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American Western television series

Have Gun – Will Travel is an American Western television series that was produced and originally broadcast by CBS on both television and radio from 1957 through 1963. The television version of the series starring Richard Boone was rated number three or number four in the Nielsen ratings every year of its first four seasons. Set in the period of the Old West, the series follows the adventures of "Paladin," played by Boone, a gentleman investigator/gunfighter who travels around the Old West working as a gunfighter for hire. Although Paladin charges steep fees to clients who can afford to hire him, typically $1,000 per job, he provides his services for free to poor people who need his help. A radio series starring John Dehner debuted November 23, 1958, more than a year after the premiere of its televised counterpart, making Have Gun – Will Travel one of the few shows in television history to spawn a successful radio version.

This series follows the adventures of a man calling himself "Paladin" (played by Richard Boone on television and voiced by John Dehner on radio), taking his name from that of the foremost knights in Charlemagne's court. He is a gentleman investigator/gunfighter who travels around the Old West working as a mercenary for people who hire him to solve their problems. Like many Westerns, the television show was set in a time vaguely indicated to be some years after the American Civil War. The radio show announced the year of the story that followed in the opening of each episode. The season five television episode, "A Drop of Blood", gives the specific date of July 3, 1879. In the 14th and 17th ("Lazarus", March 6 and 7, 1875) episodes of season five, it is 1875.

Paladin prefers to settle the difficulties clients bring his way without violence, but this rarely happens. When forced, he excels in fisticuffs. Under his real name, which is never revealed, he was a dueling champion of some renown. Paladin is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and a veteran of the American Civil War, in which he served as a Union cavalry officer. In the episode "The Bostonian", he indirectly reveals he comes from Boston (or at least spent some time there), claiming, "In my youth, . I was the best dressed bouncer in Scully Square." His permanent place of residence is the Hotel Carlton in San Francisco, where he lives the life of a successful businessman and bon vivant, wearing elegant custom made suits, consuming fine wine, playing the piano, and attending the opera and other cultural events. He is an expert chess player, poker player, and swordsman. He is skilled in Chinese martial arts, and is seen in several episodes receiving instruction and training with a Kung Fu master in San Francisco. He is highly educated, able to quote classic literature, philosophy, and case law, and speaks several languages. He is also president of the San Francisco Stock Exchange Club. When out working, Paladin changes into all black Western style clothing. His primary weapon is a custom made, first generation .45 caliber Colt Single Action Army Cavalry Model revolver with an unusual rifled barrel, carried in a black leather holster (with a platinum chess knight symbol facing the rear), hanging from a black leather gunbelt. He also carries a lever action Marlin rifle (with a platinum chess knight symbol facing the rear seen in "The Hunt") strapped to his saddle. In some episodes, he has a two shot Remington derringer concealed under his belt; in other episodes, it is a single shot Merrimack Arms "Southerner" derringer. Paladin gives out a business card imprinted with "Have Gun Will Travel" and an engraving of a white knight chess piece, which evokes the proverbial white knight and the knight in shining armor. Underneath the chess piece is the wording "Wire Paladin", and under that, "San Francisco". A closeup of this card is used as a title card between scenes in the program. A Man Called Paladin, Frank C. Robertson's novelization of the season six premiere "Genesis", gives Paladin's real name as Clay Alexander.

The one other major semiregular character in the show is the Chinese bellhop at the Carlton Hotel, known as Hey Boy (real name Kim Chan or Kim Chang); in the first season in the episode called "Hey Boy's Revenge", the character Hey Boy is sought by Paladin under the name Kim Chan, which is written on a piece of paper and shown on screen. As the episode continues, Hey Boy is referred to (verbally) five times as Kim Chan and then on the sixth incident Paladin states Hey Boy's name as Kim Chang and thereafter he is referred to as Kim Chang every time. No explanation is given for the name change. Hey Boy is played by Kam Tong. According to author and historian Martin Grams Jr., Hey Boy is featured in all but the fourth of the show's six seasons, with the character of Hey Girl, played by Lisa Lu, replacing Hey Boy for season four while Kam Tong worked on the Mr. Garlund television series. Lisa Lu had previously played Hey Boy's sister, Kim Li, in "Hey Boy's Revenge". Character actor Olan Soule appears in 10 episodes across all six seasons of Have Gun – Will Travel as an employee of the Carlton Hotel, usually identified as the manager/desk clerk. The character's name is inconsistent, being given as "Cartwright" in two episodes, and "Matthews" in another. Tony Regan also appears as an unnamed desk clerk in over a dozen episodes, between seasons two and five. Hal Needham, later a noted director, worked on the show as a stunt performer and can be seen as a bit part player (in a wide variety of roles) in nearly 50 episodes.

Have Gun – Will Travel was created by Sam Rolfe and Herb Meadow and produced by Frank Pierson, Don Ingalls, Robert Sparks, and Julian Claman. Of the 225 episodes of the television series, 24 were written by Gene Roddenberry. Other major contributors included Bruce Geller, Harry Julian Fink, Don Brinkley, and Irving Wallace. Andrew V. McLaglen directed 101 episodes,

Many of the writers who worked on Have Gun – Will Travel went on to gain fame elsewhere. Gene Roddenberry created Star Trek, Bruce Geller created Mission: Impossible, Samuel A. Peeples created The Tall Man, Custer, and Lancer, and Harold Jack Bloom created Boone's later series Hec Ramsey and the 1970s medical adventure series Emergency! Harry Julian Fink is one of the writers who created Dirty Harry (the opening title and theme scene of the 1973 Dirty Harry sequel Magnum Force features a Paladin like sequence of a handgun being slowly cocked and then finally pointed toward the camera, with a potent line of dialogue). Sam Peckinpah wrote one episode, "The Singer", which aired in 1958. Other notable writers who contributed an episode include Gene L. Coon, Richard Matheson, Charles Beaumont, Laurence Heath, and Fred Freiberger. Both Star Trek and Mission: Impossible were produced by Desilu Productions and later Paramount Television, which also now owns the rights to Have Gun – Will Travel through its successor company, CBS Television Distribution.

The program's opening was a four note motif composed and conducted by Bernard Herrmann. For the opening theme, Herrmann reused a short sequence he had previously composed for the 1951 movie On Dangerous Ground, starring Robert Ryan and Ida Lupino. The Have Gun – Will Travel theme (and fragments of incidental music also used in the television series) are featured in a chase scene across snowy fields; at the 35:25 mark of the film, the actual Have Gun – Will Travel opening theme is played in recognizable form, although the scoring is slightly different from the better known television version. The show's closing song, "The Ballad of Paladin", was written by Johnny Western (who had a role in season one, episode 35, "The Return of Dr. Thackeray"), Richard Boone, and program creator Sam Rolfe, and was performed by Western. In the first season, the closing song was a reprise of the opening theme. In syndication, the first (premise) episode concludes with the Johnny Western ballad. The rest of the first season episodes play a reprise of the opening theme; although the theme song was used in closing at least four times in season one, including episodes 25, 30, 33, and 34. In the second season, the song was the only closing music. In the third season, a new lyric was added to the five line "The Ballad of Paladin", making it six lines long. In 1962–1963, the final season, the song's lyrics were cut to four lines, the original fourth and added sixth being dropped. This occurred because the production credits for writer, producer, and director were pulled from the closing credits to appear over the opening sequences. However, in the season six episode "Sweet Lady in the Moon" (episode 26, 1963), the ballad was played complete over the closing credits. Johnny Western has sung a fully recorded version, opening with the refrain and including a second verse never heard on the television series. When showing episodes with Paladin at the Hotel Carlton in San Francisco, background music is often played. That instrumental was "Darling Nelly Gray", which is a 19th century popular song written and composed by Benjamin Hanby.

The title is a variation on a cliche used in personal advertisements in newspapers such as The Times, indicating that the advertiser (a job seeker) is equipped for a certain category of jobs and flexible about the location of the job. It has been used this way from the early 20th century. A trope common in theatrical advertising at the time was "Have tux, will travel" (originally from comedian Bob Hope in 1954), and CBS has claimed this was the specific inspiration for the writer Herb Meadow. The television show popularized the phrase in the 1950s and 1960s, and many variations have been used as titles for other works, including the 1958 science fiction novel Have Space Suit—Will Travel by Robert A. Heinlein.

Originally, each show opened with the same 45 second visual. Over a slow, four note repeat backbeat score, a tight shot of Paladin's chess knight emblem centered in a black background is seen, before the view widens to show the emblem affixed to Paladin's holster, with Paladin in his trademark costume seen from waist level in profile. Then, as he draws his revolver from the holster, the four note repeat backbeat fades to a light, almost harp like strumming. He cocks the hammer, and then rotates the gun to point the barrel at the viewer for ten seconds, often delivering a line of dialogue from the coming episode, after which the pistol is uncocked and holstered briskly. As the weapon is reholstered and the view tightens to show only the chess knight, again, the four note repeat backbeat returns. As only the chess knight emblem in a black background is back, the name "RICHARD BOONE" appears across the screen for about five seconds. The name fades out and immediately the words "in HAVE GUN – WILL TRAVEL" fade in, again for about five seconds. Boone's name and the show's title are accompanied by a four note "stinger" that overshadows the four note repeat. The "stinger" is roughly the same as that heard when Paladin's business card is flashed on screen (in almost every episode). The words fade away after those five seconds, leaving only the chess knight emblem against the black background, and the four note repeat fades out. This opening then fades out and the show fades in on its opening scene. A later version of the opening sequence (seasons three to six) has a long range shot, with Paladin in a full body profile silhouette, and he fast draws the revolver, dropping into a slight crouch as he turns, pointing at the camera. After the dubbed over line, he straightens as he shoves the firearm into his holster. This silhouette visual remained for the run of the series. In later episodes, the teaser line was dropped; as seen in many of the episodes of the final two seasons' opening titles, when Paladin crouches and points his gun at the camera, first "RICHARD BOONE", and then "HAVE GUN – WILL TRAVEL" would appear as before, and Boone would reholster his gun as the words faded out. Due to the networks not always airing episodes in the order they were filmed, the omission of the voice over dialogue was inconsistent for some of the episodes, as seen in the opening titles. Season six did have the most opening titles without the voice over dialogue, especially as the season progressed, again as seen when the episodes opened.

The Have Gun – Will Travel radio show broadcast 106 episodes on the CBS Radio Network between November 23, 1958, and November 27, 1960. It was one of the last radio dramas featuring continuing characters and one of only a handful of American radio adaptations of a television series. John Dehner (a regular on the radio series version of Gunsmoke) played Paladin, and Ben Wright usually (but not always) played Hey Boy. Virginia Gregg played Miss Wong, Hey Boy's girlfriend, before the television series featured the character of Hey Girl. Unlike the small screen version, this medium usually had a tag scene at the Carlton at both the beginning and the end of the episode. Initially, the episodes were adaptations of the television program as broadcast earlier the same week, but eventually, original stories were produced, including a finale ("From Here to Boston", "Inheritance", and "Goodbye, Paladin") in which Paladin leaves San Francisco, perhaps forever, to claim an inheritance back east. The radio version was written by producer/writer Roy Winsor.

In 1997, a film version of the television series was announced. John Travolta was named as a possible star in the Warner Bros. production, which was scripted by Larry Ferguson and to be directed by The Fugitive director Andrew Davis. The film was never made. In 2006, a Have Gun – Will Travel film starring rapper Eminem was announced to be in production, but the film does not hold an official confirmed release date. Paramount Pictures extended an 18 month option on the television series and planned to transform the character of Paladin into a modern day bounty hunter. Eminem was expected to work on the soundtrack.

In August 2012, several venues announced that David Mamet was developing a reboot of the television series for CBS.

In the television series Maverick, season two, episode 16, "Gun Shy", a send up of the television series Gunsmoke, Marshal Mort Dooley, the marshal of Elwood, Kansas, comments that several strange people have been passing through his town lately, specifically referring to "that gunslinger who handed out business cards." A subsequent comedic Maverick episode titled "The Cats of Paradise" features a black clad character obviously based on Paladin, albeit without using the name. Both episodes star James Garner. In the 1962 Tom and Jerry cartoon "Tall in the Trap", Tom cat rolls into town on spurs with a card reading "Tall in the Trap" showing a mousetrap on a knight chess piece. In the third episode of the seventh season of Archer ("Deadly Prep," April 14, 2016) the titular character is seen cleaning his weapon as he sings the theme song from Have Gun Will Travel.