MovieChat Forums > The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981) Discussion > WHY did the producers sue Clayton Moore?...

WHY did the producers sue Clayton Moore?

posted 17 years ago by thepoet26
17 replies | jump to latest

I watched this movie with my dad when I was just a little girl and loved it. My dad was a HUGE fan of the original Lone Ranger and he loved the movie adaptation as much as I did. Perhaps because I was so young at the time, he never told me anything about the lawsuit. (I was probably about 5 or 6 the first time I saw the movie.)

Could someone please explain to me why Clayton was sued? I'm guessing their decision to sue him has everything to do with why this movie was so poorly received. Aside from the crummy dubbing, I think this was a pretty good movie.

Baba mi Ogun modupue

[–] hendrilh 17 years ago

The Wrather Corp. owned the rights to "The Lone Ranger", and sued him to make him stop doing tv appearances when the movie was being made.

[–] Lynn731 17 years ago

I went to school with Jack Wrather. Shame on them! They ruined Clayton Moore's life making him wear wrap around sunglasses instead of his signature mask. It was a wrong thing to do. Very unfair to Clayton Moore and his fans.

[–] OrionCA 16 years ago

Clayton Moore had been making personal appearances as the Lone Ranger for 20 years w/o controversy. It was frankly his only meal ticket because he was so typecast as the character that he could never find work in TV or movies again.

Rather than bring him on board as a "consultant" or giving him a bit part to play for nostalgia's sake The Wrather Corp decided they had to protect their "intellectual property" and told him to stop using the mask. He refused because it was so much a part of his public persona; they got a court order which turned out to be the dumbest move in the history of remakes. The bad publicity alone doomed the movie. Worse, even the critics who looked past the number they did on Moore panned it.

I remember that it re-popularized Jim Croce's 1972 hit "You Don't Mess Around With Jim" because of the chorus:

"Now they say you don't tug on Superman's cape
You don't spit into the wind
You don't pull the mask off the ol' Lone Ranger
And you don't mess around with Slim."

That got played A LOT when the film came out.

[–] tl2055 16 years ago

If the producers had been smart, they would have used Moore's appearances to promote the movie.

Although after seeing it, you can kind of tell they were going for a darker more serious interpretation of the material...maybe they didn't want to associate with what they must have considered was a campier version.

Official Bleeder

[–] kohntarkosz 15 years ago

As I recall, soon afterwards, Moore did an American Express TV commercial, playing off the whole thing. You remember how they used to have those ads were someone famous would appear on screen, say something like "Do you know me?" then give all these statistics about what they've done, then admit that sometimes they go unrecognized in public before declaring, "That's why I carry the American Express card".

As I recall, in the ad, Moore is seen reading a newspaper with a headline that reads something like "LONE RANGER UNMASKED". So he obviously had a sense of humor about it.

And as I recall, wasn't he eventually allowed to continue to doing appearances as The Lone Ranger after the movie bombed?

[–] dcoji 14 years ago

Moore was offered a part in the 1981 film, I am sure. And I think for the most part, he chose to not do any more roles. He was not type cast-people didn't know what he looked like without the mask!!!!!!

---------
There's something you should know
The three men I admire most
Are Curly, Larry, Moe

[–] smokehill retrievers 14 years ago

I don't know whether Moore was offered a part or if he turned it down, but I think he SHOULD have been offered something, and preferably something more than a walk-on cameo.

He often adopted disguises, such as an old prospector, in the original series, and I think they could have worked in a part as an old Ranger, with a few appearances during the movie ... not a major part, perhaps, but something a bit substantial. If I had been them, I'd have kept it quiet and then sprung the casting on the audience in the ending credits, as the last credit ... "and Clayton Moore, the Original Lone Ranger, as (whomever)." Moore would likely have accepted some semi-significant part like that -- could probably have used the money & exposure -- and I think it would have really jolted the original TV Lone Ranger fans, who probably would have flocked to the movie, just to see their old friend.

First off, it's almost a tradition in remakes, to the point that it's one of the things I look for, and I'm disappointed if they don't. Even movies I don't particularly like a lot, like Reeves' Superman remake, I'll watch just to see an "old friend" get a cameo. It's a tribute -- and often helps an aging actor who doesn't work much anymore -- and probably one of the few Hollywood traditions worth maintaining.

I think it's smart marketing, as well as a decent thing, for a Hollywood director to look at his remake early, considering everyone who's still alive from the "original," and say, "OK, now how can I use these people?" Let's face it -- casting, beyond the principals, is almost random anyhow (at best), and most of those roles could be plugged in by any one of a hundred actors.

[–] Dark_Sithlord 10 years ago

He often adopted disguises, such as an old prospector, in the original series, and I think they could have worked in a part as an old Ranger, with a few appearances during the movie ... not a major part, perhaps, but something a bit substantial. If I had been them, I'd have kept it quiet and then sprung the casting on the audience in the ending credits, as the last credit ... "and Clayton Moore, the Original Lone Ranger, as (whomever)."

I agree. During the scene where the Rangers were ambushed by Butch Cavendash, there was a brief scene where John Reid was pinned against the base of the cliff alongside an old ranger who says something like, "How do you like being a ranger, kid? I've been a ranger longer than you've been alive". That old ranger would have been a great part for Moore.

[–] smokehill retrievers 14 years ago

I think it was strictly a money item, and they were afraid that Moore's continued appearances as the character would undermine the new movie. After all, it was going to be hard enough breaking in a new unknown actor in one of the most beloved roles in TV history -- the last thing they needed was Moore making it worse.

Not that I blame him at all -- he basically "created" the character as we all knew it, and since the legal owners of the character never cared about him appearing for decades, as far as I'm concerned he was perfectly within his rights -- which, I think, is what the courts eventually determined.

I think Wrather and the rest were idiots for not getting Moore on board with the movie, no matter what it took. Dangling a significant part for an older character would probably have worked.for all of them.

By going the route they did, they just guaranteed that baby-boomers like myself were going to get really annoyed with them and stay away from the movie. I wouldn't buy a ticket, and never saw the movie until it appeared on TV.

A major remake of a wildly popular series like this should have gone overboard to find some cameos, at least, even if the best they could do was a bit part for one of Jay Silverheels' kids. It's the decent thing to do, and it's the sort of thing that pulls in the "old fans."

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Captain_Augustus_McCrae 13 years ago

John Hart, the actor who replaced Moore for one season of The Lone Ranger WAS offered, and accepted, a cameo role. Even more of a slap in the face of Clayton Moore, IMHO.

"It ain't dying I'm talking about, it's living!!!"
Augustus McCrae

[–] proudbrunette 11 years ago

It sounds like the movie deserved to flop, given the way Mr. Moore was treated. It's too bad though, that young actor had to take the brunt of it rather than the producers.

[–] urish 10 years ago

I had limited dealings with Moore and his agent around that time.
The Wrather Corporation claimed that an aging Clayton Moore appearing as The Lone Ranger would "confuse" audiences for the new film and keep new fans away. So he could not bill himself as The Lone Ranger or wear the mask or drink vodka martinis shaken not stirred---oh wait, that was a different character.
So, that's why Moore had to start billing himself as "The Man Who Portrayed The Lone Ranger" instead of "The Lone Ranger" and started wearing the wrap-wound sunglasses and had to modify his show a bit in his appearances.
Yes, like John Hart, Moore was offered a cameo. Moore countered the offer by suggesting that the story be altered a bit and that he, as The Lone Ranger, "hand down the mask" to a new "Lone Ranger" and help him in the guise of his other characters (the old prospector and the Southern Aristocrat). But the Wrather Corp. said no.
Once the film was out and had clearly bombed the Wrather Corp. dropped their legal proceedings.

[–] Splarne 10 years ago

Moore countered the offer by suggesting that the story be altered a bit and that he, as The Lone Ranger, "hand down the mask" to a new "Lone Ranger" and help him in the guise of his other characters (the old prospector and the Southern Aristocrat).

sounds like bandera's zorro.

***

Go away, or I shall taunt you a second time!

[–] cyberdynesystems101 9 years ago

It's too bad though, that young actor had to take the brunt of it rather than the producers.

Klinton Spilsbury? He wasn't really much helping his case to begin with. He didn't have any acting expeirence prior to the film, had been getting drunk and getting into fights at local bars, and practicually sabatoged himself during his interview with Andy Warhol when he arrived drunk and stating spewing out crazy stories. Even without Moore being sued, he would have taken some burn anyway because of his behaviour.

I an't afraid of no ghosts!

[–] Zingbot_9000 9 years ago

As for offering him just a cameo, the problem with using Clayton any more than that is he would have wanted it to be exactly the way Clayton portrayed it. Name some instances where a movie/tv was redone and the former stars were heavily involved in it. I can not think of any.

...............ZING!

[–] mikethemartian (6067) a year ago

When you own an intellectual property you are required to police it yourself or you take the risk of it falling into the public domain. But they could have just licensed the use of it to him for a small nominal fee or just contracted with him to be a goodwill ambassador for the brand.

When I went to the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL there was a good sub shop there called Hogan’s Heroes. I can’t remember if they had any artwork from the TV show but they had WWII artwork. Apparently Bing Crosby Productions found out about it and forced them to change the name of the shop. They could have just offered to license the right to use the name to them and maybe some artwork. Other than reruns it wasn’t like there was a lot of use or promotion of the brand that might cause a conflict.