The Lone Ranger

Return with me now to those thrilling days of yesteryear.....

There can be no denying that The Lone Ranger is the quintessential TV Western of the 1950s. It is the one show that has proved, time and again, to be a real favorite of both children and adults alike.

Starring Clayton Moore, as the masked rider, and Jay Silverheels, as Tonto, his ever-loyal sidekick, The Lone Ranger was an action-packed, half-hour program whose episodes always had an interesting and thoughtful story to tell about life in the days of the Old West.

Actor Clayton Moore was the absolute embodiment of this mysterious, masked crime-fighter who would often go to great lengths to see that justice was done and that the criminals paid a dear price for their dishonest deeds.

Clayton Moore was once quoted as saying that he had "fallen in love with being the Lone Ranger character".

The Lone Ranger's story concerns a nameless Texas Ranger who is the sole survivor of a vicious ambush. After he is nursed back to health by his new-found comrade, Tonto, he embarks on a mission to bring justice and peace to the lawlessness of the Old West.

Using the benefits from a secret silver mine, the Lone Ranger rides the West on his magnificent horse, Silver, and dispenses justice in the form of his trademark - The silver bullet.

Following the cancellation of The Lone Ranger in 1957, Clayton Moore then embarked on a 40-year career making personal appearances, TV guest spots, and classic TV commercials dressed up as the legendary masked man.

In 1999 Moore died of a heart attack. He was 85 years old.

Seriously, while I don't want to be unfair to John Hart, it's impossible for me to watch any of his episodes and not miss Clayton Moore, and I mean miss Clayton Moore badly. It's hard to believe that producer George Trendle really thought he could put anyone in the mask and the public wouldn't know the difference. And the difference was enormous. Clayton Moore played the Lone Ranger with great style and unquestionable sincerity. To me, Clayton Moore' Lone Ranger and William Boyd's Hopalong Cassidy were the best of the early television western heroes. They hold a special place in the hearts of many baby boomers, myself included.

Iam not sure if discussing the television series is exactly where the comments should be drawn to,however it is on the television where the The Lone Ranger really made a name for himself. Iam not even referring to the original radio broadcasts of this masked rider of the plains,Iam though referring to a point where in a little boy, about 9 or 10 years old,I was to see the movie,"The Lone Ranger"and never forgot it. I can recall that I was on a line or we were moving toward the Paramount Theater-the theater was located in the theater district,if I remember correctly. It was directly across,going East to West from the building that has the ball that drops on New Years Eve-This is of course if anybody doesn't know, New York City. High Above the street on the roof tops there was a time and maybe even still today huge billboards would advertise what was being shown and so on. It was at that point in time that I looked up and was never more impressed as I was when I looked at that billboard to see The Lone Ranger across the roof tops-It was great-It made an impression and was never forgotten. That day we went to see The Lone Ranger-It was the story of how the Lone Ranger was born-The terrible ambush that the Texas Rangers rode into and the subsequent rebirth of one of its fallen heroes. It was in this film we learn that The Lone Ranger will not shoot to kill but to injure so as to let the law be the judge. That type of thinking is so worthwhile that we might be good to learn something from history. This is where we learn that Tonto discovers the fallen Ranger and upon seeing the symbol of the boyhood friendship that The Lone Ranger established years earlier when he as a younger person came to the aide of a injured young person in Tonto-For the aide given, Tonto gave to his faithful friend, a symbol of his thanks which now was part of a necklace that Tonto recognized. Tonto said,"you are Kemosabe". The Lone Ranger said,"kemo-sabe,that is familiar? Then Tonto tells the story of this "trusty scout"(the meaning of Kemosabe)I think the Lone Ranger is one of the true heroes of the silver screen and one of the great heroes of television. It should also be stated that these very respected individuals Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels sought to live there lives according to the legend of The Lone Ranger-It may very well be that there is an inspiring story in the story of the Lone Ranger and his faithful companion Tonto. I myself was so pleased by the ability to find and buy the DVDs, that I stayed up all a Saturday morning and watched The many episodes now available. Long Live The Lone Ranger and His faithful companion Tonto-Hi-Ho Silver-

The Lone Ranger appeared on the ABC network on September 15, 1949 in the first of a three part episode that told the history of the famous masked man of the West.

Along with William Boyd's Hopalong Cassidy TV series, which was first telecast on NBC on June 24, 1949, it was among the earliest TV western series. Hopalong Cassidy actually debuted in 1948, when Boyd syndicated his films to NBC. (In 1947, Boyd had bought to the rights to his Hoppy films.)

Fran Stiker and George W. Trendle created the Lone Ranger as a local radio program in 1933. It quickly went nationwide and was the cornerstone of the old Mutual Radio network. Ironically, Hopalong Cassidy was also a Mutual radio program.

When The Lone Ranger was brought to TV in 1949, many of the radio plays were adapted to the younger medium. As a consequence, many of the earliest episodes show their radio origins with the use of a narrator who links the different scenes together. The Lone Ranger was the biggest hit on the new ABC network in its early years.

The first three episodes told the the familiar story of how the Lone Ranger came to be, his connection to Tonto, and the origins of his prize horse Silver. Glenn Strange played the villain Butch Cavandish in these episodes.

The Lone Ranger was also one of the earliest shows to film mostly outdoors. Starting in 1956, the Wrather Company began filming the program in color.

The Cisco Kid, starring Duncan Renaldo and Leo Carrillo had been filmed in color since its first aired in 1950. Jack Wrather, however, was more concerned about the competition to his kid's show from the new adult westerns that had began to appear on TV.

When the Lone Ranger appeared, The New York Times critic Jack Gould ripped the show, as "just another Western, and not a notably good one at that." Gould considered the first three episodes manipulative, mostly because of the cliffhanger endings of the first two episodes. The New York Times writer accused everyone associated with the program of keeping children "emotionally hopped upped." As a result of his criticisms, the cliffhanger type endings were never used after the first two episodes. Gould, however, had been suffering from a misunderstanding. The show had never intended to be broadcast as a serial despite the serial background of its star Clayton Moore.

In 1952, B-film actor John Hart replaced Clayton Moore. Moore had threatened to quit after 1950. He was being paid only $500 an episode for his hit show, and wanted a substantial raise. Audiences rejected Hart in the role, and after 36 episodes Moore was back atop Silver.

The Lone Ranger was the first Western Hit on TV.

The series was filmed in both Utah and in California.

There is only one Lone Ranger and only one Tonto. Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels. They were both so ingrained in my childhood psyche as hero's, that they remain to this day to be just that. I have watched each and every episode, or at least I believe I have. In doing so it occurred to me that there was never really a gray area, there was right and there was wrong. There was good and there was evil...justice and injustice. Simple, yet powerful messages.

As an adult and watching the earliest episodes, it occurred to me that Tonto, actually gave all the idea's for his partners image. It was Tonto that suggested the mask. It was Tonto that suggested the silver bullets, and it was Tonto that came up with the name for Silver..when he proclaimed that the horse the Lone Ranger saved from death was "Silver White"! At last, as Tonto stood with the lone surviving Ranger over the graves of the others, Tonto, proclaimed "You are all alone now..You Lone Ranger! Of course, the response was "Yes Tonto, I am..The Lone Ranger!

The bonds of friendship and trust for the Lone Ranger and Tonto, was used 25 years later as an example of true friendship in an episode of Happy Days. In this particular episode, where Ritchie wanted to expose Fonzie for hating liver. The remark from Fonzie that typified what a true friendship should be was this "Many people tried to remove the mask of the Lone Ranger, but Tonto "never tried". All of America knew and felt that the truest of friendships would be to be like The Lone Ranger and Tonto.

Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels are beloved for more than just being actors in a great western that will live forever. They are symbolic of so much more and as I said..will always be my hero's.