#caesar romero

[vikaq]

🃏 this week 012424 2

[newblvotg]

[fancoloredglasses]

The Funny Feline Felonies/The Joke's on Catwoman (Roses are red/Violets are blue/If you want your head to hurt/Just read this review)

[All images are owned by DC Comics and 20th Century Fox Disney. Please don’t sue me]

(Thanks to batgirlspain for the inspiration)

In Season 3 of Batman, the producers cut the number of episodes in half (airing once a week instead of twice) as a cost-cutting measure…and ratings suffered as a result. As such, the producers did some crazy ideas, including a surf-off between Batman and the Joker, a three-part story in the UK (in the city of “Londinium”), bringing in Ethel Merman, Milton Berle, and Joan Collins as villains, and recasting Catwoman when Julie Newmar became unavailable.

One thing they also did was do an episode in which 2 of their most popular villains team up (they did do a team-up story in Season 2 with Penguin and the Joker, but Penguin was in more a supporting role, appearing in 2 episodes of the 3-part story) Now, I know these days having 2 (or more) villains teaming up is commonplace in the movies (but seeing as the villains of superhero films don’t survive the film over 75% of the time, that tends to run through the A and B-List villains quickly. How long until we have a Batman film where he goes up against Kite Man and Condiment King?), but this was a novelty in the 60s (hell, having Batman face FOUR villains must have been box office gold! I honestly have no idea, as I can’t find a record of ticket sales for the film)

Anyway, on to the episode! If you would like to watch it, it’s available on Max or behind your favorite paywall.

We open at Gotham State Prison where…

…the Joker is being released on parole for good behavior (but it’s only been 6 episodes since he was last arrested. No wonder Batman has job security!) Joker thanks the warden and Bruce Wayne (who, in addition to being the head of the Wayne Corporation and the Wayne Foundation (not to mention his night job), is the head of the parole board. Does he wash the dishes too?)

Wait, seriously?! Anyway, the Joker leaves the prison and encounters…

(Thanks to m1thousand1000)

Bruce suggests the warden get his guards after Catwoman while he uses the warden’s phone to Alfred, who plugs him into the Bat-phone as Commissioner Gordon calls “Batman”.

How the hell does Gordon know? No one has had a chance to inform him yet!

Bruce immediately heads back to Gotham City as the opening credits roll.

Batman and Robin arrive at GCPD HQ. Meanwhile across the street at the Sleazy Hotel (I’m hoping that’s the owner’s last name, otherwise they should consider moving to a different part of the city)

(Thanks to jj lucia-wright)

As the Dynamic Duo cross the street and enter Catwoman’s now-empty room. As they search for clues (they found Joker’s suit he left the prison in and a scrap of paper), who should appear but…

Batgirl touches base with the Caped Crusaders, but since they seem to have hit a dead end, she leaves. Then Robin notices the paper he found earlier has vanished.

Batman admires her ingenuity and figures their paths would cross again and they can compare notes.

Later at Catwoman’s hideout (which has been decked out with Joker’s tastes mixed in), Catwoman briefs Joker on her scheme, which centers around a 200 year-old poem written by a criminal.

Naturally, the stash is hidden somewhere in Gotham City (because of course it is). Once they find the powder, part two is to use it to break into the gold depository and steal the contents (one would think that much gunpowder would level the building, not just blow a hole in it)

Let’s look at that poem, shall we?

Great, limericks. Still, you can’t expect the writers an 18th century thief to come up with Shakespeare.

Catwoman has a line on the crib and nightshirt mentioned. She has also left a clue (namely, a certain scrap of paper, which was part of the parchment) to lure the Terrific Trio into a purr-fect trap.

The next day, Barbara Gordon finds out more about the scrap of parchment. Later, Batgirl sneaks into Commissioner Gordon’s office to use the phone.

Batgirl tells Batman to meet her at the apartment of a gentleman known as Little Louie Groovy (can you tell this was made in the 60s?), a famous record producer.

Later at Louie Groovy’s “pad”…

…there’s a break-in! Louie puts up a valiant…oh hell, he flails his arms and feet pretending to know karate until he winds himself, then is overpowered. Then the goons strip Louie of his nightshirt.

(At least he wears boxers to bed) Fortunately for Louie, the Caped Crusaders show up. Cue the fight music!

(Thanks to Jacob Dombroski)

Joker throws Catwoman under the Cat-Bus.

(Thanks to Complex)

…I meant the metaphorical one.

Joker spins a bullshit story about being roped into stealing Louie’s nightshirt as a practical joke, and wants to shake the Dynamic Duo’s hands and be on his way so they can deal with the real criminal, Catwoman.

…yeah, I knew this would be a “joy buzzer” moment.

After that, they will stop breathing!

With that, the Joker and Catwoman take their leave (will Gotham City’s villains NEVER learn?)

Fortunately, just as the villains leave, Batgirl arrives (where was she earlier?)

How is an antidote supposed to help against electrocution? Whatever, it works.

Batgirl catches Batman up about the poem. Batman asks about the crib.

…of course it is. Katz (this theft has a certain feline-themed villain’s pawprints all over it!) is a British clothing designer.

Later, at Katz’s mansion, the villains have come and gone. Actually, they’re waiting outside the mansion to ambush the Terrific Trio.

Normally, you’d have to wait a week (since this is season 3) to see the conclusion. However, I don’t wanna wait that long, so…

As the Terrific Trio leave Karnaby Katz’s mansion…

(Thanks to jedburgh01)

(Seriously, they NEVER learn!)

Later, back at the Batcave, the Caped Crusaders get a message from Batgirl via Commissioner Gordon (so the GCPD is reduced to Batman’s answering service now?) to meet her on the corner of Cattail Lane and Nine Lives Alley. On the corner is the Grimalkin Novelty Company. What is a Grimalkin, you might ask?

(Wow, how did they figure out that’s likely Catwoman’s hideout? Or, more to the point, why did they not have that intersection staked out the moment it was built?)

And at said novelty company (do they make cat toys?) Catwoman pieces the puzzle of the nightshirt and the crib. The shirt’s pattern is the map, while the crib is the directions (backward and in French; and no one bothered to translate it before now? This is some National Treasure-level shit here)

With the directions (doing the opposite, since the poem said the instructions were lying) in hand, Our Villains are off!

Meanwhile, the Dynamic Duo meet Batgirl at the novelty company.

Batman has programmed the Bat-Sonar to track Catwoman’s car (you’d think they could ask the GCPD to watch out for it and let them know…or maybe even put a radio transmitter on the car, but nooooooooo, they have to give a Bat-shit reason they can do this!)

With that, the Terrific Trio all pile into the Batmobile and off they go!

The map leads Our Villains to a lighthouse, where they confront the lighthouse keeper and his wife (named Mr. and Mrs. Keeper, naturally; they even refer to each other that way!)

The henchgoons capture Mr. and Mrs. Keeper, which is probable cause enough for the Terrific Trio (lurking outside) to burst onto the scene. The villains move to flee, but the Joker accidentally twists the knob on the lighthouse’s banister and…

…opens the secret passage containing the gunpowder (you mean Mrs. Keeper didn’t move that knob once while she was doing her hourly cleaning of the lighthouse? Hey, don’t look at me that way! Mrs. Keeper is constantly complained that there's nothing to do in the lighthouse BUT clean!)

The Joker lights a match for a better look, but Batman bats it out of his hand, accidentally knocking it into the room! The resulting explosion destroys the lighthouse…but doesn’t blow up the room everyone is in? It turns out the Bat-shit explanation is that Batman coated the room using a canister of…

And here I thought the Shark-Repellant Bat Spray was bad!

As Batman goes to arrest Joker and Catwoman…

…Catwoman lawyers up. I mean, unless they confess they should get a trial. Catwoman then makes a call to criminal attorney “Lucky Pierre,” who has never lost a case (if that’s the case (no pun intended), why don’t all of Gotham City’s villains have him on retainer?)

Later, the trial is in full swing, with Batman as the lead prosecutor (is there nothing he can’t do? I guess since this version of Gotham City doesn’t have Harvey Dent…)

Batman examines every individual affected in this case: Little Louie Groovy, Karnaby Katz, and Mr. and Mrs. Keeper. In each case, Lucky Pierre declines cross examination. The Joker is beside himself, but Catwoman tells him to stay calm. With Batman’s case laid out, it’s time for Lucky Pierre to take the floor, but Lucky Pierre declines.

As Batman gives his summation (and Lucky Pierre declines to do so), the judge sends the jury away to deliberate, but the foreman announces the verdict immediately:

The judge reads the jury the riot act.

(Thanks to Jacob Dombroski)

At least the fight got a ZOWIE!

This being season 3, the final scene reveals next week’s villain:

Louie the Lilac (played by legendary comedian Milton Berle)

But that’s the subject of another episode (and, perhaps in the future, another review)

[fullyclothedlunch]

with james gunn confirming that the dcu's version of batman will be more campu and light hearted, i would like to request the return of silver age joker to live action, boners included

[evilhorse]

Earth-66

[tcmparty]

@tcmparty live tweet schedule for the week beginning Monday, December 26, 2022. Look for us on Twitter…watch and tweet along…remember to add #TCMParty to your tweets so everyone can find them :) All times are Eastern.

Saturday, Dec. 31 THE THIN MAN Double Feature

8:00 p.m. THE THIN MAN (1934) A husband-and-wife detective team takes on the search for a missing inventor and almost get killed for their efforts.

9:45 p.m. AFTER THE THIN MAN (1939) Married sleuths Nick and Nora Charles try to clear Nora's cousin of a murder charge.

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WATCHLIST 2022: Vera Cruz

[vitamaeternum]

Ah, my favorite Live Action Batman.

Batman - Season 1, Episode 5 (1966) The Joker Is Wild

[worldsfastestbear]

Posing with Chevrolet's hot new sportscar, it's Caesar Romero. Chevy was trying to turn their dull image around back in the early 50's, and they missed no opportunity to pose it with the rich and famous and influential.

[vikaq]

Joker this week 092624 3

[thatfantasylovingdork]

I’m reblogging for the gif of the Joker falling into the water, because that kind of humiliation needs to happen to him more regularly.

Batman: The Movie (1966) 20th Century Fox Dir. Leslie H. Martinson

[callanthas]

Caesar Romeo van den Idsert

[citizenscreen]

Caesar Romero aboard the Cunard liner 'Queen Mary' on arrival in Southampton before appearing in H. Bruce Humberstone’s HAPPY GO LOVELY (1951)

[joe-spookyy]

thinking about batman today so here’s a brief essay explaining my thoughts on every live action batman actor and their films, along with my ranking of the films i’ve seen.

as the original, i have to give adam west some 
serious credit. and god was his movie enjoyable. the bit when he was literally fist fighting a shark and had to use bat shark repellent spray to get it off of him was probably the best moment in batman history. he was very reminiscent of the batman from scooby doo meets batman (1972). or i guess that batman was reminiscent of him. whatever. i was very entertained by his film and i quite enjoyed the addition of robin, as i feel that he goes underutilized in batman movies. i really loved how every single item in his batcave was labeled, and how all of it began with the word bat. the bat navigational computer. the bat water fountain. the bat ladder. i love it. the villains were just the right amount of camp, although i did not care for the fact that the joker clearly had a mustache that was just painted over. caesar romero could you really not bear to part with it for one film? yeesh. my one complaint is that batman did not seem to be enthused about anything throughout the entire runtime. as my father pointed out, he was quite spock-like. not a sweet ounce of real excitement or fear. i really loved how he ran that cartoon bomb all through gotham though. really entertaining sequence.


christian bale does bruce wayne and batman very well, but his batman voice is so funny that it distracted me from anything important that happened in the movies. it sounded like he was swallowing gravel or perhaps like he had smoked a pack a day since he was 2 years old. also, the cowl on his batsuit had a really pointy nose and i did not like that. he had the idea and everything he did was great but the acting choice to give batman such a stupid voice takes away from everything. it left me pondering. did bruce sit in his little batcave practicing voices? do you think he made alfred give him advice on which fake voice was most menacing? do you think he tried different accents? i can’t deal with the lack of answers. however, the dark knight is really good so i will give him that. 


clooney and kilmer did a fine job in the role HOWEVER. i want to track down whichever costume designer chose to give the batsuit nipples and give them a piece of my mind because why. why would they do that. why. it is important to add though that batman forever was one of the most insane, camp, off the rails films i have ever seen and i think i probably enjoyed it more than any of the other ones because i was laughing throughout the entire runtime. it was a batman movie but he was the least interesting thing about the film. the sets were literally breathtaking and so eye catching. the outfits were insane. the plot lines were baffling in the most positive way. i wish joel schumacher had been put in charge of directing every movie ever because i definitely feel like more movies need to be exactly like this monstrosity. cinema peaked in 1995 when they put jim carrey in that atrocious little riddler costume. i almost forgive the costume designers for the bat nipples because of how insane and fantastic the two face costume is. almost. 


now micheal keaton had the right idea i suppose. however he failed to grab my attention. he wasn’t strange enough, nor was he very smooth and suave. he was right in the middle and that made him too much of a regular guy to be a good bruce wayne. his batman voice was literally just his normal voice so that kind of left me confused. how did no one realize that bruce wayne sounds exactly like batman. come on guys. excellent joker though. he wasn’t too serious but i think he could have been a bit more silly. however i’m inclined to dislike him for the fact that he was in batman returns. when i tell you this movie ruined my life i mean it. when danny devito ate a raw fish and black saliva dripped out of his mouth, the image was scarred into my brain and i can still see it so clearly despite not having watched the movie since i was about eight. i did enjoy the penguins with rocket launchers ont their backs, but i cannot get over the awful aspects of this one. i will never forgive you for this micheal.


robert pattinson’s batman, or battinson as i like to call him, was very good. probably i’m biased because of robert pattinson in eyeliner but that is besides the point. his movie was also quite good but it falls into the trap of making batman all serious and gritty. this is a huge mistake. this man named his car “the batmobile” and is literally fighting some guy called “the penguin” and you decided to make it all dark and serious? this has comedic potential and i physically cannot take it seriously when some billionaire in a rubber batsuit is lurking in the background of a serious police investigation. i don’t care who got murdered, the minute he starts growling about riddles from the corner i am going to start giggling. however robert did kill the role and i have to say he did a great job making bruce wayne an absolute pathetic loser, which is what i think the world needs. unfortunately this version of the riddler was so lame and boring. where is the camp! where are the FUN riddles! where is the brightly colored hair! clearly matt reeves has never seen batman forever.


finally we come to the best batman, lego batman. i literally just rewatched this movie yesterday so i think i’m probably an authority on the movie. will arnett understood this role so deeply and it very much shows. this bruce wayne has none of the issues i had with any of the others. the batman voice does not give me secondhand embarrassment for him. the suit has no bat nipples. and most importantly the movie does not take batman too seriously while still giving him an important character arc, acknowledging his flaws both as a person and as a hero, and allowing him to recognize these flaws and begin to overcome them. plus any batman that canonically listens to elliott smith is a friend of mine. something i find incredibly important is that the lego batman movie also does something no other batman movie has done before: it dares to be a rom-com. when batman told the joker “i hate you forever” while they were less than an inch from each other’s faces, i was wiping a sweet tear from my eye. i want what they have.

to conclude i think the only batman movies that really understand the characters are the ones that are truly just off the rails insane. although it’s important to recognize the darker aspects of the character, too many superhero movies feel the need to be gritty and serious all the way through, and the lack of balance leaves viewers (me) disappointed. they need to return to their roots and make the genre interesting and unique again. slightly unrelated but i also really think they need to stop rebooting the joker. there’s been so many different versions and as much as i love the jokes there are other batman villains. so many other batman villains. please let the joker rest i am begging and pleading.

FINAL RANKING!

fuck you batman returns

[the-unspeakable-tsar]

why isn't there more adam west and caesar romero batjokes fanart?

[izunias-meme-hole]

Since you've been rebloging this clown like crazy, who are your favorite Jokers?

Oh no... how could I ever choose?

Anyway.

Number 10. Brave And The Bold - A Silver Age inspired Joker with the Golden Age design and genuine menace. A pretty good combo if you ask me!

Number 9. 1966/Caesar Romero - He's the most iconic of the purely campy Jokers, and honestly he's just fun. I know that's not a heavy reason to like this iteration of the character, but it's true.

Number 8. Gotham - The Valeska Twins share a spot, purely because Cameron Monaghan's performance as them was so great. First there was Jerome, who was originally supposed to be a one-off possible Joker, and remained that way throughout the entire show even as he became somewhat of a Proto-Joker that was simultaneously heinous and fun. Though near the end of the show's 4th season, Jerome dies, but his twin brother Jeremiah ends up getting infected with an insanity gas that his brother cooked up, turning Jeremiah into a Golden Age inspired Proto-Joker who slowly evolves into the clown that we're more familiar with.

Number 7. The Batman 2004 - This clown offers almost everything you'd want, but they're all packed within an extremely different exterior! His bare feet, dreads that resemble a jesters hat, Kevin Michael Richardson voicing him, and just how athletic and animalistic he is make this Joker unique, even if what he brings to the table is still pure fun mixed with genuine heinousness and a bat obsession.

Number 6. Arkhamverse - Despite having that shit final boss and his bad habit of constantly overshadowing other villains, Joker in these games is an absolute blast to see and hear. Doesn't matter that he's a big bad, a secondary antagonist, or just "flirting with Batsy", he's great. It also helps that both Mark Hamill and Troy Baker do a phenomenal job at bringing him to life.

Number 5. Golden Age - Ah, Original!Joker my beloved. A scary as shit cunning sociopath with a haunting grin, clownish exterior, and a nice purple suit who just came outta nowhere. Plain, simple, yet very effective at the time.

Number 4. Batman 1989/Jack Nicholson - Perfect casting, perfect costume, feels like he leapt straight outta the comics and onto the big screen, and he has a near perfect origin. If only he wasn't responsible for the death of the Waynes. Still he's a phenomenal elseworlds Joker and an ICON.

Number 3. BTAS/DCAU - Forever the definitive Joker adaptation. Mark Hamill's voice was perfect for the clown, his designs are iconic, his origin being a perfect blend between "we know what he's about" and "we don't know shit," he's still funny yet terrifying, he's a chaotic artist, his toxic dynamic with Harley Quinn was perfect (which is funny since Quinn was invented FOR BTAS), his death and actual defeat were cathartic, and overall this was the Definitive Joker.

Number 2. Nolanverse/Heath Ledger - I swear to god Heath Ledger's take on Joker is the definition of "don't judge a book by its cover" because while he kinda spawned more cringeworthy and edgier Jokers (Lookin' at the New 52 & Leto), he also manages to distill the essence of the character perfectly. He's colorful yet subtle, funny yet terrifying, arrogant yet self-deprecating, brilliant yet insane, motivated to cause chaos yet feeling the need to justify that chaos to the rest of the world, hates Batman yet loves him, and he just simply exists.

Number 1. Post-Crisis Comics - We got Joker's Five-Way Revenge, Laughing Fish, Dreadful Birthday Joker, The Killing Joke, and A Death In The Family out of this iteration of the character, all of which pretty much came to define The Joker in one way or another, for better or worse. Out of all of the reboots of DC's universe, Post-Crisis had the best Comic!Joker and just the best Joker overall.