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jtaulard
Reviews
Maverick: Day of Reckoning (1958)
An Unnecessary 'Psychological" Thriller
An Unnecessary 'Psychological" Thriller which was a type of show trying to gain traction in the 1960's. Cowardice redeemed, but up to then, explanations and long faces displayed the fear and 'unmanlyness.'
And that is another theme: be a man. I concur, agree and encourage being a man. We certainly never saw much on display in our day, though it is there. David told Solomon as much: Be a man.
Anyway, the whole thing is improbable, but since it is Maverick and I am an irrational fan, I always think people should see it. The closeups of the defeated men are a credit to the camera and lighting crew. The extras of both the 'filthy cowhands' and 'respectable townsfolk' are well cast, as usual.
Maverick: Easy Mark (1959)
The Great Transition from the Fifties to the Sixties
The Pachycereus indeed is a tube shape, while the young 'cactitioner's' is closer to peickly pears. And Van Renssalear died close to a hundred years apres this rail merger issue.
That is what makes Maverick so much fun. The writers, directors, screen writers and so on just enjoy a level of literacy that is not (like today) self-referential or ironic) Plus, there is always a kind of humanity in these series, where the Maverick brothers, cousins, and Pappy are not interested in operating outside their range.
The two ladies are precursors to the damn 1960's temperament, the older extras are on their way out. In a few years, Bret would be out-driving gangsters out in Malibu to a wacka-wacka guitar.
If you happen to be an up and coming script/screen writer or even working at it, note how well they keep the action going, always manage to hang by the fingernails just ahead of the cigarette ads, how they make the bad guys unambiguous. Sorry, young philosophers and moralists: stories are stories and those which people endure or pay for are just a play of fun characters always getting out of jams, saving the girl, having excessive and improbably virtues, and of course, a dozen bouquets to the casting experts, the amazing supporting actors and extras, and the cruel accounting office that made these on a strict budget.
Binge watching has made it possible, in my dotage, to re-watch these old series. I am NOT distracted by the stagecoaches always passing the same road, even though one is in Texas, one in Colorado, etc.
And I am not offended by the bigoted scripts with their redskins, loud barely shaved Mexican peasants or arrogant Hidalgos. Or the constant admiration of the era's millionaires, the good-hearted dance hall girl, and all that. The writers always craft these characters in good taste, and set all this honestly in the fictional American West.
One point that bothers me in all Maverick episodes. EVERYONE wears hats indoors, EXCEPT in the super rich salons of the magnates.
Maverick: The Belcastle Brand (1958)
The disquisition on grass by Lord Belcastle is profound
The disquisition on grass by Lord Belcastle is profound, worthy of 100 stars by students of history and modern colonialism, via capital
Lord M:. "I should put the question to you, Sir. What always brings persons from one place to another? Grass."
Mav: I thought for a minute you said 'grass?
Lord M: Quite. Grass is food. The whole history of civilization, my dear chap, is of people, ever moving westward, looking for greener grass. From the very beginning of recorded time...(interrupted) At present, the world's finest grass is in Wyoming. Consequently, so are we. Use better cattle..feed it on the native grass here. Has millions in it.
Mav: Well that makes sense. You moved here for business reasons.
Lord M: Good heavens no! We're merely moving a bit of capital. Now, soon as we got things here ship shape in blissful fashion,it's hippity-hop and home again.
Lord Ms Brother: The new colonialism, old boy. Don't send troops, send money.
There you have it! From 1958, Marion Hargrove uncovers the entire raison d'etre for the English Crown and Pilgrims Society!
Maverick. 1958 "The Belcastle Brand,"