Bart keeps trying to catch up with Gentleman Jack Darby who's tricked him out of money, despite ornery Plummer boys, hostile Indians, and seductive Cindy.
First half is A-grade Maverick as Darby (Long) and Cindy (Howell) trick Bart into jail, while taking off with his money. This sequence is done with classic light touch and tongue-in- cheek humor. It's also a clever script with imaginative twists, unafraid to let the hero be outwitted—a real departure from other oaters of the time. The second half, however, succumbs to artless convention as Bart (& Cindy) ride across the Warner's backlot (clumsily blended with traveling stock shots), shooting it out with Indians and the Plummer boys (from behind fake boulders). Too bad about this, because the best Maverick was never about the outdoors, fistfights, or gunplay.
Richard Long is perfect as the smooth-talking, handsome Darby, along with Arlene Howell as the charming Southern-fried Cindy Lou (in the briefest of costumes!). Also, I. Stanford Jolley gets a rare break from mustachioed villainy as the rather humorous sheriff. All in all, it's a mostly delightful early episode of the ageless series.
(In passing— Richard Long as Darby and Efrem Zimbalist as Dandy Jim Buckley are perfect foils for the Maverick brothers. I'm guessing the two were added as semi-regulars once the producers recognized the series' light hearted potential. In fact, the two were so good, Warner's eventually put them in their own series-- Bourbon Street Beat and 77 Sunset Strip, respectively-- which was unfortunate for the Maverick program.)
First half is A-grade Maverick as Darby (Long) and Cindy (Howell) trick Bart into jail, while taking off with his money. This sequence is done with classic light touch and tongue-in- cheek humor. It's also a clever script with imaginative twists, unafraid to let the hero be outwitted—a real departure from other oaters of the time. The second half, however, succumbs to artless convention as Bart (& Cindy) ride across the Warner's backlot (clumsily blended with traveling stock shots), shooting it out with Indians and the Plummer boys (from behind fake boulders). Too bad about this, because the best Maverick was never about the outdoors, fistfights, or gunplay.
Richard Long is perfect as the smooth-talking, handsome Darby, along with Arlene Howell as the charming Southern-fried Cindy Lou (in the briefest of costumes!). Also, I. Stanford Jolley gets a rare break from mustachioed villainy as the rather humorous sheriff. All in all, it's a mostly delightful early episode of the ageless series.
(In passing— Richard Long as Darby and Efrem Zimbalist as Dandy Jim Buckley are perfect foils for the Maverick brothers. I'm guessing the two were added as semi-regulars once the producers recognized the series' light hearted potential. In fact, the two were so good, Warner's eventually put them in their own series-- Bourbon Street Beat and 77 Sunset Strip, respectively-- which was unfortunate for the Maverick program.)