Batman (1966 film)

For the 1989 film, see Batman (1989 film).

Batman
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Leslie H. Martinson
Produced by	William Dozier
Written by	Lorenzo Semple, Jr.
Based on	Characters by Bob Kane Bill Finger
Starring	Adam West Burt Ward Lee Meriwether Cesar Romero Burgess Meredith Frank Gorshin
Music by	Nelson Riddle Neal Hefti (Theme)
Cinematography	Howard Schwartz
Editing by	Harry Gerstad
Studio	Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation William Dozier Productions Greenlawn Productions
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	July 30, 1966 (1966-07-30)
Running time	104 minutes
Language	English
Budget	US$1,400,000

Batman, often promoted as Batman: The Movie, is a 1966 film based on the Batman television series, and the first full-length theatrical adaptation of the DC Comics character of the same name. Released by 20th Century Fox, the film starred Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin. The film was directed by Leslie H. Martinson, who also directed a pair of Batman episodes; "The Penguin Goes Straight" and "Not Yet, He Ain't", both from season one.

The cast includes members of the original TV cast, including Alan Napier, Neil Hamilton, Stafford Repp and Madge Blake. Appearing as the criminal characters that they played on TV (and given the name the Rogues Gallery of Villains) are Frank Gorshin as the Riddler, Burgess Meredith as the Penguin, and Cesar Romero as the Joker. Julie Newmar, who left the movie before production started to do other work, is replaced with Lee Meriwether as Catwoman.

Plot

When Batman (West) and Robin (Ward) get a tip that Commodore Schmidlapp (the final role of actor Reginald Denny) is in danger aboard his yacht, they launch a rescue mission using the Batcopter. After a tangle with an exploding shark which seizes Batman's leg but is repelled by shark repellent after the Yacht disappears, Batman and Robin head back to Commissioner Gordon's office where, through deduction and wisdom, they figure out that the tip was a set-up by The United Underworld, a gathering of four of the most powerful villains in Gotham City (Joker, Penguin, Riddler and Catwoman), who plan to defeat The Dynamic Duo once and for all, and take over the entire world.

The United Underworld equip themselves with a dehydrator that can turn humans into dust (an invention of Commodore Schmidlapp, who is unaware he has been kidnapped by the felonious foursome), a World War II "Pre-Atomic" Submarine made to resemble a penguin, and their three pirate henchmen (Bluebeard, Morgan and Quetch), and Batman and Robin must stop them. It is revealed the ship was really a projection. When The Dynamic Duo return to the buoy via The Batboat with the projector on it, they are trapped on it by a magnet and torpedoes are launched at them, but they escape using a radio-detonator to destroy two of the missiles, and a porpoise is hit by the last one. Catwoman, disguised as the Soviet journalist "Miss KITKA" (short for Kitanya Irenia Tatanya Kerenska Alisoff), lures Bruce Wayne into a trap as part of a plot to destroy Batman, little suspecting that Wayne is Batman's alter-ego. And Penguin even schemes his way into the Batcave along with five dehydrated henchmen; this plan fails when the henchmen unexpectedly disappear into Antimatter when Penguin mistakenly rehydrates them with heavy water contaminated with radioactive waste, regularly used to recharge the Batcave's atomic pile.

Ultimately the Duo are unable to prevent the kidnapping of the dehydrated United World Organization's Security Council. After giving chase in the Batboat, the Caped Crusader and Boy Wonder use a sonic charge weapon called "Bat-Charges" to disable Penguin's submarine and bring it to the surface, where a grand fist fight ensues. Although Batman and Robin win the fight, Batman is heartbroken to find out that his "true love" Miss Kitka is actually Catwoman when she trips and her mask falls off. Although Commodore Schmidlapp sneezes on and scatters the powdered members of the dehydrated Council, mixing them together – which would normally spell their doom – Batman constructs an elaborate filter to separate the mingled dust.

Robin poses the question whether it might not be in the world's best interests for them to alter the dust samples so that humans can no longer harm one another. In response, Batman says that they cannot do so--in reminder of the fate of Penguin's five henchmen's tainted rehydration--and can only hope for people, in general, to learn to live together peacefully on their own.

However, in the final scene, Robin's wishes are ironically fulfilled when the Security Council is improperly re-hydrated. All of the members are alive and well, continuing to squabble among themselves and totally oblivious of their surroundings. But each of them now speaks the language - and displays the stereotypical mannerisms - of a nation other than their own. As the world looks on in disbelief at this development, Batman and Robin quietly climb out of the United World Headquarters to an uncertain future. Batman's final words express his sincere hope that this "mixing of minds" does more good than it does harm. The Fins shows "The Living{?} End"

Cast

The Penguin, the Riddler and The Joker in 1966. These actors also played the television roles.

Lee Meriwether acted as Catwoman in the film (pictured), replacing Julie Newmar, the usual actress for Catwoman in the television series.

• Adam West as Bruce Wayne / Batman
• Burt Ward as Dick Grayson / Robin
• Lee Meriwether as Catwoman
• Cesar Romero as The Joker
• Burgess Meredith as The Penguin
• Frank Gorshin as The Riddler
• Alan Napier as Alfred Pennyworth
• Neil Hamilton as Commissioner James Gordon
• Stafford Repp as Chief Miles O'Hara
• Madge Blake as Aunt Harriet Cooper
• Reginald Denny as Commodore Schmidlapp
• Milton Frome as Vice Admiral Fangschleister
• Gil Perkins as Bluebeard
• Dick Crockett as Morgan
• George Sawaya as Quetch
• William Dozier as Desmond Doomsday the Narrator (uncredited)
• Van Williams as President Lyndon B. Johnson (voice, uncredited)

Though Julie Newmar played the Catwoman in the TV series, she had other commitments at that time and was replaced by Lee Meriwether in this movie. In his autobiography, Adam West writes of his asking for more money to do the film and that the producers countered with the fact that another actor would be hired. Jack LaLanne has a cameo as a man on a roof top with girls.

Production

William Dozier wanted to make a big-screen film to generate interest in his proposed Batman TV series, to have the feature in theaters while the first season of the series was rolling before the cameras. The studio, 20th Century Fox, refused because while a network would have to cover the entire cost of a movie, they would only have to share the cost of a TV series (a much less risky proposition). So it was not filmed until the end of the first season of Batman the TV series (between April 25 and May 31, 1966 at an estimated $1,377,800).

Portions of the film, including the sequence where Batman desperately tries to dispose of a live bomb, were filmed at waterfront locations in Santa Barbara, California.

This movie featured four criminals from the show, including the Joker (Cesar Romero), Riddler (Frank Gorshin), Penguin (Burgess Meredith), and Catwoman (Lee Meriwether). It was written by series writer Lorenzo Semple, Jr. and directed by series director Leslie H. Martinson, who won a Golden Gryphon.

Tone

Like the television series, the movie featured saturated colors, campy dialogue and special effects, and exaggeration in acting performances, as well as the occasional breaking of the fourth wall, effectively being a tongue-in-cheek parody.

Though it is often described (like many contemporary shows) as a parody of a popular comic-book character, some commentators believe that its comedy is not so tightly confined. Some commentators felt the film's depiction of the Caped Crusader "captured the feel of the contemporary comics perfectly". The film was, they remind us, made at a time when "the Batman of the Golden Age comics was already essentially neutered".

Certain elements verge into direct parody of the history of Batman. The movie, like the TV series, is strongly influenced by the comparatively obscure 1940s serials of Batman, such as the escapes done almost out of luck. The penchant for giving devices a "Bat-" prefix, and the dramatic use of stylized title cards during fight scenes, acknowledge some of the conventions that the character had accumulated in various media. However, the majority of Batman's campier moments can be read as a broader parody on contemporary mid-1960s culture in general.

Furthermore, the movie represented Batman's first major foray into cold war issues, paying heavy attention to Polaris Missiles, war surplus submarines and also taking a poke at the Pentagon. The inclusion of a glory-hunting presidential character and the unfavorable portrayal of Security Council Members mark Batman's first attempts to poke fun at domestic and international politics.

Vehicles

The Batmobile as seen in the 1960s Batman TV series.

Besides the Batmobile, other vehicles used by The Dynamic Duo:

• Batcycle with side car
• Batboat, provided by Glastron
• Batcopter

Of the three new Batvehicles which first appeared in the Batman film, only the Batcycle properly crossed over into the TV series, as the budgetary limits of the TV series precluded the full use of the others. Whilst the Batcopter and Batboat from the movie did appear briefly in episodes (including a use of the Batboat in the conclusion of the first post-film two-parter: "Walk the Straight and Narrow"), they primarily appeared in the form of scenes from the film intercut into the series.

Release

The 105-minute Batman opened at The Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas on Saturday, July 30, 1966 (between the first and second seasons of the TV series); it was moderately successful at the box office. The Batboat featured in the film was created by Austin-based company Glastron, whose payment was in having the film premiere in their hometown. In conjunction with the premiere, Jean Boone of Austin CBS affiliate station KTBC interviewed the film's cast, including Lee Meriwether, Cesar Romero, and Adam West.

The movie later had its nationwide television debut as an ABC Sunday Night Movie, at 9:00 Eastern/8:00 Central, on July 4, 1971.

The film was in released on VHS in 1985 by Playhouse Video, in 1989 by CBS/Fox Video, and in 1994 by Fox Video. On August 21, 2001 this film was released on DVD; it was re-released July 1, 2008 on DVD and on Blu-ray for the 42nd anniversary of the film's release and to take advantage of The Dark Knight's release on July 18. The Blu-ray added several features in addition to those found on the original DVD. However, the 2008 DVD is identical to the 2001 release, except for the disk artwork, which had a darker feel than the 2001 release and did not include Robin, probably to tie in with The Dark Knight.

Reception

Batman: The Movie has received positive reviews over the years, with an 82% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Bill Gibron of Filmcritic.com gave the film 3 out of 5 stars and commented that "unlike other attempts at bringing these characters to life...the TV cast really captures the inherent insanity of the roles." Variety magazine stated on their review that "the intense innocent enthusiasm of Cesar Romero, Burgess Meredith and Frank Gorshin as the three criminals is balanced against the innocent calm of Adam West and Burt Ward, Batman and Robin respectively."

External links

• Batman at the Internet Movie Database
• Batman at AllRovi
• Batman: The Movie at Rotten Tomatoes
• Batman The Movie @ BYTB: Batman Yesterday, Today and Beyond
• Batmania UK: 1966 Batman
• "Strange new Batman/White Stripes link" Article on Batman: The Movie's pop culture influence
• kiddiematinee.com: BATMAN (1966, U.S.)
• Geoff Boucher (2010-05-17). "Camp it up: The writer of ‘Batman’ and ‘Flash Gordon’ answers five questions". Los Angeles Times. http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2010/05/17/batman-flash-gordon-lorenzo-semple-jr/.