Review (PDF) Have Gun-Will Travel (TV Milestones Series)
One of the most successful series of its time, Have Gun-Will Travel became a cultural phenomenon in the late 1950s and made its star, Richard Boone, a nationwide celebrity. The series offered viewers an unusual hero in the mysterious, Shakespeare-spouting gunfighter known only as "Paladin" and garnered a loyal fan base, including a large female following. In Have Gun-Will Travel, film scholar Gaylyn Studlar draws on a remarkably wide range of episodes from the series' six seasons to show its sophisticated experimentation with many established conventions of the Western. Studlar begins by exploring how the series made the television Western sexy, speaking to mid-twentieth century anxieties and aspirations in the sexual realm through its "dandy" protagonist and more liberal expectations of female sexuality. She also explores the show's interest in a variety of historical issues and contemporaneous concerns-including differing notions of justice and the meaning of racial and cultural difference in an era marked by the civil rights movement. Through a production history of Have Gun-Will Travel, Studlar provides insight into the television industry of the late 1950s and early 1960s, showing how, in this transition period in which programming was moving from sponsor to network control, the series' star exercised controversial influence on his show's aesthetics. Because Have Gun-Will Travel was both so popular and so different from its predecessors and rivals, it presents a unique opportunity to examine what pleasures and challenges television Westerns could offer their audiences. Fans of the show as well as scholars of TV history and the Western genre will enjoy this insightful volume.
Series: TV Milestones Series
Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Wayne State University Press (May 4, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 081433976X
ISBN-13: 978-0814339763
Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 0.5 x 7 inches
Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #1,123,216 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #271 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Television > Direction & Production #986 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Television > Shows #1019 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Television > History & Criticism
This book is a solid, absorbing overview of the social depth of 'Have Gun-Will Travel'. From the character and nature of Paladin himself--both The Good and The Bad--to the motivations and portrayals of peripheral characters, the cultural underpinnings are examined with insight and allusions aplenty. This is an examination executed as intelligently as the subject series itself.The downside is that this work may not be palatable for every Paladin fan. If you are a 'Have Gun-Will Travel' fan who enjoys the series primarily as a western action/adventure, and do not care to examine subtext, then this may be more than you care to consider.If however, you have always been given the proverbial 'food-for-thought' by HGWT episodes, then prepare to sit down for a four-course feast of intelligent subject matter. I had believed myself to be thoroughly-versed in all aspects of 'Have Gun-Will Travel'; yet I have been opened to new avenues of consideration for this series, which is obviously one of my all-time absolute favorite entertainments.As such a fan, I find it wonderful that this book (coming so soon after the recent " Art and Politics in Have Gun - Will Travel: The 1950s Television Western As Ethical Drama " by Kathleen L. Spencer) has managed to find still more to explore in a thought-provoking manner.To Author Gaylyn Studlar : You have My Gratitude !
I was pleased with the service from . The book arrived on time as promised by , maybe a little earlier. The book is part of a series which I thought would be worth checking out more books. After reading HGWT in the series it was more like a college paper for a degree. It was interesting, but not as grabbing or worth a second reading. I do not think I will purchase anymore books in the TV Milestone Series.
I enjoyed the information in this book. If you're looking for social history on this series and impact on society, this would be the book. Took a while to receive, but worth the wait.
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