So
it’s been a little over a week since the sad passing of James Garner. I
suddenly realized that the Simon blog is a perfect place for a tribute, as
Simon and James had some wonderful interaction. Really, it wouldn’t be at all
right not to do a tribute here.
It
was because of Simon that I first tried The Rockford Files. And while it
took a long time for me to warm up to the show itself, I was instantly fond of
Simon’s hilarious character from three of his four guest-spots. And eventually I
was also fond of the priceless interaction between Simon and James Garner.
I
found myself wanting to write a story where they try to solve another case
together. I wrote up a scene for it, but I could never figure out a plot to go
with it. So there it sat for a couple of years, waiting for the perfect plot.
Last
summer, thanks to two more of my favorite guest-stars and one of their
episodes, I finally had a plot. I wrote a story involving those characters,
Ginger Townsend and Lou Trevino from The Queen of Peru, and made that
the mystery that Jim and Vern have to solve. http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9614161/1/
While I’ve fleshed out Ginger and Lou a bit differently now than in this story,
and I forgot that the fourth jewel thief was caught off-screen in The Queen
of Peru episode, overall I’m very proud of my effort. It was so much fun
writing this story every step of the way, including Jim and Vern’s interaction.
And with a few tweaks, I was able to use that scene I wrote so long ago.
The Rockford Files was
definitely an acquired taste for me, but even back then, I liked James Garner
as a person. I heard how kind he was to people on the set and I appreciated
that. Hearing about how important his family was to him, and that he was
married to the same woman all through the years, also added a lot to my respect
for him.
I still prefer other shows over The Rockford Files,
but gradually, gradually, the more episodes I saw, I began to like and
appreciate The Rockford Files for what it was and what it had to offer. It’s
certainly one of the most unique private-eye shows ever created! (Meanwhile, I
fell in love with the original Maverick instantly, even though I wasn’t
that fond of the sequel.)
One of my favorite things about The Rockford
Files, which is also one of my mom’s favorite things, is the family
element. It’s not usual to find a series about a private detective that shows
his family. Frank Cannon’s family was killed. Joe Mannix’s mother is dead and
he has a sometimes-rocky relationship with his father (albeit it thankfully
improves later). But Jim Rockford’s father is alive and they have a
beautiful relationship that is one of the cores of the series.
Character interaction is important on The
Rockford Files, whether it concerns cast regulars or guest-stars. And
certainly Simon’s Vern St. Cloud is one of the most colorful and unique of the
guest-stars! Jim Rockford has never quite known what to make of him. They are two such different
people who can never seem to stop clashing.
The
first episode, Sticks and Stones, sets it up with both of them being a
bit responsible for their problems. Vern is loud and brash and Jim doesn’t like
that, nor does Vern like Jim’s easy-going manner or sarcasm. They struggle to
solve the case nevertheless, arguing and occasionally getting along on the way.
When
Jim exclaims that he doesn’t like what the Waterbury agency is doing to his
friends, Vern retorts, “Oh yeah? Am I your friend?” and Jim gives him one of
those classic stares as only Jim can and can’t even muster up a verbal reply.
Of course, words are not needed; the look says it all. It’s a fun little scene
that shows both that Jim really doesn’t like Vern and that Vern is quite aware
of that fact. Vern scoffs at the idea that Jim would consider him a friend, and
Jim can’t quite seem to wrap his mind around the concept, either.
Interestingly,
by the end of the episode, they both seem to feel a little better about each
other. Jim acts genuinely friendly, and while Vern can’t quite let go of his
pride enough to thank him for helping, he gives a gruffly adorable farewell in
the form of instructing, “Don’t take any wooden nickels.” There’s a definite
fondness there that was never really brought out again.
It
puzzles me how by The House on Willis Avenue there seems to be a complete
rift between them, after that lovely epilogue in Sticks and Stones. Vern
acts friendly towards Jim, although perhaps it’s falsely so. Jim, meanwhile,
comes across as very antagonistic and disliking of Vern, in contrast to his
friendliness at the end of Sticks and Stones. He tries to avoid meeting
up near the beginning.
In
Jim’s defense, the later discovery of Vern in Richie Brockelman’s office is
certainly an unpleasant surprise. Vern shouldn’t have broken in there, the
rascal. And he has the gall to try to blame Richie for taking a dead P.I.’s
caseload, when that’s what Vern himself wanted! But since Jim was displeased to
run into Vern long before that scene happened, it couldn’t fully account for
Jim’s attitude.
In
their final episode together, Nice Guys Finish Dead, the antagonism is fully
on both sides, with Jim and Vern equally bitter about each other and their
encounters. Either we’ve been having a case of bad writing for their
interaction since The House on Willis Avenue or something definitely
happened between the characters, off-screen, before that episode. Or else Vern
recovering his license made him a much less likable character, since he was
returning to the hardboiled world of the private eye and the personality he had
cultivated to keep himself alive through the years.
I’ve
speculated before that Vern may also hold some level of bitterness or jealousy towards
Jim Rockford, who often would prefer fishing but always gets plenty of cases,
while Vern is desperate for a case and often doesn’t have one. Vern has been in
the “dog-eat-dog” business so much longer than Jim and often has so much bad
luck. And especially in The House on Willis Avenue, he seems rather
spineless. The bad guys even tell him that when he has his surgery, to make
sure the doctors don’t leave out any of his guts; he can’t spare any!
However,
Vern’s been a P.I. for over twenty-five years. As I mused before, he must be a
lot more competent at the job than he appears to be and Jim thinks he is. No
one could survive in that line of work for that many years just on dumb luck.
It would have been nice to have seen a little more of Vern’s case-solving,
instead of just using him as a sort of idiot comic relief in the latter two
episodes and particularly in The House on Willis Avenue. He’s a more
well-rounded character in Sticks and Stones. The writers must have
decided they liked it better when he didn’t show quite as much depth to his
character.
But
in any case, bad writing or not, the interaction between the two is always amusing
and fun to watch. Their characters clash so beautifully, so perfectly, that I
still long for what Wikipedia said to be true, about them solving cases
together and snarking at each other along the way. That really only happens in Sticks
and Stones, and it’s definitely a missed opportunity that it didn’t
continue in the other two episodes. Still, I’m grateful for every bit of
interaction that does exist. Any time they’re on screen together, it’s a gem.
It’s
a shame the writers couldn’t work in any scenes for them together in Simon’s
final episode, Just a Coupla Guys. But these two actors do have one more
wonderful bit of screentime together, in James Garner’s short-lived sequel to his
other most memorable series. In the Bret Maverick episode A Horse of Yet
Another Color, as I recall, Simon plays a shifty character trying to get
hold of the titular creature. Unfortunately, it’s been so long since I’ve seen
it that I can’t bring up the details. Warner Brothers has finally released the
series on DVD, although the price is far too much for one season, especially
one that had less episodes than some! But I have been longing to see that
episode again for Simon, and for the interaction between him and James Garner.
Perhaps someday I shall.
And
perhaps meanwhile, these two greats will find some opportunities to perform
again together up in Heaven. I sincerely hope so. It would be a treat for
everyone up there.
Rest in peace, Mr.
Garner. You will be missed by many.
~Lucky Ladybug
