False Face (Dozierverse)

False Face was a villain and enemy of Batman in the Batman 1960s TV Series. He was portrayed by Malachi Throne.

History

False Face was a cunning master of disguise who often baffled the police and the citizens of Gotham City. He first managed to steal the jeweled Mergenberg Crown and replace it with a fake one. False Face then planned to flood Gotham City with millions of dollars in counterfeit money so that no one could tell the difference between the real cash and the fake counterfeits.

Sometimes, False Face gave himself away with his disguises and crimes. One of these times was when he was disguised as Commissioner Gordon and held his handkerchief in his left hand while the real Commissioner was always right-handed, a detail which Batman noticed.

Another was the signet ring on his right hand with his intials "F.F". It was also his monogram on the safety mattress Blaze jumped into after leaping from Commissioner Gordon's office.

With the help of Blaze, who had turned against him as she was disgusted by his criminal activities, False Face was eventually captured by the Dynamic Duo and was never seen on the show again.

Known Associates

Just as Batman does not go at crime-fighting alone, False Face needed fellow partners in crime to assist him with his malicious schemes.

• Blaze (portrayed by Myrna Fahey) - Trusted Female assistant in crime. Her disguises consisted of a wide variety of wig colors. She was apprehended by Batman and Robin when False Face was taken into custody. Thanks to the Bruce Wayne Rehabilitation Fund, Blaze was able to change her criminal ways and move to New Zealand, where she keeps the house of her brother.

• Midget/Burns (portrayed by Billy Curtis) -False-Face henchman

• Fat Man/Brinks (portrayed by Joe Brooks) -False-Face henchman

• Thin Man/Pinkerton (portrayed by Chuck Fox) -False-Face henchman

Appearances

Season 1

• True Or False Face/Holy Rat Race

Trivia

• His first and only appearance in the Batman 1960s series was also based on his only appearance in a Batman comic book story in 1958.
• Malachi Throne was offered considerably less than Myrna Fahey, who played Blaze, which led to him asking the producers to remove his name from the credits. Hence, instead of his name in the usual opening credits as "Special Guest Villain", a question mark appears in both the opening and closing titles of his first episode and the opening titles of his second. This led to much speculation as to who played False Face (including Sammy Davis, Jr., Frank Sinatra, and Peter Lawford). However, he is given a name check on the closing credits. Malachi said that the plastic mask was the reason that there were no more responses to this character.
• Malachi Throne was shown with no makeup on during the episode when False Face was an impostor armored car guard.
• False Face only appeared for one storyline. The character never returned as the False Face mask scared younger viewers.
• False Face's appearances in Batman: The Brave and the Bold were based on this version of the character.
• False Face has since made appearances in the DC Comics series Batman '66, even appearing as Basil Karlo/Clayface.
• A gimmick of False Face was his "Trick Truck" a gray panel truck that could be turned into a Gotham Police Van; or a baker's truck. For the Armored Car theft False Face put a false front on his truck to make it look like a armored car! He also installed several cannons/mortars on the top of his truck used he used to destroy what he thought was the dynamic duo and the Batmobile, but was actually a inflated balloon replica! His truck also had a "escape vehicle" in the back: a motorcyle.
• False Face is so dedicated to falsehood and disguises that when his gang gives him three cheers , he remarks: "Thanks men, I know you didn't mean it"! Indeed he is practically allergic to the word "Truth"!
• His place of hiding is the abandoned BioScope Film studio- composed of False Front buildings.
• Stafford Repp played False Face Chief O'Hara; Neil Hamilton played False Face Commissioner Gordon and a extra played False Face as a movie cowboy. This is the only time Repp and Hamilton played "evil twins" of themselves!
• The plastic False Face mask returned in the episode "Batman Sets The Pace", worn by The Joker as part of one of his schemes when he disguised himself as the Maharajah of Nimpah.
• The producers revealed False Face’s real name to be Basil Karlo. However, in the comics, Basil Karlo is the real name of Clayface. The reason they chose Karlo as False Face’s identity was because Clayface (Basil Karlo) was originally intended to be the villain of the episode, and would have been able to mould his face into as a disguise due to his powers. The episode was reworked to include False Face

Gallery

False Face in one of his many disguises

False Face arrested

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