An ingenious way for the Warner Brothers' TV Westerns from the 1950's to save money and still give their episodes an epic feel was to re-use stock footage from the WB movie library.
Had this been unavailable, a scene in which a stagecoach was being chased by Indians might have been confined to interior shots of the coach and its passengers reacting to back-screen projections only.
Instead, the editor and research team for the productions could expand on the situation to make it richer.
Speaking of that stagecoach chase, here are two examples from 'Maverick':
But it wasn't just the wild, wild West vistas that added to the experience. Consider this ballroom dancing scene supposedly set in New Orleans (also from 'Maverick'):
The cost of that scene, with the musicians and the extras, would have bankrupted the rest of the season! The show runner could just as easily have inferred that there was a grand ball being held just off-camera......
SHOWS CITED:
'Maverick' - "The Jeweled Gun"
'Maverick' - "Alias Bart Maverick"
BCnU!
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