- ALIAS BART MAVERICK
Original Airdate: October 5, 1958
Synopsis. Outside Crescent City, Bart encounters Gentleman Jack Darby (played by Richard Long), a fugitive wanted for embezzlement by the Missouri Surety Company. Although innocent of that charge (a dishonest bank clerk stole the money), Darby is no angel―in order to collect the $1,000 reward money, Darby convinces the Crescent City sheriff that Bart really is Gentleman Jack. While Bart sits in jail, Darby wins $2,600 playing poker, but leaves town after he kills one of the troublemaking Plummer brothers in self-defense. Darby then frees Bart, only to rob him later. With an assist from entertainer Cindy Lou Brown, Darby’s charming but not-too-bright girlfriend, Bart trails Gentleman Jack to Deadwood.
This episode marks Richard Long’s first appearance as Gentleman Jack Darby, another all-out grafter meant to contrast Maverick’s gentle grafter. Series creator Roy Huggins devised the Darby character to replace Dandy Jim Buckley once Efrem Zimbalist began production of 77 Sunset Strip (which, of course, precluded him from making further appearances as Buckley). While Darby and Buckley are essentially the same character, there are a few differences. Unlike Buckley, for example, Darby has some semblance of a conscience, because he helps Bart fend off the Plummer brothers at the end of this episode.
Synopsis. In the town of Hallelujah, outlaw Cliff Sharp breaks into Bret’s hotel room and plants evidence linking Maverick to a $40,000 robbery-and-murder scheme. After the town convicts him on circumstantial evidence, Bret faces the gallows. When greedy Sheriff Tucker offers to fake the hanging if Bret leads him to the stolen money, Maverick goes along with the ruse but ditches the sheriff at the first opportunity. When Bret discovers that Molly Clifford, Sharp’s wife (played by Whitney Blake) arrives in Hallelujah, he trails her to New Mexico in the hopes of finding the money and clearing his name.
Synopsis. David Frankham guest stars as “Captain” Rory Fitzgerald, a con artist acquaintance whom Bart encounters in Virginia City. Fitzgerald owes Maverick $4,000, but claims to be out of money. Bart becomes suspicious when he recognizes the glamorous “countess” whom Fitzgerald is escorting as Liz Bancroft, a card dealer from New Orleans. He later discovers that Fitzgerald and Bancroft are plotting to swindle wealthy Placer Jack Mason out of $200,000.