This, to me, IS Batman

irishm

I never got into the comic books and the one "modern" movie version I saw didn't grab me. I was a kid during its first run and definitely the target demographic. The Special Guest Villains really made the show… we were a family of film buffs and we loved recognizing the villains from other things. Major favorites were Victor Buono as King Tut (how many other 10-year-olds had seen "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane", I wonder?), Vincent Price as Egghead (again, "House of Wax" was hardly a children's movie!) and Roddy McDowall as Bookworm (hey, "Lassie Come Home" was actually for kids!). And naturally, Joker, Riddler, Penguin and Catwoman were always welcome in our living room.

I've recently streamed a few episodes just for the heck of it. One featured Liberace as Chandell (very clever name!). I'm not a Liberace fan and he wasn't a favored villain in my youth, but as an adult I got a few really good laughs out of this episode. Firstly, after a robbery at Stately Wayne Manor, Commissioner Gordon picks up the Batphone only to be advised by Alfred that Batman and Robin are on vacation. There's a look of pure horror on his face as he turns to Chief O'Hara and says "I think we may have to… solve this one ourselves!" As a kid I wouldn't have batted an eye; as an adult I cracked up… you mean, DO YOUR JOB for a change? It was a hilarious line and Neil Hamilton really nailed it… I bet he enjoyed the rare opportunity to be a bigger part of the plot. And Stafford Repp got in a few zingers as well, over and above his weekly sigh of "saints preserve us!": at one point, Chief O'Hara decides that snipers with machine guns in the balcony of the local concert hall are the way to deter any possible criminal acts during Chandell's performance, again producing howls from the grown-ups. Fears for Aunt Harriet's virtue are voiced when she visits Chandell in his dressing room… trust me, Aunt Harriet is safe with Chandell (but the Boy Wonder might not have been). The funniest scene by far was the absent Bruce Wayne ruminating that Commissioner Gordon would doubtless have things well in hand and would work tirelessly to apprehend the villain… cut to Commissioner Gordon with a row of large pill bottles lined up on his desk. So stalwart Commissioner Gordon is amped up on speed? Pure comedy gold. The cherry on top of the cupcake was Liberace's performance as evil twin brother Harry the gangster, puffing cigars and talking out of the corner of his mouth; he was quite entertaining as something other than his grinning sequin-studded pianist persona.

Recommended for nostalgia factor only… anyone raised on the darker film series probably wouldn't understand. But for a baby-boomer… PURRRRRRRRRR-fect.

score 7/10

irishm 10 February 2015

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3180598/