Have Gun - Will Travel

(goof)
Paladin: Courage is the price life exacts for granting peace. The soul that knows it not knows no release from little things.

The writer slipped up here. Paladin is quoting from a poem called "Courage", written by Amelia Earhart Putnam, who was not born until 1898.

In the opening scene, Hey Boy is eagerly checking a newspaper to see if he has won a lottery. Paladin steps up to see what is going on, and Hey Boy, flustered, addresses him familiarly as "Paladin"--without the "Mister". Paladin ignores it, and it may indicate a deepening relationship, but Hey Boy is probably lucky no other member of the hotel staff overheard him.

The Honorable Diana Coulter is the first (and perhaps only) person to recognize the origin of Paladin's name: the twelve legendary peers of Charlamagne's court. Charlamagne (742-814 A.D.) was king of the Franks from 768-814, and emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 800-814.

(Nitpick) In the opening scene, Paladin is reading a short newspaper article. We hear his voice state: "According to C.W. Wellman"--but those words are not in the written article, although the rest of the voiceover is exactly as written.

(Nitpick) As Paladin confronts the "surrendering" sheriff, we see him slip his derringer from under his gun belt. His hands are in front of him. However, when he fires the gun a moment later, the close-up shows him bringing up his hand from behind his holster.

Have Gun, Will Travel made a reference to "Gunsmoke" in this episode, mentioning Matt Dillon:
Paladin: (to gunman): The ad said only experts need apply.
Gunman: I served with Matt Dillon in Austin. Does that make me expert enough?
Paladin: No, that makes you a fake. Dillon never served in Austin.
This is the only time "Gunsmoke" was mentioned in the series, both being on CBS and HGWT broadcast right before "Gunsmoke" on Saturday night.

(Nitpick) Paladin appears to travel quite a distance in this episode, although, for a change, he remains in California. In a rapid sequence of three different shots, he is seen riding a horse with a bit of white on its left forefoot, then a horse with two rear white feet, then finally a horse with both forefeet white, extending well up the legs.

Ernie Teller had gotten Paladin's card from a client--a young woman with red-gold hair, possibly an actress, who had dropped the card out of her bag--and then stamped on it. This may be referring back to "The Five Books of Owen Deaver". In that episode, Paladin instructs Hey Boy to send his regrets to a red-haired member of an opera company, even though the company is leaving San Francisco and he might never see her again.

Paladin describes the rules for an official "Montana Duel": two men on each side, one rifle each, with just two bullets in each rifle.

When Paladin and Tyler fight in the bar, two men walk down the stairs. In the next shot they're standing at the bottom of the stairs, watching. However, in the next shot after that, they're walking down the stairs again.

Paladin seems to be having a spate of woman trouble. Having eluded an outraged guardian in "24 Hours at North Fork" he now skips out of San Francisco largely to avoid tangling with an annoyed blonde and brunette. (What, no redhead?)

Paladin claims that bandits stole his saddle and canteen, leaving him to travel the desert two days without water. It seems clear that this was a ploy to gain entrance to the house--after all, why would bandits only take the saddle? Why not the horse, Paladin's weapons, Paladin's life....?

(goof) When Carlos holds a knife on Paladin, in the shots facing Carlos the knife point is at Paladin's neck but in the shots facing Paladin it is at his chin.

An interesting point: Paladin has not been summoned to North Fork, nor is he simply passing by on his way to or from a job. To put it baldly, he is fleeing the wrath of the outraged guardian of a young lady with whom he has apparently been having an affair. (Although the lady seems confident of persuading said guardian that it was purely platonic.)

(nitpick) When Paladin knocks Jud Polk through a door near the end of the episode, you can see that the pins were removed from the hinges. Had he really been knocked through, the entire hinge (pins and all) would remain with either the door or the frame (wood being softer than metal).

We learn that Paladin spends $2000 a year...just on cigars.

The use of stock footage causes a small continuity error. While en route to the farm, Paladin is seen wearing his narrow white tie, with his shirt buttoned completely up. When he comes walking up alongside the house, the tie is nowhere to be seen, and the shirt is open at the throat.

There is an interesting connection between actors and characters from this episode and the TV series, "Kung Fu." Philip Ahn played Master Kan on the original "Kung Fu. " That series spawned "Kung Fu: The Legend" continues, starring an actor named Kim Chan. Kim Chan is the real name of the character Hey Boy on this series.

Columbia House's Volume 1 VHS release contains an error in its liner notes for this episode. It claims that Kam Tong's character of Hey Boy is named Kim Chang and that it is also the name of Tong's character from the series "Mr. Garlund." Hey Boy's name was Kim Chan and Tong's character on "Mr. Garlund" was called Kam Chang.

When Paladin orders a drink at the saloon, part of his change is a counterfeit dollar. Webber tries to shrug it off, but Paladin demands--and gets--the genuine article. He then proceeds to walk away--leaving all of his change lying on the counter.