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The Restless Gunwatch trailer

The Restless Gun

30min

Western

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.

Production Companies

Window Glen Productions

Revue Studios

Episodes

Cast

Season 1

Duel at Lockwood

1. Duel at Lockwood

23rd Sep 1957

Vint 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.

Trail to Sunset

2. Trail to Sunset

30th Sep 1957

Revenge at Harness Creek

3. Revenge at Harness Creek

30min

7th Oct 1957

When 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.

Rink

4. Rink

14th Oct 1957

Jenny

5. Jenny

21st Oct 1957

Bonner finds a wounded man on the road, and brings him to the house of a an embittered woman who lives alone. He promises her he won't tell about the man at her place, but he later learns that the man is a wanted outlaw.

The Shooting of Jett King

6. The Shooting of Jett King

28th Oct 1957

Jody

7. Jody

4th Nov 1957

General Gilford's Widow

8. General Gilford's Widow

11th Nov 1957

The New Sheriff

9. The New Sheriff

18th Nov 1957

Man and Boy

10. Man and Boy

25th Nov 1957

Cheyenne Express

11. Cheyenne Express

2nd Dec 1957

Thicker Than Water

12. Thicker Than Water

9th Dec 1957

Silver Threads

13. Silver Threads

16th Dec 1957

The Child

14. The Child

23rd Dec 1957

The Gold Buckle

15. The Gold Buckle

30min

30th Dec 1957

Bonner and two strangers trail a pair of killers. Kit: Roy Roberts. Lex: Claude Akins. Bonner: John Payne. Emily: Madge Blake.

The Coward

16. The Coward

6th Jan 1958

Friend in Need

17. Friend in Need

13th Jan 1958

Strange Family in Town

18. Strange Family in Town

20th Jan 1958

Hang and Be Damned

19. Hang and Be Damned

27th Jan 1958

Quiet City

20. Quiet City

3rd Feb 1958

Hornitas Town

21. Hornitas Town

10th Feb 1958

Imposter For A Day

22. Imposter For A Day

17th Feb 1958

A Pressing Engagement

23. A Pressing Engagement

24th Feb 1958

The Woman from Sacramento

24. The Woman from Sacramento

3rd Mar 1958

Sheriff Billy

25. Sheriff Billy

10th Mar 1958

The Hand is Quicker

26. The Hand is Quicker

17th Mar 1958

The Suffragette

27. The Suffragette

24th Mar 1958

Emma 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.

The Whip

28. The Whip

31st Mar 1958

The Crisis at Easter Creek

29. The Crisis at Easter Creek

7th Apr 1958

Aunt Emma

30. Aunt Emma

14th Apr 1958

Vint 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.

The Outlander

31. The Outlander

21st Apr 1958

Vint 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.

The Battle of Tower Rock

32. The Battle of Tower Rock

28th Apr 1958

The Torn Flag

33. The Torn Flag

5th May 1958

Hiram Grover's Strike

34. Hiram Grover's Strike

12th May 1958

The Gold Star

35. The Gold Star

19th May 1958

More Than Kin

36. More Than Kin

26th May 1958

The Manhunters

37. The Manhunters

2nd Jun 1958

The Peddler

38. The Peddler

9th Jun 1958

Gratitude

39. Gratitude

16th Jun 1958

First air date

23rd Sep 1957

Last air date

22nd Jun 1959

Status

Ended

Type

Scripted

Original language

en

Networks