The Lone Ranger Rides Again

The Lone Ranger Rides Again is a 1939 American Republic serial. It was a sequel to Republic's 1938 serial The Lone Ranger, which had been highly successful, and the thirteenth of the sixty-six serials produced by Republic.

The Lone Ranger Rides Again
Directed byWilliam Witney
John English
Written byFranklin Adreoon
Ronald Davidson
Gerald Geraghty
Barry Shipman
Sol shor
Fran Striker (radio show)
George W. Trendle (radio show)
Produced byRobert M. Beche
StarringRobert Livingston
Chief Thundercloud
Duncan Renaldo
Jinx Falken
Ralph Dunn
J. Farrell MacDonald
CinematographyEdgar Lyons
William Nobles
Edited byHelene Turner
Edward Todd
Music byWilliam Lava
Distributed byRepublic Pictures
Release date
February 25, 1939[1]
Running time
15 chapters (263 minutes)[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$193,878 (negative cost: $213,997)[1]

The serial was considered lost for a long time but copies, with Spanish subtitles, have since been found and re-issued.[2][3]

Plot

Homesteaders moving into a valley in New Mexico are being attacked by the Black Raiders. The valley had been settled by rancher Craig Dolan, who does not want the new homesteaders to be there. His son, Bart, has taken matters into his own hands and formed the Black Raiders. The Lone Ranger attempts to aid the homesteaders but he is hampered by his having been framed for being part of the Raiders. In particular, Juan Vasquez believes that he killed his brother, although when this is disproven he becomes another of the Lone Ranger's partners. However, the Ranger is forced to remove the mask and operate under the name of "Bill Andrews" at times in order to successfully protect the homesteaders.

Cast
Main cast
  • Robert Livingston as The Lone Ranger and undercover as homesteader Bill Andrews. Avoiding the deliberate mystery of the radio show and the gradual revelation of the first serial, the Lone Ranger is clearly revealed as Bill Andrews from the start. Livingston replaced Lee Powell from the first serial.[4]
  • Chief Thundercloud as Tonto, the Lone Ranger's sidekick
  • Silver Chief as Silver, the Lone Ranger's horse. Silver Chief replaced Silver King, the horse in the original serial.[5]
  • Duncan Renaldo as Juan Vasquez, who originally believes the Lone Ranger killed his brother
  • Jinx Falken as Sue Dolan
  • Ralph Dunn as Bart Dolan, Craig Dolan's son, the villain and leader of the Black Raiders
  • J. Farrell MacDonald as Craig Dolan
Supporting cast
Additional cast
  • Billy Bletcher as the (uncredited) voice of The Lone Ranger. Bletcher also voiced the Ranger in the previous serial.

Production

The Lone Ranger Rides Again was budgeted at $193,878 although the final negative cost was $213,997 (a $20,119, or 10.4%, overspend). It was the most expensive Republic serial of 1939 and the second most expensive of all Republic serials after Captain America (1944, $222,906), just beating Secret Service in Darkest Africa (1943, $210,033).[1]

The studio was willing to spend so much on this serial because the previous Lone Ranger serial had been a major success and was making a profit after only a few months on release.[6]

It was filmed between 9 December 1938 and 20 January 1939 under the working title The Lone Ranger Returns.[1] The serial's production number was 895.[1]

Director William Witney did not believe the script was as good as the original The Lone Ranger but for the first time the directors insisted on being part of the casting process for this serial.[6]

Stunts

Release

Theatrical

The Lone Ranger Rides Again's official release date is 25 February 1939, although this is actually the date the seventh chapter was made available to film exchanges.[1]

Chapter titles[1][7]
  1. The Lone Ranger Returns (28 min 54s)
  2. Masked Victory (16 min 43s)
  3. The Black Raiders Strike (16 min 45s)
  4. The Cavern of Doom (16 min 44s)
  5. Agents of Deceit (16 min 37s)
  6. The Trap (16 min 39s)
  7. Lone Ranger at Bay (16 min 42s)
  8. Ambush (16 min 40s)
  9. Wheels of Doom (16 min 44s)
  10. The Dangerous Captive (16 min 37
  11. Death Below (16 min 40s)
  12. Blazing Peril (16 min 41s) -- Re-Cap Chapter
  13. Exposed (16 min 42s)
  14. Besieged (16 min 39s)
  15. Frontier Justice (16 min 45s)

See also

References
  1. Mathis, Jack (1995). Valley of the Cliffhangers Supplement. Jack Mathis Advertising. pp. 3, 10, 36–37. ISBN 0-9632878-1-8.
  2. B-Westerns, retrieved 11 August 2007
  3. Serial Squadron, retrieved 22 August 2020
  4. Harmon, Jim; Donald F. Glut (1973). "12. The Westerns "Who Was That Masked Man!"". The Great Movie Serials: Their Sound and Fury. Routledge. p. 310. ISBN 978-0-7130-0097-9.
  5. Stedman, Raymond William (1971). "4. Perilous Saturdays". Serials: Suspense and Drama By Installment. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-8061-0927-5.
  6. Witney, William (2005). In a Door, Into a Fight, Out a Door, Into a Chase. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-2258-6.
  7. Cline, William C. (1984). "Filmography". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 224. ISBN 0-7864-0471-X.
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