guisreis
Surprisingly good! Much better than I could expect. It is very well filmed and there are very nice action scenes, particularly for a production from the 40's: footage of fighting, climbing, spying, falling down, disguising... Although lightly plump, Lewis Wilson not only did a good job as the dark knight but also had one of the best representations of Bruce Wayne ever in my opinion, as the fake playboy. Batman was already frightening on the eyes of the criminals, as he intimidated them (the bat's cave has been created for this movie serial, though it was not his back office yet, but kind of a psychological torture and interrogation room, accessed through the clock). Batman fights a lot, most of the time against two or three thugs, but he is far from the skillful martial artist he would become in future versions; indeed, he receives lots of punches and loses the fights a lot of times, not dying by luck. There was already a charming black car, though it was not properly a batmobile, but a 1939 Cadillac, generally driven by Alfred. Douglas Croft was a typical Robin, and although his visual was true to the character, we got accustomed to the hair and the mask of Burt Ward decades afterwards, making his upright curly hair and his pointed-nose mask a bit strange. Batman and Robin were already skillful investigators, but there are two very important differences in their way of working against crime: first of all, chief of police has Bruce Wayne as a partner in law enforcement, although he does not know Batman's secret identity and has a dubious position on his vigilantism; besides that, the dynamic duo works much time spying without their masks, as Bruce and Dick, using the superhero personas much more for combat. This version of Bruce Wayne had great acting skills, like Christopher Reeve's Clark Kent, and could disguise himself deceiving even people who know him very intimately. There are other differences from more recent versions concerning other main characters. Instead of commissioner Gordon or chief O'Hara, Gotham police counted on chief Arnold. Linda Page was Batman's love interest, before the creation of Vicki Vale and other crushes. Butler Alfred appeared for the first time not as fat but as slim, what became his usual representation ever since. The main criminal here was a Japanese scientist, in a quite obvious usage of the character in order to support USA foreign policy (what always happened with the most famous superheroes, not only due to that World War); unfortunately the way characters referred to him was often racist and xenophobic against the Japanese people. The repetition of the same formula - criminals phone to the victim pretending to be someone else and setting up a meeting, but Batman and Robin suspect and go there to save the day - bores a little, as it is too much recurrent and the movie serial is too good to insist in a so simplistic solution. The same may be said about the too many times villains believe that they have killed Batman; once or twice it is OK, but in every episode?! As a matter of fact, the movie serial is nice and entertaining, but it would be better if edited shorter as a feature-length film. It worth be watched, anyway, for sure.
slapstck2000
I've seen parts of Batman, (the 1943 version) wow and I've noticed the way DC is drawing him now! makes me wonder if theve gone back and doing Batman the way Lewis Wilson was built, the black bat on his chest and all, wow, ill admit there's no batmobile in this very first movie about the dynamic duo but hey ya cant have everything !laugh out loud! Dauglas Croft is pretty good as Robin, caurse in each incarnation hes always been more of the TEEN wonder than boy wonder! AND the way Lewis Wilson and Dauglas Croft actually take off there masks while still in costume! now thats something you only see them do in the comic books! but wow, Im impressed, as far as im concerned guys Lewis Wilson was the ultimate and definite Batman at least for that era!
along_came_bialy
My Dad Recorded this series off the telly many years ago, and I've watched it several times since I was a child. I used to think "oh i'll just watch a couple of episodes" and before I knew it I'd watched all 15 and lost a whole afternoon. I think it's a shame that people say that it is not "PC", the anti Japanese vibe could easily be edited. Also, it was made during the War when America and Japan were not good friends (due to the Pearl Harbour attack). I like this series because it is so simple, anyone can understand the storyline. Batman and Robin steal a powerful new weapon from "Daka" in episode 1. The remaining 14 episodes centre around Dakas attempts to get it back. Why does it need to be more complicated? As a child I enjoyed the fact that each episode built up to a fight scene, before ending on a cliff hanger. My favourite episode was the one with the fight on the railway bridge. I used to use my Batman Action figures and my train-set to act out the episode. Daka was a great villain and should be bought back in modern day productions of Batman. His hide out in the "Haunted house" fairground ride was one of the best in Batman history. Daka could be a good partner for the Joker, they are similar characters and could even be related.. It is worth remembering that the series was made in the 40's, in a time before expensive special effects and sky high budgets. I would like to see more Serials like this nowadays in cinemas, it would be a good way for young directors and actors to get exposure. They would also be entertaining.
