As a child I was fascinated by Paladin's use of a business card: Have Gun, Will Travel Wire San Francisco. The card made it's appearance in every episode of this classic western. Richard Boone as Paladin was a big city dude who loved fine wines, beautiful women and the opera. Once he received a job he transformed into the crusader dressed entirely in black. How cool was that! Paladin, who also carried a hidden Derringer, would travel just about anywhere west of the Mississippi to carry out his mission as the avenging knight. He could be in a mining camp in Neveda, up in the woods of the Pacific Northwest, or riding the lonely prairie of cattle country. Paladin was quick on the draw, but quicker to use his intellect to solve a problem.

... but that wouldn't fit well on a business card, probably would not conjure up business, and most of all, would not have attracted viewers circa 1960 who were quite keen on Westerns at the time. Richard Boone seemed tailor made for the role of Paladin - a man seemingly with no first name, no family, and whose only anchor is the Hotel Carlton in San Francisco in which he lives when he is not out on a job. He is obviously well-educated, extremely good with a gun, and has a taste for the ladies but no lady in particular, even before Sean Connery as James Bond made that kind of thing acceptable. Paladin was such a good shot that he could have easily just been a mechanical assassin for hire had he so desired, but instead, you would be quite frustrated if you requested his services, told him to kill X, and then expected him to just go out and kill X in exchange for bags of money. Instead Paladin is a problem solver and a lover of justice, using his talent with a gun to defend himself and others only when necessary. As with some other Westerns of the late 50's and early 60's, the Western theme was used to tackle some of the thorny social issues of that turbulent time without coming out and saying so.Give this show a chance if you have the time. I think it has aged very well. Highly recommended.

"Have Gun, Will Travel" was a half hour adult western that ran for six very successful seasons on CBS television on Saturday evenings at 9:30 pm, immediately preceding "Gunsmoke". Richard Boone was expertly cast as Paladin, a loner who was very fast with either his gun or his fists but probably even faster with his wit and intelligence. This western was different from all the rest (and there were many) of the western series televised during the mid-to-late '50's in that the hero, Paladin, was a West Point trained, highly educated character who just happened to be quick with the gun and utilized violence only as a last resort. Paladin's services as a detective/bodyguard/courier were available to anyone who requested them and were able to pay for them. Paladin would accept these job offers but always took the moral high ground, often turning on the very person(s) who may have hired him if their cause was not just and honorable. "Gunsmoke" may have run longer but "Have Gun, Will Travel" was simply the best.

Richard Boone was brilliant as Paladin and the opening where he draws his gun to tension-building music was one of the best of any program made during the late-fifties. The half hour programs were always socially and politically poignant, with the hero always prevailing over injustice, discrimination and hate.The craggy-faced Boone dresses in black, making him a possible icon for the motorcycle sub-culture of our society. A typical "anti-hero"....establishing his OWN justice and being an avenging angel, tormenting those who have been unjust. Seemingly of the opinion that less is more, Paladin never EVER used his gun unless absolutely necessary and somehow, in the process, scared all malefactors crap-less. We could use more of that humbleness today.Shows like "Dog - Bounty Hunter" and "Orange County Chopper" once had the potential to be modern versions of Paladin, but are quite lost on me, due to today's propensity away from mental and moral stability and toward "quirkiness." Today producers feel more is best and less is nothing. This disease is epidemic in the entertainment productions of the early 21st century. Television was truly meant for great programs like Have Gun - Will Travel.