The Guns of Will Sonnett

Walter Brennan and Dack Rambo played a grandfather and his grandson who roamed the old West searching for Jim Sonnett, Brennan's son and the boy's father, a legendary gunfighter. This was a thoroughly routine western, shot on the cheap, with nothing to set it apart from countless other westerns. Will Sonnet's catchphrase, "No brag, just fact," got old after the first 10 or so times you heard it. While Brennan was always interesting to watch, Rambo didn't make much of an impression, and the only remotely "original" aspect to the show was how the writers would figure out different ways to have Will and his grandson come close to finding Jim, but always managing to just miss him. The show only lasted one season. That was enough.

Ex-cavalry scout Will Sonnet spouts scripture and wisdom while riding around the west with grandson Jeff. They're looking for the middle generation, Jim, the seldom-seen, lightning-fast, gunslinging anti-hero. Old man Will is grumpy and frugal. He's faster than son Jim ("no brag, just fact," as he says.) Jeff is as good as he is pretty. He sometimes gets suckered by the bad guys, but is still plenty fast and resourceful, since he's been raised by the best. Jim is only occasionally present, but never betrays the moral and badass Sonnet name.

More due to changing times than anything else, The Guns Of Will Sonnett only lasted two seasons. Walter Brennan got to star in his third and final television series and the only one that was dramatic, the previous two being comedies.

The premise involved was a simple one. Grandfather and grandson wandered the west looking for the missing generation. Walter Brennan was Will Sonnett, a seminal frontier character, former army scout, buffalo hunter, just about every occupation in the west there was. Of course it took him away from his responsibilities as father and his son, Jason Evers, grew up to be a notorious gunfighter and also an absentee dad.

But Brennan's grandson Dack Rambo had the advantage of having Brennan raise him, gave him a strict moral code to live by as well as how to handle a six gun.

One thing I never did figure out is where were the Sonnett women? There was no mention of Brennan's wife and there was one story where a woman claimed to be Evers's wife and Rambo's mother, but she turned out not to be.

The show had one catchphrase I always liked. When Brennan said he was going to do something extraordinary to some, he would inevitably say in every show, "no brag, just fact". And he always backed it up.

So every week Will and Jeff Sonnett would arrive in some town looking for James Sonnett and getting involved in some local situation. The show afforded an opportunity for Brennan as producer as well as star to cast some of his old friends in several episodes. It did get to look sometimes like a geriatric western.

I wish it had stayed around a bit longer.

I was really glad to see "Guns of Will Sonnett" was on DVD. I got the first season and wow what a disappointment! It's the worst color TV video transfer on DVD I have ever seen! My guess is every show was from old 16mm prints that were either edited for more TV commercial time or ripped and snapped so many times and spliced back together with large pieces missing, too many obvious cuts and jumps. The film was very faded and 'washed out'. A first for me, as you watch you notice the left side of the screen is out of focus and slightly (only slightly) sharper on the right side. At times you can see some one must have been adjusting the focus even while the film was being transfered! I wonder if they were being transfered first to videotape because many times you see 'lines' going across the picture just as you see when you watch a VHS tape after it was eaten up! Each DVD even warns you about the limited abilities in digital mastering at the start! Thanks for the warning! You can guess - poor sound quality. Since "Sonnett" is now released you can be quite sure no one else will re-release it and do it right! Gul-dern shame! The show is great and it's better we have this over nothing, or is it?

Walter Brennan in his later years was one of my favorites. His characters matched my personal values. The Sonnet Series appeared at the time of our wedding (1967)and as newly marrieds settling in a strange land (Connecticut)-- a "fir piece" from our native home further west -- we didn't watch much TV. I highly recommend the The 3 DVD boxed set by King World. I purchased it locally in a retail store. Enjoying every episode for the first time now in my retirement. GREAT writing by Dick Carr. He keeps you riveted to the screen. As a writer myself, I thoroughly enjoy the "poetry" that begins and ends each episode. Very original and very "Brennanly". I've got some of Brennan's audio CD's. I'm in love with the west as much or even more so than I was in the 50's watching my silver screen heroes. It would be great if the Sonnet Series was brought back or the plot copied.