Batman And Robin – The Complete 1949 Movie

Batman And Robin The Complete 1949 Movie at Amazon

Who are the best actors to have worn Batman costumes over the years?

The very basi person to play The Caped Crusader was Lewis Wilson in a fifteen portion serial. It was merely called, ‘The Batman’ and it was firstborn shown in 1943. Robin was played by Douglas Croft. The serial is still enjoyed by fans of The Dark Knight even today.

In 1949 a second serial was released. This one saw Robert Lowery and John Duncan donning Batman costumes for the lead parts. This time, Bruce Wayne likewise had a girlfriend involved in the story. Her name was Vicky Vale and she was played by Jane Adams. However, the overall style and quality of this second adventure, ‘Batman and Robin’, did not rather measure up to the basi offering.

The airwaves also featured serialised adventures with the hero. These primary started in 1945 and continued until 1950. After this time the adventures of The Caped Crusader stayed only within the pages of his comic books. The actors had taken a break and the Batman costumes were all sent off for dry-cleaning.

The Dark Knight made a comeback to the screen in 1966. This time the Dynamic Duo were played by Adam West and Burt Ward. The whole of Batman was to take on a far more camp image. The television series proved to be very general and the actors managed to give rise to a feature length film in amid shooting sequences for the show.

After the live action show, the actors again hung up their Batman costumes and made way for assorted animated portrayals of The Dark Knight. These continued, in dissimilar forms, allround the 1970s.

In the 1980s, Batman again stayed within the realms of comic pages but things were starting to change with the character. The stories started out to become far more gritty and realistic. The Batman costumes were starting to evolve as well. They were getting to be far more battle-orientated and the campness of the 1960s was gone.

1989 saw the release of Tim Burtons ‘Batman’. It was a big success and it went on to redefine the lead reputation for a new generation of fans. The film was dark, sombre and exceedingly Gothic. Even the Jokers’ gags had a cruelness regarding them that had antecedently not existed. This time it was Michael Keaton who played the lead role with help from Jack Nicholson and Kim Basinger.

Since this, the reputation has held much the same effigy for all of the subsequent movies. That brooding, Gothic feel is apparent right up to the latest addition in the film franchise. Actors to have dressed in Goth styled Batman costumes since 1989 include; George Clooney, Val Kilmer and Christian Bale. There have also been numerous very good villains who have been portrayed by the likes of Tommy Lee Jones, Jim Carrey, Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

It is safe to say that Batman is going be staying around for a good few years to come. Whoever next plays the main reputation is uncertain, but it is sure to be interesting.

Batman And Robin The Complete 1949 Movie

Join superheroes Batman and Robin in fifteen action-packed sequences of one of the most thrilling adventure serials of yesteryear. The Dynamic Duo careens from one nail-biting cliffhanger to the next as they combat The Wizard, a villain with all of Gotham City at his mercy. This action adventure was in the first place shown in movie theaters in 1949, one chapter at a time, in weekly installments.
Item Type: DVD Movie
Item Rating: NR
Street Date: 03/22/05
Wide Screen: no
Director Cut: no
Special Edition: no
Language: ENGLISH
Foreign Film: noSubtitles: no
Dubbed: no
Full Frame: yes
Re-Release: no
Packaging: Sleeve

There’s no Batmobile, and Robert Lowery looks a bit, ahem, well-fed as the Caped Crusader, but Columbia Pictures’ 1949 black-and-white serial Batman and Robin is up to it is cape and cowl in cliffhangers, crime capers, and good old-fashioned rock-em-sock-em action. Directed at a breakneck pace by serial vet Spencer Gordon Bennett, the Complete 1949 Movie Serial Collection‘s 15 sequences pits Lowery’s Batman and Johnny Duncan as the Boy Wonder versus arch-villain The Wizard, who has designs on a remote-control device that doubles as a death ray. Jane Adams’s Vicki Vale is on hand to fall into risk at least once per episode, while Ed Wood regular Lyle Talbot looks on sternly as Commissioner Gordon. Viewers weaned on Tim Burton’s dark, sleek interpretation of the Batman mythos will undoubtedly groan over the creaky dialog and performances (creator Bob Kane was no fan, either), but fans with designs on absorbing each bit of Bat-trivia possible will in all likelihood get a kick out of this well-intentioned try at bringing the Dark Knight’s adventures to screen. The sequences are separated onto two DVDs, which offer no extras. –Paul Gaita

Most helpful customer reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful.
Fedora Bashin’ Fun
By Drake
How does Bruce Wayne convert his car into the Batmobile? Why, he simply puts up the rag-top, of course! Yeah, okay, so the 1949 Batman Serial was not exactly “cutting edge” or “mind-blowing” or “good”, but it has its charm. The dialogue is ridiculous, the fight scenes are clumbsy, and the costumes are ill-fitting at best, but for some reason, I absolutely love it. This floppy-eared incarnation of the Dark Knight is more a film noir private investigator than the shadowy, rooftop avenger that we know today. He and the Boy Wonder spend less time lurking in the Bat Cave and more time beating up the Wizard’s greasy haired, fedora wearing thugs. Oh…and the Wizard! This guy is actually a pretty good villain. He is cloaked head-to-toe, has blank, glowing eyes, appears from time to time as a phantom, and remains a mystery through most of the serial. Pretty creepy dude, if you ask me, and a fitting opponent for Batman and Robin. If you’re thinking about buying this one, take off your critic’s hat and enjoy this gem for what it is: an old-school Bat-brawl. It’s fedora bashin’ fun!

49 of 56 people found the following review helpful.
Batman on a Low Budget
By Scott T. Rivers
Upon viewing the first chapter, it’s obvious that “Batman and Robin” (1949) will not emerge as one of the all-time great serials. With producer Sam Katzman at the helm, it’s bargain-basement all the way – right down to the cheap costumes and an incredibly poor excuse for a Batmobile. Despite low-budget shortcomings, there’s plenty of hokey fun as Batman and Robin face one contrived cliffhanger after another. The mysterious Wizard makes for an interesting villain, since he never appeared in the comic books. Robert Lowery does a good job as Batman, but John Duncan’s Boy Wonder looks like a juvenile delinquent. It’s nice to see character actor Lyle Talbot as Commissioner Gordon, even though he has a tendency to activate the Bat Signal in broad daylight. Flaws and all, “Batman and Robin” is an undeniable guilty pleasure.

41 of 47 people found the following review helpful.
For completist collectors
By Neal C. Reynolds
This 1949 serial will be of interest mainly to Batman and/or serial fanatics. It is fun to watch, though much of the fun comes from the improbabilities and inconsistencies. For instance, there’s no Batmobile, just a car which can be identified as Bruce Wayne’s car. Nobody except Bruce Wayne’s girl friend, Vickie Vale, seems to notice this.

There are very few good chapter endings here. Most of them are either lame or boring or borderline cheating.

The characters are interesting, though. The villianous Wizard’s
identity is of course kept secret until the last chapter, and you’re given several red herrings to puzzle over, one of which is a bit overly done.

A serial based on as popular a comic book hero as Batman should’ve been much better, but those who really enjoy the genre will probably want this, chiefly because it’s one of the two serials featuring the Dynamic Duo.

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