THE LONE RANGER (1938) A Man Of Mystery, Chief Thundercloud & Lynne Roberts | Western | B&W

The Lone Ranger is a 1938 American Republic Pictures movie serial based on The Lone Ranger radio program. It was the ninth of the sixty-six serials produced by Republic, the fourth Western (a third of Republic's serials were Westerns) and the first Republic serial release of 1938. The following year a sequel serial The Lone Ranger Rides Again was released. The fifteen chapters of the serial were condensed into the film Hi-Yo Silver, which was released in 1940.

SYNOPSIS
n 1865, Captain Mark Smith of the Confederate Army leads a band of deserters to conquer Texas and rule it as a dictator. In one of his first actions, he captures and assumes the identity of Texas's new Finance Commissioner, Colonel Marcus Jeffries, after having the real man murdered. When a contingent of Texas Rangers enters the territory, Snead, one of Smith's men, leads them into an ambush by Smith's "troopers". The Rangers are apparently wiped out, although one injured survivor is left. The survivor, nursed back to health by Tonto, swears to avenge the massacre and defeat "Colonel Jeffries" and his men.

When he is not operating as the Ranger, he appears under an assumed identity as one of a group of Texans resisting Smith's rule. Smith, through a henchman, has narrowed the field of suspects down to five specific members of the resistance. One of these five—Allen King, Bob Stuart, Bert Rogers, Dick Forrest, and Jim Clark—actually is the Ranger, but only Tonto and the other four Texans know which one it is. Together, they operate as an effective team attempting to end Smith's rule.

CAST & CREW
Main cast
Silver King as Silver (Silver Chief in the sequel[4])
Lynn Roberts as Joan Blanchard, George Blanchard's daughter
Stanley Andrews as Mark Smith, former captain in the Confederate Army working under the identity of the murdered Colonel Marcus Jefferies, State Finance Commissioner
George Cleveland as George Blanchard, emissary from Washington, D.C.
William Farnum as Father McKim, local priest and ally of the Lone Ranger who sends messages via carrier pigeon
Supporting cast
Chief Thunder-Cloud as Tonto, or "Wild One" in Native American language
Hal Taliaferro as Bob Stuart, a Texan fighting against Smith who may be the Lone Ranger
Herman Brix as Bert Rogers, a Texan fighting against Smith who may be the Lone Ranger
Lee Powell as Allen King, a Texan fighting against Smith who may be the Lone Ranger
Lane Chandler as Dick Forrest, a Texan fighting against Smith who may be the Lone Ranger
George Letz as Jim Clark, a Texan fighting against Smith who may be the Lone Ranger
John Merton as "Kester", one of Smith's henchmen, a deserter and former captain in the Confederate Army
Sammy McKim as "Sammy"
Tom London as "Felton", one of Smith's henchmen, a deserter and former sergeant in the Confederate Army
Raphael Bennet as Black Bart Taggart, one of Smith's henchmen
Maston Williams as Joe Snead, one of Smith's henchmen
Frank McGlynn, Sr. as President Lincoln (scene deleted from serial release, only appears in feature version Hi Yo Silver)
Uncredited
Billy Bletcher as voice of The Lone Ranger
Earle Graser as voice of The Lone Ranger when calling "Hi-Yo Silver!"; Graser was the voice of the Lone Ranger on the initial radio series

Directed by William Witney and John English
Screenplay by Barry Shipman, George Worthing Yates, Franklyn Adreon, Ronald Davidson, Lois Eby
Based on the radio serial The Lone Ranger by Fran Striker
Produced by Sol C. Siegel
Cinematography William Nobles
Edited by Helene Turner, Edward Todd
Music by Alberto Colombo
Distributed by A Republic Production
Release dates February 12, 1938 (serial)
Running time 15 chapters (264 minutes) (serial)
Country United States
Language English
Budget $160,315 (negative cost: $168,117) or $285,000
Box office $1,150,000

NOTES
The Lone Ranger was a huge financial success for both Republic and Trendle. The serial also created new interest in the radio version and an additional hundred or so stations picked up the show. King Features even came out with a comic strip.

Following the end of his contract with Republic, Lee Powell toured with a small circus as "The Lone Ranger of the Movies". This was not successful, possibly because he had never actually been billed as the Lone Ranger due to the element of mystery in the script. He was eventually forced by the copyright holders to stop.

The Lone Ranger was superior in terms of plot and execution when compared to the average western serial, although it contained many features standard to the genre such as explosions, runaway stagecoaches and falls from a great height.

Chapter Titles
Hi-Yo Silver
Thundering Earth
The Pitfall
Agent of Treachery
The Steaming Cauldron
Red Man's Courage
Wheels of Disaster
Fatal Treasure
The Missing Spur
Flaming Fury
The Silver Bullet
Escape
The Fatal Plunge
Messengers of Doom
The Last of the Rangers