BATMAN-74-THAT DARN CATWOMAN
BATMAN-74-THAT
DARN CATWOMAN
Now we come
to what is, arguably, the best story in the entire series. Pussycat is Catwoman’s
protégé, she’s 20 and she starts out by seducing Robin, who’s voice squeaks
when he repeats and questions why Pussycat wants to be alone with him, “Alone
with meeeEEE?” She scratches him with cataphrenic (I wonder if Catwoman got
this idea from Sandman who once controlled Robin or from Marsha?) that controls
Robin.
Leslie Gore,
recently, and sadly, passed on, is super as Pussycat and the whole story is
imbibed with a level of sexuality that is sometimes approached in other
episodes before and after it but…she looks down at Robin when saying this, “I
can see that a very important part of your education has been grossly
neglected.” When he comments on her
funny looking outfit she’s wearing (a pink cat suit?), she says, “You should
talk,” looks down and says, “Big boy.” WTF? Catwoman, in dialog, confirms that
Pussycat is 20. Robin is…at oldest a high school junior or senior? Catwoman
picked her out at a Milk Shake a Go Go on the Sunset Strip.
Julie Newmar
is, as ever, terrific. When O’Hara shows up, she turns to the wall and hides
her head just like a cat might while her henchmen hide more normally. Burt as
villain is wonderful, too. She drinks milk from a saucer during her robbery at
Wayne Manor, using Robin!
I also don’t
know if it’s a blooper but after Pussycat’s California Nights song, Catwoman
comes in and moves to sit in her chair, telling everyone no body gets more applause
than Catwoman…and Julie sits on the frame and almost falls. Then recovers. It’s
hilarious.
As is her
every move in this. I love that when Batman uses large words on her, “I find
you to be odious,” for one, she, in a hilarious phone conversation with Batman,
while Gordon holds his phone to the Batphone so the two can talk, tells Batman
that dealing with him has expanded her vocabulary…well, a whole lot! She also
tells Gordon who’s listening that listening in on a private conversation is
illegal. She threatens Robin’s life, hits a hanging mural in Pending’s
factory/home while stealing money from his matress, and pokes at a parrot in
her second cat lair over the bridge in New Guernsey!
The writer,
Stanley Ralph Ross, used to sneak in dirty words in other languages (Arabic for
one) and the network warned him not to do it again...someone must have complained.
In this episode he called the shiek that’s being weighed by the names of his
friends and the network said that the name sounded dirty so he changed the
names to something that meant son of a bitch in Arabic! For more details see
THE OFFICIAL BATMAN BATBOOK (a terrific book).
The music:
Nelson Riddle’s outdone himself. In the exciting moment where Robin punches
Batman against a wall, the music sounds VERY like a large action piece that’s
used in RON ELY’S TARZAN series.
There are
other things that set this apart from other episodes. Batman must have had a
fight by himself in other episodes but none of late and so here, he fights
without Robin. He also refuses to fight Robin. There is no phone call direct to
Bruce’s study, refreshingly. Instead, Batman answers the phone via Alfred in the
Batcave. There’s no slide down the Bat Poles and no shot of the duo putting
their seat belts on because Robin has already been taken over and isn’t at the
Batcave.
There is a
long, somewhat dated but charming song built into the series as PussyCat wants
to break into the business but Catwoman calls her too short.
The cliffhanger
music is used again, chillingly as Robin starts to cut the rope on a giant
mouse trap that Batman is attached to, Batman, for once being captured by
having an electric cattle prod hit on his neck after being distracted by Robin,
who’s faking that he’s recovered and back to his nice ways. For once, Batman’s
capture is believable.
The whole
episode reeks of creativity, imagination, and fun and the show seems to be
moving on from its familiar format as much as it can. Batman also addresses the camera and audience
directly, telling us how dire things are. Other reviewers find the acting over
the top but…this is the BATMAN TV show we’re watching and if you don’t know its
rep, maybe you should not watch this if you believe that. I found both West and
Ward wonderful in this and Newmar, as ever, fantastic.
I also absolutely
love that Gordon and O’Hara figure SOMETHING out in the series in the hospital
room scene and when Gordon says they need to alert Batman, O’Hara yells, “To
the elevator!”
A very fun
episode.
https://www.tor.com/2016/08/30/holy-rewatch-batman-that-darn-catwoman-scat-darn-catwoman/
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