Late Night Blogging: The Green Hornet Promos

The Green Hornet: "Give 'Em Enough Rope" (September 16, 1966)

In “Give ‘Em Enough Rope,” the second episode of The Green Hornet (1966 – 1967), the hero becomes embroiled in an insurance scam. 

Worse, the Daily Sentinel -- Britt’s paper -- gets sued for failing to use the word “alleged” when describing a criminal involved in the scam. This means that a lovely lawyer with an eye for Reid, Claudia (Diana Hyland) will be spending time interviewing him.

But it also means that she could become a target for the scammers…

The Green Hornet, a serious superhero series, often works overtime to earn the descriptor “realistic.” 

You can see that in stories such as the sophomore entry, “Give ‘Em Enough Rope.” Here, an underworld insurance scam is the rather non-glamorous topic, and the clues that the Green Hornet follows actually make sense. That was rarely the case on Batman, a pseudo-comedy in which the Bat Computer and Batman made wild leaps in logic to follow the trails of evil criminals.

On top of that, important events that occur have real life repercussions. A mistake in the world of journalism, for instance, results in litigation against Reid’s newspaper.

This is also the second episode in a row in which Mike Axford (Lloyd Gough), a reporter for that paper, gets beat up by thugs. He’s in a dangerous business, covering a dangerous beat, and it’s intriguing that the Green Hornet doesn’t take overt steps to shield him from harm. Indeed, it seems like Green Hornet likes to use Mike as the point of the spear, allowing the reporter to lead him into areas of concern (and ill-repute).

As was the case in “The Silent Gun,” this episode of The Green Hornet finds the hero pretending to be a criminal for the sake of solving a case. He learns about the “accident racket” occurring in his city by claiming to want a piece of it.  “The Green Hornet doesn’t like competition,” he notes grimly. 

The episode also features a weird (if memorable) villain: a killer in a mask who swoops down on a swinging rope (hence the episode title...) to attack his victims.  Literally, he represents death from above.  And he jumps down to attack his prey in vast, dark warehouses, and from building roofs.  The night-time palette of the series, again, differentiates it from the daylight world featured on Batman.

Although Kato still doesn’t have much to do (besides pull the lever that flips the car platform and exposes the Black Beauty), we see a bit more of Britt Reid here, particularly in his guise as womanizer/playboy. Van Williams excels in these scenes because he plays them at two levels.  On one hand, he is playing the part of a callow young man.  On another level, he is squeezing Claudia for information that could be helpful to his alter ego. 

Also, by this second episode, viewers are beginning to become familiar with the trademarks of this hero's world.  He has the hidden garage in a bad part of town. From there, the Black Beauty is launched. 

We also see the D.A.’s secret entrance to the Green Hornet’s lair. It looks like a junk-laden elevator.  

Once more, these touches make the series seem much less romantic and glamorous than Batman's world in that Dozier series.

The Green Hornet Cartoon Kit (Colorforms; 1966)

The Green Hornet: Corgi Edition

The Green Hornet GAF Viewmaster

Trading Cards of the Week: The Green Hornet

Model Kits of the Week: The Green Hornet

Lunchbox of the Week: The Green Hornet

Board Game of the Week: The Green Hornet (Milton Bradley)

Theme Song of the Week: The Green Hornet

The Green Hornet: "The Silent Gun" (September 9, 1966)

In the fall of 1966, all the major American TV networks sought to duplicate the success of ABC’s superhero phenomenon, Batman (1966 – 1968).  So along came such campy efforts as Captain Nice and Mr. Terrific. 

But ABC-TV itself adopted a different strategy, and aired The Green Hornet, a superhero series with no camp touches whatsoever. 

William Dozier, who also produced Batman was adamant, in fact, about not imitating the tongue-in-cheek Batman style. “This is a much straighter show. It’s not a pop show,” he asserted. “The only thing about Batman we want to imitate is its success.” (Newsweek, July 18, 1966).

Van Williams was cast as publisher by day/vigilante by night Britt Reid, and a pre-stardom Bruce Lee played his loyal companion and crime-fighting partner, Kato.  

With their own distinctive car -- the magnificent Black Beauty -- these heroes evaded law enforcement and fought to a standstill the dark forces of many a criminal organization. And again, unlike Batman, the villains on The Green Hornet were all based reality. They were thugs and mobsters, not strangely-dressed clowns or buffoons.

Writing in SFTV #1 in December of 1984, TV historian and scholar James Van Hise wrote that the series featuring The Green Hornet proved itself “something very special…” and represented “one of the few times a character was transferred faithfully from one medium to another and with exciting results.” 

I would tend to agree. I am a big fan of Arrow (2012 - ) these days, but its clearest and most significant antecedent on television is indeed The Green Hornet.  Both series feature a playboy-by-day/avenger by night who sets about his grim task -- to clean up the city -- with a sort of hard-boiled attitude.

Alas, The Green Hornet was canceled after just one season of twenty six episodes, and most long-time fans agree that the 2011 Seth Rogen Green Hornet movie failed to live up to the promise demonstrated by the 1966 series.

The first episode of The Green Hornet, “The Silent Gun,” aired on September 9, 1966 -- just one day after the debut of Star Trek (1966 – 1969) -- and concerns a new weapon being used by criminals: A gun that makes no sound when it fires, and no light flash, either.  The weapon was developed by the O.S.S. during the Second World War, but the plans have been revived by a local gunsmith.

The Green Hornet and Kato investigate the case, interfering in criminal operations.  Before long, the Green Hornet is selected as the next target of the silent gun, but that’s exactly how the superhero wants it...

Today, it’s intriguing (and indeed, rewarding) to watch these nearly fifty-year old The Green Hornet episodes and note that they reflect not where the superhero trend was at that time (see: Batman), but where it stands today: with a focus on hard-action, and a kind of grim fatalism. 

The Green Hornet goes about his task here without humor, and treads into some moral gray areas.  For example, in “The Silent Gun,” he pretends to be a criminal himself, and make deals with other underworld figures. He’s not afraid to get his hands dirty to bring the criminals to justice.  That seems like a very modern, very 21st century concept.

Also, in a bow to reality, this costumed crusader only goes out at night, and is often cloaked by the darkness.  Adding to the sense of  ubiquitous darkness, the first scene of the episode (and of the series itself) is set at a funeral.  And then, a murder occurs at a funeral.  

You just don't get much grimmer than that.

In “The Silent Gun,” The Green Hornet goes up against a thug called Carley (Lloyd Bochner) and, again, the villain is a realistic figure, not one based in fantasy. The episode culminates with some real violence as villains tumble downstairs, or otherwise get beat up.  One thug gets a blast from a steam pipe to the face.

I wonder if the violence quotient is one reason why the show didn’t pick-up the same following as Batman did.  There’s a feeling in “The Silent Gun” of real life consequences for bad behavior, and action that isn’t candy-coated or cartoonish.  There are no ZAPP or BIFF balloons here, for certain.

Even supporting characters are treated with shades of gray in “The Silent Gun.” One woman wants two-thousand dollars to tell her story about a murder that was committed.  If she’s going to talk, she wants money...she seeks a reward. The Green Hornet disabuses her of that notion by, basically, showing up at a pre-arranged meeting and bullying her into doing the right thing, at least from a psychological perspective. 

The Green Hornet is a grounded series that was created in a time when audiences wanted something more fanciful.  

But the tide has turned today, and these deadpan, gritty superhero episodes (many available on YouTube) look new, and relevant all over again.  Even Green Hornet's "Let's Roll" catchphrase has a darker, grimmer underside in the post-911 world,   

Theme Song of the Week # 17: The Green Hornet