Original Air Date: October 11, 1959
Starring: James Garner, Mona Freeman, Buddy Ebsen
Directed by: Arthur Lubin
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains spoilers for this episode!
Synopsis: Brett Maverick (James Garner) joins forces with an enterprising woman named Modesty Blaine (Mona Freeman) who plans to sell a cart-load of cats to the residents of the mining town Paradise which is overrun by rats. Unfortunately Maverick finds out the hard way that his new partner is the real rat.
Cat Cattle Call: There are plenty of cats in this episode, starting with one of the earlier scenes when Maverick and Modesty buy cats from the kids in a town for two dollars apiece.
The cats are then loaded onto a cart to be taken to Paradise. But before they can leave, Melody arranges to have Maverick shanghied.
Escaping from his captors, Maverick arrives in Paradise in time for the cat auction.
Modesty and Mayor Uli Bemus (Wendell Holmes) are holding the auction. Maverick appeals to Sheriff Scratch Madden (Buddy Ebsen) only to find out he is Modesty’s husband-to-be.
After trying to get his money back unsuccessfully, Maverick hits upon a plan by which the Mayor, the Undertaker (Richard Deacon) and other townspeople can be rid of the corrupt sheriff. He lures a number of cats to the graveyard to begin his plan.
Maverick paints the cats black.
When the Mayor challenges the Sheriff to a shootout, Maverick throws the superstitious Sheriff off by walking past him surrounded by 13 black cats (these are actually black cats and not cats covered in shoe polish, thank goodness!)
Sheriff Madden panics and starts shooting at the cats, giving the Mayor ample time to draw and fire.
Maverick goes to get his money out of the safe and a black cat follows him. When he picks up the cat to put it on the floor he gets his hands dirty from the shoe polish.
At the end of the show when Maverick comes across Modesty again they strike up another partnership but then a black cat crosses their path. Here we go again?
Final Mewsings: Any man who shoots at cats deserves to get gunned down!
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