Maverick Duel at Sundown (1957–1962) Online

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.

Actually, it was Abby Dalton, playing Buchanan's daughter, who said, "You put money ahead of everything, don't you", to which Garmer answered "No... no, there's breathing." She replied, "Well, maybe you oughta just keep that in mind."

I imagine that if, as a trivia question, you suggested that Clint Eastwood, Abby Dalton and Edgar Buchanan once appeared together, and asked who had the lead role, few people would guess that it's yet another actor, much less name James Garner.

James Griffith, who plays John Wesley Hardin. is only on screen a few seconds, but his performance is perfect. He's one of those character actors that everybody recognized, but nobody could name, who could always be counted on for superb work. Not a bad way to be remembered.

Film legends James Garner and Clint Eastwood worked together for the first time in this Maverick story. It would be 40 years before they would be together again, this time on the big screen in Space Cowboys.

James Garner while visiting Edgar Buchanan at his ranch gets caught up in the wily old codger's machinations. Buchanan starts pushing him toward daughter Abby Dalton because he doesn't like the fact she's seeing young Clint Eastwood.

Eastwood is a bully and a lout, unfortunately he's also a fast gun and he's the jealous type. Maverick has to use his own wily brain to avoid a shootout with him.

This is a different kind of role than what you normally might see from Clint Eastwood on the big screen. He handles it well.

And the episode itself is small and big screen history.

Bret's old friend uses him to come between Carrie and Clint Eastwood. Clint is the jealous type and wants to kill Bret. Bret beats Clint up despite his overblown reputation. Clint has another woman and only wants the ranch. Carrie says to Bret, "You put money ahead of everything, don't you?" To which, Bret replies, "No, there's breathing!" Bret plays Maverick solitaire and says he promised Pappy he would marry at 38 and raise 12 Mavericks. Bret's adversaries like to have fun with his name, and Clint calls him Maver-ack. It started to get on my nerves. Bart impersonates John Wesley Hardin to save his brother's life. Bret "fans" his gun.