RIP Leslie H Martinson

Hello All,

On Monday 9/5 I posted a lobby card from Jack Kelly's film FBI Code 98. This film was directed by Leslie H. Martinson, who also helmed 18 episodes of Maverick.

Sadly, the talented and prolific Mr. Martinson passed away on 9/6, at the age of 101. His obituary in the New York Times includes a great photo of JK and Roger Moore with Mr. Martinson. This photo also appeared in a article about JK which was published in TV Weekly in 1960 and which I blogged about in 2011.

Roger Moore shared some interesting tidbits about working with JK and Mr. Martinson in his autobiography My Word Is My Bond. You can read them here.

BTW, Mr. Martinson wasn't the only long-lived Maverick director. Richard Bare, who directed 11 episodes of the series, was also 101 when he passed away in 2015!

Happy Labor Day! :)

  

"Wait a minute...it's Labor Day? Then why are we at the office? Go home! Play golf! Have a cookout! And don't forget to charge the holiday on your timesheets." ;->



JK: Close And A Cigar :)

Howdy!

Two more vintage photos recently joined the Kellection. They both happen to show Jack Kelly as Bart Maverick, and Bart happens to be smoking a cigar in each photo:

Whether in fancy duds...

 

...or in a buckskin jacket, Bart is smokin'! :)

 

Did you know that the cigars the Maverick boys smoked were the stuff of Hollywood urban legends back in the day? I didn't, until I read the following 1959 newspaper story from the Victoria (TX) Advocate:

"Maverick Stogies Show Bret, Bart Are Different

'The myths I've heard circulating about the cigars Bret and Bart Maverick smoke have given me some of my heartiest laughs.'

So says Warner Bros property man Leo Lynch. Among his many responsibilities is seeing that fresh stogies are on hand for James Garner and Jack Kelly during production of ABC-TV's competition-killing Sunday night series Maverick.

Lynch says he's heard it rumored that these so-called 'Maverick cigars' are flown in from Havana where they are made from a secret blend exclusively for Maverick.

Another tale suggests that a little old Spanish lady in downtown Los Angeles hand-rolls the smokes not only for Bret and Bart, but for Jack L. Warner and executive producer William T. Orr.

Why does Maverick smoke cigars? Producer Roy Huggins has a ready answer: 'Because none of the traditional western heroes smokes them*. This was a calculated measure to distiguish Maverick from others. The villain is the cigar smoker in most westerns. Maverick inhales stogies for the same reason he doesn't own a beautiful horse, or handle a gun well, wear buckskins**, or a badge--he's a non-conformist. The cigars serve to remind us of this fact.'

Along with serving the purpose of backing up Maverick's philosophy, the cigars have acted as valuable attention-getters and conversation pieces.

Jack Kelly likes this 'cigar' incident:

'A wealthy businessman visiting the set asked about the cigars as soon as we were introduced. He said he'd heard the studio paid three dollars each for them and asked if he might try one. Of course we obliged, but made sure the wrapper was off before giving it to him. After a few puffs, our visitor proclaimed this a most magnificent smoke and asked where he could get some. I was afraid to tell him, so I didn't.'

If Kelly won't offer an answer, try property man Lynch, who casually insists nobody ever swore him to secrecy.

'Where do we get them? At the studio commissary's smoke stand. Very popular little cigars. Big sellers. They cost a nickel each.'" :)
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* I think Mr. Huggins forgot about Richard Boone's heroic Paladin, who was known to savor a cigar now and then.
**Actually, the Maverick brothers did have beautiful horses (e.g. Goldie), and, at times also handled a gun pretty well and wore buckskins (see second pic above). ;->

Retroceso Viernes! :)

That's "Flashback Friday" in Spanish...and here's another fantabulous Mexican lobby card from the Kellection, this time for Amor y Besos, better known in English as Love and Kisses, the 1965 flick starring Jack Kelly as Rick Nelson's pop. Enjoy! :)

 

There's lot's more about Love and Kisses here and here.

COMING ATTRACTIONS: I've been perusing the pages of the past again and have found some incredible JK stories and pictures to share with you. Please stay tuned! :) 

JK Saturday Sillies :)

 

"After I changed your oil, I did a complimentary safety check and lookey here: you got a couple bad spark plugs, your carburetor's pretty cruddy, your transmission is sluggish and your battery probably only has about six months left. I can fix all this stuff now if you'd like. Of course, it'll be extra. If you wanna wait, it should only take, um, about five hours, unless I have to call out for parts, then I'll have to keep it overnight. Oh, okay, you just want the oil change? That'll be $19.99 with the coupon."

JK: Last of the Mohicans! :)

Olá! (that's Portuguese for "Hello")

Continuing our jaunt around the wide wide world of Kellectibles, and just ahead of the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, here's a magazine article about Jack Kelly--from Rio de Janeiro! :)

It's from the February 1963 issue of Cinelandia, sort of the Brazilian version of Photoplay. Maverick had already ended its original run in the U.S., but it was apparently still running in Brazil since the text of the article laments that JK is the "last of the Mavericks", though the title of the article actually translates as "The Last of the Mohicans"!

The article has some great photos. Unfortunately, they're dark and grainy. I tried to brighten them as best I could. Anyway, as long as we can see Jack, right? ;) Enjoy!

JK and a visitor to the set

 

 Another visitor and the text of the article

 

While getting his hair colored gray for the role of "Uncle Bentley" in the "Pappy" episode of Maverick, JK chats with actress Kay Elhardt, who played Bart Maverick's would-be Mammy! :)



Here, JK confers with William Stuart, who produced eight episodes of Maverick during its final season.

JK Code 98! :)

Hola!

Here's another goodie from the wide wide world of Kellectibles. Not a fotobusta this time, but a lobby card from Mexico:

The film being advertised is, of course, 1963's FBI Code 98, which starred Jack Kelly and just about every actor under contract at Warner Bros at the time, including a bunch who'd appeared with JK in Maverick (e.g. Kathleen Crowley, Andrew Duggan, and Ray Danton, to name just a few).  Phil Carey (in the lower right corner) had previously acted with JK in They Rode West (coming to TCM on 7/26 at 2:15 am ET, BTW!). JK later joined PC in two episodes of Laredo and the Bob Hope special Shoot-In at NBC.