A Summary of HAVE GUN - WILL TRAVEL

Considered one of the best television westerns ever made, Have Gun–Will Travel stands the test of time for two major reasons: superb scripts and the casting of Richard Boone. The weekly television western ran six seasons, from 1957 to 1963, and was critically acclaimed as superior to Gunsmoke, another popular (and high-rated) western airing over CBS. The series focused on the adventures of a hired gun named Paladin, who offered his stock in trade for a hefty fee. Living a life of lavish luxury as a bon vivant after taking up permanent residency at the Hotel Carlton in San Francisco, Paladin would ride out when clients sent him a telegram requesting his services. With black suit and gun holster, Paladin would visit his employers and accept almost any position ranging from professional bodyguard to performing sheriff-like duties for a town desperate for law and order. Along the way, Paladin would brush alongside his conscience and side with the moral right – even if the ends meant betraying his employer and someone would be buried on boot hill. The name of the program originated from Paladin’s business card, “Have Gun, Will Travel,” which he dispensed often on the program to prospective clients.

 

The series was co-created by Herb Meadow and Sam Rolfe. The former was a radio scriptwriter of soap operas and crime thrillers; the latter a screenwriter who received an Oscar nomination for The Naked Spur (1953). Rolfe would later go on to co-create The Man from U.N.C.L.E., but that is another story for another time. Rolfe acted as story editor for the western, insisting that Paladin’s real name remain elusive, never to be given on the program. It was clear “Paladin” was an alias, and when the premiere episode for the series’ final season offered us a flashback tale that provided us with a superb origin for “Paladin,” his real name remained a mystery.

 

Paladin was played by Richard Boone, an actor who started out doing supporting roles in motion pictures and television (including Jack Webb’s Dragnet). Having played the lead of a doctor on Medic, which ran two seasons over NBC, Boone received an Emmy nomination for his performance. When western movie icon Randolph Scott (the first choice for the role) was unavailable, the producers turned to Richard Boone who, they were overjoyed to find, could ride a horse. Boone's intimidating growl, prominent nose and pock-marked visage physically distanced him from the standard fresh-faced cowboy hero in the same way that his character's cultured background distinguished him from those prairie-tutored rustics. After watching Paladin muse about Pliny and Aristotle, one television critic marveled, “Where else can you see a gunfight and absorb a classical education at the same time?”

 

Have Gun – Will Travel made Boone a television celebrity overnight. Boone’s five-year contract with the network made him a wealthy man, and a one-year extension ensured he wouldn’t have to work again for many years. It was the television series that led to other career possibilities: Boone accepted a part in John Wayne’s The Alamo (1960), and, in 1963, he launched his own repertory group for a weekly television anthology series, The Richard Boone Show. 

 

As for the Have Gun – Will Travel scripts, written by such stalwarts as Bruce Geller (Mission: Impossible), Sam Peckinpah (1969’s The Wild Bunch), Richard Matheson (The Twilight Zone), and Gene Roddenberry (Star Trek), quality took center stage. Roddenberry would ultimately write a total of 24 scripts for the television series and receive a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Script for the episode “Helen of Abajinian.”

 

In various episodes, Paladin went up against a crooked sheriff that could only be stopped by his murder, participated in a race across the desert on a camel, and was forced to kill a young man who needed schooling in the art of self-defense. In the series’ only two-parter, Paladin was witness to a gang of juveniles who, drunk from alcohol, committed a cold-blooded murder. Following the death, Paladin tracked down each of the killers responsible and gave them a chance to put on a pair of handcuffs and be turned over to the law. Paladin, however, believed justice was better suited with a bullet and despite his offer to turn them over to the law, he coaxed each of the boys into drawing on him instead of reaching for the chains just so he could gun them down.

 

In one episode, Paladin helps a woman doctor (played by June Lockhart) gain acceptance from a religious fanatic who convinced the community to reject the doctor because of her gender. In another, he assists with the election of a woman mayor. This progressive attitude influenced the show’s take on minorities, race and ethnics. When Paladin’s close friend, Hey Boy, asked the gunman to help his brother, who, like other Chinese, is being abused by the railroad company where he works, Paladin swung into action for no fee. The western took on the subject of anti-Semitism when Boone spoke in Hebrew and engaged in a discussion of the Torah. In another episode, Paladin witnessed the hanging of an African American who was guilty of a crime but stood up against mob injustice when the townsfolk would not grant the body to his widow.

 

To ensure the series had lavish production, many of the episodes were shot on location in northern California, New Mexico and the scenic beauty of Bend, Oregon. Despite its high ratings and being tops in the popularity polls, the program lasted a mere six seasons. Still, this was a mark of pride when you consider the fact that the series aired during a time the networks were saturated with six-guns, even prompting comedian Milton Berle to remark, “Here I am back at NBC. You know what NBC refers to, don’t you? Nothing But Cowboys.” 

 

If you have never seen Have Gun – Will Travel before, here is your chance to get acquainted.