The Green Hornet (serial)

Last updated
The Green Hornet
Directed by Ford Beebe
Ray Taylor
Written by Fran Striker (adapted from the radio show adventure series)
Screenplay by George H. Plympton
(as Geo. H. Plympton)
Basil Dickey
Morrison Wood
(as Morrison C. Wood)
Lyonel Margolies
Produced by Henry MacRae
Starring Gordon Jones
Wade Boteler
Keye Luke
Anne Nagel
CinematographyJerome Ash
William A. Sickner
Edited byIrving Birnbaum
Joseph Gluck
Alvin Todd
Production
company
Universal Pictures
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date
  • January 9, 1940 (1940-01-09)
Running time
258 minutes
(13 chapters)
99 minutes
(movie)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Green Hornet is a 1940 black-and-white 13-chapter movie serial from Universal Pictures, produced by Henry MacRae, directed by Ford Beebe and Ray Taylor, starring Gordon Jones, Wade Boteler, Keye Luke, and Anne Nagel. The serial is based on The Green Hornet radio series by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker.

Contents

Plot

Britt Reid, the new publisher of The Sentinel newspaper, secretly becomes the vigilante crime fighter The Green Hornet. Backing him up is his Korean valet and inventor Kato. Together, they investigate and expose several separate underworld rackets. During the course of 13 serial chapters, these high-profile events lead the Hornet and Kato into continued conflict with the henchmen of "The Chief", the hidden mastermind behind a 12-person criminal syndicate controlling those rackets.

Cast

Chapter titles

Source: [3]

  1. The Tunnel of Terror
  2. The Thundering Terror
  3. Flying Coffins
  4. Pillar of Flame
  5. The Time Bomb
  6. Highways of Peril
  7. Bridge of Disaster
  8. Dead or alive
  9. The Hornet Trapped
  10. Bullets and Ballots
  11. Disaster Rides the Rails
  12. Panic in the Zoo
  13. Doom of the Underworld

Alternative versions

In 1990, under the same title, GoodTimes Home Video released a feature-length version of the serial on VHS tape, re-edited from the footage in the last six chapters.[ citation needed ]

Under the title The Green Hornet: Movie Edition, VCI Entertainment released its version of the serial on DVD, January 11, 2011, which includes the first and last chapter and selected other chapters. [4]

Influence

The 1960s Batman television series was created because of the popularity of a re-release of Columbia's Batman serial. The success of both led to the production of a Green Hornet TV series, which was played as a straight action crime series, "in the tradition of its former presentations", rather than the campy Batman series. It was cancelled after only one season. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green Hornet</span> Fictional character

The Green Hornet is a superhero created in 1936 by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker, with input from radio director James Jewell.

Kato (<i>The Green Hornet</i>) Fictional character from The Green Hornet

Kato is a fictional character from The Green Hornet franchise. This character has appeared with the Green Hornet in radio, film, television, book and comic book versions. Kato is the Green Hornet's crime-fighting sidekick, and Britt Reid's manservant in civilian life, and has been played by a number of actors. On radio, Kato was initially played by Raymond Hayashi, then Roland Parker who had the role for most of the run, and in the later years Mickey Tolan and Paul Carnegie. Keye Luke took the role in the movie serials, and in the television series, he was portrayed by Bruce Lee. Jay Chou played Kato in the 2011 Green Hornet film.

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References

  1. "The Green Hornet". DVD Talk . Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  2. Lidz, Franz (2011-01-07). "Float Like a Franchise, Sting Like a ..." The New York Times . Retrieved 2011-01-10.
  3. Cline, William C. (1984). "Filmography". In the Nick of Time . McFarland & Company, Inc. pp.  225–226. ISBN   0-7864-0471-X.
  4. Jones, Steve (2011-01-17). "DVD extra: Go back in time with The Green Hornet". USA Today . Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  5. Cline, William C. (1984). "2. In Search of Ammunition". In the Nick of Time . McFarland & Company, Inc. pp.  14–15. ISBN   0-7864-0471-X.