"The Lone Ranger" is one of Republic Pictures most famous serials partly due to the fact that it has largely been unavailable for many years. A more or less complete copy (at approximately 240 minutes) has surfaced recently complete with new title cards (for the chapter intros). The picture quality is not the best but it is nonetheless watchable, does not have any subtitles and includes the unmasking scene in Chapter 15.
The story starts out with Captain Smith (Stanley Andrews), the leader of a Quantrill's Raiders type of gang following the Civil War, assuming the identity of the murdered Colonel Jeffries (Forbes Murray), who has been sent by Washington as a financial administrator to collect taxes. Shortly thereafter "Jeffries" men ambush and wipe out a company of Texas Rangers (led by Edmund Cobb) who are returning from the war to restore order to Texas. All but one that is and you know who that is.
An indian named Tonto (Chief Thundercloud) finds the wounded ranger and nurses him back to health. The ranger vows to avenge his comrades and names himself The Lone Ranger. The Lone Ranger is joined by four other patriots and they form an alliance of five rangers (Hal Taliaferro, Herman Brix, Lee Powell, Lane Chandler, George Letz) against Jeffries and his gang which include among others, veteran bad guys John Merton, Tom London, Charles King and Bud Osborne. Blanchard (George Cleveland) along with his daughter Joan (Lynn Roberts) arrives from Washington to take over as governor but is imprisoned by Jeffries. Father McKim (William Farnum) works closely with The Lone Ranger and Blanchard.
Over the course of the 15 chapters the rangers die heroically one by one until only one remains. His identity is kept secret until the final chapter.
This serial benefited from having been directed by Republic's crack action team of William Witney and John English and the expert stunt work of Yakima Canutt (with his famous "falling off the team of horses under the wagon" stunt) and Bill and Joe Yrigoren among others. The action is non-stop and the stunts are breath taking. In the 30s, most action pictures had the luxury of large casts and this shows in the large number of bad guys and ranchers that appear. The Lone Ranger spends much of his time galloping back and forth across the same valley yelling Hi-Yo Silver!
Some trivia:
Stanley Andrews would go on to play ironically enough, "The Old Ranger" on the long running TV series "Death Valley Days".
Lynn Roberts also acted under the name of Mary Hart (no not THAT Mary Hart).
William Farnum's career dated back to the early days of silents. He starred in "The Spoilers" (1914) and was a major star in the 20s.
George Cleveland is probably best remembered for playing "Gramps" on the original "Lassie" TV series starring Tommy Rettig.
Hal Taliaferro had been a series western star under the name of Wally Wales.
Herman Brix became Bruce Bennett and enjoyed a lengthy career as a character actor (eg "The Treasure of Sierra Madre").
Lee Powell's career fizzled out after this film and he was killed in action in WWII in 1944.
George Letz changed his name to George Montgomery and starred in westerns and action films for many years. He was also an excellent craftsman and made furniture for the rich and famous after his career in movies ended.
Chief Thundercloud, whose real name was Victor Daniels was the only member of the cast to reprise his role in the sequel,"The Lone Ranger Rides Again" (1939).
John Merton, Republic's stock villain of the 30's and early 40s was the father of Lane Bradford who also had a career as a villain for many years.
The story starts out with Captain Smith (Stanley Andrews), the leader of a Quantrill's Raiders type of gang following the Civil War, assuming the identity of the murdered Colonel Jeffries (Forbes Murray), who has been sent by Washington as a financial administrator to collect taxes. Shortly thereafter "Jeffries" men ambush and wipe out a company of Texas Rangers (led by Edmund Cobb) who are returning from the war to restore order to Texas. All but one that is and you know who that is.
An indian named Tonto (Chief Thundercloud) finds the wounded ranger and nurses him back to health. The ranger vows to avenge his comrades and names himself The Lone Ranger. The Lone Ranger is joined by four other patriots and they form an alliance of five rangers (Hal Taliaferro, Herman Brix, Lee Powell, Lane Chandler, George Letz) against Jeffries and his gang which include among others, veteran bad guys John Merton, Tom London, Charles King and Bud Osborne. Blanchard (George Cleveland) along with his daughter Joan (Lynn Roberts) arrives from Washington to take over as governor but is imprisoned by Jeffries. Father McKim (William Farnum) works closely with The Lone Ranger and Blanchard.
Over the course of the 15 chapters the rangers die heroically one by one until only one remains. His identity is kept secret until the final chapter.
This serial benefited from having been directed by Republic's crack action team of William Witney and John English and the expert stunt work of Yakima Canutt (with his famous "falling off the team of horses under the wagon" stunt) and Bill and Joe Yrigoren among others. The action is non-stop and the stunts are breath taking. In the 30s, most action pictures had the luxury of large casts and this shows in the large number of bad guys and ranchers that appear. The Lone Ranger spends much of his time galloping back and forth across the same valley yelling Hi-Yo Silver!
Some trivia:
Stanley Andrews would go on to play ironically enough, "The Old Ranger" on the long running TV series "Death Valley Days".
Lynn Roberts also acted under the name of Mary Hart (no not THAT Mary Hart).
William Farnum's career dated back to the early days of silents. He starred in "The Spoilers" (1914) and was a major star in the 20s.
George Cleveland is probably best remembered for playing "Gramps" on the original "Lassie" TV series starring Tommy Rettig.
Hal Taliaferro had been a series western star under the name of Wally Wales.
Herman Brix became Bruce Bennett and enjoyed a lengthy career as a character actor (eg "The Treasure of Sierra Madre").
Lee Powell's career fizzled out after this film and he was killed in action in WWII in 1944.
George Letz changed his name to George Montgomery and starred in westerns and action films for many years. He was also an excellent craftsman and made furniture for the rich and famous after his career in movies ended.
Chief Thundercloud, whose real name was Victor Daniels was the only member of the cast to reprise his role in the sequel,"The Lone Ranger Rides Again" (1939).
John Merton, Republic's stock villain of the 30's and early 40s was the father of Lane Bradford who also had a career as a villain for many years.