Customer Reviews

Have Gun Will Travel - The Complete Second Season

5 star:		(142)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Richard Boone stars as Paladin in this six-disk dvd set of the first season of HAVE GUN, WILL TRAVEL (1957-1958).
CBS broadcast an incredible thirty-nine episodes that first season, each episode lasting 23 to 25 minutes. Most episodes begin with the spiffily dressed Paladin (we're never given a last name) scouring the thick stacks newspapers brought to him by the ever helpful Hey Boy (Kam Tong), bellboy at Paladin's residence, the Carlton Hotel in San Francisco. Eventually Paladin reads of a missing child in Colorado, or a rash of robberies occurring in Montana. Paladin slips his business card - a chess knight with the legend Have Gun, Will Travel, Wire Paladin, San Francisco - into an envelope and mails it to the injured party.
Slowly enough as we wend our way through the first year we learn something of Paladin. He has a passion for justice and a taste for the good things. His going rate is $1000, although he will take on a pro bono job if the cause is just. In town he dresses to the nines and in sundry other ways consumes conspicuously. When traveling with a gun he dresses in black. Somewhere along the line he picked up a military education, quotes Shakespeare and Pliny, savors a first-edition of Dryden. His taste in and knowledge of fine wines is commented upon in a couple of episodes....
I don't know if any of this matters, but going through fifteen hours of HGWT over a week or so it's kind of fun to have an aha moment or two. Paladin is an enigma, and Boone, a little more credible as the gunslinger than the city dandy, was an inspired choice to play him. Boone has a commanding presence and, believe me when I tell you buckaroos, was pretty darn quick on the draw.
Twenty-three minutes is a pretty tight box to fit a action story in, which might explain why we don't waste a whole lot of time on Paladin's backstory. Of course, the storytelling is made a lot easier when you consider the talent involved. The talent rundown has to start with Boone, who was nominated Best Leading Actor as Paladin in 1959 and 1960. The great majority of the first season episodes were directed by action veteran Andrew McLaglen (son of actor Victor McLaglen), although a couple were helmed by Oscar winning director Lewis Milestone. Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry wrote a few scripts for the first season as well. Sam Peckingpah even co-wrote one episode (The Singer).
The talent in front of the camera was as formidable as that behind. Major established stars like Victor McLaglen and John Carradine appeared in episodes - weak ones, in my opinion, especially the McLaglen episode (directed by son Andrew) in which the old actor played a construction foreman threatening to cut a town off from its source of water. McLaglen simply wasn't getting around very briskly and it's a little painful to watch. Another major movie star fares much better. Charles Bronson wasn't established yet, but he plays a robber who more or less forces Paladin into a gunfighting showdown in an episode that paints fatal violence as both regrettable and, sometimes, unavoidable. Strother Martin (Cool Hand Luke) appears in two episodes, once as an unscrupulous frontier lawyer and earlier in a more affecting role as a high wire walker who'd lost his nerve somewhere along the way. Warren Oates plays one of the bad offspring in a truncated take on King Lear.
That's just the beginning. Future television stars appear in almost every episode. Pernell Roberts and Dan Blocker (Bonanza) appear as scruffy tough guys in relatively small roles in separate episodes. Jack Lord (Hawaii 5-0) is a cowardly kidnapper. June Lockhart (Lassie, Lost In Space) appears twice as a frontier doctor. Angie Dickinson (Police Woman) plays a young woman whose brother was murdered and threatens to incite a lynch mob. Mike Connors (Mannix) plays a cattle rustling bad guy in one of the early episodes.
Okay, I'm enthusing here. Still haven't got to the best stuff. What gave me the biggest kick was watching the people I'd never heard of. Peter Whitney, who the intro blurb that precedes each episode tells us made a film career out of playing slow-witted big guys and menacing big guys, plays a mentally challenged ranch hand who's goaded into placing a burr under boss's Stuart Whitman's saddle, with dire consequences, in "The Last Laugh." The diminutive B-western star Bob Steele plays a crooked mine boss in "The High Graders" - the Wire Paladin blurb tells us Steele had developed a quick draw during his B-career, which McLaglen pays homage to in a draw down between his character and Paladin. My favorite discovery, though, has to be Marian Seldes, a tremendous actress who is featured in two episodes. First as a mail order bride who Paladin escorts to her new home in "The Bride" and later as a small town teacher who the local bullies try to intimidate in "The Teacher."
Very strongly recommended, especially for fans of traditional westerns.

Richard Boone was one of the most natural actors ever to grace the screen. Good guys, bad guys, he did them all with such a grace and ease that he made it seem so effortless. Paladin was a product of the post-Civil War. A West Point Graduate, he was an educated man, a man who appreciated literature, opera, culture. So it was not surprising he settled in San Franscisco after the war. Though a man of refinement, he made his living by hiring his gun out to those in need. He passed his little cards around - "Have Gun, Will Travel. Wire Paladin, San Fransisco" and waited for clients to find him.

While a cultured man, he was just as comfortable in the deadly knight errant persona, the man in black. Boone excelled at making you believe both sides could exist within one man. While he was a hired gun, he often spent more time talking to people making them listen to reason.

A loved all these Westerns. Have enjoyed the reruns on TVLand, Starz Westerns, and the Hallmark Channel. But so many of the old Westerns don't hold up well. I was surprised how well Rawhide and Have Gun, Will Travel hold their quality. So these are a super addition to any video maven's collection. Sadly, I don't think Boone ever got the true recognition his talent deserved, but those of us who appreciated him can now watch his talent shine.

This will be a review by someone who purchased ALL the Columbia House VHS videotapes of "Have Gun Will Travel" (as well as ALL the available "Maverick" and the half hour "Gunsmoke" VHS tapes) as soon as they were available, from 1995 to 1998. The price for four episodes of the half hour series was about $25 (about $5 for shipping.) If you do the math, these DVDs are a fantastic savings AND offer the added bonus of being easier to store and probably to use.

The quality of the VHS tapes was crystalline, which is probably why the DVDs have been reviewed favorably in the technical sense. Much of the filming for "HGWT" was done on location in what seems to be pristine wilderness areas, and this clarity of viewing - the extra effort to get the locations done by the production staff and the effort required by the actors involved - is beautiful to watch as well. Most episodes start out in the SF hotel and then lead Paladin far afield on his missions.+

It is true that the Gene Roddenberry episodes are very special. Even in the 90s, when a script - and the way that the actors presented it - awed me, it was almost certainly a Roddenberry episode. Truly, eye opening. You understand why "Star Trek" has been around forever.

Like many children of the 50s, Westerns were the 'meat and potatoes' of my TV experience, and while I liked the shows like "Maverick" and "HGWT" at that age, but to be able to view them as an adult is amazing. I would also recommend the same for the half hour "Gunsmoke" episodes. Clearly, these series went far beyond the standard shoot 'em ups and good guys versus bad guys plotting of production line Westerns. There were a lot of adult level references within the programming and it makes re-viewing later in life even more entertaining, and, leaves a powerful positive impression of all involved.

I would suggest also that the first few years of the "HGWT" series are the best. In the 50s, there were a lot of episodes being filmed every season, so at least the first three seasons are mainly outstanding.

Cannot say enough about the acting skills of Richard Boone: FANTASTIC! He brought that character to life as a multi-dimensional human being.

I would definitely recommend the three series mentioned above. Have great video experience!

CBS and Paramount Home Video present "HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL - THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON (1958-1959), featuring Richard Boone as Paladin in his clad black wearing a pistol and holster custom made stamped with a silver chess-set knight which was his trademark...as was his theme song "reads the card of a man, a knight without armor in a Savage Land"...a graduate of West Point and a veteran of The Civil War, who makes his headquarters at the Hotel Carlton in San Francisco...fighting for the underdog at a price of $1000, sometimes giving his fee away whenever the situation comanded it so for the needy...this role for Mr. Boone catapulted him to stardom and made the series a cult favorite.

First time on DVD with all 39 Original Episodes of Season Two...with guest stars noted:
Disc One (Episodes 40 - 45)
THE MANHUNTER (guest stars: Joseph Calleia, Martin Balsam, David Whorf & Stephen Colt )
IN AN EVIL TIME (guest star: Hank Patterson)
THE MAN WHO WOULDN'T TALK (guest stars: Charles Bronson & Harry Carey Jr.)
THE HANGING OF ROY CARTER (guest stars: Robert Armstrong, Francis McDonald, John Larch & Scott Marlowe)
(Screenplay: Gene Roddenberry)
DUEL AT FLORENCE (guest star: Dean Harens, Bonnie Bolding, Charles Gray, John Alderson & Hank Patterson)
THE PORTEGE (guest star: Peter Breck)

Disc Two (Episodes 46 - 51)
THE ROAD TO WICKENBURG (guest stars: Harry Carey Jr. & Don "Red" Barry) (Screenplay: Gene Roddenberry)
A SENSE OF JUSTICE (guest stars: Karl Swenson, Bing Russell & Barrie Chase)
YOUNG GUN (guest stars: Dick Foran & Abby Dalton)
THE LADY (guest star: Patricia Medina)
A SNARE FOR MURDER (guest stars: Harry Morgan, Harry Bartell & Ron Hagerthy)
THE BALLAD OF OSCAR WILDE (guest stars: John O'Malley, Richard Shannon, Jack Hogan & Roy Engel)

Disc Three (Episodes 52 - 58)
THE SOLID GOLD PATROL (guest stars: Eddie Little Sky, Sean McClory & Mike Kellin)
SOMETHING TO LIVE FOR (guest stars: Rayford Barnes, Tom Brown, John Anderson & Nancy Hadley
(Filmed on location in the San Bernardino National Forest)
THE MOOR'S REVENGE (guest stars: Vincent Price, Patricia Morison & Morey Amsterdam)
THE WAGER (guest stars: Denver Pyle, Jacqueline Scott, Ken Lynch & Bob Hopkins)
THE TAFFETA MAYOR (guest stars: Edward Platt, Robert Karnes, Norma Crane & Tom Steele)
LADY ON THE STAGECOACH (guest stars: John Douchette, Dolores Vitina & Raymond Bailey)
TREASURE TRAIL (guest stars: Bruce Gordon, Peters Adams, Dean Stanton & Willard Stage)

Disc Four (Episodes 59 - 65)
JULIET (guest stars: Earle Hodgins, Miranda Jones, Allen Case & John Beradino)
(Screenplay: Gene Roddenberry)
HUNT THE MAN DOWN (guest stars: James Drury, Robert Wilke & Madlyn Rhue)
THE SCORCHED FEATHER (guest stars: Lon Chaney Jr, Mario Alcalde, Cy Malis & Mike Steele.)
( Screenplay: Bruce Geller...Robert Ceilbleu mentions people from three episodes. The Sheriff of Promise from "The Man Hunter," the barber in Florence, California from "Duel at Florence," and the two sulfur miners in Lucifer's Pit from "Gold and Brimstone.")
THE RETURN OF THE LADY (guest stars: Patricia Medina, Gene Nelson, Theodore Marcuse & Kam Tong)
THE MONSTER OF MOON RIDGE (Kam Tong, W. T. Change, Barney Phillips, Natalie Norwick)
(Screenplay: Gene Roddenberry)
THE LONG HUNT (guest stars: Anthony Caruso, Kam Tong, Anne Barton & Steve Roberts)
DEATH OF A GUNFIGHTER (guest stars: Suzanne Pieshette, I. Stanford Jolley, Kam Tong & Christopher Dark)

Disc Five (Episodes 66 - 72)
INCIDENT AT BORRASCA BEND (guest stars: Jacques Aubuchon, Perry Cook, Ben Wright & Ed Faulker)
MAGGIE O'BANNION (guest star: Marion Marshall, Peggy Rea, Don Haggerty & Mickey Simpson)
(Screenplay: Gene Roddenberry)
THE CHASE (guest stars: Kam Tong, Paul Richards, Paul Birch & Wright King)
ALASKA (guest stars: Karl Swenson, Richard Shannon, Kam Tong, Allen Case, Elizabeth York & Fay Roope)
THE MAN WHO LOST (guest stars: Jack Elam, Mort Mills, Barbara Hayden & Ed Nelson)
(Directed by Ida Lupino)
THE RETURN OF ROY CARTER (guest stars: Clu Galager, Larry J. Blake, Brad von Beltz & Craig Duncan)
(Screenplay: Gene Roddenberry)
THE SONS OF AARON MURDOCK (guest stars: Kam Tong, Frank Gorshin, Philip Coolidge, Lee Kinsolving & Elizabeth York)

Disc Six (Episodes 73 - 78)
COMANCHE (guest stars: Susan Cabot, Roy Barcroft, Larry Pennell & Robert Anderson)
( This episode takes place in June, 1876.)
HOMECOMING (guest stars: Ed Nelson, Kam Tong, Don Mcgowan, Lewis Martin & Dick Rich)
THE FIFTH MAN (guest stars: John Emery, Leo Gordon, Kam Tong, Walter Burke & Ward Wood)
HERITAGE OF ANGER (guest stars: Carol Thurston, Kam Tong. Ricky Vera, Peter Coe & Carol Hill)
THE HAUNTED TREES (guest stars: Roy Barcroft, Kam Tong, Jane Chang, Doris Dowling & Duane Grey)
GOLD AND BRIMSTONE (guest stars: Eduardo Ciannelli, Phillipe Pine, Alan Reed & William Vaughan)
(Screenplay: Bruce Geller...The two sulfur miners in this episode are mentioned in an earlier episode, "The Scorched Feather". possible this is the episode that was pre-empted on 11/29/58 and shown at this later time)

Season Two contains...Special Features of Production Notes, Cast Biographies and Behind-The-Scenes Episodic Information which will quench the thirst of any fan who needed and wanted to know more about Paladin and his travels.

Want to thank Paramount Home Video and CBS for taking us back to those thrilling '50s TV Westerns...watching this legendary actor and his professional team of directors (Andrew V. McLaglen & Ida Lupino) and writers (Gene Roddenberry, Bruce Geller & Gene L. Coon) and music (Bernard Herrmann, Jerry Goldsmith & Leonard Rosenman), creators (Herb Meadow & Sam Rolfe) served up the best of the best during that decade of television...great character actors of B-Westerns in each storyline with Paladin (Richard Boone)...every episode brings back so many wonderful memories of the times when television cared about you the viewer...gotta love it!

Total Time: 6-DVD-Set ~ Paramount Home Video 887774 ~ (5/10/2005)

This supurb set of DVDs, some of the greatest television of all time, has one minor defect that I point out only for those interested in such triva. The last episode on disk three, listed as "Treasure Trail", is really "Hunt the Man Down". The second episode on disk four, listed as "Hunt the Man Down", is "Treasure Trail". The "Wire Paladin" in both cases refers to the episode that should be there rather than to the episode that is there.

I took a chance on the first season box set of "Have Gun, Will Travel" as I was too young to have seen it in it's original 1957-63 run. Oddly enough, it was only sporadically aired on the stations I grew up with and I never received the chance to view more than an occasional episode. Thankfully, with the release of the first two seasons, I can now witness first hand the wonderful acting of Richard Boone, the taut, tightly plotted dramas penned by writers of high caliber (Gene Roddenberry, for one) as well as the wonderful, atmospheric and atypical music composed by Bernard Herrmann.

If you've purchased season one, you'll definitely want this set. The picture quality is comparable here, i.e. most episodes have good to excellent contrast and appear reasonably fine-grained, though a few episodes (just like in season one) appear a bit worse for wear. One thing that consistently noticeable is that the outdoor scenes are generally sharper and more middle toned for contrast whereas interior shots are often grainier, featuring a somewhat higher level of contrast. This is moderate and does not detract from the viewing experience, given the vintage of this material.

Check out the www.hgwt.com web site and you'll see that according to one erstwhile reviewer, approximately half of the 39 episodes in season two rate 3-4 stars, much like season one. Menu set up is the same for season 1, furnished with the usual and enlightening bits of trivia about the writers and guest stars. Fans of the show will note that the Johnny Western ballad appears in the closing credits for every show for this season (as well as all seasons subsequent), while die hard fans will be able to detact the lowered, more muted staccato used whenever the camera closes in on Palladin's business card. All in all, one of the best values available where classic TV on DVD is concerned.

The English Lanquage spoken with clarity, well paced action, mature characterizations and an over the top Richard Boone. Have Gun Will Travel represented what American television was during its finest hour.

Believe it if you can, but once upon a time TV aspired to reveal what we ought to be rather than what we are. TV once created heroic figures that exalted the best of what it means to be human, instead of degrading the human spirit by showing us at our worst and most depraved. And then they add insult to injury by calling it "reality TV." Like that is what human nature is really like. Well, HGWT is the other side of that coin. It makes you believe in yourself, and that people can be more and better than they are, if only they try hard enough to be. It makes you realize that one man with purpose and clarity can make a difference. Not just because he is there to serve as an example. But because most people want and need and can't be happy until what they ought to be, they are. HGWT is not just a story of one man with courage who cares. It's about the best of us.

Fans of intelligent Westerns shouldn't miss Paramount's resurrection of "Have Gun Will Travel." The show, which ran on CBS for five seasons beginning in the fall of 1957, starred Richard Boone as Paladin, a badass do-gooder who ran his one-man mercenary business out of a San Francisco hotel.

Unlike most TV Westerns of its time, "Have Gun" still plays wonderfully thanks in large part to its savvy scripts. Quite a few were written by Gene Roddenberry, exploring some of the social themes he continued with on "Star Trek." Boone looks great, fashion-forward in all black -- hip, intelligent, deadly. Bernard Hermann contributed the swelling music.
The six-disc Paramount set has all 39(!) episodes from the first season of "Have Gun," with guest stars including Jack Lord, Charles Bronson, John Carradine and Warren Oates.

The black-and-white images look OK but can be distractingly dark. Audio is undercut by a fair amount of hiss and boom.

Pretty much everything that needs to be said about Paladin's story has been said here - except his origin episode, available but not on this DVD. You need to see this. Not to give anything away, but he is a lot more than you think he is..

Second, though Paladin might quote Browning or Pliny to some local yokels who look at each other wondering who this consarned dude in black is talking about, the thing I like about his lifestyle is the way he consorts (and I use that word correctly) with some of the ladies of Old San Francisco at his suite in the Hotel Carlton. In one episode, he is escorting a lady down the stairs who is obviously still adjusting her clothing and whom he does NOT walk to the door: pretty daring stuff for 1957 TV! In the same episode, Paladin whispers something into the ear of a particularly attractive woman who appears to either be a (term again used advisedly..)mulatto or asian. Believe me, no other 1950's western "hero" EVER talked to a woman who wasn't white, and especially not whispering something which made her giggle. Then again, she's coming down the same staircase...perhaps a menage?

At the very same time, Paladin is a complete gentleman: he always doffs his hat in the presence of a lady, even if he is the only one to do so. And he never talks down to Hey Boy either, who is in a way his assistant (and associate).

Boone was likely the best actor in the complete era of the Cowboy TV Show. There were up-and-comers (Steve McQueen, Gene Barry, Hugh O'Brien, Wayde Preston) and guys who had already been there (Guy Madison, Roy Rogers, Jock Mahoney, Scott Brady). But on acting talent, Boone had 'em all covered every time.

The Paladin character is a one-of-a-kind: there has never been another like him, and praise be there hasn't been some hackneyed "remake" of Paladin starring some young Hollypunk either. Buy this upon my guarantee that you will like it. But be warned: Paladin sells no wolf tickets - when he threatens, he follows through. He likes talking lovingly about his weapons...and never denies he is a hired gun. Thus, he may be the only "bad guy" to ever star in a successful cowboy TV series. And every episode begins with a spoken threat from him. Unique, no?