Have Gun Will Travel

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.