 The Green Hornet (30 min)
Show Description
Another challenge for the Green Hornet, his aid
Kato, and their rolling arsenal the Black Beauty. On police records a
wanted criminal, Green Hornet is really Britt Reid, owner-publisher of
the Daily Sentinel, his duel identity known only to his secretary and
the DA. Our show ends with a cliff-hanger. Tune in again on Wednesday
night to see if our hero can escape the clutches of the evil…
Show History
On January 31, 1936,
The Green Hornet
radio program aired on WXYZ in Detroit, Michigan. Al Hodge played the
part of the Green Hornet from 1936 through January of 1943. The program
was created by George W. Trendle, the same man associated with the
creation of The Lone Ranger radio show.
The premise of
The Green Hornet was
that of a modern day Lone Ranger. The main character was Britt Reid, a
newspaper publisher of the Daily Sentinel by day and the Green Hornet by
night. Britt Reid was supposed to be the great-nephew of the Lone
Ranger. Britt Reid’s war against crime was an extension of his family
history. The Green Hornet fought crime with his high-powered car, the
Black Beauty. He also utilized a gun that fired knockout gas instead of
bullets. His fists also came in handy on a regular basis. He was
assisted by his Filipino valet, Kato. Kato would drive the Black Beauty,
keep watch out for the police or the bad guys and sometimes lend a
helping fist to the fighting. The Green Hornet pretended to be a villain
while really battling the forces of crime in the big city. This would
make for some interesting plot twists as the Green Hornet would be
actively avoiding detection by the police while at the same time
attempting to destroy criminal activity in the city. Many times the
Green Hornet would lead the police to believe that the Green Hornet had
been the mastermind of the case at hand. The police would receive an
anonymous tip of where they could pick up the now subdued crooks with
the Green Hornet just barely making his escape from the scene.
The Green Hornet would be alerted to criminal
activity through his job as editor of the Daily Sentinel. The crime
stories would lead Britt Reid to transform into the Green Hornet to
battle crime at night.
The Green Hornet program began in January of 1936 and
played to December 5, 1952. The shows typically ran thirty minutes and
ran twice a week in the beginning years. They later reverted to being
broadcast once a week. The last season of the show in 1952 the show
reverted back to a twice a week schedule. As mentioned above, Al Hodge
played the role of Britt Reid for seven years. Fran Striker, a
co-creator of the Lone Ranger, wrote all of the scripts for
The Green Hornet until April 1944. After that, several
other writers were brought in to script the show. The writing output of
Fran Striker was incredible. While he was scripting
The Green Hornet he was also writing the scripts for
The Lone Ranger program.
Following Al Hodge, three other radio actors played
Britt Reid. Donovan Faust took the role for the 1943 season. Robert Hall
played the part for three years, from 1943 to 1946. Jack McCarthy
finished the last years of the series from 1946 through 1952. Thus ended
a tremendous 16-year radio program full of action, high-speed chases,
and the overcoming of evil by the Green Hornet.[5]
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