Who Wore It Best?

Hello Everyone!

A fellow Jack Kelly fan just let me know about a fascinating Maverick-related subject which was recently a topic of discussion elsewhere. Namely, how actresses who appeared on different episodes of the series all wore a certain dress.

I got to thinking about this, which led me to look through Maverick stills in the Kellection. And, by golly, they were right—that little plaid dress did get around!

The phenomenon of the frequently-used frock wasn’t unique to Maverick or to Warner Bros., which was notorious for recycling other elements of its television productions including sets, scripts and even characters. Most TV westerns of the era didn’t have huge wardrobe budgets, so re-using costumes was the norm, particularly when it came to dresses.

As an article titled “Hollywood Hand-Me-Downs” in a 1959 issue of TV Guide explained, “Television costumers often find themselves in the same predicament as Scarlett O’Hara of Gone With the Wind. Poor Scarlett had to fashion a velvet gown out of draperies; TV costumers, when stuck with low budgets, frequently must resort to hand-me-downs. The problem of ‘making do’ arises especially with shows about the Old West. This was a period when women’s clothes were voluminous, of elegant fabrics and elaborately hand-ornamented. Today, it is expensive to copy such garments. Materials cost up to $20 a yard, highly skilled seamtresses as much as $35 a day. A replica of an 1880 dress may cost from $400 to $700. Understandably, such a creation can’t be discarded after one show, so it is returned to Wardrobe to be used later ‘as is’, or it may undergo repeated alterations and become a glorified hand-me-down.”

Thus, as the TV Guide story illustrates, the long-sleeved gray wool suit jacket one actress wore on Laramie could be re-worked into a bolero for an actress on Wagon Train and then further altered to costume yet another actress on Riverboat.

And, so it was with the women’s wardrobe on Maverick. Now, the only question remaining about the ubiquitous plaid dress is, “Who wore it best?”

Was it Roxane Berard in "The Royal Four Flush":

Or, Gail Kobe in "Marshal Maverick":

Or, Sharon Hugueny in "The Devil's Necklace":

Or, Suzanne Lloyd (wearing an altered version in this original color slide from the Kellection) in "Last Stop Oblivion"?

I'm sure other actresses also acted in the popular plaid dress. And, it wasn't the only women's costume which had a recurring role on Maverick.

For example, there was this dance-hall outfit. Who (barely) wore it best:

Was it Anna Lisa in "The Judas Mask":

Or Arlene Howell in "Alias Bart Maverick"?

A more demure costume was also seen in numerous scenes. Who wore it best:

Dawn Wells in "The Deadly Image":

Or, Merry Anders in "The People's Friend"?

Here's one last example of a dress which did double (or more) duty in Maverick. Who wore it best:

Whitney Blake in "The Burning Sky":

Or Joan Marshall in "The Substitute Gun"?

Of course, the correct answer is that ALL of these lovely ladies wore these outfits the best, thanks to talented and resourceful costumers who "made do" and made every performer in Maverick look great, even in Hollywood hand-me-downs. 

Please stay tuned for more about JK in TDS! 

 

The Maverick Report - "The Deadly Image"

 

Hi! Here's a publicity still from "The Deadly Image". Now, if the girl pictured with Jack Kelly looks familiar, it's because, yes, she's Dawn Wells, who later came to fame as "Mary Ann" in Gilligan's Island.

And, if JK looks like he's out of his usual Bart Maverick uniform, that's because he's actually dressed up as the bad guy.

"The Deadly Image" takes the old "outlaw who looks like the hero" plot and pits Bart against a dastardly doppelganger named "Rod Claxton". Of course, everyone thinks Bart is Claxton, including the Army and even Claxton's girlfriend Caprice (played by Ms. Wells). Caprice does wonder, though, when she busses Bart and notices that his kiss is gentler than what she's used to!

The only person who isn't fooled is Caprice's elderly grandfather. He is blind and isn't misled by appearances. He discerns Bart's true character without seeing him.

Bart also encounters a former member of Claxton's gang, a wounded desperado (Gerald Mohr) with his own connection to Caprice.

The big "reveal" where Bart finally comes face-to-face with his lawless lookalike comes near the end of the episode, and it's a doozy.

Claxton looks at Bart and is astonished by their resemblance.

"My own father wouldn't know the difference!" he exclaims.

"Mine would," Bart answers coldly.

Thankfully, the writers didn't go overboard with "evil twin" cliches. Claxton is dressed in black. However, Jack Kelly plays him with smoldering menace rather than with over-the-top villainy.

A reviewer in the Cincinnati Post newspaper noted, “Director John Ainsworth was particularly pleased with the way Kelly handled the [dual] roles. If you concentrate on his eyes, you'll see how he mastered the character differences. Thanks to technical magic, there's an interesting scene in which Dawn Wells is 'thrown' back and forth between the two Kellys".

The rest of the cast is great, too, especially frequent Maverick guest-star Mohr and Abraham Sofaer, the character actor who portrays Caprice's grandfather. I first saw Sofaer in an episode of Four Star Playhouse that showed up on our local PBS station some years ago. He played a Native American chief in a story called "The Collar" which starred David Niven as an imprisoned priest. It was literally one of the best things I've ever seen on television.

And, speaking of character actors, "The Deadly Image" was co-written by Leo Gordon, who guest-starred on five Maverick episodes as "Big Mike McComb".