Art and Politics in Have Gun--Will Travel: The 1950s Television Western as Ethical Drama

by Kathleen L. Spencer

Overview

From 1955 to 1964, American television was awash in adult Westerns, as much as one quarter of all prime-time programming. During its six seasons (1957-1963), Have Gun-Will Travel was recognized as one of the best shows on television—politically the most liberal, and intellectually and aesthetically the most sophisticated, largely because of Richard Boone.

This work places the series in its larger historical context, exploring why the Western was so popular at the time, and examines how the early history of television affected the shows. A brief biography of Boone is included, revealing how his values and experiences shaped the series. Behind-the-scenes life on the show is compared with that of its most popular competitors, Gunsmoke, Wagon Train and Bonanza. Major themes and patterns of the shows are compared, in particular the figures of the lawman, the gunfighter and the outlaw, racial and ethnic minorities, and women.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786478842
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Publication date:	10/14/2014
Pages:	260
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Kathleen L. Spencer is a retired professor of literature and composition. She has published major essays on Dracula and on science fiction authors Samuel Delany, Ursula Le Guin, and Joanna Russ, and a book on English fantasist Charles Williams. She lives in Cincinnati.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction 2

Part I Contexts

An Overview 7

1 The TV Western: American Manhood in Crisis 11

2 Television in the 1950s 28

3 Richard Boone: An Unreasonable Man 45

4 Behind the Scenes: Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, Bonanza, Have Gun-Will Travel 70

Part II Texts

An Overview 99

5 Frontier Justice 106

6 Gunfighters and Outlaws 128

7 The Other Americans: Racial and Ethnic Minorities 146

8 The Other Americans: Women 187

Epilogue: The Man Who Was Paladin 212

Appendix: Recommended Episodes 215

Chapter Notes 221

Works Cited 241

Index 243

Editorial Reviews

expertly researched and thought provoking reading”—Western Clippings.

From the Publisher

expertly researched and thought provoking reading

Western Clippings