The first season of Have Gun--Will Travel
makes it easy to see why this Western series was an overnight
success. Making its debut on September 14, 1957, the half-hour show
ranked no. 4 in the ratings for its entire first season, which ran
almost completely uninterrupted (minus a one-week preemption) until
June of 1958--a punishing schedule unheard of in present-day
television. (It ranked even higher in subsequent seasons, holding
the no. 3 spot, behind Gunsmoke and Wagon Train.)
Richard Boone was perfectly cast in the lead role of Paladin, a
cultured gunslinger whose West Point education, impeccable style,
literate sophistication, and distinguished Civil War service made
him unique among Western heroes, and the prototype for many dashing
figures to follow. Based in San Francisco's ritzy Carlton Hotel, he
scans newspapers to locate trouble throughout the wild West, then
cagily markets his services (via his legendary calling card, "Have
Gun--Will Travel") as a hired gun, moral arbiter, voice of reason,
and reluctant killer of badmen. Understanding the complexities of
frontier justice, Paladin (whose full name is never revealed) could
turn on those who hired him if he suspected dubious motivations. He
wore black, but he traveled in an ethical gray zone.
Running about 25 minutes each, these 39 episodes are consistently
good and economically plotted, since Have Gun boasted stellar
talent on both sides of the camera. Each episode began with the
memorable theme by legendary film composer Bernard Herrmann, and
most of the first season was directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, who
worked regularly on Gunsmoke, Rawhide, and Perry
Mason before graduating to a prolific big-screen career. Regular
writers included Gene Roddenberry (who created Star Trek six
years later), and budding maverick Sam Peckinpah co-wrote episode
#22, "The Singer." In addition to series regular Kam Tong as
Paladin's Chinese-American manservant Hey Boy (a "Coolie"
stereotype, but Tong handles it with dignity, especially in "Hey
Boy's Revenge"), Have Gun offered a who's-who of 1950s and
'60s guest stars, from genre stalwarts like Victor McLaglen
(Andrew's father), John Carradine, Strother Martin, and R.G.
Armstrong, to promising newcomers like Angie Dickinson, Warren
Oates, and Charles Bronson (the last starring in "The Outlaw," one
of the season's finest episodes). Each episode is accompanied by
background information and guest-star profiles, and while picture
quality is quite good overall, the audio quality suffers from a
low-level mix with noticeable hiss from aged source materials.
Fortunately, this won't prevent anyone from enjoying a first-rate TV
series that thrived for another five seasons, until cancellation in
1963. --Jeff Shannon
