Series cast summary: | |||
David Carradine | ... | Kwai Chang Caine / ... 63 episodes, 1972-1975 | |
Radames Pera | ... | Young Caine 47 episodes, 1972-1975 | |
Keye Luke | ... | Master Po 47 episodes, 1972-1975 | |
Philip Ahn | ... | Master Kan 40 episodes, 1972-1975 | |
Kwai Chang Caine is a Shaolin Monk who is on the run after he killed the Chinese Emperor's nephew after that coward killed his teacher in cold blood with a gun. He flees to America to escape retaliation, and to search for his brother in order to settle down in this new land. However, in his travels in the wild west, he can not help but continually run into trouble from desperados and other ruffians as they oppress the innocent, while bounty hunters pursue the price on his head. Against this, he has his skill of Kung Fu martial arts, which proves to be devastatingly effective in this gun-dominated land. Written by Kenneth Chisholm <kchishol@home.com>
This will always be one of the more original series to come out of the 1970's. Imagine a Western where the main character is half Chinese and half Caucasian and doesn't use a gun. Now think of how this series wound up as one of the great cult classics of its era. Even though this series originally was the idea of Bruce Lee and would have featured him as the star, David Carradine still pulls off the job and comes off as very believable as Caine. You also can see that he tries not to play to stereotype, but he does make this show very mystical, which can be seen as a positive and as a negative. Also wonderful were Keye Luke as master Po, Phllip Ahn as master Kahn and, of course, Radames Pera as the young Caine. This show will always be a cult classic of its era.