Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Enter the Lone Ranger 1949


     Butch Cavendish and his outlaw gang send a man who is half white and half Indian into town to lure the Texas Rangers into an ambush.  The Rangers follow this man back to where he says Cavendish and the men are located.  They see it’s an ambush but it’s too late and all the Rangers are killed except John Reid.  Tonto is an Indian and he comes on the scene after the shooting.  He buries the dead men and tends to John's wound.  When John has recovered, he decides to wear a mask and fight against outlaws to avenge the deaths of the Rangers including his brother.  Tonto wants to follow John on this fight. 
     This program was on Saturday afternoons and a LOT of children watched.  This is the first episode and the first series.  It explains the origin of the Lone Ranger and Tonto.  The endings were cliffhangers so you had to tune in the next Saturday to see how the story continues.  As an adult, some of the dialog and scenes seem really directed at children.  The children didn’t know or care about that because they are in this age group.  The Lone Ranger believes the outlaws should be brought to justice and not just gunned down for their crimes.  3 ½* (I liked this episode)

30 min, Western directed by George B. Seitz Jr. with Clayton Moore, Jay Silverheels, Glenn Strange, George J. Lewis, Tristram Coffin, Jack Rube Clifford.

Note:  Imdb 7.8 out of 10, TV.com 9.1 out of 10 with 19 votes, Amazon 4.7* out of 5* with 483 votes, Leonard Maltin 2.5* out of 4* average user review 4.7* out of 5*.
Special Note:  Filmed at General Service Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California; Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park, Los Angeles, California.  Credit was never given in all of the 221 episodes to the orchestra or the conductor playing the William Tell Overture.  Clayton Moore’s face is never shown and he is filmed from behind with his face covered with bandages or his mask.  He did get a wound to his face in the ambush?  There is a film about The Lone Ranger of 2013 with Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer.

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