Greetings, Spy Vibers! It's been a busy season for me teaching filmmaking, photography, and drawing once again. My latest episode on the Cocktail Nation radio show went live at the beginning of the month and I'm finally adding a post here so Spy Vibers can check it out. Every month I contribute a short introduction to a classic film or show and play cuts from the score. Immersed as I've been lately in kung fu movies, I devoted August to Roger Moore's second outing as James Bond in The Man with the Golden Gun. And when September came around it was natural to then turn my attention to that greatest icon of the martial arts world, Bruce Lee! Lee was born in San Francisco in 1940 and raised in Hong Kong. A child actor, student of Wing Chun master Ip Man, and a scrappy fighter with a talent for getting into trouble, Lee went to the States at nineteen to study and straighten out his life. With a dream of creating a national chain of kung fu schools, Lee was active in public demonstrations of martial arts, which eventually caught the attention of Hollywood. Producer William Dozier had plans to make a James Bond-style television series loosely based on Charlie Chan, called Number One Son, and Lee was lined up as the star. But as we now know, Dozier's Batman became the priority and Lee found himself in development hell. Number One Son fell through, but Green Hornet was in! Although not a great starring role -Lee's "Kato" was essentially a traditional Hollywood house-boy role with added action scenes- but his charisma on screen was inescapable. The series only lasted a season. By the early 1970s Lee was once again back in Hong Kong and building what would be his great, albeit brief, career in major action films. My focus for the radio show was Enter the Dragon, Lee's last completed film, which mixed his blinding-speed abilities with a story about a British intelligence mission to thwart an evil mastermind with an island lair. Sadly, Lee passed away just shortly before the film's debut; actor George Lazenby (On Her Majesty's Secret Service) was waiting to meet him at a restaurant to discuss their new project, but Lee never arrived. During his US career, Lee taught stars such as James Coburn (Our Man Flint) and he worked as an action coach for various projects, including the Matt Helm spy flick, The Wrecking Crew. Apparently he also liked to work out to the music from TV's Mission: Impossible, so it was a cool bonus that Enter the Dragon was scored by Lalo Schifrin. You can hear my brief intro and a cut from the soundtrack here. Spy Vibers who are interested in spending more time in this Spy-Fu world should also check out the great run of Marvel's 1970s comic, Master of Kung Fu, by Doug Munch and Paul Gulacy. It's out of print, but I recommend volume #2 of the Epic Collection (see below). You'll love it! And if you have nostalgia for the UK poster magazine, Kung Fu Monthly, check out b&w archive editions on Amazon and color editions at Kung Fu Monthly. By sheer coincidence, just this morning, the city of Oakland officially renamed a street Bruce Lee Way to commemorate an early martial arts school he founded there. Spy Vibers visiting the Bay Area can also check out a cool Bruce Lee exhibit at the Chinese Historical Society. Great to see his legacy celebrated!
Selected Spy Vibe Posts: Arabesque 4k, 60s Hong Kong Spies Blu-ray, Spy Vibe Radio: Man with the Golden Gun, Blu Baron, Joe 90 Blu, Man in a Suitcase Blu, ITC Book, Spy Vibe Radio: Dankworth Avengers, Mancini Book, Shinobi Blu, Exoticon 2, Spy Vibe Radio: Richard Diamond, Prisoner figures, Blu Manchu, Blu Prisoner, Byron Janis R.I.P., Spy Vibe Radio: Blake and Mortimer, Champions Podcast, ITC Book, Bond Event, Black Tight Killers Blu, New Persuaders Book, David McCallum R.I.P., Avengers Blu Sets, Spy Vibe Radio: Adventures in Paradise, The Secret Service book, World of Giants, Tiki Events, Cold War Classical, Paul at 81, 007 Comic Exhibit, Exotikon Event, Bond 60th Event, The Baron Blu-ray, Mission: Impossible in 4k, Jane Bond Strip, SV Radio: The Man Called Flintstone, Lupin III 50th, SV Radio: OSS117, McCartney 1964, Spy Vibe Radio: Hunter, Spy Vibe Radio: Gao Dalli CID 999, Bond Beatles 60th, William Klein R.I.P., Spy Vibe Radio: M Squad, Spy Vibe Radio: Mr. Broadway, Agent King, 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