User Reviews

I'm currently watching "Maverick" episodes in their chronological order on Encore Westerns. This episode from 1959 features Ben Gage in his 2nd of 4 appearance as a sheriff/marshal who bears strong "similarities" to Marshal Matt Dillon of GUNSMOKE.

I'm not attempting to provide a summary per se, but I recommend catching this episode. 9 out of 10 rating definitely. It's humorous, but it also has drama/action elements.

Bart (Jack Kelly), who I really enjoy, is robbed after winning a lot of money. The robber is a woman who needs the money for her father. Through a turn of events, he meets the woman again & encounters the crooked gamblers that made her steal the money in the 1st place.

One scene has Bart pretending to be a reformed gambler. He speaks to a ladies group about the evils of gambling, & it's very funny. They become so enamored of him that they even redecorate his jail cell.

Another scene has the sheriff (Gage) grumbling about the bad food he has to eat every day, so Bart invites him to eat in the cell with him. I've never seen that scenario before, & it's highly entertaining/tongue-in-cheek. They almost become buddies.

Towards the conclusion pay attention to the scene inside the barn where the bad guys have gone to collect a gambling debt. The hen flying in Bart's face as well as him tripping on a rake are highly original & not the standard fare seen in most westerns of that era.

Look out for a young Patricia Crowley as the girl who robs Bart. She's still guest-starring today in shows such as Cold Case on CBS. Ray Teal also guest stars (several years before his role on Bonanza as Sheriff Roy Coffee) at the beginning of the episode as another sheriff who runs Bart out of his town & into Gage's city.

Check it out, & I think you'll see why Jack Kelly is so underrated as an actor.

After watching "A Tale of Two Cities", I think the problem (if you consider it a problem) is that no one seemed to know who or what Bart Maverick is. Sometimes they write him as the "serious" Maverick compared to Bret. And sometimes the writers stick Bart into a Bret-style lighthearted episode. The whiplash gives me a sore neck.

"Tale" is more of a comedy episode. And Jack Kelly as Bart is perfectly fine as a comedic foil. He's ably assisted by Ben Gage as a hidebound sheriff. Gage isn't as memorable as he was as Dooley in "Gun-Shy". But that's because the episode isn't doing a parody of anything, either.

Pat Crowley is easy on the eyes, and Ed Kemmer makes a decent bad guy. And there are some good comedic beats. Bart lecture a women's society about the evils of gambling (it makes sense in context) and he tosses in a Pappyism or two, and having to break a crime to get the sheriff to throw him into jail so he can avoid the bad guys chasing him. The bit where Bart manages to capture Sherwood, is a little broad (a chicken flies into Bart's face?!?), but overall entertaining.

"Tale" would have made a perfectly good Bret episode. The problem is that... well, it's a Bart episode. Like I said, Kelly is good enough at the comedy stuff. It just doesn't seem to gibe with his character. Or maybe it does, and it's the more serious/Western/noir episodes that don't gibe. It's hard to tell because the production staff goes back and forth on the "tone" of the Bart episodes.

When Bart and Bret are alternating episodes, it isn't so easy to spot. It just seems weird when Bart has to do the serious stuff, and the comedy stuff. The production stuff clearly didn't want to abandon the light-hearted Maverick brand. But they apparently couldn't keep it up for all of the episodes. With Garner gone, they gave both to Bart... and the character suffered for it. Well, "suffered" might not be the word. We still got decent episodes like this one, and a comedy performance by Kelly. It's just that the more serious episodes were the one to suffer, as they weren't 'Maverick' and Kelly as Bart wasn't playing to his strengths when he did the serious stuff.

But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?

Pat Crowley robs Bart so she can pay off a debt owed by her father. Sheriff Ray Teal hates to eat alone and lets Bart watch. The "three cities" are Gold Flats, Brotherly and Hampton Center. The Ladies Aid in Brotherly is having a luncheon, and each lady is bringing her specialty. Bart presents himself as a reformed gambler in order to get fed. He charms the women while recognizing Pat by her ring and her perfume. Bart was a ladies' man and a good one to learn from. While incarcerated, the Ladies Aid brings him breakfast and a comfortable bed. They bring him an easy chair, cigars and a copy of "Lorna Doone." Looker Pat Crowley is a sweetie: "Bart, I don't want you to get hurt!"