“Black Fire”

“Black Fire”

Season: 1 episode 25

Series Episode: 25

Air Date: March 16, 1958

Maverick TV series starring James Garner and Jack Kelly

A Warner Bros. production

 

Teaser

A classic spin on an Agatha Christie favorite with an E. Phillips Oppenheim twist.

 

Cast & Crew Lists

Cast

Character	Role	Actor	Actor Age	Status
Bret Maverick (a.k.a. Homer Eakins)	Gambler / Con artist	James Garner	29	Credited
Lonnie Doble	Nephew of Jake Gibson / Businessman	Emory Parnell	65	Credited
Seeby Dixon	Nephew of Jake Gibson	Harry Harvey, Sr.	57	Credited
Homer Eakins (a.k.a. Bret Maverick)	Artist / Nephew of "General" Jake Gibson	Hans Conreid	40	Credited
"General" Jake Gibson	Owner of Black Fire ranch	Will Wright	63	Credited
Mrs. Knowles	Housekeeper at Black Fire	Jane Darwell	78	Credited
George Martin (a.k.a. Luther)	Butler at Black Fire / Hope & Jeff Martin's father	Dan Sheridan	41	Credited
Hope Martin	Niece of Jake Gibson / Jeff Martin's sister	Theona Bryant	26	Credited
Jeff Martin	Nephew of Jake Gibson / Brother of Hope Martin / Manager of Black Fire	Charles Bateman	27	Credited
Pliney B. Potter	Nephew of Jake Gibson	Jimmy (Jimmie) Horan	50	Credited
Millard Sawyer	Nephew of Jake Gibson / Banker	John Vivyan	42	Credited
Elizabeth "Lizzie" Seabright	Niece of Jake Gibson / Suffragette / Teetotaler	Edith Leslie	53	Credited
Elmo Seabright	Elizabeth Seabright's husband	George O'Hanlon	45	Credited
	County sheriff	David McMahon	47	Credited
Bart Maverick	Episode introduction and narrator	Jack Kelly	30	Uncredited
Abby Welkins	Niece of Jake Gibson			Uncredited
	Black Fire guard at gate			Uncredited
Fanny Davenport	Actress on both the English and American stages			Mentioned
Mary Beth Eakins (nee Gibson)	Homer Eakin's mother			Mentioned
	Farmers ("Nesters")			Mentioned
Mrs. Martin (nee Gibson)	Hope & Jeff's mother			Mentioned
	Ranch hands			Mentioned

 

Crew

Director	Leslie H. Martinson
Assistant Director	Robert Farfan
Developed by	Roy Huggins (uncredited)
Teleplay	Marion Hargrove
Story	Howard Browne
Executive Producer	Wm. (William) T. Orr
Producer	Roy Huggins
Director of Photography	Carl Berger, A. S.C.
Art Director	Howard Campbell
Supervising Film Editor	James Moore
Film Editor	Folmar Blangsted
Production Manager	Oren W. Haglund
Sound	Theodore B. Hoffman
Set Decorator	William Wallace
Set Construction	Donald P. Desmond (uncredited)
Makeup Supervisor	Gordon Bau, S.M.A.
Composer: Original Theme	David Buttolph (uncredited)
Stock Music Composer	Max Steiner (uncredited)
Production Company	Warner Bros. Television
Distribution Company	American Broadcasting Company (ABC)

 

Dialogue/Figurative Language/Literary References/Quotes

 

Homer Eakins: How’d you like the old gargoyle [Jake Gibson]?
Meaning: Grotesque in figure.

 

 

Homer Eakins as Bret Maverick: Because Cousin Lonnie is about as sensitive as a barbed wire salesman.
Meaning: Thick-skinned

 

 

Homer: When you expect too much you’re bound to be disappointed.

 

Abby Welkins: I think I’ll go too, “General.” I’m used to being poor.
Bret Maverick as Homer Eakins: The good ones are always the first to go.
Reference The proverb that “The good die young.”

 

 

Bret Maverick: You know what they say, Homer, a good appetite is the best sauce.
Reference: “Hunger is the best sauce in the world,” – Miguel de Cervantes, Part II, Chapter V, of Don Quixote, (1615).

 

 

Bret Maverick: The butler did it.

 

 

Notable Mentions

Fanny Davenport
Suffragettes
U.S. Financial Crisis of the 1870s Bank Panic
Homesteader and cattleman wars

 

 

Geographic References

Dallas, Texas, United States of America
Denver, Colorado, United States of America
Lava beds in Wyoming Territory, United States of America – Yellowstone and the Devil’s Tower

 

 

The Games People Play

Homer Eakins as Bret Maverick: I play poker…”General” Gibson, when a man plays poker well, he doesn’t have to earn a living. Other people earn his living for him. No one can accuse Bret Maverick of having done an honest days work since the day he left home.

 

“General” Jake Gibson: Do ya’ care for a friendly game, Maverick [Homer Eakins]
Homer Eakins as Bret Maverick: I’m never friendly at cards. I never play for fun.
“General” Jake Gibson: Well what’s wrong with playing for money.
Homer Eakins as Bret Maverick: You can’t afford it. You have a large family to support.

 

Cribbage
Horseshoes
Poker
Patience / Solitaire  

 

 

Grub

Apples, whole and in slices
Sliced beef
Yorkshire pudding
Roasted carrots
Boiled potatoes
Roasted Turnips
Roasted Parsnips
Roasted rutabaga
Horseradish sauce
Red wine
Milk
Coffee
Pancakes
Epergne of mixed fruit in the center of the table
Whiskey
Poached chicken breast
Potato wedges
Fried butternut squash

 

 

Sources: Maverick episodes (written, spoken and credits), Internet Movie Database (IMDb), Wikipedia, individual observations, and others as indicated by the links.

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