May 2005
Great TV Snack, but Where's the Dinner?
Have Gun - Will Travel
Complete Season 2 on DVD
Well; maybe I can't get away with calling 39 episodes a "snack". The shows are beautifully preserved and a delight to watch. The episodes, for the most part, are enjoyable enough to put on just for the pleasure of something good to watch -- even in the era of "Deadwood". But there is a lot missing from this DVD set and it hurts the collection overall.
The shows are crystal clear and quite complete -- from the opening quote where Paladin pulls his gun and points it straight into your face -- right through to when he rides out at the end of the story behind the credit roll out to and including the CBS film logo of the period with opening/closing camera aperture.
In the history of TV and TV westerns there's always reference to the violence that was -- and still is -- a consistent component of the stories. "Have Gun - Will Travel" and "Gunsmoke" used to play back-to-back on Saturday nights in the late 50's and early 60's. Gunsmoke opened up with the famous weekly shoot out -- fade open to a western street and down the street facing us, the viewers, is a man with a tied-down gun. It's clear that he wants a show down with us. Just in time, Marshall Dillon steps in front of us so we see his hand, his gun in the holster and the man down the street. That man draws on us, but he's too slow. Marshall Dillon's giant gun snaps out of the holster and fires. The man collapses and we are, once again, safe. You know just from the way Marshall Dillon is handling his gun that he regrets that it had to be done, but there it is -- it had to be done.
That's pretty danged violent alright. But what about Paladin on "Have Gun" as my Dad called it? Fade open to a man who we only see from the waste down, like Marshall Dillon. But instead of light-colored regular-guy working clothes like the Marshall's, this guy is wearing black on black everywhere. And, instead of facing away from us to defend us like Marshall Dillon, this man is standing sideways to us, thumbs hooked casually on his black, black, black leather gun belt. We see the silver chess knight on the tied-down black holster. The man doesn't turn -- he just moves his right hand to pull the black gun and cock it as he turns it so that it is pointing the giant black hole of its .45 caliber barrel directly at our faces. Mesmerized by this lethal cyclops, we now get "the quote". Richard Boone's voice making a statement -- something from inside the story that is about to play and different every week -- except that it always says this: that he doesn't want to do us harm and generally would prefer not to, but, just the same, the odds are highly stacked that if we push him he will crush us to slimy oblivion. Then he uncocks the gun, jams it back into the holster and puts his thumb back in its resting place on that black, black belt. He doesn't move... we do -- to opening credits and the first commercial.
Whew! Now that is grab-you-by-the-shirt-and-shake-you violence.
Paladin! Our own personal knight to send out wherever needed to solve whatever needed solving without limit to means employed. Now That is violent.
Ah; but what a guy! Not a bully. A real knight errant of the old school. Could have been Round Table material in another time and place. As it is, we usually find Paladin at his hotel, the Carlton, in San Francisco around 1870-something. He'll usually be in the lobby or nearby appreciating some element of the better things in life. Selecting a wine, commenting on a play, reading the paper or something that must be real high-class literature. A gentleman and a scholar and a bit of a dandy.
At some point within seconds -- this is only a half-hour show -- someone or something will attract his attention and uncover a problem that he is needed to solve. If someone approaches him, they may higher him on the spot. One thousand dollars is his usual fee. No matter what.
At other times though, he may sense a problem that only he can solve and just go ahead and send himself. He'll pull out his card and slap it onto the newspaper, or whatever has excited him, and meaningfully give it to "Hey Boy", the handy Chinese jack-of-all-errands that is always around nearby. Paladin senses that someone has business that he should insert himself into.
So begins another excellent story of which there are 39 here. Thirty-nine! Almost forty! A very large number of TV shows. Even at a half-hour or so apiece (actually about 22 minutes each) that is a lot of TV! And each story is worth watching at least once -- some even more than once.
How could this be?, you ask. Well; it's like this; the list of writers and directors of these 39 episodes of Season 2 is a mini "Who's Who" of TV and Hollywood movies. The writers include the likes of Gene Roddenberry, Harry Julian Fink, Bruce Geller and Irving Wallace. The list of directors has Lamont Johnson (director, writer, actor, musician), Andrew V. McLaglen (ubiquitous on TV and several John Wayne movies too), Ida Lupino (actor, director and writer), Richard Whorf and Buzz Kulik. The list of actors, likewise, contains many famous names and entertaining talents.
How do I know this? Well; here's the rub with this DVD set. I didn't learn it from this boxed set of DVDs.
Two things in that sentence automatically suggest extra information or "extra features" or at least liner notes. Right? Boxed sets always come with extensive notes, right? Or at least a little booklet with some photos and pithy history written by a rabid fan. Right?
And DVDs, for goodness sake; can you even buy a commercial DVD that doesn't have "extra features" on it any more?
Yes, I'm sorry to say that you can. This DVD Boxed Set has NOTHING! No history, no odd facts, no lists of actors, writers, directors and assorted crew. NOTHING!
Ok, OK, OK. Not totally "nothing". There _is_ a marketing blurb on the back of the box and a highlighted mention of "Special Features". It says that these include production notes, cast bios and "Behind-the-scenes Episodic Information". Cool! But no -- not cool. A cheap and unfulfilled come-on.
Inside the box you find six discs only. No little booklet; not even a slip of paper with a table of contents for the discs. Nada. Nothing. We need some help from "Hey Boy"!
The discs themselves are packaged in individual plastic sleeves with paper sleeve liners that on that back include two tiny publicity stills selected from the six or seven episodes on that disk along with a list of the episode titles. On the inside of the sleeve liner there is a list of the episodes that also includes a TV Guide-like blurb for the episode and a mention of the original air date. That's it for extra helpful or interesting information.
That is it.
Printed on the discs themselves it says which episode numbers are included on the disc, as in disc six says "Episodes 73 - 78", but these are not associated with episode dates or titles. Ack!
When you play the disc, after the copyright rigamarole and various threats from the Department of Homeland Security, you are offered a list of episode titles and two options: Spanish subtitles on/off and "Play All" -- which presumably means play all of the episodes from beginning (whatever that is) to end (whichever that one is). Double Ack!
Where are the "Special Features" promised on the back of the box? Quickly pull out the other five discs and flip through the sleeves to see if "Special Features" is listed with the episodes. Nope! Not there.
Ok. Select an episode from the disc menu and hit "Play". Ah... what's this? There's another menu with the episode title and a second item that simply says "Wire Paladin". A game perhaps? Some interactive fun? Click it and see! ..... a mysterious unlabeled, untitled blurb that just starts talking about ... whatever. A disassociated actor bio. ("... started in vaudeville at age ...") A mysterious historical factoid of the old west. A behind the scenes anecdote.
"Wire Paladin" will be one or two or three short paragraphs about whatever. By the second or third episode, if you harass yourself into clicking it, it will become apparent that these blurbs are somehow associated with the episode you're about to see, but you have to figure that out on your own.
This, apparently, is the "Special Features" the box claims.
Bummer.
There is no list of them, little to explain their relevance and they are very difficult to get to. (And even more difficult to return from.) There should be at least a master list of the "Wire Paladin" items and a guide to where to find them. Better, just leave them off of the discs and print them into a convenient and more usable booklet... with some photos please. And more, please. Much, much more.
This series is part of TV history and of the history of the Western genre and for most American baby-boomers it is also a part of their personal history. Watching these shows was a family event. Popcorn was involved! A great deal of pleasure and warmth in the bosom of the family room sofa. A little more respect please -- at little more detail.
Aside from what is missing, however, this is a wonderful set of TV episodes of a terrifically made TV series. The pleasure of watching it then it instantly brought back to me now. A joy to watch once. Some of it worth watching again. Definitely worth having in your DVD library.
For the missing parts... God bless the web and an extra gold star for TVTome.com. The missing stuff is all on the web!
More "Have Gun - Will Travel":
Have Gun - Will Travel Complete Season One on DVD
The "Have Gun - Will Travel Companion" with facts about the show, stars, writers and crew.
"Songs of the West" CD of TV/Movie themes incl: "Have Gun - Will Travel".
Posted May 28, 2005 Permalink
