The Green Hornet

Probably one of radio’s best known juvenile adventure shows of the three written by George Trendle and Fran Striker, this show featured Britt Reid as the young publisher of The Daily Sentinel.

Britt Reid was also 'The Green Hornet', a crime-fighting masked vigilante who used his secret identity when battling with criminals of all descriptions. 

George W Trendle had spearheaded the development of The Lone Ranger, and he now sought to bring on air a similar series with writer Fran Striker and director James Jewell on board too, with the idea that they would create a series to "show that a political system could be riddled with corruption and that one man could successfully combat this white-collar lawlessness."

The series debuted on January 31st 1936 on WXYZ - the same local network which had brought The Lone Ranger, and the Challenge of the Yukon to the airwaves too.

Like Batman, The Green Hornet's real identity was only known to his side kick, Kato, who was his trusted valet, and also a fierce fighter and the driver of Black Beauty, The Green Hornet’s amazing car.

One of the reasons the popular show was so well recognized was from the unforgettable classical music in its theme tune, using the distinctive composition from Nikolai Rinsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee, blended with a hornet buzz. 

Other famous classical works used as incidental music for the series included Hector Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Pathetique Symphony, Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, Ludwig van Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony, Paul Dukas' The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Antonin Dvorak's "From the New World" Symphony. Modest Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain, Gustav Holst's Mars, the Bringer of War from The Planets, the Overture to Richard Wagner's The Flying Dutchman.

I have discovered lots more episodes of The Green Hornet in the RUSC archives, so I will likely add one every day for the coming months. I hope you'll enjoy them as much as I have been!

Happy listening my friends,