Despite a non existent budget and Trick-or-Treat costumes, this serial is very entertaining and faithful to the early comics. Lewis Wilson plays a definitive Bruce Wayne, bringing the character to life for the first time on film as a bored and somewhat shiftless playboy. His Batman is dark and grim, yet fun, able to shoot off one-liners with Robin. But when he threatens a thug he's holding hostage in the Bat-Cave, Batman means business. His Chuck White disguise is the forerunner of Matches Malone. The design for Batman's costume is far superior to the Adam West TV show costume, however the tailor did not have the proper materials or measurements to make it fulfill its potential. The utility belt is perfect, though.
A twist in the legend has Bruce a government agent, predating Marvel Comics' SHIELD concept by decades. As such, he is assigned to capture the Japanese terrorist Prince Tito Daka, played by J. Caroll Naish, in an over the top performance that could be the blueprint for the villains of the TV series, and virtually all live action comic book villains.
Douglas Croft plays Dick Grayson as a carefree teenager who still has sense enough to warn Bruce not to take his playboy masquerade too far. His Robin is a wisecracking daredevil who seems both younger and far more capable than the TV show counterpart.
Beautiful Shirley Patterson plays Linda Page, Bruce's love interest with some real emotion. William Austin makes such a perfect Alfred, that DC redesigned the comic book character to resemble Austin (previously, Alfred was drawn to look like Alfred Hitchcock).
The serial introduces the Bat-Cave and its grandfather clock entrance, which would be added to the comics, but Bruce's limo doubles as a nondescript Batmobile. There are some good gimmicks, such as a car that repaints itself and has revolving license plates, and Daka's alligator pit. Another thing I really like is, even in costume, Batman and Robin still call each other Bruce and Dick. Its a subtle touch of sophistication.
Sadly, there are some racist moments against the Japanese, but this serial must be watched in the context of World War II. The narration does mention how FDR and the US government put many Asian-American citizens into detention camps (just as Hitler was putting Jews into concentration camps), a fact ignored by most modern history accounts for fear FDR's image being tainted.
The racism notwithstanding, this is a very fun serial and one can easily imagine kids in the 1940s cheering and applauding Batman and Robin, and booing and hissing Daka and his henchmen (and probably cheering the one henchman who turns on Daka, in a moment of patriotism). It is unquestionably superior to the 1949 serial, which was much more mundane and dull.
A twist in the legend has Bruce a government agent, predating Marvel Comics' SHIELD concept by decades. As such, he is assigned to capture the Japanese terrorist Prince Tito Daka, played by J. Caroll Naish, in an over the top performance that could be the blueprint for the villains of the TV series, and virtually all live action comic book villains.
Douglas Croft plays Dick Grayson as a carefree teenager who still has sense enough to warn Bruce not to take his playboy masquerade too far. His Robin is a wisecracking daredevil who seems both younger and far more capable than the TV show counterpart.
Beautiful Shirley Patterson plays Linda Page, Bruce's love interest with some real emotion. William Austin makes such a perfect Alfred, that DC redesigned the comic book character to resemble Austin (previously, Alfred was drawn to look like Alfred Hitchcock).
The serial introduces the Bat-Cave and its grandfather clock entrance, which would be added to the comics, but Bruce's limo doubles as a nondescript Batmobile. There are some good gimmicks, such as a car that repaints itself and has revolving license plates, and Daka's alligator pit. Another thing I really like is, even in costume, Batman and Robin still call each other Bruce and Dick. Its a subtle touch of sophistication.
Sadly, there are some racist moments against the Japanese, but this serial must be watched in the context of World War II. The narration does mention how FDR and the US government put many Asian-American citizens into detention camps (just as Hitler was putting Jews into concentration camps), a fact ignored by most modern history accounts for fear FDR's image being tainted.
The racism notwithstanding, this is a very fun serial and one can easily imagine kids in the 1940s cheering and applauding Batman and Robin, and booing and hissing Daka and his henchmen (and probably cheering the one henchman who turns on Daka, in a moment of patriotism). It is unquestionably superior to the 1949 serial, which was much more mundane and dull.