The Restless Gun

I also just watched two episodes on Get TV. It's always instructive to see television or films made early, when production was extremely sparse, and yet the drama is propelled forward by real actors, scripts and dialog.

The second episode I watched dealth with accepting new german immigrants, a timely theme in the late 50s, and now for that matter.

Most of what I got out of this episode, and the earlier one which dealt with crime, calling a young murderer 'crafted not just by himself, but by society', was that America no longer has any sensible judgement or morality, and everyone is just spewing agendas based on faulty information, instead of taking one step and case at a time. A methodical approach to secular justice is expressed in these smart episodes, something this country has utterly lost, at least in its public discourse.

Of course, one particular side will blame the other for this condition. They are wrong. Everyone is responsible, especially the people blaming others. Regardless, these are excellent shows, totally watchable, with a strong, smart, just lead in John Payne. It makes America today look bad, and it makes modern film and tv scripts look average in general.

When John Payne's movie career was slowing down he turned to television with this western series. He played Vint Bonner, legendary fast gun western hero who drifts from town to town. As I remember he was like Gregory Peck in The Gunfighter, a man who was getting tired of the business he was in. Unfortunately young toughs looking to make a reputation and people in distress in general wouldn't let him rest.

What I remember best was the early conversion kit he had. In his saddlebag he carried a barrel which could be screwed into the business end of his six shooter and a rifle stock which could be attached to the other end. When one was ambushed from a distance on the trail this became a handy tool to have around.

Of course toy manufacturers had one out for the life of the series. And I wanted one at the age of 10. But alas my parents never let me have one.

Payne was a thoroughgoing professional in every kind of film be it musical or dramatic. That was much in evidence in The Restless Gun. It ran on NBC opposite another western show with an actor looking to make the transition to television. That would be Rory Calhoun in The Texan. But I preferred Mr. Payne.

Vic Morrow, the punk that he was is in an episode long before he was in Combat. John Milford is in one, i love him, Stacy Harris and John Larch take center stage. Payne is a good cowboy in this, he was a good role for this. Sorry it wasn't on longer to have more of my goons guest star.

The 77 half-hour episodes (all in B&W) of the television western "The Restless Gun" ran from 1957-1959 on NBC. John Payne (best known as the Santa believing attorney in "Miracle on 34th Street") played the title character whose series name was Vint Bonner. There was also a half hour pilot where Payne's character had a different name (Britt Ponset). 23 of these episodes (including the pilot) are on the new DVD release.

"The Restless Gun" was a big deal back in those days. It had its own Dell 4-color comic book and was part of Topps 1958 set of T.V. Western trading cards. This was the first series for "Bonanza" producer David Dotort. Payne was the show's executive producer.

What distinguished Vint Bonner from the legion of televised loners (Johnny Yuma, Cheyenne, Sugarfoot, Bronco Lane, etc.) who were roaming the range back then was that he was clearly a professional gunfighter (like Paladin) and not just somebody trying to find themselves. He didn't have Paladin's style or fondness for the good life, rather he seemed pretty world weary and disillusioned.

As someone has already mentioned, Bonner carried around a special kit that would extend the effective range of his colt. This involved a detailed assembly sequence in which a barrel extension and a rifle stock were attached to the handgun. The idea of a modified novelty gun soon inspired imitators, "Wanted Dead or Alive" and "The Rifleman" within the western genre. Then "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." as the spy shows proliferated. The U.N.C.L.E. gun was the most like what was featured on "The Restless Gun". The featured gun has been largely forgotten except among toy collectors, as a toy replica was released at the time along with the show's other merchandising programs.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

It is showing on GETTV as I am writing this. I enjoy the show. Vint Bonner is always on the move. He was the only star who was on every week. One week he is a shotgun guard the next he gets in the middle of a range war. You never know where he will show up or what his job will be. I don't know how he was able to afford to travel around all the time. I guess it was easier to do in the old west.