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:

buxom | barber | shop | tailor | mine | 

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Genres:

Western

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Certificate:

Approved

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

The show was originally meant to be a private investigator series, not a western.

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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 Law & Order: Castoff (1998)

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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

born too soon...

The plot and the character, Paladin (which is not actually the gunfighter's name; he takes the moniker after being challenged by a character named Smoke) were ahead of the times for 1957. Paladin is a multilingual gentleman of letters who sees no need for macho bravado, is a champion of human rights (regardless of race or nationality) and who proves that real men can be literate, eloquent, and even wear a satin robe.

Having viewed the Columbia House re-release of twenty-one episodes of "Have Gun", it amazes me how much Paladin is a renaissance man. Paladin laughs up his sleeve as his adversaries fumble in comic absurdity, trying to prove just how masculine they are. Psychology, not a pistol, often is the weapon of choice. Even so, after twenty-two minutes of clever strategy and elocution, the fist and the forty-four are often called upon to end the story, lest we run out of time.

No small surprise that "Have Gun" provided writer Gene Roddenberry with a creative garden to develop ideas for another series (deemed by the omniscient sages of networkdom to be "too cerebral"), "Star Trek".