What is a Western? Film Series: Maverick (1994)

Date / Time: Saturday, August 8, 2015, 1:30 p.m.

Location: The Autry in Griffith Park: Wells Fargo Theater

Admission: Included With Museum Admission / Free for Autry Members

Maverick (1994) in 35mm
Directed by Richard Donner
Starring Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, and James Garner

The Western genre is made up of a diverse group of films, ranging from dramas that take on serious societal issues to comedies that skewer stock characters and static plot points. A summer block of Western comedies continues with Maverick, a remake of the classic television series.

Bret Maverick (Gibson) is a gambler who is more adept with a con than a gun. Maverick hopes to enter a high stakes poker game, but he first needs to raise enough money for the entry fee. A female gambler (Foster) proves to be both friend and foe on his journey.

Artifacts related to poker and gambling on the American frontier are on display in the Community Gallery.

What Is a Western? is an ongoing film series that examines a variety of movies about the American West. The majority of the films are traditional Westerns set in the nineteenth century; however, nontraditional Westerns and films outside of the Western genre that provide unique insights into the region are also featured.

The series is curated by Jeffrey Richardson, Gamble Curator of Western History, Popular Culture, and Firearms, who leads a discussion of the film’s history and its place within the Western genre prior to each screening.