After watching Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt (and greatly enjoying it), I began to wonder if the behind-the-scenes events were true and if so, to what extent? I check out the trivia behind the Batman T.V. series and a lot of what was listed there was in the show (like Burt Ward only getting $350 and his divorce).
But other things, like Burt’s constant placement in the infirmary, complaints that he “stuck out” too much and took medication to try and prevent it, that Adam West played with Yvonne Craig’s breast while she stood there patiently for him to remove his hand, etc., made me wonder if that was factual or just for fun.
Burt Ward (check the commentary track in the Baatman Movie DVD) has always asserted that he was used in more stunt scenes than he though necessary.
He always complained that his stuntman, Victor Paul, hung around Adam West drinking coffee. There is something to it Victor had a larger nose and older looking face. In fight scenes you can make him out easily. You can tell the scenes where Burt was used and Where Victor was.
Surprisingly there are are quite a few scenes which Burt is there and shouldn’t be including one bat cycle scene where Burt’s side car is launched. He apparently crashed.
I suspect his trips to the infirmry are fact.
Both Adam West - Back to the Batcave - and Burt Ward - My Life in Tights - have written books. Even Yvonne Craig - From Ballet to the Batcave and Beyond has. There’s a lot of material out there for people to draw on. Ward’s especially appears to be a tell-all, with many details that made it into the movie. And West’s “stirrings in my utility belt” line comes from his book.
Mr. Frink: maybe saltpeter, the stuff of military urban legends? The story goes that they put it in the food at boot camp, but has been pretty thoroughly debunked.
My take is that most of the events are “true,” but downplayed/made to seem funny in the movie. Adam West and Burt Ward have had their words to sling at each other over the years. West has complained that Ward bitched too much about the dangerous stunts, but in the movie, they laugh off their differences. Ward has said that West made some rather homophobic comments about the way he walked while wearing the Robin suit, etc.
I always got the impression that none of the other cast members and semi-regular arch-villains liked Burt Ward very much. Alan Napier (the late actor who played Alfred) stated before his death that he never cared for Burt Ward at all, stating at a reunion/convention that he liked being reunited with the Batmobile more than with the Boy Wonder.
So, true, but downplayed.
I love the way they turned all the anecdotes/real events into actual encounters. I doubt very much that William Dozier spent all his time on set as the movie would have us believe, or that he met West and Ward outside the set to tell them the show was cancelled, or that Gorshin met West in a bar and explained to him that America saw Batman and Robin as gay, etc.
