SCRIPT: "A Piece of the Action"

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bat-rss
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SCRIPT: "A Piece of the Action"

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Here's the draft script of "A Piece of the Action". We'll talk about it on TO THE BATPOLES episode 195, to be recorded sometime in early October (will let you know later of the exact date). Read the script and post your comments for possible inclusion in the episode!

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"I'm half-demented with whimsical outrage!"
-- The Joker, in a line cut from "The Joker's Epitaph"
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BATWINGED HORNET
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Re: SCRIPT: "A Piece of the Action"

Post by BATWINGED HORNET »

Thanks for posting this! After taking a deep dive into this one, here's a few thoughts...

What a fascinating look at the episode, and how dialogue was altered to give characters a more to-the-point attitude, or in some case, more threatening.

Arguably, Gumm was a far superior character in this draft, as no actor had been cast for the part (obviously), so his personality has no, shall we say…”Carmel-isms”, but is a bit more dangerous. Sounds strange if all one can think of is Carmel, but the 1st draft Gumm also had no issues killing, as seen in his tearing up the stamps of GH & K, thinking it was the duo.

Then, there's the opening exchange between GH & Gumm:

GUMM: Good morning. If you’re interested in stamps...

HORNET (flat): We are.

GUMM: Then try one of our retail outlets. This is the factory,( indicates ). The sign on that door – THIS MEANS YOU -- means you. (short) Or shall we throw you out?!

During this, Gumm ls Joined by Reprint, Block and Cancelled who start advancing on the unwelcome guests with hostility. There ls a moments’ impasse as Hornet returns Gumm’s look with a speculative beat, then nods to Kato and they turn and EXIT the way they came – CAMERA with Gumm and the stooges.

In the filmed version, both the hostility of Gumm (and his henchmen) and the take-no-BS demeanor of the Hornet and Kato are turned up, as Gumm is beyond a mere threat, ordering his men to physically throw the duo out, only to be stopped by GH’s gas gun and Kato’s attack.

Moreover, in the script, Kato says:

KATO: That didn’t accomplish much.

...but in the episode, his question is supportive of the attack, and i believe he asked, “Why leave? We had them reeling?”

Curiously, Hoffman’s first draft did not play into the kind of “we do not answer to anyone. You answer to us” kind of behavior The Green Hornet & Kato exhibited on their own series. When the crossover was announced, one would have thought Dozier, et al., would have instructed Hoffman to simply screen a few episodes of TGH to get the character beats down, especially as they—from frame one—were supposed to be a threatening presence to anyone in Gotham, including Batman and Robin.

That said, as much grief as Hoffman receives for his scripts, this 1st draft suggests he had more interesting ideas that were often discarded by (at the hands of higher-ups) the time it was time to roll the cameras. A good example is the way Kato kind of called out GH for being protective over his alter-ego:

KATO: Something bothering you, Mr. Reid? You seemed so quiet all afternoon.

BRITT: Yes, Kato. Something’s bothering me. The strange -- defensive way Bruce Wayne spoke this morning. In the living room at Wayne Manor.

KATO: Defensive?

BRITT: (nods ) About Batman.

KATO: (smiles) You’d be defensive about the Green Hornet, Mr. Reid.

BRITT: That’s just what I mean, Kato.

To this day, it is rare to have filmed superheroes psychoanalyzed in that way, especially by their “younger, less experienced” junior partners.

I'm breaking this up into two posts.
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Re: SCRIPT: "A Piece of the Action"

Post by BATWINGED HORNET »

Part two.

Hoffman should also be credited with delivering the most aggressively judgmental (justifiably so) and detective-minded Robin scene of—arguably--the entire series. First, its is Robin who comes up with the idea to ask the dual identity-stumped Batcomputer for details about the Black Beauty and its whereabouts. Later, Robin chastises Batman for being too interested or focused on Pinky, seemingly drifting away from locating the Black Beauty, and eventually, its location at a Renske’s Rental Garage:

ROBIN: Now, Batman? Renske’s Rental Garage?

BATMAN: Not just yet, Robin. First, a little Informat1on from the Batcomputer about – warehouses…

ROBIN: But if we found Black Beauty…

BATMAN (with directory): Pinky Pinkston’s safety is our primary concern, Robin.

ROBIN (heatedly): Your primary concern, maybe. Not mine! We’re in this together, Batman! Caped Crusaders! Plural! Dynamic Duo! That means two of us! Crimefighters! Not lady-killers!

Amused at Robin's intensity, Batman locates section of directory he wants and starts ripping several pages out or it during:


BATMAN: Someday when you're a little older, Robin, I think I better have a talk with you about -- birds and bees...

ROBIN: (grim): I suppose they’ll all be pink!

While Hoffman has Batman fall back to the all-too familiar “when you’re older” reply to Robin, his intense version of Robin made this scene, showing Robin is every bit as interested in investigation as throwing punches. In the filmed episode, this entire scene—the emotional direction of the conversation is nowhere to be seen, other than Robin noting that some of Bruce Wayne’s female friends seem a little dizzy.

A scene of that kind would have gone a long way in giving at least one of the series leads some sort of growth this far into the run. Holy lost opportunity!

Speaking of lost opportunity (in-universe), the investigation actually pays off! If ever the Dynamic Duo came so close to solving one of—if not their biggest case--it was during the Renske’s garage scene, where they set sights on the Black Beauty. The “what the--?” moment comes when Batman only concludes GH did not need the car / will be near the action, but Hoffman did not have the duo think to lift fingerprints from the car!
I guess I will give Hoffman a break with that one, since getting prints would pretty much mean the end of the Green Hornet & Kato’s crimefighting careers, or perhaps there would be no prints, since the GH & K only use the car while in full costume—gloves included.

The big fight’s description was interesting: unlike the filmed episode, the two teams seem to ignore Gumm and his men carry out their vendetta with each other, as if it was a fight a long time in coming. I would have loved to see the episode take that emotional direction, as it would have raised the stakes with each team member having something to prove to himself, rather than B&R simply seeing GH & K as part of the criminal crowd they had to defeat.

I will go ahead and guess this draft’s version of the final fight was not the one that reportedly got Bruce Lee’s panties up in a bunch, as the conflict pretty much ends in a draw—like the aired episode.

Undoubtedly, the biggest change between the 1st draft and produced episode was the conclusion of “Batman’s Satisfaction”, where Bruce and Britt part ways, but each walks off with one of the models in a scene that would have made Connery’s James Bond raise his glass in tribute/admiration!

I'm assuming the Greenway PTB did not want to suggest that Bruce and Britt were going to “get it on” with models in a “love ‘em and leave ‘em” kind of way, but just one arc finale later (“Batman’s Waterloo”), Bruce says man cannot live by crimefighting alone as he accepts Lisa Carson’s invite into her apartment.

Not that anyone can understand the galaxy-spanning reasoning of the Greenway PTB, but one can conclude they considered the Lisa Carson ending more acceptable, since Wayne and Lisa were romantically involved throughout the Tut arc (and had a “seal of approval” from her father when he admitted he hoped Wayne and his daughter would become a permanent item), so his going into Lisa’s apartment to “get busy” was not as much of a “lecherous” move as walking off into the night with a sexy model. 1960s logic?

This is one of the few Batman scripts that leads me to look at the aired version with more regrets about what could have been (in addition to a Lee-Ward choreographed fight). Despite so many strong / important scenes never making it in front of a camera, I still rate the crossover as one of Batman’s finest arcs, mainly for the sheer joy of a true, comic book-esque conflict between each team’s perfect opposite.
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Re: SCRIPT: "A Piece of the Action"

Post by bat-rss »

Our current plan is to record this episode on the evening of Saturday, October 1 US time. Be sure to post your comments before then!
"I'm half-demented with whimsical outrage!"
-- The Joker, in a line cut from "The Joker's Epitaph"
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