Green Hornet Wiki

Green Hornet TV Logo (textless)

Vote on our new monthly poll! How did you first learn about the Green Hornet? Through the comics? The TV series? The 2011 film? Click here to vote now!

READ MORE

Green Hornet Wiki
Advertisement

Background and development[]

Green-hornet-wxyz-advertisement

An early advertisement for the series, note the use of the series' original name, "Adventures of The Hornet."

The character Green Hornet was originally created by George W. Trendle, aided and abetted somewhat by a book he came across called The Adventures of Jimmie Dale by Frank Pritchard. According to the novel, Jimmie Dale was a wealthy heir and member of the prestigious St. James Club by day, but at night, he enjoyed breaking into businesses and homes to crack their safes for “the sheer deviltry of it.” He did not actually steal anything — he did it because he could. He was a modern-day Robin Hood who left a diamond-shaped gray paper seal at the scene of his crimes and became known in the press as the Gray Seal (the Green Hornet, in his turn, leaves his own seal, the semblance of a green hornet). His real identity stayed a secret until he was caught in the act by a woman who chose to blackmail him into using his unique talents to help others. Before long, he was taking on organized crime and various bad guys. All the while, he tried to stay ahead of the police and avoid being discovered by the press.

Trendle took the book to writer Fran Striker. “Read this,” Trendle told Striker. “We can do something like this with our new series. The Lone Ranger appeals to the kids. Now I want to put something on the air to interest young people who are about to vote. I want to do something to show young men how crooked office holders can be, and what they have to do to stop it… that they have to get out and vote and see what’s going on in the world, watch things so we can elect candidates to office who will be something. See?”

Episodes[]

Main article: List of Green Hornet radio episodes

Cast[]

The series' principle introduced much of the principle cast that would carry over to later iterations of the franchise, as well as other characters who would rarely appear outside of the radio series. It included the following:

  • Britt Reid/The Green Hornet, who is stated to be "about thirty years of age" in 1936, is the publisher of The Daily Sentinel newspaper. He puts on the public persona of being an irresponsible playboy. In reality, Britt is a concerned citizen uses information from the Sentinel to fight crime was the masked vigilante, the Green Hornet. In this guise he is originally believed, by the criminal underworld, general public, and police force alike, to be a ruthless mobster who dispatched criminals in order to take out the competition. However, toward the close of 1947, public perception changes and he is widely recognized to be a crimefighter who works in tandem with the police. He was originally played by Al Hodge (1936-1943, 1945), who was succeeded in the role by Donovan Faust (1943-1944), Robert Hall (1945-1947), and Jack McCarthy (1947-1952).
  • Kato, Britt's faithful valet and crime-fighting partner. He is also an expert in jiu-jitsu and a mechanical genius responsible for a series of ingenious modifications made to the duo's getaway car, the Black Beauty. Kato was initially described as being Japanese, but in 1939 he was specifically stated as being a Filipino of Japanese descent. His ethnicity was soon after simply given as Filipino. He was originally portrayed by Raymond Muramoto (but creditied as Raymond Toyo) (1936-1942), who was succeeded in the role by Rollon Parker, Michael Tolan, James Fletcher, and Paul Carnegie (1952).
  • Lenore Case, Britt's secretary who eventually begins writing The Daily Sentinel's society column and later becomes a field reporter. She is referred to as "Miss Case" by Britt and "Casey" by Michael Axford. Lenore learned of the Green Hornet's true identity in "Miss Case Keeps a Secret" (1948). She was played by Leonore Jewell Allman throughout the entirety of the series (1936-1952).
  • Michael Axford, a former police and, later, private investigator who originated on the radio series Warner Lester, Manhunter. Axford now works as a bumbling reporter for The Daily Sentinel. He was portrayed as stereotypically Irish to a degree which causes complaints even during the serie's initial run. He was originally played by Jim Irwin (1936-1938), and Gil Shea (1938-1952) took over the role following Irwin's death.
  • Ed Lowry, The Daily Sentinel's star reporter who admires the Green Hornet. He was played by Jack Petruzzi (1936-1945, 1946-1952).
  • Marjorie "Clicker" Binney, a photographer for The Daily Sentinel. She was written out of the series in 1943 with the explanation that she had joined the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps and been stationed in North Africa. She was played by Patricia Dunalp (1939-1943).
  • Bill Gunnigan, The Daily Sentinel's high-strung City Editor who is perpetually antagonized by Axford. He was played by a rotating cast of largely unidentified actors (and by Fred Reto during 1938).
  • Dan Reid, Jr., Britt's father. He made a guest appearance by an unidentified actor in 1937, but returned as a supporting character in 1947 and was voiced by John Todd from that point on.
  • The Newspaper Boy, an unnamed youth who ends each episode by shouting out a breaking headline related to the Green Hornet's latest adventure. He was voiced by Rollon Parker (1938-1952).
  • The Announcer, the series was originally narrated by Charles Woods, and he was succeeded by Mike Wallace, Fielden Farrington, Bob Hite, and Hal Neal.

Recurring characters[]

The following characters appeared in at least ten episodes of the radio series.

  • Gale Manning, the daughter of diplomat Chester Manning, who is an old friend of Dan Reid Jr.'s. She joins the staff of The Daily Sentinel.
  • Commissioner James Higgins, the local police Commissioner who is an old friend of Britt's father and has a son named Ronny. In 1947, Commissioner Higgins eventually learns the Green Hornet's true identity and this discovery proves pivotal in shifting the public's perception of the vigilante and the Green Hornet's eventual decision to abandon the pretense of being a criminal and fulling embrace the persona of a masked hero who works in tandem with the police to bring criminals to justice. The Commissioner made a pair of guest appearances in 1939 and then became a permanent cast member in 1947. He was played by unidentified actors (1947-1952).
  • Jasper Jenks, a reporter at The Daily Sentinel.
  • Linda Travis, Dan Reid's secretary whom he sends to observe conditions at The Daily Sentinel after he notices a troubling decline in the newspaper's circulation. She becomes embroiled in one of the Green Hornet's cases, temporarily joins the newspaper's staff, and ultimately becomes one of the first individuals to learn of Britt's dual identity as the Green Hornet.
  • Oliver Perry, an F.B.I. agent who is assigned to investigate the Green Hornet only to become obsessed with discovering the vigilante's identity and bringing him to justice.
  • Sergeant Moran, a member of the New York City Police Department.
  • Sergeant Doyle, a member of the New York City Police Department.
  • Tom Hawks, a reporter at The Daily Sentinel who was included in the series as a replacement for Jasper Jenks. (12 episodes)

Similarities To The Lone Ranger[]

Fran Striker blended numerous elements from the Jimmie Dale novel with the cookie cutter format of the Lone Ranger and carried over the Michael Axford character from Manhunters to form The Green Hornet. A deliberate connection between the Green Hornet and the Lone Ranger was made with the lead character named Britt Reid, son of the Lone Ranger's nephew, who exercised freedom of speech, not by preaching on top of a horse, but with a newspaper. Reid was a man who fought hard, yet showed mercy and compassion when he chose the side of the oppressed — the underdog — the little man in need of help. 

Besides sharing the same corporate owner, both shows and characters have other items in common:

  • A mask
  • A gun (six-shooter for the Lone Ranger and gas gun for Green Hornet).
  • Each program's theme song derives from classical music.
  • Both characters value life by avoiding killing.
  • Both characters use a means of transportation of unequaled beauty and unparalleled power, the Lone Ranger's being a horse called Silver, and Green Hornet's being an automobile called Black Beauty.

In the 2011 film The Green Hornet, a reference to the Green Hornet's connection to the Lone Ranger can be seen. There is a Lone Ranger poster on the wall next to the television set in Britt Reid's room.

Radio Broadcast[]

The Green Hornet first aired on January 31, 1936, on WXYZ. Each episode was 17-30 minutes long and over 1,000 were produced. It was "one of radio's best-known and most distinctive juvenile adventure shows." The series detailed the adventures of Britt Reid, debonair newspaper publisher by day, crime-fighting masked hero at night. With his faithful valet Kato, Britt Reid matches wits with the Underworld, risking his life so that criminals and racketeers within the law may feel its weight by the sting of the Green Hornet!

Trendle sought to create a series that would "show that a political system could be riddled with corruption and that one man could successfully combat this white-collar lawlessness." Liking the acoustic possibilities of a bee sound, Trendle directed it be incorporated into the show. The team experimented with names, with Trendle liking The Hornet, but that name had been used elsewhere and could have posed rights problems. Colors included blue and pink were considered before the creators settled on green. Each program opened with the catchy narration: "The Green Hornet: He hunts the biggest of all game! Public enemies who try to destroy our America!" In the background buzzed the theme, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's orchestral interlude, "Flight of the Bumblebee."

The Green Hornet became thought of as one of his city's biggest criminals, allowing him to walk into suspected racketeers' offices and ply them for information, or even demand a cut of their profits. In doing so, the Green Hornet usually provoked them to attack him to remove this competitor, giving him license to defeat and leave them for the police without raising suspicion as to his true motives.

He would be accompanied by his similarly masked chauffeur/bodyguard/ enforcer, who was also Reid's valet, Kato, initially described as Japanese, and by 1939 as Filipino of Japanese descent. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, references to a Japanese heritage were dropped. Specifically, in and up to 1939, in the series' opening narration, Kato was called Britt Reid's "Japanese valet" and from 1940 to '45 he was Reid's "faithful valet." However, by at least the June 1941 episode "Walkout For Profit" , about 14 minutes into the episode, Reid specifically noted Kato having a Philippine origin and thus he became Reid's "Filipino valet" thereafter. When the characters were used in the first of a pair of Green Hornet movie serials, the producers had Kato's nationality given as Korean.

The last original Green Hornet radio serial aired in 1953. 

Screen adaptations
1940 film serial · 1941 film serial · Television series · 1974 feature film · 1976 feature film · 2006 short film · 2011 feature film
Audio adaptations
Radio series
Comic books
* Green Hornet Comics · Dell series · Gold Key series · NOW series · Dynamite series
Novels and short stories
The Green Hornet Strikes! · The Green Hornet Returns · The Green Hornet Cracks Down · The Green Hornet: Case of the Disappearing Doctor · The Green Hornet in The Infernal Light · The Green Hornet Chronicles · The Green Hornet Casefiles · The Green Hornet: Still at Large
Video games
The Green Hornet: Wheels of Justice
Advertisement