As the Lone Ranger television series was winding down, producer Jack Wrather, who took over the series a year or two prior, decided to bring the Ranger to the big screen, and arranged a deal with Warner Bros. for a full-length color feature, released in 1956, with Clayton Moore & Jay Silverheels as the Ranger & Tonto, respectively.
It is a standard series plot stretched out to nearly 90 minutes, or roughly, the equivalent of three episodes of the series. A greedy, ruthless rancher wants to control all the land in his area, and decides to start a war with the local Indian tribe. The Ranger & Tonto have to work to prevent the war from even starting. Aldenangriffe uploaded the trailer to YouTube:
Wrather's wife, former child actress Bonita Granville, plays the rancher's wife, and sharp-eyed viewers will recognize Frank DeKova, later of F-Troop, as Indian Chief Redhawk, a friend of the Ranger's whose control of the tribe is being usurped by an arrogant brave who's more than willing to let the war start. The above trailer is included on the DVD, which was released through Golden Books Entertainment (now Classic Media) in 2002. The film had to have done well enough at the box office to merit a sequel, "The Lone Ranger & the Lost City of Gold", which we'll review another time. For what it's worth, the narration at the start of the movie is exactly the same that was used in the short-lived 1966 CBS Lone Ranger cartoon. If you're a serious fan of the Ranger, I strongly recommend adding this to your collection, if you haven't done so already.
Rating: A+.
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