Worst Bat Villain Cast

[High C]

I posted on the old board about the weird economics of this episode. You won't believe what 'Superintendent Watson' got paid...

http://www.66batman.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/Y ... 12486627/0

[Chynna22]

My worst villains and why:

MINSTREL: I like Van Johnson, but he is rather unthreatening as a villain. "I am going to throttle you with my lute!"

LOUIS THE LILAC: Very dated with all the hippies and the flower wagon. Milton Berle doing his 1930s gangster routine. "You dirty rat; you stole my lilacs!"

THE ARCHER: Art Carney as a villain. It was like Ed Norton traded his sewer-worker clothes for tights. Reminds me of Tony Curtis "The land of my fadduh"

MARSHA: QUEEN OF DIAMONDS; I liked her aunt, but Marsha was boring, darling.

CASSANDRA: I love Ida Lupino but this character was dull; I was not entranced, despite the title.

COLONEL GUMM: Roger C Carmel is so hammy. He chewed that scenery like his gummy stamps.

CHANDELL: Liberace should have stuck with playing the piano; his line delivery is awful.

MINERVA: Such a sad way to end a great show---I like Zsa Zsa but this was a really slow episode

THE SANDMAN: J Pauline Spaghetti is not the only one he put to sleep. From Klaatu to this?

NORA CLAVICLE: BATMAN trying to be topical. I like the pied piper reference, but Nora Clavicle is a stiff.

[Progress Pigment]

Chynna22, I'd dispute some of your choices! I thought Louie was fun. Almost a throwback the unseen "mob" that was mentioned in season 1. Marsha? I sort of liked her two-parter. As you say, the aunt was great! The Pengy team-up was goddawful. Dr. Cassandra was a rare interestingly filmed episode for season 3. Maybe Lupino, a brilliant director herself threw in some ideas. Wow, her outfit was bad. The Archer? Unconscionable. I liked The Minstrel & Chandel very much! Those episodes mirrored the light hearted comics of the 50's/60's.



Strange that Van Johnson starred in The Pied Piper of Hamlin. Eerily similar.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dab20Kt7AYE[/youtube]

[Pengy]

I posted on the old board about the weird economics of this episode. You won't believe what 'Superintendent Watson' got paid...

http://www.66batman.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/Y ... 12486627/0

Was the actor who played Superintendant Watson notable in some way, because that's crazy money to be paid for such a small part. He basically played the exact same type of character in the Catwoman voice stealing episode in S2.

[High C]

I posted on the old board about the weird economics of this episode. You won't believe what 'Superintendent Watson' got paid...

http://www.66batman.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/Y ... 12486627/0

Was the actor who played Superintendant Watson notable in some way, because that's crazy money to be paid for such a small part. He basically played the exact same type of character in the Catwoman voice stealing episode in S2.

All I can think of is maybe his agent cut a sweet deal with Greenway. It's ridiculous how much he was paid in the Londinium eps compared to Lyn Peters, who was in many more scenes.

[Bookworm]

I'm thinking that Gale Sondergaard would have made a menacing Black Widow, especially considering that she played a similar role in one of the Sherlock Holmes movies.

That's one of the best guest villain ideas I've heard. Yes, she played the Spider Woman in the Sherlock Holmes film of the same name and starred in Universal's The Spider Woman Strikes Back, which was not a Holmes film at all. She would have been the perfect choice. Perhaps Bankhead was the bigger name or perhaps her appearance on the Hollywood blacklist (she has no screen credits between 1949 and 1969) kept her away from the role, but it would have been terrific.

[Bookworm]

My worst villains and why:

MINSTREL: I like Van Johnson, but he is rather unthreatening as a villain. "I am going to throttle you with my lute!"

CASSANDRA: I love Ida Lupino but this character was dull; I was not entranced, despite the title.

I actually liked Van Johnson's goofy songs. The best part of the Cassandra episode was Howard Duff, her super hip hubby.

[Gorshin Romero]

I'm thinking that Gale Sondergaard would have made a menacing Black Widow, especially considering that she played a similar role in one of the Sherlock Holmes movies.

That's one of the best guest villain ideas I've heard. Yes, she played the Spider Woman in the Sherlock Holmes film of the same name and starred in Universal's The Spider Woman Strikes Back, which was not a Holmes film at all. She would have been the perfect choice. Perhaps Bankhead was the bigger name or perhaps her appearance on the Hollywood blacklist (she has no screen credits between 1949 and 1969) kept her away from the role, but it would have been terrific.

Thanks for the kudos; I'm glad you like ,u odea

That said, I loved Ida Lupino's response to someone who asked her why she waited so long to get a divorce if she was not happily married. She replied "I finally got off my Duff!"

[BATWINGED HORNET]

I wouldn't call Valee's accent "cockney" in the episodes. He'd occasionally lapse into a "pip! pip! cherio!" sort of thing, but generally talked as he usually did. His manner of speaking was, as I've heard attributed to Cary Grant, unlike any other spoken by anyone else, British or American. To me he IS Lord ffogg. I can't imagine anyone else playing it. It could've been a great bunch of episodes without the corny gags.

He was one of the corny gags. The entire "stuffy Brit" and "Swinging London" stereotypes of the Londinium episodes were already worn thin in the culture by the time this episode was produced. With the exception of the magnetic Lyn Peters, the 3-parter was like a bad TV commercial cashing in long after a fad died.

Sometimes I think Yvonne didn't appreciate the moment like she might have. In her book she thought Neil Hamilton & Alan Napier were just a couple of nice old men. And didn't realize Hamilton had been a silent star, and Napier worked the Old Vic.

That does seem a bit odd. Then again, not everyone is a serious student of the history of the industry employing them.

She also mentioned that Vallee decided to favor the cast with a one of his megaphone lip-sync performances to a record during a break in filming. I think I'd have been thrilled! But she sort of rolled her eyes over the whole thing.

She would not be the only one; it was rather pompous of Vallee to assume his routine was just so entertaining to to anyone else--people from different walks of life who might not have been thrilled by some already ancient megaphone bit.

[Dr. Shimel]

She also mentioned that Vallee decided to favor the cast with a one of his megaphone lip-sync performances to a record during a break in filming. I think I'd have been thrilled! But she sort of rolled her eyes over the whole thing.

She would not be the only one; it was rather pompous of Vallee to assume his routine was just so entertaining to to anyone else--people from different walks of life who might not have been thrilled by some already ancient megaphone bit.

There a subtle reference to Vallee in the first Egghead episode in S2: Bruce Wayne explains that the last time they did the raccoon exchange, they got the pelts from a popular singer from the 1920s who wore a raccoon coat, and who had fallen on hard times and had to sell it.

[Progress Pigment]

I actually liked Van Johnson's goofy songs. The best part of the Cassandra episode was Howard Duff, her super hip hubby.

I liked Cabala too. I just recently noticed "Felony Squad" re-runs are airing on Get-TV! Duff looks a lot different & is very serious. It was on ABC back then, like Batman, and Howard Duff did a wall cameo as Sergeant Sam Stone in The Impractical Joker. The show was made by 20th Century Fox with William Self as head of production just like Batman. Funny, in one episode I saw the stuffed Mr. Freeze polar bear! I guess "Lost in Space" wasn't the only show that used recycled bat paraphernalia.

[LittleLouisGroovy]

Strictly in terms of casting, Art Carney stands out as a poor choice for Archer. I appreciate the attempt at offbeat casting, but I think the character and the episode would have been better served by someone like Jack Cassidy. Another weak choice, in my opinion, was John Astin as The Riddler. I suspect that he was probably directed to follow in Gorshin's manic footsteps rather than being allowed to find his own way to play the character.

Lola Lasagne wasn't much of a character, but I don't think Ethel Merman was the best choice, although I wonder if it was another attempt at casting against type. Suddenly I'm wondering how Ava Gardner would have been in the role...

[Jthree]

Should some of the "worst villains" cast, ever appear in an Adam West based animated Batman series? Just wondering how the "worst" bad guys would appear in a new format like the Siren Black Widow, and Louie the Lilac?

--JThree

[Quarhog]

Everybody disparages poor John Astin as The Riddler; but Deanna Lund was also totally miscast as Anna Gram. As written Anna Gram is a fearless, amoral young thrill seeker; but although decked out in easily the sexiest costume of any Batman henchbabe, Miss Lund unfortunately also spends most of the time wearing a timid and apprehensive expression with her mouth hanging open (as she did throughout 'Land of the Giants'). She doesn't seem to be enjoying it when The Riddler puts his arm around her the way Mousey and his other molls usually do - and is obviously just a girly girl in a sexy outfit rather than an authentic fox...