Aunt Harriet in the 1966 movie.

General goings on in the 1966 Batman World

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Therin of Andor
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Aunt Harriet in the 1966 movie.

Post by Therin of Andor »

Hi all,

Do we know if Madge Blake was originally supposed to have more to do in the 1966 movie? I saw a salary breakdown and she received a princely sum for kneeling, smiling and waving.

Any intel on draft scripts with dropped scenes, please?
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Therin of Andor

(aka Ian McLean, from Sydney, Australia)
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High C
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Re: Aunt Harriet in the 1966 movie

Post by High C »

On page 67 of the pdf, there is a short scene in which Dick is upset that Bruce has been kidnapped and Aunt Harriet talks about getting ransom money ready. It follows another cut scene, of the Air Force being scrambled about all the flying umbrellas. Sterling Holloway was to play Major Terry and there is a promo photo of him in the role.

http://www.knowitalljoe.com/wp-content/ ... ttened.pdf
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Therin of Andor
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Re: Aunt Harriet in the 1966 movie.

Post by Therin of Andor »

Thanks!

Yes, I knew about Sterling Holloway as Major Terry. Interesting it is next to that other cut scene. I wonder if Madge filmed her part?

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Aunt Harriet by Ian McLean, on Flickr
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Therin of Andor

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John Mack
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Re: Aunt Harriet in the 1966 movie.

Post by John Mack »

Funny you use the BatLaff card! When I was young I had like 8 of them. No one would trade anything for poor Aunt Harriet.
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Jim Akin
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Re: Aunt Harriet in the 1966 movie.

Post by Jim Akin »

Too bad that scene was cut. It would have been fun to see Aunt Harriet get snippy with the GCPD.

Thanks for the link to the movie script. I hadn't seen it before.

The biggest revelation I got from the script? Arguably the most famous bit of 1966 bat-dialog ever wasn't even in the final draft!

"Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb" appears (worded slightly differently) in Semple's stage directions, but not as a spoken line. The decision to have Batman say it out loud must have been made during production.
Tom1980
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Re: Aunt Harriet in the 1966 movie.

Post by Tom1980 »

Thanks for the script copy, this is very interesting.

There is a little more dialogue from Batman when he calls the Pentagon over the submarine which appears to have been shortened in editing.

The ridiculousness of that scene went over me when I was little, but I find it very funny now. Asking if he has done anything foolish with a totally innocent look on his face always gets a laugh.
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Therin of Andor
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Re: Aunt Harriet in the 1966 movie.

Post by Therin of Andor »

I am looking forward to my next viewing with this script on my lap! Thanks High C!
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Re: Aunt Harriet in the 1966 movie.

Post by Commodore Schmidlapp »

I always liked Madge Blake in both Batman and Leave it to Beaver. One of my favorite LITB episodes is where Larry Mondello throws his mother's money out the window and claims he found it, as it probably fell out of the pockets of pilot doing upside down tricks. ;) And Madge Blake was hysterical in that episode.

I was just reading up on her, and found this interesting tidbit on her Wikipedia page:

At one point, the producers of Batman wanted to fire Blake for unknown reasons. Adam West, with whom she had become friends, stood up for her and she kept her job. The next day, he found a freshly baked cake in his dressing room.

I can't imagine why they would want to fire her, but if she was receiving a high salary for a bit part, I could see the producers wanting to keep costs down. Especially in the first two seasons where she was more prominent, as the sets were more elaborate.
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clavierankh
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Re: Aunt Harriet in the 1966 movie.

Post by clavierankh »

I thi k she was going up on her lines and causing delays
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BatmiteReturns
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Re: Aunt Harriet in the 1966 movie.

Post by BatmiteReturns »

Commodore Schmidlapp wrote: Sat Sep 22, 2018 1:51 pm I always liked Madge Blake in both Batman and Leave it to Beaver. One of my favorite LITB episodes is where Larry Mondello throws his mother's money out the window and claims he found it, as it probably fell out of the pockets of pilot doing upside down tricks. ;) And Madge Blake was hysterical in that episode.

I was just reading up on her, and found this interesting tidbit on her Wikipedia page:

At one point, the producers of Batman wanted to fire Blake for unknown reasons. Adam West, with whom she had become friends, stood up for her and she kept her job. The next day, he found a freshly baked cake in his dressing room.

I can't imagine why they would want to fire her, but if she was receiving a high salary for a bit part, I could see the producers wanting to keep costs down. Especially in the first two seasons where she was more prominent, as the sets were more elaborate.
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She was Larry's mom wasn't she?

I'm a huge leave it to beaver fan and I never once put that together.
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Therin of Andor
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Re: Aunt Harriet in the 1966 movie.

Post by Therin of Andor »

Commodore Schmidlapp wrote: Sat Sep 22, 2018 1:51 pm I can't imagine why they would want to fire her, but if she was receiving a high salary for a bit part, I could see the producers wanting to keep costs down.
My comment regarding her high salary was only in relation to the movie. With the dropped scenes, she essentially only did a cameo.
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Re: Aunt Harriet in the 1966 movie.

Post by Commodore Schmidlapp »

BatmiteReturns wrote: Sat Sep 22, 2018 3:40 pm
Commodore Schmidlapp wrote: Sat Sep 22, 2018 1:51 pm I always liked Madge Blake in both Batman and Leave it to Beaver. One of my favorite LITB episodes is where Larry Mondello throws his mother's money out the window and claims he found it, as it probably fell out of the pockets of pilot doing upside down tricks. ;) And Madge Blake was hysterical in that episode.

I was just reading up on her, and found this interesting tidbit on her Wikipedia page:

At one point, the producers of Batman wanted to fire Blake for unknown reasons. Adam West, with whom she had become friends, stood up for her and she kept her job. The next day, he found a freshly baked cake in his dressing room.

I can't imagine why they would want to fire her, but if she was receiving a high salary for a bit part, I could see the producers wanting to keep costs down. Especially in the first two seasons where she was more prominent, as the sets were more elaborate.
stop the clock.

She was Larry's mom wasn't she?

I'm a huge leave it to beaver fan and I never once put that together.
Yep, she sure was!

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Keith Mayo
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Re: Aunt Harriet in the 1966 movie.

Post by Keith Mayo »

With all this discussion of Madge, I'm surprised nobody has brought up her work for the government during WWII.
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vintagematt
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Re: Aunt Harriet in the 1966 movie.

Post by vintagematt »

Keith Mayo wrote: Sun Sep 23, 2018 12:54 pm With all this discussion of Madge, I'm surprised nobody has brought up her work for the government during WWII.
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Keith Mayo
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Re: Aunt Harriet in the 1966 movie.

Post by Keith Mayo »

From IMDB::
During World War II, her husband, James Lincoln Blake, and she worked in Utah on construction of the detonator for the atomic bomb and performed such jobs as testing equipment destined for the Manhattan Project. The couple received a citation for their work from the U.S. government.

Another source:

http://carpefactum.typepad.com/my_weblo ... atman.html
"It's the very essence of our democracy". - Batman, S1 Ep 11
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