El hombre murciélago

This 15 Chapter Serial was over 20 years old when we saw it in our neighborhood. The overwhelming success of the BATMAN TV Series created a market for everything that was Batman. So, Columbia released its venerable wartime relic to the movie houses in the spring of 1966. It wasn't edited into some sort of feature summary, but rather the whole serial was shown, chapter after chapter, all in one sitting! We saw it twice!

There have been a lot of criticisms of this film, ranging from the reference to "the Japs" and indeed reference to the establishment of the Nesi Camps by executive order of President Roosevelt at the urging of California Governor Earl Warren. (Nesi refers to native born Americans of Japanese descent) Well, we all know that it was World War II going on out there and our films were full of our propaganda. We can't condemn this serial for that. The studio was doing its part for the war effort by having the heroes battle Axis Agents, Sabateurs and 5th Column Traitors as well as common thugs.

The production was very frugal, for it obviously was to be produced for as cheap a price tag as possible. The serials were, after all, a sort of throw in to the general out put of film. They were meant for the Saturday afternoon bubble gum crowd. Always filmed in B&W, as were most motion pictures of the time.

The cast was full of veteran character actors, who would always give a decent performance with whatever storyline they had. The true "Star" of BATMAN was J.Carroll Nash.He was born in New York City of Irish ancestry, but no shillelaghs or clay pipes for him. After extensive experience on the stage, Mr. Nash made a living portraying Italians (Sahara, Life with Luigi radio TV), Hispanics (The Fugitive (1947) ) and Indians. He also did some Orientals as in the Charlie Chan TV and Dr. Daka, the Japanese operative and lead villain of this 1943 BATMAN.

But it is the lead of this production, Lewis Wilson, who was the reference of the heading "My Favorite Batman". Of all of the actors to be cast in the role, (and the have been no less than six in live action film) it is Lewis Wilson and his horn ear type cowl that I think of as the best. First, he did originate the role when Batman Comics were only about 4 years old. Secondly, he looked like the character Bruce Wayne as drawn in the comics. He had a sort of upper class accent which Mr. Wayne would probably possess.He had appeared to have a stocky sort of a build which also coincided with the comics. Finally, he wasn't in very many films in his career and BATMAN was probably his widest exposure.

As for production values,well they did the best with what they had. They even managed to evoke some of the dark, mysterious mood of the Batman Comics feature. Indeed, the mood and World War II period are well represented with the use of B & W film.

I sure hope that this one will be out in VHS and DVD in its original, uncut form. Don't re-write it for the sake of political correctness. Such revisionist behaviour is equal to book burning. Afterall, we must take the thorns along with the rose petals.

UPDATE**** Dateline:Chicago, Illinois, April 17, 2006. Well, it's not news by now, but Columbia has released this great 1943 BATMAN Serial this past year.To their credit and our delight, they also released 1949's NEW ADVENTURES OF BATMAN AND ROBIN with Robert Lowery and John Duncan in the starring roles. These chapter-plays are complete,uncut from crisp,clean newly struck film masters. They are available in DVD sets.

Rumor has it that Columbia will be doing the same thing with their two serials starring the Man of Steel, SUPERMAN (1948) and ATOM MAN VS.SUPERMAN (1950). Who knows, this could be the start of something big for us serial buffs!Let's hope!

* In response to learned those who state that it is erroneous to say that Columbia Pictures re-released this serial because of the success of BATMAN TV, we offer the following. Yes, this is correct, but only up to a point. There was a special showing of the fifteen Chapters of the 1943 BATMAN Serial in a few big city movie houses. In my town, Chicago, it was at the very trendy Playboy Theatre and advertised as "An Evening with Batman & Robin". This was before the debut of BATMAN on ABC, January 12, 1966. It was after that time, BATMAN '43 went into general release, nationwide.

The 1943 Batman Movie Serial, starring Lewis Wilson as the Batman and Lewis Croft as Robin, is definitely one of my favorites. The evil Dr. Daka, played with devilish delight by J. Carol Naish, has enlisted a number of 5th columnists to subvert American interests, on U.S. soil. Innocent Americans are transformed into mindless zombies in order to assist the sinister Daka and his evil minions. Despite every advantage, the Batman manages to stop Daka and save America from the "Doom of the Rising Sun!" Watch for Shirley Patterson as Bruce Wayne's love interest, Linda Page, who definitely makes a wonderful damsel in distress. William Austin plays Wayne's faithful butler, Alfred and provides comic relief. Batman creator, Bob Kane, even makes an appearance in the first chapter as a newsboy. Batman fights fo

This serial is nothing short of a total blast, a fun romp from start to finish. You gotta love that the first thing you see at the start of chapter one, is Batman at his desk in his Batcave with bats flying all around, and you only see their shadows, but you also see the shadows of all the thick control wires making the fake bats fly around. That sets the tone perfectly!

No crappy computer effects to muck things up here. Of course this is a serial and it's all great fun, and you have to laugh that the film takes various dramatic license, such as why are Batman and Robin never just shot at, and why they don't fear guns (while always being unarmed themselves).

Truth is, this serial is non-stop, it's virtually always exciting and there's a lot of cool fights. One thing I noticed is that Batman is either always getting his head bashed in, or he's getting into some trouble where Robin has to save him (at the start of the next chapter of course). You'd figure since Robin saves Batman so many times, Batman would treat Robin a little more equally!

And about the 'racist' stuff...it was made in 1943 folks. Consider the climate in America at the time and who our enemies were, and just let it go. No matter how much the revisionists try, you can't change the past, and it should not be hidden, either. And in no way does the tone of the storyline detract from the fact that this serial is such a blast. This should be released on DVD in its original uncut form, the way it was meant to be seen.

I was an avid serial fan when I used to go to the Saturday afternoon matinees at the local theater in the early 1950's. Three Columbia serials (with the occasional Mascot serial) were usually shown, hence my bias toward Columbia.

I actually saw 'The Batman' in the mid 1960's when it was shown at a City theater as a 'Cinethon' - all 15 episodes in sequence from start to finish in one sitting. I lived through it as any serial fan would and enjoyed every minute but under these circumstances, some details normally overlooked when watching one episode each week were revealed.

I was intrigued by the access to Dr. Daka's hideout via the amusement park ride. A great bit of imagination went into that one! I seem to recall that the great Jack Ingram was killed off in an early episode and reappeared about Chapter 11 but I could be mistaken after nearly 40 years have elapsed.

The progressive reappearance of the Columbia serials on DVD has me over the moon and I look forward to receiving the 1949 'Batman and Robin' serial when it is released in March. If 'The Batman' is released on DVD, I will be one of the first in line to buy it.

Discovering the Batman serial and the strip cartoon at the age of eight must have shaped (warped?) my taste for the rest of my life.

Even pre-pubescent, I could tell this one was superior to the draggy Sam Katzman chapter plays which engulfed my Saturday afternoons. Encountering it again in the sixties when it was a star turn in the low camp boom wasn't an anti climax. The imagery (imagery yet!) of the comic book survived diluted and distorted. Batman silhouetted against a night sky made white by the deep red filter, after Robin strikes fear into the hearts of the henchmen by showing the bat signal on their wall, remains embedded in the memory bank. A disguised Bruce Wayne waves a gun at one stage and we miss the Batmobile but Bob Kane made over his drawings of Alfred the Butler to look like William Austin.

Add on another forty (gulp) years and we've had political correctness an a version removing Knox Manning's narration about the wisdom of a government that locks up it's evil Nipponese citizens in a camp or the fetching Shirley Patterson shrieking "A Jap" when faced with J. Carrol Naisch, his Irish eyes pulled back into the fiendish mask of Dr. Dakar the sadistic son of Nippon feeding henchmen to pet alligators. The baggy forties suits and baggy 4F extras, along with the tackiness of the hand me down sets have become period detail as much as drab. We do notice that they have only two zombie hats so if there are a couple on screen, one has to go out and send another one in.

Along with that however, there are some remarkably well staged action scenes - the chase after that armored car we keep on seeing in old Columbia movies, the fire that showers (The) Batman with burning rafters,apparently staged by western specialist Harry Frazer who gets a writer credit.

Lewis Wilson, Douglas Croft and Shirley Patterson must have resented the fact that their careers peaked here but how about poor old Lambert Hillyer who was one of the architects of the classic westerns of William S. Hart and has now survived only as the director of record of this rush job kids actioner.