joeharoutunian

The Cheyenne episode "Fury at Rio Hondo" does something I have not seen before. It has been suggested the it is an homage or retelling of the Bogart/Bacall movie "To Have and Have Not." I would say it is something less than that as the dialog is almost identical to the earlier movie. It's OK for what it is and Peggie Castle plays her role quite well and does her own singing (unlike Bacall). But it seems that there is an issue of plagiarism involved here; as it is almost 60 years after the fact it probably doesn't matter very much. I was just shocked at the precision of the "rip off" as no attempt was made to change the dialog at all unless the plot demanded it.

How do writers get away with this?