Batman: The Clock King's Crazy Crimes & The Clock King Gets Crowned

The Clock King's Crazy Crimes

"I am a little hungry."

"Of course, Robin. Even crimefighters must eat. And especially you- you're a growing boy and you need your nutrition."

This season is very different from the first in terms of its baddies, isn't it? The first season was mostly Penguin, Riddler, Joker, repeat, with Catwoman appearing just the once, and even one-off villains being from the comics until the season was nearly over. And yet, so far, this second season has seen a tring of one-off original villains. The latest of these is the Clock King, played with not much charisma by Walter Slezak who, I see, spent his childhood in a still-Habsburg Vienna, an odd thought.

Yet, despite its less-than-brilliant star, this is a fabulous pair of scripts nonetheless, and it's pleasing to note that one of the scriptwriters is legendary comic book scribe Bill Finger, who is every inch as important as Bob Kane in the creation of Batman. This goes to show, yet again, that this series- contrary to popular belief- is in fact a rather faithful depiction of the character and his world as it had existed up to 1966.

This is, of course, enormous fun, from the Commissioner's description of our new villain as "that conniving crook who uses time for crime" to Dick beating Bruce at chess. It may fail at feminism ("Millie, back to your dusting") but any episode which features the Caped Crusader drawing a blue moustache on a photo can't fail to entertain. Plus we get our most famous window celebrity yet in Sammy Davis Jr.

We end with the inevitable cliffhanger as the Dynamic Duo are stuck in a giant hourglass as the sands slowly fall...


 The Clock King Gets Crowned

"Maybe we're living on... borrowed time."

The cliffhanger resolution is actually pretty good. And it's in this second episode that we see how the plot hangs together rather well. There's some real deduction on the part of our heroes, too, and I love the narration as the Clock King robs Wayne Manor while Batman and Robin are downstairs in the Batcave.

The music during the fights is perhaps a little odd, but this is another fun and witty episode. It's always fun where the programme blatantly lampshades how silly it is that no one can work out Batman and Robin's secret identity, and this episode milks that as much as any. A splendid pair of episodes, with a splendidly conceived villain who deserved a better portrayal.

Notorious (1946)

"I am married to an American agent!"

I'm not entirely sure why German spies should still be up to no good by April 1946 when the film takes place, but this is a justly celebrated classic with magnificent dialogue, splendid performances from Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant- whose chemistry is electric- genuine suspense, and some absolutely astounding directing, specially towards the end when the camera shows us just how disoriented Alicia is.

Behind all this, though, is a pleasingly progressive message: the superbly hard-drinking Alicia is brave and patriotic for infiltrating these dangerous Nazis as she does, making the sacrifice of even having regular sex with Sebastian, their leader, yet the men (all of them are men) who are "running" her simply dismiss her as a whore, with only Devlin to defend her honour. Such are the double standards applied so depressingly often to women even today, but Hitchcock is to be applauded for addressing this in 1946.

The plot is like clockwork, the final few minutes electric, and the conclusion deeply satisfying. This is a truly fine film.