"War of the Silver Kings" served as the pilot for Maverick. Roy Huggins, the series’ creator, had originally designed the episode “Point Blank” to be the pilot. But Jack Warner, head of the studio, had decreed that any series pilot must be based on a property already owned by Warner Bros. This allowed the studio to avoid paying royalties to writers for the creation of series based on their own material.[2]
Huggins then had to find an existing Warner Bros. property to mold into a Maverick story. He found C. B. Glasscock’s non-fiction book, “The War of the Copper Kings” the studio had purchased some time before.[2]
The book is the story of the Butte, Montana, as well as a history of mining in that territory. A portion of the book deals with a legal case between two competing copper mines. The defense won the original case based on the old Apex Law, still on the books, until it was overturned in a higher court sometime later.[4] Other than the courtroom battle, “War of the Silver Kings” has little to do with Glasscock’s book, but it served to keep Huggins from being credited as Maverick’s creator.[2]
The book is the story of the Butte, Montana, as well as a history of mining in that territory. A portion of the book deals with a legal case between two competing copper mines. The defense won the original case based on the old Apex Law, still on the books, until it was overturned in a higher court sometime later.[4] Other than the courtroom battle, “War of the Silver Kings” has little to do with Glasscock’s book, but it served to keep Huggins from being credited as Maverick’s creator.[2]
Production began on “War of the Silver Kings” on March 4, 1957, and was intended to air in April as a segment of Conflict, a Warner Bros. anthology series on ABC-TV. But Kaiser Industries wanted to broaden its exposure with a weekly Sunday-night program of some kind. James Aubrey, in charge of ABC-TV’s programming department, showed the Maverick pilot to Henry Kaiser, who liked what he saw, especially because of James Garner in the title role. Kaiser Industries and Warner Bros. became partners with ABC-TV in the series, each sharing a third of the show’s profits and merchandising revenue.[2]
MAVERICK
Season 1, Episode 1
ALTERNATE TITLES
“Easy Come, Easy Go”
“The Last Chance”[2]
ORIGINAL AIRDATE
September 22, 1957[2]
TELEPLAY
James O’Hanlon
Based on “The War of the Copper Kings,”
by C. B. Glasscock
DIRECTOR
PRODUCER
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
CAST
CREW
Paul Baxley (uncredited)[3]
Lane Chandler (uncredited)[3]
Harry Harvey (uncredited)[3]
Tyler McVey (uncredited)[3]
Frank Sully (uncredited)[3]
Uncredited
Uncredited
Uncredited
Uncredited
Director of Photography
Art Director
Supervising Film Editor
Film Editors
Production Manager
Sound
Set Decorator
Makeup Supervisor
Assistant Director
Executive Producer
SOURCE REFERENCES
01. All credits, unless otherwise noted: Maverick, War of the Silver Kings (1957), Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
02. Robertson, Ed, Maverick: Legend of the West (1994), Pomegranate Press
03. Maverick: War of the Silver Kings, The International Movie Database
04. Glasscock, C. B., The War of the Copper Kings: Builders of Butte and Wolves of Wall Street, (1935), Grosset & Dunlap
05. TV Guide, September 21 – 27, 1957
ABOVE: TV Guide Close-Up for the debut episode of Maverick, "War of the Silver Kings."[5]
ABOVE: Promotional ad for the debut episode of Maverick, "War of the Silver Kings."[5]
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