The character of Paladin in Have Gun, Will Travel set him apart from other heroes seen in television Westerns of the nineteen fifties. He was an educated gunman, a refined bounty hunter, someone who resolved difficult circumstances and acted as a restrained kind of avenger. Despite what another review suggested, Paladin didn’t try to act like a deity; his profession sometimes necessitated that he take on the roles of…

Richard Boone portrays Palladin, a gunslinger who identifies himself with a card reading “Have Gun, Will Travel.” When this series aired, Palladin was considered an advanced and progressive figure, even viewed that way in the sixties, seventies, and particularly now. Like many television programs of its time, it presented corrupt individuals as white men, a characteristic especially noticeable here. Many viewe…