BATMAN
US, 1966, 105 minutes, Colour.
Adam West, Burt Ward, Cesar Romero, Frank Gorshin, Burgess Meredith, Lee Meriwether, Alan Napier, Neil Hamilton.
Directed by Leslie Martinson.
Batman is the mid-'60s film version of the very popular television series which ran from 1966 to 1968. While the original Batman was an individual loner in a dark Gotham City, this series and movie play the film for laughs.
Adam West is a very serious Batman, Burt Ward is rather naive assistant Robin. However, the focus is on the villains - with Cesar Romero hamming it up as the Joker, Burgess Meredith enjoying himself as the Penguin, Frank Gorshin as the Riddler and Lee Meriwether as Catwoman. the film also came out in the period of the James Bond films - and the adventures and the sinister plots owe a lot to Sean Connery's series as Bond.
The films were very popular - especially with the spoof elements and the captions of `Kapow' and `Bam', etc.
This is in contrast with the style of the original comic of the late '30s and early '40s, which were much darker and more serious in tone. The more serious tone was taken up by Tim Burton's 1989 film with Michael Keaton playing a very sombre Batman and the film retaining only one villain, Jack Nicholson's tour de force as the Joker. Burton continued his dark themes with Batman Returns, 1991. This time there were several villains as well as some flashbacks to Bruce Wayne's traumatic childhood: Danny de Vito as the Penguin, Michelle Pfeiffer as Cat Woman and Christopher Walken.
However, with the change of director to Joel Schumacher, there was a change in tone, in colour and in a more showy style of action and special effects adventure. Val Kilmer replaced Michael Keaton as Batman. A love interest was introduced in the form of a psychiatrist played by Nicole Kidman. Tommy Lee Jones was Two Face and Jim Carrey, fresh from his popularity as Ace Ventura and the Mask was the Riddler. Significantly, the film also introducted Robin for the first time, Chris O' Donnell. Batman and Robin had George Clooney as Batman, Chris O' Donnell as Robin. The love interest (brief) was Elle Mac Pherson and the villains were Arnold Schwarzenegger and Uma Thurman. It was too much of a good thing.
The 60s film is interesting in showing the pop style of television entertainment of the '60s and the interpretation in that period of comic strip heroes. It is very much of its time. The villains are interested in world power and there is an atmosphere of international espionage. In the '40s as well as in the '80s the focus is narrower, on the evils of the inner city, especially criminals, masterminds and their associates - and with a focus on the cancer of the inner city, drugs. Enjoyable - but needs to be seen in the wider context of other treatments of the Batman character and his adventures.
Not so much for discussion as for comparisons.
