As a boy growing up in the early 1950s, I was a big fan of the Lone Ranger, and had the toy marketing tie-in products to prove it. Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels were perfect in their roles, and the series was good, but hampered by its low-budget 30-minute TV plots. The 1958 theatrical film version of the TV series, THE LONE RANGER AND THE LOST CITY OF GOLD was much better, especially since it was made in color, and I really enjoyed seeing that when it first came out. Unfortunately, it was the last time Clayton Moore would appear onscreen as The Lone Ranger.
Fast-forward to 1981: The same month we had the release of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK featuring Indiana Jones, and DRAGONSLAYER, we see LEGEND OF THE LONE RANGER advertised on TV. At first, I didn't know whether it was a serious Western tribute or a comedy satire, so I went to the theater to see it.
This film is a fine tribute to the classic iconic heroes, in beautiful wide-screen Stereo and Technicolor, handsomely filmed on locations both familiar (Bronson Canyon, Vasquez Rocks) and unfamiliar (Moab, Utah and Monument Valley locations). And I loved hearing the William Tell Overture, which of course was the original Main Title theme for The Lone Ranger on both radio in the 1940s and TV in the 1950s.
However, the film's weaknesses and shortcomings sabotaged its virtues as a tribute to the glory days of yesteryear. The two lead actors, Klinton Spilsbury and Michael Horse, as the Lone Ranger and Tonto respectively, left much to be desired dramatically, although they certainly looked the parts in their carefully tailored costume attire. Neither of them had any depth whatsoever as actors, and their acting skills could have saved this otherwise forgettable campy, mediocre feature film.
I understand that Spilsbury kept blowing his lines on the set, so his dialog was all overdubbed in looping/ADR by James Keach, Stacy Keach's younger brother. And native American Michael Horse was clearly out of his depth as a young aspiring TV actor. It all comes down to good casting.
That being said, we come to the other lead characters in the story: Only Christopher Lloyd, as the dastardly villain Butch Cavendish, and Jason Robards, as President Ulysses S. Grant, shine in the balance, as actors of astute dramatic abilities. The other actors are either lost as ephemeral supporting characters, or appear as western actors at a costume party: Richard Farnsworth as Wild Bill Hickok, Lincoln Tate as Gen. George Armstrong Custer, and Ted Flicker as Buffalo Bill Cody are all laughable one-dimensional cardboard cutouts rather than being the real flesh-and-blood men of the Old West we all know and love or hate from history and movies.
Now to the script: The story is good, but the screenplay is a standard TV script
out of place in a wide-screen theatrical film. This adds to the lackluster performance of this movie at the box office.
The music score by John Barry is first-rate, as are practically everything else I haven't already mentioned, which give the film a very professional Hollywood look.
Thus, if we had a better real theatrical script to tell the story of how the Lone Ranger lost his comrades in a horrible gun battle, resulting in the reason why he becomes the legendary masked avenger, and how his native American friend became his loyal sidekick, and we had realistic characters of famous American Western figures played by actors of theatrical depth and range, in realistic costumes and makeup, then I think this movie would have been a huge hit. This would have been to Western movies what Indiana Jones was to Fantasy Adventures.
However, even with its flaws, I enjoyed this movie immensely, most likely due to my boyhood nostalgia with the characters. Others who had not grown up with the Lone Ranger and Tonto would not be so kind to it. It's one thing to make a movie for the fans, but it's another thing to satisfy a mainstream public audience with a wide range of cultural backgrounds.
So when is the wide-screen DVD to be released? I'll still buy a copy!
Dejael
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