When in Rome: Have Gun, Will Travel (October 25, 1959)

“When in Rome” is an episode of Have Gun, Will Travel, the old-time radio show, first broadcast October 25, 1959. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Paladin escorts an elderly Ohio couple, Mr. and Mrs. Temple, to their daughter's ranch near San Jose after they arrive at the Carlton Hotel waiting for their son-in-law who never appears. During the stagecoach journey, a notorious bandit known as the Professor stages a holdup at Midway Station, and when Mr. Temple attempts to resist, he is shot. Paladin must now deal with the aftermath of violence and the Temples' conflicting feelings about his methods.

San Francisco to San Jose, 1875, including the Carlton Hotel and Midway Station stagecoach stop

Characters: Paladin, Mrs. Temple, Mr. Temple, The Professor, Emma Jean, Stage driver, Station keeper

Listen for: The Professor's polite manner contrasting with his ruthlessness as a bandit; Paladin's confrontation with Mrs. Temple over whether his use of force actually helped or made things worse; the tension between civilized city manners and frontier violence

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.