Have Gun Will Travel or Wanted: Dead or Alive

[JackFavell]

That's so true, MissG.

Each one is like a fable, with a moral built in. The one I was watching, Taylor's Woman, was one of the first episodes in Season 6, and it had Dobie Carey as a man who wanted to get rid of his mean, nagging housekeeper/fiance. First, Paladin alienated the nagging woman until she threatened to leave. Dobe stupidly told Paladin he didn't want to be the one responsible for her leaving, but she overheard the conversation, and got upset. In the next part, she came to Paladin asking for help because she was in love with Dobie! I was not expecting that. Then, Paladin trained her in the art of being a "real" woman - not just a nagging harpy. It was really funny. In the end, it proved that you really shouldn't ever interfere with matters of the heart. All very ironic. It was written by Gene Rodenberry.

You can get the Netflix episodes streamed right to your computer, it is really a wonderful service - I love it.

[movieman1957]

That sounds like the opposite of an episode from the first or second season where Charles Bronson hires him to teach to woo a woman he really likes. There is an art to it but the fine line is not to be something you are not. That was what Bronson had to learn. He was so busy learning how to be a gentleman he got list in it.

[JackFavell]

Oh, that one sounds really sweet and funny! I have to find it, I want to see Bronson as a "gentleman". Ha ha!

[MissGoddess]

I've seen both of those epis and I never thought before that they just switched the
roles basically...and it works in both cases! They're really clever and this is about
the only show I've seen Charles Bronson consistently receive complex, sympathetic roles.

Maybe Boone sympathized with any actor stuck in one type of role.

[movieman1957]

That episode was "The Man Who Wouldn't Talk" from season 2 and you can watch it on line.

[JackFavell]

I watched them all. That warehouse one was really weird, but I liked it... it kind of reminded me of some episodes of Wild Wild West, or The Avengers, in the way that you had no idea what was going on until the end, why the villain was the way they were, or what would be the trigger for their release or redemption. It was a good character study - the way all of them reacted differently to their situations. I really liked the woman who played Alice, the streetwalker - she was especially good at the end, when she told Molly that she wished she had what Molly did. She was a very understanding person. I wished there had been some kind of resolution for her character, but alas....

[MissGoddess]

i really liked alice, too, it was a terrific part. i keep thinking how much performers must
have enjoyed being on this show because they got such layered characters to play.

[MissGoddess]

today's episode was great...about mental illness. it didn't end at all the way i expected. i was in tears for the poor man. i'm sorry i don't know the episode title, let me look online and see what the schedule says. that actor who played the main role was so good, i've seen him in dozens of things but never know his name...i'll try to look that up, too and come back.

ok i'm back...it's episode #219, "Sweet Lady of the Moon" and i have no idea why it's called that...i must have
missed some line of dialogue that explained it. Here is the Encore link to the show:

http://www.starz.com/series/HaveGunWill ... yOfTheMoon

i just noticed that this network is now offering online downloads of their movies
and tv shows for a monthly fee. it seems to me if subscribers pay extra to get Encore/Starz,
we should get that feature for free.

[MissGoddess]

Watching "The O'Hare Story" on HGWT, with Vickie MacLaglen, you can just tell
Richard Boone loved working with him...he has this otherwise unaccountable
grin on his face in all his scenes with Vic. I have a feeling this was a happy set.

[pvitari]

Classicflix.com has posted an announcement that Have Gun, Will Travel, season 5, vol. 2, will be released on February 22.

http://www.classicflix.com/have-will-tr ... a-871.html

(They beat tvshowsondvd.com to the punch on this one... I don't see anything about it there yet.)

That's excellent news... maybe we'll get season six, vol. 1 in the summer...I want that one especially because it will have Ben Johnson's third episode, "The Fifth Bullet." ;)

Now if only CBS/Paramount would remaster and re-release the first three seasons. Those have to be some of the worst looking transfers I've ever seen from a major studio!

[MissGoddess]

I was very glad to hear that, especially coming so soon after the fourth season release. They seem to be issuing them at a fast clip, suddenly. I don't have any of them on DVD yet...I've been hoping I can hold out for a "complete series set".

[pvitari]

The announcement is now up at tvshowsondvd...with artwork.

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Gun-Tr ... me-2/14829

[movieman1957]

I saw one tonight with Patrick Wayne. Boone directed. Not bad except the ridiculous sombrero Wayne had to wear as he had been hiding out in Mexico. There is always a different look when Boone directs.

[movieman1957]

Been going through "Wanted: Dead or Alive" lately and one thing about McQueen's "Josh Randall" is that he doesn't like his hat much. (How is that for pulling the deeper meaning out of things?) It's only practical purpose is to be taken off. If he uses it at all it is to extend his shade area, throw at someone (as he did a young Dyan Cannon,) keep his saddle horn covered, etc. But I think the primary purpose is not to mess up his hair.

Even with all that I like his character. He's always fair, slow to anger and quick to forgive but it is always about the right thing.

In addition to Cannon, who was so young she still spelled her name "Diane," Jay Silverheels and Everett Sloane popped up on the most recent disc. Jeanne Cooper (late of "The Young and Restless") steals some kisses and Martin Schallert (Patty Duke's "Father") makes a short appearance. I guess character actors did run from one western stage to another.

They are not above recycling scripts either. There was one where the basic plot was lifted from an episode of "Cheyenne." And at that managed to squeeze it into a half hour.

His gun still seems it would be harder to handle than a regular gun.

After I get done with this series I'm going to try John Payne's "The Restless Gun." All the while still moseying through "HGWT," "Cheyenne" and old "Gunsmoke" episodes. One of these days I'll get me a life.

[JackFavell]

Forgive me for having a one track mind.

I watched Have Gun Will Travel - Season Two's first episode - called The Manhunter

because it starred Joseph Calleia. It was a great episode, as usual, giving Calleia a wide range of emotions to play. He was so good, I wanted to write about it here.

Paladin sees in the SF newspaper that a fugitive killer is on the loose. He goes after him, thinking that he will bring him to justice and earn the reward. The killer ends up trying to shoot Paladin on the outskirts of town, and Paladin has no other choice but to fire back in self defense.

The writers pull a super switch in the plot in this one. He brings the body back, only to find that the townspeople all knew the boy, and that they consider Paladin a villain for killing the young man, even though Paladin was following the letter of the law. Paladin is disturbed at being thought of as a criminal, and is incensed that they are treating him as if he did something wrong. The crowd becomes dangerously close to a mob. Thank goodness for Paladin's strength and common sense. I couldn't stand up to that kind of pressure.

Calleia plays the sheriff, a man who personally knew the boy and his family. One feels his disgust with Paladin, it's almost a physical thing. The townspeople are angry, and want to lynch Paladin, but Calleia, being a fair man, takes his gun and tells him to get out of town by nightfall. Unfortunately, the killer shot Paladin's horse out from under him, so he has no way to escape from the seething townspeople. How it plays out between the two men, and the rest of the town is really interesting.

Calleia and Boone are tremendously good, of course. It was a very, very sad tale, another of those older-man-at-the-end-of-the-trail stories that made me feel there was more to it than just a TV show. Calleia would retire from acting in a couple of years to live in Malta, and this felt like a swansong in many ways. A very emotional, deeply felt show.

It's available at Netflix for instant streaming.