By Dave Worrall
Obviously
released to tie-in with the new big Hollywood 2011 version of The Green Hornet, this soundtrack CD
released by Harkit Records in England
features the music from the original Sixties TV show starring Van Williams and
Bruce Lee. The series, which was produced by William Dozier, the man behind the
hit show Batman, was originally
intended to fill a one-hour time slot, but was eventually aired by Fox as 26
half-hour episodes. Made with the same flair and quality as Batman, The Green Hornet failed to grab the audience’s attention in the
same way the caped crusader did. This was due, in part, to the fact that it
wasn’t so “comic bookish†in its approach, and didn’t have such crazy villains
as its predecessor. That said, the show boasted ‘Black Beauty’, the Hornet’s gadget-laden
car designed by Dean Jeffries, some excellent plot lines, and the talents of
the then unknown martial arts expert, Bruce Lee. Although not a hit back in
1966, the show has a cult following today.
The
‘Big Band’ jazz-inspired score was by Billy May, who was also responsible for
the TV shows The Mod Squad, Emergency! and C.H.I.P.S. May worked closely with Al Hirt, the renowned trumpeter,
adapting the Rimsky-Korsakov piece ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’ as the Green
Hornet’s theme. This album, which has been available before, comes with sixteen
vibrant musical tracks and now includes an excerpt from the original 1940’s
“Hit and Run†episode from ‘The Green Hornet’ radio show, and a complete
specially adapted episode: “The Canine Culpritâ€, narrated by Jackson Beck.
This
is a nice addition to those who love TV shows of the era. Good to see Retro’s
very own Martin Gainsford responsible for writing the very informative liner
notes.
CLICK HERE TO ORDER FROM AMAZON
CLICK HERE TO ORDER FROM AMAZON UK
(See
Cinema Retro issue #1: January 2005, for Martin Gainford’s fascinating 2-page article on The
Green Hornet’s car.)