The Green Hornet Serial

The Green Hornet (1940) starring Gordon Jones, Keye Luke

The 1940 movie serial of The Green Hornet, the crime fighter whom the law wrongly thinks is a criminal – and uses that to his advantage!

[last lines]
Britt Reid: The Green Hornet is gone. He said his job was finished.
Leonore Case: I don’t believe he’s gone. I believe he’s just been too clever for us. And he’s probably someplace close right now, laughing at us all for our stupidity.
Britt Reid: Miss Case, you’re positively psychic!

Review

The Green Hornet is a very enjoyable movie serial. It was fairly faithful to the original radio series, that I’m a fan of. it tells the story of a crusading newspaper publisher, Britt Reid, who is investigating an undercover racket. But, his cover disguise, the Green Hornet, is mistaken by the police for one of the criminals. The Green Hornet uses that to his advantage, pretending to be a different criminal, taking over the territory of the racketeers! Staying one step ahead of both sides, he uses what he finds to publish in his newspaper, The Sentinel. To aid the police, and undermine the crooks. Which the crooks don’t take kindly …

Product Description 

GREEN HORNET: The Green Hornet is a masked fictional crime fighter, originally created by George W. Trendle for an American radio program in the 1930s. The character has appeared in two Universal serials. In the first 13 episode serial, the city is faced with rising crime and increased racketeering activity. Intrepid newspaper editor, Britt Reid (Gordon Jones) becomes the crime fighter the Green Hornet to take on the bad guys. As far as the police are concerned, the Hornet himself is the criminal. This misunderstanding enables Reid to operate “outside the law” to battle evil and injustice. Working along side the Hornet is the brilliant inventor/sidekick Kato (Keye Luke), the only person who knows the true identity of the Hornet. Watch as our heroes fight an infamous racket and put an end to the menace infecting their city. RT: 258 min, B&W, 1. 33:1, NR, 1940

Cast of characters

• Gordon Jones (McLintock!, The Abbott and Costello Show) … Britt Reid / The Green Hornet. Courageous newspaper publisher fighting to expose corruption by day. And he dons the Green Hornet disguise to fight the underworld more directly.
• Wade Boteler (Bird of Paradise) … Michael Axford. Sentinel reporter, with an Irish accent. He’s trying to catch the Green Hornet & get the reward. He also serves as Britt’s bodyguard, but since he doesn’t know the Green Hornet’s identity, it makes it tricky for Britt on occasion.
• Keye Luke (Rodan, Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo, Kung Fu TV series) … Kato. Britt’s Korean chauffeur and fellow crimefighter. And talented inventor. And …
• Anne Nagel Man Made Monster) … Leonore Case. Executive secretary at the Sentinel. She becomes crucial in the final chapter.
• Phillip Trent … Jasper Jenks
• Cy Kendall … Curtis Monroe
• Stanley Andrews (Blondie’s Big Deal, The Paleface) … Police Commissioner [Chs. 1, 5, 8, 9, 13]
• Selmer Jackson (The Ape, That’s My Boy) … District Attorney [Chs. 4, 10]
• Joseph Crehan (Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome, Babes in Arms) … Judge Stanton [Chs. 1, 9, 10, 13]
• Walter McGrail … Dean
• Gene Rizzi … Corey
• John Kelly … Pete Hawks
• Eddie Dunn … D.H. Sligby [Ch. 7]
• Edward Earle (The Buster Keaton Collection) … Felix Grant [Ch. 1]
• Ben Taggart … Phil Bartlett [Chs. 3-4]
• Clyde Dilson … Meadows [Ch. 5]
• Jerry Marlowe … Bob Stafford [Chs. 7, 11]
• Frederik Vogeding … Max Gregory [Ch. 11]

Chapters

1. The Tunnel of Terror
2. The Thundering Terror
3. Flying Coffins
4. Pillar of Flame
5. The Time Bomb
6. Highways of Peril
7. Bridge of Disaster
8. Dead or alive
9. The Hornet Trapped
10. Bullets and Ballots
11. Disaster Rides the Rails
12. Panic in the Zoo
13. Doom of the Underworld