Jim Akin wrote: ↑Fri Sep 14, 2018 12:41 pm
Several changes were made to the script between Carr's final polish and production. All were improvements, in my view, and I'm guessing Lorenzo Semple Jr. was responsible for the bulk of them:
- Gotham Bakery becomes Mother Gotham's Bakery. Just the right touch of commercial fake-folksiness.
- "Whipped sleeping gas" becomes "sleeping cream." The silliness of "sleeping cream" as a concept, the fact that it only exists in the Gotham City of 1966, and Batman's ability to identify it instantly with an expert sniff all seem like Semple touches to me.
- Unnamed "Girl" becomes Pauline. Perfect for a starlet appearing in a crooked (and perilous) silent film.
- Pauline's shepherd's crook becomes a sleeping-gas gun, eliminating her seductive come-on to Robin. Even with treachery in her heart, the Bo Peep character, like Robin, exudes innocence. Sexing up their scene together would've sounded a false note, IMHO.
- Part one ends on the sawmill scene, not with Robin's abduction. This one seems like a no-brainer in hindsight: The buzzsaw peril, complete with Riddler in mustache-twirling costume, reinforces the silent-movie theme, and the life-or-death stakes make for a true cliffhanger. (Having it turn out that Robin wasn't really in danger even approximated an actual movie-serial "cheat.")
I agree with all of these, especially the Bo Peep thing. If Pauline were going to come on to Robin, it would have made more sense for her to be in a Clara Bow or Theda Bara type of clothing.
I thought one of the most fascinating annotations was Horwitz saying, 'nowheres near our kind of dialogue' on the first page of the first draft. At this point, early Nov. 1965, they've got the pilot in the can and perhaps nothing else. But the Sempl-ian vision Tim and Paul (and Dan E. Kool) always talk about is clearly the blueprint.
Carr also made a mistake, even in the polish, with having the capture take place at the end and not leaving time for an epilogue. I suspect Dough-zier, likely already musing about syndication, knew darn well those Wayne Manor tag scenes eventually could be excised if need be.
Speaking of which, I wish the scene with Harriet and Dick and the chocolate cake had stayed in. Longtime board members probably have noticed I never discuss personal stuff on the board (just my thing, not saying anyone else shouldn't) but I have to make an exception here. I actually cried reading the scene because my Mom, who died suddenly at 86 in 2016, always would say how if I was happy, then she was happy. For Aunt Harriet to say a thing like that, it briefly lifted her up from befuddled caricature to a flesh-and-blood person, and it was nice. A nice, sweet moment that I wish the show could've given her AND Madge Blake. It would've been a perfect season 1 or 2 tag scene.
Of course, maybe that was the problem. Maybe they already were concerned about how much dialogue Madge could handle in one scene given her apparent penchant for flubbing lines and drying up during takes.
'I thought Siren was perfect for Joan.'--Stanley Ralph Ross, writer of 'The Wail of the Siren'
My hobbies include gazing at the Siren and doing her bidding, evil or otherwise.
'She had a devastating, hypnotic effect on all the men.'--A schoolmate describing Joan Collins at age 17
