Nyoka And The Tigermen!

Nyoka and the Tigermen (or Perils of Nyoka) is a sequel to Jungle Girl. Sequels were relatively rare in the serial marketplace. Flash Gordon, Dick Tracy and Rocketman got two sequels each and there was one each for the Lone Ranger, Green Hornet, Batman, and Superman. Off hand I cannot think of anymore except Tarzan who got several silents and a few sound serials. So for the powers at Republic to go a second time to the well with Nyoka is remarkable in and of itself.

The sequel though bares little connection to the first serial aside from the name Nyoka itself. None of the notions or ideas from the first make any play here, but one thing that is relentless in this serial is action. I cannot recall a serial film in which the action was so non-stop. Kay Aldridge as Nyoka is joined by the future Lone Ranger Clayton Moore as "Larry" (a lot of these hero types are named Larry it seems) and the two of them are on the run incessantly in this movie which tumbles back and forth among several locations, many of them exteriors. Moore looks ideal as the swashbuckling hero, his handsome mug here shining for all the world to see.

The good guys here are looking for an ancient tablet which could cure cancer and the bad guys are of course seeking that same tablet, but for its ability to lead them to treasure. The baddies have a lovely leader in Lorna Gray as "Vultura" and her second in command is none other than Ming himself, the reliable Charles Middleton. The rest of the cast is familiar and capable. There's even an ape named "Satan" played by Emil Van Horn who gets some dandy screen time.

But the one thing which stood out while I enjoyed this serial was the sheer volume of the shooting. There are guns blazing nearly non-stop as the good guys chase the bad guys and later when the tables are turned. They shoot from horseback, from behind rocks, from trees, in crypts, and anywhere they can find a target. As for the eponymous "Tigermen", all I can figure is one tribe wears robes with some strong stripes so I guess that's them -- no direct mention is ever made. The logic of what happens in this movie is often suspect, but there is no denying the sheer pleasure of vintage movie action.

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The Lone Ranger And The Lost City Of Gold!

The Lone Ranger was a big hit on television and ran for many seasons and has never stopped running in re-runs over the decades. The Lone Ranger was born on radio and was a massive hit in the medium when it did more than play 70's rock songs and try to convince us all that bad is good. The Lone Ranger was a pretty big hit in comics, with a long-lasting series which spun off comics dedicated to Tonto and Silver. But on the big screen, the Lone Ranger has a very spotty history.

The 1956 movie The Lone Ranger was a very successful translation of the TV series to a broader colorful landscape. All the recognizable elements were present but larger in scale and in full blushing color when such things were not all that common. The follow-up movie, The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold feels like a more humble effort all around. The color is still there, but the settings which shifted as needed in the first movie, seemed localized into a distinctly Southwestern area and not really the fictional western territory the series was accustomed to. Maybe this was an attempt to inject some level of realism into the the  proceedings, but to my eye it doesn't work as well as the earlier effort.

We are of course talking about Cibola, one of the Seven Cities of Gold which the avaricious Spaniards sought so relentlessly for so long. Here we have a map to Cibola which has been distributed among many different Native American men, who don't really in most cases know what they have, and which is the sought by a greedy pair of villains. The baddies are pretty good in this one, a woman  who is used to using her sex to get her way and a violent man all too ready to kill. Up against them stand the Ranger and Tonto. The Ranger uses his disguises again and creates a refined Southern gentleman rogue who plays a large part in the story. This movie is a real showcase for Clayton Moore but otherwise doesn't find the magic all the much, at least for me.

There is quite a violent finale, but it seemed somewhat too small scale for the big screen. Maybe I'm being too harsh on the movie, as it's still a delightful adventure, just not a big-screen event.

The Lone Ranger would try again in 1981 and yet again a few years ago, with folks not really able or willing to understand what makes the Lone Ranger work, and that what we have is the relentless nobility of two men who have sacrificed what they might want personally to bring some sense of order and justice to a wild unsettled land. This is heroism of the highest order and sadly we in the modern world all too often find such efforts to be naive or foolish. We are the fools.

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The Lone Ranger!

If you forced me to pick just one from among all the forms of entertainment and all the many heroes who have been presented to the public over the countless decades, I might have to choose The Lone Ranger as portrayed by Clayton Moore as my all-time favorite. Along with Jay Silverheels as the incredibly loyal and reliable Tonto, the Lone Ranger patrolled the western frontier for no other purpose than to see that justice was meted out fairly and honorably. Now what justice means can well be argued and Tonto's servant-like role is a problem for certain, but given the parameters of the time the nobility of heroism have never been more acutely and vividly displayed in my humble estimation.

And that's all on display in buckets in The Lone Ranger, a feature film made with Moore and Silverheels building on the success of the television show. Here we see them doing what they do best, helping people who need help and protecting those who need protection. The Ranger and Tonto find a power-mad man who seeks to drive the Indians off their reservation to fulfill his greedy goals and without hesitation they step in between that villain and his victims, offering up their own bodies to forestall him.

On particular display in this color film are Clayton Moore's considerable skills as an actor. An incredibly handsome man, he fills out the role of "superhero" quite nicely but you really only get to enjoy him behind masks and disguises and nonetheless his charm comes through. Likewise with Tonto, who is often given thankless tasks, we see a man who will fight even when the odds are nigh impossible. Tonto's bravery is at the center of much of the action in this movie which has a bristling plot which moves with impressive momentum.

The Lone Ranger as much as any of the classic heroes seems to celebrate the nobility of the common man, the essence of democracy, that we are all worthy. Too many vintage hero epics thoughtlessly celebrate antique notions of nobility and no matter how splendid and exciting are sending a message that not all men (and women) were created equal. Some vintage sexism shows up in this movie, but it's mild by the temper of the times.

If you have seen this movie, I highly recommend it, along with its follow-up -- The Lone Ranger and the City of Gold. I'll take a closer look at the latter tomorrow.

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Who Was That Masked Man?

The Lone Ranger as portrayed by Clayton Moore might well be my favorite TV character. The sure-footed nature of Moore's performance as the Ranger, his utter and complete lack of irony as a hero firmly and fully dedicated to promoting justice in a wild west are just at once admirable and compelling. As I've grown up, I see that along with that noble sense of justice there was a promotion also of the idea of progress and that what the Ranger was actually promoting was the modern world as it then existed in the suburbs, cities, and countryside of America. 

I recently watched the first two seasons of the series right through. It's been a long time since I'd seen some of those episodes, decades maybe, but watching so many back to back, the verities the shows promote came through like crystal. Though ostensibly a kid's show, there is plenty of stark evidence of unexpected death, especially by cruel criminal hands. The innocent are cast down as quickly as the guilty. The Ranger and Tonto always seem to be on hand, a trope that might seem silly until you understand it in broader mythic terms. They are every vigilant and so could never be far away, that's the comfort the Ranger and his partner supply to the people of the West. 

Now of course it's hardly an egalitarian vision, as sadly the Native Americans in the show while not belittled are diminished and it is clear that to be seen as good it is necessary to be compliant.  Tonto is the mainstay representative, but his affinity and friendship for the Ranger cloud his role as just a "good Indian". One episode had him filled with a desire for vengeance when a friend is found murdered. Also unfortunately Tonto is a flawed hero, the one who can take the lumps since the Ranger must usually be above such things. I'd hesitate to know the number of concussions Tonto suffered, but it's a great deal indeed as he was regularly conked on the noggin. 

These days the adventures of the Lone Ranger and Tonto might feel old hat, a part of an era which can only be appreciated in an ironic way. I don't agree. While the pro-American attitudes might be blunt, there is no denying that progress is preferable to the opposite. Certainly it must be considered and wise, but we can't allow ourselves to fall into a Luddite fantasy about the world. The Lone Ranger was all about justice and establishing a society in which gun play would not always be necessary. That's an ideal we can all agree on, or can we.

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