A Comprehensive History of the Green Hornet

OK, all you young whippersnappers out there who are saying "Huh?" right now are about to get a bit of an education. The Green Hornet? What about it? Who cares?

First off, the Green Hornet was one of the first masked costumed crime fighters, making his radio debut on January 31, 1936---seventeen days before The Phantom started gracing newspaper comic strips and about six years after The Shadow came to radio. His crime fighting efforts were not exactly liked by the police, who viewed him either as a meddling amateur or outright criminal. In future years, popular heroes such as Spider-Man walked a similar path.

The Hornet was the brainchild of Fran Striker and George W. Trendle, the team that had brought us The Lone Ranger exactly three years before the Hornet, with both shows originating on Detroit's WXYZ radio station. The similarities went one step further, in that the Hornet was the secret identity of newspaper publisher Britt Reid, who was the Lone Ranger's nephew Dan Reid's son.

Reid was helped by his trusted butler and sidekick Kato. In the original storyline, Kato was a Filipino of Japanese descent, but as the 1930's brought conflict with Japan, his character was altered and said to be Korean. This was especially critical when two movie serials were released in 1940 as America was weighing entry into World War II.

The crime fighter's prime means of locomotion was a powerful sedan called the Black Beauty. When the show began, the producers used the engine sound of the so-called "world's quietest car", the Pierce Arrow, for the Beauty. Kato was the car's chauffeur in addition to his other duties.

The radio show lasted until 1952, eventually being syndicated on The Mutual Network and the NBC Blue Network, which became ABC. Al Hodge originally voiced the Reid/Hornet character and Raymond Hayashi was Kato. As was the custom in the early age of radio, the show had an announcer to cue the commercials and set up the action. Legendary CBS TV newsman Mike Wallace once held that position. The program's theme was a piece of classical music, Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumble Bee". In the original opening, the announcer stated that the Green Hornet "went after criminals that even the G-men cannot reach". This infuriated FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover, who personally called the producers and had them remove that line from the show because it was embarrassing to the Bureau.

During World War II and beyond, going to the movies was a weekly ritual. Before the feature film, the audience would see newsreel footage and the ever-present serial. The serial was always a seven to twelve minute action drama that ended in a cliffhanger with someone in dire peril. This genre was the basis for the famous Indiana Jones films. The Green Hornet was well suited for this episodic role and was the subject of two different serials in 1940.

The next step for the Hornet was his own comic book. A company called Helmit ran six issues of The Green Hornet starting in December 1940. After those six volumes, Harvey Comics, which became known in later years for Richie Rich and Hot Stuff, took over the title, with the run ending in 1949. Since then, the Hornet has appeared a number of times in various comic incarnations, but rarely for anything more than a one-shot or short mini-series deal.

The most well-known appearance of this character came in 1966. ABC TV, seeing the success of its adaptation of "Batman", wanted another action hero to add to its stable. They chose the Green Hornet and even featured the character on the Batman show in a guest starring cross-promotion role, under the production leadership of the Caped Crusader's William Dozier, who also served as announcer for both shows.

ABC's Green Hornet was flashy, but unlike Batman's camp style, was devoid of the on-screen sound balloons and played straight. The network commissioned Dean Jeffries to build the Black Beauty, an ultra-customized 1965 Chrysler Imperial. Two cars were done at a cost of $50,000, a high price for 40 years ago, and the original model is in the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. To maintain the show's frantic tempo, Billy May was brought in to do the musical score, and veteran horn player Al Hirt's solo on the theme remains one of the best-known TV show tunes in the world.

Green Hornet played out 26 episodes from September 9, 1966 to March 17, 1967. Van Williams, a veteran of action/crime dramas of the early 60s (77 Sunset Strip, Hawaiian Eye, Surfside 6), played Britt Reid. His sidekick Kato showcased the talents of a young Bruce Lee to American audiences before he became an international star. Los Angeles radio legend Gary Owens had a recurring role as a TV newscaster, and after the series went on to do bits for Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.

That was pretty much the end of the Hornet's video life-or was it? Since the late 1990s, stories of the character's return have tickled the fancy of his fans, with such names as Jason Scott Lee and George Clooney being hinted at for the title role. Clooney portrayed Batman as a prelude to the Green Hornet, speculation goes. A screenplay was written in 2002 but abandoned. Yet another project rumor cropped up in 2004, supposedly pairing Jet Li as Kato with Jake Gyllenhaal playing Brit Reid. That one was laid to rest in 2006.

Fast forward now to March 20, 2007, and Columbia Pictures announcing that it bought the rights to the character. Producer Neal Moritz told Reuters that no director has been chosen and no casting choices made. It appears a new screenplay will be commissioned as Moritz stated the story will be set in today's time frame, with appropriate weapon upgrades. Who knows, maybe the Green Hornet will soon be buzzing again in a theater near you.