Hong Kong

Even viewing Hong Kong today, it has not lost any of it's charm and character! It certainly belongs to the Film Noir category The scripts were great, and the whole atmosphere reminded me of such movie greats as Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon. Every character in the series enhanced the series, and took it quite a lot of steps beyond what was on television at the time. Rod Taylor of course provided the perfect center piece!! No wonder the Brocelli Brothers wanted him to screen test for James Bond! Rod projected a suave sophistication, and had a rare combination of masculinity and tenderness that one is hard pressed to find in a lot of actors today. He was like Spencer Tracey, Humphrey Bogart and Cary Grant, all wrapped up in one parcel! As one reviewer pointed out, if this series had been made in color, I'm sure we would be watching re-runs now! Occasionly, a few episodes crop up on EBay. Do yourself a favor, and make a purchase, and see why this series is great!

I couldn't wait for Wednesday nights when Hong Kong was on. My younger brother and I would fight(he for Wagon Train), so I didn't see all the episodes. I still have Lionel Newmans' soundtrack of the show on LP. I don't know who played the trumpet in the orchestra, but, the horn sounded very haunting.

In my opinion, it was a great show, and it died too soon. I still wish I had the auto Glenn drove. The Sunbeam Alpine has always been my elusive dream. The color of it seemed to be white.

Lloyd Bochner played the police inspector, and worked well with Glenn. Whenever "Glenn" had some romantic scenes, I was very upset. It should have been me. Of course, I was 13 at the time.

That was a time of great TV series, such as Route 66, The Invaders, and The Fugitive. Hong Kong was a very well done, elaborate and intelligent film, with the great charm of Black & White photography... I was anxious waiting for the 9 o'clock pm show at the Brazilian TV at that time, to appreciate the adventures and "embroglios" in which Mr. Glenn Evans, a reporter, plunged in old and exotic Hong Kong. Evans was interpreted by Rod Taylor, an Australian actor, catapulted to the movie world after playing under the direction of Hitchcock, in "The Birds". Although I remember it quite well, I was never able to find the beautiful music-theme composed by Lionel Newman for the series, nor I was ever able to find a DVD version for this marvelous TV series.

I have memories of this show being one of the best series. Outstanding look and feel. I watched faithfully every episode. The music and casting was fantastic. I was amazed that it did not last longer. Assumed that it was too expensive to produce. Very surprised to find out that the fantastic scenes of Hong Kong streets were filmed on back lots. This series made me a Rod Taylor fan for life. I still watch "The Time Machine" every time it is on TV. Hong Kong was great and I wish I could find the series on DVD. Just finished watching Gathering of Eagles and had to come to IMDb for more information on Rod Taylor. I still wonder why we don't see more of him in movies and on TV.

Rod Taylor became a star on both the big and small screens in 1960. Movie fame came along when he landed the lead role in George Pal's science fiction block buster "The Time Machine". He then got his first major chance in television the same year with the ABC drama series "Hong Kong".As Glenn Evans, a "two-fisted" news correspondent who had been assigned to cover the Orient, the hunky he - man was equally adept at solving crimes and romancing lovely ladies.

The show proved to be extremely popular here in Australia, aided no doubt by the star's local origins and also, perhaps, due to our geographical proximity to the title location. However, in a strange twist of fate, its Stateside reception was tinged with more than a touch of irony. Although it managed to win a Golden Globe award, American viewers did not cotton to its sophisticated, upmarket leanings and brought about its rapid demise by staying loyal to NBC's "Wagon Train".

The producers, 20th Century Fox, had another exotic, off - shore series going to air on ABC at the time that was also based around the Asia - Pacific region - namely "Adventures in Paradise". In fact, Fox music maestro, Lionel Newman wrote the theme for both shows.