TO THE BATPOLES podcast #099: The Kitt-y Cat Shows her Claws

General goings on in the 1966 Batman World

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High C
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES podcast #099: The Kitt-y Cat Shows her Claws

Post by High C »

Some more thoughts:

The Kitty Car was a redress of this custom car, called The Reactor:

https://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Reactor

I get your point about perhaps the blocking being off in some scenes, but I think it's more a case of Stanley Ralph Ross going full borscht belt. The scene in the models' dressing room is so bad in that it makes Batman look like a complete buffoon. The Semplian ideal was for Batman to be a square, perhaps oblivious to how unusual he looks in costume, but NEVER for him to be a Gomer Pyle-style doofus. Ross never seemed to understand that. Civic Responsibility Batman, as you guys so aptly term him, isn't the same as Village Idiot Batman.

Good point by Tim on the model cracking up. Maybe she also thought the script was awful. I don't have copies, but the call sheets said the uncredited models included future actress Anitra Ford (the mad scientist in Invasion of the Bee Girls) and Dolores Greer, who was a model who worked a lot in the late 1960s.

Terrific line by Paul on the double entendre of the name of the establishment hosting the luncheon, 'did Gotham City move to Nevada?'

Tim had excellent points on how the Batty/Battie was named for the only person who fits the requirements, and on Rudi Gernreich's non-acting.

I hated the Alfred as hippie bit. If he were a real hippie, wouldn't he have been under Louie the Lilac's thral l by then? :D Plus, more seriously, are Batman and Robin joined at the hip? Why can't one of them go there? Why can't one of the GCPD's beat cops drop the donut and go to CW's lair? Weak tea.

Paul makes another great point on how well Eartha does the expository dialogue and makes it sound good. (I'd add Joan Collins did a similarly good job on making expository dialogue sound sexy.)

Speaking of which, Paul said, 'Ring Around the Riddler is undistinguished by anything except the presence of Frank Gorshin.' Ummmmmmmm...

I liked Kitt's performance very much. I think she was very cat-like and gave her own take on the character. To make the role her own following what Julie did wasn't easy, but she managed to do it. Well-done.
'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
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Dan E Kool
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES podcast #099: The Kitt-y Cat Shows her Claws

Post by Dan E Kool »

Eartha Kitt is a fantastic Catwoman, perhaps the most underrated portrayal of the character ... ever! Julie is still my favorite, but I think if Eartha had been given that Season One script, she would have knocked it out of the park. Unfortunately, she gets stuck with weaker material here, but she still brings back a more menacing, cold Catwoman which had sort of waned through the second season in favor of a love angle.
Dr. Shimel wrote: Fri Dec 07, 2018 9:17 pm Given that Dozier was so concerned about getting the show into syndication with the third season (not to mention being born in 1908), I'm guessing he didn't want to rock the boat concerning interracial kissing.
So on the one hand, I absolutely prefer a more detached Catwoman. She can tempt Batman, seduce him even, but it's all for her own gain and there aren't any real feelings there (I'm pretty sure this is how my own cat feels about me :( ). As I said, I like this about the first Catwoman story and also Eartha Kitt's portrayal. Lee Meriwether finds a happy medium in the feature film, too.

And yet, against my own preferences, it does leave a sour taste in my mouth that the Catwoman character was changed between S2 and S3. Because it feels so obviously racially motivated. I understand they were different times and that the Batman television series wasn't exactly a beacon of progressive thought. But it's still kinda sad.
BATWINGED HORNET wrote: Fri Dec 07, 2018 11:08 pmIt was the same situation with Mr. Freeze: the first to take on the role was the best
Totally agree on Mr Freeze, but I think a lot of that comes down to the scripts. Otto had the coolest costume - not up for debate! ;)

High C wrote: Thu Dec 13, 2018 3:32 pm I liked Kitt's performance very much. I think she was very cat-like and gave her own take on the character. To make the role her own following what Julie did wasn't easy, but she managed to do it. Well-done.
I can't say it any better, High C. On the nose!
- Boy Genius
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Dr. Shimel
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES podcast #099: The Kitt-y Cat Shows her Claws

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bat-rss wrote: Sun Dec 09, 2018 4:35 am Wow! Will have to put that film on our to-do list, right under "Skidoo"! Thanks
A few years ago, I had the opportunity to see Skidoo and was very disappointed. Obviously, I had the idea that this was a "so bad it's good" film, but this was just dreck of the highest order. It has a strong Batman influence and also has a scene where Jackie Gleason inadvertently ingests LSD, but instead of actually being funny, it just tries to be and fails. A shame that this was Groucho's last film.
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