"Maverick" (1957) TV series 1957-1962

Creator:

Roy Huggins
(more)

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Release Date:

22 September 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Western | Adventure | Comedy

Plot:

Brett and Bart Maverick (and in later seasons, their English cousin, Beau) are well dressed gamblers...

Plot Keywords:

Poker | Gambler | Cult Favorite | Cult Western | One Word Title

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy. Another 4 nominations

Cast

Jack Kelly	...	Bart Maverick / ... (79 episodes, 1957-1962)
James Garner	...	Bret Maverick / ... (59 episodes, 1957-1961)

Series Directed by
Leslie H. Martinson		(18 episodes, 1957-1961)
Douglas Heyes		(13 episodes, 1957-1959)
Richard L. Bare		(11 episodes, 1957-1959)
Arthur Lubin		(11 episodes, 1959-1960)
Leslie Goodwins		(7 episodes, 1959-1960)
Irving J. Moore		(7 episodes, 1960-1962)
John Ainsworth		(4 episodes, 1961)
Paul Landres		(4 episodes, 1961)
Budd Boetticher		(3 episodes, 1957)
James V. Kern		(3 episodes, 1958-1960)
Montgomery Pittman		(3 episodes, 1958-1959)
George Waggner		(3 episodes, 1959-1961)
Lee Sholem		(3 episodes, 1960-1962)
Michael O'Herlihy		(3 episodes, 1961-1962)
Franklin Adreon		(2 episodes, 1957-1958)
Abner Biberman		(2 episodes, 1957)
Lew Landers		(2 episodes, 1959-1960)
Paul Henreid		(2 episodes, 1959)
Robert Douglas		(2 episodes, 1960-1961)
Marc Lawrence		(2 episodes, 1961-1962)
Sidney Salkow		(2 episodes, 1962)

Series Writing credits
Douglas Heyes		(11 episodes, 1957-1959)
Howard Browne		(10 episodes, 1957-1961)
Marion Hargrove		(9 episodes, 1957-1959)
Coles Trapnell		(9 episodes, 1959-1961)
Roy Huggins		(8 episodes, 1957-1960)
Robert Vincent Wright		(7 episodes, 1959-1962)
Don Tait		(7 episodes, 1960-1961)
George F. Slavin		(6 episodes, 1957-1962)
Leo Townsend		(6 episodes, 1959-1960)
Gerald Drayson Adams		(5 episodes, 1957-1960)
Gene Levitt		(5 episodes, 1957-1959)
Montgomery Pittman		(5 episodes, 1958-1961)
Leonard Praskins		(5 episodes, 1959-1960)
William Bruckner		(5 episodes, 1961-1962)
Russell S. Hughes		(4 episodes, 1957-1958)
Wells Root		(4 episodes, 1959-1961)
Ron Bishop		(4 episodes, 1959-1960)
Herman Epstein		(4 episodes, 1959-1960)
Leo Gordon		(4 episodes, 1960-1961)
Paul Leslie Peil		(4 episodes, 1960-1961)
James O'Hanlon		(3 episodes, 1957-1962)
Jerry Davis		(3 episodes, 1957-1959)
Irene Winston		(3 episodes, 1961-1962)
David Lang		(3 episodes, 1961)
Robert Louis Stevenson		(2 episodes, 1957-1961)
R. Wright Campbell		(2 episodes, 1958-1960)
Palmer Thompson		(2 episodes, 1959-1961)
William Driskill		(2 episodes, 1959)
Arthur Paynter		(2 episodes, 1960)
Peter Germano		(2 episodes, 1961)

Series Produced by
William T. Orr	....	executive producer (53 episodes, 1957-1962)
Roy Huggins	....	producer / executive producer (45 episodes, 1957-1962)
Coles Trapnell	....	producer (17 episodes, 1959-1961)
William L. Stuart	....	producer (8 episodes, 1961-1962)
Arthur W. Silver	....	supervising producer / associate producer / ... (7 episodes, 1961-1962)

Series Cinematography by
Harold E. Stine		(15 episodes, 1957-1959)
Ralph Woolsey		(7 episodes, 1957-1959)
Carl Berger		(7 episodes, 1957-1958)
Edwin B. DuPar		(5 episodes, 1957-1958)
Wesley Anderson		(3 episodes, 1958-1960)
Perry Finnerman		(3 episodes, 1959-1960)
Jacques R. Marquette		(3 episodes, 1960-1962)
Floyd Crosby		(2 episodes, 1959)
Willard Van der Veer		(2 episodes, 1961)

Series Film Editing by
Robert Sparr		(8 episodes, 1957-1958)
Elbert K. Hollingsworth		(7 episodes, 1957-1959)
Robert Watts		(7 episodes, 1957-1958)
Carl Pingitore		(6 episodes, 1957-1960)
Harold Minter		(6 episodes, 1957-1958)
J. Frank O'Neill		(3 episodes, 1957-1958)
Tom Biggart		(2 episodes, 1958)
Clarence Kolster		(2 episodes, 1959-1961)

Series Art Direction by
Howard Campbell		(24 episodes, 1957-1959)
Art Loel		(12 episodes, 1957-1958)
William L. Campbell		(4 episodes, 1960-1961)
John Ewing		(3 episodes, 1959-1960)
Perry Ferguson		(2 episodes, 1958-1959)

Series Set Decoration by
Jerry Welch		(14 episodes, 1957-1961)
William Wallace		(12 episodes, 1958)
Mowbray Berkeley		(4 episodes, 1957-1958)
Fay Babcock		(3 episodes, 1958-1960)
Ralph S. Hurst		(3 episodes, 1958)
Patrick Delany		(2 episodes, 1957)
Frank M. Miller		(2 episodes, 1957)
John P. Austin		(2 episodes, 1959-1961)
Hal Overell		(2 episodes, 1960-1961)

Series Makeup Department
Gordon Bau	....	makeup supervisor / makeup artist (46 episodes, 1957-1961)
Jean Burt Reilly	....	supervising hair stylist (5 episodes, 1960-1961)

Series Production Management
Oren Haglund	....	production manager (39 episodes, 1957-1960)

Series Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Robert Farfan	....	assistant director (12 episodes, 1957-1959)
Rusty Meek	....	assistant director (11 episodes, 1958-1959)
Don Alvarado	....	assistant director (5 episodes, 1958)
C. Carter Gibson	....	assistant director (4 episodes, 1957-1959)
Lee White	....	assistant director (4 episodes, 1957)
Eddie Prinz	....	assistant director (2 episodes, 1957-1958)
Claude Archer	....	assistant director (2 episodes, 1957)

Series Art Department
Lee W. Moore	....	props (2 episodes, 1957)
Roy Moore	....	props (2 episodes, 1957)

Series Sound Department
Samuel F. Goode	....	sound (17 episodes, 1957-1960)
Stanley Jones	....	sound (5 episodes, 1957-1959)
Robert B. Lee	....	sound (5 episodes, 1958-1961)
M.A. Merrick	....	sound (4 episodes, 1958)
Charles Althouse	....	sound (2 episodes, 1957-1960)
Francis J. Scheid	....	sound (2 episodes, 1957-1958)
B.F. Ryan	....	sound (2 episodes, 1958-1960)
Francis E. Stahl	....	sound (2 episodes, 1958)
Eugene F. Westfall	....	sound (2 episodes, 1958)

Series Stunts
Bobby Somers	....	stunts (11 episodes, 1957-1959)
Jack N. Young	....	utility stunts (3 episodes, 1957)

Series Camera and Electrical Department
Earl C. Williman	....	lamp operator (13 episodes, 1961-1962)

Series Editorial Department
James Moore	....	supervising film editor / supervising editor (42 episodes, 1957-1960)

Series Music Department
Max Steiner	....	composer: stock music (124 episodes, 1957-1962)
Paul Sawtell	....	music supervisor (6 episodes, 1959-1961)
Bert Shefter	....	music supervisor (6 episodes, 1959-1961)
David Buttolph	....	composer: theme music / composer: theme song (5 episodes, 1959)
Sam E. Levin	....	music editor (2 episodes, 1959-1961)
Ted Sebern	....	music editor (2 episodes, 1960-1962)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Television

Distributors

• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1957-1962) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Warner Home Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Bros. Television

Other Companies

• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera cranes

Runtime:

60 min (124 episodes) | Argentina:60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park - 10700 W. Escondido Canyon Rd., Agua Dulce, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Television

Trivia:

On April 21, 2006, a ten foot tall statue of James Garner as Bret Maverick was unveiled in Garner's hometown of Norman, Oklahoma. Garner was on hand for the festivities.

Quotes:

Bret Maverick: As my old pappy used to say, if at first you don't succeed, try something else.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt (2003) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Maverick

Classic Western, Intelligent Individualism; Roy Huggins' Masterwork

"Maverick" ran for only five seasons. Early on, it was decided that the series would be best served by having two Mavericks, Bart, played by James Garner and Bret, played by Jack Kelly. By alternating the two leads, the productions for each's scripts could be shot at the same time. This led to the show's technical peculiarity. It had only one supervising producer and script supervisor, Roy Huggins, who was its creator; and he used four female assistants as script supervisors. Also, he employed 36 directors, 39 different writers, 17 cinematographers, 40 film editors, 8 art directors and 7 property masters all under Perry Ferguson as chief art director, 20 set decorators, 10 makeup personnel and 31 second-unit directors. This classic B/W show featured satires, dramas, adventures and comedies. It was inexpensively made sometimes, but offered attractive costumes and good actors, utilizing narration by the leads and clips from the Warner Brothers film library to avoid having to stage elaborate scenes. The Maverick brothers were designed by Roy Huggins to violate the Code of the West. While they could fight, and shoot, very bravely and effectively, they preferred not to fight, not to save people at great risk, not to do foolish things on a dare and not to keep up appearances. The show's creator also innovatively employed sidekicks for his leads, unusually frequently, and hired talented lead guest actors plus developing a stock company of continuing characters including Diane Brewster as larcenous and lovely Samantha Crawford, Kathleen Crowley as Melanie Blaine, Mike Road as Pearly Gates, Leo Gordon as Big Mike, and Gerald Mohr as Johnny Balero. Later, in 1960, Roger Moore played Beau Maverick, and Robert Colbert was added as cousin Brent in 1961, when Garner left the series. The leads played Texas men, a maverick being a name given to unbranded cattle in that part of the country. They gambled professionally, and continually sought after a large-enough prize to satisfy their hopes--which always eluded them somehow. Because of budgetary constraint, the writing and directing for the show were its hallmarks of quality, plus its fine guest stars. Memorable among these to me, who saw the original series, were Julie Adams, Mona Freeman, Buddy Ebsen, Abby Dalton, Ben Gage, Ruta Lee, Arthur Shields, Tol Avery, Gage Clark and many others. The ranks of the series' writers included TV stalwarts Ron Bishop, Carey Wilber, George Slavin, Gerald Drayson Adams, Wells Root, James O'Hanlon, Irene Winston, Marion Hargrove and Leo Townsend. The episode each week might be light-hearted or a dangerous mystery; frequently one Maverick or another sought a monetary prize at some risk or was cheated, kidnapped or involved in a hazardous business. Garner, with his touch for comedy, was usually given more laughs per hour. In his scripts; he fought, romanced, played cards, observed, commented and was misused. But the narrative lines of Jack Kelly's scripts were every bit as good or better, although he avoided the physical with more dexterity. The hallmark of the series I suggest was that it was about objectivists--purposive men who dealt with reality as they found it, without employing denial, wishful thinking or conventional or religious self-delusions. "My 'ol Pappy used to say," one of the brothers would drawl, and then he would proceed to state the truth, setting wisdom against the usual way men looked at things. The show is was pure Roy Huggins; he employed noted directors and talented producers such as Coles Trapnell, William P. D'Angelo, Howie Horwitz, Arthur W. Silver, William L. Stuart plus fine actors to get the result he wanted. Without him, "Maverick" would not be the "legend of the West" it has become; along with "Cheyenne", "Bonanza" and "Gunsmoke", the program was a towering hit and a trend-setting show at a time when the character-based western was deservedly eclipsing all other genres. The series was adult,American and a delight, at a time when individualism was still a desirable philosophical goal to U.S. citizens and not a buzzword for its opponents to misuse while they attacked the concept. The man who lives by his own standards is only dangerous to the bad guys; the Maverick outsmarted the honest and cheated only criminals. They went "riding the trail to who knows where" as their theme song said, with luck as a companion and an intelligent gamble as their way of life. We loved them in 1957; we who enjoyed their adventures then miss them today. They and their self-assertive sort.