classicsoncall For someone who's either seen or been aware of all the various Lone Ranger movies including the early serials, I was caught off guard by the presentation of this story on Turner Classics the other night. It aired in 1956 which would have placed it just before the TV series ended on June 6th, 1957 with the last half hour episode. The bonus for movie fans watching today is that it was done in WarnerColor, though the color rendition varies in scene to scene from rather drab to quite brightly saturated given the type of scene.For viewers unfamiliar with the origin of The Lone Ranger (Clayton Moore), his friend and sidekick Tonto (Jay Silverheels) does a nice job explaining it by telling the story of the box canyon ambush and how Silver was nursed back to health by the Ranger following a fight with a buffalo. There's also the explanation of Kemo Sabay translated as 'trusty scout', though attempting to understand the origin of that translation is an interesting exercise in detective work. It's easier just to take Tonto's word for it.The story here has the Ranger and Tonto trying to find out what's really going on in the town of Brasada as local rancher Reece Kilgore (Lyle Bettger) seems to be defying statehood for the territory against the wishes of the territorial governor (Charles Meredith). Kilgore has a hot headed foreman named Cassidy (Robert Wilke), who turns out to be a fiery enemy of the local Indian tribe and puts a number of henchmen to work disguised as Indians in a familiar ruse in any number of Westerns whereby their destructive raids are blamed on the local tribe.Fans of the TV series will recognize Clayton Moore underneath the old prospector disguise whenever he goes undercover trying to learn new information. There are a handful of scenes referring to Pilgrim Crossing as the site of an 1854 massacre which was a bit puzzling since the location marker was never explained, and if it had to do with the original Lone Ranger story, it remained a moot point. So introducing the concept was simply a head scratcher for this viewer.One thing you have to do with this film is give proper credit to Silver and Scout, both horses did an admirable job with some dramatic footwork coming down rocky hillsides. Silver also got some commendable screen time making the save for the Ranger when he got shot in the left arm by one of the bad guys. With the Ranger's good arm hooked into a stirrup, Silver dragged him over to a water hole until Tonto could come by. I guess we were supposed to overlook the fact that the masked man was dragged over on his wounded arm, which should have sent him to the moon in pain.We finally learn that the motivation for rancher Kilgore's determination to keep the Indians on the warpath had to do with sacred ground known as Spirit Mountain. Harboring a rich vein of silver, Kilgore meant to take the mountain for his own property after eliminating the Indian tribe in the area. However when the Cavalry arrives to arrest Kilgore and his top henchman for the murder of one of his own hands, Cassidy shoots his boss in front of a dozen witnesses, setting up the final fisticuffs between himself and The Lone Ranger. That tussle was actually a pretty good one, the stunt men for their respective characters earning their pay by staging a wild fight while rolling down the side of a hill.With all the neat work by the supporting players, I was curious to see how many of them appeared in the Lone Ranger TV show, and was surprised to learn that Bettger didn't appear in a single one. Of the others, Wilke and Michael Ansara (Angry Horse) both appeared in two episodes, while Lane Chandler (Chip Walker) showed up in four. The champion here though was John Pickard, who had the role of Sheriff and later Deputy U.S. Marshal Sam Kimberley. Pickard had a role in seven of the Lone Ranger TV episodes, including the very last one in a series that ran for two hundred and twenty one shows.

ma-cortes Enjoyable Lone Ranger western film about the Masked Man and his faithful Indian sidekick . All new and a brand new thrills , the story of desperado riders in the Old West and the silver bullet that stopped the most savage Indian uprising ever to menace America's vast frontiers . The legend of the Lone Ranger is ¨the untold story of the man behind the mask and the legend behind the man¨ . This flick follows the adventures of the Ranger , his white stallion Silver and his American Indian pal Tonto, as they attempt to bring local criminals to justice once again. This cinematic adaptation deals with the Lone Ranger , here he comes , thundering up the West's deadliest silver mines trail , blasting his way and confronting baddies . The Ranger accompanied by the Indian Tonto who rides with him, on Silver and Scout, throughout the West, doing good deeds and they dedicate their life to combat the evil that Reece Kilgore -Lyle Bettger- represents. As they must prevent a war between Indians and nasty ranchers disguised as Indian riders in a dangerous adventure . The Kilgore's start a mining company on Indian territory, and the Indians aren't glad about it. The Lone Ranger must fight the savages and find away to make peace between Red Skins and White Men . The two heroes ride off in a cloud of dust under classic musical background composed by Rossini and shouting ¨Hi-Yo silver¨.¨The Legend Of The Lone Ranger¨ is crusader's first silver screen outing . The film contains action , thrills , great scenery with spectacular outdoors magnificently photographed in Warnercolor . This shows a campy and entertaining glimpse at nostalgic television series . It packs some fine action , adequate musical score and emotion ; as children as well as adults will undoubtedly love this film . Clayton Moore is good as the mysterious and righteous gunslinger, yet he shows have an endearing innocent charm , while Jay Silverheels is acceptable as his faithful sidekick Tonto. Jay Silverheels played as Tonto in the long series and two films , he also played Geronimo in ¨Broken Arrow¨(1950) . ¨The battle of Apache Pass¨(1951) and ¨Walk to proud land¨(56) . He performed about 30 Western from 1957 to 1973 in important roles such as ¨Brave warrior¨, 'The pathfinder¨, ¨Drums across the river¨, ¨Indian Paint and ¨Santee¨ . In addition , he played a cameo as Tonto in the parody ¨Alias Jesse James¨ with Bob Hope . Furthermore , there appears Bonita Granville , she married producer Jack Wrather in 1947, who became the longtime producer of the "Lone Ranger" TV series and films. Following this movie, Granville retired from acting to become a producer on the long running "Lassie" TV series ; her final film appearance was a cameo in ¨The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981)¨, also produced by Wrather . Atmospheric as well as thrilling musical score by David Buttolph . In the scene where the Ranger meets the governor with his mask on, the music in the background is the soon to be "Maverick" theme , both this film and Maverick credit David Buttolph with the music. The motion picture was professionally directed by Stuart Heisler . His movies had a professionalism and a verve that many of those made by his fellow directors lacked . He also filmed detective thrillers , action and dramas . Stuart started his directorial career at Paramount in 1940 and turning out mostly "B"-grade films but was occasionally given an "A" picture. The majority of his output was routine but he did turn out several first-rate films, his best-known probably being the sleeper hit The Biscuit Eater (1940), garnering the best reviews of his career. He realized his first Western titled ¨Along Came Jones¨ (1945). After leaving Paramount he free-lanced. He directed Bette Davis in The star (1952) and directed Ginger Rogers and Ronald Reagan in the hard-hitting anti-Klan drama Storm warning (1951). He made his last film, the underwhelming Hitler (1962).¨The Lone Ranger¨ was originally created as a radio play in 1933 by George W. Trendle and well developed by Fran Striker . The Lone Ranger started off as an America radio show started in the 1930s and finally ended in 1954 . It began in a ¨Lone Ranger¨ serial (1938) , a program burdened by noisy action and starred by Lee Powell , being directed by William Witney and John English . It later expanded on to the big screen with 1938's "The Lone Ranger," 1939's "The Lone Ranger Rides Again" , a Republic serial in 15 whirlwind chapters with Robert Livingstone , Chief Thundercloud and Duncan Renaldo . The Lone Ranger was also a television series from 1948 through 1957 in which gained widespread notoriety on ABC television, as Clayton Moore donned the mask each week to fight crime and corruption in the old west and of course Jay Silverheels as Tonto . The second film was co-starred by Douglas Kennedy , Charles Watts and Ralph Morris . Furthermore , new version by Willam A Fraker titled ¨The legend of the Lone Ranger¨ that wavers between irony and seriousness , starred by Klinton Spilbury and Michael Horse ; but the film bombed so badly at the box office , as the movie's star Klinton Spilsbury never worked in Hollywood again. The last appearance of The Lone Ranger was in 2003 for a two-hour special on WB Network starring Chad Michael Murray and Nathaniel Arcand . Jerry Bruckheimer Films has debuted a logo for the upcoming adaptation of The Lone Ranger , this is the last big screen iteration of the famous character . The tagline on the site reads, "The Legend Returns." Gore Verbinski has been contracted to filmmaking the classic TV show film , a blockbuster retelling for the big screen, and Johnny Depp is attached to play Tonto .

DICK STEEL The last time I saw a movie with a Caucasian and a Red Indian partner, was the French movie Brotherhood of the Wolf. Perhaps it's had its origins of such a pairing from The Lone Ranger, or so I'd like to believe. After having spent some time with old martial arts classics, I thought I'd set my sights on the western genre, and what more appropriate than the adventures of the legendary Lone Ranger astride his steed Silver, and his Red Indian sidekick Tonto.For those not in the loop of this character, he's like the daytime vigilante of the Wild Wild West, in his mask concealing his true identity, and loads his guns with silver bullets. The silver bullet also functions as a calling card of sorts, and come to think of it, it's like a friendlier version of Batman, only in a different setting. And with that theme music - William Tell Overture - blaring in the background as they ride into the sunset, it's pure nostalgia. Not hard to imagine that I actually grew up on such stuff.The movie begins by diving right into the story, with our heroes up against some mean and corrupt and greedy cattle ranchers who are after more land, and some bad hats amongst them trying to stir up war with the Native Americans. So it's up to our heroes to expose the truth, and to prevent bloodshed. That pretty much sums up the gist of the plot.Although this is not an origin movie, the beginnings of how the Lone Ranger came about was mentioned in passing - His brother and himself, both Rangers, were ambushed by outlaws and left for dead. But Fate has Tonto rescuing the Ranger, and he decided to use the clothes of his dead brother to make a mask, to stay mysterious, to be feared by the villains he hunted down. The origins of Silver, his mighty loyal steed, is also mentioned, but more to the effect that it was nursed back to health by the Ranger himself.Given that this was made in the 50s, you'd come to expect some very stilted and stiff dialogues, as heroes in those days, are expected to be squeaky clean. You probably can't find a speck of dirt on the Ranger's character, as he embodies everything that is good, with that All American feeling. Called the "trusty scout' (Kemo Sabe) by his Red Indian ally Tonto, the movie also takes a look at the prejudices faced by the Native Americans amongst groups of white men, and the strong partnership between our leads, is testament to the fact that ignorance and the lack of understanding, isn't the way to go.The visual transfer isn't all that great, and it looks like it's VHS based, with little remastering done to remove the cacks and pops. The colours were inconsistent at times, and although it comes in both full screened and wide screened versions on the same disc, it isn't anamorphic.The DVD extras are on a second disc, and has two sections. The first section contains interviews, while the rest goes into "Special Features".There are two interviews included, and the first is with Michael Ansara, who plays Angry Horse. Interviewed by Michael Druxman (writer/director of The Doorway 1999), this interview fell short in quality as Ansana wasn't too chatty, and Druxman was chatting most of the time like a fanboy. Nothing much comes out of this interview, although a trivia was shared that the Lone Ranger actually never kills anybody on screen. Running at 17mins and 15 secs, I would recommend going straight for the second interview instead.The second interview has more substantial material discussed, and it's natural given that it's conducted by Leonard Maltin of Entertainment Tonight, with the guest Dawn Moore, daughter of the Lone Ranger himself Clayton Moore. Conducted and recorded on 9 Feb 2001 and clocking in at 39 minutes, it is a heartfelt session with recollection of memories of Clayton Moore, about her childhood and growing up with the legend, many behind the scenes discussion at the production, anecdotes shared that only a child will know, and even talk about Silver the horse. Given her account, you'll be amazed at how hard Clayton Moore actually worked for the character, in character, in publicity that the company wanted him to do. This is a gem that all fans should give a listen to.The Special Features section contains the following, though nothing in particular stands out: a. Text biographies of main cast and director Stuart Heisler b. A photo gallery with colour and black and white movie stills c. Trailers for The Lone Ranger, The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold, and trailers for two non Lone Ranger, but Western, films - Ride in the Whirlwind and The Shooting (both starring Jack Nicholson) d. A text writeup on The Lone Ranger Creed, which is also available on the insert.

Shield-3 One of the things that amazes me about this film is its surprisingly modern attitude towards Native Americans (no, seriously!) The Indians in this movie are portrayed with dignity and respect, similar to the way "Dances With Wolves" would portray the Lakota years later. Naturally, the Lone Ranger and Tonto are good friends and partners (Clayton Moore always said he loved Jay Silverheels like a brother), but the way the Ranger in which treats the Indian chief, Red Hawk, is touching. No wonder this man is a hero.In an era when Hollywood more often than not used Indians as stereotypical savages and moving targets, "The Lone Ranger" makes a surprising plea for mutual respect and tolerance.