| “ | The last time you saw me I was bald, with a beard and no moustache... and I had a different nose. So if you don't recognize me, I won't be offended. | „ |
| ~ Kaplan meeting Eddie after his parole |
| “ | Communist politician. God, I miss Communism! The "Red Threat," people were scared, the agency had some respect, and I got laid every night. | „ |
| ~ Kaplan reminiscing his first barehanded kill |
| “ | MY PENSION!!!! | „ |
| ~ Kaplan's famous last words before the car he was in explodes |
George Kaplan is the secondary antagonist of the 1990 action-comedy film, Hudson Hawk. He was a corrupt CIA operative that serves as the far more dangerous right-hand to Darwin and Minerva Mayflower, doing the heavy-lifting over their plans on assembling Leonardo Da Vinci's Macchina dell'Oro so that he can be rich through it and retire. He was the previous employer of the film's protagonist, Eddie Hawkins aka the Hudson hawk, having set him up and imprisoned him before the story, and kidnaps him again to blackmail him into stealing for the Mayflowers. He is also the boss for the Candy Bar Brigade.
He was portrayed by the late James Coburn, who also played Henry J. Waternoose III in Monster's Inc., Looten Plunder in Captain Planet and the Planeteers, and Glen Whitehouse in Affliction.
Personality[]
George Kaplan is a man that will ruthlessly pursue his goals, no matter the sacrifice he has to take, which is demonstrated when he set Eddie up to be arrested for his actual mission to succeed or unlike Eddie, have people killed on his heist. Even with all of Kaplan's ruthlessness, he is always genuinely jovial whenever he interacts with others, even with Eddie that he tells Eddie that him not being recognized by the latter won't offend him. With a smile always on his face, Kaplan clearly loves his job as a CIA operative, which is why he is able to do his job so well. This perhaps makes him an even more threatening figure than the Mayflowers despite them being his superiors. For all their wealth, Kaplan has all the common sense they lack, doing the actual panning and heavy lifting to help them succeed. He serves as the voice of reason for many of their zany antics that he objects putting Tommy "Five-Tone" Messina in a room alone with Eddie will end bad precisely because he knew they will be up to something, and then by noticing the plate of the van driving them off, tracks Eddie and team down. Always willing to do the dirty work or get into life-threatening situations, even when faced with his death, Kaplan worries more about not getting his pension instead than the thought of him losing his life.
Biography[]
George Kaplan was a skilled CIA operative, always focused on the task at hand upon strangling a Communist officer in Rome as his first abrehanded kill. Alays up to the most shady of activities to further his agenda on the CIA, he eventually appoints the Hudson Hawk, a cat burglar infamous for his skills of breaking into anything with just the lowest of resources, so that he can perform a grand heist. In truth, Kaplan wanted the robber to fail and have Eddie arrested as a mere distraction for achieving his own personal side goal.
Eventually learning of the Mayflower's plot of using Da Vinci's Macchine dell'Oro, Kaplan happily becomes their right-hand while forming his own squad of dangerous minions to help him in his activities, the Candy bar Brigade consisting of Kit-Kat, Butterfingers, Snickers and Almond Joy, Kaplan allies with the Vatican's Coutner-Espionage Group to keep them off the Mayflower's trail while they organize Eddie's release. Kaplan then secretly sets up cameras all across the museum Eddie was forced to rob to increase the Mayflowers' blackmail over Eddie to do their bidding. When Eddie does their job and is confronted by the Mario Bros., Kaplan kills them both before meeting with Eddie again. Having expected Eddie to not trust him, Kaplan still manages to outsmart him as he has him drugged from the behind and transported to Rome for the Mayflowers to meet and blackmail him.
Following Eddie all across Italy as he plans his heist to steal Da Vinci's Codex, Kaplan nostalgically reminisces his first barehanded kill on Rome as he gives intel for Eddie to use for his heist. When Eddie requests after the Codex's theft to leave for good, the Mayflowers set up a meeting with Tommy Five-Tone alone, a move Kaplan heavily advised again because he knows when left alone, they will be up to something. When this all culminates in Eddie faking a fistfight with Tommy as well as Tommy faking his death, Kaplan observes the license plate of the van that took him away to be from the Vatican.
Deciding to personally steal the final piece from the louvre himself, Kaplan leads a successful heist that sees Da Vinci's helicopter design stolen upon killing his way through the guards. He then tracks Eddie, Tommy and Anna Baragii down to paralyze them so that they can take away the latter for her knowledge over Da Vinci, and have the former 2 be left defenseless as a bomb near them sets off. Kaplan then eventually learns that the Mayflowers plan to betray him and then learns that Eddie and Tommy survived through sheer luck. Kaplan then gets into a fistfight with Eddie and manages to beat him even despite his age, when Kaplan attempts to do a sailing dropkick, coincidentally Eddie bends down by accident, causing Kaplan to fly out of the Mayflower castle and land on a car that is about to speed over a cliff edge and explode.
External Links[]
- George Kaplan on the Magnificent Baddie Wiki.