Make Room For JK!

Howdy!

Previously in TDS, I discussed dresses which appeared in Maverick. Now, let’s take a fun and insightful visit to Jack Kelly’s DRESS-ing room at Warner Bros. 

Columnist Sheilah Graham had reported in early 1961 that since JK was now the top star of Maverick he'd been given "a new plush dressing room on the Warner lot complete with hi-fi, FM radio tape recorder, etc., etc.".  Another veteran newspaper scribe, Zuma Palmer, visited JK in his posh studio digs later the same year: 

“There was a guard at the parking lot, a guard sitting at a desk inside the door to the publicity department and a guard in a covered place at the entrance to the dressing room and stage area. 

“In walking to dressing room suite No. 9, Ted Ashton of the Warner Bros. publicity department, [publicist] Eddie Kafafian and I passed a half-marked tennis court. The other half had been used in a scene in Task Force and was pitted by explosives.

“Jack Kelly did not answer the knock so we knew lunch break had not yet come for the Maverick cast. 

“Jack L. Warner’s shuttered private dining room was on the way to the soundstage. Kelly, who is Bart Maverick, was stretched out on a settee dozing while Paula Raymond was before the cameras in a riverboat setting.

“’It is easy to go to sleep when you’re up at 6,’ Kelly remarked.

“For a TV set there seemed to be many costumed actors around. Richard Loo was the Chinese [actor]. Kelly later said there were 40 [extras] for atmosphere. ‘The Golden Fleecing’ by Charles B. Smith is the tentative title for this Maverick episode. [B27- Of course, this was also the final title of the ep.]

JK with Paula Raymond as "Adele Jaggers" in "The Golden Fleecing" 

episode of Maverick, which first aired on October 8, 1961

“The first actions of Kelly upon reaching his dressing room were to tune into music and loosen his shirt collar. 

LUNCH

“The lunch, ordered by Ashton from the commissary, was brought by a man in a spotless white suit. Off the main room of Kelly’s suite is a small dining and kitchen area.

“When the actor saw the steak, the peas, French fries, sliced tomatoes and onions and fruit cup, he remarked, ‘I usually just have milk with Knox Gelatine and that gives me time for a nap or to work on a hobby.’

"Beside the amplifier on which he had been working was a rack of plastic handles for tools. On a shelf was model of the ship Essex.

“Upon returning from making a motion picture in Hong Kong, Kelly learned that Warner Bros. was looking for someone to play Bart.

“Kelly said he told William Orr and Hugh Benson, TV head and assistant top man [respectively], ‘There is no use of your spending $5000 on a [screen] test. I played in a series here ("Kings Row") which flopped and I have been in pictures. You know what I can do. I will ad lib on the set with Garner before the cameras.’

HIRED

“’I am 6 feet and Jim is about 6 feet four,’ the actor continued. ‘I was standing in a hole. I was hired. Jim and I worked well together.’

“Some time later there were contractual problems.

“’Jim had some other things in mind he wanted to do,’ Kelly reported. ‘I wanted to stay. I liked the steady salary, the first time in my career I had had one. I came down in my asking price and Jack L. Warner came up.’

“’I have been studying about real estate,’ he said, ‘and buying up acreage, not to develop, someone else can do that. I am not interested in buying houses. I have had unfortunate experiences with them.'”

MUCH MORE IN STORE IN PT. II--PLEASE STAY TUNED! :)

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! 

 

Happy National Day of the Cowboy 2021!

Howdy!

To celebrate National Day of the Cowboy 2021, here's a magnificent pic of those marvelous Maverick brothers, Bret and Bart! (And, yes, that's Goldie with Bart in this original vintage still from the Kellection):

Have a rip-snortin', rootin' tootin' day, everyone! :)

Happy Fourth of July 2021!

 Image courtesy VintageHolidayCrafts.com

Happy Fathers Day 2021! :)

 

Vintage illustration courtesy ClickAmericana

JK At the Tee in 1963 :)

Hello Everyone!

On June 16, 1963, a charmingly tousled Jack Kelly participated in the third annual Celebrity Golf Tournament at March Air Force Base in Riverside, California:

In 1962, JK won a trophy at the same tourney for "the longest drive off the 10th tee" (354 yards). 

Shown in the background is Bob Wilke, famed western bad guy who won the tourney's top prize in 1961 and was competing again in 1963. JK had previously faced Wilke both on the links and on Maverick.

Please stay tuned "fore" more about JK in TDS! :)

Memorial Day 2021

Vintage Memorial Day clipart courtesy of The Graphics Fairy