About Have Gun Will Travel

About Have Gun Will Travel 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 knight symbol is in reference to his name, possibly a nickname or working name, and his occupation as a champion-for-hire (see paladin). 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 polyglot, 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, whose real name was never revealed, took on his role by happenstance, a backplot revealed in the first episode of the final season. 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 grey-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 unenfranchised. 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,his main weapon, was perfectly balanced and of excellent craftsmanship. It had a one-ounce trigger pull. The large rifle strapped to his horse's saddle was rarely used, but the horsehead 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.