"Maverick" Duel at Sundown (1959)

Director:

Arthur Lubin

Writers:

Richard Collins (teleplay)
Howard Browne (story)

TV Series:

"Maverick" (1957)

Original Air Date:

1 February 1959 (Season 2, Episode 19)

Genre:

Action | Western | Adventure | Comedy

Plot:

Bret Maverick is on his way to a high stakes poker game, when an injured friend with a hidden agenda...

Plot Keywords:

Duel | Pistol Duel | Showdown | Gunfight | Fist Fight

Cast

James Garner	...	Bret Maverick
Jack Kelly	...	Bart Maverick
Edgar Buchanan	...	Jed Christianson
Abby Dalton	...	Carrie Christianson
Clint Eastwood	...	Red Hardigan
Dan Sheridan	...	Doc George W. Baxter
James Griffith	...	John Wesley Hardin
Clarke Alexander	...	Sheriff
Linda Lawson	...	Lily
Myrna Fahey	...	Susie
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Luis Delgado	...	Poker Player (uncredited)
Don Kelly	...	Al (uncredited)

Directed by
Arthur Lubin

Writing credits
Richard Collins		(teleplay)
Howard Browne		(story)

Produced by
Roy Huggins	....	producer
William T. Orr	....	executive producer

Cinematography by
Harold E. Stine		(director of photography) (as Harold Stine)

Film Editing by
Marsh Hendry

Art Direction by
Howard Campbell

Set Decoration by
Jerry Welch

Makeup Department
Gordon Bau	....	makeup supervisor

Production Management
Oren Haglund	....	production manager (as Oren W. Haglund)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Robert Farfan	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Stanley Jones	....	sound

Editorial Department
James Moore	....	supervising film editor

Music Department
David Buttolph	....	composer: theme music
Paul Francis Webster	....	lyricist: theme music
Max Steiner	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Television

Distributors

• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1959) (USA) (TV)
• Warner Home Video (1992) (USA) (VHS)

Runtime:

60 min

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Filming Locations:

Stage 22, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Television

Trivia:

Red Hardigan(Clint Eastwood) keeps calling Maverick, "Maverack," just to irritate him.

Quotes:

Bret Maverick:Now that's not worthy of you, Bart. Your own brother's life is hanging in the balance, and all you're thinkin' about is $500.
Bart Maverick:No, Bret. That's not all I'm thinkin' about.
Bret Maverick:No, you're thinkin' about my five hundred too.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Fringe: Transilience Thought Unifier Model-11 (#5.1)" (2012)

Frankly, I'd Rather Be in Leadville

So what do you do if you're gimpy old Edgar Buchanan and you've got a big spread, a high- spirited daughter, and a no-good gunslinger Clint Eastwood eager to grab your ranch by marrying your daughter. Why, you send for Bret Maverick, of course. Trouble is that Bret's not too good with a gun, while Eastwood is, well, Eastwood, fast as all get-out. Things look bad for Bret, but then, it's his wits that gets him by.

It's a gawky young Clint, before he went to Italy and came back with that hard-eyed squint that terrified bad guys for a whole fistful of years. Still, he does manage a pretty big load of mean. He's also got a pretty big part here, probably just before he slipped into the Rowdy Yates role in Rawhide. Garner, of course, is Garner, doing his usual reluctant rescues with the usual great throw-away lines-- Buchanan to Maverick, "Isn't there anything you like better than money?" Maverick, "There's breathing."

Note how the LA smog works well to mask the climactic gunfight (many series scenes were shot on Warners' backlot in Burbank). It's a great Maverick ending, perfectly in sync, with a couple of neat twists that should leave you with a knowing nod and a good chuckle.