CENTRAL DISPATCH

THE HAWAII FIVE-0 NEWSLETTER

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  Volume 2                                     April, 2000                                           Issue 6

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What's In A Name
by Liz Clare

We all know that Jack Lord was born John Joseph Ryan and that Danno's real name is James Gordon MacArthur. But did you know that ...

Zulu's (also spelled Zoulou) real name is Gilbert Pauhi. He played Kono Kalakaua. "Kono" is said by some sources to be the Hawaiian equivalent of "John." "Kalakaua" is a tribute to one of Hawaii's most popular kings, David Kalakaua, whose fun-loving personality earned him the nickname "The Merry Monarch." In early press material, Kono was said to be the descendant of Hawaiian royalty, though this was seldom dealt with on the show. It was alluded to in "The Big Kahuna". It is also the name of the main street in Waikiki.

Kam Fong's real name is Kam Fong Chun. Chin Ho Kelly's name was an inside joke. It was an amalgam of two of Waikiki's most prominent hotel developers. Chinn Ho and Roy Kelley.

Ben Kokua was played by Al Harrington, born Tauasu Ta'a in American Samoa. He started going by the name of Alvin when his family moved to Hawaii when he was three. In high school he took his stepfather's name to become Al Harrington. His character, Ben Kokua bears a last name that means "help" in Hawaiian.

Duke Lukela was played by Herman Wedemeyer. Many Five-0 fans are surprised when they first see Wedemeyer's Teutonic name, but it's merely a product of Hawaii's tradition of cosmopolitan marriages. Indeed, the surname Wedemeyer is so well-known as a local name in Hawaii that it has completely lost its German connotations. The first name of Wedemeyer's character, Duke, comes from the athlete who was perhaps one of the most famous Hawaiian of all time, Duke Kahanamoku. Olympic gold-medalist and father of surfing, the beloved Duke was Hawaii's "ambassador of aloha".

In one of Wedemeyer*s early appearances on Five-0 (in the episode *And I Want Some Candy and a Gun That Shoots*), he was even called *Duke Kahana.* By the time he joined as a regular, his character*s last name was Lukela, which means *Lutheran* in Hawaiian. It would have been interesting to know Leonard Freeman*s thinking behind this choice of a name, but we learn only that Duke is *from old missionary stock* and little else to explain why Freeman chose this surname, which is not an unusual one in Hawaii.

And along this vein, this comes from Allison Hock

Jiro Tamiya was in Odd Man In. He played a character named Goro Shibata. According to the Internet Movie Database, Tamiya*s birth name was Goro Shibata! Tamiya was born in 1935 in Japan and shot himself to death on December 29, 1978. He had a short, kind of crummy career it seems acting in only a few films in the US and three other Japanese films with fairly unknown directors.

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THE BELLS TOLL AT NOON
by Mark Speck

The revenge tale is a staple of crime show. Just try to find a police or detective show that hasn't done one. Leave it to Hawaii Five-O to come up with an episode that puts a fresh spin on this tired theme. "The Bells Toll at Noon" offers an interesting villain with an unusual modus operandi.

Charlie Hazard (played by Kevin O'Connor), a small-time drug dealer, is walking up the steps to his church when a sniper fells him with a single shot. The priest (Mel Ferrer in a cameo), who knows Hazard, sees him hit the ground but does not hear the shot.

Five-O, knowing of Hazard's involvement in the local drug scene takes on the case and visits a drug clinic called StartAnew. McGarrett talks with Tommy, the proprietor of the center, who then introduces him to Johnny Kling (played by impressionist Rich Little). A former addict himself, he spends a great deal of time at StartAnew entertaining the lost souls who are being treated there. McGarrett complements Johnny on his ability to imitate old movie heroes like Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney. What McGarrett and company don't realize is that they have just met the vigilante they're after. Kling next pays a visit to Jimmy Kellman (played by frequent Five-O guest Milton Selzer) and tells him that "me and the boys" have found him, along with Hazard and drug kingpin Paul Thayler (played by another frequent Five-O guest, Don Knight), guilty of murder. Kellman asks who "the boys" are, and Kling tells him "Me...Raft...Bogie...Eddie G." He then orders the sniveling pusher to address him as "Mr. Cagney" and beg for his life to be spared. The merciless Kling shoots Kellman point-blank and phones Five-O using his Cagney voice.

McGarrett and his men rush to Kellman's place, and per "Cagney's" instructions, play the record on the turntable (a 78 RPM of "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles") and then to open the closet door. After opening the door, Kellman's body, which had been trussed up to look gruesomely like a mummy and propped against the door, crashes to the floor as the record ends. (The skipping of the record continues into the Five-O pre-commercial tag, providing a chilling touch)

Steve re-visits Tommy at StartAnew and asks him for the truth about Kling. Tommy reveals that Johnny, while a patient there, fell in love with a beautiful island girl who was a fellow patient. She died from a heroin overdose and Kling vowed to get the three men responsible: the supplier, the pusher, and the distributor. Meanwhile, Kling has tracked down Thayler and kidnapped him at gunpoint.

Five-O visits Kling's apartment, which is a shrine to his idol, James Cagney. McGarrett correctly deduces that Kling is enacting revenge by re-creating famous murder scenes from classic Cagney films. Hazard's death turns out to be a re-creation of a scene in "The Roaring '20's", and Kellman's demise was taken from "Public Enemy", right down to the music playing in the background. They next visit a local movie theater showing a Cagney retrospective and ask the projectionist (Kwan Hi Lim from Five-O's repertory company) to show them the climactic scene from the third film on the bill, "White Heat". It turns out to be the legendary "On top of the world, Ma!" scene, in which Cagney's character Cody Jarrett blows himself sky-high during a shootout at an oil refinery.

Kling has taken the terrified Thayler to the top of an oil derrick. McGarrett and his men, along with several HPD units, arrive at the scene and try to talk Kling down, but he's still in "Cagney mode" and fires down at them. Steve orders them not to shoot, as gunfire would cause a giant explosion, and plays a different card. He asks Johnny if the woman he loved would want it to end this way for him. Leaving Thayler at the top of the derrick, Kling surrenders, offering to turn evidence against the distributor and his network. Five-O takes the Cagney-obsessed gunman into custody, but not before he breaks into a tap-dance and sings "Yankee Doodle Dandy" in a bizarre coda.

NOTES:

*Mel Ferrer apparently filmed his cameo as "Father Neill" in this episode about the same time he filmed his more substantial role as the villain in "To Kill a Mind".

*Anyone familiar with Don Knight through any of his many TV appearances (not just Five-O, but also Mission: Impossible, Cannon, and The Immortal, to name a few) knows that he*s not a man who scares easily (in fact, he's more likely to put the fear of God into you!). Yet it takes a crazed Rich Little to make this menacing Australian actor shake in his boots! That*s something you won't see very often!!

MAKE IT A DOUBLE-FEATURE! Other things you may want to watch alongside this, if you can get copies of them:

*The Defenders episode "The Hundred Lives of Harry Simms", featuring one of Little's competitors, Frank Gorshin as an impressionist accused of murder who claims he's innocent and that "Jimmy Cagney did it". He breaks into his multiple personality of Cagney on the witness stand as the Prestons are questioning him!

*Any of Rich Little's other villain appearances: as a greed-driven comic mixed up in gambling and murder in the Mannix episode "The Other Game In Town", or more chillingly, as the psychotic businessman who rapes and kills female hitchhikers in the Police Woman episode "Screams".

*Or you may want to rent the movie "Fade to Black", in which Dennis Christopher plays a murderous movie buff who knocks off his enemies in the manner of death scenes from famous movies.

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Executive producer of Hawaii Five-0 dies

MONTEREY, Calif. (AP)   The former executive producer of the television series "Hawaii Five-0" has died in Monterey. He was 78. Douglas Green Sr. of Carmel died April 11.

He spent more than 35 years in the motion picture industry, starting as a second assistant director at Universal Studios. In addition to his work on "Hawaii Five-0", he was a producer of  "Magnum P.I." and worked with Bob Fosse on "Sweet Charity" and "Cabaret."

Green was born in Feb. 26, 1922, in Hollywood. After attending the University of Southern California, he served in the military and then went into the movie business.  He is survived by his wife, Marilyn, and a son. His ashes will be scattered at sea, off Oahu in Hawaii.

from Don Hold, Kapoli, Hawaii

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Book 'Em Dano's

by Leilani Kimmel-Dagostino

If you are ever in the South Bay Beach City of Hermosa Beach, you need to stop by "Dano's Beach Grill" located at 1320 Hermosa Avenue. The place opened in August and it's a little bit of Hawaii transplanted to Southern California with bamboo furniture, sawdust on the floor, a kayak mounted on one wall, a sea-and-sky mural painted on another, photos of legendary surfers like Duke Kahanamoku and fishing nets draped across thatched roof overhangs. On the weekends they feature Hawaiian music.

The owners are brothers Dan "Dano" and Pat Miller who originally hail from Missouri but were raised in the South Bay. They so loved the Hawaiian Islands that they opened this restaurant to remind them of paradise. Dano usually greets all the guest adorned in an Aloha shirt, kukui nut lei, shorts and sandals. Pat works as the bartender and mixes a wild mai tai that will knock you off your feet.

Off to the side inside the restaurant in the Poipu Bay Trading Company which features Hawaiian and Dano's souvenirs. Ten percent of all purchases go directly to South Bay charities like Vistas for Blind Children in Redondo Beach and the Children's Dental Center in Inglewood. These donations are made in memory of Dano's wife, Shelly, who recently died of cancer and was buried in her beloved Kauai.

The appetizers are super ranging from battered coconut shrimp with a plum dipping sauce to yakitori chicken which is lightly charred, meaty hunks of chicken breast sprinkled with sesame seeds and threaded onto sticks. Fresh fish specials are featured daily and include ono, ahi and yellowtail prepared to your specifications. For a shot of unadulterated decadence, try Pat's Kauai Pie, a tall wedge of crushed Oreo cookies and ice cream, topped with pinched tufts of silky whipped cream For beverages, try Kona Brewing Company's Longboard lager, Dano's lager, or Kona coffee.

Michael Timothy and I visited them early in March where he was the visiting celebrity and treated accordingly. By the end of the evening everyone in the place knew about him and McGarrett's Mercury and we had a steady entourage of visitors by our table. Dano and Pat said that anytime he wanted to move to the area, Michael could have a permanent parking space for the car right in from of the restaurant. Oh, and did I tell you that these guys are big "Hawaii Five-0" fans? In a place of honor, they have an autographed photo of Jack Lord staring pensively into the Hawaiian sunset, with the inscription: "Book 'em Dano." Now that's what we call kama-aina hospitality!!

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Five-0 Theme Wins Honors

Mike Quigley received this note from a guest to his website: Just a brief note to let you know - in case you haven't already heard - that the Hawaii Five-0 theme came top in a UK survey of the nation's favourite television theme tunes. In the process it beat themes from two of the most popular British soaps - Coronation Street and Eastenders - and even topped the massively successful 70's UK crime drama series, The Sweeney.  (You can see more of Mike's site by clicking here!)

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FROM THE FILES OF MARTY COOPER
from July-August 1968

Hawaii Five-0 D Day Nears

First of all, CBS-TV has already started showing brief previews of Hawaii Five-0 and have heard several comments from those of you who have seen them, and everyone seems to agree the show and Jack Lord look terrific! Most of the scenes are filled with movement and action and I think they give just a foretaste of how very good and right the role of Steve McGarrett is for Jack and vice-versa. It is really different from the character of Stoney Burke for McGarrett is more complex, his life is nothing like Stoney's was. I think Jack proves his complete versatility now though, for while we still have some fond remembrances of Stoney, we will soon be accepting Jack as the head of the Honolulu police department in Hawaii Five-0.

TV Guide had a two-page spread on the show in their July 12-18 issue. The feature, (titled "He's Really Hung Up!) also explained the plot of the first show, which will be presented on CBS' Friday Night Movie, September 20th. TV Guide has also kept up with he casting of the show, like so: July 12-18: "...Sal Mineo checked into Honolulu for one of Jack Lord's Hawaii Five-0 segments". And August 3-9: "...Lew Ayres has retired from the office of governor on the new CBS show 'Hawaii Five-0' series and has been replaced by Richard Denning, formerly of 'Mr. and Mrs. North'. He's now a resident of the Hawaiian Islands where the Jack Lord show is being filmed. Ayres moved to the 'Big Valley'."

From the Hollywood Reporter, Tuesday, April 23, 1968 in Hank Grant's "Coast to Coast" column, this mention was given to the series: "AND ALL THOSE FAMILIAR FACES...the odds are now even that stars of old series can come back in new ones. For the new season in the fall, only nine new series will have headliners making the weekly grind for the first time...But no less than 10 new series will have series veterans starring in new dress: Jack Lord (Stoney Burke) in Hawaii Five-0.

And from the Sunday Star-Bulletin & Advertiser July 14, 1968 issue came this feature on Hawaii Five-0:

                   CBS SERIES CONVEYS ALOHA TO THE WORLD: 50th State's Five-0 ... No Ka Oi

Hawaii this season has become center of activity for the first network TV series ever filmed here in it's entirety for nationwide showing. CBS and producer Leonard Freeman are screening Hawaii Five-0 in scenic sites around Oahu, utilizing the Island's picturesque beauty as often as possible. For a cover set, depicting Hawaii's capital building and law offices of the star (Jack Lord), a Pearl City studio has been constructed, Lord plays the role of Steve McGarrett, Honolulu detective. Many Islanders are cast in running roles for the series, mainly Kam Fong Chun, Zulu, Maggi Parker, and, just lately, Richard Denning. Denning, former Hollywood star of Mr. & Mrs. North who'll portray the Governor of Hawaii, is a current Maui resident. The series premiers on CBS in September, and here via KGMB-TV.

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Jack Lord Memorial

(We are repeating the article about the Memorial once again in this newsletter.  As of today, the committee members are in Honolulu talking to the "powers that be" regarding the place for the memorial.  We will keep you posted as soon as any news comes through.  In the meantime, if you missed the first mention of the plans, here they are again...)

Plans have been underway since last summer to establish a memorial to Jack Lord. In recognition of his exceptional personal qualities and also of his talents as one of the most popular actors of the TV screen, it is proposed to erect a memorial in the city of Honolulu, Hawaii.

This memorial will consist of a sculpture centrally placed in a landscaped promontory overlooking a stretch of shore near the Kahala Mandarin Hotel. The sculpture will take the abstract form of two intertwining waves made of stainless steel which will evoke Jack Lord’s love of the sea and also reflect the opening imagery of the Hawaii Five-0 series. The sculpture will rest on a plinth made of local volcanic rock set within a circular grassed area. The base will carry an inscription both in English and Hawaiian.

Although the proposed memorial site belongs at present to the State of Hawaii, it is hoped that the relevant authorities will agree to donate or lease the area. Plans are being considered to set up a memorial fund to finance this worthwhile project Those wishing to be part of this initiative will have the opportunity to make a financial contribution. Details of this fund will be released in due course.

You can see the actual memorial site at http://jacklord.co.uk   You will also see the proposed site from the Kahala Mandarin Hotel and all information currently available on this project.

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Pau Hana

Those who sent stories to Karen Rhodes last summer for consideration for Pau Hana 6 are requested to resubmit their stories. Karen had a computer crash last summer and everything was lost. It was a hard drive failure and not recoverable. Threfore, she has lost the stories and all e-mail concerning them. So, please resubmit your stories.  You can email Karen at ladyjaguar@earthlink.net.

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And now a word from our sponsors:

Anyone interested in copies of Hawaii Five-0 episodes (mostly all full versions) can contact Barbara Brindle at 105 Warren Road, Sparta, NJ 07871.  (phone 973-729-9232 - she does not have email)  Barbara's rates are very reasonable and she's very reliable. 

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We are looking for the following Jack Lord episodes on VHS: Dr. Kildare - A Willing Suspension of Disbelief and the movie The True Story of Lynn Stuart. Anyone who may have information about these programs can contactus at either the fan club or email address listed above.

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Memorial contributions can be made to the Jack and Marie Lord Trust c/o Hawaii Community Foundation, 900 Front Street Mall, Suite 1300, Honolulu, HI 96813. This fund was established in 1988 and was set up by the Lord’s to benefit their favorite charities. We have been assured that while personal responses are not possible, Mrs. Lord is made aware of all contributions.

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From Jerry Picard: he reminded us that last year Kam Fong underwent surgery for cancer. Jerry spoke to Kam’s son Dennis and who said his dad was a bit down. Anyone interested in sending cards to wish him well may do so. The address is Kam Fong, c/o Dennis Chun, 2578C-2 Pacific Hts. Rd. Honolulu, HI 96813.

Aloha, see you in July, 2000