I've talked in my previous reviews about how Maverick started out as a pretty standard 50s Western. These days, it has a reputation as a gambler/con man comedy, but you wouldn't know it from the first season. The creative team developed the foundation of the later episodes by bringing in Bret Maverick. And then bringing in Jack Kelly as Bart Maverick when actor James Garner didn't want to commit to a full series run. The show dabbled in comedy, and Bret and Bart were never the most serious of cowpokes. But they fired guns and rode horses. Bret claimed he wasn't much of shooter, but he could hit who and what he was aiming for.
Huggins and Garner make a great comedy team, and "Shady Deal at Sunny Acres" is a good example. Last week's "The Jail at Junction Flats" on MeTV (which just shows the Garner episodes) is another one. "Jail" had Garner getting the runaround from one of the show's recurring characters, Diamond Jim Buckley (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.). Diamond Jim has conned some townspeople into selling their horses and splitting the money with Bret, but then takes off. Then Jim gets thrown into jail for shooting a fellow poker player, and Bret has to break him out to get back his money. A comedy of errors proceeds as Bret has to con a neighboring dressmaker to get into the cellar to break into the jail. Zimbalist shows off his singing skills, and the deputy (Bert Remsen) joins in.
At the end, Bret gets Jim out and gets his share of his money plus a bit more. Then Jim ties him up and leaves with the money. This is all reminiscent of The Rockford Files, where Jim Rockford was regularly getting played by his friends and allies: his father Rocky (Noah Beery Jr.), Angel (Stuart Margolin), former cellmate Gandolph Fitch (Isaac Hayes), pure-white PI Lance White (Tom Selleck), and many more. So, seeing Garner play a character who gets suckered by a "friend" isn't a surprise if you've seen The Rockford Files.
On to "Sunny Acres". After winning at the poker tables in Sunny Acres, Bret visits banker John Bates as he's working in Bates' office. Bates takes the $15,000 and gives Bret a receipt. The next day, Bates denies ever having taken the money or meeting Bret, and claims the signature on the receipt isn't his. Bates threatens Bart with legal action, and Bret promises Bates he's staying in Sunny Acres until Bates gives him the $15,000.
Soon Bates and the sheriff pay Bret a visit as he sits on the porch of his hotel whittling. The sheriff points out there's no law against what Bret says, and Bret says he paid two weeks on his hotel room so he's living in Sunny Acres. Bret says he'll just be sitting there whittling. The sheriff warns Bret no one ever got a nickel out of Bates, and Bret assures him within two weeks he'll have the $15,000.
The townspeople come by and laugh at Bret, and all he says about getting his $15,000 is "I'm working on it." Susan Granville visits Bret and says she believes Bates is a dishonest man. Bret insists he's thinking, and Susan asks if she can help him because she doesn't want Bates to buy out her father, who is the bank's co-owner. Later, Mr. Granville visits Bret and says Bates bought the bank. They can't prove $15,000 of that was Bret's money, but Granville says he believes Bret.
Cue the arrival of a stagecoach, and Bart gets out. Bart and Bret pretend they don't know each other, and Bart checks into the local hotel under an alias. Bates is still asking him about his interest in the Sunny Acres flour mill, that Bart has been asking about. Bart explains he's been commissioned by magnates to check out property investments in the West. He offers to buy it for $7,500, and Bates agrees.
Bart soon tells Bates he'll earn money in a big opportunity. He's going to use the $7,500 he gets from the mill sale to turn it into a million. Bates worms his way into the deal: Bart plans to buy a supposedly useless mine with stocks, and his partners will sell him the shares at $1 each. The banker warns it sounds too good to be true, and Bart invites him to travel to Denver with him to see him buy some stock in the mine from a widow.
The "widow" is another of Bart and Bret's recurring buddies, Samantha Crawford (Diane Brewster). After some dithering, she sells the shock to Bart while warning him it's worthless. Bart buys the shares for $750, and goes back when he discovers she's "accidentally" failed to give him back $300 of the money.
Next Bart and Bates visit the broker. Gentleman Jack Darby (Richard Long) is yet another Maverick ally. He plays a clerk, and says the owner is in his office upstairs. Jim is posing as the owner, and swears Bates to secrecy to keep the stock price from going through the roof. Bart wants to buy more shares and asks for cash, and Jim hands over a satchel. Bates is watching all of this with great interest. Once Bart and Bates leave, Jim reveals he "borrowed" the office and quickly leaves.
Another Maverick ally, Big Mike McComb (Leo Gordon), asks for a job with the next seller on Bart's list. Mike leaves, and Bates assumes he's the seller. Bart and Bates approach him and "buy" the shares from Mike. Mike demands enough money Bart has to drop out. Bates finds a local farmer, Plunkett, who has 40,000 shares and offers to help get them in return for 50% of the profits. Plunkett says he can't sell his shares because his daughter in Colorado has them, and after Bart and Bates leave, Bret steps out and pays Plunkett for playing along with the ruse.
Bates puts up the money to buy Mike's shares, and Bart agrees. Bart soon stays to have lunch with Mike, and Bart pays Mike for his contribution and has him take the $15,000 back to Jim. Meanwhile, Bates goes to Jim's office and discovers it's for rent. The banker figures he was conned and the whole thing unravels for him as he realizes Bret did it. The look on Bates' face is a tribute to the acting skills of John Dehner, who I'll talk about a little more below.
Bart leaves Sunny Acres after exchanging glances with Bret. He tells Granville that Bates embezzled $15,000, and Granville puts two and two together. Bates is arrested for embezzlement, and the townspeople all figure Bret was involved. Bret is leaving town, and the now respectful townspeople know Bret has his $15,000 back. All Bret will say is that his business in Sunny Acres is finished, and the sheriff asks him how he did it. Bret gives him his carving and smugly says he's leaving Sunny Acres a better place than he found it.
One of the main strengths of "Sunny Acres" is the ultimate HITG, John Dehner. Dehner could do comedy and drama, and also be a straight man. In The Twilight Zone he did all three: Dehner played a developer stalked by a jungle curse in "The Jungle", a straight man in "The Lonely", and a Maverick-like comedy Old West conman in "Mr. Garrity and the Graves". He played three other characters in Maverick, and I'll always remember Dehner as Captain Rausch in the Kolchak: The Night Stalker episode "The Knightly Murders". Rausch is a bloviating near-retirement police captain, who rambles on about ice pick murders and crime statistics, to the point where even the often-long-winded Kolchak (Darren McGavin) rolls his eyes. But then Rausch turns on the menace when Kolchak threatens to print something beyond the standard police statement, and then goes back to bemoaning sitting through his wife's chamber recitals.
Dehner makes the perfect sucker for a con story: he's subtle, menacing, greedy, but also turns on the comedy when he has to essentially wink at the camera when Bates realizes he's been conned at the end. And that's the other strength of "Sunny Acres": it's a near-perfect con story that brings in lots of recurring Maverick characters: Diamond Jim, Gentleman Jack, Big Mike, Samantha Crawford, and Cindy Lou Brown (Arlene Howell), who has a minor role as Jim's fake character's secretary.
"Sunny Acres" is filled with several 50s TV character actors: Jonathan Hole, J. Pat O'Malley, and Karl Swenson are the most recognizable HITGs. Managing the cast is Garner, whose Bret sits on a porch and whittles so the townspeople watch him when they should be watching anyone but.
"Sunny Acres" isn't a Western, even if it's set in the Old West. There's no gunfights, no horseback chases. With a few changes, it could be set in any time. And it kind of was: the 1973 movie The Sting has a similar "big store" con. Leverage is but one of the many TV shows featuring cons, either as the series concept or as a one-off. You can see "Sunny Acres" in all of them, and with some alterations Leverage could have used "Sunny Acres" as the basis for an episode.
So check out "Sunny Acres" if you get a chance. There's a reason it's on TVGuide's list of 100 greatest TV episodes, and Garner's favorite Maverick episode.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
Written by Gislef on Oct 13, 2019
Over the years I imagine I've seen most episodes of Maverick and this was easily my favorite.