JOIN HIS GREEN PARTY

They didn’t buzz through Gotham city like Batman and Robin, but The Green Hornet and Kato had their share of adventures. Mark Phillips looks back on why the 1966 series didn’t match the success of TV’s caped crusaders…

Van Williams and Bruce Lee as Britt Reid, aka The Green Hornet, and his sidekick Kato

Sosaid the editors of the cult magazine Castle of Frankenstein in 1966. The editors made it clear they preferred the seriousness of The Green Hornet’s approach, compared to ABCs “emasculated Batman” starring Adam West. The magazine still shuddered over the sight of Batman dancing the Batusi, “frugging away in a manner that approached the disgusting. It was like witnessing Abraham Lincoln dancing in a leotard.”

There was little chance that Britt Reid, aka The Green Hornet, would ever dance – or do much of anything else. Even its star, Van Williams, cautiously pointed out that his character didn’t have any hobbies. He didn’t engage in sports, wasn’t tempted by romance and never enjoyed humour. Crime fighting was his passion. He and his equally obsessed crime-busting sidekick Kato (Bruce Lee) used their secret identities to fight villains at night. By day, Britt was the respected editor of a big-city newspaper.

Castle of Frankenstein felt Batman would have been better had writer Harlan Ellison been cast as Robin and had John Carradine played the Joker (replacing Cesar Romero) but they felt Van Williams made the perfect Green Hornet.

The life cycle of a hornet is generally 22 days. ABCs Green Hornet lasted a bit longer, from September 1966 to July 1967, ending after 26 colour episodes. Sadly, despite executive producer William Dozier’s high hopes (he had launched Batman into the top 10 months earlier), The Green Hornet turned out to be a big disappointment.

NO BATMAN CLONE

It all began with such promise. Dozier excitedly hosted a Beverly Hills luncheon in spring 1966, with 70 reporters in attendance. The martinis and glasses of water were dyed a “sickly green” colour for the big announcement of a new series for ABC, The Green Hornet – about a bloke who wore a green mask, green felt hat and green overcoat.

Dozier introduced his cast: Van Williams, Bruce Lee and special guest Adam West. Dozier stressed to the sceptical crowd that Green Hornet was no Batman clone. “That would be foolish,” he said. “There is only one Batman and the network does not want it copied. Green Hornet isn’t camp. It’s about pace, action, flair and lots of gadgetry and gimmicks. It will have a James Bond flavour.”

And unlike Batman’s psychiatrically-suspect villains (Joker, Riddler, Penguin and Catwoman), the Hornet’s adversaries were realistic, cut from the most sinister echelons of the Mafia.

“Will the Green Hornet have a car?” a reporter asked. Yes, replied Dozier, it’s called The Black Beauty. “It will make James Bond’s car look like a baby buggy,” he chuckled. The Hornet’s vehicle had 25 actual moving parts, many of them bordering on science fiction. But more on that mechanical marvel later.

"If Batman fever dies, The Green Hornet will replace it and it will be really, really big."

One snarky reporter inquired whether Van Williams had been forced to take the Hornet job because acting jobs were scarce – and by the way, wasn’t it true he was making ends meet by doing public relations for a bank? Williams coolly replied, “I own the bank” (with his business partner, actor James Garner).

Van also owned a big ranch, a shopping centre and a downtown building in Texas. He only acted because he enjoyed it – he sure didn’t need the money.

Another reporter aimed his sights at Bruce Lee, saying in the radio version of Green Hornet (1936-1952), Kato was a Japanese man – that was, until America went to war with Japan in 1941, then the character had to be changed to a more politically correct Filipino. So which of these nationalities was Kato going to be in the new series?

“Neither,” replied Lee. “I’m Chinese. I’m also a karate expert, a black belt class.” He said if anyone doubted his ability, he could put them on their back.

Lee’s steely-eyed delivery made some reporters squirm.

They didn’t get his sly sense of humour.

A hostile barb was directed at Dozier himself. Wouldn’t Green Hornet, like Batman, encourage kids to kick and punch each other? “I suspect kids do that all the time to each other anyway,” Dozier dismissed.

The last thing critics wanted on television was another comicstrip super hero and they reminded Dozier he was once part of the Golden Age of Television, where he contributed to respected shows like Studio One, Suspense and Playouse 90. Now he was “setting television back ten years” by producing Batman.

“I make no apologies for Batman or The Green Hornet,” he countered. “Batman has entertained millions of people and Green Hornet is going to be just as popular. I want big ratings and I’ll ride this wave until it crashes.”