Batman (1966)

Director:

Leslie H. Martinson

Writers:

Lorenzo Semple Jr. (written by)
Bob Kane (characters)

Release Date:

26 October 1966 (Italy)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Crime | Family

Tagline:

He's Here Big As Life In A Real Bat-Epic

Plot:

The Dynamic Duo faces four super-villains who plan to hold the world for ransom with the help of a secret invention that instantly dehydrates people.

Plot Keywords:

Joker | Villain | Submarine | Pirate | Super Villain

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Adam West	...	Batman / Bruce Wayne
Burt Ward	...	Robin / Dick Grayson
Lee Meriwether	...	The Catwoman / Kitka
Cesar Romero	...	The Joker
Burgess Meredith	...	The Penguin
Frank Gorshin	...	The Riddler
Alan Napier	...	Alfred
Neil Hamilton	...	Commissioner Gordon
Stafford Repp	...	Chief O'Hara
Madge Blake	...	Aunt Harriet Cooper
Reginald Denny	...	Commodore Schmidlapp
Milton Frome	...	Vice Admiral Fangschliester
Gil Perkins	...	Bluebeard
Dick Crockett	...	Morgan
George Sawaya	...	Quetch
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Vincent Barbi	...	Picnicking Man (uncredited)
Wolfe Barzell	...	Israeli Delegate (uncredited)
Albert Carrier	...	French Delegate (uncredited)
George Cisar	...	Rumpot in Window (uncredited)
Maurice Dallimore	...	United Kingdom Delegate (uncredited)
George DeNormand	...	White-Haired Policeman in Office (uncredited)
William Dozier	...	Narrator / Computer (voice) (uncredited)
Gregory Gaye	...	Soviet Delegate (uncredited)
Eddie Hice	...	Guinea Pig #1 (uncredited)
Jack LaLanne	...	Himself (uncredited)
Harry Lauter	...	Mr. Merrick (uncredited)
George J. Lewis	...	Spanish Delegate (uncredited)
James O'Hara	...	Airport Control Tower Man (uncredited)
Charlie Picerni	...	Guinea Pig #5 (uncredited)
Wally Rose	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Teru Shimada	...	Japanese Delegate (uncredited)
Fred Stromsoe	...	Henchman (uncredited)
William Tannen	...	American Delegate (uncredited)
Arthur Tovey	...	Policeman in Office (uncredited)
Ivan Triesault	...	West German Delegate (uncredited)
Van Williams	...	President Lyndon B. Johnson (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Leslie H. Martinson

Writing credits
Lorenzo Semple Jr.		(written by)
Bob Kane		(characters)

Produced by
William Dozier	....	producer
Charles B. Fitzsimons	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Nelson Riddle

Cinematography by
Howard Schwartz		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Harry W. Gerstad		(as Harry Gerstad)

Art Direction by
Serge Krizman
Jack Martin Smith

Set Decoration by
Chester L. Bayhi
Walter M. Scott

Makeup Department
Margaret Donovan	....	hair styles supervisor
Ben Nye	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Sam Strangis	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Bill Derwin	....	assistant director (as William Derwin)
Ray Kellogg	....	second unit director

Art Department
Jack Briggs	....	property master (uncredited)
Walt Douglas	....	property master (uncredited)
Wes Lee	....	property master (uncredited)

Sound Department
Harry M. Leonard	....	sound
Roy Meadows	....	sound

Special Effects by
L.B. Abbott	....	special photographic effects
Johnny Borgese	....	special effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Steven Burnett	....	stunts (uncredited)
Dick Crockett	....	stunts (uncredited)
Louie Elias	....	stunts (uncredited)
Hubie Kerns	....	stunt double: Adam West (uncredited)
Victor Paul	....	stunt double: Burt Ward (uncredited)
Gil Perkins	....	stunts (uncredited)
Charlie Picerni	....	stunts (uncredited)
Wally Rose	....	stunts (uncredited)
George Sawaya	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Jack A. Marta	....	photographer: second unit (as Jack Marta)
Nelson Tyler	....	aerial photographer
Dave Friedman	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Bill Neff	....	gaffer (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Steve Johnson	....	colorist

Music Department
Gil Grau	....	orchestrator
Neal Hefti	....	composer: Batman Theme

Other crew
Richard Kuhn	....	title designer: main title
George Barris	....	car designer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
• William Dozier Productions
• Greenlawn Productions

Distributors

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (1966) (USA) (theatrical)
• Twentieth Century Fox Film Company (1966) (UK) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox (1966) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Fox Films (1966) (Finland) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2003) (Brazil) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD) (special edition)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray) (special edition)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD) (special edition)
• Abril Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• FS Film Oy (2006) (Finland) (DVD)
• Fox Video (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (1998) (2005) (Finland) (TV)
• Oy Europa Vision AB (1988) (Finland) (video)
• Showtime (198?) (Finland) (video)
• TV3 (1988) (Finland) (TV)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2010) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Blu-ray)

Other Companies

• Glastron  batboat
• National Periodical Publications  Batman and Detective Comics Magazines published by
• National Screen Service  main title

Also Known As:

"Batman: The Movie" - USA (video box title)
"Batman" - Belgium (French title) (dubbed version), France (imdb display title)
"Batman" - Portugal
"Batman" - Finland
"Batman - O Homem Morcego" - Brazil
"Batman - lepakkomies" - Finland (imdb display title)
"Batman hält die Welt in Atem" - West Germany (imdb display title)
"Batman: La película" - Spain
"Betmen" - Serbia (imdb display title)
"I nyhterida" - Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title)

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Finland:K-12 (original rating) | Finland:K-8 (re-rating) | Canada:PG (Nova Scotia) (35th anniversary special edition) | Netherlands:6 | USA:PG (Certificate No. 21297) | Italy:T | Australia:G (original rating) | Australia:PG (DVD rating) | Brazil:Livre | Canada:F (Ontario) | Canada:G (Manitoba/Quebec) | France:U | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | UK:U | West Germany:6 | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

380 South San Rafael Avenue, Pasadena, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Inside joke: Burgess Meredith's line, "Run Silent, Run Deep" is the title of a 1958 submarine movie in which Frank Gorshin might have played a role had he been able to make it to the screen test.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Obvious stunt doubles for Batman and Robin on the Batcycle.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator:This yacht is bringing a revolutionary scientific invention to Gotham City. On a peaceful afternoon motor ride, millionaire Bruce Wayne and his youthful ward Dick Grayson have been summoned back to Wayne Manor by an urgent but anonymous call for help; the invention AND its custodian are reported in grave danger aboard the yacht...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "High Chaparall: Bad People: Corey Feldman (#2.8)" (2004)

"Oh, the delicious irony of it all!"

Having, losing, gaining... to a generation of kids this WAS Batman. Only when Tim Burton reinvented the big screen perception of the "caped crusader" did it become outdated.

The third of the new films, Batman Forever parodied this film and the series with a "holy" joke. Unfortunately the movie in question was the first to be directed by Joel Schumacher, and so was consequently brash and bereft of wit. Yes, thanks to ShoeMaker this version of Gotham has suddenly become the coolest yet again.

It's all such brilliant fun, awash with the irony so gloriously absent from Batman & Robin. Michael Keaton was a wonderfully dark Batman, but the other two were planks. Adam West is knowingly hammy as the title role, and relishes the deliberately cheesy lines. He has a potbelly and a costume that looks like it was made out of an old binliner. Anyone who cannot see the genius of that is beyond help. Burt Ward's brilliantly overacted Robin is also hilarious, and far less irritating than the asinine Chris O'Donnell version.

The Batmobile is ace, too. I remember having a chunky Corgi model of the car that shot out matchsticks across the room. Much better than a CGI-enhanced penile extension. Even the rubbish filmed backdrops are fun. Everything's a bat-something in this film, a rope ladder having a large "Bat Ladder" sign tied to the end.

This is a fantastic movie, how could anyone not love it? Some hilarious scenes include the shark fight, the trap door spring and Batman with the biggest (and longest-fused) bomb in history. Look at this dialogue exchange where they try to work out which supervillain is behind the mayhem: "But wait! It happened at sea. See? C for Catwoman." "An exploding shark ... was pulling my leg." "The Joker! It all led to a sinister riddle. Riddle -er. Riddler?"

Fortunately, it turns out they're all involved, along with Burgess Meredith as the Penguin. The scenes set on the villains' hideout are shot with the camera at slanted angles, an inspired touch. All the poor things about this film work in its favour - Cesar Romero as the Joker looks about 80 and clearly hasn't bothered to shave off his moustache, but it works, as does the full-bore "acting" of Meredith and Merriwether. Only Frank Gorshin as the Riddler slightly disappoints; though that's because he's nowhere near as over the top. He is, of course, infinitely preferable to Jim Carrey. Anyway, they all work superbly together and the film doesn't feel top-heavy. A huge flaw of the new series, where more than one villain never quite clicked, can you imagine Nicholson, Pfeiffer, Carrey and DeVito all in the same movie? Of course it'd be impossible not just in budget but in egos, so having modest TV actors here serves the story well. One strange element of characterisation is seeing the Joker getting bossed around by the Penguin, something that would never happen in the comics.

Some of it's so wilfully silly it almost goes too far. If you put your tongue into your cheek you may choke, and seeing a Pentagon head playing tiddlywinks eggs the joke a little, though the whole thing is so well-meaning that you simply can't hold it against the movie. The plot, though, really isn't up to much at all, something I never noticed as a child (but then I never realised it was a comedy when I was a child, either). A repetitious sequence of events that sees the villains constantly trying to destroy Batman and Robin from afar, the heroes trying to locate their secret base. It goes round in circles, but a glorious "Biff! Pow!" fight on a submarine and a sideways swipe at eugenics make sure it all ends in style.

Lastly, look out for the scene where Ward and West run up and down on the spot ("Luckily we're in tip-top condition!") while a film background of a street and the theme tune play - a classic. Simple, silly fun and almost relentlessly appealing. So much so I nearly added another point to the total... 6/10.