Product Description

Professional gunfighter Paladin (Richard Boone) was a West Pointe graduate who, after the Civil War, settled into San Francisco's Hotel Carlton where he awaited responses to his business card: over the picture of a chess knight "Have Gun - Will Travel... Wire Paladin, San Francisco."

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #73459 in DVD
• Brand: Paramount
• Released on: 2006-01-03
• Rating: G (General Audience)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Running time: 848 minutes

Amazon.com
Improved ratings, superior writing and prestigious guest stars make the third season of Have Gun--Will Travel the best in the series' six-year history. Here we see all of the show's popular elements reaching peak efficiency, with series star Richard Boone perfecting his role as Paladin, the high-class San Francisco-based "soldier of fortune" who, for $1,000, will take on any job, no matter how dangerous, with his trademark panache and impeccable skills as a gunslinger, wild west philosopher, and lightning rod for a wide variety of moral and ethical quandaries. Along with veteran series directors Andrew V. McLaglen and actress-turned-director Ida Lupino, Boone would also direct some of this season's finest episodes as he continued to use his star leverage to refine the show's already proven quality. Given the daunting challenge of a third consecutive season of 39 half-hour episodes (beginning with episode #79, the excellent "First, Catch a Tiger" on September 12, 1959, and concluding with episode #117, "The Search," on June 18, 1960), it's amazing how each episode retains a distinct identity in terms of plot, character, and overall tone. While cinematographer Stuart Thompson successfully maintained visual variety within standard limitations of budget, location, and recycled sets, Paladin's third-season exploits ranged from conventional mercenary assignments (like transporting prisoners) to more unusual outings like "The Ledge" (a somewhat surreal test-of-courage fable) and "The Lady on the Wall" (ep. #101), a haunting spin on the "The Picture of Dorian Gray" written by future Twilight Zone regulars Charles Beaumont and Richard Matheson.

Ongoing connections between Have Gun and Star Trek can be found in several fine episodes written by Trek creator Gene Roddenberry (the best being "Les Girls," "Charley Red Dog," and "The Golden Toad") and/or featuring guest stars who would later appear in Roddenberry's sci-fi series. Other noteworthy talents appearing here include James Coburn, Strother Martin, Patrick Wayne, and Werner Klemperer (who would later star as Col. Klink in Hogan's Heroes, in addition to a wide variety of TV stalwarts from the '40s, '50s and '60s. (Vigilant credit-watchers will also notice veteran stunt coordinator Hal Needham, sometime credited as "Harold," appearing in a few of these episodes.) As with the first two Have Gun DVD sets, these episodes vary considerably in terms of sound and image quality, since many of the transfers were taken from 16-millimeter syndication prints that betray their age with scratches and soundtrack hiss. Overall, however, these DVDs revive a great show with adequate or (in some cases) near-pristine quality, and Boone's jovial, intelligent, and agelessly macho presence remains a major attraction, all these decades later. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

The Best of the Fifties Westerns at Its Peak
I purchased the entire Columbia House HGWT series, and still bought the first two seasons on DVD. Season three will be no exception.

Everything I wrote about HGWT in my seasons 1 and 2 reviews still holds. The best TV writers were still generating excellent scripts, and the marvelous Richard Boone carried everything they wrote and more. It is not possible to heap enough accolades on everyone involved in these productions.

Again, the pristine quality of the B&W cinematography is often breathtaking on locations. It is like Ansel Adams selected the sites and handled the photography.

Amazing series, not to be missed.

"Paladin is the man to wire ~ Richard Boone (1959-1960)"
CBS and Paramount Home Video present "HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL - THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON (1959-1960), featuring Richard Boone as Paladin in his clad black wearing a pistol and holster custom made stamped with a silver chess-set knight which was his trademark...as was his theme song "reads the card of a man, a knight without armor in a Savage Land"...a graduate of West Point and a veteran of The Civil War, who makes his headquarters at the Hotel Carlton in San Francisco...fighting for the underdog at a price of $1000, sometimes giving his fee away whenever the situation comanded it so for the needy...this role for Mr. Boone catapulted him to stardom and made the series a cult favorite.

First time on DVD with all 39 Original Episodes of Season Three...with guest stars noted:
Disc One (Episodes 79 - 84)
79. FIRST, CATCH A TIGER (guest stars: John Anderson, King Calder, Don Megowan & Pamela Lincoln)
(Directed by Ida Lupino & Written by Harry Julian Fink)
80. EPISODE IN LAREDO (guest star: Gene Lyons, Norma Crane, J. Pat O'Malley )
(Directed by Buzz Kulik & written by Gene Roddenberry)
81. LES GIRLS (guest stars: Bo Hopkins, Mabel Albertson, Lane Chandler)
(Directed By Andrew V. McLaglen & written by Gene Roddenberry)
82. THE POSSE (guest stars: Perry Cook, Harry Carey Jr., Ken Curtis, Denver Plyle )
83. SHOT BY REQUEST (guest star: John Abbott,Robert Gist, Sue Randall, Malcolm Atterbury, Sam Edwards)
(Directed by Buzz Kulik & Story by Howard Seay)
84. PANCHO (guest star: Rafael Campos, Luis Montell ., Edward Colmans, Rico Alaniz)
(Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen & screenplay by Shimon Wincelberg)

Disc Two (Episodes 85 - 88 )
85. FRAGILE (guest: Werner Klemperer, Jacqueline Scott , Alan Caillou , William Boyett, Gregg Palmer, George Douglas)
(Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen & Written by Shimon Wincelberg)
86. THE UNFORGIVEN (guest: David White, Hank Patterson , Hampton Fancher , Joel Ashley , John O'Malley)
(Directed by Andrew McLaglen & written by Jay Simms)
87. THE BLACK HANDKERCHIEF (guest: Ed Nelson, Joseph Perry , Terence DeMarney , Gordon Polk)
(Directed By Andrew V. McLaglen & Written by Jay Simms)
88. THE GOLDEN TOAD (guest stars: David White, Lorna Thayer , Kevin Hagen, Bill Wellman, Jr., Stewart East )
(Directed By Andrew V. McLaglen & screenplay by Gene Roddenberry)

Disc Three (Episodes 89 - 94)
89. TIGER (guest stars: Parley Baer, Paul Clark, Elsa Cardenas, Clegg Hoyt, Dennis Moore, Terence DeMarney)
( Directed by Don Taylor & Written by Gene Roddenberry)
90. CHAMPAGNE SAFARI (guest: Valerie French, Patric Knowles, Lou Krugman, Bill Mims, Gil Rankin)
(Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen & Story by Whitfield Cook)
91. CHARLEY RED DOG (guest: Scott Marlowe, Raymond Bailey, Cyril Delevanti , K.L. Smith, Kelton Garwood)
(Directed by Ida Lupino & Written by Gene Roddenberry)
92. THE NAKED GUN (guest: Ken Curtis, Robert Wilke, Lane Chandler, Hal Needham, Dallas Mitchell)
(Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen & Written by Jay Simms)
93. ONE CAME BACK (guest: George Mathews, Strother Martin, James Coburn, Tommy Cook, Robert Dorough)
(Directed by Don Taylor & Written by Bruce Geller)
94. THE PROPHET (guest: Shepperd Strudwick, Lorna Thayer, Eddie Little Sky, Brad Von Beltz, Barney Phillips)
(Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen & Written by Shimon Wincelberg)

Disc Four (Episodes 95 - 100)
95. DAY OF THE BADMAN (guest: William Joyce, Sue Randall, Hal Needham, Norman Shelly, Eleanor Audley, Harry Fleer)
(Directed by Ida Lupino & written by Robert E. Thompson)
96. THE PLEDGE (guest: Robert Gist, Brad Weston, Charles Gray, Joseph Hamilton, Susan Davis, Cyril Delevanti)
(Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen & Written by Shimon Wincelberg)
97. JENNY (guest: Trevor Bardette, Ellen Clark, Bud Osborne, Hal Needham, Peter Leeds)
(Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen & Written by Jack Jacobs)
98. RETURN TO FORT BENJAMIN (guest: Anthony Caruso, Charles Aidman, Herbert Patterson, Robert Wilke, Harold Needham)
(Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen & Written by Robert E. Thompson)
99. NIGHT THE TOWN DIED (guest: Barry Cahill, Mary Gregory, Robert J. Stevenson, Arthur Space)
(Directed by Richard Boone & Story by Calvin Clements)
100. THE LEDGE (guest: John Hoyt, Richard Shannon, Don Beddoe, Richard Rust)
(Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen & Story by Jole Kane & Robert Gottlieb)

Disc Five (Episodes 101 - 106)
101. THE LADY ON THE WALL (guest: Lillian Bronson, Howard Petrie, Ralph Moody, Hank Patterson)
(Directed by Ida Lupino & Written by Charles Beaumont and Richard Matheson)
102. THE MISGUIDED FATHER (guest: Harry Carey, Jr., Douglas Kennedy, Hampton Fancher , Lee Sands)
(Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen & Written by Donn Mullally)
103. THE HATCHET MAN (guest: Benson Fong, Lisa Lu, Philip Ahn, Nolan Leary, Kam Tong)
(Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen & Written by Shimon Wincelberg)
104. FIGHT AT ADOBE WELLS (guest: Ken Lynch, Brad Weston, Miranda Jones, Gregg Palmer)
(Directed by Richard Boone & Story by Samuel A. Peeples)
105. THE GLADIATORS (guest: Paul Cavanagh, James Coburn , Dolores Donlon, George Neise)
(Directed by Alvin Ganzer & Written by Robert C. Dennis)
106. LOVE OF A BAD WOMAN (guest: Geraldine Brooks, Lawrence Dobkin, Ed Faulkner, Harry Landers)
(Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen & Written by Robert Dozier)

Disc Six (Episodes 107 - 112)
107. AN INTERNATIONAL AFFAIR (guest: Ziva Rodann, Henry Corden, Oscar Beregi, Harold Innocent)
(Directed by James Neilson & Written by Shimon and Anita Wincelberg)
108. LADY WITH A GUN (guest: Paula Raymond, Jack Weston, Ron Soble, Moira Turner)
( Directed by Ida Lupino & Written by Archie L. Tegland)
109. NEVER HELP THE DEVIL (guest: Jack Lambert, Jack Lambert, Lewis Martin, Dick Rich, Bill Wellman, Jr)
(Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen & Written by Archie L. Tegland)
110. AMBUSH (guest: George Macready, Dan Barton, Alan Dexter, Natalie Norwick, Hal Needham, Ed Nelson)
(Directed by Richard Boone & Written by Robert E. Thompson)
111. BLACK SHEEP (guest: Pat Wayne, Stacy Harris, Suzanne Lloyd, June Vincent, Ed Faulkner, Henry Wills)
(Directed by Richard Boone & Written by Shimon Wincelberg)
112. FULL CIRCLE (guest: Raymond Hatton, Barbara Baxley, Adam Williams, Stewart Bradley, Harold (Hal) Needham)
( Directed by Fred Hartsook & Written by David Lang)

Disc Seven (Episodes 113 - 117)
113. THE TWINS (guest: Brian Hutton, Jennifer Lea, Lane Chandler, Sonia Warren, Tony Reagan)
(Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen & Written by Robert James)
114. THE CAMPAIGN OF BILLY BANJO (guest: Jacques Aubuchon, Rita Lynn, Vic Perrin, Charles Davis, Harold (Hal) Needham)
(Directed by Richard Boone & Written by Frank R. Pierson and Richard Baer)
115. RANSOM (guest: Denver Plye, Valerie French, Robert H. Harris, Alex Davion, Tom Palmer, Gene Roth, Athalee Daniell)
(Directed by Richard Boone & Written by Robert E. Thompson)
116. THE TRIAL (guest: Raymond Hatton, Robert F. Simon, James Bell, Bud Slater, Hal Smith, Bill Hunt, Harry Antrim, Rick Silver)
(Directed by Ida Lupino & Written by Robert E. Thompson)
117. THE SEARCH (guest: Earle Hodgins, Charles Aidman, Wright King, Perry Cook, Peggy Rea, Ted Markland, Lillian Bronson)
(Directed by Richard Boone & Story by Sloan Nibley)

Special footnote, the song "THE BALLAD OF PALADIN", by Johnny Western was the end credit theme and the top selling single in 1962 as recorded by guitarist Duane Eddy...background music provided by Bernard Herrmann, Wilbur Hatch, Nathan Scott, Jerry Goldsmith, Fred Steiner and Jerome Moross...writers included Herb Meadow, Sam Rolfe, Gene Roddenberry, Bruce Geller, Harry Julian Fink, Charles Beaumont, Robert E. Thompson, Ken Kolb and Albert Aley...the stunts provided by Hall Needham (in various recurring guest cast roles), Rocky Shahan, Tom Steele, Carl Saxe, Fred Carson, Charles Horvath, Chuck Couch, Bob Woodward, Chuck Hayward, Boyd "Red" Morgan, Alex Sharp, Chuck Roberson and Jerry Summers. . . . . .Season Three contains...Special Features of Production Notes, Cast Biographies and Behind-The-Scenes Episodic Information which will quench the thirst of any fan who needed and wanted to know more about Paladin and his travels.

Want to thank Paramount Home Video and CBS for taking us back to those thrilling '50s TV Westerns...watching this legendary actor and his professional team of directors, writers and music with creators Herb Meadow & Sam Rolfe, produced by Ben Brady, Julian Clamen, Robert Sparks and Frank R. Pierson served up the best of the best during that decade of television...great character actors of B-Westerns in each storyline with Paladin (Richard Boone)...every episode brings back so many wonderful memories of the times when television cared about you the viewer...gotta love it!

Total Time: 7-DVD-Set ~ Paramount Home Video 88858 ~ (1/03/2006)

Another "must-have", but....
The 3rd season release for "Have Gun Will Travel" includes all 39 episodes aired during the 1959-1960 TV season. I personally would rate it as another 5-star "must-have" for fans of the series such as myself. Be forewarned, though, that it's a slightly flawed gem. I have so far been able to view about a dozen of the episodes on most of the seven discs and would offer the following observations:

1. The advance release from Paramount Home Video said that the total running time for the set was 848 minutes (which would average out to just a little over 21.7 minutes per episode). This was evidently a mistake. The episodes all seem to include all available film footage and are about as "uncut" as possible. All of the episodes I've viewed or timed run between 25:30 and 25:50.

2. Audio and video quality are satisfactory, but the film restoration work for this particular set is a little more uneven than on the first two. The quality of the work varies from "acceptable" to "really excellent". For some of the episodes, the opening and closing credits have not been restored and these segments are noticeably rougher than the rest of the film. Some of the episodes (notably "Charley Red Dog" and "Love of a Bad Woman") have a somewhat "murkier" look than the others. Some of the episodes include the four-second "CBS Television Network" tag at the end and some don't. I strongly suspect that different people worked on the films and that some did a more conscientious job than others.

3. Not all of the episodes have the "Wire Paladin" extra feature with information about the writers or performers. This didn't bother me, because I'm not really big on DVD extras, but I know that some buyers take their DVD extras much more seriously than I do.

4. The bottom of the box includes a small-print disclaimer "Some music has been replaced for this home entertainment version". Paramount was evidently unable to license a small portion of the "interior" music for video release. (Different composers apparently did the interior music for the third sesaon.) This seems to me to be a very minor issue, because I really haven't yet noticed any instance of obvious "replacement". Rest assured, the opening and the closing theme song by Johnny Western are intact and are just as we remember them!

Overall, though, the set's flaws are very minor ones. Knowing what I know now, I would still be quick to purchase this set and would recommend it most enthusiastically to any fan of the series! I look forward to Season 4!