THE FRONTIERADO HOLIDAY IS COMING UP ON FRIDAY, AUGUST 2nd!
As always, the Frontierado holiday (now celebrated on 6 continents) is about the myth of the Wild West, not the grinding reality.
MAVERICK (1994) – Richard Donner directed and Mel Gibson starred in this excellent tribute to the 1950s and 1980s Maverick television series. The original series starred James Garner as slick-talking gambler/ gunslinger Bret Maverick AND, in old-age makeup, as “Pappy” Beauregard Maverick, the gambler and con-man patriarch of that family of rogues. (No relation to the real-life Maverick family of Texas, for whom “maverick” cattle were named.)
Maverick was just as often comedic as dramatic and nicely anticipated the many deconstructions of Old West mythology that were to come in the decades ahead. Sometimes the program was daringly farcical as in episodes like Gun-Shy, a spoof of Gunsmoke, and Three Queens Full, a Bonanza parody set on the Sub-Rosa Ranch (as opposed to Bonanza‘s PONDErosa). The storyline featured Maverick encountering a Ben Cartwright-styled rancher and his three less-than-straight sons, hence the episode’s title.
The original series centered on Garner’s Bret Maverick (and later other Maverick family members) vying in cardplaying and con-games with assorted rival gamblers, gunslingers and con-men. Efrem Zimbalist Jr – in his pre-FBI years – played Dandy Jim, one of the recurring members of Maverick’s Rogue’s Gallery of foes.
Elaborate schemes and multiple double-crosses often kept viewers guessing who would come out on top til the very end, since Bret sometimes ended up on the losing side.
The constant betrayals and double-crosses were part of the charm of the television series and were perfectly captured by the 1994 big-screen adaptation of Maverick. This thoroughly enjoyable film is often dismissed as just another of the pointless movie adaptations of tv shows that began to flood theaters back then, but that is far from the truth.
Mel Gibson portrays Bret Maverick since by 1994 James Garner was too old for the role. Jodie Foster co-stars as rival gambler Annabelle Bransford and the iconic James Garner provides memorable support as a lawman.
NECESSARY SPOILER: Many people that I’ve discussed this movie with said they avoided it or stopped watching it once they realized Garner was not portraying a member of the Maverick family. In reality – as we learn near the very end – he IS. He may have been too old to play Bret this time around but he reprised his role of Pappy Beauregard from the original series – no old age makeup needed by that point.
Pappy is just POSING as a lawman and his son Bret obligingly plays along without blowing his Pappy’s cover. (Yes, as in Bret’s frequent “My ol’ Pappy always told me …” bits.) Continue reading
However, before that was known, 
By the way, the minute it was clear that the REAL perpetrators were 
A FANTASTICAL EXCURSION INTO THE PLANETS (1839) – Written by an unknown author. The anonymous narrator of this novel is taken on a visit to assorted planets and other celestial bodies. The figure who transports him is a winged, rainbow-colored sprite whose face and body constantly change slightly, allowing no lasting impression to be made out. 
Well before this part-hero, part-villain became renowned as “The Only Law West of the Pecos” he was already experiencing an adventurous life. In 1841, at the age of 16, Bean hitched a ride on a flatboat from his dirt-poor Kentucky community to New Orleans, LA in search of work. 
For what it’s worth, here are my current thoughts on the ongoing situation regarding the attempt to kill populist folk hero President Donald Trump. There are countless articles out there praising his courage under literal fire and condemning the loathsome conduct of Trump-haters, so I’m covering a different angle right now. 
INDIANA OVER PHOENIX – The INDIANA FEVER (10-14) welcomed the PHOENIX MERCURY (12-11) in this game. 
ACES WILD – The LAS VEGAS ACES (15-7) took it on the road against the ATLANTA DREAM (7-15) yesterday. 
Well, the Democrats, their media outlets and their unhinged narrative that de facto Third Party President Donald Trump is the new Hitler finally got the result they’ve been wanting … almost. Clearly they would rather that Trump was dead. I will have more to write about this in a day or so. 
Longtime readers of Balladeer’s Blog know that when something huge happens I like to wait for the initial fog of mistakes and incorrect reports by the media to clear up before I do a lengthy blog post. In the meantime, obviously, I’m glad that Trump – who kept us out of any new wars, was the greatest president for the working class and the poor during my lifetime and the man most feared by the absolute garbage called career politicians in the United States – survived this attempt on his life.
FANTASTIC FOUR Vol 1 #166 (January 1976) 
THE TOUCH OF BREEZE (2023) – Last year Balladeer’s Blog reviewed 
Balladeer's Blog 