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Richv1
Jazma V.P.
Canada
1156 Posts |
 Posted - 02/22/2010 : 07:50:54 AM
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After winning the 2008 Rondo Award for "Best Book of the Year" for The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic, how could author Martin Grams top this amazing feat? With a 820 page book documenting every aspect of The Green Hornet with co-author Terry Salomonson, keeper of the Audio Classics Archive, located in Michigan. The Green Hornet: A History of Radio, Motion Pictures, Comics and Television is the only authorized release of The Green Hornet to document the entire series through every incarnation.
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> The Green Hornet was one of radio's best-known and most distinctive adventure shows. Britt Reid, publisher of The Daily Sentinel, sought justice beyond his daily editoiral columns. Armed with this knowledge, a gas gun that rendered foes momentarily unconscious, and a speedster known as the Black Beauty, he donned the guise of The Green Hornet. Feared by the underworld and sough after by the police, the masked vigilante fought racketeers, gangsters and saboteurs. When the police were faced with red tape, The Green Hornet, with his sidekick Kato, circumvented protocol and legal procedure in their determined battle to put away crooks.
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> Since The Green Hornet first appeared on radio in 1936, he has made the transition to motion pictures, comics and television. Very little has been written about the masked marvel and what has been recorded in magazine articles and encyclopedias prior to this publication has never explored the character as deeply... or accurately. "You have to remember that most people don't do true research," remarked author Martin Grams. "Most people rely on previously published books and reference guides and base their facts from those and when one book has an error, that error continues to be reprinted and eventually it is taken as the gospel. It doesn't matter how well-known the author is, or the credits that stand behind their name, the fact remains that eighty percent of the information posted on the internet and what has appeared in encyclopedias and books has been inaccurate. It is our hope that this book will correct those errors."
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> Make no mistake. Every source of information has been documented and detailed. The details go beyond standard encyclopedic entries. This book verifies what actress had to leave the series for a few broadcasts due to maternity leave (verified by the actress' daughter). This book reveals the exact date when Kato switched from a Japanese to a Filipino, thanks to the authors' meticulous note-taking while reading the 1,000 plus radio scripts, and reprinted all the inter-office memos from George W. Trendle's archive to verify the real reason why the switch. Presently, encyclopedias claim Kato became Filipino after the bombing of Pearl Harbor which has since been verified and proven to be a mistake. These are just some examples of how this new book is going to clear the facts.
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> A complete history of the radio series from the creation of the character to conception sketches of The Green Hornet mask, reprints from production files to the untold adventures, biographic details of the cast and the characters they played and background information is all provided under one cover. Also included are details of the two cliffhanger serials released through Universal in the early forties, the un-aired 1952 television pilot, the long-running popularity of the comic books and the William Dozier television series (1966-67) starring Van Williams and Bruce Lee. A complete episode guide documents every adventure, with plots, including unproduced scripts and plot proposals. For the television series, the detail level is remarkable: dates of production, breakdown of product and talent cost, music cues in the order they appear in the episode (including composer, title and length of time the music appears)... well, you get the idea. (A sample of the detail level can be found on Bear Manor Media's web-site.)
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> Whether you are a casual fan or a serious enthusiast of the series, at 820 pages you can be assured of one thing: This book will be the definitive guide to The Green Hornet. With the major motion picture due for theatrical release this December, and a new series of Green Hornet comic books due out shortly, this is your chance to brush up on the subject matter.
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> The book is available from Amazon.com, Oldies.com and MartinGrams.com . We mention the author's web-site because a purchase from there can ensure autographed copies -- which you cannot get on Amazon.
Richard Vasseur |
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The Green Hornet: A History ...
