Have Gun - Will Travel (TV Series) The Fifth Bullet (1962) User Reviews

Ben Johnson and some Good Touches

[dougdoepke · 31 August 2011]

Considering Ben Johnson's standing among fans of Westerns, this is almost like a "guest star" episode. Of course, the series wisely avoided such embellishments, except for maybe this entry. And the gritty Johnson doesn't disappoint

It's a solid episode. You more or less have to fill in the plot as the story goes along. We know from the outset that Paladin owes a moral debt to Bartlett (Johnson), who's being released from prison. But the details aren't apparent. Turns out that a now deceased old man with a grudge has hired men to kill Bartlett. But the question is— how many men did he hire.

Good premise, but the really effective part are the many imaginative touches. The bullets, of course, are one—one bullet for each man, maybe! However, I also like Paladin's unexpectedly kicking a clod instead of being sympathetic to Bartlett's fretting. Then there's Bartlett's plain-faced wife (Dells) who doesn't just stand around while the bullets are flying. Unusual touches like these help make this a good solid episode that doesn't disappoint.

Factual Discrepancy

[garysteinweg · 7/10 · 11 November 2021]

I enjoy rewatching the TV westerns of the 1950's & early 1960's, but see them quite differently now than when I first watched. Back then, there was a plethora of westerns, and "quick-draw" shootouts were included in each and every episode. BUT, in rewatching 60 years later, I see a "moral story" in each episode that I don't remember from my younger years.

Another thing that I see in most of these western series is that they're all filmed in desert-like areas (regardless of where they're supposed to be taking place), AND there are a lot of factual inaccuracies. In this episode (about 1/3 of the way through), Richard Boone is talking to Ben Johnson about a variety of cartridges. He holds up one and calls it a "1838 Colt Walker Cartridge, the most powerful revolver cartridge made".

While the Colt Walker WAS the most powerful handgun made until the 20th century introduction of the smokeless powder .357 magnum revolver, the Colt Walker was a "cap-and-ball" revolver with an extra long cylinder that would hold up to 60 grains of black powder, twice that of a normal Colt revolver. It was never chambered for cartridges.

In modern day black powder replica's, the Colt Walker is still a black powder enthusiast's highly favored firearm. BTW, you can't use them in an indoor target range because they create so much smoke that no one else can see their targets, and they've been known to start little fires.