Have Gun – Will Travel is an American Western television series that was produced and originally broadcast by CBS on both television and radio from 1957 through 1963. The television version of the series starring Richard Boone was rated number three or number four in the Nielsen ratings every year of its first four seasons.
Set in the period of the Old West, the series follows the adventures of Paladin, played by Boone, a gentleman investigator who also works as a gunfighter for hire. Although Paladin charges steep fees to clients who can afford to hire him, typically $1,000 per job, he provides his services for free to poor people who need his help.
A radio series starring John Dehner debuted November 23, 1958, more than a year after the premiere of its televised counterpart, making Have Gun – Will Travel one of the few shows in television history to spawn a successful radio version.
Premise This series follows the adventures of a man calling himself "Paladin" (played by Richard Boone on television and voiced by John Dehner on radio), taking his name Paladin from that of the foremost knights in Charlemagne's court. He is a gentleman investigator/gunfighter who travels around the Old West working as a mercenary for people who hire him to solve their problems.
Like many Westerns, the television show was set in a time vaguely indicated to be some years after the American Civil War. The radio show announced the year of the story that followed in the opening of each episode.Dunning, John. Tune In Yesterday: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio, 1925–1976 (New York: Prentice Hall), 1976;
The season-five television episode, "A Drop of Blood", gives the specific date of July 3, 1879. In the 14th and 17th ("Lazarus", March 6 and 7, 1875) episodes of season five, it is 1875.
There have been many efforts to make the series into a movie, but none to date has been successful.
Characters Paladin
Paladin prefers to settle the difficulties clients bring his way without violence, but this rarely happens. When forced, he excels in fisticuffs. Under his real name, which is never revealed, he was a dueling champion of some renown. Paladin is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and a veteran of the American Civil War, in which he served as a Union cavalry officer. In the episode "The Bostonian", he indirectly reveals he comes from Boston (or at least spent some time there), claiming, "In my youth ... I was the best-dressed bouncer in Scollay Square." His permanent place of residence is the Hotel Carlton in San Francisco, where he lives the life of a successful businessman and bon vivant, wearing elegant custom-made suits, consuming fine wine, playing the piano, and attending the opera and other cultural events. He is an expert chess player, poker player, and swordsman. He is skilled in Chinese martial arts, and is seen in several episodes receiving instruction and training with a kung fu master in San Francisco. He is highly educated, able to quote classic literature, philosophy, Scripture, and case law, and speaks several languages. He is also president of the San Francisco Stock Exchange Club.Gould, Berni; Pascal, Milton; & Kolb, Ken. Have Gun – Will Travel, Episode 1/21, "The Bostonian", first aired February 1, 1958; retrieved November 6, 2017.
When out working, Paladin changes into all-black Western-style clothing. His primary weapon is a custom-made, first-generation .45 caliber Colt Single Action Army Cavalry Model revolver – Weapons at a Glance, tvacres.com; accessed May 20, 2018. with an unusual rifled barrel, carried in a black leather holster (with a platinum chess knight symbol facing the rear), hanging from a black leather gunbelt. He also carries a lever-action Marlin rifle (with a platinum chess knight symbol facing the rear seen in "The Hunt") strapped to his saddle. In some episodes, he has a two-shot Remington derringer concealed under his belt; in other episodes, it is a single-shot Merrimack Arms "Southerner" derringer.
Paladin gives out a business card imprinted with "Have Gun Will Travel" and an engraving of a white knight chess piece, which evokes the proverbial white knight and the knight in shining armor. Underneath the chess piece is the wording "Wire Paladin", and under that, "San Francisco". A closeup of this card is used as a title card between scenes in the program.
A Man Called Paladin, Frank C. Robertson's novelization of the season-six premiere "Genesis", gives Paladin's real name as Clay Alexander.
Other recurring characters The one other major semiregular character in the show is the Chinese bellhop at the Carlton Hotel, known as Hey Boy (real name Kim Chan or Kim Chang); in the first season in the episode called "Hey Boy's Revenge", the character Hey Boy is sought by Paladin under the name Kim Chan, which is written on a piece of paper and shown on screen. As the episode continues, Hey Boy is referred to (verbally) five times as Kim Chan and then on the sixth incident Paladin states Hey Boy's name as Kim Chang and thereafter he is referred to as Kim Chang every time. No explanation is given for the name change.
Hey Boy is played by Kam Tong. According to author and historian Martin Grams Jr., Hey Boy is featured in all but the fourth of the show's six seasons, with the character of Hey Girl, played by Lisa Lu, replacing Hey Boy for season four while Kam Tong worked on the Mr. Garlund television series.Peter Orlick, The Museum of Broadcast Communications (Encyclopedia of Television) – Have Gun, Will Travel ; accessed May 20, 2018. Lisa Lu had previously played Hey Boy's sister, Kim Li, in "Hey Boy's Revenge".
Character actor Olan Soule appears in 10 episodes across all six seasons of Have Gun – Will Travel as an employee of the Carlton Hotel, usually identified as the manager/desk clerk. The character's name is inconsistent, being given as "Cartwright" in two episodes, and "Matthews" in another. Tony Regan also appears as an unnamed desk clerk in over a dozen episodes, between seasons two and five. Hal Needham, later a noted director, worked on the show as a stunt performer and can be seen as a bit-part player (in a wide variety of roles) in nearly 50 episodes.
Notable guest stars
Guest stars included:
Mary Adams Claude Akins Jack Albertson as Mayor Whiteside / Jason Coldwell / Bookie Martin Balsam as Marshall Jim Brock / Charles Dawes Roxane Berard Edward Binns Robert Blake as Lauro / Jessie May Turnbow / Smollet Dan Blocker as Joe Charles Bronson Kathie Browne as Marie Ellis / Lydia Moss Edgar Buchanan as Cardiff Dyan Cannon as Fifi Jeanne Carmen as Paladin's Love Interest / Blonde Glamour Girl John Carradine Lon Chaney Jr. James Coburn as Bill Sledge / Jack Mike Connors as Johnny Dart William Conrad as Moses Kadish / Norge James Craig Ken Curtis as Monk Angie Dickinson as Amy Bender Ivan Dixon as Isham Spruce Buddy Ebsen Duane Eddy as Young Cowboy / Carter Whitney Tyler Jack Elam as Joe Gage Peter Falk as Waller James Franciscus as Tom Nelson Peggy Ann Garner as Virginia "Ginger" Adams Lisa Gaye as Nancy Warren / Helen Abajinian Virginia Gregg Murray Hamilton Ted Hamilton as Catcher Ben Johnson DeForest Kelley as Deakin George Kennedy as Preston / Deke / Rud / Saxon / Brother Grace / Big John Werner Klemperer as Etienne Patric Knowles June Lockhart as Dr. Phyllis Thackeray Jack Lord as Dave Enderby Strother Martin as Carew / Boise Peabody Victor McLaglen as Mike O'Hare Patricia Medina as Diana Coulter / Sabina James Mitchum Harry Morgan Jeanette Nolan Warren Oates as John Bosworth / Harrison Odetta Hank Patterson Suzanne Pleshette as Maria Sydney Pollack as Joe Culp Vincent Price as Charles Matthews / Othello Denver Pyle as Clay Sommers Pernell Roberts Janice Rule Albert Salmi as Father Montalvo George Sowards Harry Dean Stanton as "Slim" Wilder / Stoneman Lee Van Cleef as Corbin / Golias Jack Weston Christine White Stuart Whitman
Production Have Gun – Will Travel was created by Sam Rolfe and Herb Meadow and produced by Frank Pierson, Don Ingalls, Robert Sparks, and Julian Claman. Of the 225 episodes of the television series, 24 were written by Gene Roddenberry.Series co-creator Sam Rolfe would later write a script for the Roddenberry-created Star Trek: The Next Generation. Other major contributors included Bruce Geller, Harry Julian Fink, Don Brinkley, and Irving Wallace. Andrew V. McLaglen directed 101 episodes, and 28 were directed by series star Richard Boone.
Filming locations Unlike many Westerns, entire episodes were filmed outdoors and away from the Old West Street set on Irving Street just below Melrose Avenue, the home of Filmaster television production company. Filmaster was located across the street from, later becoming part of, Paramount Studios' backlot. The area is now enclosed in the independent Kingsley Productions studio lot encompassing a city block. Beginning in season four, filming locations were often given in the closing credits. Locations included Bishop and Lone Pine, California; an area now known as Paladin Estates between Bend and Sisters, Oregon; and the Abbott Ranch near Prineville, Oregon.
Writing Many of the writers who worked on Have Gun – Will Travel went on to gain fame elsewhere. Gene Roddenberry created Star Trek, Bruce Geller created Mission: Impossible, Samuel A. Peeples created The Tall Man, Custer, and Lancer, and Harold Jack Bloom created Boone's later series Hec Ramsey and the 1970s medical-adventure series Emergency! Harry Julian Fink is one of the writers who created Dirty Harry (the opening title and theme scene of the 1973 Dirty Harry sequel Magnum Force features a Paladin-like sequence of a handgun being slowly cocked and then finally pointed toward the camera, with a potent line of dialogue). Sam Peckinpah wrote one episode, "The Singer", which aired in 1958. Other notable writers who contributed an episode include Gene L. Coon, Richard Matheson, Charles Beaumont, Laurence Heath, and Fred Freiberger. Both Star Trek and Mission: Impossible were produced by Desilu Productions and later Paramount Television, which also now owns the rights to Have Gun – Will Travel through its successor company, CBS Television Distribution.
Music The program's opening was a four-note motif composed and conducted by Bernard Herrmann. For the opening theme, Herrmann reused a short sequence he had previously composed for the 1951 movie On Dangerous Ground, starring Robert Ryan and Ida Lupino. The Have Gun – Will Travel theme (and fragments of incidental music also used in the television series) are featured in a chase scene across snowy fields; at the 35:25 mark of the film, the actual Have Gun – Will Travel opening theme is played in recognizable form, although the scoring is slightly different from the better-known television version.
The show's closing song, "The Ballad of Paladin", was written by Johnny Western (who had a role in season one, episode 35, "The Return of Dr. Thackeray"), Richard Boone, and program creator Sam Rolfe, and was performed by Western. In the first season, the closing song was a reprise of the opening theme. In syndication, the first (premise) episode concludes with the Johnny Western ballad. The rest of the first-season episodes play a reprise of the opening theme; although the theme song was used in closing at least four times in season one, including episodes 25, 30, 33, and 34.Have Gun - Will Travel syndicated re-run aired season-one episodes, and DVD release.