The Lone Ranger (1956)
Overview
The territorial governor asks the Lone Ranger to investigate mysterious raids on settlers by Indians who ride with saddles. Wealthy rancher Reese Kilgore wants to mine silver on Spirit Mountain which is sacred to the Indians.
Cast
Clayton Moore
The Lone Ranger
Jay Silverheels
Tonto
Lyle Bettger
Reece Kilgore
Bonita Granville
Welcome Kilgore
Perry Lopez
Pete Ramirez
Robert J. Wilke
Cassidy
John Pickard
Sheriff Sam Kimberley
Beverly Washburn
Lila Kilgore
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John Chard
Mature picture moves away from serial silliness.
The Lone Ranger is directed by Stuart Heisler and written by Herb Meadow and George W. Trendle. It stars Clayton Moore, Jay Silverheels, Lyle Bettger, Bonita Granville, Perry Lopez, Robert J. Wilke and John Pickard. Music is by David Buttolph and cinematography by Edwin B. DuPar.
Wealthy rancher Reese Kilgore (Bettger) aims to grab silver-rich Indian land by skilfully pitting Indians against settlers, but the suspicious territorial governor sends The Lone Ranger (Moore) to investigate.
I think most of us Western fans of a certain age remember fondly The Lone Ranger TV series, and with that we obviously remember it as being child friendly. So it's reasonable to expect this filmic version as being more of the same? Yet although it is of course safe for the kiddies to enjoy, it's very mature in narrative terms.
It's not an origin movie, though the screenplay allows space for us to get the birth of the masked man as it were. Naturally we are in the realm of the good versus the bad, but as we deal with bile strewn racial prejudices, we also get the flip side in the form of the strong friendship between Lone Ranger and Tonto (Silverheels).
Pic is crammed full of lush locations, fast paced action, plenty of fights - both with fists and weaponry - stock genre characters, and two of the coolest horses in genre lore. All that and the signature William Tell Overture music that brings simultaneously a smile to the face and a tingle to the youthful spine in all of us. Hooray! 7/10
