Have Gun - Will Travel 

The adventures of a gentlemanly gunfighter for hire.

Creators:

Herb Meadow, Sam Rolfe

Stars:

Richard Boone, Kam Tong, Hal Needham

Nominated for 5 Primetime Emmys. Another 1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Richard Boone	...	Paladin / ... 225 episodes, 1957-1963
Kam Tong	...	Hey Boy / ... 109 episodes, 1957-1963

Storyline

Professional gunfighter Paladin was a West Point graduate who, after the Civil War, settled into San Francisco's Hotel Carlton were he awaited responses to his business card: over the picture of a chess knight "Have Gun, Will Travel ... Wire Paladin, San Francisco."

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Plot Keywords:

gunfighter | san francisco california | buxom | barber | shop | 

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Genres:

Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

Paladin's business card reads, Have Gun, Will Travel. Wire Paladin. San Francisco". This is printed over the silhouette of a knight chess piece.

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Goofs

Paladin usually presents his business card by taking it from his waistline (usually under his gun belt or out of his pants). The card is, understandably, wrinkled or bent when presented, yet when it is shown on screen in the close-up it is always a new, flat card with no wrinkles or folds, but when they show the card in Paladin's, or others, hand, it is wrinkled again.

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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?

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Connections

Referenced in Sledge Hammer!: Haven't Gun, Will Travel (1987)

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Soundtracks

Ballad of Paladin
By Johnny Western, Richard Boone, and Sam Rolfe
Sung by Johnny Western
Recorded by Johnny Western

User Reviews

Half Hour Dramas

We are used to 40 years of hour-long dramas and half-hour comedies. We think those time limits were somehow decreed by God. But once upon a time, half hour dramas were common. I've got a large collection of Gunsmokes, (it was ½ hour for the first six years- the most popular year sit ever had), Have Gun Will Travels, as well as Naked City and Secret Agent, (Danger Man), both of which were ½ hour in their first seasons. So were many other shows, including man Westerns, like Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson and the Rifleman. My experience is that these shows were uniformly strong and interesting and that they packed as much drama and action in 30 minutes as most shows do in 60. Occasionally, there's a plot that could have used some fleshing out and maybe an ending that seemed too pat, as if they lacked the time for something appropriately complex. One thing ½ hour dramas didn't do very well is allow for ensemble casts. They usually concentrate on single stars with supporting players mostly in the background and stock villains. There wasn't time for subtle shadings. The drama was as stark as a shoot-out.

Still, there are so many hour-90 minute and even two hour dramas I've seen over the years that were padded with irrelevant subplots, pointless red herrings and other nonsense that the spare, to the point storytelling of these early efforts has a strong appeal. Have Gun Will travel was probably the best of the half hour dramas because it was perfect for it. Other than Hey-Boy, (and Hey Girl), there was just one cast member- the Hero. He was a constant, allowing for all the character development to be about the villain, or perhaps whoever was threatened by him. Despite Paladin's efforts at avoiding violence, the show typically came down to the inevitable shoot-out, where he had even better luck than Matt Dillon, (he was wounded far fewer times). Into this form was injected a series of shot, pithy poetry reading by the Shakespearean trained Richard Boone. That, plus the complexity of the villains, made this show a cut above the many other westerns of it's time. Ironically, what the show did not do well was comedy. Boone's stoic visage registered disgust better than amusement and disgust isn't very funny.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 September 1957 (USA)

Also Known As:

Have Gun - Will Travel

Filming Locations:

Monogram/Allied Artists Studios - 1725 Fleming Street, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

CBS Television Network, Filmaster Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

25 min (225 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

4:3