1949 Batman movie serials DVD

[Newc]

My grandfather had these old movie reels years ago of B&W Batman serial episodes done in the 40s, and while there was no sound, and he only had 2 or 3 of them, I had been trying to find them on video.

FINALLY, Sony put them on a 2 DVD set - got it at WalMart just last weekend. I watched them this morning, and they really give you a newfound appreciation for the newer movies, as well as the Adam West Batman show, as corny as it was.

You have got to pick up this DVD set just for the nostalgia, and a few good laughs [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Accept2]

Re: 1949 Batman movie serials DVD

My uncle had all the 35mm reels, but they had sound. Love the "batmobile" back then..............

[buzzsaww]

Re: 1949 Batman movie serials DVD

The original Robin, John Duncan.
http://www.originalrobin1949.com/index.cfm

[Boxcar Willie 84]

Re: 1949 Batman movie serials DVD

I've been wanting to get these for years, but I heard they were never issued on VHS because of the strong racial overtones against Japanese people, especially in the first one.

[Newc]

Re: 1949 Batman movie serials DVD

I saw/heard no racial overtones, and no reference to the Japanese at all. Plus given this was 1949, I'm sure there was still a lot of hostility over the cowardly Pearl Harbor attack.

[Boxcar Willie 84]

Re: 1949 Batman movie serials DVD

There were two of the serials, I think the first one had the more racial stuff, and you're right, it was because of Pearl Harbor. The main enemy was Japanese in that one I believe. Who knows though, that's only what I've heard.

[Newc]

Re: 1949 Batman movie serials DVD

According to the Original Robin website, there was just the one 15 episode serial.

I bet Lucas got the inspiration for Darth Vader from The Wizard (main bad guy through the whole thing). Same basic costume (black outfit, full-face mask, long black cape, big black gloves), mind control powers (hypnotism), etc.

A couple of "bloopers" in it, of course:

1-While on the phone (dressed as Bruce Wayne, but in the Batcave) with Commissioner Gordon after investigating something as Batman And Robin, he says "Dick and I..." rather than "Robin and I..."

2-During the first 14 episodes, the old geezer wheelchair-bound scientist who you think is The Wizard makes it a point to keep his magic Viagra Chair a secret - locks the door behind his butler when he leaves, unlocks the door to the secret room where the chair is, and then sneaks over to his secret lab entrance behind the fireplace on his own two feet.
In the last episode, just before they find out Whodunnit, he's up walking around in front of everybody - The Butler, Batman, Gordon - and nobody mentions it. [img]/images/graemlins/brow.gif[/img] ever. [img]/images/graemlins/scratchhead.gif[/img]

Odds and Ends:

-"Stately Wayne Manor" is a vinyl-sided one-story house in the damn 'Burbs, with like a 20 foot front yard with a publicly accessible sidewalk, neighbors so close you can see clearly in each other's windows, and the inside has about as much room as a double-wide housetrailer, but the Old Geezer Scientist has a sprawling 20+ acre 2-story brick and stone English Manor house with enormous rooms and custom landscaping [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

-They don't have a Batpole or some automatic costume-changer - they pull them out of a filing cabinet drawer. BOTH costumes in the same drawer [img]/images/graemlins/brow.gif[/img]
A Millionaire Superhero and he's too damn stingy for each of them to have their own drawer, much less a nice closet so they can hang the suits up. I mean, imagine fighting crime in a wrinkled suit and cape - how tacky! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

-No Batmobile - they drive Bruce Wayne's personal car. A convertible at that. When they're out on the town as Bruce and Dick, and trouble breaks out, Bruce hops in the back and activates the automatic top-closing switch, and they wait, and wait, and wait, and then close the top and change costumes in the car, then do a U-Turn in the street and show up a block away as Batman And Robin. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
The one chick (Vicky Vale) asks them once "Does Bruce Wayne know you're driving his car?"

Millionaire Superhero and he can't at least buy a different car for fighting crime - not even a cool-looking fin on top or even a rotating license plate to kinda hide the fact that it looks JUST like Bruce Wayne's car [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

These two clowns couldn't fight their way out of a wet paper sack. Batman gets clubbed in the head by everything from slapjacks to a claw hammer thrown across the room, and Robin. Jeez, Robin's better off getting shot, cuz he takes a hit on the jaw and he's down.
But yet Batman jumps in front of one guy who slugs him a good one right on the chin, and he barely flinches and says "That hurt!", and then stomps the guy's ass.
In one episode, Batman gets knocked out (again) and some other guy who is trying to get out of the gang he's in and go straight lifts his mask, sees he's Bruce Wayne, and then swaps clothes with him to fight the bad guys. He kicks more ass in a 3-minute scene than Batman does in 15 20-minute episodes [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
Of course he also falls to his death, but hey, he coulda had the job otherwise [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

And I had no idea Gotham City looked so much like California with the Pacific Coast Highway running all around it - I guess that was the Gothic Ocean in the background? [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Aaaaaannnd! Batman's most-recognizable feature - the Utility Belt - what a laff! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
It's a satin belt with no pockets, and a BIIIIG round hoop-style "buckle" (your Mom probably wore a dress with that kinda sash/belt on it to her Prom [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]), but he pulls out a portable blowtorch with a gas tank and two "breathing apparatus" (look like a couple of small glass bongs) for them to escape the deadly CO2 chamber.
With the exception of the "R" on Robin's costume and his boots, his was the only one that didn't change much between this one and the Adam West/Burt Ward duo [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] - at least he had the same belt [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Oh, and they have to pause the fight so Batman can push his poorly-fitted cowl back up so he can see the bad guys [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

But you can see a few things that Adam West lifted for his portrayal, like that little "hop" he does when he takes off after the bad guys.

Only saw one fight in it where you'd really expect the "POW! ZAP! ZOWEE!"s to come up - in a warehouse full of empty cardboard boxes that bounce like Nerf balls but crush whoever they fall on [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

But don't take MY word for it - get thee to a WalMart and buy them yourself [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]