ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

If your in the mood for Western, this one is a humdinger!

But if you're in the mood for comedy . . . this one's a humdinger, too!

Before you read the rest of this post, start listening to the soundtrack by clicking on the link below. And if you start thinking about Woody the Cowboy instead of Maverick the Gambler, that's because Mr. Randy Newman did the soundtrack for both Maverick and Toy Story.

Oddly enough, Mr. Newman did Maverick in 1994! And he did Toy Story a year later, in 1995!

So, in a way that means that the inspiration for Woody the Cowboy (musically speaking) was Maverick! Somehow that doesn't surprise me at all!

___________ MAVERICK (1994) Randy Newman


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_______________ Toy Story (1995) soundtrack


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This wild and wonderful movie is one of my favorites, and the cast is pure gold. Mel Gibson is just as "Maverick" as James Garner, which is perfect in view of the fact he's in this movie too! And if you've seen it before, you know you get two Mavericks for the price of one!

Jodie Foster is so cute and sexy you just want to ask her to be your prom date and then get naughty with her in the back seat of your '57 Chevy!

I can't think of a funnier Western, or a more Western comedy. Maybe that's because this one is one-of-a-kind. And as my old pappy used to say, "Son, when you find something that's one-of-kind, don't sell it . . . 'cause there ain't another one!"
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Robert (Butch) Day]

And if you prefer the original Maverick (ABC 1957 - 1962) here are TWO versions of the theme; first the demo which sold both the theme and concept to ABC:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCF8j6hh4ck

And the theme with sound effects heard during the first season:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tfz5tv_dfLA

The theme was by composers David Buttolph (music) and Paul Francis Webster (lyrics).

The Maverick family was more diverse than most fans realized:

James Garner as Bret Maverick
Jack Kelly as Bart Maverick
Roger Moore as Beau Maverick
Robert Colbert as Brent Maverick
Charles Frank as Ben Maverick

besides the original TV series there were
The New Maverick (ABC September 3, 1978)
Young Maverick (CBS 1979 - 1980)
Bret Maverick (NBC 1981 - 1982)
The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw (NBC November 3, 1991)

On 21 April 2006, a 10-foot-tall (3.0 m) bronze statue of James Garner as Bret Maverick was unveiled in Garner's hometown of Norman, Oklahoma, with Garner present.



This is a nice shot of famous TV western personalities Will Huchins (born Marshall Lowell Hutchason) as Sugarfoot (ABC 1957 - 1961), Peter Brocco as ? in Stagecoach West (ABC 1960 - 1961) Jack Kelley as Bart Maverick, Ty Hardin ( Whipple Hungerford Jr.) as Bronco Layne in Bronco (ABC 1958 - 1962), James Garner Bret Maverick, Wade Preston as Christopher Colt in Colt .45 (ABC 1957 - 1960) and John Russell as Marshal Dan Troup in Lawman (ABC 1958 - 1962)


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Common Sense ISN'T Common

[Bud Brewster]

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Thanks, pardner! That there's a mighty fine post, yes siree!

I enjoyed those two versions of the theme song. The first one is, of course, slower than the one I remember from the show, but strangely enough the second one seems a bit faster than it should be.

Many of those WB Western series were regulars for my family in the 1950s and 1960s, mostly because my old Pappy liked 'em. I remember he said to me once —

"Bud? You just stick with Westerns, son. Them science fiction movies ain't realistic."

In all fairness, Pappy was right about most other things.


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~ Click on my Pappy's modified portrait to see the original before I had a little fun with it, just for this posts!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Pow]

Butch, a classic photo of almost all the Warner Brothers western TV shows.

Missing from the roster is Clint Walker from the Cheyenne show. Not sure as to why? Contract dispute?

That's actor Peter Brown standing between Will Huchins & Jack Kelly. Peter was a co-star with John Russell on the Lawman show & not associated with Stagecoach West (unless he was a guest star?).

Peter would later go on to co~star on one of my favorite TV westerns: NBC's Laredo (1965~'67). He played Texas Ranger Chad Cooper on the show along with the other rangers Neville Brand (Reese Bennett), William Smith(Joe Riley) & Captain Parmalee (Philip Carey).

Robert Wolders would join the cast as ranger Erik Hunter for the second season. Robert recently passed away leaving William Smith as the only surviving cast member from the show.

In regards to the photo, only Will Huchins is alive as of now.

Not certain but I don't believe that the western show Stagecoach West was ever one of the WB western shows.

All of these western series had terrific theme songs to 'em.

Trivia } Peter Brown was one of the real life fast draws among the western actors. He could also do a fantastic job of twirling his six-gun rapidly and then smoothly sliding it into his holster.

[Bud Brewster]

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A can't find a download for this highly enjoyable movie. If I could, I'd schedule it for an upcoming chat for ASF’S Saturday Night at the Movies (<— link) (<— link)
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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Well, I still haven't found a download, but I did manage to buy a "brand new" copy from eBay just $8.99.

I love this movie!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Pow]

I purchased the dvd to the Bret Maverick show. The series was terrific with Jim Garner reprising his role from the classic 50s western Warner Brothers show. In some ways I prefer it to the original series because the humor is even more plentiful than the 1957~1962 version.

They also created new concepts for 1981~1982 show. Instead of having Bret wandering around the west, he stays put in Sweetwater, Arizona where he has won the Lazy Ace Ranch & the Red Ox saloon. He's now involved in these two endeavors which presents plenty of challenges & plotlines for good ole' Maverick. He has a fun cast of supporting characters to play off. These plot developments made sense and weren't just a gimmick. Garner was 54 years old at the time. To see him as still rootless & roaming the American west would have been stretching it. It's even addressed in the first episode where a huge card game is taking place in Sweetwater that has drawn some of the biggest and well known gamblers from all over. During a break, we see Bret have a talk with his old friend Doc Holiday. Holiday tells Bret not to end up like him at his age. Wandering from town to town, staying in hotel rooms, no roots, no friends as he ages. You can see that it does have an affect upon Bret as to what his future might also be.

This was a wonderful western series; what real pity it did not run more seasons.

[Bud Brewster]

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IMDB has several interesting trivia items for this production.
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~ Jodie Foster's character's gracelessness in the film stems from the first scene she shot, when she waited for Mel Gibson to help her down from the stagecoach.

Instead, he took her parasol and walked away. She tried to get down alone, and flopped to the ground. Director Richard Donner liked it so much that he kept the shot in the film, and staged more scenes of Foster stumbling, being dumped through windows, etc.

Note from me: This movie benefited from several unscripted moments like this.

~ During Marshal Cooper's explanation of the rules at the beginning of the tournament, he pulls out his own guns and claims that they're the only weapons allowed in the room (the game room). When putting them away, he drops one but smoothly continues talking while someone hands him his dropped gun.

This was not scripted. James Garner dropped the prop by accident but kept acting, resulting in a funny moment that the director kept in the final cut.

Note from me: Yep, here's yet another "lucky moment" that was unscripted.

~ In the stagecoach sequence, stuntman Mic Rodgers (doubling for Mel Gibson) had to go under the coach and get up at the back.

This is a direct nod to legendary stuntman Yakima Canutt's similar stunt in Stagecoach (1939). By coincidence, second unit director Terry Leonard, a former stuntman himself, performed this same stunt in the truck chase in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).

And in Draw! (1984) the same stagecoach sequence can be seen in the early part of that movie.

Note from me: I was impressed the various cinematic connections in that one scene! This next items is related to the above comment.

~ The runaway stagecoach scene highlights just how dangerous horse stunts are. When the stuntman, as Maverick, leaps to the lead pair of horses one of them stumbles and nearly falls.

Given the speed at which the team is galloping this could very well have proved fatal for the stuntman and the entire team had it not regained it's footing and kept running.

Note from me: As impressive as the Raiders of the Lost Ark truck scene is, the stagecoach versions are even more impressive!

~ Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster became close friends while making this film. She was also considered to play Gibson's love interest again in Conspiracy Theory (1997), but she turned it down to make Contact (1997), and the role went to Julia Roberts. Both Gibson and Foster still love to play poker. They worked together again on The Beaver (2011), which was directed by Foster.

Note from me: I'm delighted by the fact that Gibson and Foster have such a close relationship.

~ Leo Gordon, who plays one of the poker players in the first card scene, wrote four episodes of Maverick (1957) in the 1960-61 season, and made five guest appearances as Big Mike McComb, between 1957-59.

Note from me: Here's another example the close connection between the beloved TV series and this delightful movie version.

~ During the scene where Bret confronts the fake Indians lying drunk around the campfire, one of them calls him "Bart". Bart was the name of Bret's brother on the original television series.

Note from me: Bart Maverick was played by Jack Kelly, whose character in Forbidden Planet is, in many ways, is a kind of "Maverick in Space"!

~ Clint Black, the "Sweet Faced Gambler", also sang the song "Good Run Of Bad Luck" on the soundtrack. This song plays during the first round of the poker championship. Ironically, just as the song ends, Black's character is caught cheating and thrown off the boat.

Note from me: Here's the official music video, and it includes clips from Maverick.

Clint Black - A Good Run Of Bad Luck (Official Video)


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~ The initials of the stagecoach line in the movie are "GMC", a reference to General Motors Corp., whose trucks have been driven by Mel Gibson's character in every "Lethal Weapon" movie.

Note from me: Nice touch . . .

~ Mel Gibson had special lessons to learn how to draw a gun from a holster.

Note from me: By God, them lessons worked right well!
Mel's gun-hand was quicker than a rattlesnake on a hot rock! _

~ After writing the script, William Goldman offered the role of Zane Cooper to friend and collaborator Paul Newman. Newman loved the script and agreed to the film, but the producers low-balled his asking price; he reluctantly turned down their offer.

Note from me: Two words: Thank God! The inclusion of James Garner as Maverick's "Old Pappy" was a major plus for this movie!

~ Paul Brinegar, the stagecoach driver who dies "on the road", was also the character Wishbone the cook on the TVseries Rawhide (1959), which starred Clint Eastwood as "Rowdy Yates".

Note from me: I admire the way director Richard Donner included so many actors from classic TV and movie Westerns.

~ Meg Ryan was the original choice for Annabelle.

Note from me: I doubt that any actress could have done as well as Jodi Foster. She's magnificent!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)