Have Gun - Will Travel (TV Series) El Paso Stage (1961) User Reviews

There is a lot to Roddenberry's story line, some explicit, some not

[ebertip · 9/10 · 20 March 2019]

In the beginning scene on the El Paso stagecoach, actor Slate drones on about a legal issue to a not-interested female passenger. It relates to the superposition of an ethics clause onto a contract, an abstract issue which does relate to the rest of the story. Paladin is in the coach, seemingly disinterested (his hat is over his eyes), but he is listening, and he (correctly) cites the relevant case as McAdams v US (1853), which case likely was about 20 years old at the presumed time of the stage ride. (Whether the case is real, I do not know) However, the stage destination of Brackettville is a real place, quite famous for reasons not in the story. Brackettville developed because of the presence of nearby Ft. Clark, the base of the Buffalo Soldiers and had a significant population of Black Seminoles. In the time period 1958-59 (about two years before this Have Gun episode), the tv show Mackenzie's Raiders related to cavalry exploits out of Ft. Clark/Brackettville. The episode is notable for casting Buddy Ebsen (1926 graduate of Orlando High School) as a nasty villain. Marshall Elmo (Ebsen), who relied on his star to commit various bad acts, is finally (legally) tricked by Paladin. Or did the legality really matter, and was this simply about survival?

Anybody Got a Bandage?

[dougdoepke · 22 May 2010]

Has Paladin met his match? Marshal Elmo (Ebsen) is one nasty, arrogant tough guy who runs the town and, worse, has cracked open Paladin's noggin. Now our bloodied "knight without armor" staggers around, looking for the first stage out of town. Young DeWitt (Slate) is a good lawyer and wants to clean up the town, but can't handle a gun, so he's no help. And as Paladin observes on the stage —survival comes before the law because without survival, there are no legal options.

Fine unpredictable script from Star Trek's Gene Roddenberry, showing the kind of promise that would later become legendary. Ebsen's also excellent, a long way from the likable rube he specialized in. I also like Mary Munday as the plain-faced saloon girl who would like to help. But, in my book, Slate's the real standout, bringing unusual spark and intelligence to the role of an earnest young lawyer. I'm just sorry he didn't have the career I think his talent merited, (what a great Jack London he would have made). Anyway, it's an above average entry with a few surprises.

(In passing—the last sequence looks like an oddity of staging to me. Ebsen appears framed against a sound stage "exterior" while Boone who's supposed to be facing him appears framed against the real outdoors. Were they filmed at different times, is that why?)

Quintessential Paladin

[Austin392hemi · 10/10 · 23 March 2019]

This is one of my personal favorites. There nothing real special about the episode, it is just that every episode is special. The intro, as is often the case, is rather awkward but rewarding for the viewer. Soon we meet the scary bad guy, who is none other than mild mannered Buddy Ebsen. Wow! He should have played more bad guys because he delivers the mail in this one. In a nutshell: Uncle Jed is the bad azz crooked sheriff. Paladin rides in only to refuse the "hired gun" offer (again). He shows off his knowledge of gambling scams and case law. And then when it comes to who has the biggest pair and the fastest gun, the gentleman scholar puts two slugs into the bad guy before he has barely cleared leather. Gene Roddenberry wrote this one who later wrote the Star Trek TV series.. Now, rumor is Tarantino is gonna do the next Start Trek. I can't wait. Now if he ever does a re-make of HGWT, I swear I will faint.