I just saw the first half of the 1943 Batman serial with Lewis Wilson as the first man to play the Dark Knight. (I know, I know, you thought Robert Lowery was the first in the 1949 serial Batman and Robin. Clearly, you were wrong.)
Like 300, this is a product of a nation at war, only this one has a crystal clear message. We know exactly who the good guys are and who the enemy is. Unlike other versions of Batman where the Caped Crusader and his young ward are vigilantes this Batman is an undercover agent for "Uncle Sam". And the villains? Well, the ostensibly objective narrator has this to say about our Japanese Internment policy, "a wise government rounded up the shifty-eyed Japs." Yikes!
The plot revolves around a Japanese mad scientist who is trying to create a giant radium-powered, atom-smasher gun. He remarks that, "We can build a lethal mechanism so destructive as to make retaliation by the United States impossible." Ah yes, only the Japs would be so dastardly as to use atomic weaponry.
The whole thing is pretty campy and rumour has it that it's 1965 re-issue as An Evening with Batman and Robin was the inspiration for the 1966 TV series. Supposedly, the creators of "Batman" sat in the back of the theater mocking the serial before they got the idea to create their own spoof.
I'll have more to say when the second disc comes from Netflix but until then I'll leave you with an image of the villain Dr. Daka, the Japanese prince played by Irish-American character actor J. Carrol Naish.
Jap? Possibly. Shifty-eyed? Undoubtedly.
2 comments:
See if you can find a picture to post, of that awesome BatMobile they have.
Great idea!
I'll do that for the next instalment.
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