE THAT BOB "wolf" Lyle Talbot.  Best of all, two of Pappy's quintessential aphorisms are present and illustrated perfectly by the action that ensues.    (***1/2 out of four)

MAVERICK airs every Saturday morning on MeTV at 9 A.M. Central, and every weekday afternoon on Encore Westerns at 3:35 P.M. Central.

MAVERICK Mondays: "The Sheriff of Duck 'n' Shoot" (1959)

MAVERICK Mondays: Number 28







MAVERICK: "The Sheriff of Duck 'n' Shoot" (1959 ABC-TV/Warner Brothers) Original Air Date: September 27, 1959.  Starring James Garner as Bret Maverick, Jack Kelly as Bart Maverick, Peggy McCay as Missy Maybrook, Chubby Johnson as Deputy Billy Waker, Jack Mather as Judge Hardy, Donald "Red" Barry as Fred Leslie, James Gavin as Buck Danton, Hal Baylor as Bimbo, Irving Bacon as Andrews, Billy Greene as Herman, Richard Cuttling as Smitty, Fred Aldrich as Ferguson.  Written by William Driskill.  Directed by george waGGner.  


Getting up to cash in his poker winnings in the titular township's (population 1,018) saloon, Bret gets credit for the inadvertent result of an agitated horse's kick: the subduing of town bully Ferguson.  That makes him the closest candidate the unfortunate city has to replace the recently departed sheriff, with a little bit of blackmail--the impounding of Bret's winnings--inducing a six month appointment.

Maverick's first day on the job starts inauspiciously: he learns he's the twenty-third sheriff that his new deputy has worked for, and Bimbo Ferguson is determined to wreck Duck n' Shoot as vengeance for his brother's incarceration.  On the other hand, newcomer Melissa ("Call me Missy") Maybrook wants to make the sheriff's acquaintance, so it isn't all bad...or is it?  She's also secretly partnering with Danton and Leslie, well known bank robbers who will be the novice lawman's next challenge.

"I'm unreliable.  I'm a terrible shot.  And this I mean most sincerely--I have been for as long as I can remember--a coward."

Despite the shortcomings that Bret modestly details, he turns out to be the most successful lawman in the history of Duck 'n' Shoot.  (At least, for a month--more on that below.)  Yes, the disabling of Frank was nothing more than dumb luck, but that was before Bret had the badge.  Reluctantly pinning it on and trying to hide it as he does, Maverick nevertheless deserves full credit for the vast reduction in crime on his watch.  The methods are all his.

When Bimbo arrives to test out the new Sheriff by trashing the town, Bret gambles with him--winning a day's incarceration with three nines to the junior Ferguson's two pair.   When a fight breaks out in the saloon, Bret wins money on it--which disgusts the participants into peace.  Interestingly, Bret subtly cheats on both occasions, something he'd never do (he never has to) while he's at the poker table.  Tellingly, Maverick only feels guilty about his deception with the deck.  ("Forgive me, Mr. Hoyle" he says with raised eyes.  Begging God's forgiveness?)

One can't fully blame Bret Maverick for keeping such income supplements with a salary of $84 a month keeping him away from a poker table that netted him nearly sixty times that in a day.  (I counted $260 in brawl-related winnings, myself.)   The Judge admits that Bret is earning every penny--as long as he's dealing with male criminals.  As might be expected, Bret's weakness is Missy Maybrook.  Bret doesn't completely trust her--note his relocation of the bank's funds once he thinks she's out of eyeshot--but she proves to be his Achilles heel nevertheless.  Too bad--Deputy Waker might well have put Bret's picture on the wall alongside Pat Garrett's if he'd kept that early momentum going.

"Then throw in nine more 'helps'." 

As he had in Shady Deal at Sunny Acres, Bart comes to his brother's aid capably.  Naturally, it is strongly hinted that collecting a debt from Bret brings him to the titular town more than any sense of brotherly love.  Bart proves less susceptible to the winsome lass than his brother, but clearly knows they have the same limitations: the younger brother is notably leery at having to resist her for a long period of time in the coda.  Peggy McCay had one of television's longest careers (started in 1949, ended in 2017!) and would return to bedevil both Mavericks again in The Maverick Line.

The Sheriff of Duck 'n' Shoot is also an auspicious debut for both its director and writer.  George waGGner was most often behind the camera on 77 SUNSET STRIP (he helmed 41 episodes), but returned to show his serious side: he wrote and directed his next installment, the underrated You Can't Beat the Percentage.  Leonard Driskill turned out to be a one-hit wonder after this hilarious opener, at least as far as MAVERICK goes: his second and last teleplay for the series was the disappointing Trooper Maverick.  This one, though, is near-perfectly paced and very well calculated, with only Maybrook's decision to back Bart seeming slightly perfunctory.

A sly commentary on the merits of the peace officer versus the law-and-order type, The Sheriff of Duck 'n' Shoot makes that point as well as any ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW, and for my money even better than Garner's later hit SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHERIFF!.  Further analysis on the virtue of being a rascal while taking on other rascals is pure MAVERICK--and pure fun from start to finish.  Another one of those episodes that demonstrates what made the series special, and a surprising number of those remained even after the loss of series creator Roy Huggins.

HOW'D BRET DO AT POKER?

$5,000 in winnings for Bret that the judge is holding in escrow.  Not too shabby, but actually pales in comparison to the success enjoyed by our crooks at the table: Leslie pockets $8,000 and Danton a whopping $12,000 respectively on the night they were supposed to be robbing the bank!  Who needs criminal activity?  And if the locals are that loaded and that terrible at the table, why isn't Duck 'n' Shoot a regular stop on the Maverick Poker Tour?

WISDOM FROM PAPPY?

Driskell gives us more Pappyisms than I can recall in any other single episode: five.

"The worst crime a man can commit is to interrupt a poker game."  Very true, Beauregard.

"If you know a man's weakness, you know the way to his heart."  The Judge is convinced of Pappy's intelligence with this one.

"Try everything once, and if you don't succeed, then become a lawman."  One of Pappy's truest proverbs?  Bret and Bart both tried to follow it.

"The next best thing to money is a man's name on the dotted line."  However, Bart was quickly contradicted by brother Bret on this one, who recalled Pappy saying:

"Sign nothing."  Indeed, the wise one was prone to contradict himself from time to time.

Driskell must have been tapped out, since Pappy had nothing further to offer in Trooper Maverick.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Three episodes into his stint as producer, Coles Trapnell shows that he has the juice to keep MAVERICK as subversive as before.  Both brothers take a turn in the Sheriff's office and demonstrate that brains can triumph over brawn in that profession, too.  As long as the big head does the thinking for the little head, anyway.  The Sheriff of Duck 'n' Shoot arguably bests even SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHERIFF!, going light on the silliness once the far-fetched knockout of Ferguson is out of the way.  With just the right amount of time taken to get to its twists and effective brotherly one-upmanship at its most concise, this is among the season's best.  (**** out of four)  


MAVERICK airs Monday through Friday commercial-free at 3:10 P.M. Central on Encore Westerns, and every Saturday morning at 9 A.M. on MeTV.

MAVERICK Mondays: "The Bold Fenian Men" (1960)

MAVERICK Mondays: Number 27 








MAVERICK: "The Bold Fenian Men" (1960 ABC-TV/Warner Brothers) Original Air Date: December 18, 1960.  Starring Roger Moore as Beau Maverick, Sharon Hugueny as Diedre Fogarty, Arthur Fields as Terence Fogarty, Arch Johnson as Colonel Summers, Lane Bradford as Sergeant Hanson, Herb Vigran as Ed, Jack Livesey as Patrick Hunter, James O'Hara as Sean.  Written by Robert Vincent Wright.  Directed by Irving J. Moore.

After being thrown off an Army post by Colonel Summers for gambling with the soldiers (mostly for winning) Cousin Beau Maverick finds himself under attack by Indians.  Rescued by the Colonel and taken into protective custody, Beau finds he won't be taking that trip to St. Louis after all.  Instead, he'll be accompanying the cavalrymen to Dakota City.

"I was there last year!  There's not a poker game in town!"

Despite Maverick's protests, it is better than 90 days in the guardhouse for his prior offense.  So Beau has to settle for games by campfire with the enlisted men until he learns the Colonel's real purpose for bringing him along.  A civilian is needed to infiltrate the titular Irishmen during their First Annual "Sons of the Shamrock" convention, which is really a ruse for their real plans: taking over Canadian land in order to force Ireland's independence from England.  When "O'Maverick" spots a poker game full of sons of the old sod, he warms to the assignment.  But the stakes are higher than Beau realizes: discovery as a spy would put the English cousin in front of a firing squad.

The fourth MAVERICK season is the show's most inconsistent, with most of the show's best writers having departed along with star James Garner.  Fortunately Robert Vincent Wright (Greenbacks, Unlimited) was still around, and he penned this bit of blarney inspired by the Irish revolutionaries who really did plot to invade Canada to win Irish independence in the late 1860's.  The Bold Fenian Men was originally intended for brother Bart, but Jack Kelly's hand injury forced him out of action temporarily and sent this story to Moore.  The casting change actually works to this episode's advantage: Beau being sent to infiltrate the Fenians with his "slight English accent" adds a little extra spice to the proceedings.

"A toast...to one of the bravest men I've ever known!"

Wright provides the gamut of humor, throwing in droll whimsy ("They're fightin' him one at a time!") and topical lines now lost to time ("I've got no time for Sergeants!") to go with the Irish stereotypes.  Director Moore gives star Moore plenty of opportunities for subtle, wordless asides (my favorite follows the Colonel's line above--referencing Maverick!) and some of the future SAINT's cheekiest moments as a Maverick.  Beau mansplaining the finer points of seduction to Diedre and thwarting attempts to inebriate him provide two of the episode's highlights.

But unfortunately, a deft touch isn't maintained for the segment's entirety.  Beau barking out commands to the shifty Sergeant Hanson during their fistfight is more F TROOP than MAVERICK, and what should be the episode's highlight--Beau's impudence in the face of a firing squad that he (wrongly) believes can't harm him--is dulled when Moore oversells the swoon at the conclusion.  Too bad: the buildup is very amusing and well paced. 

Sixteen year old Sharon Hugueny has a predictably inconsistent Irish accent, but is fine otherwise.  She would return opposite Jack Kelly in The Devil's Necklace.  Hugueny's career was interrupted by an ill-fated marriage to thirty-one year old Robert Evans the following year, and the starlet never regained her early momentum.  She's more than charming enough here to make one wonder what might have been.  The forever gruff Arch Johnson (Royal Four Flush) is in fine no-nonsense form as Summers.  The Colonel knows enough to hedge his espionage bets, but misses some key spot checks right under his nose.  Among the few male civilians is the always welcome Herb Vigran (The Golden Fleecing) amusingly wincin' o'plenty at the Emerald invasion of his hotel.

"According to military protocol, Mr. Maverick, do you have any last requests?"
"Yes.  Don't shoot."

While the James Garner comparisons aren't fair--Roger Moore had the misfortune to join the MAVERICK family after most of the good scripts had gone--they're unavoidable.  Nevertheless, when Beau was given one of those "always hopeless, but never serious" situations, Moore delivered capably, if not quite as smoothly as Garner or Kelly.  A mostly lighthearted farce grounded by its basis in historical fact, with Wright giving us one last actuality at the conclusion (the real life Fenians did indeed try multiple invasions of the Great White North), The Bold Fenian Men ends up as a highlight of both Moore's tenure and the disappointing fourth season.  Even if a little bit o' Irish music goes a long way for ya.

HOW DID BEAU DO AT POKER?

After doing well enough to be banished from the post, Beau seemed to be continuing his winning ways with the limited stakes available while the soldiers were camped out.  This despite the Sergeant's marked deck of cards.  Pastures appeared much greener with the whiskey-soaked Irishmen in Dakota City, but complications from Beau's mission kept his table hours there minimal.

WISDOM FROM PAPPY?

None this time.  Just as well, frankly, since the Pappyisms always sounded awkward when turned into Uncleisms.

The Fenian invasion was a subject that producer Coles Trapnell long thought to be fertile ground for a MAVERICK, and the execution is more often than not satisfying.  Significantly superior to the similarly themed Trooper Maverick.  Moore was too often let down by teleplays during his brief tenure as Cousin Beau, but in The Bold Fenian Men Wright gives the actor the kind of material he'd expected from what was likely television's best-written show just two years earlier.  Not quite a top-grade installment, but more memorable than most that aired during the too-often misguided fourth season.  (*** out of four)


MAVERICK airs every Saturday morning at 9 A.M. Central Time on MeTV, and weekdays at 3:10 P.M. Central on Encore Westerns Channel.