The Lone Ranger Film Version 1956

Above: Hi Ho Silver.

In 1956  Warner Brothers brought us a full length film version of  The Lone Ranger,  starring Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels.

Shot in WarnerColor

“The Lone Ranger” was the first of two feature films made in the 50s starring Clayton Moore as The Lone Ranger and Jay Silverheels as Tonto. It was of course, based on the long running TV series that began in 1949 and ended in 1957. It was produced by Jack Wrather who also produced the TV series.

The story here has the Lone Ranger and Tonto trying to find out what’s really going on in the town of Brasada as local rancher Reece Kilgore (Lyle Bettger) seems to be defying statehood for the territory against the wishes of the territorial governor (Charles Meredith). Kilgore has a hot headed foreman named Cassidy (Robert Wilke), who turns out to be a real enemy of the local Indian tribe and puts a number of his henchmen to work disguised as Indians so that the blame falls on the local tribe.

This, the first of two full length features to star Clayton Moore as the legendary masked

This film was quite successful at the Box Office so in 1958 there was a follow up

 The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold 1958

“The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold” was the second of two features made in the 50s starring Clayton Moore as The Lone Ranger and Jay Silverheels as Tonto. As in the previous film, there is an excellent cast of veteran western performers.

The “Lost City” of the title is an old Spanish city of gold hidden away on Indian tribal lands. There is a five piece amulet that when assembled, will show the location of the treasure. The holders of the various pieces begin to turn up murdered by a gang of hooded riders and it falls to The Lone Ranger and Tonto to solve the mystery and bring these people to justice

In many ways this story reminds me very much of a particular favourite of mine mentioned often on this Bl0g – The Secret of Treasure Mountain 1956 – where the hidden Braganza Crosses lead to the gold in Treasure Mountain.

I now have this film – The Secret of Treasure Mountain 1956 in 16 mm film form  – and on DVD I am pleased to say – as I reported below a year or two ago :-

The Secret of Treasure Mountain 1956 – NEWS

This is a film I have been searching for for years – and I am not alone in this search either. I know people who have read this Blog –  a previous Post on this film – and have commented about their looking for it for ages. As stated before, the plot fascinated me as a youngster when I saw it but due having to catch a bus to the remote village I lived in, I missed the climatic ending so never knew the outcome.  For some reason I thought that it involved an Inca treasure but that was not the case.

The film was released in 1956 and was a B movie with a running time of 68 minutes.

These scenes are from the 16 mm film – long lost. The News is GOOD in that I have found a 16 mm print of the film which as we speak is on its way here – I had better be wary and say that with luck it will be here within a week.

This is GREAT NEWS for films fans I know. I may have to arrange a new WORLD PREMIER in the UK – new for this century I would guess !!