Thursday, June 4, 2009
With all the varying information/rumors/gossip that's flying around regarding David Carradine's death, I questioned if I should say anything here. The answer I arrived at should be obvious. Given that little factual info seems to be available at this time, I'm not going to say anything about the circumstances of his death at age 72 in Bangkok, Thailand. The internet news services I check on a regular basis have been buzzing with articles - anyone who wants to find out the latest info or rumors should have no trouble doing so without my assistance. Instead I'm going to focus on some of my memories associated with him.
Most of the articles I've seen have mentioned Carradine is best known for his starring role as Kwai Chang Caine, a renegade shaolin monk wandering the Old West searching for his half-brother, in the 1970's television series Kung Fu. To be fair, I suspect most of my students would say "huh?" to that reference and instead point to his part in Kill Bill. No great surprise, given my age - I remember him from the former (especially since I'm somewhat indifferent to the latter... what can I say, I'm not much of a Quentin Tarrantino fan.) I don't actually remember much of the original television broadcasts - we didn't watch much evening TV when I was a kid - but during the summer between my freshmen and sophomore years of college re-runs were on every weekenight at 6 PM and I watched it every chance I could. I'd only been training in martial arts for a little under two years at that point, and a television program that combined martial arts action with traditional eastern philosophy was right up my alley. After that I never seemed to find a station that showed it with any regularity, so I was thrilled when the entire series became available on DVD a few years back.
A while after spending summer evenings watching reruns, word came down that a TV movie was being made, and I remember a group of us in 1986 eagerly watching it on the dorm TV during the school year... and, I must admit, being a bit disappointed. There was too much mystical mumbo-jumbo for my taste, and the script seemed determined to cast him as the mentor rather than the seeker... it just didn't seem to fit. I have to admit, having since watched Kung Fu - The Movie several times on VHS, my disappointment has waned - it's flawed but still enjoyable - and I wish they'd bring it out on DVD.
And somewhere in there was Circle of Iron (aka The Silent Flute) which I saw first on HBO. And numerous movies like Chuck Norris' Lone Wolf McQuade. There's no question that Carradine kept pretty busy with acting, and it's no surprise that after he made his fame in Kung Fu many of the parts he was offered had some sort of martial arts or action aspect to them.
Of course, my next encounter with him as Caine was in the 1990's in Kung Fu - The Legend Continues. The first season was definitely the best (less mystical mumbo-jumbo) but I have to say I enjoyed the entire series, even though it can't be remotely considered great television. Over the course of four seasons Carradine began looking a lot older (I believe he stopped drinking partway through the series) and it was clear that many of the more intense action sequences were done by a poorly-disguised stunt double... but once again, that unique combination of martial arts action and eastern philosophy kept me hooked most of the time, especially with the storylines taking place during the present-day (mostly.) I was definitely sorry when it ran its course and would love to see it on DVD someday.
Having read his autobiography Endless Highway and his semi-autobiographical/semi-intructional Spirit of Shaolin , I have to say - I don't know that I would have wanted to know him personally, because I've gotten the impression that at times he was a real jerk. (Then again, there are people who would probably say the same thing about me!) But there's no question that his work, especially the various Kung Fu series, has brought me a great deal of enjoyment over the years. And while I get the impression he was at best a mediocre martial artist - we owe him a huge debt for bringing kung fu specifically and martial arts in general before the TV viewing audience over 35 years ago, and in a very different and at times more thoughtful format than the Hong Kong revenge flicks that Bruce Lee made popular at around the same time.And in the end that's what I'd rather remember him for - his positive contributions to my own enjoyment of the often mindless television wasteland and to public perceptionof of kung fu and martial arts. And in those regards, he will definitely be missed.
My thoughts go out to his family and friends in this very difficult time.
JMH
