- #Lone ranger dvd all black and white episods movie#
- #Lone ranger dvd all black and white episods serial#
This is as it should be a life-and-death struggle for control of Texas would seem utterly phony were it not accompanied by casualties on both sides.Ībove: Tonto mourns the passing of one of the heroes. The serial’s supporting heavies also bite the dust with regularity, the screen Ranger and his allies ignoring the radio Ranger’s tiresome no-killing policy. The serial’s urgency is additionally heightened by the deaths of the various Ranger “suspects,” which, spread throughout the serial, give the chapterplay some truly touching and dramatic moments, and lend additional tension to the action scenes: in this chapterplay, co-hero status is no guarantee of survival till the closing credits.
#Lone ranger dvd all black and white episods serial#
The appearances by these minor characters illustrate what the heroes are fighting for, demonstrate the evil effects of the villain’s actions–and give the struggle between the two sides a much more high-stakes feel than the standard serial conflict.Ībove: The Lone Ranger rallies the settlers. The serial’s high budget, which permitted an unusually large supporting cast, definitely assists the writers in the urgency department while many serials’ hero-villain duels seem to take place in a sort of vacuum where noncombatants are scarce, in Lone Ranger we’re given several glimpses of local settlers victimized by Jeffries–Jim Clark’s parents, Bob Stuart’s uncle and nephew, mission priest Father McKim, the Rangers in the first chapter, and others. However, writers Barry Shipman, Ronald Davidson, Franklin Adreon, George Yates, and Lois Eby (and an uncredited Oliver Drake) embellish this ordinary storyline so skillfully that the potentially repetitive narrative becomes continually urgent and suspenseful. The plot of Lone Ranger is, in outline, nothing special, revolving as it does around the Lone Ranger’s Robin-Hood-like thwarting of Jeffries (by recovering extorted tax money, blocking the villain’s plans to expand his political power, and protecting holdout settlers from Jeffries’ army) and Jeffries’ repeated attempts to destroy the Ranger (by recruiting different badmen to track him down, setting the Indians against him, or laying various traps for him). That the serial’s popularity has endured among buffs, despite the often wretched conditions it has been viewed under, speaks volumes for its high quality. The serial’s cast and production crew did such a splendid job with their unusually large resources that the serial proved a phenomenal hit for the studio–and remained one of their most beloved serials ever afterward, despite being available only in poor-quality Spanish-subtitled prints for over fifty years after its release even today, DVD editions of Ranger–while definite upgrades over earlier prints–have many aural and visual rough spots.
The Lone Ranger was Republic Pictures’ most expensive serial production at the time of its release the popularity of the character’s radio incarnation warranted special treatment from the studio. The Ranger sometimes rides unmasked among this quartet, leaving the villains (and the audience) to wonder which of five heroes–Bert Rogers (Herman Brix), Dick Forrest (Lane Chandler), Bob Stuart (Hal Taliaferro), Allan King (Lee Powell), or Jim Clark (George Letz)–is also the Lone Ranger.
Donning a black mask, this Lone Ranger leads the settlers in a desperate fight against Jeffries’ tyranny, with the aid of Tonto and of four valiant Texans who are aware of his true identity. To protect his power, “Jeffries” has a contingent of Texas Rangers–returning from wartime service–wiped out before they can move against him one man, however, survives the massacre of the Rangers and is nursed back to health by an Indian named Tonto (Chief Thundercloud). Posing as Jeffries, with his henchmen serving as his army, the ex-outlaw assumes despotic control of Texas, mercilessly taxing the war-ravaged citizens and forcing Federal administrator Blanchard (George Cleveland) to conceal his abuses of power by threatening Blanchard’s daughter Joan (Lynn Roberts). Starring ? as the Lone Ranger, Chief Thundercloud, Silver Chief, Lynn Roberts, Stanley Andrews, Hal Taliaferro, Herman Brix, Lane Chandler, Lee Powell, George Letz, George Cleveland, John Merton, William Farnum.Īt the close of the Civil War, a deserter named Captain Smith (Stanley Andrews) leads a band of outlaws and renegade soldiers in mercenary raids–until he captures, murders, and assumes the identity of a newly-appointed Federal finance commissioner named Colonel Marcus Jeffries.
#Lone ranger dvd all black and white episods movie#
The Files of Jerry Blake Movie Serial Reviews and Other Cliffhanging Material