The Devil's Fingers
"The moment we've dreaded for years has arrived. This time, we're going to have to solve a case... ourselves..."
I am, to use a great understatement, not one for easy listening. Give me Sunn O))) or Merzbow over anything "smooth" any day. Likewise, I'm not one for light entertainment as a whole. So, much as Liberace here is charismatic in two roles, a superb pianist, splendidly camp in an era where that was subversive, and is bloody good here, his world is not one I have any affinity for. I'm afraid I see the whole world of pre-rock 'n'roll popular music, from Frank Sinatra to Max Bygraves, as a dragon that desperately needed slaying. Yet, I'm told, these episodes of Batman were the most highly rated. This stuff was popular amongst people who hated rock music.
So I shouldn't like these episodes. I really shouldn't. Yet the on-form script by the returning Lorenzo Semple Jr, and a charismatic performance by a brilliant Liberace, have really won me over. I don't care about the silly twin brothers plot. What matters are the amusing details- most of all the comic genius of Neil Hamilton as he tries to cope with the fact that the Dynamic Duo are on holiday, ultimately resorting to pills before the Batphone rings. I'm also amused to see how Alfred, who a few episodes earlier claimed to be a Liverpudlian lad, now waxes lyrical about the Highland heathers of his childhood. Cue the bagpipes of doom, which seem to be the most fearful weapons of our baddies throughout.
Of course, Batman and Robin are on their hols at the start- in Dick's case hilariously wooing a young lady. This allows the other regulars more screen time and, as a bonus, allows the plot to progress a bit before the Dynamic Duo appear. There are amusingly subtle acknowledgements that Chandell may be a friend of Dorothy throughout, of course. In 1966, very much the Dark Ages, that was brave indeed. Part of me is amused by the fact Liberace once won a libel case based on the outrageous suggestion that he might be gay, but there's also a truly appalling side to a deeply homophobic society where that can happen.
This isn't an episode I was particularly looking forward to. But, much to my surprise, I loved it.
The Dead Ringers
"Nice singing, Robin..."
This is one of the most hilarious cliffhanger resolutions ever: about to be slashed to bit in a piano music cutting machine, they survive by singing the exact notes to avoid being cut into. As you do.
We then move on to the actual plot- Chandell plans to murder Bruce and Dick and marry the besotted Aunt Harriett for her money. Nicely, it gives the wonderful Madge Blake something more to do, and isn't the kind of story that would have been possible until we had come to know and adore Aunt Harriett. And she deserves that medal she gets at the end.
This two-parter, incredibly, without being my sort of thing at all, has managed to become one of my favourites. Top stuff.
Showing posts with label Larry Peerce. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Larry Peerce. Show all posts
Tuesday, 17 March 2020
Monday, 9 March 2020
Batman: The Spell of Tut & Tut’s Case Is Shut
The Spell of Tut
“Gosh, Batman! What are they dressed like that for?”
After a strangely underwhelming pre-titles it's time to jump with joy- King Tut, the first and still the bst original villain created for this series, is back. Not only does the wonderful Victor Buono chew the scenery as magnificently as ever but his, ahem, "Chief Apothecary" is none other than the splendid, and now sadly departed, Sid Haig- who, at this point, is a mere stripling in his twenties, a scary thought. With baddies like this, frankly, we simply don't care how unconvincing and obviously plastic the crocodiles are. Nor do we care about the so-so quality of the script; some performers elevate material just by being there.
Not only that, but we get the second instance of the Dynamic Duo encountering celebrities in a window while climbing, as you do. This time it's the Green Hornet and Kato, in a splendidly bizarre cameo. Yep; this episode features both Sid Haig and Bruce Lee.
The plot is nonsense, of course- scarabs in amber being revived to make a mesmerising liquid- but seeing Tut and his underlings performing an operation in surgeons' scrubs is just so damn fun and Buono, quite rightly, is hamming it up so much more. This is great.
Tut’s Case Is Shut
“On your knees, Helot!”
“You got the wrong Helot.”
“On your knees anyway!”
I've just noticed- the signature onomatopaeic fighty words are now on separate frames. Has this been the case from the start of the new season?
This episode simply carries on the fun. Never mind the rubbishness of the cliffhanger resolution; we get a mesmerised Chief O'Hara performing acrobatic feats on a flagpole several stories up while singing "Molly Malone". We get mesmerised acting from Adam West, with arms held out in front like a zombie. There is no way you can not love this.
We even end with a hilarious look at the camera by Commissioner Gordon. Batman episodes simply don't get any more Batman than this one. Brilliant.
“Gosh, Batman! What are they dressed like that for?”
After a strangely underwhelming pre-titles it's time to jump with joy- King Tut, the first and still the bst original villain created for this series, is back. Not only does the wonderful Victor Buono chew the scenery as magnificently as ever but his, ahem, "Chief Apothecary" is none other than the splendid, and now sadly departed, Sid Haig- who, at this point, is a mere stripling in his twenties, a scary thought. With baddies like this, frankly, we simply don't care how unconvincing and obviously plastic the crocodiles are. Nor do we care about the so-so quality of the script; some performers elevate material just by being there.
Not only that, but we get the second instance of the Dynamic Duo encountering celebrities in a window while climbing, as you do. This time it's the Green Hornet and Kato, in a splendidly bizarre cameo. Yep; this episode features both Sid Haig and Bruce Lee.
The plot is nonsense, of course- scarabs in amber being revived to make a mesmerising liquid- but seeing Tut and his underlings performing an operation in surgeons' scrubs is just so damn fun and Buono, quite rightly, is hamming it up so much more. This is great.
Tut’s Case Is Shut
“On your knees, Helot!”
“You got the wrong Helot.”
“On your knees anyway!”
I've just noticed- the signature onomatopaeic fighty words are now on separate frames. Has this been the case from the start of the new season?
This episode simply carries on the fun. Never mind the rubbishness of the cliffhanger resolution; we get a mesmerised Chief O'Hara performing acrobatic feats on a flagpole several stories up while singing "Molly Malone". We get mesmerised acting from Adam West, with arms held out in front like a zombie. There is no way you can not love this.
We even end with a hilarious look at the camera by Commissioner Gordon. Batman episodes simply don't get any more Batman than this one. Brilliant.
Friday, 21 February 2020
Batman: The Bookworm Turns & While Gotham City Burns
The Bookworm Turns
"I solemnly swear by my oath as a crimefighter that this outrage will not go unavenged!"
This episode boasts two important firsts. This may not be, after we saw the splendid King Tut last week, the series' first original villain, but it's the first of many one-off baddies played by big names- and the Bookworm is a magnificent character. Just as importantly, it's the first episode I've blogged that I've never seen before. All episodes up until now I saw as part of a series of repeats in the '90s. I've seen many more episodes, of course, but in a haphazard fashion.
More importantly, this two-parter is superb in every way, and truly special.
To begin with, the Bookworm is both an inspired character with a real backstory and layed with both charisma and unusual depth by Roddy McDowall. He’s fun, with that silly reading lamp on his head and all the literary quotations, and what’s particularly cool is that he’s a nerd who essentially gets to be cool, to have a gang of his own and, of course, to have a pretty girlfriend in Lydia. But, like Frank Gorshin, he’s dangerous and unstable, see-sawing between his calm and rational side and his fits of rage, especially when reminded of his failed literary career.
His plan, such as it is, consists at this point only in set pieces which make no sense, but we don’t care because this is Batman. And this episode shakes up the format daringly by opening with the apparent assassination of Commissioner Gordon, a deliberately shocking and effective opening which packs a punch even if it does result in a bit of a cheat. It’s worth it, quite frankly, just to see the passion with which Adam West’s Batman vows revenge.
There are little firsts, too: a new POV shot for the Batmobile at the start and, of course, the first time a celebrity guest- in this case Jerry Lewis- opens the window while the Dynamic Duo are climbing a building. We also get used of asbestos that definitely wouldn’t happen these days plus some wonderful literary cleverness- there are not many episodes where the cliffhanger is a devilishly I genius riff on a John Donne lyrics. And, of course, the Bookworm ordering his gang to remove their glasses before fighting while Batman implored Robin to “never hit a man with glasses”.
While Gotham City Burns
"Red alert! Red alert! We are trapped inside a Cookbook at 5th and Cedar!"
I know the cliffhanger is really an outrageous cheat, skipping back in time a few minutes to give Batman time to work out the danger Robin is in and come up with a creative solution, to the amazement of Chief O’Hara. But it’s so fun to see Batman being the detective he is and working it all out, and worth the rather large amount of time we spend on the cliffhanger resolution.
This is another episode of set pieces, really, with Bookworm’s actual criminal plot almost racked on as an afterthought at the end. But, as with the previous episode, we don’t care. There’s a giant cookbook and an outrageous escape. It’s all such fun. And the Bookworm’s comeuppance is not so much his capture as the moment Bruce corrects him on a quotation from Don Quixote. This is one of the finest two patters yet, with a splendid new villain who deserved another outing at least as much as any we’ve seen so far.
"I solemnly swear by my oath as a crimefighter that this outrage will not go unavenged!"
This episode boasts two important firsts. This may not be, after we saw the splendid King Tut last week, the series' first original villain, but it's the first of many one-off baddies played by big names- and the Bookworm is a magnificent character. Just as importantly, it's the first episode I've blogged that I've never seen before. All episodes up until now I saw as part of a series of repeats in the '90s. I've seen many more episodes, of course, but in a haphazard fashion.
More importantly, this two-parter is superb in every way, and truly special.
To begin with, the Bookworm is both an inspired character with a real backstory and layed with both charisma and unusual depth by Roddy McDowall. He’s fun, with that silly reading lamp on his head and all the literary quotations, and what’s particularly cool is that he’s a nerd who essentially gets to be cool, to have a gang of his own and, of course, to have a pretty girlfriend in Lydia. But, like Frank Gorshin, he’s dangerous and unstable, see-sawing between his calm and rational side and his fits of rage, especially when reminded of his failed literary career.
His plan, such as it is, consists at this point only in set pieces which make no sense, but we don’t care because this is Batman. And this episode shakes up the format daringly by opening with the apparent assassination of Commissioner Gordon, a deliberately shocking and effective opening which packs a punch even if it does result in a bit of a cheat. It’s worth it, quite frankly, just to see the passion with which Adam West’s Batman vows revenge.
There are little firsts, too: a new POV shot for the Batmobile at the start and, of course, the first time a celebrity guest- in this case Jerry Lewis- opens the window while the Dynamic Duo are climbing a building. We also get used of asbestos that definitely wouldn’t happen these days plus some wonderful literary cleverness- there are not many episodes where the cliffhanger is a devilishly I genius riff on a John Donne lyrics. And, of course, the Bookworm ordering his gang to remove their glasses before fighting while Batman implored Robin to “never hit a man with glasses”.
While Gotham City Burns
"Red alert! Red alert! We are trapped inside a Cookbook at 5th and Cedar!"
I know the cliffhanger is really an outrageous cheat, skipping back in time a few minutes to give Batman time to work out the danger Robin is in and come up with a creative solution, to the amazement of Chief O’Hara. But it’s so fun to see Batman being the detective he is and working it all out, and worth the rather large amount of time we spend on the cliffhanger resolution.
This is another episode of set pieces, really, with Bookworm’s actual criminal plot almost racked on as an afterthought at the end. But, as with the previous episode, we don’t care. There’s a giant cookbook and an outrageous escape. It’s all such fun. And the Bookworm’s comeuppance is not so much his capture as the moment Bruce corrects him on a quotation from Don Quixote. This is one of the finest two patters yet, with a splendid new villain who deserved another outing at least as much as any we’ve seen so far.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)