Scripts from Burton's films

[BatmAngelus]

If you guys want to read a great interview with Tom, check this out, where he covers how he got into the Bond films and the Superman films: http://www.scriptmag.com/2010/04/29/masters-of-screenwriting-interview-tom-mankiewicz-part-1-of-2/

[Grissom]

So sorry to hear he died, great screenwriter and seemed to be a cool guy too.
Condolences to the family. 

[BatmAngelus]

Here is a retrospective on his script.  Worth the read, even if you've read his script, because it features Mankiewicz's own comments on Batman:
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/mediageek/news/?a=21031
(The only thing it leaves out is that I believe Mankiewicz admitted to Starlog magazine that he pictured an unknown, along the lines of a Christopher Reeve casting, as Batman, William Holden as Gordon, and David Niven as Alfred).
http://movies.ign.com/articles/036/036038p1.html

[johnnygobbs]

Holden as Gordon and Niven as Alfred would have rocked but bearing in mind that both men passed away in the early 1980s there probably wouldn't have been much scope for a franchise, unless the filmmakers were prepared to immediately recast their roles ala Richard Harris/Michael Gambon in Harry Potter.

[BatmAngelus]

Yeah, I'm sure Mankiewicz was disappointed when his fan casting for Gordon and Alfred passed on.  I know Manky wanted Peter O'Toole for Penguin (which is really left field), but I would've loved to have seen him as Alfred.

It's cool to picture these actors when reading the script.  But it's a bit difficult for me to picture Nicholson as Manky's Joker, since that Joker was much sillier than Nicholson's take (though still deadly.  The best I can describe him is a homicidal Cesar Romero).