"Have Gun - Will Travel" The Gold Toad (1959)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Andrew V. McLaglen

Writers:

Herb Meadow (creator)
Gene Roddenberry (writer)

TV Series:

"Have Gun - Will Travel" (1957)

Original Air Date:

21 November 1959 (Season 3, Episode 10)

Genre:

Western

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Gunfighter | Cult Western | Cult Favorite | Cult TV

Cast

Richard Boone	...	Paladin
Kam Tong	...	Kim "Hey Boy" Chan
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jan Burrell	...	Caroline
Dorothy Dells	...	Jacqueline
Stewart East	...	Simma
Kevin Hagen	...	Everette
Paul Sorensen	...	Herb
Lorna Thayer	...	Doris Golemon
Nancy Valentine	...	Beverly
William Wellman Jr.	...	Bob (as Bill Wellman Jr.)
David White	...	Ben Webster
Eileen Wilk	...	Willowdean

Runtime:

USA:30 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Canada:G

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: When Paladin and Webster come out of the tunnel, notice how Webster tries to stick the flaming torch into the ground. He tries a couple of times, then let’s it fall over. Boone alertly picks it up.

Have Toad, Will Water

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Only a couple of episodes after his appearance as a dying General, David White tries to show his range as Webster, a dirt farmer with three daughters who appears to have run across some ancient Indian ruins on his land. Interested in the ruins, Paladin goes to investigate only to find Webster denying everything. The other locals, led by the suspicious Doris (Lorna Thayer) suspect there's gold on Webster's land. When he shows up in town with a small statuette that he tries to sell to get money for dynamite, they're sure of it. Paldin tries to create peace while discovering the real secret of the ruins.

White does another nice pre-Larry Tate job as the farmer, but somehow I still think he's miscast. He seems too eastern and sophisticated to be a dirt farmer. But he does what he can with the role. Lorna Thayer is pretty much over the top throughout the whole episode and can be a bit grating. Her turn as Webster's wife at the end of the episode seems unconvincing. Movie fans may remember her as the waitress ten years later in "Five Easy Pieces".

Boone has a nice bit the way he reacts to the whiskey he has to share with Doris, and despite this episodes flaws, I found it to be fairly enjoyable.