MAVERICK: TWO TICKETS TO TEN STRIKE (TV)
Summary
One in this series of offbeat western dramas about the Mavericks, unlikely heroes who prefer gambling to gunplay. In this episode, Bret arrives in Ten Strike, New Mexico, grateful to escape his garrulous stagecoach companion, Frankie French – but then learns that there is only one hotel in town. Once there, Frankie "steals" his hot bath, and an annoyed Bret demands his dollar back from her. In the morning, Frankie laments that she can no longer afford breakfast, but they are interrupted by two visitors, Eddie and Vic, who firmly "advise" Bret to leave town as soon as possible. Bewildered, Bret then learns that Frankie received a "nutty note" – containing $100 – from an unknown person summoning her to Ten Strikes in the first place, and she suggests that the two odd incidents are connected. Later, Frankie plays cards with a wealthy older gentleman, banker Martin Scott, and tells him about her anonymous "benefactor." Vic and Eddie rough Bret up upon discovering that he has not left, though they still refuse to explain their reasons. Frankie finds Bret and declares that she will accompany him out of town, now suspecting that the note was just a trick from a former dance-hall rival, but Bret informs her that he is returning to Ten Strikes to solve the mystery.
Bret is forced to hide out in Frankie's room, and she receives another anonymous note telling her to "stay where she is." Bret refuses to admit that he is jealous of Frankie's apparent flirtation with Scott, and the two kiss. Later, he tracks down Eddie at the barbershop and demands answers, but he protests that he was merely aiding a friend, Vic. Bret incapacitates Vic at the blacksmith's and questions him at gunpoint, and Vic protests that he is acting "for Bret's own good," adding that he is working with local saloon owner May Miller. Miller assures Bret that they do not know one another and she has no reason to want him gone, suggesting that Eddie and Vic are lying. Bret is then forced to kill Eddie when he shoots at him on the street, and when the sheriff questions him, Scott reveals that he witnessed the encounter and vouches for Bret's claim of self-defense. Scott again denies being Frankie's "benefactor" and claims ignorance of the entire affair, but he then visits Miller and reveals that she hired the two men to kill Bret, as she did in the past with a man named Stoner. Miller, whom Scott has been paying for her "silence," hints that Bret may have recognized Scott from the past, but he informs her that he is already terminally ill and has nothing left to lose.
Bret decides to leave town after all and apologizes to Frankie for "leading her on," but once in the next town, he learns that Scott has been stabbed to death in the hotel and Frankie has been arrested. He hurries back to Ten Strike and visits Frankie in jail, and she swears her innocence and explains that Scott left her everything in his will, though the inheritance will default to the town itself if she is found guilty of murder. Bret investigates Miller's background and finds that she arrived in Ten Strike with a traveling show, and he explains to Frankie that Miller did indeed recognize him from an encounter in Virginia City some years ago, in which Bret was thrown in jail for a fight and befriended his cellmate, a murderer who then escaped – and changed his name from Frankovich to Martin Scott, meaning that he was Frankie's long-lost father and her secret benefactor. Frankie is stunned, and Bret confronts Miller with his findings, having figured out that she was blackmailing Scott with her knowledge of his true identity and had Stoner – and nearly Bret himself – killed to cover it up. Trapped, Miller suggests giving the real killer, Vic, a few days' head start before turning him in to the sheriff to free Frankie from jail, but Bret reveals that the sheriff has been just outside the door all along. With the case closed, Frankie decides to accompany Bret as he departs Ten Strike, and when he protests that she is now the town heiress, she urges him not to be too proud to "marry rich." Includes commercials.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: March 15, 1959 7:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:00:47
- COLOR/B&W: B&W
- CATALOG ID: B:81091
- GENRE: Drama, western
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, western; Drama, action/adventure
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 1957-1962
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - Borden Eagle Brand condensed milk
- TV - Commercials - C&R Clothiers apparel
- TV - Commercials - Capitol Home Loan company
- TV - Commercials - Caress soap
- TV - Commercials - Carpeteria carpet stores
- TV - Commercials - Chunky candy bars
- TV - Commercials - Contempo Casuals apparel
- TV - Commercials - Drain Power drain cleaner
- TV - Commercials - Kraft Cracker Barrel spreadable cheddar cheese
- TV - Commercials - Lee's Bars 'n' Stools 'n' Dinettes furniture store
- TV - Commercials - Levitz furniture stores
- TV - Commercials - May Company shop-at-home services
- TV - Commercials - Montgomery Ward department stores
- TV - Commercials - RB Furniture
- TV - Commercials - Safeway stores
- TV - Commercials - Scott Soft 'n' Pretty toilet paper
- TV - Commercials - The Akron stores
- TV - Commercials - Viva Fiesta paper towels
- TV - Commercials - Wilsons House of Suede & Leather shops
- TV - Commercials - Worthington Ford used cars
- TV - Commercials - Zachary All stores
- TV - Promos - "Ironside"
CREDITS
- William T. Orr … Executive Producer
- Roy Huggins … Producer
- Douglas Heyes … Director, Writer
- David Buttolph … Theme Music by
- Paul Francis Webster … Theme Music by
- James Garner … Cast, Bret Maverick
- Jack Kelly … Cast, Bart Maverick
- Connie Stevens … Cast, Frankie French
- Adam West … Cast, Vic Nolan
- Andrea King … Cast, May Miller
- Lyle Talbot … Cast, Martin Scott
- William D. Gordon … Cast, Eddie Burke
- Roscoe Ates … Cast, Barber
- John Harmon … Cast, Stranger
- Duane Greg … Cast, Sheriff