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Reviews
Maverick: Black Fire (1958)
A paean to Hans Conreid
Good story
Garner does a serviceable job pretending to be Homer Eakins
But James Garner is best at being James Garner and not anyone else.
But Hans Conreid is so absolutely wonderful that he becomes the reason to watch this more than once. Indeed lots more than once.
Maverick: The Savage Hills (1958)
Two charming actors...Jack Kelly and Diane Brewster
The opening scene where Samantha is trying to get the plates is a total gem. The script is witty and literate and the actors play it perfectly. Besides wonderful chemistry between Brewster and Kelly.....But of course it's the 50's so while there is kissing...one can never, ever imply that sex might come after kissing.
But here there is a wonderfully witty implication of sex using a series of prepositions that very much imply sex. Bart is going to get the sheriff and is locking Samantha into his room. "First I lock you IN, then I bring the sheriff UP, and your husband can get you OUT." Ah the sex act itself...while all they while they lean in toward each other and arch back and forth.
It is delightful
Of course he comes back to find her naked under the covers...and more disrobing goes on in this episode than anywhere else in 5 years of episodes.
Of course Jack Kelly has 3-5 different speech patterns and registers s he goes from pretend southerner mocking her to jailer to just a nice guy.
At this point in the series Jack Kelly is a very accomplished actor and James Garner is not so accomplished an actor. Garner does not have the range of voices and attitudes that Jack Kelly has already. Garner improves his range as an actor. We see that in his films and most certainly in the Rockford Files. He has something else but not a full range.
And I am baffled as to why Kelly was not considered funny. In many of his other movies like Bamboo Prison and the Audie Murphy movies he is hysterically funny. Garner got his first choice of scripts and so he benefitted from that a lot. For instance Black Fire is a great script blessed by Hans Conreid's presence. Kelly would have brought so much more to pretending being Homer Eakins than Garner did.
Of course he lucked out with this script as it was essential to the script that the Maverick in this episode NOT know who Samantha Crawford was. So it had to be Bart. It is a wonderful episode.
Maverick: Brasada Spur (1959)
Great Episode
Bart has never been more charming
He is clever at gaining her attention but he really falls for her
It is one of the few episodes where he develops a real relationship with a woman.
Men have no appreciation for how attractive he is in this...
Physically and in terms of charm
Fie on gislef.