In the mid
1950s, two radio writers, Sam Rolfe and Herb Meadow, pitched an idea they had
for a television series to the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS). The protagonist was a modern-day New York City
private detective who combed through out of town newspapers looking for
problems other people couldn’t solve.
The name of the show was Have Gun
Will Travel. CBS didn’t want a
detective series. However, they said westerns
were hot.
So, Rolfe
and Meadow re-worked their idea into a western.
Now their protagonist was a post-Civil War, sophisticated, well-educated
(West Point) gentleman, who resided at the sumptuous Hotel Carlton in San
Francisco, and who looked through out of town newspapers for problems other
people couldn’t solve. (Different time,
different place, but still a detective.)
Proficient with a gun, he usually charged $1,000 for his services as a
troubleshooter, pardon the pun. CBS
bought their idea.
The
protagonist’s name was Paladin.
Ironically, he was named by an adversary named Smoke (Season 6, Episode
1, Genesis):
“In the books, there’s
a name for a man like you. Yes! Paladin.
Paladin. That’s a gentleman
knight in shiny armor, all armed with a cause, righteousness, and a fine
pointed lance. And yet a mercenary. A man who hires out for gold.”
The books
Smoke was referring to were those regarding the foremost warriors of
Charlemagne’s court which began in the Eighth Century, A. D.
The first
choice for an actor to portray Paladin was the veteran movie star, Randolph
Scott. At the time, he was in his late
50s and rich. He was not interested in a
long-term committment to a TV series.
However, Scott passed the proposal on to a younger actor, Richard Boone,
with whom he had made two western movies (Ten
Wanted Men in 1955 and The Tall T
in 1957). Boone actually had been the
star of an earlier successful TV series called Medic (1954-1956), which showed a realistic portrayal of the work
of doctors.
Richard
Boone became Paladin and Have Gun Will
Travel became one of the most successful TV series, lasting six years, from
September 14, 1957 (9:30 PM Saturdays) until April 20, 1963, with a total of
225 half-hour, black and white episodes.
In the 1986 movie, Stand By Me,
a coming of age film cerca 1959, the four boys on a mission aptly sing the
Ballad of Paladin (theme song of the show), giving testimony to the popularity
of Have Gun Will Travel during that
period.
Because of
the acclaim and quality of the show, Have
Gun Will Travel was able to attract some very good actors as guest stars such
as future Academy Award winners George Kennedy (1967 Best Supporting Actor, Cool Hand Luke), Ben Johnson (1971 Best
Supporting Actor, The Last Picture Show),
and James Coburn (1997 Best Supporting Actor, Affliction). Among others
featured were Charles Bronson, Vincent Price, Robert Blake, Victor McLaglen,
and Sydney Pollack.
Who was
Paladin and what was Have Gun Will Travel
all about? After recently watching all
225 episodes (available on Youtube), I can offer some insights.
At some
point after leaving the US Army and settling in San Francisco, Paladin had an
epiphany about what he would do with his life.
He saw himself as a kind of a dragon slayer, someone who courageously stood
up for justice, a principle he highly regarded.
The west was a savage land, controlled too often by those who used their
guns to take advantage of a lawless state.
At the same time, he could finance his expensive life style by charging
a high fee to those who could afford his services. As Paladin once said, “I like to eat and I like to eat well.”
However, Paladin
frequently offered his services pro bono to those without money in order to pursue
a just cause. Paladin didn’t always
accept a client. They had to measure up
to his sense of right and wrong.
Sometimes, because of his strong sense of ethics, he preferred the
enemies of those who wanted to hire him.
In San
Francisco, Paladin wore the clothes of gentleman of leisure. He was a connoisseur of fine food and
wine. However, outside the city by the bay,
he wore all black travel clothes and ate what was available. Strapped to his right leg was a hand crafted .45
caliber Colt single action Army Cavalry model revolver, built to his
specifications, resting in a black holster which showed off his personal iconic
figure, a chess knight which he once described as the most dangerous player on
the board of a game he knew well.
Paladin also carried, hidden in his belt, a two-shot derringer for
emergencies. Strapped to his saddle was
a lever-action Marlin rifle.
Paladin
carried a business card which read, “Have
Gun Will Travel, Wire Paladin, San Francisco.” Many who read his card assumed he was a hired
assassin, or at least a gunfighter who would hire himself to anyone for
money. Not true!
Paladin only
used his gun as a last resort, usually to defend himself or others. Unfortunately, working in a land where the law
was sparse, a proficiency in the use of a gun was a necessity and, in the case
of Paladin, an advantage.
Because of
the nature of his dangerous work, Paladin refrained from marriage. However, he loved the company of women,
especially beautiful women. Paladin once
said that “Women are the heavenly roses of our earthly existence.” He also admired courageous and intelligent women. He could always be counted on to be of
service to a lady. There were a few women
who were special to him, but most of his romantic relationships were of a short
term duration.
Paladin
appreciated how perilous his work was.
He once said, “I chose my own life
and my own probable way of losing it.”
Another time, “The taste of death
has always been in my mouth.”
Finally, “Do you think I hold my
life in so little regard that I am not afraid to lose it?”
Paladin was
a man of culture. He quoted poetry. He loved the opera. He went to the ballet. He appreciated various forms of art, including
painting and sculpture. Paladin read
Dostoyevsky, in what language I am not sure because he knew many. He respected nature. In one episode, he watered a plant, apropriate
for a man with an interest in horticulture.
He was a world traveler, including visits to Paris and Hawaii.
Paladin treated
everyone with respect, regardless of their race, ancestry, or religion, except those who
disrespected him. He always said “thank you” and always tried to be
helpful to others. He was especially
kind to children and those who were handicapped, either physically, mentally,
or emotionally.
Paladin was
a philosopher. In regard to fear, he
said that “Fear is the beginning of
wisdom” and “A man is valient only
when his fear of cowardice exceeds his fear of death.” Regarding love, he said that “Love itself is neither beautiful nor ugly,
(but judged by) how we use it” and
“Love is giving, not taking.” After
watching a father admit to his son that he had lied about his past, Paladin
said, “Men like me tend to forget how
many ways there are to show courage. I
have no idea how I’d stand up to a ten year-old boy.”
Richard
Boone passed away in 1981 (18 years after Have
Gun Will Travel ended) at the age
of 63 from throat cancer. His son, Peter
(who appeared in two episodes), was born in 1953. In a 1998 interview he stated that, “I always felt (that there was an awful lot
of Paladin in my dad-or my dad in Paladin).
When I see those shows (Have Gun Will Travel), I’m seeing my dad up
there.” Richard Boone himself once said that “If
you have to pick a character to live with for six years, that (Paladin) was a
good one.”
Some time
after Have Gun Will Travel became a
success, Richard Boone started exerting more control over it. After all, without Boone, there was no
Paladin, no Have Gun Will Travel. With such control, Boone was able to include
episodes with African American actors and actresses. Television during that period was virtually
all white. There were also episodes that
dealt with issues related to other groups within American society, such as
Chinese, Japanese, Native Americans, Mexicans, women, the elderly, etc.
From looking
at all 225 episodes, I got a sense of who Paladin was. To boil him down to his essense, I would say
he stood for at least three things:
justice (Season 2, Episode 31, “The
Man Who Lost”), loyalty (Season
1, Episode 31, “Hey Boy’s Revenge”),
and a respect for human life (Season 3, Episode 22, “The Ledge”).
Paladin had
a strong belief in our system of justice.
If a man is accused of a crime, he must be brought in for a fair
trial. If convicted, a judge needs to
sentence him to be punished under the law.
Individuals or a mob cannot take the law into their own hands, no matter
what the provocation nor the guilt of the accused. Sometimes Paladin had to risk his own life to
defend the accused and this principle.
In the first
above episode, Joe Gage hires Paladin for $1,000 to find and bring in Ben Coey,
the man accused of murdering his brother-in-law, James Bryson, and raping his
sister, Bryson’s wife. It’s interesting
that in this 1959 episode they did not use the word rape, but simply said she
was a victim of the murderer. Sexual
references were taboo back then.
Paladin
captures Coey, who pleads he is innocent.
They head back to the county seat for a fair trial, as Paladin promises. Because of a storm, they have to stop at the
way station where Gage brings his sister to identify Coey as the guilty
party. When she arrives, Coey admits his
guilt. Outraged, Paladin gives him a
hard slap across the face.
Gage offers
to double his fee if Paladin will hand over Coey to him. He wants to kill Coey with his own
hands. Paladin says, “He’s not for sale.” In a dramatic confrontation, Paladin is
forced to kill Gage in self defense and in defense of the accused. A witness said to him, “This thing you talk about, this justice, you think it was worth it,
worth all this (the death of Gage and the risking of his own life)?” Paladin replied, “If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have done it.”
Paladin was
very loyal to his friends. His closest
friend in the series is a man he calls “Hey Boy,” a porter at the hotel where
Paladin lives. He is a Chinese immigrant
whose real name is Kim Chang. Paladin
depends on Hey Boy to help him in various ways in which he is very efficient.
In the second
above episode, Paladin, upon returning to the hotel from a business trip,
discovers that Hey Boy no longer works there.
Upon investigation, Paladin finds a letter from Hey Boy’s brother to Hey
Boy reporting the very poor conditions that he and his fellow workers on a
railroad construction gang are suffering at the hands of the foreman, a man
named Travis. He also stated that Travis
had beaten him for complaining. There is
a second letter from Travis himself reporting the death of the brother as a
result of an accident.
Hey Boy, believing
it was no accident, has left San Francisco to seek the murderer of his brother,
Travis. In order to help his friend,
Paladin follows. When he arrives at the
railroad, he discovers that Hey boy is in jail on a charge of assaulting Travis
with a knife. Hey Boy tells Paladin that
two of the railroad workers saw Travis murder his brother, but being Chinese
they are afraid to tell what they know for fear of retribution.
Paladin goes
to the camp of the workers and tries to goad them into telling the sheriff what
they know. At first they do
nothing. However, later the Chinese
workers form a mob and break Hey Boy out of jail. Then they head to where Travis is, probably
to beat him to death. However, Paladin
intercedes. He again tries to convince
the witnesses to step forward and say what they know, this time in front of the
sheriff. They do and Travis is
arrested. Paladin and Hey Boy happily
return to San Francisco.
Paladin has
great respect for human life. He holds
to this, even if it means at the risk of his own life. It might sound strange for a man who, in so
many episodes, killed so many people.
But, he did.
In the final
above episode, Paladin is riding his horse through a mountainous area and meets
up with five other travellers. As a
result of a rock slide, one of them is knocked down the side of a cliff and
lands on a ledge. He doesn’t move. Is he dead or only unconscious?
To reach the
victim of the rock slide is very dangerous as the ledge is well below where
Paladin and the four others, including a doctor, are. Paladin and the doctor try to reach him by
way of a rope, but the rope is ten feet too short.
The doctor’s
professional opinion is that the man is dead, but Paladin questions his
judgement since he could not actually examine the man. Paladin asks, “Are you sure enough he’s dead to ride off and leave him?”
Should the
group abandon this man on the ledge?
Paladin says, “I’ve got doubts
(about whether the man is dead) and I’m not going to carry them around with me for
the rest of my life.”
Finally, all
five work together using the rope and with Paladin’s help the doctor is able to
reach the man and determine that he is indeed dead. They “nearly
got (themselves) killed for a dead man.”
But Paladin believed it was a risk that needed to be taken out of respect
for human life.
In the end,
I believe the reason I am so fascinated with Paladin is that he is the perfect
hero. He has no flaws. He is whom you would want to be. Unfortunately, today we have no heroes like
Paladin. Maybe we need some.
