867. The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold review!

Yes, I forgot to post this. Again.

The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold (1958)

From Wiki- The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold is a 1958 American Western film in Eastmancolor released by United Artists. The second of two theatrical features specifically based on and continuing the TV show The Lone Ranger it stars Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels, reprising their roles from the TV series.^[1][2] The first feature film was 1956's The Lone Ranger. No further films based on this specific version of the characters were made after this one.^[3] back to me:

569. Waldo Kitty episodes 01-03!

          Yeah, this is probably the most obscure series I have reviewed yet, but I liked it when I was ten...

350. The Lone Ranger (1956) at Spirit Mountain!

         This is the first Lone Ranger movie that was made.

The Lone Ranger (1956)

 The Lone Ranger was a huge hit in the early days of television.  The show ran for several years, and survived a major cast change for one season.  After the series ended, Warner Brothers made two movies.  This is the first one, though I kinda wish it had been called The Lone Ranger at Spirit Mountain or something like that.  As long as it had his name in the title, it would have gone over big time.  Which it must have, since a sequel was made two years later.

The Lone Ranger TV show

 

Got this fun set recently.  The Lone Ranger was probably my second live action masked hero I ever saw, after Batman.  I knew who he was, but it wasn't until many years later I learned about his origin.  I never knew how many episodes of that 50s television show there were, though I did notice his face changed for a while.  That was weird for a kid to see.  The show aired early in the morning, so I would watch it while getting ready for school, or having my breakfast (Quisp!).  I don't recall seeing color episodes, but my memory of those days of yore is quite hazy nowadays.  I did wonder why some old coot prospector showed up all the time when the Ranger should have been in all the action.  The Ranger didn't have a secret identity, so he could be the Ranger all the time!

The "Legend" of the Lone Ranger (1981)

How does Hollywood screw this up?  It's a great concept and they still turned it into a stinker.  It could have been great.  I have been a fan of the Ranger since as long as I can remember- possibly the third hero I ever discovered, after Batman and Spider-man.  I had watched a lot of the original series, though early on I did not know of his origin or the two serials.  I loved Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels.  So when this movie was released I wanted to see it. 

The Lone Ranger... animated 60s style

This was an oddball cartoon.  The live action Lone Ranger TV series was still popular in reruns well into the 70s, and this cartoon started in 1966 and ran on CBS for three years, then was in syndication for a while after that.  It pretty much disappeared for many years though.  It wasn't until the late 90s that I got a VHS tape of two hours of the episodes that I saw it again.  I did write about it in an old issue of Xenorama, but I barely knew anything about the cartoon then.

the Lone Ranger

I grew up watching the Lone Ranger, both in black and white and in color, it didn't matter to me.  It was second only two Batman in live action shows that I loved as a kid.  I still love it, and appreciate the acting of the stars a lot more.  It took me forever to realize the "old coot" character that the Ranger dressed up was actually Moore in a great disguise.  I always thought Jay Silverheels was great as well, and was happy that there was a character my brother could play. 

I've no real desire to see the new movie adaption, as it looks like it suffers from "origin-itis" and overblown effects.  what's the point?

Ghost of Zorro (1949)

this is one Zorro serial I've never seen, or perhaps only once. it stars a pre Lone Ranger Clayton Moore as Zorro/Ken Mason (obviously not a de la Vega). I think this is really cool that he got to play two of the major heroes of Western lore. Mason is a grandson or something of Zorro. that's how he gets away with using the name in 1865. the James Gang and the Daltons get name dropped in this first chapter. Rita thinks Ken is a slicker from the East, playing into the whole fop thing.

The Lone Ranger (1966)

it seems like the 60s were really the last decade to get the Ranger right.  every recent remake/version has truly sucked sewer water.  the intro is cool, and a nice version of the popular live action version, which was still airing in syndication everywhere.

this is from the cartoon which owed quite a bit to the then popular (and still excellent) "Wild Wild West" series.  heck, the Ranger even gets a miniature villain to battle named "Tiny Tom".  Tonto also got his own segment in the middle of the show which was also pretty cool. 

I'm sure in whatever version finally does get brought back to the screen, big or small, the Ranger and Tonto won't be friends at all.  seems like that can't happen these days.