The Sandman Cometh/The Catwoman Goeth

[Edward Nigma]

So, I downloaded and watched The Sandman Cometh/The Catwoman Goeth which, after The Riddler episodes, are my favorite pair of episodes. Here are my highlights and lowlights:

Lowlights:
1) The Bat computer spewing spaghetti in the first episode.
2) The bit with the two police officers in the second part falls flat and slows the pace of the episode to a crawl.
3) The fight scenes in both episodes are merely average.

Highlights:
1) Michael Rennie and Julie Newmar are great in their scenes together and their backstabbing of one another is an effective piece of arch-criminal characterization.
2) Speaking of arch-criminals, I love having Catwoman back in Season 1 form again. She's not swooning over Batman. Instead, she's making life miserable for Robin and Policewoman Mooney.
3) Catwoman's lair in the catacombs is a marvelous piece of set design and lighting.
4) The maze is one of the all-time great death traps. Bonus points added for Catwoman baiting Robin and Policewoman Mooney from her vantage point above them.
5) Sandman's stiching machine is also a great death trap. But what really makes this one stand out for me is that Batman exploits unintended assistance from the machine to free his hand from its restraint and uses the utility belt itself as a tool to free himself. Such a refreshing change of pace from using a too-convenient device in the belt to get out of trouble.
6) I like Spring Byington's performance as J. Pauline Spaghetti. Underneath the fluttery performance, I like how she conveys J. Pauline Spaghetti's selfishness and how it gets her into trouble. (This is somewhat similar to Mr. Van Jones in the silent movie episodes.)
7) Neil Hamilton is superb in the scene where he's juggling the phone calls between Batman, O'Hara and the bank official. He made it look easy -- but it wasn't.

[epaddon]

I give a lot of kudos to #7 because I think more than any other scene in the series it shows Commissioner Gordon as a smart guy in charge of things and it also shows how absurd it was IMO to have the character demeaned with moments like the "We have to do it ourselves!" bit in an earlier episode (Chandell?). I always felt that dividing things up so that O'Hara could do the comic relief while Gordon always came off like a credible police chief capable of doing *some* things himself would have been better.

I also like how this episode shows Newmar more in the mode of her first appearance in S1. The reason for that is that this is the only S2 CW episode not written by Stanley Ralph Ross, so as a result the script doesn't give CW those mushy moments that dragged down too many of her other episodes.

OTOH, I don't care for Spring Byington, whose claim to fame was her role in the now-forgotten 50s sitcom "December Bride" and who was a friend of Dozier. I would have preferred someone more glamorous in the role like perhaps Gypsy Rose Lee, who was totally wasted in her cameo (not to mention needlessly frumped up! At the time, Gypsy was still quite a striking woman) as the TV interviewer.

[Gernot]

Edward Nigma, I have to disagree with you concerning the Bat-fights. Not only did they play the best Bat-fight music in both fights, but Part 2 had one of the longer fight scenes (almost 4 minutes!).

In the first fight, I cannot recall which one of the Dynamic Duo was punching the henchman, but as the henchman was falling, he'd bounce right back up into the hero's fist! They repeated the gag about three times in a row before they went to a different area in the warehouse fight.

My wife, my nieces and nephews, and my neighbor's grandchildren loved the scene as I did. Anything that can get so many people loving it like that HAS to be good!

[Progress Pigment]

I thought the fight scenes were good. The drop kicks off the beds, and Batman being smothered by a dozen mattresses. It was a good episode! Certainly by second season standards. And really, Catwoman was used here more effectively than in any episode since "The Purrfect Crime"! The maze was interesting, and I liked Policewoman Mooney! Her interplay with Robin was fun. The only officer in Gotham I care to remember besides O'Hara & Goldberg. And Michael Rennie, the type of actor who made the most of what he had to work with was a pleasure to watch. To me he was one of the few original villains created for the show who worked.

[bat lugosi]

I'm more of a supporter of the more mushy side of Batman and Catwoman's relationship unlike most here. However, I think when Catwoman and Batman are on screen together there is a flirtation between the characters, and the chemistry between Adam and Julie is wonderful. I like that Catwoman has a soft side, and a more sinister side, not just mushy, and not just cruel and evil, she even has a real sense of menace when sneaking up on Policewoman Mooney or when dealing with Robin.

To me, Catwoman has some good characterization here, that said I think It's my least favorite Catwoman episode. I have nothing against Sandman in fact the scenes between Sandman and Catwoman are great, but I think this might have worked better as a three part adventure.

[WayneGrayson]

HOLY HOWLER - Every Catwoman episode is a gem, but this one was truly one of Newmar's finest hours. True, she wasn't a schoolgirl over Batman, (no holy mush here, boys and girls) but I loved it when she went on about Batman's flashing eyes. She was very sinister in this, but she was howlingly funny at the same time - especially at the maze. That pun was unintended, but what the heck, right? I just die every time I see her walking over, flipping the switch and looking right into the camera...oh yeah - gosh yes I forgot to mention the whole scene with her taunting Robin into going into the maze in the first place. HOLY EMMY FOR BEST ACTRESS EVER!

Anyway, I liked the chemistry here between Sandman and Catwoman. As a matter of fact, I'm going to watch it this evening. Thanks for putting the bat-bug in my ear.

Oh yeah, also forgot to mention - HOLY JULIANNE MOORE IN "STILL ALICE" - I tunes has this great podcast called The Bat Cave Podcast and I've just downloaded a segment dealing with this very 2-parter. Holy fun on the train tomorrow morning. Been a sweet weekend and I couldn't think of a better way to CAT it off...CAP it off.

[chrisbcritter]

I thought the fight scenes were good. The drop kicks off the beds, and Batman being smothered by a dozen mattresses.

Yes, you might say Batman really kicked a**...

As I've said ad nauseum, my favorite pair of episodes. Looking at the DVDs, I can see the workings of the stethoscope a little better - there's a trigger (or should it be "triGGer"? )that looks it might have been an airbrush valve to control the spray.

[John Mack]

Edward Nigma, I have to disagree with you concerning the Bat-fights. Not only did they play the best Bat-fight music in both fights, but Part 2 had one of the longer fight scenes (almost 4 minutes!).

In the first fight, I cannot recall which one of the Dynamic Duo was punching the henchman, but as the henchman was falling, he'd bounce right back up into the hero's fist! They repeated the gag about three times in a row before they went to a different area in the warehouse fight.

My wife, my nieces and nephews, and my neighbor's grandchildren loved the scene as I did. Anything that can get so many people loving it like that HAS to be good!

I agree about the music. And since it was such a long scene, we get to hear all of Riddle's composition. Now if we can get it released on CDs!!

John

[Gernot]

I gotta tell ya, Batguitarist (or do you prefer John?), it's nice to meet someone else who likes that fight music as much as I do. I think I may have "danced" poorly to it as a child, and I DEFINITELY hear it when I'm reading one of my Batman Chronicles or Showcases (ESPECIALLY from this era) during THOSE fight scenes. I even kind'a hummed it when my brother or friends and I would play Batman as kids.

[Caped_Crusader]

I ALWAYS loved the bit where Julie was on the phone, posing as Dr. Somnambula's nurse. "Dr. Somnaaaaambula's office...He'll TRY and get back to you tomorrow!" Brilliant!

[elmrgraham]

I agree.

[Tom1980]

I too enjoy these episodes, and the fights are both great. The second episode battle in particular is quite a tense struggle, I thought. Sandman really threw himself into them, even though Rennie was quite old. I just could not picture the original choice (Robert Morley) in this role at all.

Did the script dictate that Snooze and Nap resemble Laurel and Hardy, or did it come about by accident. And I wonder how well that was treated at the time, as Stan Laurel had only died a year or two before. Nowadays there would be protests galore.