60 Years Of Shark Repellent Bat Spray
This week's writing.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is in theaters right now, but I’m waiting to see it until next week when my son is back from camp. Instead, I’ll commemorate the 60th anniversary of the first feature-length Batman movie, starring the legendary Adam West and Burt Ward as the caped crusaders.
I love the opening credits featuring a new score from Nelson Riddle that incorporates the leitmotif of the four top villains from Batman’s rogues gallery — the Catwoman, the Joker, the Penguin, and the Riddler. When I watched this movie with my son for the first time, he was three years old and as soon as Adam West appeared, he pointed and shouted, “Look, Daddy, Batman!” Damn right. (Watch below.)
Cesar Romero, Burgess Meredith, and Frank Gorshin reprise their TV performances as Joker, Penguin, and Riddler, but Julie Newmar was unavailable to return as Catwoman. Her replacement is the stunning Lee Meriwether, who’s deliciously sinister, much like Newmar was in her only appearance during the show’s first season story “The Purr-fect Crime/Better Luck Next Time.”
In the upcoming second season, Newmar’s Catwoman becomes more overtly comedic, while still a potent threat. She also seems to genuinely love Batman, if she can just stop trying to murder him. Meriwether’s Catwoman has zero romantic interest in Batman. She poses as Soviet journalist Miss “Kitka” from the perfectly reputable Moscow Bugle and seduces Bruce Wayne, who falls for her act, but for Catwoman, it’s all business. She’s a true femme fatale.
When Batman realizes Miss Kitka never truly existed, there’s a gut-wrenching close up of the devastated hero as the song “Plaisir d’Amour” plays: “The pleasure of love lasts only a moment. The pain of love lasts a lifetime.” Holy heartbreak, indeed.
Batman (1966) is a fun romp, the Batman film you can watch with your young kids or just when you want to feel like a kid again. How can you not enjoy the Shark Repellent Bat Spray scene? (He also has barracuda, whale, and manta-ray.)
There’s also the classic bit where Batman desperately tries to dispose of a giant-sized bomb straight from Spy vs. Spy, but every possible obstacle emerges until he laments, “Somedays you just can’t get rid of a bomb.” He’s Batman, so he does manage to do so at the last possible moment. Robin can’t believe that he didn’t just leave the bomb behind in a bar where some slothful day drinkers would meet their end: “You risked your life to save that riffraff in the bar?” Batman reminds his slightly homicidal partner, “They may be drinkers, Robin, but they’re also human beings and may be salvaged. I had to do it!” That’s our hero. No drunk left behind. (Watch below.)
July is almost done, but my special summer subscription sale is still in effect — 40 percent off the usual annual paid subscriber rate. That’s just $30 a year. Thanks to all who have upgraded to paid subscriber status recently.
This week, I wrote about the supposed DSA “hostile takeover” of the Democratic Party and explained what a “hostile takeover” actually is, based on my extensive viewings of the 1987 Michael J. Fox movie, The Secret of My Success.
Following up on my podcast discussion last week with Noah Berlatsky, I argued that people who make supposed “electability” arguments in defense of horrible positions might actually genuinely believe in those positions. “Electability” is just an excuse. (It’s sort of like when I feigned heroism for never leaving the house and not socializing during the 2020 Covid shutdowns.)
John Fetterman, the Democrat who might join the GOP, has opinions about what qualifies as a “true” Democrat. Those opinions are as terrible as Fetterman himself.
What are people talking about when they talk about diversity?
That’s it for this week. Coincidentally, the second season of Batman: Caped Crusader lands on Amazon Prime. I have made no promises to wait for my son to watch those, so I’ll see you on Monday.
I am friends with Lorenzo Semple, III (actually IV since his dad was III, but went by Jr). His father is credited as “Developer/Writer” for the tv series and movie. (He was also the screenwriter for the 1980 “Flash Gordon” movie, another classic.) A list of Mr Semple’s credits are too extensive to list, but he was a legendary screenwriter. His son is a really nice guy and writes for the local paper. His daughter, Maria, also a friend, wrote “Where’d You Go Bernadette?” which we launched at our bookstore.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorenzo_Semple_Jr.
Thanks for this one, SER, very entertaining and something I can 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 relate to! I still love this movie. Fortunately, here in the UK it's usually shown on a rather obscure channel at least once every 6 weeks or so. I have to agree, one of the best parts is the "bomb disposal" scene—my husband and I still laugh at that part!
And, I will confess, as a child I had a pretty heavy crush on Burt Ward. For me, it was hard to choose between him and Mike Nesmith (and, to some extent, Billy Gray).