Reviews (25)

I left my tentacles in San Francisco.
Good Grade B '50s sci-fi flick. An atomic size octopus from the deepest realms of the Pacific threatens the world. Seeking adequate levels of food supply, not excluding humans, the creature attacks San Francisco. The real star of this movie is the razzle-dazzle special effects of Ray Harryhausen. The quality of the stop-motion animation exceeds the constraints of the B&W photography and the modest budget. The first part of the film tells of the mysterious ship sinking and other unexplained marine mayhem caused by the great sea beast. Navy Captain Pete Mathews (Kenneth Tobey) and two expert marine-biologists, John Carter (Donald Curtis) and Lesley Joyce (Faith Domergue), work around the clock tracking down clues to identify the source of the mysterious events at sea. The simple plot moves right along and doesn't waste time. As seems obligatory in many '50s sci-fi flicks, the heroes endure the "I'm telling you, there's a monster!" phase followed by the "Yeah, right!" response from the authorities. Happily, that particular cliche is kept to a minimum. Things really start to go snap, crackle, and pop as the monstrous octopus tries to pull itself up on the Golden Gate Bridge. And check out the giant eye that opens as the submarine approaches the submerged creature in the San Francisco harbor. This is solid Saturday afternoon at the movies fun for 12 year-olds of all ages. They really don't make them like this anymore.

4 and a half.
...This is a very well made film with Kenneth Tobey as the main human star. (Did you see how fast the octopus grabbed the sheriff and crushed his bones. He takes time on his meals too, which are ships and "you know what".) Enjoy early Ray Harryhausen........ end.

Lightweight creature feature fun from the fabulous '50s
A classic B-movie horror flick about an icky, tentacled ocean giant who comes to the surface to wreck havoc on the world of man. Brainiac scientists are called in to help the military, but will they figure out how to stop it in time to save the world? Typical, silly 'Fifties drive-in fodder, with some great, vintage Ray Harryhausen stop-motion animation as the beast from below trashes the San Francisco waterfront and the Golden Gate Bridge. Eeeek!!

Made Me Hungry
When, toward the end, they fired the torpedo into the body of the massive octopus resting up against the base of the Golden Gate Bridge, the projectile appeared to plunge into a big wall of gray peanut butter. (Creamy smooth, not chunky.)

UGH!!
It pains me to say it but this movie stinks.

This movie has some good actors but their characters are constantly contradicting themselves or acting like jerks because of an asinine script.I understand that the script-writer was trying to get across the message that women should be treated as equals by making Kenneth Tobey a male chauvinist but she ended up falling for the jerk anyway!!I wasnt convinced that he had changed his ways just because of one line thrown in at the end of the picture.

The stop-motion is ok but the monster scenes are too few and far between and the octopus has no personality.Thats an odd thing in a Ray Harryhausen movie.

Unless your a Ray Harryhausen completest you dont need this movie in your collection.Buy 20Million Miles To Earth or The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms instead. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

James Garner vs. Clint Eastwood in a superb western comedy.
This is required viewing and a unique experience for Clint Eastwood admirers since he has a huge role as a colorful but loathesome gunfighter/villain and plays it sublimely well. Edgar Buchanan (the marvelous character actor that played "Uncle Joe" on "Petticoat Junction") and Abby Dalton round out the guest cast of this sensational episode of "Maverick" with James Garner. Bret Maverick (Garner) and Eastwood are at loggerheads over Dalton and the sequences illustrating Eastwood's quick-draw ability and Garner's reactions to it are extremely funny and perfectly played straight. The saloon fistfight between Garner and Eastwood is riveting and Maverick's gentle friendship with Buchanan's character is beautifully drawn. This was the first episode of "Maverick" to be offered on video and with good reason. No one could possibly be disappointed with this episode of my favorite television series.

Bret Maverick faces John Wesley Hardin in a gunfight
In his only Warner Bros. TV appearance, Clint Eastwood guest stars as Red Hardigan, a local tough-guy who is itching to provoke James Garner as Bret Maverick into a showdown. Red is jealous that "Maver-ack" is showing too much attention to Carrie Christiansen, played by Abby Dalton. But Red has to wait in line when notorious gunslinger John Wesley Hardin arrives in Sundown and "calls out" Bret. Episode also features Jack Kelly as brother Bart Maverick. Originally aired: Feburary 1, 1959. (This review is a paraphrase of the WB video release box cover review.) ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Robert Redford in an early appearance as a cowboy.
Robert Redford put in an extremely early appearance in this fine episode of "Maverick" featuring Jack Kelly as the title character's brother Bart. This one's a very good straight western involving a cattle drive and a character whose hand was amputated by Indians and casually uses an iron prosthetic to crush the skull of an argumentative associate. Redford has an oddly baby-faced look here, with ample cheeks and a hint of his famously acne-scarred complexion visible. Fast paced and well acted, this is an excellent example of a 50s TV western and an intriguing curio for Redford admirers. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

the best of maverick
maverick is a gambler and this is truer to the story line and is very entertaining it's clean fun to watch and maverick gets a taste of his own medicine buy it enjoy it!

Okay but not great...
The cover is misleading it shows Bret (James Garner) with his brother Bart (Jack Kelly), but Bart's not in this episode. The show is okay, but not as enjoyable as "Shady Deal at Sunny Acres."

A superb episode of James Garner's classic 50s TV series.
If someone asked me to choose one episode of "Maverick" that superbly illustrates my favorite television series' strengths, this might be it. James Garner's fascinatingly complex character Bret Maverick is on full display and Diane Brewster as Samantha Crawford, Maverick's primary female nemesis, is introduced in this episode in all her slipperiness and duplicity in a plot that revolves around a New Orleans riverboat gambling contest that hinges on an obscure poker rule of the day. The principals later segue by stagecoach to a western town with a crooked casino, where they encounter Leo Gordon as Mike McComb, Maverick's strapping Irish ally. Jodie Foster's character in the recent Mel Gibson movie version was based on Samantha, and Ms. Brewster's performance is a revelation, forcing the viewer to bemoan the policy of that period preventing most television actors from moving into theatricals. Warners' unsung but mesmerizing stable of character actors are peppered throughout the show to good effect, as is always the case with this series, and this episode has a classic feel, with lustrous lighting and photography and fascinatingly nuanced performances. This is one to watch repeatedly and serves as a superior companion to the movie version.

Perfect choice to know the best TV of the period
I saw this when I was younger and liked it then. It is ahead of its time. It instructs patience in the face of setback. Maverick loses badly to a woman, something that doesn't happen to a western hero, but Maverick takes it in stride, never missing a beat stays focused on his final outcome. There are lessons in morality, justice and determination. The best of its kind

Bret Maverick meets his match...
It's one thing for Bret Maverick to lose a poker game, it's another thing to lose to a woman, it's even worse when she beats him by invoking an obscure rule from Hoyle's Book of Games. But Bret's adventure with Samantha Crawford, played by Diane Brewster, is just beginning -- as he discovers when he follows her in an attempt to get his money back.

Originally aired: October 6, 1957 ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Garner started a new genre
Maverick is at his best as the cowboy - gambler who is the smartest guy in the room but used quips instead of arrogance to make his points. He is almost the anti-hero, because he isn't the fastest gun and knows it. He uyses his brains and sense of humor to win the day. He also has a strong sense of right and wrong, which was probably odd for a professional gambler.

I love all the garner Mavericks and wish they would release more.

Given that these were had in the 50's, they are all family friendly.

maverick-point blank
i got the maverick serouis years ago and its a great western to watch it differant than most becuse its funney and adventous and enjoyable to watch i recomend it to anyone its a good story and so are the rest! columbia movies? i think offers the conpleat searous of tapes thats how i got mine!check it out, it also offers have gun will travel great show i have almost all of them!

Good Maverick, not the best
I thought this was more of a standard western than other Maverick episodes. If you like the series, you'll enjoy adding this to your collection. if you haven't seen the series, I'd suggest starting with "Shady Deal at Sunny Acres" or "According to Hoyle."

The Maverick episode written first and meant as the intro.
This was the first episode of "Maverick" to be written. Roy Huggins had intended it as the first one to be broadcast as well but the studio insisted on using a rewrite of a story that they already owned instead, so that they wouldn't have to pay Huggins the creator fees. Standard policy for the period. 29-year-old James Garner is superb in delivering the complex and mature characterization of Bret Maverick and a young Mike Connors, who later played TV's "Mannix," is the episode's guest villain. The show has a verve, energy, and intelligence that set the tone for the run of the series. It is by definition an excellent start for experiencing "Maverick." ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Roger Moore replaces James Garner as Maverick.
"Maverick" had suffered a steep decline from its glory days by the time this episode was filmed, but it's still a good show. Roger Moore replaces the absent James Garner as Maverick in this one, a task about as enviable as his replacing of Sean Connery in the role of James Bond years later. Moore did some extremely good episodes, though, one in particular written and directed by Robert Altman, but this isn't one of them and this isn't it. Jack Kelly as Bart Maverick and Moore as his cousin Beau work hard at it but the script in this one just isn't quite up to snuff, and Kelly plays the material a bit too broadly, something that would have been inconceivable in his work with Garner. It's worthwhile to dyed-in-the-wool Maverick adherents (like me) and Roger Moore admirers (you won't believe how young he looks in this, shot long before his later series "The Saint"), but this one should only be ordered after you've experienced the classic earlier episodes with Garner and Kelly. It's easy to see why Moore was chosen to replace Garner, though, since the resemblance between the two actors throughout the 60s is eerie. Later in the same season the studio went that one better, though, by hiring Garner lookalike Robert Colbert, dressing him in Garner's signature black outfit, and calling his character "Brent." ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Enter Mark Twain was EXCELLENT
I can only describe this video as excellent in every way! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Great opener to a great series
I especially like the Maverick episodes that emphasize humor, and this one has many clever scenes. The highlight for me was seeing Bret sway the election to the ex-judge. However, I have to side with Phineas in the poker game at the beginning--No way I let Maverick bet with a sealed envelope.

The first episode is a strong introduction to James Garner.
This is the first episode of "Maverick" and is a marvelously written and photographed introduction to James Garner in his signature role of Bret Maverick. This program had to compete with the Ed Sullivan and Steve Allen variety shows, then considered impregnable, and understandably knocked them for a loop, with neither of them ever completely recovering their former standing in the ratings for a continuous period. Garner and his role are so striking that it's easy to see why; in an era of flat and colorless western heroes, he played a much more adult, complex and chronically fascinating character, making an electrifying impression on viewers of the day. Even though set in the Old West, "Maverick" has as urban a feel as anything on film. All the elements of the character are quickly established and Garner's performance is practically perfected out of the gate, with only a few minor changes made later: in this one Maverick wears a bow tie with his usual black broadcloth gambler's suit and hasn't yet figured out that he basically wears his hat on the back of his head (something Garner forgot when the series was revived in the eighties) but aside from that everything else is in place. Garner is also noticably thinner than he ever was before or since in anything, since he had an uncharacteristic bout with dieting and working out at the gym immediately before the filming of this episode. To kick off the series with a splash, this installment is a kind of rolling extravaganza of everything, with Maverick saving an entire town from the clutches of an mining baron in spite of the townspeople's fears. It is a television masterpiece. If that sounds anomalous, watch it and see if you don't agree. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Standing the Test of Time
I was about eight years old when Maverick was popular but I remember my family sitting around the television in the evening and watching the original episodes. When I found the Maverick video website I ordered two immediately. I looked forward to their arrival with great anticipation. At the same time I wondered if the program would live up to my recollections. I was astounded to find that it did, and we all laughed out loud at Shady Deal at Sunny Acres and the other videos I have purchased. The writers and producers of Maverick put a lot of time into these scripts and it shows. Its great to enjoy them again.

Best Maverick episode I have seen
If you are a fan of the 1950's TV series Maverick, starring James Garner and Jack Kelly, and have not seen this episode, then buy this video, and prepare yourself to be blown away. "Shady Deal..." is quite an excellent installment (among very many) of Maverick. What I love most about this particular episode is that it expresses quite well the foolishness of greed and of selfishness when it shows Mr. Bates, a dishonest banker, steal Bret's money and then immediately lunge into another man's monetary affairs, unaware that he is about to be conned out of his shoes. The episode makes me laugh when I see Bret just sitting and whittling, acting as if Mr. Bates' dishonesty does not worry him in the least. And above all, when I realize that brother Bart, Samantha, Gentleman Jack, Cindy, Dandy Jim, and Big Mike--quite a roster--have all assumed false identities, I am reminded that no one messes with the Mavericks and gets away with it. This episode was written unbelievably well, with the sharp, diligently collated plan carried out by Bart and his friends, and with Bret's laid back, subtle sense of humor, which portrays him as just an easy-going person and gives the show an amiably comical atmosphere--a quality that seemed to disappear from Maverick after Garner left the show. "Shady Deal at Sunny Acres" is sure to be esteemed among the greatest installments of the Maverick TV series. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.

WHAT A GREAT SHOW!
I'm apparently a little young to remember this show when originally broadcast. I bought this one 'coz I love James Garner, and now I'm hooked on it. What a great show! It's got a solid plot, wonderful and well-executed characters, a good balance between humor and compassion, and the good guys win! What more could you ask for? I recommend this video even if you're not a great fan of the western genre.

The most fondly remembered episode of the best TV series.
This is the quintessential episode of "Maverick," the one that everyone remembers first and the one that sticks in everyone's mind. The entire supporting cast of running con-artist characters is featured, including the perfect Diane Brewster as Samantha Crawford, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. as Dandy Jim Buckley (his most winning role), Richard Long as Gentleman Jack Darby, and Leo Gordon as Irishman Big Mike McComb, among others, with John Dehner as the sublimely execrable villain of the piece ("If you can't trust your banker, whom can you trust?"). Jack Kelly as Maverick's brother Bart runs a complex con that is the forerunner for the film "The Sting" while James Garner as Bret Maverick spends most of the show sitting in a rocking chair and whittling, telling scoffing townspeople that ask how he intends to recover a stolen $15,000 within a self-imposed two-week deadline that he's "working on it." Somehow the image of Garner rocking and smiling and whittling is one of the three most memorable television images of the 1950s, along with Elvis Presley on the Ed Sullivan Show and Fess Parker as Davey Crockett on Walt Disney's Disneyland series. If you can't understand how this can possibly be the case, see for yourself.

Quintessential Maverick
I think this gem is my second-favorite Maverick episode (behind "A Fellow's Brother"). Some of the Mavericks were basic westerns, but this great sting episode showed the genius and humor of the show. John Dehner is once again great as a comedic villian. Definitely makes me wish that more Maverick episodes were available. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Realistic depiction of the great boxer
The casting was excellent. A boxer named Corey Wallace played Joe Louis. He looked like him, except that he had a belly. Louis was trim. In some of the big fights, Schmeling, Baer, Carnera, they show actual fight footage, so you see the real Joe Louis. The actor who played Louis's trainer Jack Blackburn was a young guy in a ridiculous bald wig. The movie begins with Marciano beating Louis up, then goes to the happier, earlier days. It's a good movie about a fighter who has his supporters for greatest heavyweight boxer of all time. I shut it off rather than watch the sad parts at the end. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

KING GUN
The Gatling Gun is one of my favorte western videos. It has good action and adventure. The weapon,The Gatling Gun is my favorte weapon but when I found out there was a movie called The Gatling Gun my Dad bought the movie for me. It's a good movie but not a great movie. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

KING GUN
The Gatling Gun is one of my favorte western videos. It has good action and adventure. The weapon,The Gatling Gun is my favorte weapon but when I found out there was a movie called The Gatling Gun my Dad bought the movie for me. It's a good movie but not a great movie. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

BONANZA--What Else Is There To Say?
You can't go wrong with any videos of Bonanza. It was a series that was decent (as opposed to anything on the TV these days!)with good values taught.

It's a Bonanza!
...I hesitated for a couple of months to get this video, even considering myself a huge Bonanza fan. The reason for my reluctancy was simply that I had already owned many other episodes on that show and didn't want to take the risk of getting doubles.If you realized, Amazon.com doesn't name the episode, but it's a real Bonanza. If you had the same problem, I think it's over now for I took the chances for you and bought the tape.The episode name is "Blood on the Land". That episode was first seen on February 13, 1960. Sheep and Cows are not supposed to live together on that story. Because of that, Everett Sloane, who is the guest star and plays the role of a sheepherder, kidnaps Adam Cartwright. The "small" Ponderosa is the price for him not to kill Pernell Roberts, our "Adam boy", also known as 'The Dark Cartwright'. It's really worth seeing and owning that tape. Mature the idea if you are a Bonanza fan like me. I'm sure you won't regret watching it. Have fun! ... Read more