The Preying Mantis (18 Nov. 1966)

When a Tong war breaks out in Chinatown, Britt and the paper investigate and think that it's actually a protection racket moving into Chinatown. When someone calls him telling him is he ... See full summary »

Director:

Norman Foster

Writers:

Charles Hoffman (teleplay), Ken Pettus (teleplay),

Stars:

Van Williams, Bruce Lee, Wende Wagner

Cast

Episode credited cast:
Van Williams	...	The Green Hornet / Britt Reid
Bruce Lee	...	Kato
Wende Wagner	...	Lenore 'Casey' Case
Lloyd Gough	...	Mike Axford
Walter Brooke	...	D.A. Frank Scanlon
Mako	...	Low Sing
Tom Drake	...	Duke Slate
Hal Yamanouchi	...	Jimmy Kee (as Al Huang)
Lang Yun	...	Mary Chang
Gary Owens	...	DSTV News Announcer
Allen Jung	...	Wing Ho
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Keye Luke	...	Mr. Chang, The Golden Lotus's Proprietor

Storyline

When a Tong war breaks out in Chinatown, Britt and the paper investigate and think that it's actually a protection racket moving into Chinatown. When someone calls him telling him is he wants to know what's going on he will send someone to a restaurant in Chinatown. When they get there they find a man knocked out in front of the restaurant and the place trashed and the owner beaten up. Britt tells Scanlon he has to find the man, Jimmy Kee cause he knows what's going on. Later Mike discovers that a known protection man meeting with one of the Tongs. Later a friend of Jimmy's tells Britt where he will be. They go there and find him. They're about to bring him to Scanlon when they learn that Jimmy's friend was kidnapped. They decide to hold Jimmy and go to the boss and offer Jimmy in exchange for money and the girl. But at the exchange, the Tong leader reneges and is challenged to fight Kato to the death.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Sci-Fi

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 November 1966 (USA)

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Greenway Productions, 20th Century Fox Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

In a scene in the middle of the story, when the Green Hornet and Kato visit Low Sing and Slate to suggest a prisoner exchange, Kato and Low Sing square off in kung fu stances. First, in a medium shot, Low Sing's right hand is more or less straight out and at chest level; the camera then cuts to a close shot in which the same hand is at shoulder level and cocked; then the camera cuts back to the medium shot in which the hand is again straight and level with his chest.

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Quotes

Kato: You know, if we ever meet up with that masked gung fu man again... I want him.
Britt Reid: You got him.

User Reviews

A memorable GH episode for the right reasons

while i'm not pretending this is great - in the Green Hornet context - and more importantly - in the context of martial arts in western films and TV - it is one of the most famous and inspiring shows

it has martial Asians against martial arts Asians - one of the first - if not the first - example in on US television

of course Mako wasn't a barehands fighter - what little he had to do passed muster simply cuz it was so little - and at the climactic fight

• Bruce Lee's student Danny Inosanto stood in - producing a whale of a

fight scene

we even get to see Bruce wield several different weapons - giving western audiences their first glimpse of these exotic devices

my only regret is that the standards of TV back then didn't allow more time for Bruce and Mako - they were both magnetic actors - and would brought the intensity level up several notches - instead - they played lap dogs to the white guys - which was a little demeaning - but made up for by the importance of the martial arts skills their characters brought