"The Lone Ranger" (1949) TV series 1949-1957

Creator:

George W. Trendle
(more)

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Release Date:

15 September 1949 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Western | Family

Plot:

The adventures of the masked hero and his Native American partner.

Plot Keywords:

Indian | Hero | Texas Ranger | Texas | Native American

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Jay Silverheels	...	Tonto / ... (217 episodes, 1949-1957)
Clayton Moore	...	The Lone Ranger / ... (169 episodes, 1949-1957)

Series Directed by
Hollingsworth Morse		(50 episodes, 1950-1953)
George B. Seitz Jr.		(32 episodes, 1949-1951)
Oscar Rudolph		(32 episodes, 1954-1957)
Earl Bellamy		(29 episodes, 1956-1957)
Wilhelm Thiele		(26 episodes, 1954-1955)
Paul Landres		(23 episodes, 1952-1953)
George Archainbaud		(14 episodes, 1949-1950)
Charles D. Livingstone		(4 episodes, 1955)

Series Writing credits
Fran Striker		(81 episodes, 1949-1956)
Tom Seller		(37 episodes, 1949-1957)
Joe Richardson		(28 episodes, 1950-1955)
George W. Trendle		(22 episodes, 1949-1957)
Charles Larson		(21 episodes, 1952-1957)
Dan Beattie		(20 episodes, 1950-1955)
Harry Poppe Jr.		(15 episodes, 1949-1955)
Ralph Goll		(15 episodes, 1950-1955)
Curtis Kenyon		(15 episodes, 1950-1955)
Eric Freiwald		(13 episodes, 1954-1957)
Robert Schaefer		(13 episodes, 1954-1957)
David P. Sheppard		(10 episodes, 1950-1953)
Herb Meadow		(10 episodes, 1950-1951)
Betty Joyce		(8 episodes, 1950-1955)
George B. Seitz Jr.		(6 episodes, 1949-1953)
Felix Holt		(6 episodes, 1950-1955)
Tom Dougall		(6 episodes, 1951-1955)
William Bruckner		(6 episodes, 1953-1955)
Jack Laird		(6 episodes, 1954-1955)
Robert Leslie Bellem		(6 episodes, 1956-1957)
Doane R. Hoag		(6 episodes, 1956-1957)
Gibson Fox		(5 episodes, 1949-1950)
Eve Greene		(4 episodes, 1950)
Edmond Kelso		(3 episodes, 1949-1957)
Polly James		(3 episodes, 1949-1950)
Doris Schroeder		(3 episodes, 1949-1950)
Ande Lamb		(3 episodes, 1949)
Joseph F. Poland		(3 episodes, 1950)
Steve McCarthy		(3 episodes, 1953-1955)
Bert Lambert		(3 episodes, 1954-1955)
Wells Root		(3 episodes, 1956-1957)
Terence Maples		(2 episodes, 1953)
Samuel Rice		(2 episodes, 1955)
George Van Marter		(2 episodes, 1955)
Hilary Creston Rhodes		(2 episodes, 1956-1957)
Herbert Purdom		(2 episodes, 1957)
Dwight V. Babcock		(unknown episodes)
Hal G. Evarts		(unknown episodes)
Shirley Ulmer		(unknown episodes)

Series Produced by
Jack Chertok	....	producer (182 episodes, 1949-1955)
Harry Poppe	....	associate producer (182 episodes, 1949-1955)
Sherman A. Harris	....	producer (39 episodes, 1956-1957)
George W. Trendle	....	producer / executive producer (16 episodes, 1949-1954)
Jack Wrather	....	executive producer (2 episodes, 1954-1957)
Paul Landers	....	producer (unknown episodes)

Series Cinematography by
Robert Pittack		(104 episodes, 1952-1955)
Mack Stengler		(78 episodes, 1949-1951)
William P. Whitley		(39 episodes, 1956-1957)

Series Film Editing by
Everett Dodd		(59 episodes, 1949-1957)
Frank Capacchione		(57 episodes, 1949-1957)
Ben Marmon		(17 episodes, 1949-1955)
Marsh Hendry		(16 episodes, 1950-1955)
Ernie Leadlay		(8 episodes, 1953)
Harvey Manger		(6 episodes, 1953)
Axel Hubert Sr.		(5 episodes, 1949-1953)
Richard G. Wray		(5 episodes, 1949-1952)
Stanley Rabjohn		(5 episodes, 1954-1955)
Hal Gordon		(2 episodes, 1956)
John Faure		(unknown episodes)
Stanley Frazen		(unknown episodes)

Series Art Direction by
Howard Campbell		(52 episodes, 1954-1955)

Series Set Decoration by
William Stevens		(19 episodes, 1954-1955)
Harry Reif		(10 episodes, 1957)

Series Costume Design by
John Sacha		(unknown episodes)

Series Makeup Department
Gene Hibbs	....	makeup artist (52 episodes, 1954-1955)
Ben Lane	....	makeup artist (39 episodes, 1956-1957)

Series Production Management
Hugh McCollum	....	production manager (39 episodes, 1956-1957)

Series Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Lester D. Guthrie	....	assistant director (67 episodes, 1949-1951)
Herbert S. Greene	....	assistant director (41 episodes, 1952-1955)
Gene Anderson Jr.	....	assistant director (16 episodes, 1956-1957)
George Loper	....	assistant director (11 episodes, 1957)
Mark Sandrich Jr.	....	assistant director (9 episodes, 1956-1957)
Hal Herman	....	assistant director (5 episodes, 1950)
Francis X. Baur Jr.	....	assistant director (3 episodes, 1949)
Richard Bremerkamp	....	assistant director (unknown episodes)
Leonard J. Shapiro	....	assistant director (unknown episodes)

Series Sound Department
Richard Van Hessen	....	sound (60 episodes, 1949-1951)
Earl Snyder	....	sound (52 episodes, 1952-1953)
Robert B. Lee	....	sound recordist (52 episodes, 1954-1955)
Philip Mitchell	....	sound (29 episodes, 1949-1957)
William Brady	....	sound (15 episodes, 1956-1957)
Byron Chudnow	....	sound editor (unknown episodes)
Marsh Hendry	....	sound (unknown episodes)
Francis J. Scheid	....	sound (unknown episodes)

Series Stunts
David Sharpe	....	stunt double: Clayton Moore (1 episode, 1954)
Troy Melton	....	stunts (unknown episodes)

Series Camera and Electrical Department
Barlow Simpson	....	lighting technician (91 episodes, 1954-1957)
Edward Petzoldt	....	chief electrician (52 episodes, 1954-1955)
Maynard Rugg	....	camera operator (22 episodes, 1956-1957)

Series Costume and Wardrobe Department
Richard Bachler	....	wardrobe (21 episodes, 1956-1957)
John Zacha	....	wardrobe (16 episodes, 1956-1957)

Series Editorial Department
Jack Ruggiero	....	supervising editor / editorial supervisor (182 episodes, 1949-1955)
Everett Dodd	....	supervising editor (4 episodes, 1957)

Series Music Department
Elias Friede	....	music supervisor (8 episodes, 1956-1957)

Series Other crew
Freddie Fralick	....	tv coordinator (52 episodes, 1952-1953)
C.D. Livingstone	....	tv coordinator (51 episodes, 1954-1955)
Bertram Millhauser	....	story editor (39 episodes, 1956-1957)
Shirley Ulmer	....	script supervisor (unknown episodes)

Production Companies

• Apex Film Corp. (1949-1954)
• Wrather Productions (1954-1957)

Distributors

• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1949-1957) (USA) (TV)
• Radio Tokyo Television (1958) (Japan) (TV)
• United American Video (1992) (USA) (VHS)
• Timeless Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• GoodTimes Home Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• GoodTimes Home Video (2001) (USA) (VHS)
• Rhino Home Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Navarre Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Rhino Home Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• WEA Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Genius Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (video) (17 episodes)
• BCI Eclipse (2006) (USA) (DVD) (episodes 1-3)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• Classic Media (2008) (USA) (DVD) (13-DVD set)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

30 min (221 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (1956-1957) | Black and White (1949-1956)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Apex Film Corp.

Trivia:

The "Hi-Yo Silver!" shout at the beginning of each episode is a recording of Earle W. Graser, who played The Lone Ranger on radio from 1933-1941.

Quotes:

[earliest episodes]
The Lone Ranger:Only you, Tonto, know I'm alive. To the world, I'll buried here beside my brother and my friends... forever.
Tonto:You are alone now. Last man. You are lone ranger.
The Lone Ranger:Yes, Tonto, I am... the Lone Ranger.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Witless Protection (2008)

Soundtrack:

Finale from 'William Tell Overture'

One of the Grandfathers of Network Westerns.

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.