On January 31, 1936, the Green Hornet radio program aired on WXYZ in Detroit, Michigan. Al Hodge played the part of the Green Hornet from 1936 through January of 1943. The program was created by George W. Trendle, the same man associated with the creation of the Lone Ranger radio show.
The premise of the Green Hornet was that of a modern day Lone Ranger. The main character was Britt Reid, a newspaper publisher of the Daily Sentinel by day and the Green Hornet by night. Britt Reid was supposed to be the great-nephew of the Lone Ranger. Britt Reid's war against crime was an extension of his family history. The Green Hornet fought crime with his high-powered car, the Black Beauty. He also utilized a gun that fired knockout gas instead of bullets. His fists also came in handy on a regular basis. He was assisted by his Filipino valet, Kato.
Kato would drive the Black Beauty, keep watch out for the police or the bad guys and sometimes lend a helping fist to the fighting. The Green Hornet pretended to be a villain while really battling the forces of crime in the big city. This would make for some interesting plot twists as the Green Hornet would be actively avoiding detection by the police while at the same time attempting to destroy criminal activity in the city. Many times the Green Hornet would lead the police to believe that the Green Hornet had been the mastermind of the case at hand. The police would receive an anonymous tip of where they could pick up the now subdued crooks with the Green Hornet just barely making his escape from the scene.
The Green Hornet would be alerted to criminal activity through his job as editor of the Daily Sentinel. The crime stories would lead Britt Reid to transform into the Green Hornet to battle crime at night.
How long did "The Green Hornet" play on the radio?
The Green Hornet program began in January of 1936 and played to December 5, 1952. The shows typically ran thirty minutes and ran twice a week in the beginning years. They later reverted to being broadcast once a week. The last season of the show in 1952 the show reverted back to a twice a week schedule. As mentioned above, Al Hodge played the role of Britt Reid for seven years. Fran Striker, a co-creator of the Lone Ranger, wrote all of the scripts for the Green Hornet until April 1944. After that, several other writers were brought in to script the show. The writing output of Fran Striker was incredible. While he was scripting the Green Hornet he was also writing the scripts for the Lone Ranger program.
Following Al Hodge, three other radio actors played Britt Reid. Donovan Faust took the role for the 1943 season. Robert Hall played the part for three years, from 1943 to 1946. Jack McCarthy finished the last years of the series from 1946 through 1952. Thus ended a tremendous 16-year radio program full of action, high-speed chases, and the overcoming of evil by the Green Hornet.
The Green Hornet Radio Program aired regionally January 1936 – April 1938 out of WXYZ in Detroit and nationally April 1938 – December 1952 over Mutual, Blue Network, and ABC.
With buzzing insect crescendos and a splash of Korziov’s “Flight of the Bumblebee,” eager fans across country were treated to weekly (sometimes biweekly) installments of one of Radio’s best known and distinctive juvenile adventure programs.
“The Green Hornet” was the brainchild of George Trendle and the talented writing and acting crew over at WXYZ radio in Detroit -the same producers of hit programs, “The Lone Ranger” and “Challenge of the Yukon.” “The Green Hornet” is a spin-off of sorts, from the “Lone Ranger” program. The Green Hornet character Britt Reid, is the grand-nephew of erstwhile Texas Ranger John Reid (aka the Lone Ranger himself).
Set in the “modern-day” era that it was broadcast, Reid is the publisher and chief of the family business, a newspaper called The Daily Sentinal. Instead of a horse, this masked crime-stopper travels via “Black Beauty” his sleek ultra-modern automobile, equipped with an array of the latest gadgets for capturing criminals and quick getaways. In his battles the Green Hornet never uses guns (bullets at least), instead relying on his brawn and high-tech weapons that fire “knock-out gas” and smokescreens.
“Chauffeuring” Reid is his faithful companion Kato, who alone knows Reid’s true identity as the Green Hornet. A renaissance man of sorts, Kato is the keen-minded master of martial arts, chemistry, cookery, race-car driving, house-keeping and weapons development. Some sources say that the Kato character was portrayed as Japanese until the outbreak of WWII and Pearl Harbor, while others claim he was described as a Filipino (of Japanese descent) at least two years previous.
As an added irony, in the public eye the Green Hornet poses as a gangster, in order to better infiltrate and destroy various crime syndicates “from within.” Therefore in addition to battling crooks, the Hornet must keep one step ahead of the police. Often times after he has apprehended his villains, an “anonymous tip” leads law officers to the sight of yet another nefarious Green Hornet crime scene where “his accomplices” lie waiting for capture with the Hornet himself only just escaped.
Other minor characters in the program include: Ace reporter Ed Lowry, Reid's secretary and remote love-interest Miss Lenore Case, and lastly Mike Axford, yet another of old time radio’s stereotyped Irish dunces, in this incarnation, a body guard which Britt Reid’s father has appointed to keep an eye on his “wayward son.” Later in the series run Axford becomes a bungling reporter bent on capturing that top criminal “the Green Haaaarnet!”
The role of Britt Reid/Green Hornet was initially played by Al Hodge until he enlisted in the army in 1943. Later Hodge became well known as the “sci-fi adventure” character, “Captain Video” from the early days of television. Other actors to play the Green Hornet were Donovan Faust, Jack McCarthy, and Bob Hall. Tokutaro Hayashi, “Raymond Toyo,” played the role of Kato, with Leonore Allman and Jim Irwin reading the roles of secretary Lenore Casey and bungling Mike Axford. Until 1944 all the program scripts were written by Fran Striker. Amazingly striker was such a prolific writer he was capable of simultaneously furnishing both “the Green Hornet” and “the Lone Ranger” programs with all their scripts!
The Green Hornet radio program lasted in various forms until December 1952 and also inspired a couple “Green Hornet” short film serials in the 1940s. In 1966 the creators of the Batman TV-series, decided to produce a Green Hornet program as well. They cast Van Williams to play the masked Hornet, and an unknown Bruce Lee as Kato. The program aired on ABC, but did not fare well in its day and was canceled after just one season. However with Bruce Lee’s meteoric rise as the icon of martial arts, the program has since enjoyed a strong cult following.
Other vestiges of the original Green Hornet’s legacy include skits on the “Fat Albert” cartoons of the seventies, and the spoofed butler character “Kato” in Peter Sellars’ “Pink Panther” movies. There's also a “Green Hornet” comic book series, published since 1989, which carries on the storyline’s tradition to this day. -CP
Published U.S. Legacies March 2003
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