Murphy’s Romance – My Favorite Westerns

I thought it would be rather easy to throw something together for James Garner. Not so !! Just the Maverick stuff itself seemed like a small industry – with TV Series, spin-offs, Movies, Mini Series … etc.

Let’s get started:

Shoot-Out at Medicine Bend with Randolph Scott / 1957
Garner’s first Western. Pretty well any Western with Randolph Scott is either very watchable or Classic.

Scott and Garner
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Maverick / TV Show

“Who is the tall dark stranger there … ??”

Why it’s Maverick of course ! Most likely Bret Maverick (James Garner)

**Mavericks: Bret (James Garner) and Bart (Jack Kelly)**

Maverick Banner — **Maverick TV Show – Opening Banner**

Jack Kelly, Beau Maverick (Roger Moore) Garner — **Jack Kelly, Beau Maverick (Roger Moore) and Garner**

After Garner left the show during the 3rd Season …
It just wasn’t the same.
Maverick – in Film and TV – went through a few permutations and convolutions over the years and will need to be covered in more depth later.

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Garner made a cameo appearance in the Bob Hope Western Comedy
Alias Jesse James.

Couldn’t find any pics of James so I’m inserting Gloria Talbott instead. Yeah.
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Duel at Diablo: Garner with Sydney Poitier / 1966

I don’t know much about this movie .. will have to catch up.
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One of My Favorites: Hour of the Gun / 1967

Garner is scary stern as Wyatt Earp
and Robards is brilliant as Doc Holliday.
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Support Your Local Sheriff / 1966
Garner’s comic talents were exploited often:

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Sledge / 1970

What happens when you mix spaghetti with beef?
You get Sledge.

Some decent people in here.

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More comedy …
Support Your Local Gunfighter / 1971

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Skin Game — **Garner and young Lou Gossett team up**

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**Nichols … I liked it, but it didn’t stick**

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Disney calls:

Castaway Cowboy — **Garner probably did more Comedy Westerns than anyone**

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Not everything worked:
Young Maverick – TV Show / 1979
Starred Charles Frank as Ben Maverick. Really.
Lasted 8 episodes.

The New Maverick — **1979 / Made for TV movie attempted to kick-start Young Maverick TV show**

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Then … suddenly:
Murphy’s Romance / 1985

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Was this a Western ? I believe I spot a car in there.
Garner as legendary lawman Wyatt Earp (again) and Bruce Willis as legendary Western actor Tom Mix,
but I’m not sure.

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Maverick – the movie / 1994
Garner, Gibson and Jodie Foster and James Coburn and Graham Greene
and others …
Garner appears as the much rumoured “Pappy” …
Gibson reprises Bret.

A fun movie – good cast
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Then …

Streets of Laredo – 3 part mini-series … also a Great Cast:
Garner, Sissy Spacek, Sam Shepard, Ned Beatty, Randy Quaid,
Wes Studi, Charles Martin Smith …
and Alexis Cruz does a good job as the villain.

______________________Shepard, Garner, Spacek_____________________
will cover this better – later.

Whew !!!

Upcoming:

Maverick: The TV Show
Hour of the Gun
Streets of Laredo

Murphy’s Romance (1985) … (myfavoritewesterns.com)

Production / Wikipedia

Sally Field and director Martin Ritt had to fight Columbia Pictures in order to cast Garner, who was viewed at that point as primarily a television actor despite having enjoyed a flourishing film career in the 1960s (and more recently having co-starred in the box office hit Victor/Victoria opposite Julie Andrews two years earlier).

Columbia didn’t want to make the picture at all, because it had no “sex or violence” in it. But because of the success of Norma Rae (1979), with the same star (Field), director, and screenplay writing team (Harriet Frank, Jr. and Irving Ravetch), and with Field’s new production company (Fogwood Films) producing, Columbia agreed. But, Columbia then wanted Marlon Brando, or someone with “greater box-office allure,” to play the part of Murphy, so Field and Ritt had to insist on Garner.

Filming took place on location in Florence, Arizona and the town’s preserved Main Street appears throughout the movie.