The Lone Ranger (1938)

CHAP. 1, HI YO SILVER: An outlaw leader planning to take control of Texas after the Civil War kills Colonel Jeffries, a man empowered to levy taxes, and assumes his identity. His men then ... See full summary »

Directors:

John English, William Witney

Writers:

Barry Shipman (original screenplay), George Worthing Yates (original screenplay)

Stars:

Silver Chief, Chief Thundercloud, Lynne Roberts

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Silver Chief	...	Silver - the Lone Ranger's Horse (as Silver)
Chief Thundercloud	...	Tonto (as Chief Thunder-Cloud)
Lynne Roberts	...	Joan Blanchard (as Lynn Roberts)
Stanley Andrews	...	Capt. Smith - aka Col. Jeffries
George Cleveland	...	George Blanchard
William Farnum	...	Father McKim
Hal Taliaferro	...	Bob Stuart
Bruce Bennett	...	Bert Rogers (as Herman Brix)
Lee Powell	...	Allen King
Lane Chandler	...	Dick Forrest
George Montgomery	...	Jim Clark (as George Letz)
John Merton	...	Captain Kester
Sammy McKim	...	Sammy [Chs. 11-15]
Tom London	...	Felton - Henchman
Ray Bennett	...	Taggart - Henchman (as Raphael Bennet)

Storyline

CHAP. 1, HI YO SILVER: An outlaw leader planning to take control of Texas after the Civil War kills Colonel Jeffries, a man empowered to levy taxes, and assumes his identity. His men then murder a troop of Rangers. Tonto finds one Ranger still alive and he becomes the Lone Ranger. A Jeffries spy thinks one of five men is the Lone Ranger and to eliminate his enemy, Jeffries has all five captured and sentenced to death. CHAP. 2, THUNDERING EARTH: Jeffries' men plan to wipe out a wagon train of Texans. CHAP. 3, PITFALL: Jeffries forces Blanchard to send a recommendation that he be made Governor. The Lone Ranger chases the courier but a spiked pit awaits him. CHAP. 4, AGENT OF TREACHERY: Jeffries prepares another trap for the Lone Ranger. CHAP. 5, STEAMING CALDRON: Catching one of Jeffries' men who trailed a wounded Jim Clark to their secret caved, there is a fight and the Lone Ranger ends up trapped in a pit with a steaming cauldron. CHAP. 6, RED MAN'S COURAGE: Clark dies from his wounds...

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Plot Keywords:

lone ranger character | superhero | texas | american civil war | legend | 

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Taglines:

Based on the radio serial "The Lone Ranger" - Created by Station WXYZ, Detroit - and written by Fran Striker (all original posters)

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Genres:

Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

Film debut of George Montgomery.

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Connections

Spoofed in You're an Education (1938)

User Reviews

The Lone Ranger Shell Game

It never ceases to amaze me the historical variations that our movies, but especially those old time serials would have us believe. This one has Texas out of the Civil War when in fact General Richard Taylor's army there was the last to surrender. In any event Reconstruction has come to Texas and Abraham Lincoln has started it.

Frank McGlyn is once again Abraham Lincoln has appointed a tax collector for the reconquered Texas. But bandit Stanley Andrews has hit upon a real moneymaker of a scheme. He captures and kills the real tax collector and assumes his identity. Then the bandits start collecting in earnest.

When Andrews massacres a group of reconstituted Texas Rangers the story of how Tonto played by Chief Thundercloud rescues the lone survivor comes into play. The gimmick here though is that there are five guys any one of them could be the real Lone Ranger.

In the television series the Ranger often dropped the white outfit and the mask and used disguises as an undercover method of law enforcement. He was primarily masked though. Here he walks around like Don Diego de la Vega, but when trouble comes he dons the mask more like in the Zorro tradition. And we never see Tonto in the serial except when he's riding with the Ranger.

Not till the last chapter do we learn who the Lone Ranger is. The others keep getting themselves killed and they are eliminated one by one. Like overturning the shells at a carnival sideshow to find the elusive pea.

The assassination of Lincoln is worked in as George Cleveland is sent to investigate the Texas situation as to why there still is so much unrest in Texas. His mission gets good and compromised by John Wilkes Booth.

I saw an abbreviated version of the serial and it's as silly as most of those serials back in the day were. I'll take my Lone Ranger straightforward thank you.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 February 1938 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Lone Ranger

Filming Locations:

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Republic Pictures (I)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

264 min (15 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA High Fidelity Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1