Contessa Marie Desmoulins: Have Gun, Will Travel (October 4, 1959)

“Contessa Marie Desmoulins” is an episode of Have Gun, Will Travel, the old-time radio show, first broadcast October 4, 1959. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Paladin is hired by the dying Countess Marie Desmoulins to find her grandson Andre, who disappeared six months ago after his father's death. The boy has fallen under the influence of a gunfighter named Fezzlin and is now gambling in the mining town of Placer, Oregon. Paladin tracks the two men into the mountains, only to find himself caught between them at gunpoint.

1875 San Francisco and the Rogue River country of southern Oregon, including the Desmoulins Ranch and the mining town of Placer near Grave Creek.

Characters: Paladin, Countess Marie Desmoulins, Andre, Fezzlin, Hay Boy

Listen for: Paladin's tense confrontation with Fezzlin in the mountain camp, and the revelation that Andre may not want to return home despite his grandmother's wishes.

Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.