Improved ratings, superior writing and prestigious
guest stars make the third season of Have Gun--Will Travel
the best in the series' six-year history. Here we see all of the
show's popular elements reaching peak efficiency, with series star
Richard Boone perfecting his role as Paladin, the high-class San
Francisco-based "soldier of fortune" who, for $1,000, will take on
any job, no matter how dangerous, with his trademark panache and
impeccable skills as a gunslinger, wild west philosopher, and
lightning rod for a wide variety of moral and ethical quandaries.
Along with veteran series directors Andrew V. McLaglen and
actress-turned-director Ida Lupino, Boone would also direct some of
this season's finest episodes as he continued to use his star
leverage to refine the show's already proven quality. Given the
daunting challenge of a third consecutive season of 39 half-hour
episodes (beginning with episode #79, the excellent "First, Catch a
Tiger" on September 12, 1959, and concluding with episode #117, "The
Search," on June 18, 1960), it's amazing how each episode retains a
distinct identity in terms of plot, character, and overall tone.
While cinematographer Stuart Thompson successfully maintained visual
variety within standard limitations of budget, location, and
recycled sets, Paladin's third-season exploits ranged from
conventional mercenary assignments (like transporting prisoners) to
more unusual outings like "The Ledge" (a somewhat surreal
test-of-courage fable) and "The Lady on the Wall" (ep. #101), a
haunting spin on the "The Picture of Dorian Gray" written by future
Twilight Zone regulars Charles Beaumont and Richard Matheson.
Ongoing connections between Have Gun and Star Trek can
be found in several fine episodes written by Trek creator
Gene Roddenberry (the best being "Les Girls," "Charley Red Dog," and
"The Golden Toad") and/or featuring guest stars who would later
appear in Roddenberry's sci-fi series. Other noteworthy talents
appearing here include James Coburn, Strother Martin, Patrick Wayne,
and Werner Klemperer (who would later star as Col. Klink in
Hogan's Heroes, in addition to a wide variety of TV stalwarts
from the '40s, '50s and '60s. (Vigilant credit-watchers will also
notice veteran stunt coordinator Hal Needham, sometime credited as
"Harold," appearing in a few of these episodes.) As with the first
two Have Gun DVD sets, these episodes vary considerably in
terms of sound and image quality, since many of the transfers were
taken from 16-millimeter syndication prints that betray their age
with scratches and soundtrack hiss. Overall, however, these DVDs
revive a great show with adequate or (in some cases) near-pristine
quality, and Boone's jovial, intelligent, and agelessly macho
presence remains a major attraction, all these decades later.
--Jeff Shannon
