The Lone Ranger Week: "Legion of the Old Timers" (October 6, 1949)

At the Circle-K Ranch in Mesa County, the notorious criminal Red Devers (Norman Willis) is up to no good. 

Devers has taken the job of ranch foreman at the Circle-K after framing kindly old Banty (Emmett Lynn) for stealing the monthly pay-roll.  Worse, he takes advantage of the young and naive new owner, Bob Kittredge (De Forest Kelley), whose father has just passed away.  Dever captures Kittredge, beats him, and plans to sell the ranch out from under him.

The Lone Ranger and Tonto have been pursuing Devers for some time, and they learn from Banty that he is up to his old tricks at the ranch.  They ask Banty to gather up all the local "old timers" who have worked at the Circle-K, and prepare to battle Red's men.

Meanwhile, The Lone Ranger dresses up as an old-timer himself to pretend to be an agent for a rich man who wants to purchase the ranch from Devers.  

When the old-timers are worried that they can't defeat Devers' young gang, the Lone Ranger reminds them that the critical quality "is not strength...it's courage."

At the end of the day, the ranch is returned to Kittredge's hands, and he re-hires all the old-timers, thus proving -- in the words of the Lone Ranger -- that "nobody's ever washed up if they don't want to be."

In my earlier posts today, I talked about all the ingredients of the Lone Ranger myth coming together for the series' first three episodes.  I think I made a mistake in stopping there.  This fourth episode, "Legion of Old Timers" adds one final and indispensable ingredient to the mythos: moral uplift.

In this case, the Lone Ranger and Tonto come to the aid not only of inexperienced young Kittredge, but to a group of heroic old folks who think that they aren't worth anything anymore. In the episode's final battle, the Lone Ranger and Tonto humorously stand in the background, and help the old timers only "invisibly" -- intentionally stepping in when there is serious danger -- but otherwise letting the "legion" do the work.  This way, in the end, the group feels good about defeating Devers.

It's a lesson on old age, and dignity, and courage, and it's a perfect addition to the Lone Ranger canon.

The episode is a whole lot of fun for other reasons, too.  Clayton Moore is rarely seen without his mask as the Lone Ranger, but this episode plays around with that rule a little bit.  Here, the series' lead actor is made up with thick beard and moustache -- as well as old-age make-up -- to fool Devers.  So, we get to see the Lone Ranger's face...in a way.

Finally, this is a great Lone Ranger selection for Star Trek fans because a very, very young  (and handsome) DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy) plays a crucial role as Kittredge.  I have never seen the beloved actor on-screen looking so young (some 17 years before he was on Trek...), but he does a great job playing a young man trying to play catch-up as Devers exploits his innocence and naivete.