The Legend of the Lone Ranger was a feature film released in 1981. It was the first feature film to feature the Lone Ranger since 1958's The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold.
The film co-starred Christopher Lloyd as evil gang leader Butch Cavendish. This role was a departure for Lloyd, who at the time was well known for his role as the spaced out "Reverend" Jim Ignatowski in the TV sitcom Taxi.
The film was a commercial and critical failure, barely making back two-thirds of its total budget at the box office.
Synopsis[]
In 1854 in Texas, a group of ruffians are chasing a young Comanche boy named Tonto. He rides into a thicket, falls off his horse and down an embankment. John Reid, a boy who was already there, hides Tonto, and the outlaws turn their attention to a small village where they kill everyone including John's parents who owned a large parcel of land. Now with nowhere to go, John is taken by Tonto to live on his reservation where he and others there teach him how to fight, shoot a bow and arrow with precision, and generally how to live and survive.
The two eventually become blood brothers, and John later leaves the reservation for Detroit, but not before Tonto gives him an amulet to wear and calling him "kemo sabe" (trusted friend). Years later, John, now grown and a lawyer, decides to come back to Texas, riding a stagecoach to Del Rio to set up his law practice. On the coach he meets Amy Striker, but the coach is soon raided by a group of bandits who wound the driver and kill the shotgun rider. John stops the coach and the outlaws steal a mailbag containing property deeds. The survivors make it to Del Rio where John meets Lucas Striker, Amy's uncle and the owner of the local newspaper, The Del Rio Dispatch. John tells them he is going to the Texas Rangers station to visit his brother Dan, a Ranger Captain.
During his visit, Dan rebukes John for coming back to a place where he has little chance to make something of himself, but John is convinced that he is where he belongs. Dan tells John about his wife leaving him, having moved back to Richmond and taking their son with her. He then tells John about the ones responsible for the stagecoach holdup among other crimes- a ruthless outlaw army led by disgraced Major Bartholomew "Butch (the Butcher)" Cavendish. During a festival in town, Amy begins to fall for John, but late that night, Cavendish's gang arrives in town and kill Lucas and several others and then ransack the newspaper office. When word gets to Dan, he musters the other Rangers to investigate and pursue, and John volunteers to go with them.
By daybreak they arrive at a rocky canyon called Bryant's Gap, and Dan sends Ranger Eddie Collins, who is secretly in Cavendish's employ, to scout ahead for snipers; He tells the other Rangers that the way forward is all clear, but in reality Cavendish and most of his gang are waiting in ambush.
Before they ride in, Dan makes John a Ranger handing him a Rangers' star saying, "You can't shoot outlaws without it". They ride into the canyon, but then Dan suspects imminent danger and orders the Rangers to turn around and head back, but it is too late; the formations behind them are dynamited causing a impassible rockslide, and Cavendish and his gang open fire on the trapped and defenseless Rangers, with Cavendish himself shooting John down as he wails over his now-dead brother. Cavendish sends Collins down to make sure that they are all dead and then has one of his men wound Collins before they ride off, reasoning that, "it would seem too coincidental if the only survivor wasn't wounded". After they leave, a lone Indian searching for the men who raided his village happens upon the site of the massacre and discovers that one of them is still alive; the Indian- the now-grown Tonto, recognizes him as John when he finds he is still wearing around his neck the same amulet he gave him. Tonto nurses him back to health and takes him back to his reservation to recover and regroup.
While John recovers from his wounds, he finds a wild white stallion trapped and helps it to escape. The stallion runs off, but John encounters it again and eventually tames and trains the horse to be his mount, calling him Silver. Tonto teaches John to shoot with silver bullets, which he claims are more accurate. Realizing that as John Reid he is a marked man should Cavendish find out he survived, John and Tonto go back to Bryant's Gap to make another grave, burying John's former identity. Donning a mask made from cloth from Dan's vest, John adopts a new identity: the Lone Ranger. With Tonto at his side, he dedicates himself to hunting down and capturing Cavendish and to lead the fight for law and order in the untamed west.
Beginning his hunt for Cavendish, John finds Collins, now living a hollow existence and exalting himself as the "heroic" survivor of the massacre at Bryant's Gap. John confronts him about betraying the other Rangers, which Collins initially denies, but when John shows him his Ranger star, Collins begins to open up. He barely mentions something about a train before he himself is shot and killed by a sniper. Almost immediately the sheriff of the town rushes in dragging Tonto with him. After unsuccessfully looking for the masked man the sheriff unjustly fingers Tonto for Collins' death and declares that he will hang at daybreak. But just as they are about to spring the trap in the gallows, the Lone Ranger blasts into town and rescues his friend, and just as quickly blazes his way out, much to the town's surprise.
John returns to Del Rio and, disguised as a priest, summons Amy to the synagogue; Amy has since taken over her uncle's newspaper and begun writing courageous and dangerous stories about Cavendish and his gang. The two quietly talk in a confessional, where he warns her to be careful and then tells her about the "masked man" and his goal to smash the Cavendish gang. Amy then reveals that President Grant is making a stop in Del Rio that afternoon by train, accompanied by Buffalo Bill Cody and Wild Bill Hickok. With this revelation, John hurries off, leaving a silver bullet that Amy quickly finds.
Meanwhile, Cavendish, troubled but undeterred by reports of the masked man, carries out his plan to kidnap President Grant. His men detach Grant's private rail car from the train engine and take him to his fortress as a prisoner. There, Cavendish reveals his master plan: he intends to hold Grant as a hostage until Congress grants him irrevocable ownership of what he calls the republic of New Texas. Cavendish will give Congress thirty days to carry out his demands in exchange for the President's life. Calling Cavendish "a diseased sonofabitch", Grant is certain that he will wind up dead because Congress will make up their minds to not make up their minds, but nevertheless gives his signature as a witness to the document.
Hot on the gang's trail, John and Tonto sneak into the fortress and rescue Grant, and then blow up the compound with dynamite they found while avoiding the guards. The Cavalry, led by Custer, Cody and Hickok, arrives during the fighting and quickly take control of the situation. Seeing this, Cavendish attempts to flee, but John catches up with him and, after a fierce brawl, brings him back to the compound for arrest, where President Grant assures him that he will face his punishment "in the fires of hell" before ordering him sent away. As he thanks them for their help, Grant asks for John's identity, but he replies that he wishes to remain anonymous, which Grant accepts. He then thanks Tonto, who in turn thanks Grant for honoring their treaty with his people. John and Tonto ride off, with Grant, now holding a silver bullet in his hand, quietly asking himself, "Who is that masked man?”
Cast[]
- Lone Ranger ... Klinton Spilsbury
- Tonto ... Michael Horse
- Butch Cavendish ... Christopher Lloyd
- Sheriff Wiatt ... Matt Clark
- Amy Striker ... Juanin Clay
- President Ulysses S. Grant ... Jason Robards
- Captain Dan Reid ... John Bennett Perry
- Collins ... David Hayward
- Lucas Striker ... John Hart
- The Balladeer ... Merle Haggard
Reception[]
The film was an unmitigated bomb, due in large part to Jack Wrather, who had purchased the rights to the Lone Ranger character in 1954. In 1979, Wrather's determination to reinvent the franchise very nearly destroyed it. Convincing himself that Moore's public appearances would detract from the film and hurt its profits, he had asked actor Clayton Moore, still very well-known to fans as the definitive Lone Ranger of the early 50s TV series, to stop making public appearances as the masked man; when Moore refused, Wrather obtained a court order prohibiting him from wearing the mask in public. He also feared that people would believe that Moore, then in his mid 60s, would reprise his role in the film.
Wrather's actions had disastrous repercussions. When news had broken of Wrather's lawsuit, outraged fans strongly favored Moore and consequently avoided the film. Even Christopher Lloyd, who played Butch Cavendish, felt as though Wrather's mistreatment of Moore was "unnecessary and nasty", claiming that Moore's public appearances weren't interfering with the film. Moore responded by slightly altering his costume and replacing the mask with similar-looking wraparound sunglasses, and even poked fun at the lawsuit when he appeared in a commercial for Corning SunSensor lenses.
Following its release and abysmal reception, Moore countersued Wrather in an attempt to win back the right to wear the mask. The proceedings dragged on in court until September 1984 when Wrather suddenly dropped the lawsuit and gave Moore permission to again wear the mask; Wrather died of cancer two months later.
Awards[]
The film was nominated for five Golden Raspberry Awards including Worst Picture and Worst Actor, winning three:
- Worst Actor and Worst New Star (Klinton Spilsbury)
- Worst Musical Score (John Barry)