Batman (TV Series) The Devil's Fingers (1966) User Reviews

Starring Neil Hamilton As Commissioner Gordon

[StuOz · 2 February 2018]

Bad guy Liberace is upstaged by Neil Hamilton

"This time we will have to solve a case ourselves" : Gordon.

Hamilton is always good as Gordon but this is the only time in the 120 episodes where he gets so many funny lines that he actually upstages all other cast members, and guests, around him!

I know many will turn to this episode just to see or hear Liberace, but I personally found Gordon to be the most entertaining as he does not have Batman around to help him out.

Gordon's line of dialogue when he questions his own "clumsy" security procedures has to be heard to be believed. Very funny stuff and you can't help feeling that Hamilton does not actually know he is being funny!

Tailor made vehicle for beloved entertainer Liberace

[kevinolzak · 3/10 · 10 May 2016]

"The Devil's Fingers" was a latter script designed by original pilot author Lorenzo Semple Jr. as a tailor made vehicle for Liberace, one of the world's most beloved entertainers, his expertise on the piano keys inspiring talents such as Elton John, who would adopt the former's flamboyant nature and outrageous costumes. This would explain how the series enjoyed its highest rated two parter with this one, for in this day and age it's hard to get worked up over any villain essayed by Liberace, certainly no one's idea of an actor, which he'd be the first to admit. As Chandell, he plays a reasonable facsimile of himself, one false note during a concert enough to assure Bruce Wayne that something suspicious is afoot in Gotham City in his absence, calling Dick Grayson away from his first date to return to Wayne Manor, where Chandell's three female accomplices come and go like scantily clad wraiths in a dream. Of the trio, Doe is played by Marilyn Hanold, veteran of "The Brain That Wouldn't Die" and "Frankenstein Meets the Spacemonster," Rae is played by Edy Williams, longtime sexploitation favorite (previously seen in "Hot Off the Griddle"), and Mimi is played by Swedish bombshell Sivi Aberg, in her TV debut, returning in an eye popping bikini in "Surf's Up! Joker's Under!" Chandell isn't the real villain on display, under the thumb of his evil twin brother Harry, who knows how the great entertainer once faked a Presidential performance on a player piano and has been blackmailing him ever since; for a cool $5 million Harry will let him off the hook, forcing Chandell to romance Aunt Harriet (Madge Blake) in an attempt to gain control of the Wayne riches. Meanwhile, Batman and Robin don't appear until the final 7 minutes of this first chapter, just long enough to be captured by Harry and trussed up to become perforated music rolls. How will this music end, proceed with caution!