|
|
|
Search Movie Review
Archives
|
|
|
| |
| Dvdivas
was founded by John Gabbard in 2000. It's purpose has been and
remains to be to provide you, the entertainment community with
the latest dvds and movie reviews. It will continue to be your
link to the most popular dvd movies. |
|
|
“Have
Gun Will Travel-Season 2“
|
 |
Reviewed
by: |
Wayne A. Klein |
| Genre: |
Western |
| Video: |
1.33:1 Full
screen |
| Audio: |
Dolby Digital
1.0 (Mono) |
| Languages |
English |
| Subtitles |
None |
| Length |
993 minutes
|
| Rating |
NR |
| Release Date |
5/10/05 |
| Studio |
Paramount
Home Video |
| Commentary:
|
None |
| Documentaries:
|
None |
| Featurettes:
|
None |
| Filmography/Biography:
|
Cast biographies
|
|
Interviews: |
None |
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
None |
| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
None |
| Music
Video: |
None |
| Other:
|
Behind-The-Scenes
Episodic Information, “Wire Paladin” production notes |
| Cast
and Crew: |
Richard Boone,
Kam Tong, Charles Bronson, Harry Morgan, Suzanne Pleshette,
Vincent Price, Morey Amsterdam, Lon Chaney Jr., Jack Elam |
| Written
By: |
Bruce Geller,
Irving Wallace, Gene Roddenberry, Charles Beaumont |
| Produced
By: |
Ben Brady,
Sam Rolfe |
| Directed
By: |
Andrew V.
McLaglen, Ida Lupino |
| Music:
|
Jerry Goldsmith,
Paul Dunlap |
| The
Review: |
The Man
in Black (no, not the late Johnny Cash) returns. “Have Gun
Will Travel” became a hit for CBS in 1958 and the network
did everything it could to keep that streak going; the 39
episodes included for season two include top notch writing
from TV veterans (Bruce Geller who created, wrote and produced
“Mission: Impossible” much later; Gene Roddenberry who did
some of his best work here and later went on to create and
produce “Star Trek”, “Twilight Zone” and noted sci-fi/fantasy
writer Charles Beaumont, novelist/screenwriter/ “The Twilight
Zone” writer Richard Matheson), sharp direction from film
and TV veterans (Andrew McLaglen who directed episodes of
“The Virginian”, “Gunsmoke” and the films “Cahill U.S. Marshal
& “The Devil’s Brigade”; veteran actress/director Ida Lupino
who directed The Twilight Zone”, “The Untouchables” and “The
Rifleman” for TV among many others) and great guest stars.
Paladin the bodyguard/gunfighter for hire still quotes Shakesphere,
Milton and other classic writers (he was, after all, a graduate
of West Point) and turns out justice by gun or other means
necessary. During the second season he encounters Oscar Wilde
(Vincent Price) in San Francisco among many others and, although
“Hey Boy” (Kam Tong) isn’t treated with any racial sensitivity
(this was, after all, a series set in the old west made during
the 50’s) nor is he given anything significant this season,
“Have Gun Will Travel” remains one of the best written/directed/performed
shows produced during the late 50’s. ---
|
| Image
and Sound: |
Image quality
varies a bit in this set from very good to fair depending upon
the quality of the source film. Some of these episodes were
pulled from vintage kinoscopes (basically a film camera directed
at a TV screen and filming the image). At it’s best, the series
has solid blacks with good image clarity. At its worst, the
images are soft and indistinct. Fans of the series won’t mind
all that much though. The mono sound has been boosted with the
dialog somewhat flat but clear most of the time. Keep in mind
that Paramount did occasionally use some syndicated episodes
here as well particularly if picture quality was superior and/or
the original broadcast version was MIA. |
| The
Extras: |
Paramount
has done a good job with the extras here considering the audience
and price of the set. We get production notes detailing trivia
about various episodes. There are also extensive biographical
notes on various performers and interesting links to other
classic TV series noted about performers/writers/directors
in the set.
|
| Commentary:
|
No commentary
tracks. |
| Final
Words: |
One of the
earliest adult westerns, “Have Gun Will Travel” continues to
play pretty well by today’s standards. Although the series could
have been a bit more racially sensitive regarding the treatment
of Paladin’s man servant, the series continued to be a highlight
of the network schedule with sharp writing and direction. The
extras are nice compliments to this set as well. Clearly Paramount
did try to find the best source material for each episode possible.
In some cases the syndicated versions are used if their picture
quality was better or if the episode was more complete than
the original broadcast version. I’m not sure which episodes
are syndicated versions (but you can take a guess based on the
running times since syndicated episodes tend to run about 2
minutes shorter on average than the regular broadcast versions)
but the seris looks pretty good overall. |
|
|
