Have Gun - Will Travel (1957-1963)

I've taken the liberty of asking the son of famous stuntman Hal Needham, David Needham, to join us here. I thought he might enjoy our company.

Here's a direct quote from Hal Needham via his son, David, regarding the riding proficiency of Richard Boone:

Quote

As for Mr. Boone's horsemanship, Dad said after he came on board he worked with him to improve his posture on his horse. It wasn't that he insisted on 'old' horses, but you need to have a 'calm' horse that won't spook or move around when you come up to the camera. If you have a horse that's wild and moving all over the place, it would take all day just to get through a scene.

He said Boone was actually a pretty good horseman overall. He also said, as for the guy making these false statements about Boone and his horses: 'He's full of ----!'

There you have it from Hal Needham himself. RB hated horses but he could ride them.

Quote from Peridot

It was written by Johnny Western as a thank you to Richard Boone and Andy McLacklaghlen (sp?) for the episode in which he guest-starred. The music was added retroactively to the earlier episodes. It was in the episode No Visitors.

I noticed the theme disappeared after that episode. I was wondering when it would be used again? :-))

It returns, my friend. It will return. There are only about 7 episodes in which it isn't heard. Be patient, it won't be gone for long.

This episode would never make it to the screen today. Too many stereotypes to count in this one. The skin lodges (teepees) in the town, the 'firewater' the giant feather war bonnet would never be worn on a fake raid, the Englishman wearing shorts in Montana, a woman running a ranch alone who can't wait for a man to arrive and take everything over, it goes on. The war dance around the keg was over the top, and wasn't it illegal to give whiskey to Indians? Absent the stereotypes the episode could have been enjoyable.

A practical joker plays 'jokes' that are more cruel than amusing. Alix Talton (Felicia Carson) was a former Miss Georgia, but she lacks any sort of proper southern accent. She sounds more Midwestern twangy and unpleasant. She may have been coached out of her natural speech. She should have been left alone, her voice is most unpleasant and grating to the ear. Paladin's relationship with the English gentleman is the most interesting bit of this one, and it's dull and predictable.

Paladin's Horse: Rafter, played by Curley. (Bay with front white stockings and a white face stripe.)

Paladin's Gear: Black Conchita hat, black Western shirt open at the neck, black trousers, black holster with Colt. The spurs are back in this episode.

Paladin Shoots: No one.

Deaths: 0

Paladin's Total Kills: Manfred Holt, Jailbreak Team 3, Miguel Rojas, Strome's lackey, Mulrooney

Total Kills by Paladin: 7

Quote from Peridot

It returns, my friend. It will return. There are only about 7 episodes in which it isn't heard. Be patient, it won't be gone for long.

Heh heh, it did. i think it was in the Teacher episode? which was a good one BTW. Had Andrew Duggan, Jack Hogan, Peter Breck in them as Confederate Vets & Jack Albertson.

Quote from Peridot

It returns, my friend. It will return. There are only about 7 episodes in which it isn't heard. Be patient, it won't be gone for long.

I know one show at a time but--you wouldnt happen to be doing this for Rawhide are ya? I havent bought season 1 yet but have been eying it since its for sale for two sawbucks at the: Cracker Barrel Restaurant ;-))

They're here, they're here! At long last my DVD collection of HGWT is complete! I'm so happy I'm singing praises and thanking the Lord! My heart is singing! I'm not even angry about the extra 2 years between the release dates any more.

Now, as time permits and my son's health allows I can finally go through all the episodes and finish reviewing all. That project was begun last year but my son fell seriously ill again and that took my attention.

I notice that Amazon has a placeholder for HGWT Blu-Rays. With my excellent up-scaling Blu-Ray player I'm not certain how necessary they would be but if they come with any extra content at all I say bring them on! I'm in for the total HGWT experience and anything extra is worth the additional expense.

I copied this from a post Bill, (Gorch) made elsewhere. Thought some of you would be interested in it. I had watched all that Netflix had a couple of times and some episodes like the way Paladin became what he was
and the two parter about Jody Town, a great many times. That was a fantastic series. It did have a great many young actors in it who turned out to be stars and some that were already big stars.

Hal Needham is also the one responsible for taking an essentially NON WESTERN type man like Boone and turning him into a most convincing western one. He was always giving him lessons in riding, just being around a horse comfortably, fighting, handling a gun or knife, and many other things. Whereas, Dick taught him to act. A super pair they were. Too bad the episodes were only a half hour. But, somehow, they managed to get great stories into that small amount of time beginning with Paladin getting the notes from Hey Boy to the conclusion of the story. Too bad Netflix no longer carries it as I don't have cable or satellite. Keith
Re: What Was The Last Western You Watched?

[INDENT] Encore Westerns runs two episodes of Have Gun Will Travel every afternoon. Today I had a chance to run a batch of them and was reminded of the number of "stars to be" that were featured, many of whom appeared again together. One had Strother Martin as a whining town official who was murdered by James Coburn (of course, who hasn't killed Strother on film). They both later appeared in the fine Walter Hill Film "Hard Times".
Charles Bronson showed up to have a fistfight with George Kennedy, both of whom were in "The Dirty Dozen"
Ron Soble tried to maul Jack Weston with fighting spurs long before "The Cincinnati Kid".

I always try to identify at least one supporting player in every episode and scan the credits to confirm my guesses - these are about 50 years old, after all, and some of the actors. like Louise Fletcher and Dyan Cannon are very young. My fallback is stuntman/director Harold (Hal) Needham who performed most of the stunt work and was an all purpose Indian lurking in the background.

We deal in lead, friend. [/INDENT]