Modern Screen (Jan-Dec 1960)

It's hardly a secret that little hoys practically worship two-gun heroes like Hugh (Wyatt Earp) O'Brian and Jim (Maverick) Garner — especially in Arizona, where Indians are a dime a dozen and cowboys still ride the desert range. Hugh tells this one on himself, in connection with a benefit he did for the Scottsdale Boys' Club near Phoenix. The benefit was staged at the swank Paradise Valley Racquet Club, and small-fry sons of the members pestered the daylights out of their dads to get them Wyatt Earp autographs. The most insistent fan was Tommy Woods, aged seven. Hugh was just emerging from a shower in the Racquet Club locker room when Tommy barged in, eluding his father's grasp. The boy's father, who had become somewhat chummy with Hugh the previous evening, hastily performed an embarrassed introduction. "Tommy, this is Wyatt Earp," he said. "Mr. Earp — my son, Tommy." "How are you, Tommy?" Hugh said cordially, extending a dripping hand. "Okay," replied the lad, staring up at the naked hero, whom he had a hard lime recognizing. "If you're Wyatt Earp, where are your guns?" "I don't wear them in the shower," said Hugh, somewhat taken aback. "I . . . uh . . . I left 'em in my locker." "I'll wait," Tommy said suspiciously "You don't look like Wyatt Earp to me. You know Annie Oakley?" "Sure do." "Can you shoot better'n she can?" Hugh hedged. "Never met the lady in a contest," he said. "Any man that can let a woman shoot better ain't much," the boy said critically. "If you're really Wyatt Earp I gotta see your guns." "Come to think of it," said Hugh, thinking fast, "I let a fellow borrow those guns for a spell. Fellow named Maverick. Goes by the name of James Garner sometimes." "DO YOU KNOW JAMES GARNER?" "Personal friend of mine. Taught him how to shoot." "Gee," Tommy said faintly. "Gee." He obviously thought Jim Garner is The Greatest. "You must be all right, then. I guess you really are Wyatt Earp. What did Mr. Garner borrow your guns for?" Still dripping from his shower, Hugh had an inspiration. Bending down, he put an arm around the little boy and whispered, "Can you keep a secret, son?" His erstwhile skeptic nodded. "Don't let this get out," Hugh said, "but that fellow Garner is on the warpath. Some Arizona Indians crossed him." "Apaches!" "Right," said Hugh grimly. "Now if you'll excuse me, before this air-conditioning gives me pneumonia." "Sure, Mr. Earp," said Tommy respectfully. He made his father take him home immediately in order to inform his mother, in sworn secrecy, that no Arizona woman need fear those diehard Apaches any more. Two-Gun Garner was on the warpath! And Wyatt Earp sent him! MAVERICK RESCUES WYATT EARP (in the shower) A friend drove him back to his place at three o'clock in the morning. As Troy was trying to raise himself up to the porch, he fell over the lawn furniture which, in turn, collapsed with a big bang. "I can still see my mother come running out of the house," he remembers, "shouting that if I could stay out this late, I might as well stay out a little longer, and slammed the door in my face. I crawled back on the lawn and fell asleep. It was ten o'clock the next morning when I woke up— just in time to see people stop on their way to church. I'll never forget those expressions as they saw me on the front lawn, still dressed in a tuxedo, obviously sleeping off a hangover — " The unruliness, the rebellion continued. Troy was just about to get his driver's license at sixteen, when he was out with a group of friends, one of whom let him drive his car. He got caught by the police for going through a red light. The offense, in itself, was not too serious. But when the officer found out he only had a student's license and was not allowed to drive without an adult next to him, he promptly called Troy's mother. Mrs. Johnson became so upset that although he was supposed to have gotten his license two days later — and a car with it — she told him he would have to wait a full year before she would allow him to get his own car. Again her strictness had the opposite effect. To show his independence, one night Troy sneaked out of the house and headed for the garage. With all the strength he could muster he rolled out the family car and drove off, to pick up a girlfriend. As bad luck would have it, about an hour later his mother decided to visit some friends. She didn't check Troy's room to see if he was still there, asleep. ! When she realized her car had disapi peared, she naturally presumed it was stolen, and notified the police. An all-car alert was promptly put out via police short wave, giving the license number and description of the 'stolen' car, a brand new Cadillac convertible. A cop finally found it parked in front of a drugstore. "Who's been driving the Cadillac?" he demanded in a loud voice when he walked in. Without hesitation, Troy — who was having a soda with his girl, and another couple — admitted it was he. To his humiliation the policeman handcuffed him, and dragged him to the nearest police station to book him for theft. Not fill his mother was notified was the mystery cleared up, and Troy released. Mrs. Johnson hoped that a military school would straighten out her boy. For a while it looked like she was right. Troy rather enjoyed his life at the New York Military Academy at Cornwall-onthe-Hudson. He did so well — both academically and in sports — that he became a student officer. Yet even this couldn't keep him out of trouble, indefinitely. In his class was a Cuban boy, nicknamed Gato, the Cat. He was a tall, quiet, strange sort of boy who didn't associate with others, and a fanatic about cleanliness and health. While other students would get out of bed at 5:40 in the morning, he got up at 4:30 to do calisthenics on the parade ground. He brushed his teeth ten times a day. To sneeze in his presence was a sin to him. His behavior caused the other fellows to constantly play tricks on him, particularly since Gato was not considered too bright. One day, Troy remembered, one of the cadets told him that if he would stick his finger into a light socket, he would light up. He did. And got knocked out. It was a miracle he wasn't killed! Gato particularly didn't like Troy because the two of them had been in competition for high jumping for some time, with