“Hobson’s Choice”

Chess knight courtesy of COCHISE LEATHER COMPANY

“Hobson’s Choice”

 

Season:             5 episode 30
Series Episode: 185
Air Date:          April 7, 1962

 

Teaser

“Thurber, there’s enough nitroglycerin here to blow this wagon and all of us with it to dust. Now if you still want to steal it, go ahead.”

 

Employment Solicitation

Mr. Nobel sent word to the Hotel Carlton desk saying he specifically wanted to see Paladin, leading to a request for a favor by Mr. Cartwright, followed by a personal request by Alfred Nobel.

 

Newspaper article about Mr. Nobel:

Swedish Inventor of Blasting Gelatin in San Francisco.
Alfred Nobel, a Swedish inventor, is at residence in the Hotel Carlton of this city. He plans a series of demonstrations of his blasting gel, a thing whch he calls a nitroglycerin compound.

 

Fee

Disclosed only a a “proper renumeration” by Mr. Cartwright and nothing revealed about the arrangement with Mr. Nobel.

 

Quotes

“But there will be no more war. My invention will insure peace, I am certain of it.
Each nation will now have the means to destroy the other. No Army would
dare to march when each government has supplies of nitroglycerin at
ts command. A balance of terror will exist. Then, finally there will be peace
in the world because no one would dare to begin such carnage…But nitroglycerin
is not like bows and arrows or spears. It is entirely different, It is the
ultimate weapon.”
Alfred Nobel

This may be a reference to:
“Perhaps my factories will put an end to war sooner
than your congresses: on the day that two army corps
can mutually annihilate each other in a second,
all civilised nations will surely recoil
with horror and disband their troops.”
Alfred Nobel, in 1891, to Countess Bertha von Suttner

 

“Men did not invent devils, they merely looked within themselves”
Paladin quoting Montaigne

“…found the stuff of angels there, too.”
Alfred Nobel

This may have been a reference to:
“I have never seen a greater monster or miracle in the world than myself.”
Michel de Montaigne

 

Cast & Crew Lists

Cast

 

 

Crew

 

 

 

Filming Locations

Sets
Paramount Studios 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States of America

 

Exterior scenes
Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park – 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, Califronia, United States of America

 

Closing Credits background
Lone Pine, California, United States of America

 

Historical References

Alfred Nobel
Ghengis Khan
Hannibal
Napoleon

 

Geographic References

Carthage, Africa
Egypt
Europe
Misson Street, San Francisco, Califronia, United States of America
Rome, Italy
San Francisco, California, United States of America
Terman Street between 3rd and 4th Avenues, San Francisco, Califronia, United States of America

 

Sources

Have Gun – Will Travel episodes (written, spoken and credits), Internet Movie Database (IMDb), Wikipedia, individual observations, and others as indicated by the links.

 

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