No spoilers here. None necessary. Very enjoyable entry in the "Maverick" series - in the top 10 for my money. Gerald Mohr (as always) is very, very good. This was the first of his two appearances on "Maverick" as the Doc and was by far the best of the two. (He appeared 7 times in all with this episode being his best in show.)
I've singled out Mohr mainly because he is a particular favorite of mine. I'm always happy to see him and since he appeared in just about every TV show of note (including the best Westerns of the era) from the late '50's until his death in 1968 he shows up quite a lot but rarely does he get a role that suits him as well as this one did.
Another favorite of mine is Sam Buffington who is also featured in this episode. He plays Ponca Brown here with his unique style that I can't quite do justice to. He's young, balding, rumpled, sly, amusing and intelligent. (The nearest "match" to his persona that I can come up with is a young "McHale's Navy" Tim Conway.) IMDb lists 44 acting credit titles for the young Sam Buffington, many of them TV series in which he appeared multiple times (for example, "Maverick" featured him 5 times in 5 different roles - this being his best in my opinion) from 1957 to 1959. Despite his early success which, by the time of his death, included a role as a series regular on the Audie Murphy TV series "Whispering Smith" he died early in 1960 at age 28 at his own hand. His entire career spanned a period of 2 1/2 years and into those 30 months he packed quite a punch! (Too bad that he himself does not appear to have appreciated what he was able to accomplish at such a young age.) I always smile when I see him on any show that he may turn up on and this episode of "Maverick" features him at his best.
John Vivyan does just fine as the killer who has bragged about "backing down" Doc Holliday in a prior encounter and who has thereby drawn the Doc into town to put an end to this slander. Marie Windsor rounds out the main cast playing the attractive owner of the saloon in which most of this episode's action takes place and, of course, to provide a potential love interest for Bret.
You will find a synopsis of the plot elsewhere if that is of interest to you. Suffice to say that the writing is first rate, the dialog and resolution of the story are "classic Western" and if you love the genre you will be very much entertained by this episode.
I've singled out Mohr mainly because he is a particular favorite of mine. I'm always happy to see him and since he appeared in just about every TV show of note (including the best Westerns of the era) from the late '50's until his death in 1968 he shows up quite a lot but rarely does he get a role that suits him as well as this one did.
Another favorite of mine is Sam Buffington who is also featured in this episode. He plays Ponca Brown here with his unique style that I can't quite do justice to. He's young, balding, rumpled, sly, amusing and intelligent. (The nearest "match" to his persona that I can come up with is a young "McHale's Navy" Tim Conway.) IMDb lists 44 acting credit titles for the young Sam Buffington, many of them TV series in which he appeared multiple times (for example, "Maverick" featured him 5 times in 5 different roles - this being his best in my opinion) from 1957 to 1959. Despite his early success which, by the time of his death, included a role as a series regular on the Audie Murphy TV series "Whispering Smith" he died early in 1960 at age 28 at his own hand. His entire career spanned a period of 2 1/2 years and into those 30 months he packed quite a punch! (Too bad that he himself does not appear to have appreciated what he was able to accomplish at such a young age.) I always smile when I see him on any show that he may turn up on and this episode of "Maverick" features him at his best.
John Vivyan does just fine as the killer who has bragged about "backing down" Doc Holliday in a prior encounter and who has thereby drawn the Doc into town to put an end to this slander. Marie Windsor rounds out the main cast playing the attractive owner of the saloon in which most of this episode's action takes place and, of course, to provide a potential love interest for Bret.
You will find a synopsis of the plot elsewhere if that is of interest to you. Suffice to say that the writing is first rate, the dialog and resolution of the story are "classic Western" and if you love the genre you will be very much entertained by this episode.
