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Earle Graser, the first great impersonator of the Masked Rider of the Plains. |
NRR Project: The Lone
Ranger – “The Osage Bank Robbery”
Written by Fran
Striker
Directed by James
Jewell
Broadcast Dec. 17,
1937
“He is simply the
best-known hero of the West ever created,” writes radio historian John Dunning,
and of course he is right. It is a fact that the one character dramatic radio produced
that survived its heyday, and that remains known throughout the culture, is the
one and only Lone Ranger.
His creator George
W. Trendle referred to him as “the embodiment of answered prayer.” He was the
most upright of heroes, a vigilante lawman of the Old West who went masked and
never stopped to receive thanks from those he saved from the clutches of evil.
He did not drink, or smoke, or curse. According to Fran Striker, the man whose prolific
writing brought him to life, the Lone Ranger even had a creed –
“1. I believe that
to have a friend, a man must be one.
2. That all men are
created equal and that everyone has within himself the power to make this a
better world.
3. That God put the
firewood there, but that every man must gather and light it himself.
4. In being prepared
physically, mentally, and morally to fight when necessary for that which is
right.
5. That a man should
make the most of what equipment he has.
6. That ‘this
government, of the people, by the people, and for the people,’ shall live
always.
7. That men should
live by the rule of what is best for the greatest number.
8. That sooner or
later... somewhere... somehow... we must settle with the world and make payment
for what we have taken.
9. That all things
change, but the truth, and the truth alone lives on forever.
10. I believe in my
Creator, my country, my fellow man.”
He was
incorruptible, honest, utterly and unswervingly dependable. He never had romantic
doings with women, that we knew of. He spoke correct English, and never misused
it. He fired his pistols expertly, only to disarm, never to wound or kill. He
was a saint in cowboy gear.
As the best-known
opening narration of the show stated so eloquently:
“With his faithful
Indian companion, the daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains led the
fight for law and order in the early Western United States. Nowhere in the
pages of history can one find a greater champion of justice. Return with us now
to those thrilling days of yesteryear. From out of the past come the thundering
hoofbeats of the great horse Silver! The Lone Ranger rides again!”
His origin story is
mythic. He is one of six Texas Rangers who were ambushed at Bryant’s Gap by the
outlaw Butch Cavendish and his gang. Surrounded and outgunned, all the Rangers
were killed – save one, John Reid who was mortally wounded and left for dead.
Reid is found and nursed back to health by a childhood friend, the Native American,
Tonto, who also digs six graves so that no one will know he survived. Reid swears to avenge the death of his fellow Rangers by upholding the
principles of truth and justice. He is ready to take on a new identity.
“You lone Ranger
now,” comments Tonto. And the man is born.
He was born on Jan.
31, 1933, via station WXYZ in Detroit. The station’s owner, the aforementioned Trendle,
left his association with the CBS network, losing access to its shows. He
determined to operate independently, and starting searching for a show that
would be a hit.
He settled on the
idea of a Western series, and then he and several others, some of whom also complained
that they were all least partly responsible for the creation of the character,
hashed out the details of the show. The outline was then passed on to hack
writer extraordinaire, Fran Striker, who is said to have crushed out 60,000
words a WEEK for for various radio shows, magazines, books, and the like. It
was Striker who developed and refined the character.
The show was an
immediate hit. Promotions that were advertised on the air resulted in thousands
of responses. Soon WXYZ could syndicate the show to other stations, eventually
creating what came to be known as the Mutual Broadcasting System, which wound
up bigger than only NBC and CBS. The Lone Ranger founded a financial dynasty.
The show is still
instantly recognizable, as the closing strains of Rossini’s (public domain) overture
to his 1829 opera William Tell rang out, ever to be identified as the
Lone Ranger’s theme. (It can only be speculated what Rossini might have thought
of this.) After the stirring opening narration, each self-contained episode
would begin.
There was trouble at
the bank, or with ranchers vs. farmers, or bandits, rustlers, crooked sheriffs,
and on and on. The conflict was quickly established, as the good and bad
characters interacted for the first half of the episode, setting up a
confrontation. Then the Lone Ranger would swoop in (frequently Tonto clued him
in to what was going on), and through words of wisdom and, if necessary, gunplay, he would put the situation to right.
“The Osage Bank
Robbery” is a typical Ranger story. Two grizzled, kindly old prospectors have
run out of money and face starvation. Two bandits, merciless killers, hide
after a robbery in the abandoned mine the two prospectors had worked. The
Ranger brings the prospectors out to the mine under the impression that there
was more silver to be mined from it. There they set off a charge that closes
the mouth of the mine, leaving the bandits helpless inside. The Ranger lets the
prospectors capture them and get the reward, saving their bacon, so to speak.
And, of course, before he can be thanked, it’s “Hi-yo, Silver! Awaaay!” And off
he and Tonto go.
Director James Jewell
had been with the project since the beginning, having already created a
repertory acting company for the station, and blessed with a talented and
resourceful sound effects department. Upwards of a dozen actors could be called
on for a single episode. The Ranger was played primarily by Earle Graser until
his tragic death in 1941 – after that, Brace Beemer filled the role. John Todd
played Tonto the whole way. Taken all together, this small mob of collaborators
created shows that still stand up to a good listening.
Of course, the show was
not woke and had its problematic aspects, first of all in the character of
Tonto. Although he is portrayed as intelligent and possessed of a will of his
own, he speaks in monosyllables that render him frequently as though he were
simple-minded. Still, the show avoided ethnic stereotypes – there were no comic
Chinese, Black, or Mexican characters, a rarity for the time.
The show had a
religious group of fans, and the show persisted through 1954, a 21-year run
unmatched in the industry. He was the idol of children and, as they grew up,
adults as well. The Ranger was impossibly perfect, but if you’re going to have a
hero, why not insist on the best? At his best, the Lone Ranger affirmed that
right and wrong existed, and that right can win out over wrong. Not a bad creed
to live by.
The National Recording
Registry Project tracks one writer’s expedition through all the recordings in
the National Recording Registry in chronological order. Nest time: The Wisconsin Folksong Collection.