docdoowop

Been waiting for a long time to see a price drop. One of the very best dramas in the genre.

http://amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B...=nosim/dvdtalk

New Rambler

Honk if you just thought of Stand by Me.

RustyOrgan

PALADIN!
(Stand By Me...)

ChipHP

Looks like a tempaoray price drop ... the prices of Seasons 1 & 2 haven't benn dropped ... hope this isn't an indication that there won't be a Season 4.


Couldn't agree more ...

creekdipper

Absolutely one of the best shows ever on tv...great blind buy for any western lover. This show was WAY ahead of its time & rivals Gunsmoke for writing, acting, production, etc. A steal at this price.

BTW...interesting that the Amazon site lists the same item at a higher price (I believe it's $44.99) about two slots above the $18 listing. Weird.

Thanks, OP!! Got a couple for me & my brother.

Autolycus

I had picked up the first season long ago on eBay and had been looking for a good deal on the later seasons (2 & 3) for a long time.

When I saw this thread, I jumped on this deal (now if only someone would lower the price on the second season).

Thanks, OP.

Creekdipper, I also noticed as you did that Amazon has this third season showing at two different prices ($18.00 and $44.99) with two different Amazon ASIN numbers on two different webpages! Weird, indeed!

HE Pennypacker

Too bad the others aren't on sale, would have blind-bought the set. No point in getting just the third season.

Autolycus

Unfortunately, there's been no news of any plans by CBS/Paramount to issue further seasons since Season 3 appeared in Jan. 2006.

I did see this bit of news on the Internet Movie Database.

While it sounds like one of the worst ideas for a remake Hollywood has ever come up with (at least it's not Will Smith desecrating the memory of a classic film, tv show, or book this time), maybe if this film is actually made, it will result in further seasons of the original show being released on DVD by CBS/Paramount:

"Variety reports that rapper/actor Eminem will star in a big-screen remake of the TV classic Have Gun – Will Travel for Paramount Pictures. The project will be a contemporary take on the 1950’s Western series that starred Richard Boone.

Paramount reportedly has an 18-month option to develop Have Gun as an action drama for Eminem. Interscope/Shady/Aftermath Films will produce. Eminem may also contribute to some portion of the soundtrack or score. Concept will be updated to contemporary times and see Eminem playing a bounty hunter, ” Variety claims. “Setting could be Eminem’s hometown of Detroit, but those details have yet to be worked out.”

The trade, citing Eminem’s manager Paul Rosenberg, claims Have Gun “will be revamped from the original, with some characters based loosely on ones from the series as well as nods to certain story points.” It would seem highly unlikely that Eminem’s character will be a brandy-sipping, Shakespeare-quoting, chess player like Boone’s Paladin.

This won’t be the first contemporized and not very Western-like feature remake of a TV oater: 1987’s Wanted: Dead or Alive, a follow-up to the old Steve McQueen series, starred Rutger Hauer as the descendant of McQueen’s bounty hunter."

creekdipper

Pennypacker, don't let that stop you from buying this set. Unlike modern serialized series, this season (like the rest) is connected to the entire series only by the premise of a gunfighter-for-hire who has a strong moral code (while he doesn't hesitate to collect his steep fee from those who can pay...and whose cause is "right"...he will help out those who need help who can't pay).

Anyway, you're getting 39 stand-alone episodes of some of the finest-crafted dramas (beautifully filmed, by the way) in tv history. The half-hour format used for a lot of these early dramas (Gunsmoke, Rifleman, Wanted DOA, etc.) forced the writers to economize the storylines & eliminate the "fluff". While this caused some llesser shows to be rather shallow, in the best hands it resulted in tightly-paced little minidramas that packed a wallop. HGWT is one of the best.

One review mentioned that the show perhaps reached its creative peak during the third season. Don't know...I loved all six seasons (paid around $1 K to get the entire series on VHS...only show I felt that strongly about). Anyway, it certainly doesn't spoil earlier seasons to start out with the third season...even if you never get the other seasons, you will still have an outstanding set of shows that you can revisit from time to time.

Also, these are beautifully packaged. The slipcase has a really classy, sepia-toned look with a glossy picture of Paladin along one side while in the center there is an embossed Knight chess piece, title, & three bullets (I thought this was a clever piece of design; each season is indicated by a corresponding number of bullets). The 7 (!) discs are in four slimline cases. EACH picture-disc features a separate picture of Boone different from the ones on the cases or slipcover (each case has a different picture on the cover as well as a couple of smaller photos on the back). The interior of each case features the following information for each episode: Title, episode number, & a short synopsis...all in a very readable format. I was ecstatic when I first saw the love & care that had been poured into these sets (Seasons 1 & 2 got similar treatment)...I remember excitedly showing them to my wife (who was equally thrilled) & exclaiming: "Now, this is the right way to do a boxed set!"

BTW...these sell like hotcakes for $35 each at our local flea market, if that gives you any idea how great a deal this is. I bought some sets to trade for newer box sets & have watched a dealer put them out & have them sell almost immediately. Evidently still a lot of interest in the show.

blokhed

I rented one disc of Season 2 a few years back and loved it. I bought the 2nd season when I found a good deal on it, and while some episodes are a little weak, there are some that are so strong that it's still worth it.

Thanks for the tip, OP!

HE Pennypacker

Thanks for taking the time to explain that to me. I just might place the order!

Cardsfan111

I don't even consider myself a fan of westerns, but creekdipper might have convinced me to give this a shot as well. At this price, I could check it out and sell it off if I want to and probably get most of the money back.

Autolycus

I just got the shipping confirmation from Amazon! Thanks again!

NoirFan

You convinced me creekdipper. Also decided to order the 2 disc La Dolce Vita to get free shipping - the extra disc and lobby cards just aren't worth the bread.

creekdipper

I seriously don't think anyone who ordered this will be disappointed either in the presentation or the content. If you are, I'll eat a chess piece & three bullets. Anyway, the show would make a great Christmas gift for people who remember the late 50's-early sixties television period (HGWT was a top 5 performer).

A few observations (& bits of trivia) about HGWT:

(1) Boone is a great actor (IMO). He has just the right combination of arrogance, world-weariness, intelligence, & righteous wrath (love it when he's had enough & just goes off on a bully), & self-confidence (he can be very intimidating). Also carries off the Shakespeare quotes & makes it work. Boone headed up an acting school that I believe was well-respected. For evidence of his intimidating, dangerous presence, check out "Hombre" (great duel of wits with Paul Newman) & "Big Jake" (Boone was one of the few villains who could hold his own with the Duke...so much that he was later featured as one of the villains in Wayne's swan song, "The Shootist"). He also played a sadistic sociopath in the quirky Brando film "Night of the Following Day".

(2) The setup allows for more variety than the westerns that are tied down to one locale. Paladin can realistically travel the world due to the high fees he charges (when not working, he lives a rather hedonistic life in a San Francisco hotel...dining on fine wines & beautiful women).

(3) HGWT is one of the few (only?) televison shows that was later adapted into a radio show rather than the other way around as usually happened (Gunsmoke, etc.). The radio show is worth checking out, too...it features the great actor John Dehner (another familiar face in 50's-60's television. Like Boone, he could exude class, intelligence, & danger all in one package).

(4) HGWT featured one of the best-remembered theme songs in tv history. Great melody & lyrics:

"Have gun, will travel reads the card of a man
A knight without armor in a savage land..."

"Paladin, Paladin, where do you roam?
Paladin, Paladin...far, far from home...."

(5) Noting that "Best" lists are notoriously subjective, still feel it significant that "Paladin" was voted one of TV Guide's greatest tv characters.

(6) Eminem as Paladin???? Heresy! The thought of a black-suited Em getting into a rap battle with a gunslinger makes me wanna go grab a .45.

Next you know, we'll see Brad Garrett as Matt Dillon in a Gunsmoke remake.

docdoowop

Excellent synopsis! I would only add that some great directors and a huge list of wonderful character actors abound. Case in point: "The O'Hare Story" from season one. Victor McLaglen (Oscar for "The Informer") in his final role, directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, his son. (I keep Katz' "Film Encyclopedia" and a Halliwells close by.)

One more note: Don't get the idea that Boone uses the Shakespeare (or other erudite references) as a constant plot point. This learned side of Paladin is part of the mystery of his wonderful character.

Mosskeeto

Finally placed an order for this one to go with my season 1 of HGWT; the famous closing credits theme song doesn't appear until the second season. Decided to add Costa-Gavras' "Z" ($11.49) to get free shipping.

creekdipper

Thanks, Doc, nice info. on the show...and thanks the note clarifying the educated aspect of Paladin, in case anyone got the wrong impression & thought he went around spouting off classic lit. at the drop of a hat. The writers (including Gene Roddenberry) were polished enough to keep that to a minimum, as you point out.

Also dead on target about the character actors (such as the wonderful Victor McLaglen, seen in so many John Ford westerns, and his talented director son). A curiosity for Season 3 is the appearance of Ken Curtis playing a hillbilly-ish character named Monk...who I believe was the template for Curtis' famous (or infamous, depending upon your view) Festus Haggen. "Monk" would make a return in Season 4 of HGWT.

I love HGWT trivia. Here's a little more:

(1) Richard Boone co-wrote the theme song along with one of the show's creators, Sam Rolfe (later of Man From U.N.C.L.E. fame, I think) and Johnny Western, who sang the song. As Moss pointed out, the song became a hit single (one reference said #1 in 1962). The song was was re-recorded and was a hit again.

(2) Famed film composer Bernard Hermann wrote a score for the pilot. Many of his musical cues were used in succeeding episodes.

(3) Although the show continued to have high ratings throughout its six-year run, Boone got tired of the character & quit while the show was still a hit, saying that the show had run its course.

(4) Most of the original openings featured a closeup shot of Paladin's gun strapped to his black-clad thigh. While our anti-hero delivered a voiceover quote from the show, his hand lifted the .45 from his holster and pointed it toward the camera. I always felt that Clint Eastwood cribbed this in his opening to a Dirty Harry movie (Magnum Force?) in which he delivered his famous homage to his .44 Magnum, "the most powerful handgun in the world...and it will blow your head clean off." To me, this was straight out of HGWT.

One reason we were so fascinated with Paladin as kids was that he was so cool. Unlike most western "heroes", he dressed all in black, lived it up, charged a fee for his services, & made no bones about his skills ("Touch that gun butt, mister, and you're dead."). No shooting pistols out of hands for Paladin. You only got one chance with him.

There are some great vids on Youtube with the HGWT theme song backed by montages of shots from the show, magazine & comic book covers, publicity photos, etc. A few feature clips from the show. A user named "toadfoto" also has some good ones from Maverick, Branded, The Rifleman, etc.

Only slightly related...while digging into HGWT links a little while ago (this thread has piqued my curiosity again), found some great Rifleman clips on Youtube. One is called "Rifleman Massacre" and features about 5 minutes of mayhem & violence from the show. Another is called "The Rifleman--Sam Peckinpah Style" and features the famous opening in which Chuck Connors fires his rifle intercut with scenes from the notorious opening street massacre scene from "The Wild Bunch". Great stuff for western fans with a sense of humor.

Autolycus

For those who still haven't gotten in on this great deal, I checked just now and the price has dropped from $18.00 to $17.10 (and for those of us who have already ordered, doesn't Amazon have a 30-day guarantee on their own prices, if an item is listed for less within 30 days after it has been purchased?).

creekdipper

Thanks, Auto. A great deal just got a little bit better (every .90 counts!). I'll have to order a few Christmas gifts at this price.

Yep, Amazon has always been good about honoring their own price-drops...just have to request it (I did this a month ago with Rome & they credited back $6 in a matter of days...just shot an email to them asking them to refund the difference. They sent a confirmation email, too).

Cardsfan111

And with the 90 cent drop, I'm in!

I will say I checked around at some other sites and it was difficult to find anyone who had anything bad to say about this series.

Autolycus

I e-mailed Amazon earlier today about the price difference and they e-mailed me back tonight.

They honored their 30-day price guarantee without a bit of argument, letting me know that they were refunding $1.00 to my card (so I wound up getting the HGWT set for $17.00!).

As you said, every little bit counts!

bluetoast

Creekdipper, your post is pretty convincing, I love the Western movies I've seen, but I've never seen a TV western. I'm thinking about doing this tomorrow, along with the Perry Bible Fellowship collection.

NoirFan

Wow...didn't know there was one of these! Love his weekly cartoons in the local Weekly Dig. Each one is so completely unique.

bluetoast

Yeah it's new, comes out October 3, has the online strips and some new stuff too.