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Batman (1966 film)

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Batman: The Movie
Theatrical release poster
Directed byLeslie H. Martinson
Written byLorenzo Semple, Jr.
Produced byWilliam Dozier
StarringAdam West
Burt Ward
Lee Meriwether
Cesar Romero
Burgess Meredith
Frank Gorshin
Narrated byWilliam Dozier (uncredited)[citation needed]
CinematographyHoward Schwarts
Edited byHarry Gerstad
Music byNelson Riddle
Neal Hefti
(Theme)
Production
companies
Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
William Dozier Productions
Greenlawn Productions
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • July 30, 1966 (1966-07-30)
Running time
104 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
BudgetUS$1,540,000[1]
Box office$1.7 million (est. US/ Canada rentals)[2]

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 Batman. Released by 20th Century Fox, the film starred Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin.

Released in July, the film hit theaters over a month after the last episode of the first season of the television series. The film includes most members of the original TV cast, with the exception of Lee Meriwether as Catwoman, the character previously played at this point by Julie Newmar in two episodes of the series' first season.

Plot

When Batman (West) and Robin (Ward) get a tip that Commodore Schmidlapp (Reginald Denny) is in danger aboard his yacht, they launch a rescue mission using the batcopter. As Batman descends on the bat-ladder to land on the yacht it suddenly vanishes beneath him. He rises out of the sea with a shark attacking his leg. After Batman dislodges it with bat-shark repellant, the shark explodes. Batman and Robin head back to Commissioner Gordon's office, where they deduce 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).

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), a submarine made to resemble a penguin, and their three pirate henchmen (Bluebeard, Morgan and Quetch). It is revealed the yacht was really a projection. When The Dynamic Duo return to a buoy concealing a projector, they are trapped on the buoy by a magnet and targeted by torpedoes. They use a radio-detonator to destroy two of the missiles, and a porpoise sacrifices itself to intercept the last one. Catwoman, disguised as Soviet journalist "Miss Kitka", helps the group kidnap Bruce Wayne and pretends to be kidnapped with him, as part of a plot to lure Batman and finish him off with another of Penguin's explosive animals (not knowing that Wayne is Batman's alter-ego). After Wayne escapes captivity, Penguin disguises himself as the Commodore and schemes his way into the Batcave along with five dehydrated henchmen. This plan fails when the henchmen unexpectedly disappear into antimatter once struck: Penguin mistakenly rehydrated them with toxic heavy water, 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. Giving chase in the batboat to retrieve them (and Miss Kitka, presumed by the duo as still captive), Robin uses a sonic charge weapon to disable Penguin's submarine and force it to surface, where a 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 her mask falls off. Commodore Schmidlapp accidentally breaks the vials containing the powdered Council members, mixing them together.

Batman sets to work, constructing an elaborate filter to separate the mingled dust. Robin asks him whether it might 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, reminding Robin of the fate of Penguin's henchmen and their tainted rehydration, and can only hope for people in general to learn to live together peacefully on their own.

With the world watching, the Security Council is re-hydrated. All of the members are restored 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. Batman quietly expresses his sincere hope to Robin that this "mixing of minds" does more good than it does harm. The duo quietly leave United World Headquarters by climbing out of the window.

Cast

The Penguin (Burgess Meredith), the Riddler (Frank Gorshin) and the Joker (Cesar Romero) in 1966. These actors also played the television roles.
Lee Meriwether acted as Catwoman in the film (pictured), replacing Julie Newmar, who played Catwoman in the first two seasons of the television series.

The film includes most members of the original TV cast: the actors for Batman, Robin, Alfred, Commissioner Gordon, Chief O'Hara, Aunt Harriet, the Joker, the Penguin and the Riddler all reprised their roles. Though Julie Newmar had at this point played the Catwoman in two episodes of the TV series, she had other commitments at that time[4] and was replaced by Lee Meriwether in the film. Catwoman was then played by Newmar in ten episodes of season two of the series; Eartha Kitt would then play the character in three episodes on season three.

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. Batman was Reginald Denny's final appearance in film. Jack LaLanne has a cameo as a man on a roof top with bikini-clad women.[5]

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 the studio would have to cover the entire cost of a movie, it would only have to share the cost of a TV series (a much less risky proposition).[6]

The film features many characters from the show. It was written by series writer Lorenzo Semple, Jr. and directed by Leslie H. Martinson. Martinson had directed a pair of the television series episodes: "The Penguin Goes Straight" and "Not Yet, He Ain't" (both from season one).

Tone

Even 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. They felt the film's depiction of the Caped Crusader "captured the feel of the contemporary comics perfectly".[7] The film was, they remind us, made at a time when "the Batman of the Golden Age comics was already essentially neutered."[8]

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.[8] 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.[9]

Furthermore, the movie represented Batman's first major foray into Cold War issues paying heavy attention to Polaris Missiles, war surplus submarines and taking a poke at the Pentagon. The inclusion of a glory-hunting presidential character and the unfavorable portrayal of Security Council Members marked Batman's first attempts to poke fun at domestic and international politics.[10]

Vehicles

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

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

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. While the Batcopter and Batboat from the movie appeared 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 did in the form of stock-footage 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.[11]

ABC, the network which previously aired the Batman television series, first broadcast the movie version on the July 4, 1971 edition of The ABC Sunday Night Movie; the film was quickly rebroadcast on ABC September 4 of that year. The film was released on VHS in 1985 by Playhouse Video, in 1989 by CBS/Fox Video, and in 1994 by Fox Video. The film was re-released July 1, 2008 on DVD and on Blu-ray.[12]

Reception

Batman: The Movie has received more positive than negative reviews over the years, with an average rating from all critics of 6.2/10 and 80% on Rotten Tomatoes.[13] Bill Gibron of Filmcritic.com gave the film 3 out of 5 stars: "Unlike other attempts at bringing these characters to life...the TV cast really captures the inherent insanity of the roles."[14] 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."[15]

References

Notes
  1. ^ Solomon, Aubrey. Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. ISBN 978-0-8108-4244-1. p254
  2. ^ "Big Rental Pictures of 1966", Variety, 4 January 1967 p 8
  3. ^ Van Hise, James, "The man who played The Green Hornet" [sic], The Green Hornet Book, Shuster and Shuster, Inc., 1988, p.16.
  4. ^ Garcia, Bob, "Batman: Catwoman," Cinefantastique, Vol. 26, #6/Vol. 7, #1 (double issue), February 1994, p. 19 (interview with Julie Newmar).
  5. ^ "BATMAN (1966, U.S.)". Kiddiematinee.com. Archived from the original on 20 December 2010. Retrieved 2011-01-31. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ Garcia, Bob, "Batman: Making the Original Movie", Cinefantastique, Volume 24, #6/Vol. 25, #1 (double issue), February 1994, p. 55.
  7. ^ Stomp Tokyo Video Reviews - Batman (1966). Retrieved 2011-01-14.
  8. ^ a b GrouchoReviews.com Review of 'Batman'
  9. ^ "Museum of Broadcast Communication's entry on the parent TV show". Museum.TV. Retrieved 2010-12-25.
  10. ^ Batman at 45: A Milestone Tribute to Pow, Bam and Zap!, Chris Gould, 2011
  11. ^ "Jean Boone - Interview with Cast of Batman, The Movie (1966)". Gordon Wilkison Collection. Texas Archive of the Moving Image. July 1966. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
  12. ^ "Batman The Movie Blu-ray: Special Edition". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved 2012-04-14.
  13. ^ "Batman: The Movie". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2012-10-13.
  14. ^ "AMC Filmcritic – Batman (1966) Review". Filmcritic.com. Retrieved 2010-12-25.
  15. ^ "Variety Reviews - Batman - Film Reviews". Variety. 1965-12-31. Retrieved 2010-12-25. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
Bibliography
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