tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316366186649546090.post4252543214458872505..comments2024-03-28T09:21:54.116-07:00Comments on To the Batpoles!: 35 & 36: Shoot a Crooked Arrow/Walk the Straight and NarrowJohn Scolerihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15830334036783163702noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316366186649546090.post-74493839654321649412022-01-17T16:37:34.690-08:002022-01-17T16:37:34.690-08:00Was that to Spaghetti Island?Was that to Spaghetti Island?Vinny57https://www.blogger.com/profile/14072379164043718857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316366186649546090.post-61877108354063051272022-01-17T07:24:56.806-08:002022-01-17T07:24:56.806-08:00The only other episode to use the Batboat is "...The only other episode to use the Batboat is "The Catwoman Goeth," in pursuit of Michael Rennie's Sandman.casydemarcohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16300173612917513839noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316366186649546090.post-63643650730324424292021-02-06T19:53:22.418-08:002021-02-06T19:53:22.418-08:00I think this is the only episode to use the Batboa... I think this is the only episode to use the Batboat outside of the movie.<br />For some reason in the 3rd Mr. Freeze, they only talk of approaching his iceberg hideout, using the Batboat.<br /><br />Also, the SFX cut into the scene is preferred by me. When it was overlayed, I found myself trying to see through to the action; when it interrupted the scene (S2), it covered up the wide missed punches, that I'd see, in S1.Vinny57https://www.blogger.com/profile/14072379164043718857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316366186649546090.post-53377805607109433992012-08-01T17:21:23.795-07:002012-08-01T17:21:23.795-07:00I don't see how Barbara Nichols isn't in t...I don't see how Barbara Nichols isn't in the running for "Bat Babe." Sure, to some people she can be a bit much (that's because the comical "dumb blonde" bit was what she specialized in), but as long as "Bat Babe" is a subject here, she defintely deserves to be considered.Grantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316366186649546090.post-11683522271737159852011-10-09T20:08:43.084-07:002011-10-09T20:08:43.084-07:00Zap-eth! My new favorite on-screen fight word. I t...Zap-eth! My new favorite on-screen fight word. I think the new fight words work well. These are the ones I remember most from my younger days. <br /><br />I agree that Art Carney and henchmen were a little wooden in their acting, but I didn't find this episode as disappointing as the rest of you did. It's not a perfect episode, but it didn't make me cry like "Cold Hands, Warm Heart" in Outer Limits Season 2, and I found there were things to enjoy. <br /><br />I thought the Archer had a cool set of arrows (including the requisite sleeping gas arrows, the blinding arrows, and the curvy shoot-around-a -corner arrows). I'm not sure why Maid Marilyn continuously gnaws on a drumstick (while driving, no less!), though I suspect it is somehow in keeping with the medieval theme. She wasn't the babe you were all hoping for, but her brashness seemed well suited to this particular troupe of criminals. I love the drawling Mr. Dale that heads the BWF and is in cahoots with the Archer, as he brazenly admires Batman's...mmm...cape (not that there's anything wrong with that).<br /><br />I have to wonder if the laugh track machine the Archer "purloined from the castle of a television producer" was intended to mock the network executives for suggesting Dozier include a laugh track on Batman.Christinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04594017640571724035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316366186649546090.post-34088014044222045862011-10-06T14:39:10.723-07:002011-10-06T14:39:10.723-07:00Thanks for the explanation, Joel. Robert Mintz: &q...Thanks for the explanation, Joel. Robert Mintz: "It worked; they loved it." Obviously they were referring to their pocketbooks.<br /><br />The Bat-Scholar: "As for Carney, he was going through a divorce at the time." My explanation was close: He may have felt that his soul had been kidnapped.Clifton Blackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05235906805725431093noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316366186649546090.post-49593475969541511952011-10-06T13:59:44.321-07:002011-10-06T13:59:44.321-07:00To explain the change in Pows and Zaps, I will let...To explain the change in Pows and Zaps, I will let post production coordinater and writer of the Black Widow episode Roboert Mintz explain “The expenses for the opticals from this series were enormous. The “POW,” “BAM,” etc., were all to be done optically, by taking the original negative and making an inter-positive of it. You then take the interpositive and do the artwork and the lettering, and you put the “POW” over the scene, and it takes a lot of time and costs a lot of money. [In other words, originally viewers would have seen the words at the same time as the fights—in the same frame.] The optical bills were coming in, and they were astronomical. So, they said to me, ‘What can we do to reduce the cost of these opticals? Or are we going to have to eliminate most of them and do maybe one “POW” per show.’ I said to myself, ‘What if we made up a whole roll of these things? We make up the title against different color backgrounds and edit a few frames of them into the show. It is not an optical effect at all. The scene is all original. Then, when you do the fight, on the impact of the punch you cut in a few frames of the “POW,” and then you come back to the fight. It worked; they loved it. We had three cutting rooms, and each cutting room had a roll of different colored fight words, and they would peel them off and edit them into the film.” <br /><br />I hope this helps everyone understand the change in the fight words. As for Carney, he was going through a divorce at the time.BATSCHOLARnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316366186649546090.post-45830556936372779392011-10-06T11:26:21.395-07:002011-10-06T11:26:21.395-07:00Classy tribute to the late Mr. Jobs, fellows. We ...Classy tribute to the late Mr. Jobs, fellows. We all owe him a lot.<br /><br />I wish that "Shoot a Crooked Arrow" were as classy a tribute to "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938). There is a cute riff on a famous scene from that movie: repeatedly splitting arrows in the center of a bulls-eye.<br /><br />These opening episodes for S2 seem to me a sad waste of promise and talent. There are some positive qualities here that will soon peter out. Stanley Ralph Ross's (henceforth, SRS) script breaks from some of the tired predictability that by now had already set in—not least in its fine, funny use of Alan Napier. I appreciate the fact that somebody put up money to film exteriors that were genuine exteriors. Then, with the left hand, they diluted production values with the cheap optical inserts that, indeed, went "Thunketh."<br /><br />Other problems of S2 are already on display here. SRS's scripts become more lopsidedly comedic and knowingly self-satisfied. Sherman Marks's direction is as flat as Tom Gries's was creative. Fine supporting players like Doodles Weaver (brother of Sylvester "Pat" and uncle to Sigourney) are pretty much wasted.<br /><br />Barbara Nichols: For all I know she was a wonderful lady, kind to her mother, and a wonderful parent herself. But, I swear, I never saw her in any role in any movie that did not grate on my nerves. Was ever there an entertainer less entertaining? I'm sure you can nominate others.<br /><br />The biggest waste here is of Art Carney's talent. The Bat-Scholar may throw some light, but I can't figure out what went so wrong with him in this episode. Too long considered only Gleason's second banana, Carney was a legitimate performer, a versatile comedian, and an amazing mimic and dialectitian. The decision to have Carney play Ed Norton play the Archer—and to import the rest of his gang from the same faux Flatbush—was awful. On top of that, Carney's performance has no zest whatever. Unlike most of the guest stars preceding him, he plays his heavy as though someone had kidnapped a family member and made him do it.<br /><br />PE: "More than any episode of Batman yet, this one was a chore." I hate to say this, fellows, but it gets worse. A lot worse. Before long you're going to wish you were back to the glory days of commenting on Shayne and Merkel's detective episodes of "Thriller."Clifton Blackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05235906805725431093noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316366186649546090.post-2455563105690773382011-10-06T11:08:17.911-07:002011-10-06T11:08:17.911-07:00Yep, everyone kinda noticed the magic was fading f...Yep, everyone kinda noticed the magic was fading fast at this point; but we kids watched anyway, every single episode. Carney would be the first of many misfired new villains developed for Season Two. Too bad Gleason didn't do a cameo...Gary Geraninoreply@blogger.com