Batman and Robin (1949)

Memorable, crazy movie

Just perfect...

Blistering performances.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I've sat through this serial a number of times, trying to understand its appeal, even among hardcore serial fans. It's just very poorly done. Robin seems to be on tranquilizers, and looks more like Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer than the Boy Wonder. Wayne Manor is a middle class home and the Batmobile is a Mercury. It's not even black. All of which could be forgiven were the writing remotely coherent. But alas. Take Professor Hamill...a scientist and "wheelchair invalid" (with a nicer house than Bruce Wayne) who frequently, albeit temporarily, regains the use of his legs through the use of a hidden "electric chair" device. We see this process time and again, and Hamill is clearly keeping both the device, and whatever the hell her does whilst mobile, completely secret, even from his servant, Carter. He maintains at all times the illusion of being permanently disabled, for whatever reasons, and would, I guess, prefer to dance the cha-cha by himself (or whatever one secretly does with their legs) than benefit mankind, win a Nobel prize, and make an inestimable fortune with his incredible machine. All of which is incredibly goofy, but nothing compared to the fact that Hamill spends the penultimate chapter openly walking around...in full view of not only Carter, but also Commissioner Gordon, Batman, and Robin. And not one of them notices that he isn't in a wheelchair. Nor, in the final chapter, when he returns to his wheelchair, is it ever remarked upon that, hey, that guy can sometimes walk. Not only does Batman - the world's greatest detective! - fail to notice a wheelchair-bound man, walking...he and Robin also spend a lot of time out of costume, basically doing the same routine as when they're in costume. Including consulting with Commissioner Gordon as Bruce and Dick, in a manner indistinguishable from their consultations as Batman and Robin, except that they spend a lot of time saying things like "Batman asked us to give you this, " rather than just wearing the damn costumes. Considering the fact that Batman also drives Bruce Wayne's car, the guy seems pretty cavalier about the whole secret identity thing.Sure, the action is poorly staged and the acting variously hammy/anemic, but I cannot overstress the degree to which virtually nothing about the plot or character actions makes a lick of sense. In one early scene, the fact that diamonds are stolen, and that diamonds power the "remote control machine" that is the villainous Wizard's primary weapon (see, don't I sound like I'm having a stroke at this point?), is taken as instant and conclusive proof that the robbery was committed by the Wizard's gang, for the sake of powering the machine in question. It never even occurs to Batman - or indeed, to anyone - that diamonds might be stolen for any other purpose.But most of all, above and beyond all else, never let it be forgotten...BATMAN DIDN'T NOTICE A DISABLED MAN WALKING.

I think 'Batman and Robin' (1949) gets a really bad rap. In my opinion, it's really fun, fast-paced, nostalgic entertainment. There are obviously really silly bits in it, but there are very few truly cringeworthy moments in it. Most of the poor special effects and moments of deus ex machina (Batman's blowtorch magically appearing on his utility belt) just add to the fun, in my opinion. I think Robert Lowery looked, sounded and was GREAT as Batman. Obviously at first, his costume looks a bit hokey, but you really get used to it. The cape looks amazing and it's perfectly dark and black throughout (compared to the 1943 cape which looked depressingly white on occasion). Even the 'devil-horns' (which a lot of people complain about) grew on me and reminded me of Batman's original 1939 suit. Lowery also had a physical presence as Batman that neither Lewis Wilson or even Adam West had. He LOOKED tough and athletic (although he could have been wearing a girdle, :P). John Duncan is decent and inoffensive as Robin. He's not given a LOT to do, but what he does, he does it pretty well. People complain that he's too old and I suppose he is, but he easily passes for a 19-22 year old and is just as plausible as an older Boy Wonder as Chris O'Donnell (who I loved) was, 46 years later. Also, even though it lacks the yellow cape of the comics, I LOVE Robin's costume. It's much darker and looks great next to Batman. I like to think that the cape is a very dark green, as opposed to black. Probably the best thing about this serial, when comparing it to the original is the plot and the villain. The 'Remote Control Machine' and 'The Wizard' are far more interesting (albeit slightly clichéd) villains than the irritatingly racist-propaganda-villain from the original. The actor playing the Wizard is again, a tough, imposing villain with an amazingly fascinating voice. He really seems like a genuine threat to Batman. My biggest problem with this serial is that Batman and Robin lose nearly every single fight in it, so that there can be a cliffhanger. In spite of Lowery's toughness, Batman really isn't and every criminal he gets his hands on, he "hands over to the police for questioning", instead of pounding the answers out of them, himself. Not to mention, in several chapters, Batman and Robin follow the villains to the entrance of their secret hideout, only to lose track of them. It's really irritating that Batman never considers staking out the entrance. The final installment of this serial is really entertaining and my favourite chapter, probably because it highlights all of the flaws I have just mentioned. Batman finally decides to wait outside the entrance to the secret lair, follows one of the henchmen in and DEMANDS that he bring him to the Wizard. Lowery is REALLY cool in this scene. I think that Lowery and Duncan would have been great for a 1950s Batman TV show, along the same lines as the first season of 'Adventures of Superman', which was incredibly dark and full of gangsters and murderers. Single episodes would suit the characters better than drawn-out serials, purely because they could display their power in full, rather than having it frustratingly neutered and saved for the finale, as happened in this serial. Nevertheless, I would definitely recommend this serial to all fans of Batman. Personally, in spite of its flaws, I find it to be far more enjoyable than the 1966 show, which while excellent, was just a big joke. I prefer the unintentional, kitschy humour of this serial, not to mention the performance of Lowery who is probably my favourite live-action Batman before the blockbuster movies began (and frankly, I'd rank him above George Clooney, easily).

This set of serials was incredibly low budget as were all the serials. The dialogue was sort of stilted, but this film was truly Batman Begins. I mean think about it, its the first version with Vicky Vale of Picture Magazine, The first Bat signal, first commissioner Gordon. It wasn't the campy cheese product of the 1960s. It wasn't the far fetched plots of the 1990s movies. Lets face it this serial was incredibly low budget but somehow its still better than every movie 1990s batman live action movie except Batman (1989). The remote control machine is a bit dated, but I'm thinking that the idea has something to do with the fact that TV-the televiewer- and the remote control machine- your remote- were new items in the households of millions and so even the idea of radio waves stopping transportation and electricity isn't that far off. Its far more believable for instance then that horrible mind reader that was on Batman Forever. So if you want ****ty batman flicks watch the dreadful returns, forever, and robin flicks. If you want a good evening of entertainment and good fun watch the New Adventures of Batman and Robin.

In the review I just finished for Darkness (2002/I), I mentioned how "originality" shouldn't be an important consideration for artworks, because it is a quality that's usually determined by the viewer's familiarity with precursor material, which almost always exists. This 1949 Batman and Robin serial is a great example of that. I'm a big fan of the 1966 – 1968 "Batman" television show starring Adam West (please release it on DVD, by the way!). I would have said that the late 60s television show was a very original portrayal of the caped crusader. No, I wasn't quite so stupid to believe that 20th Century Fox Television invented the character. What I would have meant is that the wonderfully campy way that they portrayed the character was original. However, I had never even heard of this 1949 serial until the release of the DVD this past March (which is probably sufficient for serious Batman fans to call me stupid, after all). I was completely surprised at how close in tone and appearance Batman and Robin is to the Adam West show. That hasn't lessened my appreciation of the television show, but it certainly helped me love Batman and Robin! That's not to say that Batman and Robin contains fight scenes with swanky late 1960s go-go music and "Bang!" and "Wham!" graphics superimposed in colorful little stars, but the fight scenes here are not far from that. Plus, Robert Lowery, who plays Batman here, looks strikingly similar to Adam West, his costume looks similar, as does Robin (Johnny Duncan) and his costume, Alfred (Eric Wilton), Commissioner Gordon (Lyle Talbot), the Bruce Wayne house set, the Batcave set, and so on. This serial is always just on the edge of camp/supreme cheesiness, and it frequently crosses that line. It makes you realize that the Adam West television series arrived at its tenor by just slightly exaggerating this serial enough so that it would become a tongue-in-cheek spoof.So how do you know if you'll like Batman and Robin if you haven't seen it? If you've seen the Adam West television show, imagine it toned down just a tad, film it in black & white, and set it in the late 1940s--Batman even drives a big, old late 40s gas guzzler instead of the Batmobile. Just like the television show, every one of the 15 episodes here except the last end in a ridiculous cliff-hanger, with a narrator saying, "Can Batman release himself from the web of duct tape without falling into the boiling vat of goo?" And of course we know that the next episode will have him easily escaping. Except here, unlike the television show, he'll escape merely by an easy physical effort rather than employing the "Bat Anti-duct-tape-de-goo-inater". Well, usually. There were cool "oxygen breathers" and such.The villain here is known as "The Wizard". He has the typical comic book bad guy dreams of world domination/destruction. He tries to achieve this primarily by acquiring a "remote control" machine, which is a big old vacuum tube and dial monstrosity that enables its wielder to manipulate any kind of mechanical/electrical device at a distance. It basically turns things like automobiles into life-sized versions of those remote controlled toy cars you can buy at Radio Shack, except that it makes them even easier to break. This probably seemed like a much more amazing, fantastical idea in 1949. Now it's just humorous, especially how The Wizard can "tune" the remote control machine into any object of his desire by arbitrarily tweaking a couple big rotary knobs.In order to stretch out the serial, which is just the one story (maybe that's normal for serials--I don't know, this is the first one I've seen so far) into 15 episodes, most of which are around 16 minutes in length, minus the minute or two recap of the previous episode's cliffhanger at the beginning, The Wizard has to run into a lot of technical glitches, almost have his henchman caught a few times, and they keep trying to dispose of Batman and Robin in different ways--each time saying, "Now they're really out of our hair for good!"--This is said about ten times. The bulk of each episode consists of material like this, plus the obligatory, frequently hilarious fight scenes.That might not sound completely attractive, but the absurdity of the scenarios and the absurdity of the "repetitions" make Batman and Robin very entertaining. Some aspects--such as the Batcave material, including Batman's ridiculous devices (my favorite was a machine that could reconstruct a photograph that had been burnt to ashes), could have been featured more often for my tastes. Vicki Vale (a very attractive Jane Adams) and the ubiquitous human deus ex machina, Barry Brown (Rick Vallin), could have been better integrated into the plot and made more important characters. But overall, Batman and Robin is well constructed and well written, as long as you have a strong taste for the ridiculous.It is well known that Steven Spielberg and George Lucas were influenced by serials from this era. Although I don't know the extent to which Batman and Robin was actually an influence on Lucas, it's interesting to note at least some minor resemblances to Star Wars, including the fact that The Wizard has Darth Vader qualities, some episodes have names like "The Wizard Strikes Back", and the musical cue when the episode title card appears sounds suspiciously similar to John Williams score when the episode title cards appear in the Star Wars films. I also thought it was interesting to note the ways in which Gene Simmons' early costumes, at least, bore a resemblance to this (and the West) instantiation of Batman. But that would only interest you if you were also a Kiss fan.Is Batman and Robin "original"? I suppose I'll have to save that for if and when the 1943 serial, The Batman, makes it to DVD.