The Lone Ranger

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.

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.

Looking back on `The Lone Ranger' TV series as an adult is a strange experience. Watching episodes through an adult's eyes alerted me to flaws I didn't notice when I was a kid: the acting was sometimes on the B-movie level. The stories tended to be repetitive and simplistic. The Native Americans were generally played by Caucasian or Hispanic or Italian-American actors. The `outdoor' exteriors in a lot of episodes were obviously indoor sets. But there is a spirit and an energy to the show that you can't deny.

Most of the credit for the show's success goes to its leads, Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels. They became the Lone Ranger and Tonto, lived the roles as no other actors before or since. Moore, in particular, knew the Ranger was presented as a hero and an example to children, and from what I've heard, he tried his best to live up to that. He made the Ranger a fair and just man, someone who didn't judge, who gave people the benefit of the doubt, but acted correctly when the time was right. He used violence only as a last resort. He was a symbol of honor and integrity, the kind of person I wish I could be.

As for Tonto... It occurs to me nowadays how great an actor Jay Silverheels was. Critics of the show always want to use Tonto as the stereotypical ignorant savage, but you have to look at all the things Tonto does. Tonto tracks, takes care of the Ranger when he's wounded, spies out information - you can tell from the expressions on Silverheels' face that there's a lot more going on inside Tonto's head than he lets on. Don't let the broken English fool you!

The thing that really impresses me about `The Lone Ranger' now is how much of a partnership these two characters have. Tonto is not the Ranger's subordinate - they are friends, equals in their adventures. That, as much as any lesson taught in any episode, is what draws me back to the series after so many years: a tried and true friendship.

Oh, if only the Lone Ranger could ride again.

This is a classic television western series. There will be mild spoilers of the basic background for the series ahead:

I suspect that most people reading this will have at least some knowledge of this series, but I'll give a brief synopsis of it anyway. A group of six Texas Rangers go riding after an outlaw gang (the Cavendish Gang). The Rangers are being led into a trap by a scout who is working for the gang and five of them are killed in an ambush. The sixth, a man named Reid, survives, in no small part due to the help of an Indian named Tonto who, in a twist of an improbable nature, met him once before, when Tonto was a boy. Reid helped him then and he returns the favor, calling Reid "Kemo Sabe".

Reid recovers and decides to take up a secret identity to track down and bring to justice bad guys. He dons a black mask and a white hat, calling himself "The Lone Ranger". He saves and then tames a wild white stallion he calls Silver. Having a secret silver mine, he covers his expenses and manufactures silver bullets from the ore taken from the mine. Thus is a hero born.

Clayton Moore played the title character most of the series, though John Hart assumed the role for 52 episodes after the first 78 were produced. When Hart wasn't accepted as the character by audiences, Moore returned. Jay Silverheels played Tonto for the entire run, appearing in virtually every episode. Lots of recognizable faces appeared in the series, most of them before they became famous, like DeForrest Kelly, pre-Star Trek and Victor Sen Yung, pre-Bonanza.

This series is available on DVD, most notably the Classic Media The Lone Ranger: Collector's Edition, a 30 disc release containing all 221 episodes. The set is excellent and well worth having if you're a fan. Recommended.