Have Gun Will Travel (CBS)
Listen Locations:
OTR.Net
Old Time Radio Fans
Archive.Org
Old Time Radio Fan
The famous western series ran from 1957 to 1963 with over 100 episodes. The title character, Paladin, is based in San Francisco. Right away that biases me toward the show since I live near that city. It is set in the height of the old west style– which can be a bit disturbing to modern listeners at times. For example: there are several recurring Chinese characters that aren’t very respectfully portrayed in comparison with our feelings today. Before pre-judging, remember that during the 1800s and right through into the 1900s people had a strange hatred for the Chinese in San Francisco. In 1901 when the plague broke out in Chinatown, many citizens were all for burning it to the ground, inhabitants and all. When taking that perspective, Paladin’s treatment of the Chinese characters becomes extremely gentle and respectful compared with what the average sentiment was during the 1800s. The writers of the show include Gene Roddenberry of Star Trek, Bruce Geller and others. You will hear a lot of original Trek sounding moments in the show. There was also an accompanying television show Have Gun, Will Travel, although I’ve never seen it.
Paladin reminds me a lot of a Superman type character that is almost too good to be true most of the time. Some characters can pull that off, like Faramir, because they are written with detail and have their own sorrows and a sort of beauty of moral character that is still human. Others, like Paladin, can become just cardboard cutout figures slapped up as ‘ideal’. In a cliche fun-loving Western, that isn’t a bad thing. Have Gun, Will Travel, is something to listen to for pure adventurous entertainment. I have to admit that I do enjoy a lot of the old black and white Western movies– there is something almost childlike about them that recalls days of running about the woods with sticks playing make-believe. The ‘bad guys’ are obvious and fun to boo, the ‘good guys’ are also obvious and fun to cheer for. While the characters don’t really have any more depth than children playing cowboys, that isn’t the point.
Unlike many other Western audio dramas, I always find the stories on Have Gun, Will Travel, generally cheerful and with slightly more unique situations. It is still cliche, don’t get me wrong, but Paladin behaves a lot like John Drake much of the time. Instead of walking in, shooting the place up, then asking questions, Paladin often tries to resolve the situation without violence and resorts to it only in dire need. He depends instead on cleverness much of the time. If you object to all the guns and mindless violence of other westerns, give this one a quick try. You may find it refreshing.
It is not a dull show, for there is plenty of excitement, people in trouble that need help, and traditional faceoffs in the street. Remember that this is OTR, so you’ll need to run a noise reduction filter on episodes before listening.
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