I loved this episode as a kid in 1958, and I still do after watching it numerous times as an adult. James Garner's genius for comedy has never been better displayed. He spends most of his time sitting and rocking, so his humor must depend solely on his talk and facial expressions, unadulterated by physical action (Jim's humor has always been essentially nonphysical, even though there's lots of action in his series). Watching and listening to him as he sunnily responds to the bemused town folk of Sunny Acres is simply priceless.
That the writers could pack this smoothly flowing, clever, funny and complicated plot -- a precursor to The Sting -- into 50 minutes is amazing, especially given the number of characters involved. Of course, many were already familiar to viewers of the series, so there was no need to spend time "explaining" them. We already knew that Samantha Crawford, Dandy Jim Buckley and Gentleman Jack Darby (and for that matter, Jack's girlfriend, the beautiful Cindy Lou Brown) were always ready and eager to pull off a swindle at a moment's notice.
Indeed, what's most astonishing is that this group of crooks could all be induced to work together to help Bret recover his stolen money, by cooperating in a complicated con of the thief. After all, Bret's (and Bart's, for that matter) many prior encounters with each of these lovable scoundrels were always problematic to say the least, as each managed to pick one or both brothers' pockets numerous times. Moreover, Bret's relationship with Dandy Jim was never anything but acrimonious. Even though in a strange, wary way they and the Mavericks all seemed to like each other, one would have assumed from this bunch's past behavior that, when brought together by Bart to pull off this sting of the dishonest banker, John Bates, each of them would immediately have begun scheming to use it as an opportunity to con Bret and/or Bart once again, or to con each other somehow, or both. (True to form, Samantha does try this a little, and one can only imagine what Bart had to do to induce the amoral Dandy Jim to play his part "honestly".) Aside from Bart, the only remotely trustworthy participant in the sting is Big Mike McComb. Perhaps it was a matter of honor among thieves, or that, while OK for each of them regularly to swindle the Mavericks on his or her own, heaven help an outsider like Bates who dares to try it.
This episode, and others like it in which wit and not outdoor action carried the day, were what made Maverick such a great, groundbreaking show.
That the writers could pack this smoothly flowing, clever, funny and complicated plot -- a precursor to The Sting -- into 50 minutes is amazing, especially given the number of characters involved. Of course, many were already familiar to viewers of the series, so there was no need to spend time "explaining" them. We already knew that Samantha Crawford, Dandy Jim Buckley and Gentleman Jack Darby (and for that matter, Jack's girlfriend, the beautiful Cindy Lou Brown) were always ready and eager to pull off a swindle at a moment's notice.
Indeed, what's most astonishing is that this group of crooks could all be induced to work together to help Bret recover his stolen money, by cooperating in a complicated con of the thief. After all, Bret's (and Bart's, for that matter) many prior encounters with each of these lovable scoundrels were always problematic to say the least, as each managed to pick one or both brothers' pockets numerous times. Moreover, Bret's relationship with Dandy Jim was never anything but acrimonious. Even though in a strange, wary way they and the Mavericks all seemed to like each other, one would have assumed from this bunch's past behavior that, when brought together by Bart to pull off this sting of the dishonest banker, John Bates, each of them would immediately have begun scheming to use it as an opportunity to con Bret and/or Bart once again, or to con each other somehow, or both. (True to form, Samantha does try this a little, and one can only imagine what Bart had to do to induce the amoral Dandy Jim to play his part "honestly".) Aside from Bart, the only remotely trustworthy participant in the sting is Big Mike McComb. Perhaps it was a matter of honor among thieves, or that, while OK for each of them regularly to swindle the Mavericks on his or her own, heaven help an outsider like Bates who dares to try it.
This episode, and others like it in which wit and not outdoor action carried the day, were what made Maverick such a great, groundbreaking show.