The Restless Gun (1957)
The Restless Gun is an American western television series that appeared on NBC between 1957 and 1959, with John Payne in the role of Vint Bonner, a wandering cowboy in the era after the American Civil War. A skilled gunfighter, Bonner is an idealistic person who prefers peaceful resolutions of conflict wherever possible. He is gregarious, intelligent, and public-spirited. The half-hour black-and-white program aired seventy-eight episodes. Jeanne Bates appeared in varying roles with Payne in five episodes of The Restless Gun. The Restless Gun theme song begins: "I ride with the wind, my eyes on the sun, and my hand on my restless gun..." The song composer is probably Paul Dunlap, credited as the primary series composer, but could have been contributed to by either of the two other series composers, Dave Kahn and Stanley Wilson, also. Two versions are currently posted on YouTube, but neither posting lists any composer or performance credits.
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Episode 1 - Duel at Lockwood
Release Date: 1957-09-23Vint Bonner meets an elderly woman who asks him to do something about her grandson. The young man has already killed two men and vowed to add Vint Bonner to the list.
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Episode 2 - Trail to Sunset
Release Date: 1957-09-30 -
Episode 3 - Revenge at Harness Creek
Release Date: 1957-10-07When the man's hotheaded younger brother is killed in self defense, Vint fears that his sheriff friend is too bent on revenge to bring the man who killed him back alive.
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Episode 4 - Rink
Release Date: 1957-10-14 -
Episode 5 - Jenny
Release Date: 1957-10-21 -
Episode 6 - The Shooting of Jett King
Release Date: 1957-10-28 -
Episode 7 - Jody
Release Date: 1957-11-04 -
Episode 8 - General Gilford's Widow
Release Date: 1957-11-11 -
Episode 9 - The New Sheriff
Release Date: 1957-11-18 -
Episode 10 - Man and Boy
Release Date: 1957-11-25 -
Episode 11 - Cheyenne Express
Release Date: 1957-12-02 -
Episode 12 - Thicker Than Water
Release Date: 1957-12-09 -
Episode 13 - Silver Threads
Release Date: 1957-12-16 -
Episode 14 - The Child
Release Date: 1957-12-23 -
Episode 15 - The Gold Buckle
Release Date: 1957-12-30Bonner and two strangers trail a pair of killers. Kit: Roy Roberts. Lex: Claude Akins. Bonner: John Payne. Emily: Madge Blake.
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Episode 16 - The Coward
Release Date: 1958-01-06 -
Episode 17 - Friend in Need
Release Date: 1958-01-13 -
Episode 18 - Strange Family in Town
Release Date: 1958-01-20 -
Episode 19 - Hang and Be Damned
Release Date: 1958-01-27 -
Episode 20 - Quiet City
Release Date: 1958-02-03 -
Episode 21 - Hornitas Town
Release Date: 1958-02-10 -
Episode 22 - Imposter For A Day
Release Date: 1958-02-17 -
Episode 23 - A Pressing Engagement
Release Date: 1958-02-24 -
Episode 24 - The Woman from Sacramento
Release Date: 1958-03-03 -
Episode 25 - Sheriff Billy
Release Date: 1958-03-10 -
Episode 26 - The Hand is Quicker
Release Date: 1958-03-17 -
Episode 27 - The Suffragette
Release Date: 1958-03-24Emma Birch has organized the women of the town into a determined suffragette group; the men rebel and attempt to put the women in their place. Bonner becomes the reluctant mediator between the two groups.
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Episode 28 - The Whip
Release Date: 1958-03-31 -
Episode 29 - The Crisis at Easter Creek
Release Date: 1958-04-07 -
Episode 30 - Aunt Emma
Release Date: 1958-04-14Vint Bonner is wounded while trying to track down the Drake brothers. His elderly aunt nurses him back to health and tries to prevent him from going back after the Drakes when he has recovered.
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Episode 31 - The Outlander
Release Date: 1958-04-21Vint arrives in Prairie City, Kansas to visit friends and find that it has been taken over by a band of renegade Civil War veterans from Texas. They are lead by a man called Colonel Bromley.
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Episode 32 - The Battle of Tower Rock
Release Date: 1958-04-28 -
Episode 33 - The Torn Flag
Release Date: 1958-05-05 -
Episode 34 - Hiram Grover's Strike
Release Date: 1958-05-12 -
Episode 35 - The Gold Star
Release Date: 1958-05-19 -
Episode 36 - More Than Kin
Release Date: 1958-05-26 -
Episode 37 - The Manhunters
Release Date: 1958-06-02 -
Episode 38 - The Peddler
Release Date: 1958-06-09 -
Episode 39 - Gratitude
Release Date: 1958-06-16