The Lone Rider Rides On
Directed bySam Newfield
Screenplay byJoseph O'Donnell
Produced bySigmund Neufeld
StarringGeorge Houston
Al St. John
Hillary Brooke
Karl Hackett
Lee Powell
Forrest Taylor
CinematographyJack Greenhalgh
Edited byHolbrook N. Todd
Production
company
Sigmund Neufeld Productions
Distributed byProducers Releasing Corporation
Release date
  • January 10, 1941 (1941-01-10)
Running time
61 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Lone Rider Rides On is a 1941 American Western film directed by Sam Newfield and written by Joseph O'Donnell. The film stars George Houston as the Lone Rider and Al St. John as his sidekick "Fuzzy" Jones, with Hillary Brooke, Karl Hackett, Lee Powell and Forrest Taylor. The film was released on January 10, 1941, by Producers Releasing Corporation.[1][2][3]

It is the first film in the 1941-1943 "Lone Rider" series, which spanned 17 movies — eleven starring George Houston, and a further six starring Robert Livingston. Houston was replaced in 1942 with Overland Stagecoach.[3]

The series also starred Al St. John as the Lone Rider's sidekick, "Fuzzy" Jones, who appeared in all seventeen films. At the same time that he appeared in the "Lone Rider" films, St. John was also playing the same character as Billy the Kid's sidekick in PRC's "Billy the Kid" series, which ran from 1940-1946.[4]

Houston, once an opera singer, sang three songs in this film: the theme "I'm the Lone Lone Rider," "Roll Along Prairie Wagon," and "Nobody's Fault But My Own." The songs were written by Johnny Lange and Lew Porter.[2]

The working title of the film was The Lone Rider Galloping for Glory.[3] This film was later released on DVD as Rider of the Plains.

Plot

Young Tom Cameron's family is killed while trying to reach their new land in Miracle Valley. As a grown man, Tom is a solitary vigilante, hoping to track down his family's killers. He finds another murdered man with a bill of sale to the same plot of land, and tracks the killers to the town of Flat Rock. Befriending a storekeeper, "Fuzzy" Q. Jones, Tom learns that a gang has been selling the same land to people for years, slaying them on their journey. Tom discovers that one of the gang members, Curly, is actually his brother Jimmy, who he thought was killed. With the help of Fuzzy and rancher Sue Brown, Tom kidnaps the gang's leader and rounds up the gang. In the end, Curly takes a bullet for Tom, dying heroically. Fuzzy wants Tom to be the new mayor of Flat Rock, but Tom chooses to remain a Lone Rider.

Cast

Theme song

The Lone Rider's theme song, "I'm the Lone Lone Rider", debuts in this first chapter of the series, sung by George Houston.

The lyrics begin:[4]

I'm the Lone Rider on the great divide
All alone roaming far and wide
When a helping hand is needed, I am ready without fail
I'm the Lone Rider, on the trail ...

Film series

The "Lone Rider" films starring George Houston:

starring Robert Livingston:

References

  1. ↑ "The Lone Rider Rides On (1941) - Overview". TCM.com. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  2. 1 2 Hans J. Wollstein. "The Lone Rider Rides On (1941) - Sam Newfield". AllMovie. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 "The Lone Rider Rides On". Catalog.afi.com. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  4. 1 2 Anderson, Chuck. "PRC's Lone Rider Series". The Old Corral. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
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