# Have Gun, Will Travel (1957)

> A cultured San Francisco-based gunfighter named Paladin takes on wrongs across the 19th-century American frontier.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/10215

## Facts

- Seasons: 6
- Episodes: 225
- Episode runtime: 25 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: western, drama
- Created by: Sam Rolfe, Herb Meadow
- Network: CBS
- Cast: Richard Boone, Barrie Chase, Edward Platt, Harry Dean Stanton, Allen Case, Gene Nelson, Suzanne Pleshette, Marion Marshall
- TMDB rating: 8.4/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050025/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: mild
- Tone: principled, erudite, wry, measured, tense

## Synopsis

Have Gun, Will Travel (1957-1963) is an American network western series created by Sam Rolfe and Herb Meadow for CBS. Richard Boone plays Paladin, an erudite hired gunman who carries a calling card reading "Have Gun, Will Travel" and takes jobs across the post-Civil War frontier. Each week he rides into a new town, weighs the job against his personal code, and often finds himself acting as judge, jury and executioner when corrupt powers push ordinary people around. Boone's Paladin quotes the King James Bible and Shakespeare with ease, which sets him apart from the rougher gunfighters of his day. The series runs six seasons and 225 episodes of self-contained stories rather than one continuing arc, so viewers can dip in anywhere. Its tone is principled and mannered, with a steady sense of frontier justice and moral reckoning rather than gore. Shot in the classic CBS style of the late 1950s, it sits in the tradition of Wanted: Dead or Alive and Maverick, and fans of those shows will find resonance in its episodic structure and lone-rider charm. Ideal for lovers of classic television westerns who want a thoughtful hero in every episode.

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- [The Rebel (1959)](https://ember.film/tv/12903)
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- [Bat Masterson (1958)](https://ember.film/tv/12948)

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