TO THE BATPOLES podcast #71: Batman '49: so bad, it... might not be bad?

[bat-rss]

TO THE BATPOLES podcast: We watch the 1949 "Batman and Robin" movie serial. While many questions asked about events in this serial begin with "Why....?!", another question to discuss is: To what extent did this serial influence the '66 series?

http://tothebatpoles.libsyn.com/071-bat ... not-be-bad

[AndyFish]

If you like Season Three this serial might be right up your alley, because it showcases all of the worst elements from that one, cheap sets, but with the added bonus of bad acting.

If Ed Wood had made a Batman film it would have looked a lot like this.

Johnny Duncan, whose Dick Grayson was likely slipping a few bills out of Bruce's wallet at night-- why else would a 26 year old man agree to be his ward-- once told me a story of how during filming they would keep an oxygen tank just off camera for Batman Robert Lowery who was so out of shape they had to fit him with a pretty tight girdle. Lowery would run off camera and then be doubled over taking hits from the tank.

He also said it was an added bonus that the costumes were made out of wool while they shot in the warm California sun.

I happen to think the '43 serial is good-- but this one is not. That's not to say I don't like some things about it and I'll still take it over any of the rubber suited Batmen films. The MST3K folks did the whole serial with their new RIFFTRAX series.

[bat-rss]

Girdle, OK, there we go. That's where the "ripped pectorals" came from! Thanks.

[Dan E Kool]

Any podcast that ends with Led Zeppelin is a winner in my book!

Thanks for discussing the connection between these old serials and the '66 TV show. The timing of the serials' resurgence in popularity just as the TV show was about to air and their somewhat-similar campiness seems just too perfect to be a coincidence, but I guess that's all it is. Weird how things work out like that. Maybe the college students who were watching the serials at Playboy Theater in '65 had some nostalgia for those old Batman flicks? Perhaps their nostalgia for the one transferred over to the TV show, sort of like with the modern film remakes that Hollywood is filled with today?

Certainly the concept or appreciation of Camp was a contemporary one. The thing is, I haven't seen any interviews with Dozier or Semple that ever hint at the serials being a source of inspiration. They do mention the comics, however.

P.S.
I didn't mind the laidback vibes of the previous episode. I just wanted to hear Tim say the words "strictly-medicinal Bat-herb" out loud.

[chrisbcritter]

This serial for me is a major case of "check your brain at the door"; I generally enjoy it for all the old L.A. area location shooting, plus the cars (that '49 Mercury convertible is still cool today) and the WWII surplus aircraft (two Beechcraft AT-11 bombardier trainers, and a rare Lockheed AT-29 - which was a transport modified as a gunnery trainer). The chase scene with the train is a highlight because so much of it was shot live - I really expected way more process footage. Note that in several scenes the driver's door of the Mercury has a big dent - giving credence to Johnny's story of having wrecked several cars in filming.

I don't think Johnny Duncan flubbed his line at the point you mentioned; he says "I guess we're getting hotter" not "louder".

ETA: I'll probably be the only one here who doesn't mind Johnny's sullen greaser take on the Robin character.
This is just about the only closeup he gets in the whole serial:

[BATWINGED HORNET]

Fascinating podcast, guys!

Gould gives far too much credit to this horrible serial for being an influence on the '66 series, particularly the music. His claim really deserves looking into Nelson Riddle interviews about how he created the leitmotifs for various characters. I seriously doubt an experienced composer such as Riddle was basing anything on that serial.

Regarding the '49 main theme, it sounds so much like the "crime" type music one would hear on radio and early TV police dramas, and not too different than other Columbia production of the period, such as the main theme for the Superman serial from 1948--

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9OODivU43c

...and sort of like the play on the Dragnet theme from "Blunder Boys", a Three Stooges short from 1955...

scroll to 0":25 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOqouJLqXHg

The sound of the horns, and in some cases the arrangements seem like it was all from the same period of session work at Columbia (or wherever their films' scores were recorded).

Speaking of Superman, you guys mentioned Lyle Talbot as Commissioner Gordon, and list his credits, but I think you missed the fact he was the first live action Lex Luthor in 1950's Atom Man vs. Superman serial.

Er....what was Gould looking at when describing Robert Lowery's physique? Is he kidding? Lowery was more Pillsbury Doughboy than Caped Crusader; from the flabby legs, double chin, and spare tire, to the way his support hose were clinging to his I-Can't-Believe-Its-Not-Butter thighs.

Johnny Duncan's Robin. Oh boy. Its like Gotham City was all out of teenagers capable of being sidekicks, so Bruce Wayne waltzed into a bar and found some short, thick, VERY adult guy, and sold him on the idea becoming Robin...in exchange for an open tab at said bar. That's how flat-out wrong Duncan was in the role.

I think Gould creates links between the serial and the Dozier series as a way to legitimize the 1949 serial, which on its own, is not celebrated...at least I've never read any retrospective giving the '49 serial any strong, positive opinion.

[Ben Bentley]

It's no secret that I am pretty much apathetic towards the serials in general, so much so that I can't even really begin to muster the energy to even express what I didn't enjoy about them. I barely managed to make it through them on DVD after purchasing them in the mid-2000's. Oddly enough I took far more pleasure whilst cycling this morning listening to the two of you discuss YOUR thoughts on them.

Fascinating podcast, guys!

Gould gives far too much credit to this horrible serial for being an influence on the '66 series, particularly the music. His claim really deserves looking into Nelson Riddle interviews about how he created the leitmotifs for various characters. I seriously doubt an experienced composer such as Riddle was basing anything on that serial.

I think Gould creates links between the serial and the Dozier series as a way to legitimize the 1949 serial, which on its own, is not celebrated...at least I've never read any retrospective giving the '49 serial any strong, positive opinion.

Without getting into any unnecessary Gould bashing, I came to this thread to articulate pretty much exactly the same thoughts that Batwinged Hornet expressed.

It doesn't take away from the fact that I really enjoyed enjoyed Chris Gould's books, he's a great writer with an interesting viewpoint, despite my own feelings and interpretations often being at odds with his own. But that's part of what makes fandom of this kind fun, right? I love the fact that we live in a world where writers like Chris Gould and Jim Beard have taken it upon themselves often at great personal to self-publish work based around our mutually beloved TV show.