The Restless Gun

The Restless Gun
Logo of The Restless Gun
Genre	Western
Directed by	Christian Nyby Edward Ludwig Sam Strangis Earl Bellamy Jus Addiss
Starring	John Payne
Narrated by	John Payne
Composer(s)	Paul Dunlap Dave Kahn Stanley Wilson
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	78
Production
Executive producer(s)	John Payne
Producer(s)	David Dortort Felix Jackson
Location(s)	American Southwest
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	Window Glen Productions Revue Studios
Distributor	Universal Television NBCUniversal Television Distribution
Release
Original network	NBC
Picture format	Black-and-white
Audio format	Monaural
Original release	September 23, 1957 – June 22, 1959
Chronology
Related shows	The Texan Cheyenne

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 (officially titled "I Ride With the Wind") 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 (one a vocal) are currently posted on YouTube, but neither posting lists any composer or performance credits.

Broadcast on March 29, 1957, as an installment of the CBS anthology series The Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, the pilot episode was based on a radio series The Six Shooter, with Payne's character named Britt Ponset. For the television version, however, the name was changed to Vint Bonner. Some episodes were based on the radio programs.

The principal producer of The Restless Gun was David Dortort, thereafter in 1959 the executive producer of NBC's blockbuster western hit Bonanza. Dortort did not create The Restless Gun, nor did he produce the pilot episode, and he rarely contributed original scripts. A critic who considers The Restless Gun only an average program, writes that the series "probably owes its mediocrity more to MCA, the company that 'packaged' the series and produced it through its television arm Revue Productions, than to Dortort."