The Great American Western seemed to come to a strange end in the mid-seventies. There were two well-known examples from 1976, "The Shootist" and "The Outlaw Josey Wales", but I cannot think of any from the period 1977-79. In the early years of the eighties, however, there was to be a modest attempt at a revival of the genre, of which "The Legend of the Lone Ranger" from 1981 was part.

In this version, the Lone Ranger is John Reid, the sole survivor of an ambush which wiped out a group of Texas Rangers, including John's brother Dan. Hiding his identity behind a mask, John sets out on a quest for revenge against the gang of outlaws responsible for the massacre, a quest in which he has the assistance of his Native American blood-brother Tonto. (John was raised by Tonto's people after his own parents were killed in another massacre by bandits). The outlaws John and Tonto are pursuing have rather more ambitious aims than the normal robbery and mayhem perpetrated by the villains in this sort of film. They intend to kidnap President Grant in order to force the US Government to recognise a large slice of Texas as an independent Republic of which their leader, Butch Cavendish, will be crowned Dictator.

The producer Walter Coblentz said of the film, "This is a grand old western in the heroic and glorious style of the cowboy picture", adding "This is not Blazing Saddles". By the time the critics had finished with the film, which was a massive commercial failure as well as a critical one, Coblentz must have wished he had gone for a "Blazing Saddles" type spoof instead.

The trouble started when the film-makers scored a public-relations own goal by bringing a lawsuit against Clayton Moore, the actor who had played the character in a successful 1950s television serial, to prevent him from making public appearances as the Lone Ranger. Moore was a widely respected figure who made many of these appearances at children's hospitals, and the lawsuit brought the film-makers much negative publicity they could have done without. Their problems did not, however, end with this self-inflicted wound. They had announced that the leading role would be played by an unknown actor after a talent search. They would have done better simply to have got on the phone to Clint Eastwood's agent.

The best their talent search could come up with was Klinton Spilsbury, an actor so bad that we are not allowed to hear just how bad he was; all his dialogue had to be dubbed by another actor, James Keach. He was rewarded with two Razzies, "Worst Actor" and "Worst New Star". (And, remember, this was the year of Miles O'Keeffe's spectacularly awful debut in "Tarzan the Ape Man"). Spilsbury's off-set brawling and heavy drinking earned the film more unwanted publicity; it is perhaps not surprising that he has not appeared in any films since. (At least O'Keeffe did go on to have a subsequent career of sorts, as did Michael Horse, who plays Tonto and was also making his debut here). The film also ended the directing career of William A. Fraker, better known as a cinematographer.

"The Legend of the Lone Ranger" does have some positive features. The storyline is no sillier than that of a lot of Westerns, and the treatment of the Native American characters is more positive and respectful than normal. There is some striking photography of the Western scenery, although if Fraker thought that Monument Valley is in Texas he was clearly not paying attention in geography class. Christopher Lloyd gives a decent performance as the villainous Cavendish, and the music is a lot better than a Razzie for "Worst Musical Score" might suggest. (And, yes, the "William Tell" overture does crop up in the score). These features, however, were not to save the film from failure at the box-office or from nomination for a "Worst Picture" Razzie. (It lost out, if that is the correct expression, to the much-maligned "Mommie Dearest", which in my view is nowhere near as bad as its detractors make out. My Razzie vote would have gone to "Tarzan the Ape-Man", which has virtually no redeeming features whatever).

The modest Western revival of the early eighties was doomed to remain a modest one; by the middle of the decade only a few diehards like Eastwood ("Pale Rider") and idealists like Lawrence Kasdan ("Silverado") were still making Westerns. Most of the blame for this situation must lie with another Razzie nominee from 1981, Michael Cimino's "Heaven's Gate", which artistically is much better than it is normally given credit for but which in commercial terms was one of the worst disasters in Hollywood history. "The Legend of the Lone Ranger" did not fail quite as badly as that- few films have- but it still failed, and its failure helped contribute to a climate in which investors were unwilling to take a risk on anything to do with the Old West. 4/10

The untold origin of the Lone Ranger. It shows who he was and how and why he became the Ranger.

Legendary bomb. The idea was not a bad one--reinvent and introduce the Lone Ranger for 1980s audiences. Right off the bat though there were problems. The studio ordered Clayton Moore (the original Ranger) to stop appearing anywhere as the Lone Ranger. It led to a nasty little battle that made headlines. I know of people who refused to see the film because of how Moore was treated. Also they hired the awesomely untalented Klinton Spilsbury to play the Ranger. Spilsbury was very handsome and muscular but had absolutely no charisma and just couldn't act. In fact his whole vocal performance was redubbed by another actor! Also his off screen antics (public drunkenness and beating people up) didn't help matters. Acting aside, the script is dull and slow. Also the Ranger himself doesn't show up until an HOUR in! There were some complaints at the time that the movie was too violent for a PG. However I don't think it was that bad.

There are a few (very few) things done right here--the photography was truly beautiful; Michael Horse was excellent as Tonto; Christopher Lloyd is lots of fun as the villain and when the Lone Ranger finally shows up (with the William Tell Overture booming from the soundtrack) it's really rousing. But, all in all, this is a boring and terrible attempt to bring back the Lone Ranger. It's easy to see why this bombed. A 4--mostly for the photography.

The lone survivor of an ambush of a Texas Ranger patrol (Klinton Spilsbury) is rescued by his childhood AmerIndian friend, Tonto (Michael Horse). He becomes the Lone Ranger and, along with Tonto, they go after the traitor & outlaw gang that orchestrated the massacre. Christopher Lloyd plays the villain, Matt Clark the crooked sheriff, Juanin Clay the beautiful lady and Jason Robards President Grant.

"The Legend of the Lone Ranger" (1981) is the first cinematic depiction of this Western hero, not counting the movies strewn together from the TV series (1949-1957) featuring Clayton Moore in the titular role. It's similar to "Mackenna's Gold" (1969) mixed with "The Comancheros" (1961) and its unacknowledged remake "Rio Conchos" (1964). All of these Westerns have a similar comic book tone, Southwest setting and a plot revolving around a veteran Civil War megalomaniac.

The difference is that "The Legend of the Lone Ranger" adds the masked Western hero angle, akin to the later "The Mask of Zorro" (1998), but this doesn't even occur until two minutes shy of the hour mark. From there, whenever the masked avenger shows up along with the corresponding "William Tell Overture" and "Hi, ho, Silver, Away!" it spurs chuckles. But, disregarding that, this is a standard comic book Western with a respectful, serious take on the legend.

This was lead actor Spilsbury's lone venture into cinema after only two small TV gigs. He looks the part and has the charisma, but the script doesn't give his character enough dimension and his voice was dubbed with James Keach's deeper vox. His fellow actors in the movie said this was unnecessary since there was nothing wrong with Spilsbury's voice (obviously the producers just wanted a deeper vox). Meanwhile, it's nice to see winsome Juanin Clay again (who had a significant role in the Buck Rogers episode "Vegas in Space" two years earlier), but not enough is done with her.

Unfortunately, bad publicity resulting from the studio's ill-advised lawsuit with Clayton Moore over his wearing the mask in public appearances tarnished the film's premiere. This combined with the recent box office bomb of "Heaven's Gate" (1980) and the general public disinterest in Westerns at the time doomed the movie. But, if you appreciate any of those Westerns noted above, it's worth a look even though the Johnny Depp version is all-around more entertaining (2013).

The film runs 1 hour, 38 minutes, and was shot Arizona (Monument Valley), New Mexico (Bonanza Creek Ranch and Eaves Movie Ranch in Santa Fe, Cook Ranch in Galisteo, Abiquiu), Southern Cal (Bronson Canyon Vasquez Rocks) and Utah (Moab, Monument Valley).

GRADE: B-