The war in Europe and Asia at the turn of the New Year in 1940 forced Hollywood studios to make changes in a few of their scripts. In the new serial, January 1940's "The Green Hornet: The Tunnel of Terror," the hero's assistant, Kato, was originally from Japan, which had been engaged in a savage invasion of China in the late 1930s. The film's producers decided to change the Japanese roots of Kato's radio origin to Korean.
Kato's importance to his employer, newspaper publisher Britt Reid, who was the Green Hornet in disguise, was far more than simply as his valet. Kato was responsible for several complex inventions, including a gas gun and a super-fast bullet-proof car, "the Black Beauty." Kato's innovations were heavily relied upon in Reid's quest to stamp out a powerful criminal organization in the city. In the original 1936 radio series, "Green Hornet," Kato meets Reid for the first time in his Japanese homeland while the newspaper owner was traveling around the Far East. By 1939, when the Japanese presence in China was brutally apparent, the radio show dropped any mention of Kato's background. The 13-chapter film series changed Kato's lineage, describing him as a Korean. A year later, he was discussed in passing as a Filipino. Kato's character was played by Chinese-born American actor Keye Luke, who throughout the series saves Reid's life on several occasions.
"Green Hornet" was different from other serials of the era, with an emphasis on realistic crimes such as car theft, insurance fraud, protection rackets, and graft in construction projects. These more common racketeering schemes set "Green Hornet" apart from the espionage, exotic adventure and science-fiction themes seen in other serials at the time. "Green Hornet" has Reid (Gordon Jones) inheriting his father's newspaper, assuming a publisher and editor role. Reid departs from his father's passion of exposing the truth through print. The paper's abrupt change drew harsh criticism from city leaders who wanted the publication to continue Reid's late father's crusade against corruption by way of scathing editorials. Britt, however, has a different tactic: using his reporters' inside information to physically confront the criminals while hiding behind a mask. Reid and Kato leave a trail of blood so that law enforcement can investigate the bad guys at the scene of the crime, even though police initially suspect the Hornet as the perpetrator.
If the similarities between the "Green Hornet" and the 'Lone Ranger' seem apparent, it's because the writer of the 1933 radio ranger series, Fran Striker, patterned the urban crime-fighter after the Western hero. The Lone Ranger is partnered with Tonto (Kato with Reid), his horse Silver substitutes for The Black Beauty car, his six-shooter revolver for the gas gun, and the William Tell Overture (Gioachino Rossini-composer) theme song for the Hornet's The Flight of the Bumblebee (Nikolai Rimsky-Korsako-composer). Each of the "Green Hornet's" episodes contained stories on different crimes the unnamed gang planned and carried out, only to be thwarted by the masked duo. Written by George H. Plympton and Basil Dickey and directed by Ford Beebe, the film serial was so successful Universal Pictures followed it up with a 15-chapter series, 'The Green Hornet Strikes Again!' Michel Gondry directed an updated feature film of the Green Hornet in 2011, which was preceded by the 1966/1967 short-lived TV series with Bruce Lee as Kato. Lee expanded Kato's martial arts skills, helping launch the actor's movie career in Hong Kong and the United States.
Kato's importance to his employer, newspaper publisher Britt Reid, who was the Green Hornet in disguise, was far more than simply as his valet. Kato was responsible for several complex inventions, including a gas gun and a super-fast bullet-proof car, "the Black Beauty." Kato's innovations were heavily relied upon in Reid's quest to stamp out a powerful criminal organization in the city. In the original 1936 radio series, "Green Hornet," Kato meets Reid for the first time in his Japanese homeland while the newspaper owner was traveling around the Far East. By 1939, when the Japanese presence in China was brutally apparent, the radio show dropped any mention of Kato's background. The 13-chapter film series changed Kato's lineage, describing him as a Korean. A year later, he was discussed in passing as a Filipino. Kato's character was played by Chinese-born American actor Keye Luke, who throughout the series saves Reid's life on several occasions.
"Green Hornet" was different from other serials of the era, with an emphasis on realistic crimes such as car theft, insurance fraud, protection rackets, and graft in construction projects. These more common racketeering schemes set "Green Hornet" apart from the espionage, exotic adventure and science-fiction themes seen in other serials at the time. "Green Hornet" has Reid (Gordon Jones) inheriting his father's newspaper, assuming a publisher and editor role. Reid departs from his father's passion of exposing the truth through print. The paper's abrupt change drew harsh criticism from city leaders who wanted the publication to continue Reid's late father's crusade against corruption by way of scathing editorials. Britt, however, has a different tactic: using his reporters' inside information to physically confront the criminals while hiding behind a mask. Reid and Kato leave a trail of blood so that law enforcement can investigate the bad guys at the scene of the crime, even though police initially suspect the Hornet as the perpetrator.
If the similarities between the "Green Hornet" and the 'Lone Ranger' seem apparent, it's because the writer of the 1933 radio ranger series, Fran Striker, patterned the urban crime-fighter after the Western hero. The Lone Ranger is partnered with Tonto (Kato with Reid), his horse Silver substitutes for The Black Beauty car, his six-shooter revolver for the gas gun, and the William Tell Overture (Gioachino Rossini-composer) theme song for the Hornet's The Flight of the Bumblebee (Nikolai Rimsky-Korsako-composer). Each of the "Green Hornet's" episodes contained stories on different crimes the unnamed gang planned and carried out, only to be thwarted by the masked duo. Written by George H. Plympton and Basil Dickey and directed by Ford Beebe, the film serial was so successful Universal Pictures followed it up with a 15-chapter series, 'The Green Hornet Strikes Again!' Michel Gondry directed an updated feature film of the Green Hornet in 2011, which was preceded by the 1966/1967 short-lived TV series with Bruce Lee as Kato. Lee expanded Kato's martial arts skills, helping launch the actor's movie career in Hong Kong and the United States.