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

I’m sorry I said unkind things about last week’s Overlooked Film, The Lone Ranger (1956) (that's HERE). I meant those things, of course, but I still regret having to say them. In case you missed that diatribe, my main complaint was that the film was one western movie cliché piled on top of another, reflecting badly on everyone's favorite Ranger, Clayton Moore.

So I was not looking forward to the sequel, The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold. But I should have been. This one was fun, inventive, original and cliché-free, avoiding all the mistakes of its predecessor.

How? Here’s the secret: This movie is not really a western. It’s an adventure film with a western setting. The story would have played out just as well with Tarzan, Robin Hood or a noble pirate in the hero's seat.

The basic plot is this: A conniving widow is searching for a lost city. Her late husband spent his whole life searching and gathering evidence, but fell just short of finding it. Determined to cash in at last, the widow teams up with a killer and his gang of toughs. A map to the lost city was inscribed on a silver plate, which has since been broken into five medallions. The widow and the killer are hunting and killing the folks who have those medallions.

In this case, the lost city is one of the seven cities of Cibola, and the map/plate was made by Coronado’s men. The guys who now have the medallions are Indians. And the whole evil scheme would no doubt go off without a hitch if not for . . . not Tarzan, not Robin Hood, not Douglas Fairbanks Sr., but . . . The Lone Ranger (and Tonto).

Last time, I whined about Moore’s cheesy portrayal of the old prospector. This time, the prospector is absent, and the Ranger goes undercover as Bret Reagan, a Southern gentleman bounty hunter. Last time, Tonto suffered the ultimate snot-beating. This time, he takes only a couple of punches, and is later creased by a bullet. This film even sidesteps the Who-Was-That-Masked-Man schtick.

The Ranger's new, improved disguise.

A minor quibble: Early in the film we meet the town doctor, who, though dressed in city duds, is clearly an Indian. He looks even more like an Indian than the guys wearing war paint. But he’s been passing for years, and no one in the whole Indian-hating town suspects. Puh-lease.

Other that that, The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold is a fine film. Makes me wish Moore and Silverheels had made another.

Check out the new theme, interwoven with The William Tell Overture throughout the film:

Tonto is rescued (after two punches) by the doctor. 

LR displays his calling card.

Our hero scolds the natives for using a bad guy for target practice.

The sick chief reveals who has the medallions.

Tonto punches out the evil sheriff and gets off with a headache.

The widow's head killer, a weasel 'til the end.

The weasel's end.

More Overlooked Films at Sweet Freedom.

Next Week: The Lone Ranger Rides Some More

Overlooked Films: THE LONE RANGER (1956)

If you have fond memories of the old TV series (and who doesn’t?) you’ll find this more of the same - only  in vivid color, and with a much bigger budget.

That’s a good thing, as far as it goes. To see LR and Tonto thundering across the prairie in living color is pretty dang impressive. All the scenes and sets, in fact, are impressive compared to the back-lot and indoor/outdoor stuff we saw on the series. The music is better, too. (Oddly, there’s a scene early in the film where the theme music from Maverick is playing in the background.) And it does star Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheerls, the guys who for many of us are the only real Ranger and Tonto.

But seen through the lens of time, the movie shows its age. Moore’s Ranger was always ultra-kid-friendly and generous with his big Pepsodent smile. In this film he smiles a lot, sometimes just at the camera, and the sweetness and light is almost overpowering. His depiction of the crotchety old prospector, amusing in small doses on TV, is used one time too many here, and the gag becomes corny. And remember Bill Cosby’s routine about Tonto always being sent to town to get the snot beat out of him? This movie features the ultimate in snot-beating, as Tonto is kicked around by a mob long enough for Scout to race way out into the desert and bring the Ranger to the rescue. Amazingly, our Faithful Indian Companion is none the worse for wear.

There’s nothing original here. We have white guys disguised as Indians to stir up trouble, we have a rich landowner scheming to take over the whole territory, we have a wife newly arrived from the East who can’t get used to these Western ways, we have a noble old Indian chief in danger of being nosed out by a hotheaded young upstart (nicely played by Michael Ansara) and we have Silver dragging a half-conscious Ranger to a waterhole. It all builds to a nice but brief climax involving dynamite, Indian warriors, bad guys, lawmen and the cavalry, ending - as you might expect - with LR going mano a mano with the baddest of the bad guys.  And, of course, the obligatory “Who was that Masked Man?” finish.

I suppose I’m nitpicking. There’s really nothing wrong with this movie. It’s harmless entertainment, and I’m glad it was made. But compared to Hi-Yo Silver, the abbreviated version of the first Lone Ranger serial (that’s HERE), this one seems flat and artificial.

See the lobby cards from this movie HERE.

More Thrilling Overlooked Films of Yesteryear at SWEET FREEDOM.