Apologizing in advance for the length of this post.
OK, a lot of replies to get to. Let me begin by addressing the show itself and the Martinson interviews. You guys are right--he talks in circles a bit at times, but that's to be expected from someone who was 88 when this was recorded. I would say it didn't help that, as often was the case with these Television Academy interviews, the interviewer wasn't all that well-prepared. I love the idea of interviewing these people for posterity and for the historical record, but the problem was it seems the interviewers often are reading from an imdb sheet and have little knowledge of the subject.
Granted, some of the WB westerns Martinson directed in the late 1950s and early 1960s weren't in daily rotation then as they are today on the Starz Western channel, where I can watch Cheyenne, Lawman and Maverick five days a week. (Not The Lawman as the interviewer called it. A nitpick by me? Yeah, but it demonstrates he has no idea about the show.) Even more annoying was how a couple of times when he had to change tapes, Martinson was about to tell an interesting story--one time he appeared about to rip Jack Webb--and Freiberger FORGOT to pick up where they left off.
Maddening.
On to the replies. I was happy to see BWH and Scott agree with me. I'll admit I didn't have the intestinal fortitude to say it first. Sorry, Leslie, and Young brothers, I didn't like his change. I've always felt the bomb sequence dragged on far too long. (Although I do enjoy Adam's line reading, so moving it from the stage direction to the dialogue was a good change by Martinson.)
Another point about why Dozier had to be disappointed with the marginal profit the movie made, and this came out on your show, Tim and Paul. Oscar Lilley, the former U. of Wyoming archivist and Dozier expert, noted that something I believe was a myth actually wasn't. Had the movie done very well, especially overseas, Dozier had hoped to leverage it into following the Man From UNCLE blueprint and doing 'Euro movies,' i.e., extended versions of TV episodes with 'bonus footage' made into movies for the European market. I would wager that was the original reason behind three-parters.
(The bonus footage often was of women showing a little more skin, not hard R, mind you, but heaven forbid, bikinis and navels [!] for the coveted Dirty Old Man Market. In fact, one of the UNCLE Euro movies features Yvonne as an UNCLE operative in the office, giving info to Solo, I think, while wearing a bikini under a sunlamp! The scene isn't in the TV version of the episode. A shirtless guy sometimes would turn up too for the female viewers.)
Jim, I don't know if Gorshin was shortchanged because of the contract dispute, but I do know he was paid less than Romero and Meredith (who was paid the most). He got the bad news that his request for more dough was denied on May 9, pretty much the midpoint of the shoot. I think the lack of stuff for Romero to do was a concern throughout in the correspondence between Semple and Dozier and never quite was resolved, obviously.
I agree with you halfway on Lee. I think she was OUTSTANDING as Kitka and did a much better job than Julie would have. I do not think Russian/Soviet was in Newmar's wheelhouse. She was used to doing a Swedish accent whenever she played non-American. But, I must admit, Lee never quite did it for me as Catwoman. I don't know, I honestly felt she was more villainous when she was Kitka while hanging out with the other villains, and romancing Bruce. I kind of felt she was forcing it when she was in the catsuit. Just my .02.
I suspect Poison Ivy would've debuted just a bit too late to be used for the movie. Remember, the script had been in the works for awhile.
Dan, I like your idea A LOT of having two plots at once of having two villains loose. I wish the show had tried it and I think it would have been interesting. I know the season 2 episodes with Newmar didn't do well in the ratings, but I must admit, I would love to see the male demos for those for obvious reasons. I know she was a TV actress by then, and I know some people on the board will disagree, but she had done more movies than Meriwether and I think she had more star power than Lee. (Newmar had a whole show built around her the year before and a backdoor pilot on Route 66 two seasons before that.) Newmar's presence might have helped the box office a bit, although that is merely speculation. (Not to be crass, but the fact Newmar signed for $10K and Meriwether was paid $5.5K gives you some insight into how Dozier viewed them side-by-side.)
Finally, as to dell's post, I agree with everything except my caveat with the one villain was that it be a female movie star. I think being a female film star, rather than a TV star, would signify to potential moviegoers that this was NOT a TV show writ large. I think that was a huge problem. People saw all the stars from the TV show on the poster and maybe felt it was like those UNCLE movies, a compilation with some extra material. They then felt they could skip it and not miss much.
Wow, this was long, even by my standards. If any of you have made it to the finish line, my congratulations and condolences. Thanks for reading.
'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
