50 Fun Facts About The Green Hornet

Bruce Lee insisted Kato use which martial art on The Green Hornet instead of American-style punches?

Kung fu had never been seen by so many Americans before Kato's fight scenes. The directors had expected ordinary fisticuffs until Lee refused to throw them.

On radio, the Green Hornet is the great-nephew of which masked Western hero from the same creators?

The Lone Ranger is Britt Reid's great-uncle, since Britt's father Dan Reid was the Ranger's nephew. That is why both heroes share a surname.

How does Kato's fight with Robin end in a Batman crossover after Bruce Lee objected to the script?

In a draw, because Lee refused to film a fight that showed Asian martial arts being beaten. The first script had Batman and Robin winning.

What is the Green Hornet's car called, a name shared with Anna Sewell's novel about a horse?

Black Beauty hides rockets below its headlights. The TV version could also launch a small flying camera from its trunk to spy on crooks.

Which comedy star played Britt Reid in the 2011 film The Green Hornet and co-wrote its script?

Seth Rogen wrote the screenplay with his Superbad partner Evan Goldberg. He wanted a buddy action movie with jokes, in the spirit of Lethal Weapon.

Which frantic Rimsky-Korsakov piece buzzed in as the theme music of the Green Hornet radio show?

Flight of the Bumblebee became so tied to the hero that the 1966 TV series ordered a jazz theme modelled on it. The piece comes from an opera, The Tale of Tsar Saltan.

The Green Hornet TV series was marketed as The Kato Show in which city, where Bruce Lee was raised?

Hong Kong audiences adored Lee so much that his sidekick got the title there. That fame led to the films that made him a worldwide star.

Which Tarantino film reused the Green Hornet TV theme and gave its Crazy 88 gang Kato-style masks?

Kill Bill: Volume 1 plays the trumpet theme as the Bride heads to Tokyo. Tarantino masked the sword-fighting gang as a tribute to Lee's Kato.

Which lawman objected to a Green Hornet radio opening implying some criminals were beyond his G-Men?

J. Edgar Hoover disliked the hint that any crook was too big for the FBI. The announcer's line was rewritten to say the hero hunted enemies of America instead.

Which bumbling film detective has a martial-arts assistant named Cato, a nod to the Green Hornet's Kato?

Inspector Clouseau orders Cato to attack him without warning to keep his fighting skills sharp. One film in the series even gave him a car called the Silver Hornet.

Britt Reid owns which newspaper, whose reporter Mike Axford longs to unmask the Green Hornet?

Daily Sentinel headlines brand the Green Hornet a criminal, a reputation its owner uses to get close to real gangsters. Radio episodes closed with a newsboy shouting about its extra edition.

Which Inglourious Basterds star played the mobster Chudnofsky in the 2011 film The Green Hornet?

Christoph Waltz plays a crime boss so worried about losing his edge that he renames himself Bloodnofsky. His plan is to merge the city's gangs into one super-mafia.

Which actor's stuntman character spars with Bruce Lee on the Green Hornet set in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood?

Brad Pitt plays Cliff Booth, who takes on Lee, dressed in full Kato costume, in a best-of-three bout. Each man wins a round before the fight is broken up.

Which actress played Lenore Case, who makes Britt Reid jealous of Kato, in the 2011 Green Hornet film?

Cameron Diaz's Lenore unknowingly coaches the vigilantes, explaining how mobsters lure rivals to peace talks to ambush them. Britt later ignores exactly that warning.

Kato was introduced as Japanese, but by 1941 the Green Hornet radio show gave him which nationality?

Filipino was the new description, though a popular legend wrongly ties the switch to the Pearl Harbor attack. The announcer had stopped calling him Japanese well before the United States entered the war.

Carried over from radio to TV, the Green Hornet's trademark pistol fires what at criminals?

Knockout gas puts crooks to sleep so they can be left for the police. In several versions Kato is credited with inventing both the gas and the gun.

In the 2011 Green Hornet film, Kato built a special machine to make which drink for Britt Reid's father?

Coffee brewing is one of the skills that gets Kato rehired after Britt fires most of his late father's staff. The two then become friends and crime-fighters.

Kato drives the Green Hornet's car by night, but which job does he hold for Britt Reid by day?

Valet is how radio announcers introduced Kato at the top of each episode. The humble title hid his work as driver, inventor and fighter.

Which actor signed on for a 1990s Green Hornet film but dropped out to play Batman instead?

George Clooney left in December 1995 for Batman and Robin, and the studio then eyed Greg Kinnear for the lead. Jason Scott Lee was signed to co-star as Kato.

Which Surfside 6 actor starred as Britt Reid opposite Bruce Lee in the 1966 Green Hornet TV series?

Van Williams played the hero straight, unlike Batman's comedy, and took martial arts lessons from his co-star. He later appeared as a director in a Bruce Lee biopic.

The Green Hornet first buzzed onto the air in 1936 from radio station WXYZ in which American city?

Detroit station WXYZ fed the show to the national Mutual network two years after its local debut. It then ran until 1950, with a brief revival in 1952.

Which star played Kato in the 2011 film The Green Hornet after Stephen Chow dropped out?

Jay Chou, one of Taiwan's best-selling singers, was cast a month after Chow left over scheduling clashes. Chow had earlier given up the director's chair too.

Which French director of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind made the 2011 film The Green Hornet?

Michel Gondry had first been hired for a Green Hornet film in 1997, as his feature debut, before that version was scrapped. He got the job back twelve years later.

The hornet buzz on the Green Hornet radio show was made with which eerie electronic instrument?

Theremin players never touch the instrument, shaping its wail by moving their hands near two antennas. The buzz was blended into the show's classical theme tune.

Which job does Lenore Case, one of the few who know the Green Hornet's secret, hold at his newspaper?

Secretary to Britt Reid, Miss Case had served his father in the same post. On radio one actress, Leonore Allman, played her for the entire run.

On the 1966 Green Hornet TV series, which official besides Lenore Case knows Britt Reid's secret?

The district attorney, Frank Scanlon, replaced radio's police commissioner as the Hornet's contact. Batman already had Commissioner Gordon, and the producer wanted fewer comparisons.

The Green Hornet's car in the 1966 TV series was a customised model of which American luxury sedan?

Chrysler Imperial sedans also starred in the 2011 film, which modified 29 of them and wrecked 26. Only two cars were built for the TV series, and both survive.

Which future 60 Minutes correspondent was once an announcer on the Green Hornet radio show?

Mike Wallace narrated the masked hero's adventures decades before his tough TV interviews. He also announced for Sky King and The Spike Jones Show.

The 2011 film The Green Hornet sets its gang war in which real city, where it was also shot?

Los Angeles was chosen over cheaper Michigan, New York and Louisiana for creative reasons. The producer later blamed that choice for a budget too big to justify a sequel.

In the Green Hornet backstory, what did Britt Reid do for Kato while travelling in the Far East?

Saved his life is the usual account, and gratitude turns Kato into Reid's loyal partner. A later prose story has the two meet while Kato searches for his mother.

On the Green Hornet TV series, which green weapons does Bruce Lee's Kato throw at distant enemies?

Sleeve darts gave Kato a long-range attack to go with his fists and feet. His popularity even earned a tie-in coloring book titled Kato's Revenge.

On 1960s TV, the Green Hornet's telescoping Hornet's Sting opens locked doors by projecting what?

Ultrasonic sound from the Sting could also set things alight, and once made a thug's gun explode. The gadget was a TV-era addition to the hero's arsenal.

Why were the angular masks first worn on the Green Hornet TV series soon swapped for moulded ones?

The actors could barely see through the stylised originals, so new masks were moulded to each performer's face. Both heroes left the lower face uncovered, unlike older versions.

How is the Green Hornet's car kept hidden inside Britt Reid's garage in the 1966 TV series?

Under a rotating floor, the Hornet's car swaps places with Reid's everyday convertible, both held by bumper clamps. Hidden switches behind a tool wall start the turn.

On 1960s TV, the Green Hornet's car reaches the street by driving through which disguised exit?

A billboard that splits down the middle hides the exit, then rejoins behind the car. The poster on it advertised a made-up candy mint.

On the 1966 TV series, what fate of Britt Reid's father drives him to become the Green Hornet?

Died in prison, framed for a crime he did not commit, is the on-screen explanation. The first episode hints that he may have been radio's original Hornet.

Besides a newspaper, which media business does Britt Reid own in Bruce Lee's Green Hornet series?

A television station joined the newspaper in the 1960s version of Reid's business. Mike Axford changed too, from ex-bodyguard to plain police reporter.

Why did the owner of station WXYZ insist that shows like The Green Hornet use classical music?

It cost no royalties, because the old pieces were out of copyright. The thrifty rule is why so many scenes were bridged with Tchaikovsky, Wagner and Stravinsky.

Which 1960s cartoon hero, driven by a martial artist named Karate, spoofed the Green Hornet?

Batfink rides in a car called the Battilac, with Karate at the wheel. The hero himself is a bat with metal wings.

Which Discovery Channel series aired a Green Hornet special with the 2011 film's star as a guest?

MythBusters had the film's leading man join the hosts to test two of its scenes. Syfy also marked the release with a marathon of the 1966 TV episodes.

Which actor held talks to play the 2011 Green Hornet film's villain but disagreed over the character?

Nicolas Cage wanted a villain with some humanity rather than a straight-up bad guy, and said there was no time to develop one. The role went to another actor.

Which actor has an uncredited cameo as crime boss Danny 'Crystal' Clear in the 2011 Green Hornet film?

James Franco plays a rival of Chudnofsky whose club is blown up straight after the two men meet. His name never appears in the credits.

Which filmmaker, hired in 2004 to make a Green Hornet film, later turned his script into a comic?

Kevin Smith liked that the Hornet was a masked billionaire playboy before Batman existed. His abandoned screenplay resurfaced as a comic miniseries in 2010.

Which two colours did the Green Hornet's radio creators consider for the hero before settling on green?

Blue and pink were both floated after plain The Hornet was ruled out, because that name had been used elsewhere. The insect was chosen for the buzzing noise it offered radio.

Which stamp-forging villain do the Green Hornet and Kato chase to Gotham City in a Batman crossover?

Colonel Gumm, played by Roger C. Carmel, runs a counterfeit stamp ring. Gotham's heroes spend the two-part story convinced the visiting pair are crooks too.

Which actor, famous as Charlie Chan's Number One Son, played Kato in both 1940s Green Hornet film serials?

Keye Luke played Kato as a Korean inventor, since the serials avoided calling him Japanese. He later turned up in Gremlins as old Mr Wing.

Which producer of the 1966 Batman TV series also produced and narrated The Green Hornet?

William Dozier read the opening narration of every episode himself. He had first auditioned Bruce Lee for a different series that never got made.

Which trumpeter, known for the hit Java, played the frantic solo on the 1966 Green Hornet TV theme?

Al Hirt showed off his speed on arranger Billy May's jazz take on the old radio theme. The recording found new fans decades later in a Tarantino film.

Which radio station boss co-created the Green Hornet in 1936 with writer Fran Striker?

George W. Trendle wanted a hero who showed that one man could beat corrupt politicians and white-collar crooks. His company kept control of the character after his death in 1972.

Which car customiser, who also built the Monkeemobile, created the Green Hornet's 1966 TV car?

Dean Jeffries built two of the cars for the show. He had also begun work on the Batmobile, but passed that job to George Barris when the studio wanted it sooner.