MAD's "Bat Boy and Rubin!" by Wally Wood (1953)

CHRISTMAS CARDS from the Stars - Part 1

The Art of Adam West

Batdog

An email from MeTV told me that Adam West, now 88, has a bunch of paintings on exhibit in an art gallery in Ketchum, Idaho. The examples here are priced between $3000 and $8500. 

Penguin

Alfred

Joker Evening Makeup

Christmas Surprise

Riddler

Liberace

The Mad Hatter

Art Gallery: BATMAN in Simpler Times

Overlooked Films: Batman and Robin (1949)

After my first viewing of the first Batman serial from 1943 (reviewed HERE), which I enjoyed quite a bit, I thought this one might be a step up. Sadly, no. In fact, in all but one aspect, it's a step down. And that single improvement is the one displayed right here - the movie poster art.

For me, the biggest letdown is the script. While the first serial had some witty lines, and seemed in line with other film dialogue of the '40s, this one never rises above the level of a Golden Age comic book. In other words, it's predictable and dull.

Then there's the acting. In Batman, Lewis Wilson was an engaging Bruce Wayne. I had high hopes for his replacement, Robert Lowery, because Lowery looks sort of like Johnny Weismuller, with a touch of Victor Mature. But aside from looking sort of like those guys, he doesn't do much. As Bruce Wayne, he simply yawns a lot. And John Duncan, the new Robin, looks way too old to be running around in a yellow cape and Speedos.

The costume department didn't do Batman any favors, either. His belt looks like it was borrowed from a Vegas chorus girl – and the cowl is just laughable. The ears stick out like devil’s horns, the eye slits don’t line up with his eyes, and the nose piece forms a long floppy beak.

As in the first serial, there is no Batmobile, probably a budget cutter. But this time, the car keeps changing. Sometimes our heroes are driving a Mercury convertible, sometimes a different make of convertible, and sometimes a sedan. Worst of all, the sedan is the same one the bad guys were driving in the previous episode. It would seem that when it came time to shoot, they just grabbed whatever was available in the Columbia Pictures motor pool.

Another letdown: There's no Wayne Manor. Instead, Bruce and Dick inhabit a relatively modest home in the suburbs, and simply park their car in the driveway. Apparently the neighbors don't notice when two guys in superhero suits rush out of the house and jump into the convertible.

The master villain, on the other hand, lives in a mansion on a hill, and has a secret entrance through his fireplace to a complex of caves below. Jeez, I wonder where they got that idea?

 

More Overlooked Filmish stuff at SWEET FREEDOM.

Overindulged Films: Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992)

To be more exact, my problem with these films is the Overindulged Director (Tim Burton) and at least one Overindulged Star (Jack Nicholson).

I seem to remember liking both movies when they premiered, but I suspect I enjoyed the anticipation more than the results. I had high hopes that Batman would bring the superhero film genre some redemption after the cinematic travesty known as Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.

But viewing them now, it's hard to believe I was all that pleased. Both films had their moments. The highpoint was probably Gotham City, clearly inspired by Fritz Lang's Metropolis. The Batmobile was pretty cool, too, and the Batplane wasn't bad. Michael Gough made a fine Alfred, and Kim Bassinger did a surprisingly good job as Vicky Vale.

But Michael Keaton was just okay as Bruce Wayne, and when it came to Batman, he and his stand-ins were merely stiffs in suits. The rubber was so thick the actors could barely move, let alone fight, and Batman's most convincing move seemed to be getting knocked flat on his back.

But the biggest problem with the first film was Jack Nicholson's dialogue. His lines were so corny, juvenile, and downright painful that I have a hard time believing a scriptwriter would have written them down. I have to suspect that Nicholson was ad-libbing, and given his stature and influence, Tim Burton just gave him free rein.

On the other hand, Nicholson's lines are so bad that they may have been an actual plus for Burton, serving to distract the viewer from his heavy-handed direction.

Burton was not so lucky with Batman Returns. With Danny DeVito (the Penguin) and Michelle Pfeiffer (Catwoman) seemingly following the script, his in-your-face gothic vision was on full display. I can't fault Burton for having a distinctive style, and it was fine for films like Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas. But with an icon like Batman, I want the focus on the hero, not on the director's need to show how bizarre he can be. The scenes with the Penguin and Catwoman, both alone and together, labored so hard to be creepy that they became boring.

To be fair, there were moments in both films when the story took center stage, and I felt like I was truly in the world of Batman. But those moments never lasted long, and in the final analysis, Bats always took a back seat to Tim.

More Overlooked Films, as always, at SWEET FREEDOM.

 

Overlooked Films: Batman (1943)

I've seen stills from this serial ever since I was a kid (beginning, no doubt, with the Warren mag Screen Thrills Illlustrated), but never got around to seeing the film until now. Well, hey. It was worth the wait.

The stills make it look pretty cheesy, due primarily to Batman's floppy-eared cowl and high-waisted trunks. But the surprising thing is - the cowl and trunks are the most serious flaws in the whole 15-chapter serial.

To begin with, our hero is consistently referred to as The Batman, which is fitting and proper for 1943. There are no Academy Award performances here, but the acting is perfectly acceptable, and the dialogue is several notches above the comic book norm. Best of all, there's nothing campy going on here. Batman and Robin are portrayed as seriously as any other screen heroes, which is the way it should be. While Lewis Wilson is only passable as The Batman, he's a fine Bruce Wayne, while 16-year-old Douglas Croft is equally competent as Robin and Dick Grayson.

Being 1943, it's not surprising the plot revolves around a Japanese scheme to help them win the war. The number one villain is a Japanese agent/evil mastermind called Dr. Daka, played by the very un-Japanese J. Carrol Naish with artificially slanted eyes. Among his inventions are a gas that can change the color of a moving automobile, a radium gun, and a gadget that turns good loyal Americans into slavish zombies. And just for fun, he keeps a bunch of hungry crocodiles in a pit beneath the trapdoor in his office floor.

One cool note: The first time we see Alfred, he's reading a detective pulp. Hard to be sure, but it looks to me like an issue of Private Detective Stories, maybe even one I possess.

One peculiar note: Batman's cape and cowl assembly keeps changing color, often within a single scene. Sometimes it appears black, sometimes medium gray, and sometimes a pale gray. The black looks best, of course, but maybe they figured it wouldn't always photograph well.

The cliffhangers are pretty standard stuff. Batman gets caught in burning buildings, goes over a cliff in a car, gets caught between moving walls with sword blades sticking out of them, etc., and each time the bad guys are certain he's been killed. After about the twelfth chapter, though, they come up with the novel theory that there must be a whole gang of Batmen, and can only hope the next one they kill will be the last.

Over the course of watching these 15 chapters, I also watched - for the first time in 20 years - the Tim Burton Batman flick starring Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson. Surprise! The 1943 cheapie beat the 1989 big-budget version all to hell. 

Overlooked Film Fans are advised, as always, to look for more at SWEET FREEDOM.

The following six panels comprised a comic strip ad for the serial, and offer a surprisingly accurate representation of some of the action. The most inaccurate element is that Batman actually looks like Batman.