"Have Gun - Will Travel" (1957)TV series 1957-1963

Creators:

Herb Meadow
Sam Rolfe

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Release Date:

14 September 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Plot:

Professional gunfighter Paladin was a West Point graduate who, after the Civil War, settled into San...

Plot Keywords:

Gunfighter | Cult TV | Cult Favorite | Cult Western

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Primetime Emmys.

Cast

Richard Boone	...	Paladin / ... (226 episodes, 1957-1963)
Kam Tong	...	Kim "Hey Boy" Chan / ... (97 episodes, 1957-1963)

Runtime:

30 min (226 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

USA:Approved | Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Agua Dulce, California, USA

Company:

CBS Television

Trivia:

While many television series are taken from radio shows, the radio show “Have Gun Will Travel” with John Dehner as Paladin appeared after the television show.

Quotes:

Paladin: I don't think you got a very good look at this gun while you had it. The balance is perfect. This trigger responds to a pressure of one ounce. If you look carefully in the barrel you'll see the lines of the rifling. It's a rarity in a hand weapon. This gun was handcrafted to my specifications and I rarely draw it unless I mean to use it. Would you care for a demonstration?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Legend of 'Cat Ballou' (2000) (V)

A head of its time...

While most westerns in the late 50's and early 60's were simple good guy wears the white hat and the bad guy wears the black hat and them injuns were all ruthless savages "Have Gun Will Travel" was well ahead of the times. You had several episodes featuring people of: "Color" in key roles. One of the finest examples of this was the episode: "Hey Boys Revenge".

When Paladin learned that Hey Boy was dismissed he was furious by the lack of concern from the hotel management. When Paladin told that "these people can easily be replaced" angered Paladin enough to threaten to take his business unless he was given his address so he could find out what had happened to his friend.

Each episode was a half hour of adventure and sometimes the tables would be turned. It is hard to make them like that any more. As for John Dehner playing the role on television, It would have been like James Caan playing Michael Corlioni in "The Godfather."