Hong Kong

Foreign correspondent Glenn Evans (Rod Taylor) lived in an amazing bachelor pad on Victoria Peak. I always wished more scenes took place in Glenn's apartment, especially at night when you had that great view of Hong Kong. My other favorite TV bachelor pads were the ones on "Checkmate", "Bourbon Street Beat" and "Peter Gunn".

The female guest stars on "Hong Kong" were beautiful, sexy, and sophisticated: Patricia Barry, Rhonda Fleming, Inger Stevens, Dina Merrill, Nancy Gates, Julie London, Joanna Moore, Felicia Farr, Suzanne Pleshete, and Bethel Leslie come immediately to mind. Rod Taylor worked well with all these elegant woman, and I wonder if he got to romance any of his guest stars off screen.

Although Rod dominated the show and was in almost every scene, his co-stars Lloyd Bochner (Chief Inspector Neil Campbell) and Jack Kruschen (Tully) also managed to score, and both went on to long, distinguished careers.

"Hong Kong" was loosely based on the movie "Soldier of Fortune", which had Michael Rennie in the Lloyd Bochner role and Tom Tully in the Jack Kruschen role.

The most startling scene in the series had guest star Taina Elg as a leggy, blond stewardess who Glenn Evans tries to help. But at the end of the episode, Taina is thrown out of a plane at night to her death. A chilling, unsettling scene.

Another good episode had Felica Farr playing two sexy, stacked singer twins, one good and one a murderer. One of the twins shows up unannounced at Glenn's apartment to spend the night, but is it the good twin or the bad one? Glenn is a gentleman and apparently sleeps on the couch.

Patrica Barry also had a sexy turn as a confidence women who tries to entice Glenn into not turning her in to the police.

Herbert Hirschman, who had worked with Rod Taylor on Playhouse 90, did a fine job as producer. Roy Huggins ("The Rockford Files", "Maverick", "77 Sunset Strip", "Run For Your Life") was the head of TV production at 20th Century Fox at the time, and he probably contributed to the show's high quality.

ABC cancelled "Hong Kong" after one season in 1961 (its competition was "Wagon Train" and "The Aquanauts"/"Malibu Run"). But "Hong Kong" made Rod Taylor a hot commodity. He appeared in only two guest star roles after this show ended ("Bus Stop" and "Dupont Show of the Week") and then left TV for the movies for eleven years. Rod starred in "The Birds" just two years after "Hong Kong" ended. "Hong Kong" being cancelled after one season was the best possible thing that could have happened to Taylor career-wise.

ABC knew it had a winner in Rod Tayor. They wanted to bring the character of Glenn Evans back the next season in a show called "Dateline: San Francisco", but it never happened. I wonder if anyone can find the lost pilot episode of that promising series. I would love to see what Glenn Evans' posh San Francisco bachelor pad looked like. And I wonder who played his friend on the force.

Rod Taylor came back to TV in 1971 in a western adventure series called "Bearcats". The series bore a strong resemblance to the Lee Marvin movie "The Professionals". Rod might have been shrewder to go back to Roy Huggins and try to rework the Glenn Evans character, perhaps as a private detective rather than a reporter. Roy Huggins might have wound up creating "The Rockford Files" for Rod in 1971 rather than for James Garner in 1974.

But I think Glenn Evans was Rod Taylor's most appealing performance.

The only reason I can figure that "Hong Kong" seems never to have been rerun is that it was shot in black & white.

I was a junior in High School when it aired on ABC (1960-61)and I've never seen it since. But "Hong Kong" left a lasting impression and I would love to see it again.

I'd been vaguely aware of Rod Taylor from some earlier TV appearances and had liked him in "The Time Machine", but it was "Hong Kong" that made me a fan (for life). The show had a wonderful look and feel to it, a real sense of place (despite the fact most of it was shot on the FOX lot).

To me, at seventeen, the show seemed wonderfully sophisticated and exotic. Rod Taylor (half the time in a white dinner jacket) made for an elegant and intelligent yet muscular hero - a variation on James Bond two years before "Dr. No".

I especially remember the music. Lionel Newman's work on "Hong Kong" was superb, as were all facets of the production for its day. The supporting cast, including Lloyd Bochner and Jack Kruschen, was uniformly excellent.

They thought back then at ABC and 20th-TV that it might be a blockbuster, their "Wagon Train" (NBC). Perhaps on another network it might have (ABC just didn't have the station lineup to compete). And if they'd shot it in color, it might now be considered a rerun classic.

rvc

The 'Hong Kong' series, starring Rod Taylor remains one of the all-time best ever to appear on TV, even though it was made back in 1960/61, it still stands up as a great show. This series was the one that catapulted handsome, rugged Aussie Rod Taylor to top movie stardom. The worst thing about this series is that it only went for 26 episodes! But what a shame 20th. Century Fox haven't put them out on DVD. I know many fans around the world would love to own this series, and I'm sure many 'new generation' fans would cotton on to it also. Every 'reality' show and junky series made today seems to automatically be released on DVD, whilst a true classic series like 'Hong Kong' languishes in the Fox vaults! But, we live in hopes!!

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 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.