My Dad is a huge Lone Ranger fan. As big a Star Wars or Star Trek fan as I am, he is for the Masked Rider of the Plains. My father possesses an infectious enthusiasm for the things he loves so it was hard for me as a kid not to be sucked into his passions, which included but were not limited to: baseball, swashbucklers, historical dramas and westerns.
Dad grew up on the western and his generation was inundated with its heroes. Names like Gene Autrey, Roy Rogers, Hopalong Cassidy and the Cisco Kid were as common as Batman, Spider-Man or the X-Men. While he possesses a great love for Hoppy, I’m fairly certain he’s edged out by John Reid, as portrayed by Clayton Moore and briefly by John Hart.
The Ranger, like his descendant the Green Hornet, and Zorro, is ancestor to the masked heroes I came to love. A Texas Ranger who is nearly killed in an ambush, he survives to avenge his fallen brothers and to bring justice to a lawless frontier.
With his white hat and white horse he couldn’t possibly be more of an overt symbol for good. Clayton Moore’s performance was as straight arrow as George Reeves’ Superman, and became as iconic.
The Lone Ranger ended in its successful run in 1957 with Moore and Jay Silverheels playing the Ranger and Tonto in two theatrically released films. However, the show was immediately syndicated and remained on the air until I was a child. While I had my more contemporary heroes, I had room for the Ranger and watched the show faithfully for several years.
The show remained on the air steadily for 25 years and Moore embraced his alter ego with vigor, making endless public appearances and commercials as the Ranger. One day that came to a crashing halt when he was sued by the producers of a new Ranger film, slated for release in 1981. Moore retaliated by continuing to appear with sunglasses that resembled a mask.
I still marvel at the fact these idiots antagonized the one man who could’ve been public relations gold for them. Eventually, Moore won the right to wear the mask in public, and truthfully, I doubt his stamp of approval would’ve helped The Legend of the Lone Ranger.
The Legend of the Lone Ranger sunk like a stone in 1981 and I can remember seeing it with my Dad at his favorite cheapie second-run theater. He was not impressed, nor was I.
Even at 98 minutes the film seemed to drag. The Ranger does not appear in costume until about an hour in. Klinton Spilsbury (who never made another film and has vanished from the face of the earth) lacked so much charisma his voice was dubbed by actor James Keach.
Like most failed adaptations the story veers too far afield from the original. Writers introduced a friendship between Reid and Tonto as children, which was ridiculous. The love story (such as it is) is dull and lifeless (as is the female lead). John Barry composed a solid score but it was too often interrupted by tepid narration from country singer Merle Haggard.
So what’s good about it? Several things actually.
Legend boasts a top flight supporting cast that includes Jason Robards, Christopher Lloyd and Richard Farnsworth. Michael Horse was a believable Tonto (he’s carved out a solid career) and John Hart had a nice cameo as the local newspaperman. Robards is especially robust and bombastic as Grant. Lloyd plays Cavendish less as a sneery baddie and more as a foppish megalomaniac.
The film is beautifully photographed by Cinematographer Lazlo Kovacs, and the film’s second half is fast paced and exciting. Stripped of the narration, I feel it’s one of Barry’s best non-Bond scores.
Because its reputation is so awful, it took me a while to find a decent widescreen copy of the film. The U.S. dvd is cropped horribly, but the U.K. dvd (now out of print) is widescreen. A few years back, I purchased a copy and revisited it with Dad. While the film’s many flaws were still evident it doesn’t seem as bad in the light of history. It’s a decent effort that probably would’ve benefitted from the right leading man.
A new Lone Ranger film languished in development hell for over a decade. An awesomely bad tv pilot was made in 2003 that makes Legend seem like Oscar-caliber material. But I’m happy to report the new film is now shooting in New Mexico, with Armie Hammer as John Reid and Johnny Depp as Tonto.
Much has been said about the film. What we know is that it will be told mostly from Tonto’s perspective and that it will present their relationship as that of equals, not of hero and sidekick.
The film was nearly canceled because of a ballooning budget that incorporated some supernatural elements. I’ve heard varying reports that these were excised for more traditional story points. Let’s hope so. My hope is that the storytelling resembles the Zorro films starring Antonio Banderas, which have mine and Dad’s stamp of approval. I don’t mind tongue in cheek. I do mind camp.
I doubt anyone will reassess Legend in light of the new film. It’s an unfortunate chapter in the hero’s proud saga. Had it been successful we may’ve had several Ranger films throughout the 80s. Instead the character faded from the public consciousness, kept alive by comic books and dvds of the old show.
Let’s hope the new film brings him back where he belongs!
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