The Green Hornet is a fictional masked crime fighter, created by George W Trendle and Fran Striker for an American radio program in the 1930s (info from Wikipedia here). The radio series subsequently evolved into films and TV series, and The Green Hornet TV series was shown on the ABC US television network from 1966-67 starring Van Williams as the Green Hornet/Britt Reid and Bruce Lee as his similarly masked Asian man-servant Kato. According to popular belief, it was Bruce Lee’s protrayal of Kato that made martial arts popular in the US in the 1960s.
This film was made way before I was even conceived and born and I have to admit that I have never watched a single episode of the said series. Personally, the only reason why I would want to watch this series would only be because of the presence of Bruce Lee. I still recalled the time when I was an impressionable young boy introduced to Bruce Lee’s intoxicating kung fu moves from his movies. This resulted in the formation of a neighbourhood Bruce Lee Kung Fu Club where young aspiring kung fu fanatical kids could trade self-trained kung fu moves with each other. Needless to say, endless injuries and squabbles about who should be the kung fu king ensured that the club was disbanded almost as soon as it was formed. In the end, none of the neighbourhood protagonists kids became kung fu masters and we all moved on to other “better” things in life.
That said, the influence of Bruce Lee on our childhood lifes cannot be discounted. While I was re-watching some Bruce Lee’s movies recently, I have to admit that while I am still awed by his fantastic kung fu moves, his acting skills (which involves of various screams, shouts and grunts) is really a bit lacking. Hell, but who cares about his acting when he can kick serious ass right? 😛
Sorry for the digress. Back to the main topic of the Kubrick Green Hornet & Kato Box set. Hiyak!!!
The Green Hornet & Kato!
ah zhong's humble brick home 