SYNOPSIS
Have Gun Will Travel
was one of the most popular programs of the late 1950's, and the chief prototype of
a rash of dapper heroes invented by TV to populate the Old West.
Paladin was certainly not your normal everyday illiterate gunslinger. He was college-educated, having
attended West Point in pursuit of a military career. Instead, after serving in
the Civil War, he headed West to become a high-priced "gun for hire,"
a kind of Old West troubleshooter.
He was based at the fancy Hotel Carlton in San Francisco and his calling card
bore the figure of a paladin (the white chess knight) and the inscription: "Have
Gun, Will Travel... Wire Paladin, San Francisco."
Paladin
was a man of culture, enjoying the finest clothes, epicurean meals, and literate company
- except when he was on assignment. Then, dressed all in black, he became a very
intimidating figure indeed. Despite his somewhat violent profession, he had a sense of ethics that
dictated what he would and would not do; it occasionally led him to seek out the very people
who had hired him if they in fact were the guilty parties.
Hey
Boy, the Asian working at the Hotel Carlton, was seen at the beginning of
most episodes bringing a message to Paladin from a prospective client. During
the 1960-1961 season, while Kam Tong was involved in a more substantial role in
another series,
The
Garlund Touch,
he was
replaced by Lisa Lu. He returned to
Have Gun Will Travel
after his new venture was cancelled.
Have
Gun Will Travel was an
overnight hit, ranking among the top 5 programs during its first season on the
air. From
1958-1961, it was the #3 program on television - behind two other Westerns -
Gunsmoke
and
Wagon
Train.
It's theme song,
"The Ballad of Paladin," was a hit single in the early 1960's.
