Batman and Robin

I do believe that the sequel Batman serial is very dated for the 40s and that time period, but it is a very nice representation of how the times were then. The only thing I don't like is there is no batmobile or any of the fancy cars as in the current 90's films. The costumes are very good and represent how earlier forms of Batman and Robin really were. They were not always the plastic wearing gurus of today's movies and it was more practical for the hero to get hurt or killed, thus the chapters every week and cliffhanger endings. Overall, I give Batman and Robin 1949 a rating of 7 out of 10.

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!

There is not a better example of a typical 40's/50's cliffhanger matinée serial than this underbudgeted Batman entry. And, you're either going to embrace all it's flawed charms or not. There's no in between.

First,let me tell you where I'm coming from. I loved the Batman 60's TV program for all it's campiness, and I am still amazed at Burton's first Warner Bros. Batman blockbuster with Keaton/Nicholson which incredibly and masterfully convinced us to suspend disbelief and take the masked crusader seriously. The '49 Batman serial, while closer to the TV version, than the high budgeted movie spectacular, for me, is somewhere in between. The reason is, that I saw this serial for the first time as an 8 year old matinée movie goer in Florida during it's first release.

It was much different then, and I'm not convinced that in spite of the advancements in production values and special effects that it was any more fun or magical to be a movie kid today as it was in the 50's. We all see movies through our own set of filters and if your's are the Matrix and video games, you will probably not be a fan of Batman '49.

We were not blind or stupid, we saw the flaws and didn't care. We also saw the adventure and embraced it. For all it's lack of high production, this Batman and Robin was a whole lot of fun. And in running the VHS or DVD versions, I'm transported back to a simpler time, and, more importantly, am convinced that this example of matinée fare is typical of what my generation of baby boomers learned from the movies about right from wrong and good from evil.

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--

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.