SCRIPT: "THE PHANTOM PHARAOH"

General goings on in the 1966 Batman World

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bat-rss
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SCRIPT: "THE PHANTOM PHARAOH"

Post by bat-rss »

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The next script we're going to discuss (voted on by our Patrons from a list of four) is "The Phantom Pharaoh", an early draft of season one's "The Curse of Tut"! Comment here during the month of June and we'll include your best takes in our upcoming episode!

Read the script here
"I'm half-demented with whimsical outrage!"
-- The Joker, in a line cut from "The Joker's Epitaph"
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High C
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Re: SCRIPT: "THE PHANTOM PHARAOH"

Post by High C »

Thanks as always for providing the script, sirs.

I must admit, I am kind of surprised Messrs. Dennis and Barret were hired again to write the second Tut arc. They both were experienced writers, Dennis more so than Barret, and both went on to write plenty more teleplays together and solo, but part 2 is almost a complete rewrite.

And even in part 1, there are strange bits. I know they are at a disadvantage in November-December 1965 by the show not having aired--we don't know if they've even seen a rough cut of the pilot--but a take-charge Aunt Harriet?? WHOA!!

That Aunt Harriet bit obviously was scrapped long before the shooting script, and the constant reminders of 'Robin/Dick wouldn't say this' or 'Batman/Bruce' wouldn't say that,' point out the lack of a show bible or at the very least, a character bible. I don't know they didn't just spend part of a day or two, especially before the show aired, knocking out a few paragraphs to let new writers know how the characters talked and behaved. It would have saved Semple, Horwitz and Co. a LOT of time on the back end, IMO. Dumb.

Some quick observations. I liked Horwitz' (I assume) comment of how the sphinx statue issuing threats 'Would suggest King Tut even to Gordon.' Oh, my.

I see they had 'Bosch' mentioned instead of Basch, but Dough-zier (and I suppose Semple) nixed that for budget reasons. Similarly, watching this in the actual arc, it simply is NOT realistic (and yes, I know it's '66 Batman), for a TV station to go to Gordon instead of a reporter and thus it works better as originally scripted, but Dough-zier and Semple strike again. Why pay a day player to be a reporter when you can cut costs. But the problem is it makes Gotham City feel less real than it did only a few weeks before when they put more money on the screen.

Again, as always in season 1, we've got to get in how the molls dig Batman. That DID get a bit hackneyed. Good for Adam's ego perhaps, and hey, I enjoyed his performance too, but it got tiresome.
'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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bat-rss
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Re: SCRIPT: "THE PHANTOM PHARAOH"

Post by bat-rss »

EXTRA! Chris B Critter has been nice enough to pass along to us this **PARTIAL** copy of the FINAL script of THE CURSE OF TUT!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/84l10fh9s5i2l ... L.pdf?dl=0
"I'm half-demented with whimsical outrage!"
-- The Joker, in a line cut from "The Joker's Epitaph"
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High C
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Re: SCRIPT: "THE PHANTOM PHARAOH"

Post by High C »

bat-rss wrote: Fri Jun 11, 2021 3:12 am EXTRA! Chris B Critter has been nice enough to pass along to us this **PARTIAL** copy of the FINAL script of THE CURSE OF TUT!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/84l10fh9s5i2l ... L.pdf?dl=0
Many thanks to Chris B. I think the biggest takeaway from this excerpt, and I should've mentioned it in my previous post, is that you see a difference in the writing once they knew Victor Buono was playing Tut. The writing definitely plays more into his bombastic persona and his scenery-chewing line readings.
'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
Matropolis
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Re: SCRIPT: "THE PHANTOM PHARAOH"

Post by Matropolis »

The 2nd part of the original script has changed a fair but from the final draft. Bruce Wayne gets drugged be tea but in the episode that aired he has a dummy made of Wayne, swaps places with it as Batman but ends up getting bonked on the head for good measure anyhow.

Hopefully we can read the full final script soon!
robinboyblunderer
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Re: SCRIPT: "THE PHANTOM PHARAOH"

Post by robinboyblunderer »

Thanks for posting this one. I think I prefer it to what aired. I like Bruce getting himself out of the jar and it's interesting to read Nefertiti's bigger, more involved role. The plot's a bit repetitive with Bruce being kidnapped twice but that's not too far off from the finished version.

Perhaps most significant, regardless of script, is Dennis and Barret created (as far as I know) perhaps the best original villain in the show, with a gimmick that lends itself to many different stories.

cheers
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bat-rss
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Re: SCRIPT: "THE PHANTOM PHARAOH"

Post by bat-rss »

I was able to get our proxy researcher at the American Heritage Center in Laramie to scan the missing pages from the final script:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ks61hxcqunya2 ... 3.pdf?dl=0
"I'm half-demented with whimsical outrage!"
-- The Joker, in a line cut from "The Joker's Epitaph"
robinboyblunderer
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Re: SCRIPT: "THE PHANTOM PHARAOH"

Post by robinboyblunderer »

High C wrote: Thu Jun 10, 2021 4:28 am I don't know they didn't just spend part of a day or two, especially before the show aired, knocking out a few paragraphs to let new writers know how the characters talked and behaved. It would have saved Semple, Horwitz and Co. a LOT of time on the back end, IMO.
That is puzzling. You're right, it would've saved some time, maybe even kept the series more well balanced between comedy, suspense and action.

cheers
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chrisbcritter
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Re: SCRIPT: "THE PHANTOM PHARAOH"

Post by chrisbcritter »

bat-rss wrote: Tue Jun 15, 2021 3:16 am I was able to get our proxy researcher at the American Heritage Center in Laramie to scan the missing pages from the final script
Thanks so much, Tim! I see there are still some details to be worked out. The gas in the nightstick makes more sense than the scarab, I guess, although they would have no trouble making such a prop (like Blaze's hair decoration in "True or False-Face"). And I imagine having Nefertiti going hopelessly bonkers at the end was judged a bit dark?
"To the medical eye, such childish claptrap means only one thing, young man: You need some sleep."
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High C
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Re: SCRIPT: "THE PHANTOM PHARAOH"

Post by High C »

Thanks very much for posting this!

What I'm struck most by, reading the differences in draft and final, is how Dennis and Barret deserve kudos for envisioning the original villain, but as you guys probably figured, Buono deserves so much credit for fleshing him out. And not just in the typical actor way of bringing a writer's creation to life. It goes deeper than that here. Victor Buono's Tut, overly hammy as it sometimes gets in my opinion, is so much more than what the original scriptwriters could have imagined. And Batfans are indebted to him for that.

It's interesting again how much gets lopped off for time, such as Alfred having trouble starting the Batmobile. I'd also say villains stealing the Batmobile is becoming a cliche by this point in season 1, and it's definitely something they are leaning into, and also something that WASN'T baked into the original formula. It's definitely based on, well, everyone likes the car, let's figure out ways to get the car more involved. This definitely goes back to that memo after the first few shows had aired, the infamous 'sexy dames' memo.
'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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Ken Holtzhouser
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Re: SCRIPT: "THE PHANTOM PHARAOH"

Post by Ken Holtzhouser »

As the script refers to him as an "ex-Jockey", I wonder who they had in mind for the part. Yul Brenner would have been a more imposing figure than the script suggests.
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Jim Akin
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Re: SCRIPT: "THE PHANTOM PHARAOH"

Post by Jim Akin »

Ken Holtzhouser wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 4:53 pm As the script refers to him as an "ex-Jockey", I wonder who they had in mind for the part. Yul Brenner would have been a more imposing figure than the script suggests.
I wondered about that, too. This is pure speculation (I have zero evidence), but as a youth in the 1940s, Roddy McDowall played a jockey (or at least a competitive rider) in My Friend Flicka and a sequel. Since production on Planet of the Apes was still more than a year off, as a Fox utility player McDowall was presumably on a roster of available talent in early 1966; we know, of course, that he was on Greenway's list of potential bat-villains.

I can see McDowall pulling off a demented "boy king" take on Tut. It would have been a very different iteration of the King of the Nile, but maybe McDowall was sized up for the role before Buono came a long (and before anyone dreamt up the Bookworm).
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bat-rss
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Re: SCRIPT: "THE PHANTOM PHARAOH"

Post by bat-rss »

We've decided to do the next episode on THE PHANTOM PHARAOH only, and the following episode will cover the final CURSE OF TUT script I posted above, AND this version that comes in between the other two:

We've decided to do the next episode on THE PHANTOM PHARAOH only, and the following episode will cover the final CURSE OF TUT script I posted above, AND this version that comes in between the other two:
CURSE OF TUT "intermediate" script

The second episode will also include some of your comments from this thread.
"I'm half-demented with whimsical outrage!"
-- The Joker, in a line cut from "The Joker's Epitaph"
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bat-rss
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Re: SCRIPT: "THE PHANTOM PHARAOH"

Post by bat-rss »

OOPS, the "final" script I posted was the one with missing pages. Here's the full version:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/z4myvn9kumi8t ... L.pdf?dl=0
"I'm half-demented with whimsical outrage!"
-- The Joker, in a line cut from "The Joker's Epitaph"
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