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All American Old Time Radio Show Classic

The Have Gun Will Travel

For a small taste of this great series,
listen to the preview below.

This show comes on CD In MP3 Format

The Have Gun Will Travel radio show ran on CBS from November 23, 1958 to November 22, 1960. It was one of the last radio dramas featuring continuing characters. John Dehner played Paladin and Ben Wright usually (but not always) played Hey Boy. Virginia Gregg played the role of Miss Wong, before the television series began featuring the character of Hey Girl. Many of the episodes were adapted from television programs broadcast earlier, but some were original to radio.

The show followed the adventures of Paladin, a gentleman-turned-gunfighter (played by Richard Boone on television, and by John Dehner on radio), who preferred to settle problems without violence, yet, when forced to fight, excelled. Paladin lived in the Carlton Hotel in San Francisco, where he dressed in semi-formal wear, ate gourmet food, and attended opera. In fact, many who initially met him mistook him for a dandy from the East. When working, he dressed in black, used calling cards and wore a holster which carried characteristic chess knight emblems, and carried a derringer under his belt.

The theme song of the series refers to him as "a knight without armor." In addition, Paladin drew a parallel between his methods and the chess piece's movement: "It's a chess piece, the most versatile on the board. It can move in eight different directions, over obstacles, and it's always unexpected."

Paladin was a former Army officer and a graduate of West Point. He was a multilingual so he was capable of speaking any foreign tongue required by the plot. He also had a thorough knowledge of ancient history and classical literature, and he exhibited a strong passion for legal principles and the rule of law.

Paladin’s real name was never revealed. As revealed in a back plot in the first episode of the final season, we find that he took on his role to pay off a gambling IOU. He was forced to hunt down and kill a mysterious gunman named Smoke, who was played by Boone himself without his moustache and with gray-white hair. Smoke gave the Paladin character his nickname, facetiously calling him "a noble paladin." The question turned out to be doubly ironic, as Smoke hinted in his death scene that he was not a criminal gunfighter, but a protector of the helpless and disadvantaged. Paladin adopted Smoke's black costume and killed the man who had hired him. The episode was unusually allegorical and mythical for a popular Western in 1962.

Paladin charged steep fees for his services, typically a thousand dollars a job. With this kind of money, he was well-equipped; his custom-made six-shooter, which was his main weapon, was perfectly balanced and of excellent craftsmanship. It had a two-ounce trigger pull. The large rifle strapped to his horse's saddle was rarely used, but the horse head insignia embossed on that rifle's stock suggests that this weapon was as meticulously crafted as the six-shooter. The derringer that Paladin hid under his belt saved his life countless times. Ever a man of refinement, Paladin even carried a few expensive cigars in his boot when out on adventure.

Another of his peculiarities was to decide early in the show whether he would kill, or merely wound, his opponent. He made this decision as a judge imposes sentence, based on the opponent's crimes and character rather than convenience.

Paladin's great advantage over his adversaries was not his impressive equipment, or even his ability as a marksman (superior as this was). Paladin's edge was his rich education; he had an infallible ability to relate ancient antecedents to his current situations. When the enemy was surrounding him, Paladin could usually make some insightful quip about General Marcellus and the siege of Syracuse or something similar, and then use this insight to his advantage. Like a chess master, he sought control of the board through superior position, and only killed as a last resort.

Some of the other characters of the show were: The Chinese bellhop at the Carlton Hotel, known as Hey Boy. Hey Boy was played by Kam Tong.

So join Paladin and his cohorts for over 40 hours and 100+ episodes in The Have Gun Will Travel Radio show.

Presented for your enjoyment is an entire episode for you to sample.

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Copyright 2007, DeFiore Enterprises All Rights Reserved

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