The Legend of the Lone Ranger

The rights to the character had been bought in 1954 by Jack Wrather, an oil billionaire, and his wife Bonita Granville. They had made many attempts to create a Lone Ranger movie that would appeal to a modern audience, including making Tonto an equal partner and mentor to the Lone Ranger. By the late 1970s they believed that the story was ripe for retelling in an epic vein similar to Richard Donner's Superman (1978), with the potential for sequels.[8]

In October 1977 Lew Grade announced he would make the film as part of a slate of movies worth $97 million, including Love and Bullets, Escape to Athena, and Raise the Titanic. Most of the films Grade would finance himself but Lone Ranger was a co production with Wrather. Grade said the Lone Ranger would likely be played by an unknown, after a wide talent search.[9] In October 1978 Grade said the film would be distributed by the new company Associated Film Distribution, a joint consortium between ITC Entertainment, EMI Films, and Marble Arch Productions.[10][11]

"This is a grand old western in the heroic and glorious style of the cowboy picture," said Walter Coblentz, producer. "This is not Blazing Saddles. When he puts on his mask you're going to believe it."[12]

Martin Starger said they were doing the film because "Heroes are needed today more than ever... We're playing it straight. This isn't a spoof or a satire."[13]

Coblentz added, " I decided the Indian element needed upgrading. I decided to treat the Lone Ranger and Tonto more as equals. I wanted their relationship to be dignified. I wanted to take advantage of Indian lore."[14]

In September 1979 Coblentz announced the director would be William Fraker. Fraker was normally a cinematographer but he had directed Monte Walsh which Coblentz admired.[15]

William Fraker the director said "The Lone Ranger will work if we can make him real" and said he was influenced by Lawrence of Arabia.[16]

Two of the movie's four screenwriters, Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts, had previously created the hit TV series Charlie's Angels; they had also worked together on another hit series, Mannix. According to Larry McMurtry, novelist George MacDonald Fraser had written an excellent script for the film,[17] but he was not credited in the finished film.

Actors considered for the lead included Stephen Collins, Nicholas Guest, and Bruce Boxleitner. The part eventually went to Klinton Spilsbury, a photographer who had studied art (particularly sculpting) in New York. Spilsbury, whose father was a football coach at the University of Arizona, had grown up on a ranch in Chihuahua, Mexico. Spilsbury signed to a three-picture deal.[12]

"He looked great in the mask, which seems like an odd thing to say,” Starger said. “But that was important because we had to find an actor whose eyes were not close together. The mask doesn’t look good if the eyes are too close.”[18]

Tonto was played by Michael Horse, a silversmith by trade, whose only other acting experience had been a bit part in a Raquel Welch TV-movie. "For me this is an adventure and fun," he said. "Who knows if I can act. I'll soon find out. And if I'm a flop I'll just go off fishing."[12] Horse would later make himself known as a supporting regular on David Lynch's prime-time experimental television series Twin Peaks.

This film was shot in New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and California starting April 1980. Many scenes were shot in Monument Valley, Carson National Forest, Santa Fe National Forest, and Valley of Fire State Park. The fictional border town of Del Rio was constructed twenty miles outside Santa Fe, New Mexico.[10][18]

Spilsbury was reportedly difficult during the shoot. “He came onto the set as if he was playing the role of a movie star,” says Lloyd. “I don’t know whether it was an affectation that he chose to bring with him, or whether he sincerely felt that that’s what was called for. And this was a problem from beginning to end. He did things that simply hindered the production.”[18] This included getting involved in several brawls at night during the shoot.[19]

The movie's ballad-narration, The Man in the Mask, was performed by country music artist Merle Haggard, and composed by John Barry with lyrics written by Dean Pitchford of Footloose and Sing fame.

The filmmakers were unhappy with Spilsbury's acting. "You just never believed what he was saying because he memorized the lines but he had never internalized them,” says Jim Van Wyck, who was a DGA assistant director trainee on the film. “It was like he was reading the script, but the intonations were wrong.”[18] This dialogue was eventually overdubbed for the entire movie by actor James Keach.[20]

"His inflections were a little strange, but I actually didn’t think he was that bad, to be honest with you,” says Keach. “I don’t know why they didn’t have him redo it. But it was a very well-paying job at the time, so I accepted it.”[18]

Five horses were used to play Silver.[21]

The film was part of a brief revival of the Western in 1980, which also included The Long Riders, Heaven's Gate and The Mountain Men.[22]

Part of the plan was to shoot a feature film with a new actor to replace the 65-year-old Clayton Moore, who had starred in the long-running and hugely successful television series for much of the 1950s.[23]

Wrather had a vision for the retelling of the story, and he felt that the profile of the character would be devalued by Moore's continuing to appear in costume, as he had done for many years entertaining children in hospitals and appearing at county and state fairs. Also, he did not want audiences to believe that the aging Moore would reprise his role as the Lone Ranger. In 1975, Wrather asked Moore to stop portraying the character, but he refused. In 1979, the producers obtained a court injunction barring Moore from appearing in public with his trademark black mask. He was also permitted to sign autographs only as "The Masked Man." Moore responded by changing his costume slightly and replacing the mask with similar-looking wraparound sunglasses, and by cross-litigating against Wrather. The suit was eventually dismissed. Wrather finally allowed Moore to continue openly playing the character again in 1984 shortly before Wrather's death.[10][24]

“I thought that was really kind of nasty and unnecessary,” said Christopher Lloyd. “Nothing Moore was doing was really interfering with the film. I thought that was kind of terrible.”[18]

The film was released in 1981 to massive negative publicity fueled by the above controversy and was shown on over 1,000 screens. The opening week was considered a disaster, making only $4 million.[4] The film ultimately grossed just $12 million against its $18 million budget. Other contributing factors were the lack of public interest in Westerns by the 1980s and alterations to some fundamental elements of the Lone Ranger's character, such as his trademark silver bullets being made into magical talismans in the movie instead of mere symbolism.[30]

Lew Grade, who invested in the movie, had managed to sell it to TV for $7.5 million, and also to HBO.[31]

Marvin Starger claimed the film cost $13 million rather than the reported $18 million but said with advertising and prints costing $10 million the film lost $10 million.[2] Fraker never directed again and Spilsbury never acted again.[18]

The film received generally mediocre reviews:[32] Time Out London said, "The mystery is how Fraker, a gifted cameraman who made a superb directing debut in Westerns with Monte Walsh, could produce such a clinker as this."[33]

The Los Angeles Times said "you can have a very good time watching it."[34]

In a 1981 episode of the weekly television movie review program, Sneak Previews, film critics Gene Siskel (of the Chicago Sun-Times) and Roger Ebert (of the Chicago Tribune) heavily criticized this film. Siskel stated that the movie was "badly acted and horribly paced." He chastised the tenor of the film, also, stating, "How about having a sense of humor of the character? You know, enjoying the presentation of the character? You don’t get it from the actor Klinton Spilsbury, and you don’t get it from the filmmakers or the director." Siskel, anticipating a short film career for Spilsbury, added this: "I think it [this movie] is going to provide a great trivia question for the 1990s: Not ‘Who was that Masked Man,’ but who played him? The answer Klinton Spilsbury."[35] Both Siskel and Ebert noted how it took an hour for The Legend of the Lone Ranger to really get started. Ebert specifically noted, "It’s very slowly paced, and it should have been break-neck [paced] right out of the starting gate... a real disappointing movie." On behalf of both critics, Siskel summed up the film this way, "Roger [Ebert] and I agree that ‘The Legend of the Lone Ranger’ is a total waste of time... neither one of us can recommend you see it". He refers to it as a "bad Western."[35]

Movie historian Leonard Maltin gave the picture 2 out of a possible 4 stars, noting "Some fine action, great scenery, and a promising storyline; yet these are sabotaged by awkward handling, uncharismatic leads, and an absolutely awful ballad-style narration. Paging Clayton Moore & Jay Silverheels!"[36]

Sir Lew Grade later wrote, in his 1992 autobiography Still Dancing: My Story, that he thought that the problem with the movie was that it took an hour and ten minutes before the Ranger first pulled on his mask. "The mistake was not dispensing with the legend in ten minutes and getting on with the action much earlier on," his text said.[31]

Kim Newman described the film as "disastrous" and pointed out that Spilsbury has never been heard of again.[37]