The Masked Rider

With a thunder of hoofs and a "Hi-yo, Silver . . . awa--ay!", The Lone Ranger this week gallops headlong into his 20th year on radio. As a reward for fighting virtue's fight in comic books, cartoon strips and on TV (Thurs. 7:30 p.m., ABC) as well as radio (Mon., Wed., Fri. 7:30 p.m., ABC), the masked rider grosses $5,000,000 a year. Most of the profits go to George W. Trendle, 67, a Detroit businessman (movie theaters, radio stations) who had the original idea for the Ranger back in 1932. His formula for the show was so surefire that it has not been tampered with since.

Basically, the Ranger's five writers are guided by a short list of "do's," e.g., the Ranger always speaks good English, is always on the side of law & order, and a longer list of "don'ts," e.g., the Ranger never smokes, swears, drinks, shoots to kill, has love affairs, uses slang or does any wrong of any kind.

Says Trendle: "Without detracting from the thrill and excitement, we try to convey a message that subtly teaches patriotism, tolerance, fairness and respect for the rights of all men." On the air, the sponsored (by General Mills) Lone Ranger is so strait-laced that he "avoids commercialism during the entertainment feature." Off the air, like his great rival, Hopalong Cassidy, he relaxes to the extent of endorsing some 70 commercial products, from wallpaper and hats to schoolbags and harmonicas.

Despite many public appearances--he drew 48,000 people in Miami's Orange Bowl and 100,000 to Detroit's Belle Isle the Lone Ranger is seldom identified as a 49-year-old actor named Brace Beemer, who stands 6 ft. 3, weighs 195 Ibs., and raises saddle horses on his Michigan farm. Like Trendle and Script Director Francis Striker, Beemer has been with the show since its inception. He served as program narrator during the five years when Actor Earle Graser, who died in 1941, played the Lone Ranger.

As a clean-living folk hero, the Ranger has been applauded by Boy Scout councils, the General Federation of Women's Clubs, parent-teachers' associations, and such notables as Vice President Alben Barkley, U.N. Delegate Warren Austin, J. Edgar Hoover ("The Lone Ranger is one of the greatest forces for juvenile good in the country"), and Bernard Baruch ("The same thrill I got as a boy reading Oliver Optic and Horatio Alger"). Creator Trendle offers his own recipe for the show's long life: "It is just plain, good, healthy American entertainment which will not offend anyone, because there is just nothing in it to criticize."

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