The 50th Anniversary of the TV Series Kung Fu

It was fifty years ago today, October 14 1972, that the TV show Kung Fu debuted on ABC. Kung Fu would prove to be a success. For its first season it ranked no. 29 out of all the shows on the air. For its second season it ranked no. 27 out of all the shows on the air. It also seems likely that the show was at least partly responsible for triggering a kung fu/martial arts fad that lasted from 1973 to 1974. It maintains a cult following to this day.

Kung Fu centred on Shaolin priest Kwai Chang Caine (David Carradine), who was forced to flee China after killing his teacher's murderer (who just happened to be the Emperor's nephew). He then wandered the Old West, searching for his American half brother Danny Caine. All the while, Caine was pursued by bounty hunters and often faced injustice in his travels, forcing him to use his martial arts skills.

Kung Fu grew out of a movie treatment written by comedy writer Ed Spielman. Ever since had seen the movie Seven Samurai (1954), Mr. Spielman had been fascinated by East Asian culture. He wrote a movie treatment about legendary samurai Miyamoto Musashi. In the original draft of the movie treatment, Miyamoto Musashi travelled to China where he was taught kung fu by a Shaolin monk. It was around 1967 that he showed the treatment to his writing partner, Howard Friedlander, who was fascinated by the character of the Shaolin monk. It was Howard Friedlander who suggested that instead of a movie about Miyamoto Musashi, Ed Spielman instead focus on a Shaolin monk wandering the Old West. The two then set to work on the treatment, eventually titled The Way of the Tiger, The Sign of the Dragon.

It was in 1969 that Ed Spielman and Howard Friedlander submitted their jokes, along with  the movie treatment, to Peter Lampack, an agent at the Howard Morris agency. While Peter Lampack was not impressed by Messrs. Ed Spielman and Howard Friedlander's jokes, he was interested in the treatment about a Shaolin monk wandering the Old West. Fred Weintraub, an Executive Vice President at Warner Bros., also took an interest in the The Way of the Tiger, The Sign of the Dragon. He had Ed Spielman and Howard Friedlander write a screenplay based on the treatment in 1970. Unfortunately, Fred Weintraub was not able to stir up much interest at Warner Bros. in the project.

Fortunately, it occurred to Fred Weintraub that The Way of the Tiger, The Sign of the Dragon could be turned into television movie. It would be Jerry Thorpe and writer Herman Miller who would take Ed Spielman and Howard Friedlander's screenplay and turn it into a ninety-minute teleplay for a television movie. Now simply titled Kung Fu, the TV movie aired on ABC on February 22 1972 as a Movie of the Week. The TV movie Kung Fu proved successful enough that ABC greenlit a TV series.

Ever since the publication of Linda Lee's memoir about her husband, Bruce Lee: The Man Only I Knew, some have assumed that it was actually Bruce Lee who created the TV series Kung Fu. In many ways, it is understandable why some would assume this. It was in 1971 that Tom Kuhn, the head of the television division at Warner Bros., offered Bruce Lee a deal to develop his own television series. Among other ideas, Mr. Lee came up with the idea of a Shaolin monk named Ah Sahm who travelled the Old West helping the oppressed. Originally titled Ah Sahm, Bruce Lee retitled it The Warrior and submitted the proposal to Warner Bros. Ultimately Bruce Lee did not sign the contract for his development deal with the studio because of the success of the first film to star Bruce Lee in a lead role, The Big Boss (1971). With a movie career in the offing, there was no reason for his to star in his own television show.

Given Ed Spielman and Howard Friedlander's original movie treatment dated to 1969, it seems more likely that any similarities between Ed Spielman and Howard Friedlander's concept and Bruce Lee's concept were purely coincidental. Indeed, there were some differences between the two. Caine is only half Chinese and is searching for his half-brother. Ah Sahm was fully Chinese and was simply wandering the West helping the oppressed. Here it must be pointed out that the idea of "Far East Meets Old West" was not unknown in the Sixties and early Seventies. The 1971 movie Red Sun starred Toshiro Mifune as a samurai seeking to retrieve a sword owned by the Japanese ambassador in the Old West. Still yet earlier, the 1960 Wanted: Dead or Alive episode "Black Belt" involved bounty hunter Josh Randall (Steve McQueen) tracking a karate expert accused of killing his employer. The 1963 episode The Rifleman "The Sixteenth Cousin" featured a cousin of the Japanese Emperor and his bodyguard, a skilled samurai. That Ed Spielman and Howard Friedlander as well as Bruce Lee came up on the idea of a Shaolin monk wandering the Old West separately is then not at all far-fetched.

Regardless, Bruce Lee was considered for the role of Caine on Kung Fu. He had played Kato on the single season show The Green Hornet and later appeared on the TV series Longstreet. It was Longstreet that sparked Warner Bros.' interest in him for the show. Ultimately, Bruce Lee was not cast as Caine because Tom Kuhn felt his accent was too thick for a series lead. Other actors of Asian descent were considered. Mako was considered for role, but ultimately it was thought his accent was too thick as well. He later made a guest appearance on the show. George Takei, then as now best known as Sulu on Star Trek, was also considered, but it was ultimately decided he was the wrong physical type.

After having considered various actors of Asian descent for the role of Caine, the producers then looked elsewhere for an actor to play Caine. James Coburn, William Smith, and John Saxon were all considered for the role. Ultimately, David Carradine, who was decidedly not Asian in descent, was cast as the half-Chinese Kwai Chang Caine. The casting of David Carradine would result in controversy even before the Movie of the Week aired. The Association of Asian Pacific American Artists filed a formal complaint against the casting of Mr. Carradine on the grounds of unfair hiring practices. They demanded that David Carradine be replaced by an actor of Asian descent and that a Chinese history advisor be hired. While the producers would hire an advisor on Chinese history, David Carradine remained in the role of Caine on Kung Fu.

While a white actor played a half-Chinese actor on Kung Fu, the show would provide Asian and Asian American actors with more roles than they ever had been on American television. Kung Fu would often involve flashbacks to Caine's life at the Shaolin monastery, which often involved his teachers there, including his mentor Master Po (Keye Luke) and Master Chen (Philip Ahn). Other Asian actors would have recurring roles on the show, including James Hong, Victor Sen Yung, Richard Loo, and Yiki Shimoda. The show featured guest appearances ranging from actors Benson Fong to Nancy Kwan.

As mentioned earlier, Kung Fu proved to be successful in its very first season. There was some merchandising associated with the show. As might be expected, King-Seely put out a Kung Fu lunchbox. Topps issued a set of 60 bubblegum cards associated with the show. There were even at least three novels based on the show, credited to Lee Howard (a house pen name, the actual author was Barry N. Malzberg).

For its third season ABC moved Kung Fu from the Thursday night time slot to a new Saturday night time slot where it was opposite The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Bob Newhart Show on CBS. Its ratings then faltered and for the first time it did not rank in the top thirty shows for the year. It would not be ratings that would end Kung Fu, but instead its star. After three seasons on the show, David Carradine decided it was time to leave for multiple reasons. Indeed, he had warned the producers that the third season would be his last.

Kung Fu remained popular after ending its network run and enjoyed some success in syndication. In 1986, the television film Kung Fu: The Movie aired. The film introduced a son Caine did not know he had, Chung Wang (Brandon Lee). The following year the TV movie Kung Fu: The Next Generation aired. This movie was set in the present and centred on a descendant of Caine, Kwai Chang "Johnny" Caine (Brandon Lee). It was in 1993 that the TV series Kung Fu: The Legend Continues debuted in first run syndication. The series starred David Carradine as a Shaolin monk and a descendent of Caine who fights crime alongside his son Peter Caine (Chris Potter).

In 2021 a new series, Kung Fu, debuted on The CW. Although called a reboot, Kung Fu (2021) actually has very little in common with the original series. The series is set in present day San Francisco, and the show's lead character, Nicky Shen (Olivia Lang) is in no way connected to the Kwai Chang Caine of the original series. Furthermore, Nicky does not wander the United States, but instead fights evil in San Francisco. Regardless, the show has been well received by critics and has done well in the ratings for a show running on The CW.

While it only lasted three years, Kung Fu would have a lasting impact. It seems likely that the show helped spark the kung fu craze of the Seventies. Kung Fu debuted in the fall of 1972. It was in March 1973 that the Hong Kong  movie King Boxer (AKA 5 Fingers of Death) reached the top ten movies at the box office in the United States. It would soon be followed by yet other kung fu movies produced in Hong Kong that dominated the American box office. In turn, there would be comic books and magazines dedicated to East Asian martial arts. The "kung fu craze" would last well into 1974. The "kung fu" craze would forever alter American action movies, comic books, and television shows, with characters from Batman to Buffy the Vampire Slayer being skilled in East Asian martial arts. While it is possible the "kung fu craze" would have taken place had Kung Fu never aired, it seems likely that the show kick-started it.

Kung Fu was not a perfect show by any means. Casting David Carradine as Kwai Chang Caine amounted to nothing more or less than yellow face. The show often had inaccuracies with regards to Chinese history and culture. The show would even err with regards to the Shaolin temple, with its priests quoting Taoism and Confucianism when in truth they are Buddhists. Regardless, Kung Fu did give many Asian actors the opportunity to appear in television in major roles. What is more, those roles were rarely, if ever stereotypes. While Kung Fu was certainly a flawed show, it remains popular to this day and would have a lasting impact on American popular culture.

The Late Great Angela Lansbury

Dame Angela Lansbury, the acclaimed actress who was nominated for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in her film debut in Gaslight (1944), played Eleanor Shaw in The Manchurian Candidate (1962), and played mystery novelist Jessica Fletcher in the TV series Murder, She Wrote, died yesterday, October 11 1922, at the age of 96.

Angela Lansbury was born on October 16 1925 in Regent's Park, London. Her father was politician Edgar Lansbury and her mother was Northern Irish actress Moyna Macgill. She spent her early life in Poplar, East London and then Mill Hill, North London. Her father died of stomach cancer when she was nine and her mother later remarried. She attended Hampstead School for Girls where she took part in school plays. She studied acting at Webber Douglas School of Singing and Dramatic Art in Kensington, West London, and passed with honours from the Royal Academy of Music.

It was at the start of World War II that her mother moved with  both her and her younger brothers (Bruce Lansbury, who would become a well-known television producer, and his twin Edgar Lansbury, who also became a producer) to the United States. Angela Lansbury attended the Feagin School of Dramatic Art in New York City and graduated in 1942. She went to work in nightclubs as a singer, also doing imitations of comedy actress Beatrice Lillie. She received an offer from the Samovar Club in Montreal. She lied about her age and played a six week engagement there. After returning to New York City, Angela Lansbury then joined her mother in Hollywood.

Angela Lansbury, then only 18, was signed by MGM and made her film debut in Gaslight in 1944. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the role of the young maid Nancy. In the late Forties Angela Lansbury played several high profile roles in major motion pictures, including National Velvet (1944), The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945), The Harvey Girls (1946), The Hoodlum Saint (1946), Til the Clouds Roll By (1946), The Private Lives of Bel Ami (1947), If Winter Comes (1947), Tenth Avenue Angel (1948), State of the Union (1948), The Three Musketeers (1948), The Red Danube (1949), and Samson and Delilah (1949). She made her television debut in an episode of Robert Montgomery Presents in 1950.

In the Fifties Angela Lansbury made her debut on Broadway in 1957 in Hotel Paradiso. She also appeared on Broadway in A Taste of Honey. She appeared in the films Kind Lady (1951), Mutiny (1952), Remains to Be Seen (1953), A Life at Stake (1955), The Purple Mask (1955), A Lawless Street (1955), The Court Jester (1955), Please Murder Me! (1956), The Long, Hot Summer (1958), The Reluctant Debutante (1959), Summer of the Seventeenth Doll (1959), A Breath of Scandal (1960), and The Dark the Top of the Stairs (1960). On television she guest starred on the shows Robert Montgomery Presents, The Revlon Mirror Theatre, The Ford Television Theatre, Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, Lux Video Theatre, General Electric Theatre, Fireside Theatre, Four Star Playhouse, Stage 7, Star Time Playhouse, Chevron Hall of Stars, The Star and Story, Celebrity Playhouse, Front Row Center, Screen Directors Playhouse, Studio 57, Undercurrent, Climax!, and Playhouse 90.

In the Sixties Angela Lansbury appeared on Broadway in A Taste of Honey, Anyone Can Whistle, Mame, and Dear World. She won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for Mame. She appeared in the movies Blue Hawaii (1960), All Fall Down (1962), The Manchurian Candidate (1962), In the Cool of the Day (1963), The World of Henry Orient (1964), Dear Heart (1964), The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders (1965), Harlow (1965), Mister Buddwing (1966), and Something for Everyone (1970). She was nominated for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for playing Eleanor Shaw in The Manchurian Candidate. On television she guest starred on the shows The Eleventh Hour, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., and The Trials of O'Brien.

In the Seventies, Miss Lansbury appeared on Broadway in Gypsy, The King and I, and Sweeney Todd,. She appeared in the movies Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), Death on the Nile (1978), The Lady Vanishes (1979), and The Mirror Crack'd (1980).

It was in 1984 that Angela Lansbury began playing mystery novelist and amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher on the TV series Murder, She Wrote. Murder, She Wrote proved very successful. It ranked in the top ten for eight of its twelve seasons, and in the top twenty for all but its last season. Miss Lansbury was nominated for the Emmy Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series three times for the show. In the Eighties also guest starred as Jessica Fletcher on Magnum, P.I. She played herself in an episode of Newhart. She also appeared in the mini-series Little Gloria...Happy at Last, Lace, and The First Olympics: Athens 1896. She also appeared in such TV movies as Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, The Gift of Love: A Christmas Story, A Talent for Murder, Rage of Angels: The Story Continues, and The Shell Seekers. She appeared on Broadway in A Little Family Business and Mame. In the Eighties she was the voice of Mommy Fortuna in the animated film The Last Unicorn (1982). She appeared in the movies The Pirates of Penzance (1983) and The Company of Wolves (1984).

In the Nineties Angela Lansbury continued to play Jessica Fletcher on Murder. She Wrote. During the decade she reprised the role of Jessica Fletcher in two Murder, She Wrote television movies. She appeared in the TV movies Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris, Mrs. Santa Claus, and The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax. She provided the voice of Mrs. Potts in Beauty and the Beast (1991) and the Dowager Empress Marie in the animated film Anastasia (1997).

In the Naughts Angela Lansbury reprised the role of Jessica Fletcher in two more Murder, She Wrote movies. She guest starred on the TV shows Touched by an Angel, Law & Order: Trial by Jury, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She appeared in the movie Nancy McPhee (2005) and was the voice of Grandmamma in the animated movie Heidi 4 Paws (2009). She appeared on Broadway in Deuce, Blithe Spirit, and A Little Night Music.

In the Teens Angela Lansbury appeared in the movies Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Mary Poppins Returns (2018) and Buttons (2018). She appeared on Broadway in Gore Vidal's The Best Man. She appeared in the mini-series Little Women.  Later this year she will appear in the movie Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.

Angela Lansbury was extremely versatile, so much so that she was described a "character actress" from when she was very young. While she might be best known as Jessica Fletcher on Murder, She Wrote, she played  wide variety of roles throughout her career. She was the flirtatious, young maid in Gaslight (1944). She played dance hall girl Em in The Harvey Girls tavern singer Sibyl in The Picture of Dorian Gray. In The Court Jester she was the beautiful, but scheming Princess Gwendolyn. While today when many people think of Angela Lansbury playing older roles, when she was young she could and did play attractive, young, and even flirtatious characters.

Of course, even when Angela Lansbury was young she was playing characters older than she was. In Samson and Delilah she played Semadar, the older sister of Delilah, despite the fact that Hedy Lamarr was around ten years older than she was. Angela Lansbury was only ten years older than Elvis Presley, but played his mother in Blue Hawaii. It is well known that Angela Lansbury was only three years older than Laurence Harvey, yet he played her son in The Manchurian Candidate. The Manchurian Candidate is a mark of just how great an actress Angela Lansbury was. After playing a seductive maid in Gaslight and before playing the sweet-natured Jessica Fletcher on Murder, She Wrote, she played one of the greatest villains in movie history. As played by Angela Lansbury, Eleanor Shaw was absolute evil.

Angela Lansbury wasn't simply a great actress, but she was also a gifted singer as well. This can be seen in her musical roles in movies, from The Harvey Girls to Beauty and the Beast. It is little wonder that two of her best known roles on Broadway were in musicals, Mame and Sweeney Todd.

Given the length of her career, the many high-profile films in which she appeared, and her sheer talent as an actress, Angela Lansbury was well-loved in the classic film buff community. Classic film buffs also loved her for her well-known kindness. Miss Lansbury always had time for her fans and she treated with both warmth and respect. Over the years many fans met her, and all of them said that she was among the nicest people one could meet. Angela Lansbury may have played some of the most villainous characters on screen, but  in reality she was a true lady.

The 60th Anniversary of McHale's Navy

It was sixty years ago today, on October 11 1962, that McHale's Navy debuted on ABC. At a time when ABC trailed behind both CBS and NBC in the ratings, McHale's Navy was one of their more successful sitcoms. It ultimately ran for four seasons. McHale's Navy starred Ernest Borgnine as Lt. Commander Quinton McHale, commander of the U.S. Navy PT boat PT-73 in the South Pacific during World War II. Stationed on a small island opposite Taratupa where they saw little in the way of action, Lt. Commander McHale and his men spent more time dreaming up money making schemes than fighting the Japanese. It was for this reason McHale often found himself at odds with his commanding officer, Captain Binghamton (Joe Flynn), who is always trying to get enough evidence on McHale and his men to put them in the brig permanently. If McHale's Navy sounds a bit like The Phil Silvers Show (AKA Sgt. Bilko), it should be kept in mind that it was produced by Edward J. Montagne, who had been a producer on The Phil Silvers Show.

It might surprise many to learn that the sitcom McHale's Navy actually originated as a very serious, World War II drama that had aired as an episode of Alcoa Premiere. The episode, "Seven Against the Sea," aired on April 3 1962 and starred Ernest Borgnine as Quentin McHale, the commander of PT-73 in the South Pacific during World War II. The relative peace that McHale and his men had been enjoying is disrupted by the arrival of a new executive officer,  Durham (Ron Foster), whose job it it is to get the base back to fighting the war. Naturally McHale and Durham clash, until word comes that a battalion of United States Marines are under siege. While "Seven Against the Sea" had some humour, it was firmly a drama and had a very serious tone for the most part.

Reportedly, "Seven Against the Sea" was a pilot for a show to be titled McHale's Men, although in later interviews Ernest Borgnine has said that Durham was to be the main character on the show. The point may have been moot, as "Seven Against the Sea" sparked little interest at Revue Productions. It was Jennings Lang, Vice President of MCA TV Limited (the parent of Revue) who suggested that instead the show be done as a situation comedy. Ultimately, McHale's Navy would retain only two members of the cast of "Seven Against the Sea." Aside from Ernest Borgnine as Lt. Commander McHale, it also kept Gary Vinson as George "Christy" Christopher, the quartermaster on the PT-73, and John Wrighat as radio man Willy Moss, a Southerner who also operated their still.

The rest of the cast of McHale's Navy would be entirely different from "Seven Against the Sea." Joe Flynn joined the show as Captain Biunghamton. Also joining the show was Bob Hastings, as Lt. Carpenter, Captain Binghamton's assistant who is utterly incompetent despite trying to do everything by the book. Tim Conway joined the show as McHale's second in command, Ensign Charles Parker. Mr. Parker was naive, more than a bit bashful, and utterly mild mannered. He also tended to be inept. While Parker is hardly a good officer, he is so likeable that the crew of the PT-109 take measures to protect him.

The rest of McHale's crew is rounded out by a diverse group of personalities. Lester Gruber (Carl Ballantine) was the PT-79's torpedo mate, an amateur magician and con man who is always concocting money making schemes that nearly get them put in the brig. The crew was rounded out by Machinist Mate Harrison James "Tinker" Bell (Billy Sands), Gunner's Mate Virgil Edwards (Edson Stroll), and Seaman Joseph "Happy" Haines (Gavin MacLeod). Staying with McHale and his crew is Fujiwara "Fuji" Takeo Kobiashi, a Japanese naval seaman and prisoner of war who had deserted from the Japanese Imperial Navy. He has no loyalty to the Japanese military and is entirely faithful to the crew of PT-79. They in turn hide him from Captain Binghamton and any other military officers (both American and Japanese).

McHale's Navy did respectably well in the ratings, particularly for a show on third rated ABC. For it second season it ranked no. 22 for the year in the Nielsens. For its third season it ranked at no. 29 for the season. Over all, McHale's Navy would be successful to have two feature films spun off from it. The first was McHale's Navy (1964), released at the end of the second season. In the film the crew of the PT-79 find themselves deep in debut after Gruber's horse betting scheme doesn't pan out and Ensign Parker destroys both the cargo and dock belonging to a rich businessman. Ernest Borgnine would be absent for the second film, McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force (1965) because of filming on Flight of the Phoenix (1965). In the film, after switching uniforms with a U.S. Air Force officer, Parker is mistaken for an Air Force officer. Aside from Ernest Borgnine, most of the cast appears in McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force, except for Carl Ballanine as Gruber.

McHale's Navy underwent very little in the way of cast changes. Of McHale's crew, only Gavin MacLeod left. He departed from the series at the end of the second season to appear in the movie The Sand Pebbles (1966). The show featured several recurring characters, including Roy Roberts as Admiral Rogers, Jane Dulo as Nurse Nancy Turner, and Henry Beckman as Colonel Harrigan.

While McHale's Navy underwent very little in the way of cast changes, in its fourth season it entirely changed its location. The crew of PT-79, as well as Captain Binghamton and Lt. Carpenter, were all transferred to the fictional Italian town of Voltafiore. In an interview in 1965 with TV Guide writer Peter Bogdanovich (yes,the one who would become a movie director), producer Si Rose said, "After three years in the Pacific, we thought the Allied and Japanese forces had had enough of McHale. You know, new enemy, new relationships, a new dimension for McHale."

As it was, the move perhaps turned out to be a bad idea for the show. After ranking in the top thirty for the past two seasons, ratings for McHale's Navy dropped low enough that it was cancelled at the end of its fourth season. Of course, things did not help that it aired opposite The Red Skelton Hour on CBS and Dr. Kildare on NBC.

McHale's Navy was gone, but hardly forgotten. It proved to be a success in syndication. The entire run of the show has also been released on DVD and it is available on streaming. In 1997 a film very loosely based on the TV series McHale's Navy was released, with Tom Arnold as Lt. Commander McHale. McHale's Navy (1997) received overwhelming negative reviews (on Rotten Tomatoes it boasts a rating of 3% based on 29 reviews) and it also bombed at the box office.

McHale's Navy was very much a product of its time. To a degree Fuji fits the stereotype of the passive, accommodating East Asian male.   Some of the other Japanese characters appearing on the show also conformed to stereotypes. It was not unusual for McHale and his crew to refer to the Japanese as "Nips," today considered an ethnic slur (here it must be pointed out that it appears in movies about World War II of the time). The native islanders are also often stereotypes of the sort often seen on Gilligan's Island. Although a good deal of progress had been seen in the previous decades, the Sixties were still a time when ethnic stereotypes were often seen on American television.

Regardless, McHale's Navy would have a lasting impact on the career of Tim Conway, even though he is better known for The Carol Burnett Show today. It was McHale's Navy that first brought him to prominence and gave him his first role in a feature film, reprising the role of Ensign Parker in the two McHale's Navy movies. The short-lived sitcom The Tim Conway Show re-teamed Tim Conway and Joe Flynn as co-owners of a charter plane company. Ernest Borgnine and Tim Conway would later provide the voices of superheroes Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy on the animated TV series SpongeBob Squarepants.

Today McHale's Navy does not necessarily count among the best known sitcoms. It is perhaps best remembered as a vehicle for Ernest Borgnine, up until that time an actor in feature films. Even so, it stands as one of ABC's few successes in the early Sixties and it remains a very funny sitcom. In 1963 both Ernest Borgnine and Tim Conway would be nominated for Emmy Awards. Although it is not as well remembered as it once was, McHale's Navy remains one of the better comedies to emerge from the early Sixties.

The Ring (1952)

Rita Moreno & Lalo Rios

For most of the Golden Age of Hollywood, individuals of Mexican descent were rarely seen on the silver screen. When they did appear in a movie, they were often portrayed as gross stereotypes, such as the bandido or lazy Mexican. This began to change after World War II, when movies focusing on Mexican Americans began to appear. Among these movies was the low budget film The Ring (1952). Now known for featuring Rita Moreno in her first lead role, The Ring (1952) was among the first movies to deal with discrimination against Mexican Americans.

The Ring (1952) centred upon Tomas Cantanios (Lalo Rios), a young Chicano living in East Los Angeles. After his father was laid off from his job and following a street fight, Tomas is discovered by boxing manager Pete Ganusa (Gerald Mohr). Tomas then begins boxing to make money for his family under the Anglicized name Tommy Kansas, against the wishes of his father (Martin Garralaga) and his girlfriend (Rita Moreno).

The Ring (1952) was based on the novel The Square Trap by Irving Schulman, who also wrote the movie's screenplay. The novel's trip to the big screen began in the late Forties. The October 1 1949 issue of Box Office reported that Filmmakers Inc., the independent film company founded by actress Ida Lupino, producer Collier Young, and screenwriter Malvin Wald, would produce Pachuco, a movie based on a novel by Irving Schulman, to be distributed by RKO. Filmmakers Inc. never did produce the movie Pachuco. Eventually, the screen rights to the novel would be purchased by King Brothers Productions, an independent film company that had produced such films as Dillinger (1945) and Gun Crazy (1950). In 1951 King Brothers Productions submitted the screenplay, under the title The Ring is a Trap, to the Production Code Administration. The title was eventually shortened to simply The Ring.

What set The Ring (1952) apart from its contemporaries, let alone earlier movies, is that it had a large Latino cast. Indeed, while Gerhard Mohr and Rita Moreno are top billed, it is Lalo Rios, playing Tomas, who is the star. The movie centres on the character of Tomas and he appears in the majority of its scenes. This makes The Ring one of the first movies to feature a Mexican American in the lead role. Lalo Rios had earlier appeared in another film that dealt with racism against Mexicans and Mexican Americans, The Lawless (1950). In the film Lalo Rios played Paul Rodriguez, a young fruit picker in California who finds himself the victim of bigotry. What separates The Ring (1952) from The Lawless is that the latter film is largely told through the eyes of a white character (Macdonald Carey as newspaper editor Larry Wilder). Sadly, Lalo Rios would never again have a major role like Tomas in The Ring (1952). For the rest of his career he appeared primarily in supporting roles and bit parts. Following The Ring (1952), his most significant role may have been Risto, the nephew of Grandi (Akim Tamiroff ) who hurls acid at Mexican special prosecutor Miguel Vargas (Charlton Heston) in Touch of Evil (1958).

Tommy's love interest in The Ring (1952) is also the film's leading lady, Rita Moreno as Tomas's girlfriend Lucy. The Ring was only her fourth film and, oddly enough, only the second time the Puerto Rican Rita Moreno ever played a Latina (she played Latina runaway Dolores in So Young, So Bad in 1950 before playing a bit part in The Toast of New Orleans the same year and the first of many island girls in Pagan Love Song, also in 1950). Lucy is a significant break from earlier portrayals of women of Mexican descent in American film. For much of American film history, women of Mexican descent were portrayed as such stereotypes as hot tempered, hypersexual señoritas or submissive mamacitas. Lucy was neither of these stereotypes. Instead Lucy was a nice Mexican American girl who is not afraid of telling Tommy she disapproves of him boxing while remaining supportive of him. It is notable that while Miss Moreno has been critical of many of her early roles, she has always looked back fondly on The Ring (1952). She would later say of the film, “Everyone in the film and in the family are good people. He’s not a gangster, he’s not a bad boy. She’s a good girl. She has very traditional Mexican values. She doesn’t want him to box."

Tommy's friends also play a significant role in The Ring, each of them played by Latino actors. For many of these actors, The Ring would be their only credit. This was not the case with Puerto Rican actor Tony Martinez. He had already appeared in three films. Later in the Fifties he would play what may be his best known role, that of Pepino in the sitcom The Real McCoys. The fact that actual Latinos played Latinos in The Ring further set it apart from many other movies of the time. Often times, individuals of Mexican descent would be played by white people in brownface or individuals of yet other ethnicities.

One notable Mexican American member of the cast is Art Aragon, playing himself as the final boxer Tommy faces in the movie. Art Aragon was a lightweight boxer of Mexican descent from New Mexico. He was extremely popular in Los Angeles and even mingled with the Hollywood elite. He was friends with Audie Murphy and even reportedly dated Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield. He also appeared in a few films beyond The Ring.

Of course, what truly sets The Ring (1952) apart is that it is among the very first movies to examine discrimination and racism against Chicanos. In fact, when the original screenplay was submitted to the Production Code Administration, the PCA suggested changes be made to the film's dialogue, remarking, "We feel it would not be good to infer that the police discriminate against these boys because of their nationality."Despite this suggestion, some indication of racism on the part of the police against Chicanos remains in the film. Early in the film two police officers stop by Tomas and his friends' clubhouse for no other apparent reason than to harass the boys. Later in the film the boys go to a diner in Beverly Hills. There the waitress is downright rude to them and the management actually calls the police despite the fact the boys are well behaved and have done nothing wrong. Fortunately, the police officer (played by John Crawford, who later played Sheriff Ep Bridges on The Waltons) is sympathetic to the boys after he learns one of them is boxer Tommy Kansas.

The Ring even portrays the little known fact that Los Angeles was a segregated city. Early in the movie, Tomas and Lucy go to the local roller rink. They are not allowed in as it is not "Mexican night." Indeed, there are signs plainly posted above the box office stating a separate night for African Americans and a separate night for Mexican Americans.

At least one critic reacted poorly to the presentation of racism against Chicanos and the segregation that existed in Los Angeles in The Ring (1952). The critic at The Hollywood Reporter described The Ring (1952) as  "a depressing, rather pointless harangue on American discrimination against its Mexican minority group." They further claimed it offered "such a bleak outlook for the Mexican-American that it emerges only as the type that does this country definite disservice abroad" and claimed The Ring appeared "to show that if a Mexican can't make good in the ring, or in some other exhibitional profession, there isn't much hope for him in this 'land of bigotry.'" To add insult to injury, the critic indicated that its only audience would be "East Los Angeles, the Mexican-American population and those who love films depicting minorities as abused in America." It is tempting to view this review as rooted in racism, particularly as The Ring (1952) portrays Chicanos in a very positive light. They are treated with dignity rather than as stereotypes, and portrayed as hard working, honest people. That it portrays the racism they faced daily in Los Angeles would not seem to me to be a legitimate criticism against it.

As it is, The Ring (1953) stands as a document of Los Angeles County in the early Fifties in other ways. As an independent film made on a low budget, it was largely shot on location around Los Angeles County. Indeed, the opening shot is of historic Olvera Street. The street fight that draws Pete Ganusa's attention to Tommy took place outside what would become the Dresden Room in downtown Los Angeles in only a few years. As might be expected of a boxing movie, boxing venues do appear in the film. Both the American Legion Post 43's Hollywood Stadium and the Valley Garden Arena appear in the film.

Sadly, The Ring (1952) suffered from one of the worst publicity campaigns of any movie in the Fifties. While The Ring (1952) is essentially the story of a young Chicano's personal journey, including the racism he encounters, one would not know it from the film's posters. Some might even be considered racist by today's standards.  Perhaps the worst of the lot featured the tagline "They call me 'Dirty Mex' but still chase my women!," complete with a provocative illustration of Rita Moreno in a gown and Tommy in his boxing shorts and robe. Another poster, featuring Tommy on the ropes, had the tagline, "I was slaughtered to please the crowd!," accompanied by another tagline, "They called me 'Dirty Yellow Mex!'...I'm not good enough for them--but my women are!" None of these posters truly captured The Ring (1952), which was not a violent, overly sensationalized movie at all. Lucy was a clean cut girl, not a femme fatale, while Tommy was simply a good boy seeking to find his way in the world.

Contrary to its promotional material, The Ring (1952) is a very fine movie that is hardly sensationalized. It avoids most of the cliches often found even in the best boxing movies. There is no villainous boxer who fights dirty. Tommy is never asked by mobsters to take a dive. There are no corrupt promoters who cheat Tommy and Pete out of money. That is not to say that there are not things in The Ring (1952) that one hasn't seen in other films. Like many previous characters in boxing movies, Tomas comes from poverty. After several fights, Tommy does become punch drunk, which naturally becomes a cause of concern for him. Even so, these seem like natural outgrowths of the plot, and not cliches inserted into the film because they are common to most boxing movies.

Indeed, in many ways The Ring is less about boxing (and less about racism against Chicanos, for that matter) than it is about Tommy's journey of self discovery. Contrary to what the critic at The Hollywood Reporter claimed in his review, there is a good deal of hope for Tommy at the end of The Ring. He still has a family that loves him. He still has a girlfriend who loves him. He still has friends who love him. At the core of The Ring is the importance of family and friends. The Ring (1952) presents Chicanos as human beings rather than stereotypes, and in doing so it became a truly pioneering film.

Joan Hotchkis Passes On

Joan Hotchkis, who played the female lived on the critically acclaimed sitcom My World and Welcome To It and played the recurring role of Dr. Cunningham on the classic sitcom The Odd Couple, died on September 27 2022 at the age of 95.

Joan Hotchkis was born on September 21 1927 in Los Angeles. She grew up in San Marino, California. In 1949 she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. She later received a master's degree in early childhood education at Bank Street Teacher's College in New York. She briefly taught at a nursery school in New York.

It was while she was home visiting her family for the holidays that she She auditioned for a production of the play The Rainmaker at the Players Ring theatre in West Hollywood. She was cast in the lead role of Lizzie. Once Joan Hotchkis returned to New York City she became a member of The Actors Studio. There she studied with Lee Strasberg.

Joan Hotchkis made her television debut in an episode of Frontier in 1956. She guest starred on the shows Conflict and Robert Montgomery Presents before beginning a stint on the soap opera The Secret Storm in 1956. She guest starred on the sow Diagnosis: Unknown.  She appeared on Broadway in Advise and Consent.

In the Sixties she played the role of Ellen Monroe on the sitcom My World and Welcome to It. While it lasted for only one season, it was critically acclaimed and won the Emmy Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series and, for William Windom, Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Comedy Series. She guest starred in the shows Way Out, Iron Horse, The Outcasts, Bewitched, and The Immortal. She appeared in the TV movies Inside Danny Baker and Abe Lincoln in Illinois. She appeared on Broadway in Write Me a Murder.

In 1974 Joan Hotchkis wrote the one-woman play Legacy, about a middle-class housewife who has a mental breakdown. She starred in the play at Actors Studio West in Los Angeles. In the Seventies she played the recurring character of Dr.Nancy Cunningham, the physician for lead characters Felix (Tony Randall) and Oscar (Jack Klugman) and Oscar's girlfriend on The Odd Couple. Later in the decade she was a regular on the short-lived, syndicated sitcom The Life and Times of Eddie Roberts. She guest starred on the shows The Interns; Mannix; Ghost Story; Temperatures Rising; Owen Marshall, Counsellor at Law; The F.BI., The New Dick Van Dyke Show; Marcus Welby, M.D.; Barnbaby Jones; Medical Center; Executive Suite; Charlie's Angels; and Lou Grant. She appeared in the movie adaptation of her play Legacy (1975), as well as the movies The Late Liz (1971), Breezy (1973), Ode to Billy Joe (1976), and Old Boyfriends (1979).

In the Eighties she guest starred on the TV shows St. Elsewhere and The Magical World of Disney. He appeared in the movie The Last Game (1983). Her last appearance was in the TV movie The Disappearance of Christina in 1993.

Joan Hotchkis also appeared frequently on stage. Among other things, she appeared in productions of Cowboy Jack, Street, Madame Irma, and The Grace of Mary Traverse in Los Angeles. She appeared multiple times in The Glass Menagerie. She also performed with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Milwaukee Repertory Theatre.

Joan Hotchkis was a very talented actress. She was excellent as Dr. Nancy Cunningham on The Odd Couple. She also gave a great performance as Ellen Monroe, the practical wife of writer and cartoonist My World and Welcome to It. Joan Hotchkis usually played highly educated, sophisticated women, and on more than one occasion she played doctors. That having been said, she played other roles as well. She played Mama Hartley, the disapproving mother of lovestruck teen Bobbie Lee (Glynnis O'Conner) in the movie Ode to Billie Joe (1976), proving she could give a good performance even with poor  material. Joan Hotchkis was a very talented actress who was also quite versatile.

Olga San Juan, the Puerto Rican Pepper Pot

Before Héctor Elizondo and Raul Julia, even before Rita Moreno, there was Olga San Juan. Olga San Juan was one of the earliest Puerto Rican stars to appear in American movies. What is more, she was a true triple threat. She could sing, she could dance, and she could act. When Olga San Juan appeared in a movie, one couldn't help but take notice of her.

Olga San Juan was born on March 16 1927 in Flatbush, Brooklyn. Her father was Luis San Juan, a World War I veteran whose regiment guarded the Panama Canal. After the war he returned to Puerto Rico and got married. He and his wife Mercedes later moved to New York City. The family moved back to Puerto Rico when Olga San Juan was three. When she was five they moved to Spanish Harlem in New York City. Olga San Juan's talent manifested when she was still very young. She began taking dance lessons when she was only three years old. When she was was only eleven she and other schoolchildren performed for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt at the White House. Growing up she was part of a Puerto Rican children's club called Infancia Hispania, of which future musician and bandleader Tito Puente was also a member. Olga San Juan and Tito Puente's mother would put together shows for the children to perform.

Olga San Juan's father fell ill when she was in the ninth grade, and she was forced to leave high school to pursue work. She found it performing at such places as the Hotel Astor and the El Morocco. She was only sixteen when she became a "Copa Girl" at the famed Copacabana. She eventually formed her own act, Olga San Juan and Her Rumba Band. She caught the eye of Paramount Pictures, who signed her to a contract in 1943. Olga San Juan made her film debut in the short subject "Caribbean Romance" in 1943. She made her feature film debut the following year in a small role in Rainbow Island (1944). She had the lead role in the short "Bombalera" (1945), where she was dubbed "the Cuban Cyclone" despite being Puerto Rican. "Bombalera" was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Short Subject, Two-reel.

Olga San Juan appeared in the movie adaptation of the popular radio show Duffy's Tavern (1945) before appearing in what could be considered her breakthrough role. Blue Skies (1946) starred Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. Olga San Juan played nightclub singer Nita Nova, and there was no way anyone could not take notice of her in the film. She performed the number "You'd Be Surprised," as well as the duet "I'll See You in C-U-B-A" with Bing Crosby. She performed the song "Heat Wave," during which she also danced with Fred Astaire.

Miss San Juan followed Blue Skies as one of the leads in the film Variety Girl (1947), in which she performed the song "He Can Waltz." She also has what may be the best scene in the film, in which she causes a ruckus in a restaurant to draw attention to herself. In Are You With It? (1948) she played the female lead opposite Donald O'Connor. In the movie she got to perform the numbers "Daddy, Surprise Me" and I'm Looking for a Prince of a Fella."  Olga San Juan would also have significant roles in One Touch of Venus (1948), The Countess of Monte Cristo (1948) and The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (1949). In One Touch of Venus she performed "Don't Look Now My Heart is Showing" and "That's Him." In "The Countess of Monte Cristo" she performed "Count Your Blessings," "Who Believes in Santa Claus," and "The Friendly Polka." Surprisingly, she had no songs in The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend.

Like other musical comedy stars, such as Ann Miller, Betty Grable, and Rita Hayworth, Olga San Juan was a popular pinup girl. Given her looks, this should come as no  surprise. Even a cursory search on Google Images reveals that Miss San Juan did pinup pictures for such holidays as Christmas, New Year's Day, Halloween, and even St. Patrick's Day. Of course, what set Olga San Juan apart from other pinup girls is that she was Puerto Rican. Quite simply, she was one of the first Latina pinups, not to mention one of the earliest Latina sex symbols.

Olga San Juan also appeared on radio in the Forties and Fifties. She appeared on both Command Performance and Lux Radio Theatre. In 1951 she guest starred on Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar.

Sadly, The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend would be Olga San Juan's last appearance in a major motion picture. Following her marriage to Edmond O'Brien in 1948, she largely retired from movies. That is not to say that Miss San Juan disappeared from the public eye. She played Jennifer Rumson on Broadway in Paint Your Wagon in 1951 and 1952. She also made several appearances on television in the late Forties and in the Fifties, on the shows The Ed Wynn Show, The Peter Lind Hayes Show, The Paul Whiteman's Goodyear Revue, The Kate Smith Evening Hour, Texaco Star Theatre Starring Milton Berle, The Rosemary Clooney Show, The Lux Show, and The George Jessel Show. She made a rare dramatic appearance on television in the syndicated crime drama Johnny Midnight, on which her husband Edmond O'Brien was the star, in 1960. She made one last appearance on television in 1964 on The Mike Douglas Show.

Olga San Juan was nicknamed "the Puerto Rican Pepper Pot," and it easy to understand how she earned that nickname when seeing her on screen. In her tiny frame Olga San Juan seemed to contain an abundance of energy, not to mention a forceful personality. When combined with her incredible voice and her talent as a dancer, it was impossible to take one's eyes off her when she was on the screen.

TCM's The Plot Thickens Season 4: Here Comes Pam

Turner Classic Movies' podcast The Plot Thickens returns on October 25 2022 with its fourth season, Here Comes Pam. This season focuses on legendary actress Pam Grier, the star of such films as Coffy (1973), Foxy Brown (1974), Friday Foster (1975), and Jackie Brown (1997).  The podcast will take a close look at her career and her life.

For the podcast Pam Grier sat down with Ben Mankiewicz for over twenty hours of interviews. In addition to Miss Grier, The Plot Thickens Season 4: Here Comes Pam will also feature interviews with her family, her friends, and those who have worked with her, including Quentin Tarantino, Gloria Steinem, Philip Bailey, Michael Schultz, and more.

Along with the launch of the fourth season of The Plot Thickens, on October 19 and October 26 2022, Turner Classic Movies will show several of Pam Grier's movies. A schedule of the films is below. All times are Central.

October 19 2022:
7:00 PM Greased Lightning (1977)
9:00 PM Friday Foster (1975)
11:00 PM Hit Man (1973)

October 26 2022:
7:00 PM Sheba Baby (1975)
9:00 PM Coffy (1973)
11:00 PM Foxy Brown (1974)