Post by Zone Fighter on Aug 19, 2005 18:20:36 GMT -8
The Green Hornet (1966)
Van Williams - Britt Reid/The Green Hornet
Bruce Lee - Kato
Wende Wagner - Miss Case (Reid's secretary)
Lloyd Gough - Mike Axford (crime reporter)
Walter Brooke - Distract Attorney Frank P. Scanlon
William Dozier - narrator (uncredited) [also executive producer]
Based on characters created by George W. Trendle (creator of the Lone Ranger) for radio
Muscial Theme "Flight of the Bumblebee", solo by Al "The Horn" Hirt
Following in the footsteps of his great-uncle John Reid aka The Lone Ranger, newspaper publisher Britt Reid becomes a masked crime fighter. Unlike the Lone Ranger who was known as champion of justice the Green Hornet is believed by most people to be a dangerous criminal, this makes Reid's task harder as he has to avoid capture by the police while he brings thieves and murderers to justice, but it also allows him to infiltrate organized crime. In the tv series the Green Hornet's identity is known to Kato, Britt Reid's secretary Miss Case and the DA.
Although produced by the same companies as "Batman", 20th Century Fox Television and Greenway Production and haveing the same executive producer/narrator, the Green Hornet was played seriously not with tongue firmly in cheek as was Batman. I guess this was the wrong direction to take since Batman ran for 120 episodes and the Green Hornet for only 26.(Radio audience and TV audience clearly very different as the Green Hornet was popular on radio while a Batman series was not produced even though Batman did guest star in Superman.) The Green Hornet and Kato took on both professional and amatuer criminals, who were usually guilty of murder. The closest the series came to having a super criminal was the mad scientist in the two part story "Invasion from Outer Space". Some episodes were edited into movies. The Green Hornet and Kato also appeared in two episodes of Batman. In my opinion those were not very good episodes. They shouldn't have tried mixing the campy Batman with the more series Green Hornet. Clips from Batman are shown twice in the Greenhornet, once when a crook is watching the show and once when Britt Reid turns on his tv.
In the early episodes Kato has few lines, Bruce Lee is there to beat up criminals not talk. He gets more lines in later episodes. Also in the early episodes you can tell what equipment will be used soon by what the Green Hornet checks when he gets in his car, the Black Beauty. If he tests his Hornet Gun then he's going to gas somebody, if he tests the Hornet Sting then he's going to break down a door or blast a gun out of some villain's hand, if he has Kato test "the scanner" then he's going to use the Black Beauty's scanner to follow another vehicle. In later episodes those telegraphing scenes are dropped.
Kato is rather vicious, the blows he gives people in the neck could potentionally kill a person. And its not always criminals he beats up, sometimes its police men or innocent guards who are just doing their job not knowing their employers are crooks. So the sidekick doesn't upstage there hero there is usually at least one man the Green Hornet gets to knock out with a punch.
If memory serves in the radio seris Britt is editor as he is father the publisher is still alive. The DA does not know he's the Green Hornet. And Kato is just the driver/mechanic he was never descriped as a martial arts expert.
There is one problem in both the radio and tv series, Kato is Kato whether he's Britt Reid's servent or the Green Hornet's driver, yet no one puts two and two together. Although two people in Batman come to the conclusion that Britt Reid is Batman and Bruce Wayne is the Green Hornet, this depsite the fact that the Green Hornet does not normally operate in Gotham City but in some other unnamed location wich Batman narrator says is far from Gotham city.
Note: someone posting at the Internet Movie database claims the reason Batman and the Green Hornet have not been officially released on DVD is the the rights for both shows has been disputed and has been in litigation for years. Should you get your hands on a DVD-R the video quality won't be great, and audio may skip a bit.
"Another challenge for the Green Hornet, his aide Kato, and their rolling arsenal, the Black Beauty. On Police records a wanted criminal, the Green Hornet is really Britt Reid, owner-publisher of the Daily Sentinel, his dual identity known only to his secretary and to the district attorney. And now, to protect the rights and lives of decent citizens, rides THE GREEN HORNET." - opening narration (after prologue sets up the episode)
Van Williams - Britt Reid/The Green Hornet
Bruce Lee - Kato
Wende Wagner - Miss Case (Reid's secretary)
Lloyd Gough - Mike Axford (crime reporter)
Walter Brooke - Distract Attorney Frank P. Scanlon
William Dozier - narrator (uncredited) [also executive producer]
Based on characters created by George W. Trendle (creator of the Lone Ranger) for radio
Muscial Theme "Flight of the Bumblebee", solo by Al "The Horn" Hirt
Following in the footsteps of his great-uncle John Reid aka The Lone Ranger, newspaper publisher Britt Reid becomes a masked crime fighter. Unlike the Lone Ranger who was known as champion of justice the Green Hornet is believed by most people to be a dangerous criminal, this makes Reid's task harder as he has to avoid capture by the police while he brings thieves and murderers to justice, but it also allows him to infiltrate organized crime. In the tv series the Green Hornet's identity is known to Kato, Britt Reid's secretary Miss Case and the DA.
Although produced by the same companies as "Batman", 20th Century Fox Television and Greenway Production and haveing the same executive producer/narrator, the Green Hornet was played seriously not with tongue firmly in cheek as was Batman. I guess this was the wrong direction to take since Batman ran for 120 episodes and the Green Hornet for only 26.(Radio audience and TV audience clearly very different as the Green Hornet was popular on radio while a Batman series was not produced even though Batman did guest star in Superman.) The Green Hornet and Kato took on both professional and amatuer criminals, who were usually guilty of murder. The closest the series came to having a super criminal was the mad scientist in the two part story "Invasion from Outer Space". Some episodes were edited into movies. The Green Hornet and Kato also appeared in two episodes of Batman. In my opinion those were not very good episodes. They shouldn't have tried mixing the campy Batman with the more series Green Hornet. Clips from Batman are shown twice in the Greenhornet, once when a crook is watching the show and once when Britt Reid turns on his tv.
In the early episodes Kato has few lines, Bruce Lee is there to beat up criminals not talk. He gets more lines in later episodes. Also in the early episodes you can tell what equipment will be used soon by what the Green Hornet checks when he gets in his car, the Black Beauty. If he tests his Hornet Gun then he's going to gas somebody, if he tests the Hornet Sting then he's going to break down a door or blast a gun out of some villain's hand, if he has Kato test "the scanner" then he's going to use the Black Beauty's scanner to follow another vehicle. In later episodes those telegraphing scenes are dropped.
Kato is rather vicious, the blows he gives people in the neck could potentionally kill a person. And its not always criminals he beats up, sometimes its police men or innocent guards who are just doing their job not knowing their employers are crooks. So the sidekick doesn't upstage there hero there is usually at least one man the Green Hornet gets to knock out with a punch.
If memory serves in the radio seris Britt is editor as he is father the publisher is still alive. The DA does not know he's the Green Hornet. And Kato is just the driver/mechanic he was never descriped as a martial arts expert.
There is one problem in both the radio and tv series, Kato is Kato whether he's Britt Reid's servent or the Green Hornet's driver, yet no one puts two and two together. Although two people in Batman come to the conclusion that Britt Reid is Batman and Bruce Wayne is the Green Hornet, this depsite the fact that the Green Hornet does not normally operate in Gotham City but in some other unnamed location wich Batman narrator says is far from Gotham city.
Note: someone posting at the Internet Movie database claims the reason Batman and the Green Hornet have not been officially released on DVD is the the rights for both shows has been disputed and has been in litigation for years. Should you get your hands on a DVD-R the video quality won't be great, and audio may skip a bit.
"Another challenge for the Green Hornet, his aide Kato, and their rolling arsenal, the Black Beauty. On Police records a wanted criminal, the Green Hornet is really Britt Reid, owner-publisher of the Daily Sentinel, his dual identity known only to his secretary and to the district attorney. And now, to protect the rights and lives of decent citizens, rides THE GREEN HORNET." - opening narration (after prologue sets up the episode)