There were two Batman serials released in the 1940s, starring the DC Comics characters Batman and Robin. Both were released by Columbia Pictures. Information for the serials, The Batman (1943) and Batman and Robin (1949) is given below. // Events and trends The 1940s were seen as a transition period between the radical 1930s and the conservative 1950s, which also leads the period to be divided in two halves: The first half of the decade was dominated by World War II, the widest and most destructive armed conflict in... The current DC Comics logo, adopted in May 2005. ... The DC Comics superhero Batman (originally and still sometimes referred to as The Batman) is a fictional character who first appeared in Detective Comics #27 in May 1939. ... A classic image of Batman and Robin reinterpreted by painter Alex Ross. ... The Columbia Pictures logo, since 1993. ... Serial is a term, originating in literature, for a format by which a story is told in contiguous installments in sequential issues of a single periodical publication. ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) is a common year starting on Friday. ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) is a common year starting on Saturday. ...

The Batman (1943)

Douglas Croft as Robin and Lewis Wilson as Batman, from The Batman (1943)

Batman was the first DC comic character to star in a serial. The film, simply titled The Batman, was released in 1943 and starred Lewis Wilson as Batman and Douglas Croft as Robin. J. Carrol Naish played the villain, an original character named Dr. Daka. Rounding out the cast were Shirley Patterson as Linda Page (Bruce Wayne's love interest), and William Austin as Alfred. 1943 Batman serial This is a copyrighted promotional photo with a known source. ... 1943 Batman serial This is a copyrighted promotional photo with a known source. ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) is a common year starting on Friday. ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) is a common year starting on Friday. ... Lewis Wilson was a 1939 graduate of Worcester Academy in Worcester, Massachusetts. ... Douglas Croft (1926-1963) was an early American child actor who is best remembered for being the first actor to portray the DC Comics character Robin, the Boy Wonder in a 1943 serial simply titled Batman. ... J. Carrol Naish or Joseph Patrick Carrol Naish (January 21, 1897 - January 24, 1973) was an American actor born in New York City, New York. ... William Austin (1884-1975) was a British character actor (born in British Guiana) who appeared in many films and serials between the 1920s and the 1940s, though the vast majority of his roles were small and uncredited. ... Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Waynes butler, as seen on the cover to Gotham Knights #42, by Brian Bolland. ...

The film is notable for being the first filmed appearance of Batman. Also, the film introduced "The Bat's Cave". The name was altered to the Batcave for use in the comic books as well as the Grandfather's clock entrance. Also, the comic Alfred was overweight and clean-shaven prior to the serial's release. Austin was trim and sported a thin moustache. The comic Alfred's appearance was altered to match that of Austin's, and remains the same to this day. In fiction, the Batcave is the personal headquarters of DC Comics superhero Batman, situated underneath his residence, Wayne Manor. ...

The film's plot dealt with Batman and Robin's struggle against Dr. Daka, a Japanese spy who invented a device that turns people into pseudo-zombies. A zombie, at twilight, in a sugarcane field in Haiti A zombie is traditionally an undead person in the Caribbean spiritual belief system of voodoo. ...

The film was made during World War II, and like numerous works of popular American fiction of the time, contains anti-Japanese slurs and comments (in one scene, Robin tells Daka, "You're as yellow as your skin!"). The film also suffered from a low budget, indicative of many Columbia serials. No attempt was made to create a Batmobile, so a black Cadillac was used by Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, as well as Batman and Robin. Alfred chauffered the Dynamic Duo in both identities. World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrination, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atomic bomb. ... The original 1966 Batmobile was built by George Barris from a Lincoln Futura concept car. ... Cadillac is a brand of luxury automobile, part of the General Motors corporation, produced and mostly sold in the United States; outside of North America, they have been less successful. ...

The serial was released on home video in the late 1980s in a heavily edited format that removed the offensive racial content. A reviewer for the magazine Cinefantastique commented, "The changes aren't surprising when you see that Columbia is now owned by Japan's Sony Corporation. It appears that some of Daka's operatives escaped Batman's justice and were rewarded with positions at the new George Orwell department at Columbia." It should be noted that the edited version was not released by Columbia, but Goodtimes Home Video, an independent distributor. The 1980s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1980 and 1989, however in a pop cultural sense The Eighties sometimes includes at least some aspects of 1979 and 1990, or more or less the era between the end of the Disco era of the 1970s and... Cinefantastique is a horror, fantasy, and science fiction film magazine started in 1970 by publisher/editor Frederick S. Clarke. ... Sony Corporation (Japanese katakana: ソニー) (TYO: 6758 , NYSE: SNE) is a global Japanese consumer electronics corporation based in Tokyo, Japan. ... George Orwell, on the cover of a 2005 biography by Gordon Bowker Eric Arthur Blair (June 25, 1903–January 21, 1950), better known by the pen name George Orwell, was a British author and journalist. ...

However, in the early 1990s, the cable network American Movie Classics, aired both Batman serials on Saturday mornings, with the 1943 serial uncut and uncensored.

Sony released the serial on DVD in October 2005. The DVD release is an unedited version.

Chapters

1. The Electrical Brain
2. The Bat's Cave
3. Mark of the Zombies
4. Slaves of the Rising Sun
5. The Living Corpse
6. Poison Peril
7. The Phony Doctor
8. Lured by Radium
9. The Sign of the Sphinx
10. Flying Spies
11. A Nipponese Trap
12. Embers of Evil
13. 8 Steps Down
14. The Executioner Strikes
15. Doom of the Rising Sun

Batman and Robin (1949)

Johnny Duncan as Robin and Robert Lowery as Batman, from Batman and Robin (1949)

In 1949, a follow-up serial, Batman and Robin, was released. Robert Lowery played Batman, while Johnny Duncan played Robin. Supporting players included Jane Adams as Vicki Vale and veteran character actor Lyle Talbot as Commissioner Gordon. 1949 Batman serial This is a copyrighted promotional photo with a known source. ... 1949 Batman serial This is a copyrighted promotional photo with a known source. ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) is a common year starting on Saturday. ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) is a common year starting on Saturday. ... Motion picture and stage actor; born Kansas City, Missouri, October 17, 1913; passed away December 26, 1971 in Hollywood, California. ... Jane Poni Adams (b. ... Vicki Vale is a fictional character in the DC Comics universe, a reporter who was once a love interest of Bruce Wayne and his alter-ego, Batman. ... Lyle Talbot as Commissioner Gordon in the 1949 Batman and Robin serial. ... There have been several notable figures, both real and fictional, named James Gordon. ...

The plot dealt with the Dynamic Duo facing off against the Wizard, a hooded villain whose identity remains a mystery throughout the serial until the end.

The film's budget was even lower than the first one, and as a result, Batman drives a Mercury convertible. However, the acting was regarded as better than the first. Mercury is an automobile brand name of the Ford Motor Company founded in 1939 to market semi-luxury cars slotted between entry-level Ford and luxury Lincoln models. ...

The serial was released on DVD in 2005. DVD (sometimes called Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc) is an optical disc storage media format that can be used for data storage, including movies with high video and sound quality. ... 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Chapters

1. Batman Takes Over
2. Tunnel of Terror
3. Robin's Wild Ride
4. Batman Trapped
5. Robin Rescues Batman
6. Target--Robin
7. The Fatal Blast
8. Robin Meets the Wizard
9. The Wizard Strikes Back
10. Batman's Last Chance
11. Robin's Ruse
12. Robin Rides the Wind
13. The Wizard's Challenge
14. Batman vs. Wizard
15. Batman Victorious

External links

• The Batman at the Internet Movie Database
• Batman and Robin at the Internet Movie Database