Serials on DVD: THE GREEN HORNET (1940)

Howdy fellow movie geeks. With all the interest in bringing classic heroes to the big screen, I thought I’d begin this column dedicated to discussing classic movie serials available on DVD. And since this masked crime buster is the focus of a brand new feature film this weekend, I thought I’d start with a look at the 1940 Universal thirteen chapter movie serial THE GREEN HORNET.

First a little history of movie serials. You younger film fans may wonder what I’m talking about. First it’s serials with an “s”, not a “c”, so I’m not talking about something you pour out of a box into a bowl and douse with milk in the mornings. Film serials started appearing in 1913. Theatre owners and studios thought this new story telling format would be a great way to get patrons returning week after week. Serials were  big, thrilling, adventure stories told in twelve to thirteen installments or chapters. A chapter would be shown between features and would last 15 to 20 minutes. Each chapter usually ended with the hero or heroine in dire peril ( thus the term “cliffhangers” was used to describe these films ) and the announcer or title card would advise the moviegoer to see the next chapter in this theatre next week! Many times the phrase ” To be continued…next week” would flash across the screen. The first serial smash success was 1914’s THE PERILS OF PAULINE starring Pearl White. With the advent of sound, serials continued to be a popular feature at movie houses particularly during Saturday “kiddie” matinees. On Saturday mornings, usually for a dime, youngsters would jam the movie palaces and be treated to two features ( usually low budget Westerns ) with short subjects ( the Three Stooges, Our Gang), cartoons, and two or three different serials in between the main films. The main producers of these serials were Columbia Pictures, Universal Studios, and Republic Pictures. These low budget chapter plays filled theatres until the advent of television become the main source of Saturday morning entertainment for tots. Universal threw in the towel first in 1946 with Republic ending in 1955 and Columbia holding out till 1956.

Enough with the history lesson! Let’s hop in the Black Beauty!

Universal’s serial came out less than three years after the Hornet was introduced on Detroit radio station WXYZ as a follow up to their hugely successful Lone Ranger. The Ranger’s creators George W. Trendle and Fran Stryker intended the Hornet to be a modern version of ” the masked rider of the plains”. Both heroes shared the same last name Reid and later writers made Britt ( the Hornet ) the grand nephew of John ( the Ranger ). Two Lone Ranger serials had been made by Republic, but the producers had been unhappy with the results, so they brought the Green Hornet to Universal- then primarily known for their classic monsters ( Boris Karloff in FRANKENSTEIN and Bela Lugosi as DRACULA ) and in the coming decade as the home of Abbott and Costello.

Each chapter began with the above title  card of the logo super-imposed over a stationary, jittery( maybe taped-down )  hornet ( with a sunbeam lighting effect behind it ). The radio show’s theme song, ” The Flight of the Bumblebee” blared in the background. Starting with chapter 2 after the cast and crew credits, a recap of the previous chapter begin. This would be a two or three paragraph crawl of white letters receding into the background of a cityscape. This type of intro was used to great effect many years later by George Lucas for his Star Wars films. During this crawl Franz Waxman’s music from THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN played as it did over the openings of Universal’s serial smash of 1936 FLASH GORDON. The film studios licensed many characters from other media to be the subjects of serials: radio shows ( the Hornet, the Ranger, the Shadow) , pulps ( the Spider, Fu Manchu), comic strips ( Gordon, the Phantom, Dick Tracy) and comic books ( Captain America, Batman, Captain Marvel).

The Green Hornet and his trusty gas gun

The serials officially begins in the secret garage/lab of Britt Reid ( Gordon Jones ). There he and his trusted valet Kato ( Keye Luke of the Charlie Chan film series and later Kung Fu TV series ) have perfected a new fuel that will make his car, the two passenger roadster, the Black Beauty the fastest machine on four wheels-and the quietest! The engine emits a low hum or buzz when running. Exiting thru a secret panel they emerge from behind a dresser in the bedroom of Britt’s swanky apartment. Kato states his gratitude to Britt for rescuing him from thugs bent on killing him because of his Korean heritage. Britt says that it wasn’t soon after that they encountered a giant green hornet in Africa as they were making their way back to America. The next morning Britt heads to the offices of The Daily Sentinel, a newspaper he has taken over from his father. His main staff is an on the run reporter Jasper Jenks ( Phillip Trent ), old veteran reporter, and self appointed bodyguard Mike Axford ( Wade Boteler ), and gal friday Lenore Case ( Anne Nagel). Britt meets with two city officials who try to convince him to run anti-crime editorials as his father had done during his tenure as editor. Britt doesn’t believe that the paper should influence public opinion, but only report it. The officials bemoan the decision wishing for a modern day Robin Hood to help the overwhelmed police force. This literally puts a bee in Brett’s bonnet and returning home that night, dons the mask of the Green Hornet. He and Kato jump into the Black Beauty, exit the apartment building via a secret ramp entrance, and prowl the streets.

Unlike the later TV and movie incarnations this Hornet wears a full face mask and not one that goes to the tip of his nose. This allows the serial producers to dub in the voice of the radio Hornet, Al Hodge, when Jones suits up. Also this Hornet covers his necktie with a scarf tucked into his trench coat. There’s no Hornet sting, as in the TV show, but he has his gas gun which will give any thug an hour long nap. Kato is attired in a chauffeur’s uniform complete with goggles, flat cap, bow tie, and side shoulder bag. This Black Beauty is capable of great speed and silent motoring, but is not the arsenal of the later versions.

The bad guys in this serial are a bunch of racketeers getting orders from an unknown voice thru the office intercom of investor Curtis Monroe ( Cy Kendall ). Throughout the thirteen chapters this bunch has their fingers in many different pies. In the first chapter they’re behind a defective new bridge, then they’re endangering tunnel workers ( turns out they’ve got insurance policies on them ). Next they’re sending inexperienced pilots up in “specially serviced” planes at a flying school. Look for future leading man Alan Ladd, uncredited as a student pilot named Gilpin. The gang soon are infiltrating city parking lots, produce truckers, bus lines ( Whippett and Blue Streak ) and even a zoo/carnival! Busy guys! The Hornet shows up at every corner to thwart their schemes. The first few times he leaves a calling card that resembles a fan club pin ( a circle with a hornet drawing at it’s center with THE GREEN HORNET in bold lettering on the outer rim )! Strangely Kato doesn’t accompany the Hornet as he confronts the thugs. He usually leaves Kato at the car with instructions like, “Be ready!”. A couple of times Kato sneaks up on a villain and delivers a swift karate chop to the neck ( “He’ll be out for an hour” ). Each chapter ends with certain doom: cars explode, tunnels flood, planes crash. Universal raids their film vault for lots of stock footage of disasters. All through this many are convinced that the Hornet is a rival gangster especially old Mike Axford ( “He’s the devil incarnate!” ).  The main exception is Miss Case who believes that the Hornet is on the side of good ( and wishes her boss, Mr. Reid, were more like him ). In the final chapter, after disposing of a time bomb in the Sentinel offices, the Hornet discovers that the unknown head of the gang is actually-SPOILER ALERT!-Monroe. He was playing altered recorded messages thru his intercom. After planting suspicion on the crooks they end up shooting each other in the offices. Later in his office, Reid receives a commendation from the city for his crime reporting. Britt says he thinks the Hornet is gone, but may return if needed to fight evil. As he tacks the proclamation to his office wall, Miss Case adds one of the Hornet’s calling cards to the display.

Well, it turned out that the Green Hornet was needed again less than a year later when THE GREEN HORNET STRIKES AGAIN.  The entire cast returned, except for future game show host Warren Hull replacing Gordon Jones as Britt Reid. The original serial is available on DVD individually or as part of a 75th anniversary set with the sequel fromVCI Entertainment. I’ll be back next time with a look at the Hornet’s return and an overview of his other media appearances. To be continued….