Batman and Robin

In 1949, six years after the original Batman Movie Serial was released, Columbia Pictures, released the the long awaited sequel, "Batman and Robin". Robert Lowery inherited the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne from Lewis Wilson. Lowery would later blame his role as Batman for "a lackluster movie career, as a leading man, in Hollywood". He complained that the eyeholes, in his costume, made it "difficult to see" and thus made him appear awkward. John Duncan assumed the role of Batman's faithful ally, from Douglas Croft. The serials premise is that crime is running wild in Gotham City. A mysterious masked figure, called the Wizard, has stolen a diamond powered remote control device, that renders all of the machines in Gotham City totally inoperative. Comissioner Gordon (played by Lyle Talbot) immediately summons Batman with the aid of an infamous bat signal, that shines in the heavens above Gotham. Photographer Viki Vale (played by Jame Adams) is entangled in the Wizard's evil web of deceit. The Wizard even employs a mysterious submarine to ferry his evil henchmen to his secret underground lair. This serial's creators took great pains to try to confuse the viewers, with several red herrings, in regard to the Wizard's true identity. They even lifted several scenes from the original chapterplay (a common serial sequel practice). Batman and Robin are relentless crusaders for justice--

I don't profess to be in a position to objectively judge the artistic merits of this series since the last (and only) time I saw it, was in 1952, when I was 7. Fifty years tends to warp perspectives! I will therefore comment only as to what it meant to me all those years ago!

It meant everything!! Shown at our local Saturday morning pictures, my friends and I would rock on down to our local Odeon theater in South East London. After Laurel and Hardy, The "Purple People Eaters" and a Jackie Coogan flick the session would close off with this serial. This was as good as jaw dropping excitement got! I didn't pay too much attention to the authenticity of the dialog or sets...just the incessant biffing. Having to wait a WHOLE WEEK to find out how Batman or Robin escaped from their impending fate...be it a bomb or approaching steam train, was exquisite torture!

In hindsight, this serial probably WAS the inspiration behind the 1960's Adam West/Burt Ward revival. It was campy but Oh, such fun. You have no idea just how MUCH fun - to a seven year old!

If you are expecting the campy 1960's Batman, then this isn't the show for you. However, if you are looking for an exciting action adventure serial, then this is for you. This show plays more like the comic book version of Batman that came out in the 1940's which was a very straightforward comic. The plot is okay but there are some plot holes, which probably owe more to the low budget. Also, the cast is very solid, especially veteran character actor Lyle Talbot as Commisioner Gordon.

When I was a small boy of 7, I saw a few Batman and Robin chapters at the local theater because my parents took me along as they wanted to see the feature and this serial happened to be playing. The look of the Wizard scared hell out of me and I never forgot that memory. To this day I think that it was the most terrifying looking serial villan. I bought the VHS tape about 10 years ago and it was fun the see it in it's entirety as I had not seen most of it the first time. I thought that Robert Lowery was a very good Batman as he was a big man with a determined voice and John Duncan was fine as he as not treated like a comic sidekick. The funny part was Lyle Talbot as Comm. Gordon who would see Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson a lot and never associate them as Batman and Robin who he would also see a lot. The same goes for Vicki Vale played by Jane Adams. No one also associated the fact that Batman and Wayne both drove 1949 Mercury convertibles. In any event it was fun to see again this week and if any of the surviving cast reads this I want to thank them for some great memories.

With the end of World War II, there was a marked change of tone and settings in the film world. This was especially true in that staple of the Saturday Matinée, the Serial. After all,Nazi Germany,Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan had now been defeated. There were no Nazi U Boats, Imperial Japanese soldiers, nor any Axis Spies or 5th Column Traitors to deal with. Now the bad guys would either have to be of the domestic variety of crook. Or, if by chance the baddies were of the international espionage set, their Nationality would have to be kept a secret. Just as before the United States got into the War, the villains country could be implied, but not specifically stated.

The second Batman chapter-play did follow all of the above mentioned, using a large number of common underworld types and a secret leader of unknown origin and identity (until the end), who was bent on, what else, world domination.

The cast and production team changed as Columbia had Sam Katzman produce it. Mr. Katzman's Production Company, called ESKAY, was known for the frugality of its productions. Much of its output was done at and released by Monogram Pictures. The best known of these would probably be the EAST SIDE KIDS series, one branch of the DEAD END Family Tree.

This was the second serial for a comic character;but it was not the first time that it was done. Flash Gordon, Don Winslow, The Spider, Tailspin Tommy, Jungle Jim,The Green Hornet and Secret Agent X9, had all had 2 or more.DICK TRACY leads the pack with four serials. But unlike these others, which may have had one or two changes in cast, the 1949 Batman film cleaned house, leaving no one from the original.

Veteran Robert Lowery, who referred to himself as "the King of the B's", was a good choice for Bruce Wayne/Batman. His dead panning of Wayne's dialog contrasted with the so-serious speech of Batman. He possessed the build and obvious athleticism to bring a certain authenticity to the role.

John Duncan* had been around doing juvenile roles for several years (including the previously mentioned EAST SIDE KIDS series), and now had matured some, giving him both the youthful appearance and the gymnast-like musculature that Robin would have.

Additionally, we have all characters and elements taken directly from the comics feature. News Photographer,Vicki Vale (Jane Adams), Alfred the Butler(Eric Wilton) and Police Commissioner James Gordon(Lyle Talbot) were all characters out of the comic book adventures. They reprised the Bat Cave from the '43 version and added The Bat Signal(the bat emblemed searchlight,Batman summoner of Gotham City's sky), albeit in a sort of vest pocket size.

Like many serials, they did employ a hooded mystery man villain as the "brains" heavy you know, unknown but having several on screen suspects to keep the audience guessing for 15 chapters.This was okay, or at least adequate, but begs the question: Why not use one of the great colorful villains from the comics pages? The Batman TV of 2 decades later did so, making the series so memorable.

As for THE NEW ADVENTURES of BATMAN and ROBIN, it ranks far above most serials of its Post World War II period. As well as common crooks and masked super villains, it confronted the Super Nova Explosion of Technological Advancement, a phenomenon of which we still have a lot of apprehension.

NOTE* John Duncan, now a man in his 80's, still makes appearances a various Film Fan conventions around the country. We met him in a Bud & Sharon Courts promoted event, here in Chicago about 2 years ago. He was most energetic and gracious to the fans (including this writer).