Search - The Lone Ranger Classic Western Double Feature - Hi-Yo, Silver! / Legend of the Lone Ranger on DVD

"double features from 1940 & 1952 with the Masked Man ~ The

J. Lovins | Missouri-USA | 09/26/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"VCI Entertainment present "Legend of the Lone Ranger" (1952) and "Hi-Yo Silver" (1940) (digitally remastered), featuring Clayton Moore (The Lone Ranger) is the only person to have a star on the "Hollywood Walk Of Fame", his name and the character he was renowned for playing from 1949-1957...Clayton's star reads "CLAYTON MOORE, THE LONE RANGER"...Clayton and Jay Silverheels deserve much of the success to this ongoing Ranger series....both actors lived the roles and presented themselves as good role models to children everywhere...they were a symbol of honor and integrity...the stories had the spirit of the old west with an certain amount of action here and there...with his faithful indian companion Tonto, we now know what a great actor Jay Silverheels was...Tonto was not your stereotypical ignorant savage that Hollywood was continually releasing...take note that Tonto tracks, takes care of the Ranger when he's wounded, spies out information and comes to the rescue many times when the Ranger is at a dead end...Tonto and the Ranger are friends and equals of a true partership that has gone on for decades.



First up is "Legend of the Lone Ranger" (1952/78 mins/B&W), created & produced by George W. Trendle, director George B. Seitz Jr., screenplay by George B. Seitz Jr. & Fran Striker...cast includes Clayton Moore (Lone Ranger), Jay Silverheels (Tonto), Glenn Strange (Butch Cavendish), Walter Sande (Sheriff Taylor), George Chesebro (Doc Drummond), Jack Clifford (Jerry)...the plot summary has 3 episodes of the original chronicles showing the origin of "The Lone Ranger", how Tonto found him and the other dead Rangers, when he saved the great horse Silver from a charging buffalo and nursed him back to health...will the Ranger and Tonto stop the Cavendish Gang...can we ever determine what makes the Long Ranger so popular and live on...don't miss any of these exciting adventures as it unfolds.



Chapter Titles (Legend of the Lone Ranger)

1. Opening Credits

2. Texas Rangers

3. Ambushed

4. Healing Wounds

5. The Legend Begins

6. Finding Silver

7. The Battle Starts

8. Silver Bullets

9. On the Trail

10.The Plot Thickens

11.The Ranger's Plan

12.Who Was That Masked Man?



SPECIAL FEATURES:

BIOS:

1. CLAYTON MOORE

Birth Name: Jack Carlton Moore

Birth Date: 9/14/1914 - Chicago, Illinois

Death Date: 12/28/1999) - Los Angeles, CA

2. JAY SILVERHEELS

Birth Name: Harold J. Smith

Birth Date: 5/26/1918 - Ontario, Canada

Death Date: 3/05/1980 - Woodland Hills, CA



TRAILERS:

1. And Then There Were None (novel by Agatha Christie)

2. The Southern (Zachery Scott & Gracie Fields)



The second on this double bill is Republic Pictures "Hi-Yo Silver" (1940/68 mins/B&W)...a Republic Serial that has been redone as a classic B-Western feature film...Under director's John English and William Witney, producer Sol C. Siegel with screenplay by George W. Trendle (creator), Fran Striker (radio series), Ronald Davidson, Franklin Adreon, Lois Eby, Barry Shipman, and George Worthing Yates ...the cast include Lee Powell (Allen King), Bruce Bennett (Bert Rogers - aka Herman Brix), Wally Wales (Bob Stuart - aka Hal Taliaferro), Lane Chandler (Dick Forrest), George Montgomery (Jim Clark - aka George Letz), Chief Thundercloud (Tonto), Lynne Roberts (Joan Blanchard), George Cleveland (George Blanchard), Stanley Andrews (Capt. Smith, alias Jeffries), William Farnum (Father McKim), John Merton (Kester - Henchman), Tom London (Belton - Henchman), Charles King (Morley - Henchman), Jack Ingram ( Jeffries - Henchman), Bud Osborne (Morgan - Henchman), Edmund Cobb (one of the Ranger's), Ted Adams (one of the Henchman), Jack Perrin (Henchman), Fred Burns (Henchman), Frank McGlynn Sr. (Abraham Lincoln), Dickie Jones (The Boy) and saving the best for last Raymond Hatton (Smokey - the storyteller)...the story line has Smokey grooming the Grandson of Silver and telling the story to Dickie Jones an adventure and origin of "The Lone Ranger"...the history of the Ranger with five possible candidates being our hero...will we know early in the film who the real Lone Ranger is...each episode eliminates one of the suspects keeping us guessing...none of them are known as John Reid, the Ranger of radio and television...but the action and excitement is there in full spades.



Keep an eye out for some veteran B-Western character actors of Raymond Hatton (from the "Rough Riders Series" and Johnny Mack Brown's sidekick know as Sandy Hopkins), Dickie Jones (from "Hopalong Cassidy" films, "Range Rider" sidekick and "Buffalo Bill Jr" television series), Charles King (they called him "Blackie" in most of his film career with Bob Steele, Buster Crabbe and Tim McCoy movies), John Merton (villains from "Zorro's Fighting Legion" and many more), Stanley Andrews (the Old Ranger from "Death Valley" Days"), George Cleveland (as Grandpa on the TV series "Lassie"), Jack Ingram, Edmund Cobb, Ted Adams and Bud Osborne make this a B-Western family event.



Chapter Titles (Hi-Yo Silver)

1. Opening Credits

2. Ambush

3. Stockade

4. Double Cross

5. the Stand-Off

6. Enlisting Help

7. Captured

8. The Truth

9. Rescued

10.Last Stand

11.Unmasked

12.Closing Credits



The Lone Ranger television series premiered on ABC network on September 15, 1949 and ranked in the top 15...by 1950 ranked number seven and began reruns on CBS Saturday mornings in 1953 until September 1960...also on ABC in reruns from 1958 until 1961 and then on NBC until 1964 .



Clayton Moore was a circus acrobat at the age of eight and grew up in the Midwest (Illinois)...worked in the circus and traveled to New York and then Hollywood where he became a stuntman and bit player...inducted into the "Stuntman's Hall of Fame" in 1982...also received the "Western Heritage Award from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame'" also the "Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum" both in 1990...Clayton was once quoted "Playing him [the Lone Ranger] made me a better person.", "Once I got the Lone Ranger role, I didn't want any other. I was playing the good guy."..."I will continue wearing the white hat and black mask until I ride up into the big ranch in the sky." (On his costume as the Lone Ranger, February 4, 1985)...Clayton very enjoyed quoting and lived by "A Ranger's Creed" which included this moral lesson "That God put the firewood there, but every man must gather and light it himself."



Own them now on DVD....if you crave action, drama and plenty of adventure then this is the place for all of the above...if you enjoyed this check out another VCI Entertainment release the first big screen full length in color "The Lone Ranger" (1956) (digitally remastered in Dolby), long running Lone Ranger series on radio and then turned up in the early '40s in the movies...it's all new and in Warnercolor the west's greatest hero...the story line is excellent with outstanding action scenes and production with over hours worth of entertainment.



Great job by VCI Entertainment for releasing the digital transfere with a clean, clear and crisp print...looking forward to more of the same from the '30s vintage...order your copy now from Amazon or VCI Entertainment, stay tuned once again with a top notch serial from VCI...just the way we like 'em!



Total Time: 143 mins on DVD ~ VCI Entertainment 8225 ~ (7/03/2001)"