Marsha Queen of Diamonds (Batman)

Marsha Queen of Diamonds (Carolyn Jones) is the main antagonist in the 1966 double episodes "Marsha, Queen of Diamonds" and "Marsha's Scheme of Diamonds", for the TV series "Batman".

Marsha, Queen of Diamonds[]

Marsha Queen of Diamonds first appears when she steps out of a silver Rolls Royce along with Chief O'Hara to enter the U Magnum Diamonds, a jewelry store. Here she takes the Pretzel Diamond from the jewelers, while O’Hara continues to profess his undying love with Marsha. O'Hara threatens the staff of the store with arrest if they don't give Marsha the diamond.

Meanwhile, Batmanand Robin, along with Alfred Pennyworth, are testing a gigantic "Bat-Diamond" in the Batcave when they get the call from Commissioner Gordon about the burglary as well as O’Hara’s alleged involvement. It turns out that Marsha, Queen of Diamonds, has O'Hara in a birdcage, and under her magic spell, along with at least three other victims.

In order to get her victims, Marsha uses Cupid, a foot tall statue that throws darts equipped with a love potion, each dart is activated with a remote controlled device. Marsha now tries to find out the whereabouts of the "Bat-Diamond", and is eager to break into the Batcave and find out Batman's true identity, where the diamond is stored. Commissioner Gordon does not wait for Batman and Robin to arrive at Police HQ, instead he visits Marsha, asking about the whereabouts of O’Hara.

Marsha activates the love dart, sending Commissioner Gordon under her spell and in captivity inside a giant birdcage. Marsha visits her basement where Aunt Hilda (Estelle Winwood), a witch specializing in new potions, resides. Aunt Hilda is in actuality a disgraced chemistry professor, who was fired from Vassar for turning the students orange. Marsha asks Hilda about a special potion for Batman, knowing he is more resistant to ordinary potions.

Batman and Robin visit Marsha, where she activates the potion dart on Batman. Using “every ounce of willpower”, Batman resists the potion and escapes Marsha's clutches. An infuriated Marsha sends her men to do battle with Batman and Robin, during the fight Marsha plants another dart on Robin. Marsha extorts Batman by holding Robin hostage in exchange for the Bat-Diamond, including a visit to the Batcave. Batman refuses Martha’s demands, where he vows not to allow anyone else in the Batcave. But Marsha, wanting to bilk him out of all his money, gives Batman an ultimatum by giving another “vow”, she proposes marriage to Batman; thus allowing her to enter the Batcave and reveal his secret identity. Should Batman refuse the marriage offer, Robin, Commissioner Gordon and Chief O’Hara would all be under her captivity, forever. Thus, in order to save them, Batman has no choice to marry Marsha.

As the marriage is being televised on Gotham City TV, Alfred and Aunt Harriet ponder what to do about the impending marriage. The final scene shows the wedding ceremony between Marsha and Batman, where Marsha says “I do” but Batman is holding out whether he will say “I do” (and have the location of the Batcave and his true identity revealed), or say “I object”, and lose his only adoptive son, Robin for the rest of his life.

Marsha's Scheme of Diamonds[]

In the previous episode, as Batman is about to be forced into saying “I do” to Marsha, Queen of Diamonds, Aunt Harriet Cooper and Alfred Pennyworth, posing as “Mrs. Batman” and her “lawyer” respectively, storm up to the altar. The prank was actually on Marsha as “Mrs. Batman’s” lawyer provides a fake marriage certificate (thanks to the Batcomputer, which Alfred worked on) to the minister conducting the wedding, showing that Batman is still married. The minister refused to finish the wedding (because Batman would have committed bigamy had he married Marsha), thus allowing Batman, and Alfred to quietly leave the church in their "newlywed" Batmobile.

A furious Marsha runs back to her lair, where she is about to give another potion to Robin, however an alarm is tripped, indicating that Batman has arrived. Marsha and her goons escape before Batman and Alfred enter. Using the antidotes, Batman and Alfred revive Robin, Commissioner Gordon and Chief O’Hara from Marsha’s captivity. Marsha returns to see Aunt Hilda, about the failure of Hilda’s latest potion. Hilda knew the potion was of poor quality anyway, so they try to figure out a workable potion for the Dynamic Duo.

Meanwhile, Robin wakes up in the Batcave, telling Batman that their troubles with Marsha all center around their Bat-Diamond. Since the Bat-Diamond would be too large and heavy for Marsha to steal from the Batcave, also making it too obvious to be noticed, the Dynamic Duo obtains some information via. the Batcomputer about Marsha’s bordello.

Commissioner Gordon calls Batman, remembering Marsha saying to him that she has to visit her aunt, while Batman suspects that there may be a basement where Marsh and Aunt Hilda are hiding.

Using the Bat-Computer, Batman and Robin connect the coordinates of Marsha’s basement, and then they pay a visit to the Queen and Hilda. Hilda throws another potion at Batman and Robin to turn them into mice, that attempt fails and a fight with Marsha’s men ensues. Marsha throws a smoke bomb, rendering Batman and Robin unconscious, then Hilda applies a foolproof potion to turn Batman and Robin into toads before delivering them to Commissioner Gordon’s office. The toads are in a cage, with Marsha threatening Commissioner Gordon to reveal the Batcave and Bat-Diamond’s location, or else Batman and Robin will be “toad-dinner” to a hungry cat eager to eat them alive. Or so it seems as Batman & Robin reappear through a window, shocking Marsha and Gordon. The toads were actually replacements after the Bat-Computer located the caged Dynamic Duo, unlocking them first before Batman used two frogs (complete with mini-capes), before Marsha would come back to pick them up, thinking the potion worked on Batman and Robin. The voices from the toads were the work of Batman as a ventriloquist while they were outside Commissioner Gordon’s office before they entered the window.

Marsha was placed under arrest by Gordon as her hopes of the biggest heist are like Hilda’s potions, up in smoke. The final scene shows Aunt Hilda teaching a culinary class to students at the Wayne Institute of Economics, while Bruce and Dick look on. As the mild-mannered philanthropists leave, a couple of frog jokes are exchanged, with Dick complaining of a “wart” on his thumb.