Hi-yo, Silver! Away!

[dave]

Also, Armand Hammer was an American business manager and owner (d. 1990), most closely associated with Occidental Petroleum, a company he ran for decades. He was a close friend to Tennessee Senator Albert Gore, Senior. (Wiki)

I always thought Arm and Hammer Baking Soda was named after Hammer, who owned a lot of the Church & Dwight company, maker of the product. Wiki says no, however, and that the brand name was in existence before Armand Hammer was born. Quite a coincidence.

I wonder if the actor has any ties to the Hammer family.

[dave]

I suppose the usual cast of characters will weigh in on whether Depp's portrayal of the fictional Tonto honors the American Indian. I suppose their opinions will capture about a half of a news cycle. I suppose I'll skip over those stories in the paper.

As kids, we always thought highly of Tonto, mainly because he was a loyal worker who paid obeisance to a masked man who all but owned him. But it was OK because The Man had saved Tonto's life or something like that. At that time in the 1950's we were being brought up to be good little workers who would support our employers through thick and thin ... not to mention strikes by those anti-social socialists like Kracker who would disrupt the status quo just because after a week's labor their meager wages weren't enough to feed their families.

In school, we were taught that American business was about as close to Godliness as one might expect to get. And in Catholic school we memorized 324 questions and answers from a conclave held in Baltimore in the previous century. The right answers would get us into heaven some day.

We Catholic school students marched through the streets of Utica on May 1 in honor of Mary, ever virgin, while Russians marched on the same May Day to honor communism, we were told. So ours was to counteract theirs. I don’t think whatever we were honoring or protesting or marching about was all that clear to us. As the Mother of God, Mary was of course vehemently anti-communist and didn’t much like the Soviets. Only God and Bishop Fulton Sheen knew what she thought of the Chinese. No one ever told us May Day originally honored workers and labor. The Russkys said that was communism. So here we were in a sense marching against workers’ rights while our blue collar parents cheered us on. That inconsistency was somehow emblematic of the 1950's, if not American life.

And we never worried about the Indians back then. I'm not sure we knew any were left. We didn't worry about blacks either. They lived down on Washington Courts in nicely done brick tenements. My uncle said they had more money left over than the rest of us after paying such cheap rent and that was the reason for their flashy cars.

How could we worry about the plight of what came to be called minorities when we had to show up at the factory every morning, memorize our Baltimore Catechism, keep throwing money in the collection plate on Sunday and keep up with the Joneses?

That Tonto! He was a saint, for sure, and I'll never understand why Eugenio Pacelli didn't canonize him. I can't imagine how badly Lyle Lovett's lyrics would have been received by Sister Mary Hysteria.

"The mystery masked man was smart
He got himself a tonto
'cause tonto did the dirty work for free
But tonto he was smarter
And one day said kemo sabe
Kiss my ass I bought a boat
I'm going out to sea "

I hope I've annoyed someone.

[kit]

Very entertaining, Dave, but you're a little upside down about Tonto. He save the Lone Ranger's life (as well as named him) - not the other way around. If you've got a minute I'll tell you the story.

A posse of 6 Texas Rangers were out looking for the Butch Cavendish gang. The gang ambushed them in a canyon and shot them all, leaving them for dead. Although badly wounded, John Reid didn't die. Later, Tonto approached the 'dead' rangers and found John still alive. He dug 6 graves and buried the 5 dead rangers and left one grave empty so the Butch Cavendish gang would think they'd killed all the Rangers. He took the badly injured John Reid back to his camp and nursed him back to health. When John regained consciousness he couldn't remember anything so Tonto told him the story, saying "...and you only one not die - you lone ranger." The Lone Ranger was very grateful to Tonto and they lived happily ever after (at least in our minds).

Interestingly, as time went on, John Reid's nephew, Dan, had a son who he named 'Britt.' Britt Reid became known as "The Green Hornet" another one of Fran Striker's super-heros who also had a sidekick - Cato. But that's another story.

[dave]

Kit, that's fascinating. You know, when I wrote that the LR saved Tonto's life, I monetarily stopped because that didn't seem right. I should have looked it up.

And I never knew that about the Green Hornet.

[kit]

Actually, Dave, you're right. Long before the Butch Cavendish massacre John Reid did save Tonto's life when they were much younger. This is why Tonto took a special interest in 'white many who treat injun good.' So it's my bad, but the story was good just the same, huh?

Another quick story that's funny to me. Fran Striker who wrote the LR and Green Hornet scripts wrote one other program for George W. Trendell. It was "Sgt. Preston of the Yukon" starring Paul Sutton. Many of the same actors played the various characters on that program as well as the LR. I found it funny when I'd hear one of the Sgt. Preston actors say a line, then say "You savvy?" They were so used to the LR scripts that 'savvy' was a natural for them. So,' bwahaha, kemosabee!'

[oldnewhartfordboy]

As the Lone Ranger TV series evolved Tonto became less subservient. It probably had to do with Clayton Moore leaving the series for a while. John Hart just didn't measure up to Clayton Moore so Jay Silverheels role was expanded. Tonto became more forceful.

[corner]

lone ranger to tonto "tonto we are surrounded by hostile Indians
tonto to lone ranger" what you mean we paleface"

[dave]

'Lone Ranger' misfires despite loot, star power

Scott Bowles, USA TODAY

July 8, 2013

Despite a trunk full of cash and one of Hollywood's biggest stars at its core, 'The Lone Ranger' lands with a thud at the box office.

The highly hyped Western could end up being one of year's biggest flops
A risky genre and stiff competition from 'Despicable Me 2' were a recipe for failure
Disney has gambled before, and it has lost big and won big

LOS ANGELES — On paper and in the marketing blitz that preceded its leaden debut Wednesday, The Lone Ranger had the trappings of a runaway hit.

By the end of Wednesday, the $225 million film was off the rails. The Johnny Depp vehicle earned an abysmal $29 million through July Fourth and finished the usually lucrative holiday weekend with $49 million.

Disney did not respond to interview requests Monday, but it noted in a release Sunday that the film earned a B+ from CinemaScore (which measures audience appeal) and collected $25 million overseas in less than a third of the international markets, suggesting the film could still recoup its production budget.

But box-office analysts, who had expected Lone Ranger's numbers to be twice what they were, say a risky genre, a waning star and studio hubris left the creative team behind Pirates of the Caribbean holding what probably will be one of the year's more staggering flops.

Continued at:

www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2013/07/08/lone-ranger-flop-box-office/2497611/

I didn't see it, but heard it was a pretty good flick.

[clarencebunsen]

Season 1 Episode 1 is available on YouTube:



The poster got the Reids mixed but one of the commenters added more info.

[dave]

I watched it. Missing only the Cheerio commercials. "I'm supposed to be dead and I'm going to stay that way."
And with that, a lucrative and uniquely American saga was born, profitable to many over the years, but maybe not now for Disney, Depp and Hammer.

But it's early. I hear this latest version is a different treatment of the old story, and refreshingly told. Maybe it will become a cult classic.

BTW, I noticed the program length was only 21:43. I think the length years ago at a PBS affiliate where I interned was 28:50 because there were no commercials. That means the half hour show would ordinarily have about 7 minute of commercials back then? That seems like a lot. We have someone on this forum with more recent knowledge of such things, I think.

[clarencebunsen]

When I watch a current half hour program On Demand and fast forward through commercials, it takes about 22 minutes.

[dave]

Yup, that's the same as the LR issue you posted. But I thought less time was devoted to commercials in the 50's than today. Maybe not.

Of course, the LR issue could have been re-cut for modern programming models.

[clarencebunsen]

I've seen that on BBC programs on US networks, a sudden jump in the story line.

[bobbbiez]

Due to having out of town company most of the summer I did not go to see the Long Ranger as planned and I don't plan on going to see it either. My son, daughter and sister went to see it and they all agreed it stunk and not worth the $$ to go see it. They said the movie was way too long. Johnny Depp's role as Tonto was too far over the edge and did no justice to native Americans or the movie. Kind of glad I couldn't go to see the film. I know I would have been very disappointed. Some times it's better to leave what's in your memory as a good memory.