The six foot tall vat that contained the frozen caviar was actually quite shallow, only about three feet deep. When you watch the scene, you’ll notice Ms. Craig actually had to crouch when thrown in the caviar. Vincent Price was required to push Yvonne down to present the illusion she was well sunk. Batgirl had her hands tied behind her back and couldn’t fully maneuver, so Price had to guide the action along.
Later in the scene, Yvonne had to hide up alongside the front wall, out of the camera’s view, to appear as if she was fully submerged before her rescue by the Dynamic Duo. Her cape was also pinned back, since it wouldn’t sink.
The set designer achieved the “caviar” itself by dyeing tiny round pieces of gray Styrofoam indigo. Like the stuffing inside a bean-bag chair, the caviar had static-cling properties. The particles stuck to Batgirl’s costume, as we saw before Batman brushed them off with a whisk broom from his utility belt!
These scenes took a few takes, because when Ms. Craig did her, “Help! Batman . . . I’m drowning! . . . I’m also freezing!” lines, she had to be careful not to accidently inhale the almost-weightless Styrofoam caviar into her nose or mouth. There was concern the particles might get into her sinuses and swell! Few Bat-villains could have thought of a fate so diabolical!
Yvonne had fond memories of that taping, since she very much admired and enjoyed working with Vincent Price.
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