MovieChat Forums > Kung Fu (1972) Discussion > The Facts Regarding Lee Vs. Carradine

The Facts Regarding Lee Vs. Carradine

posted 17 years ago by KwaiChang
57 replies | jump to latest

Bruce Lee is Awesome! David Carradine is Awesome!

There are many conflicting stories on this. I believe after doing a great deal of research on the subject that whatever idea Bruce had it was not the same show that Kung Fu was. It was also not in the same time frame. Now the facts are that they did interview Bruce Lee for the part. They were very impressed with him. However the reason he did not get the part has nothing to do with a "prejudice" against Asians. It was simply that they felt his English would not be understood by the average American. His accent was too heavy.

My belief is that for this show Carradine was the best choice and his style of acting was the best fit!

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] whatwazdat 13 years ago

Accent? Yes, he had an accent, but his English was fluent. Imagine the spanish actors today like Antonio Banderas, Selma Hayek, etc not get roles because their accent is too thick. The "average American" is stupid if they couldn't understand Bruce, who attended an American University majoring in philosophy. Just google his interviews or youtube it. If you can't understand him then you don't understand English. So YES, it was PREJUDICE.

[–] megatosspot 13 years ago

They're pretty good actors - that's the difference.

[–] devonblue 12 years ago

With reference to the Bruce lee interview on you tube, this is what you now find;

"Bruce Lee Inte..."
This video is no longer available because the YouTube account associated with this video has been terminated due to multiple third-party notifications of copyright infringement from claimants, including:

Fuji Television Network, Inc.
Fuji Television Network, Inc.

Sorry about that.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] nascentt 12 years ago

"nothing to do with a 'prejudice' against Asians. It was simply that they felt his English would not be understood by the average American"

The fact you say with sincerity is absolutely hilarious.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] 12 years ago

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[–] chris109 10 years ago

For the record, Carradine was playing Caine. A 1/2 White-American and 1/2 Asian.

And who is being the racist? You are calling Carradine, a 'white guy".

Enough already.

[–] revans7583 10 years ago

You lost any credibility when you claimed that slavery only existed in America.
It points out that you're a fool.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] aquarianbrass 9 years ago

Well, why didn't they just find an Asian-American who could speak English?

[–] powersroc 9 years ago

David had the superior acting talent,Bruce the the astonishing skills.

David's acting carried the show in a way that Bruce would not have been able to pull off.

However,I have to say that while I remain a huge fan of KF,the martial art scenes with David are quite dated.I realize that by employing slow motion camera work,stunt people,& so forth they did the best they could at that time.
Clearly though if Bruce had starred as the lead on this show we would have battles that would be stunning to behold to this day.

[–] BigDDD 8 years ago

here are several documenteries of Bruce Lee.
I have seen one that shows Lee (in a B&W clip) talking about a failed project called The Warrior. At the time of this interview, Kung Fu was not in production.
So Lee was talking about this project BEFORE Kung Fu was around, Lee states he took the idea to "a studio" (though he does not state which one). He also says they turned down the idea as they felt America was not ready to see an Asain man in a starring role.
Lee goes on to exaplin he does not feel bad about thtis as it's understandable from a bussines point of view. He also mentiones if he was "the man with the money" making an Asain film and an American wanted to be the star, he would not have let this happen.

Anyway, Lee is describing the plot of this show called The Warrior of it being about a martial artist who travels the world imparting he teachings where he goes.
All this BEFORE Kung Fu wnet into production, and from the mouth of Bruce Lee himself.

And people say there is no proof Kung Fu was "stolen" from one of Lee's ideas?

Kung Fu was ripped off from Bruce's original idea called The Warrior.

Yep.

That's true

[–] king_cooler 8 years ago

David's acting carried the show in a way that Bruce would not have been able to pull off

Nah. Bruce wasn't a particularly good actor but he was more than adequate for this show, and in a show he would have improved very quickly, and what he lacked in acting skills he more than made up for with his sheer screen presence and charisma anyway, which far outweighed Carradine's.

[–] Owlwise (1495) 3 years ago

Except that the show wasn't so much about the battles, which only took up a fraction of each episode. It was about human stories, with Kwai Chang Caine as both observer & catalyst. In this regard, it was not unlike Route 66, the Fugitive, Then Came Bronson, or several other TV shows that were essentially anthologies with a continuing lead character or characters.

It also followed his own growth & development as he moved through the Western world, becoming a little more worldly-wise as time went on, as opposed to being more puzzled & naive earlier on. So he changed as much as his presence changed the lives of others. His being a newcomer to 19th Century America, allowed the stories to hold up a mirror to the country & also speak to then-current social U& cultural issues. In many ways, it was one of the most authentically countercultural shows ever on TV.

[–] nutmustardxx 8 years ago

Why did the producers tape carridines eyes back to make him look more Chinese then?

[–] Cognoscente (2463) 3 years ago

This article makes a good case for Bruce as the lead: https://popcultmaster.com/2018/03/04/the-wild-west-warrior/