JK Saturday Night Noir: "Double Jeopardy"

Hello Everyone!

Time to discuss another great Jack Kelly flick--1955's Double Jeopardy.

This neat little noir could also be titled "Double Cross", because that's what some of the characters do to each other, including slick used car salesman "Jeff Calder" (JK) and his scheming girlfriend "Marge Baggott" (Gale Robbins), who, in their first scene, are unaware they're being observed by Marge's drunken husband, "Sam" (Robert Armstrong).

Sam is blackmailing a former business partner. After Marge shows Calder some of the money, he decides he wants a piece of the action:

Marge convinces Sam to squeeze more money out of his victim so (unbeknownst to Sam) she and Jeff can run off to Mexico. But, unbeknownst to Marge, Jeff actually has other plans. He trails Sam to the blackmail site:

Sam's blackmail gravy train suddenly derails and he ends up empty-handed. Jeff doesn't know this and tries to shake Sam down:

Things go downhill--literally--from there:

Soon, Calder is visited by the blackmail victim's attorney (Rod Cameron), who questions him about Sam and Marge while his unhappy boss "Happy Harry" (Dick Elliott) looks on:

As the noose tightens around Calder and Marge, he assures her that everything will be okay:

But, maybe not for her, it turns out:

I won't give away the ending, but I will say that JK is excellent as the double-crossing Calder in Double Jeopardy.

"Give The Boots The Stars Wear"--THE SEQUEL! :)

Howdy!

Remember those 1950's Acme boot ads I wrote about in December 2016? Well, an authentic pair of Acme's "Maverick" boots just joined the Kellection, so step right up for a first-hand look at this fantabulous footwear!

I won't be wearing them, however. They're toddler-sized. But, they're the perfect size for displaying and they're extra cute, to boot. ;)

To give you an idea of their height (and to work Bart and Bret into this post), I've posed the boots with a Maverick promo playing card. I'm fascinated by the boots' detailed stitching, too:  

Note the gambling motif at the top of the boots. I "bet" the lucky tot who wore them was an "ace" at card games (most likely 52 pickup):

Finally, they have an official Warner Bros. Maverick stamp on the sole:

What's coming up next in TDS as we march into March? Please stay tuned and find out! :)

What Makes A Maverick A "Maverick"?

Hi!

I was going through some of the magazines in the Kellection and found this 1959 issue of TV Prevue. Inside are the TV listings for the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper. Outside is a smilin' cover portrait of the Maverick Brothers! (I love Bart's colorful vest.)

The cover story reveals "Why Those Maverick Boys Never Change". Although Maverick had many different writers, the boys "stay in character--humorous, sardonic and unheroic", because of a mimeographed sheet of guidelines for the characters. The article lists the guidelines:

And, guess what? I have a copy of that original sheet of guidelines, which were authored by Roy Huggins, the creator and producer of Maverick. They're also aimed at the show's directors. BTW, these guidelines were part of a cache of documents I purchased many years ago which relate to the production of Maverick. I'll share more of these documents in the future.

Don't Forget...

 

...to watch Jack Kelly make his "explosive" debut as Bart Maverick  in "Hostage!" on Maverick at 10:00 am ET today on ME-TV (check your local listings for correct time/channel for your area).

And, don't forget to come back to TDS. You'll get a "kick" out of the next post!


JK's Sunday Sermonette :)

Hello!

A very special Jack Kelly performance has found its way into the Kellection. It's in a charming episode of Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre titled "Kirsti". It originally aired on Valentine's Day in 1956.

I made some screencaps, but unfortunately the copy I have of "Kirsti" isn't the greatest, picture-wise. But, I hope you'll enjoy them nonetheless. :)

JK portrays a young pastor (not a "parson", he insists) named "Raeburn Stone". Pastor Stone has just returned to his New England town with "Kirsti", his winsome Norwegian-born bride.
She's always quoting her "Papa" (hmm, I wonder if she has some American relatives named Maverick?)

 Kirsti can't wait to hear Raeburn preach, until he explains that he's only an assistant pastor who doesn't usually deliver the sermons in his church.

 That's the job of "Dr. Cutler" (Charles Coburn), the senior pastor. Raeburn takes care of more mundane tasks such as typing Dr. Cutler's messages. However, he also writes a few of his own messages, just in case he needs to fill in for Dr. Cutler some day.

After reading one of Raeburn's sermons, Kirsti thinks it deserves to be heard.

And, it looks like it will be, since Dr. Cutler has come down with a bad cold and has asked Raeburn to spell him in the pulpit.

But, then Dr. Cutler starts to feel better. He decides to preach after all and asks Raeburn to type his sermon. 

The next day, Dr. Cutler prepares to preach a recycled sermon full of  hellfire and brimstone. However, it seems someone has pulled the old switcheroo with his notes, and Dr. Cutler ends up sharing Raeburn's gentler message instead. This leads to a big change in the church, but not as big as the change the Stones will soon be dealing with at home.

JK is delightful as Raeburn. And, Jane Wyman is so loveable as Kirsti, it's hard to believe this is the same woman who played nasty "Angela Channing" in the 1980's prime-time soap Falcon Crest. But, that just shows what a fine actress Ms. Wyman was.

Just about a month after "Kirsti" aired, JK and JW co-starred in another Fireside Theatre presentation titled "Scent of Roses". And, in a April 1956 newspaper article, Ms. Wyman mentioned JK as one of several talented young Fireside Theatre co-stars in whom she took pride (others included tough guy Neville Brand and actress Betty Lynn, who later appeared as "Thelma Lou" in The Andy Griffith Show).

"Kirsti" had been available for viewing on YouTube, but unfortunately it has since vanished. Well, keep the faith, and maybe it will return some day. :)

UPDATE! In the meantime, here's a promo for repeats of Fireside Theatre which ran on ABC-TV in the early 1960's. It includes a snippet from "Kirsti":

 

A Valentine's Day Question :)

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

Last summer, I posted a look at Jack Kelly from a Brazilian movie magazine called Cinelandia. I just added another issue of Cinelandia to the Kellection. This issue not only contains some wonderful pix of JK inside the magazine, but features him on the Valentine-red cover as well (along with Robert Colbert as brother Brent):

 

The banner just above Bart and Brent reads (roughly translated from Portuguese): "Cinelandia Asks: Should Cowboy Heroes Get Married?" Apparently, the question was prompted by a story arc on Bonanza which almost had Adam Cartwright (Pernell Roberts) marrying a widow with a young daughter. Their wedding never happened, supposedly because Bonanza's female fans demanded that Adam remain single.

The cover article begins (again, roughly translated):

"The good guys from the 'Far West' are the only men in the world who need the approval of thousands of people to go to the altar. Marriage may be the aim of many of them, but the 'yes' depends on the TV viewers. Should the cowboys settle down to family life? Or should they keep chasing bandits? This depends on you and Cinelandia wants to know your opinion."
 
On the cover, bachelor Bart's opinion of marriage seems to be "No thanks". But, inside the magazine, he enthusiastically aims some affection in the direction of pretty Karen Steele, while brother Bret (James Garner) seems to second that emotion. Ms. Steele guest-starred on two episodes of Maverick (with JK in the episode "You Can't Beat The Percentage" and with JG in "Point Blank") and was later linked romantically to JK in real-life following his 1964 divorce from wife Donna (May Wynn) Kelly.

 
Below, Bart and Bret are barely visible behind a bevy of potential brides:

Actually, these are some of the many actresses who co-starred opposite JK and JG in Maverick. The photo is a bit grainy, but some of the ladies I recognize are Ruta Lee, Patricia Crowley, Adele Mara, Joi Lansing, Ms. Steele, Marie Windsor, and Arlene Howell. This gathering of glamor gals appears to be from the same shoot as this photo.

Well, Bart Maverick may have escaped matrimony, but he still captures our hearts. :)

Clipart courtesy of Shannon Hatfield

JK And "Jealousy"! :)

Howdy!

As you may know, Maverick is now airing nationally Saturday mornings at 10 AM ET on ME-TV (although local ME-TV stations sometimes substitute their own programming--check your area listings to be sure). As the Maverick episodes seem to be running sequentially from the beginning, that means Bart hasn't shown up yet. Sit tight: he makes his debut in "Hostage!", coming soon (February 25, to be exact).

That's not the only Jack Kelly treat we have to look forward to on ME-TV. Since the network is also airing the original half-hour length episodes of Gunsmoke, we'll also be seeing "Jealousy", the 1957 episode written by Sam Peckinpah in which JK guest-starred. It will be coming up soon as well (February 23).

I recently found a Gunsmoke DVD with "Jealousy", so here are some dreamy screen caps of JK from the episode as a preview.

Smilin' Jack (as "Cam Durbin") introduces big (6'7") Jim Arness ("Marshal Matt Dillon") to his wife, "Tilda" (Joan Tetzel). Cam is an old friend of Matt's.

 

Cam has come to Dodge City to deal faro at the Longbranch Saloon. While he and Tilda are chatting with Marshal Dillon, a shady character named "Lonnie Pike", who was the former dealer at the saloon, comes to plead his case with the Marshal. Pike was stabbed in the hand by a card player he tried to cheat and can no longer ply his trade as a gambler.

Cam decides to help Pike by offering him a job as a back-up dealer. Marshal Dillon tells him he's making a mistake, but Cam stands firm.

He should have listened to Matt. Pike holds a grudge against Dillon because he wouldn't shoot the man who stabbed him. He plots to get rid of the Marshal by convincing Cam that Matt is trying to steal Tilda away from him. (You see, Cam is the jealous type...and he used to be pretty good with a gun.)

Cam begins to have his doubts:

Is Tilda really cheating on him with his old friend?

The evidence seems to be mounting. Cam catches Matt and Tilda together in a restaurant (not the restaurant Tilda was supposed to meet him at):

 

Finally, he angrily confronts them on the street, and threatens to shoot Matt:

He doesn't, but it turns out someone else in the Durbin family is good with a gun. Tilda blasts Pike at the saloon for feeding false rumors about her and Matt to Cam.

Cam tries to  stop Matt from arresting Tilda, but is knocked out cold by the Marshal.

At the Marshal's office, Cam tries to reason with Matt and Tilda: 

When it appears that Pike will recover from the shooting, Matt releases Tilda:

And, the Durbins decide to get out of Dodge:

JK's role as gamblin' man Cam was good practice for when he took on the role of Bart Maverick later in 1957!  

COMING SOON: A look at another pre-Maverick JK performance, plus a post-Maverick JK performance, and a different view of Gunsmoke--stay tuned! :)