Batman at the Boxoffice

General goings on in the 1966 Batman World

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gerryd54
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Re: Batman at the Boxoffice

Post by gerryd54 »

I have to say I was 12 when the movie came out, I saw it in the theater and loved it . To see Batman and Robin in color(we had a black and white tv as many people did) on a big screen was fantastic. I think to analyze it now with almost 50 years of hindsight is somewhat unfair. I think they did the best they could with what they had and the amount of time they had. They wanted to strike while the iron was hot and even with that said it seems they were just about too late. My all-time favorite actor and show is Guy Williams/ Zorro. Disney released a Zorro feature in 1960 which was merely a compilation of edited tv episodes. Compared to that, what Fox did with Batman was tremendous. Appreciate it. As an aside, I saw Adam and Burt in person with 10,000 other fans at the Walt Whitman shopping center in Huntington , New York when they were promoting the film. I will never forget it.
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Progress Pigment
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Re: Batman at the Boxoffice

Post by Progress Pigment »

High C wrote:
Progress Pigment wrote:I like that he said it's "not as scary" as a movie as it is on TV. Hardly anyone remembers the series had scary moments in the first season, by 1960's standards anyway.
Actually, the phrase was 'not as crazy.'
You're right! And they are correct. I like that too. But scary would have been better. 8-)
Next week, the Dynamic Duo meets the Clock King!
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STEPhonIT
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Re: Batman at the Boxoffice

Post by STEPhonIT »

Gleeps, it's Batman wrote:Thanks for posting the review, chrisbcritter. :)
Same here. Thank you for posting.

Doc, I didn't forget you as well. Thank you.
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High C
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Re: Batman at the Boxoffice

Post by High C »

Progress Pigment wrote:
High C wrote:
Progress Pigment wrote:I like that he said it's "not as scary" as a movie as it is on TV. Hardly anyone remembers the series had scary moments in the first season, by 1960's standards anyway.
Actually, the phrase was 'not as crazy.'
You're right! And they are correct. I like that too. But scary would have been better. 8-)
I will agree though that S1 was scarier than the movie, other than the 5 guinea pigs blanking out of existence.
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Robin Holyisms
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Re: Batman at the Boxoffice

Post by Robin Holyisms »

Lord Death Man wrote:Off the top of my head, all I can think of is the Viewmaster set, the novelization of the movie, and (for Adam West) the 2nd paperback, Batman Vs 3 Villains of Doom. The LP with their voices and the photo cover.
There were also trading cards that used scenes from Batman: The Movie.

http://www.dfandownunder.com/classic-batman-1960-s-tv
Those are lobby cards for theaters, yes? If so, they would not be for sale to the public and in theory used for exhibition purposes only (many from that era will even have instructions printed on them to either return them to the issuer or destroy them so they would not be resold).
I can't remember but i first saw them or cards like these in an article about the history of Batman merchandise. I would post a link to that article but it now unfortunately cannot be viewed anymore.
Thanks gosh for websites like web archive.org and cached pages.com. Because i was going to post a link to this article ages ago, but i kept forgetting to do so.

Anyway here is the aforementioned article about the history of Batman merchandise.

http://web.archive.org/web/201401112355 ... llectibles
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John Mack
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Re: Batman at the Boxoffice

Post by John Mack »

Holy thumbnail history, Batman! but thanks for the link.

John
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Bob Furmanek
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Re: Batman at the Boxoffice

Post by Bob Furmanek »

clipping_10740258.gif
clipping_10740068.gif
I just found an interesting article with a precise timeline of how quickly this film was put through production. Click to enlarge.
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Ben Bentley
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Re: Batman at the Boxoffice

Post by Ben Bentley »

Bob Furmanek wrote: Wed May 03, 2017 6:42 pm clipping_10740258.gifclipping_10740068.gifI just found an interesting article with a precise timeline of how quickly this film was put through production. Click to enlarge.
Great find with that article, Bob. Thanks for sharing!
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AndyFish
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Re: Batman at the Boxoffice

Post by AndyFish »

I missed this thread the first time around-- very interesting stuff here. Nice work all.
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Therin of Andor
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Re: Batman at the Boxoffice

Post by Therin of Andor »

Those are lobby cards for theaters, yes? If so, they would not be for sale to the public and in theory used for exhibition purposes only (many from that era will even have instructions printed on them to either return them to the issuer or destroy them so they would not be resold).
I can't remember but i first saw them or cards like these in an article about the history of Batman merchandise. I would post a link to that article but it now unfortunately cannot be viewed anymore.
Correct. Here are the "Bat Laffs" movie cards, released by Topps (1966, USA) and Scanlens (1967, Australia):
http://www1.coe.neu.edu/~dan/R710-16c/go.html

There was a second US set by Topps, the so-called "Riddler Back" cards (with red "photo corners"), that came with a decoder:
http://www1.coe.neu.edu/~dan/R710-16f/go.html
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Therin of Andor

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Therin of Andor
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Re: Batman at the Boxoffice

Post by Therin of Andor »

Mr.Freeze wrote: Wed Jan 21, 2015 4:00 pm how did the movie do in Europe & Japan ?
I have been able to establish that, in Australia, the movie did not actually open in the Sydney CBD, but went straight to suburban cinemas during school holidays. The show didn't start on Australian TV until the end of June 1967. (I can't find the premiere date for the movie. EDIT: August 25, 1967.) What would have made the movie of great interest to Aussie batfans is that we didn't get colour TV until 1975. Sadly, my parents didn't take me to see it at the movies.

When the Scanlens' reprints of the Topps' "Bat Laffs" cards came out, many of us were puzzled about how Catwoman, Joker, Riddler and Penguin appeared in scenes together, particularly with all the signage in their hideout. I do have a vague memory of seeing revivals advertised on local cinema noticeboards in the 70s. I finally caught the film on TV, and was able to videotape it off-air in 1984 - and wow! it was like the Holy Grail of my geekiness!

In the late 80s, Sydney had a tour of the TV Batmobile and a midnight revival of the movie - and my friends and I were asked to perform a "Rocky Horror Picture Show"-esque performance in costume, in return for free tickets and some cinemas passes (to other movies).

Image
Shark fin prop by Ian McLean, on Flickr
"Holy nostalgia, Batman!"
Therin of Andor

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Frenchy1939
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Re: Batman at the Boxoffice

Post by Frenchy1939 »

I love the movie! I saw it first on a Saturday morning when we were about to go somewhere. I turned it on when they were talking about the UN stuff...My Dad chuckled and shook his head about ridiculous "United World Organization on Gotham East River". We had to leave to do errands and Dad had to drag me away from the movie.

A few years later, around the mid-'70's, the movie came to theaters and I finally got to see it in its entirety. I recall I was slightly disappointed with the boring parts (Bruce and Miss KITKA) but was still excited. I put the movie on sometimes and still get a kick out of it....I had it playing this morning while I was cleaning the house! It'll put anybody in a good mood!!!
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Therin of Andor
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Re: Batman at the Boxoffice

Post by Therin of Andor »

Therin of Andor wrote: Wed May 10, 2017 1:50 am In the late 80s, Sydney had a tour of the TV Batmobile and a midnight revival of the movie - and my friends and I were asked to perform a "Rocky Horror Picture Show"-esque performance in costume, in return for free tickets and some cinemas passes (to other movies).

Image
Shark fin prop by Ian McLean, on Flickr
Oh!

I found the pics sent to me from the Sydney retro-premiere night in 1987:

Image
Batman night at Hoyts by Ian McLean, on Flickr

The Batman costume (rented) is worn by Fox/Columbia's Dale who organised the season. The guy in the pith helmet was the interviewer from TV's "Sounds", a long-running Saturday morning music program.

We each ran across the screen for the opening credits, I also ran by with my "fin on a stick" just before the rubber shark scene. We also passed black balloons around the cinema - "Sometimes you just can't get rid of a bomb!" - and, on cue, everyone burst them!

Image
Batman night at Hoyts by Ian McLean, on Flickr

The TV interviewer (in pith helmet) said to our Lois: “Lois Lane! Aren’t you in the wrong theatre?” And then Lois swung her handbag at him.

Image
Batman lobby cards by Ian McLean, on Flickr

I recently found an article about a screening of the movie in the 60s, in country NSW, Australia.

Image
Batman in Western Herald April 18, 1968 for 25-26 Wonderland Theatre by Ian McLean, on Flickr

"BATMAN": "Burgess Meredith is celebrating his 30th year as one of America's most distinguished actors. He's having fun as the Penguin in 'Batman', 20th Century Fox's feature-length comedy adventure, in widescreen and DeLuxe color, starring at the Wonderland Theatre on Thursday and Friday, 25th and 26th April [1968]. He joins forces with the Catwoman (Lee Meriwether), the Joker (Cesar Romero) and the Riddler (Frank Gorshin) to get rid of Batman (Adam West) and Robin (Burt Ward) in this production of William Dozier's Greenlawn [sic] Productions based on the National Periodical Publications comic strip.

"The supporting feature will be 'Carry On Admiral', starring David Tomlinson."


The Wonderland Theatre was in Bourke, NSW.
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/37898
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Therin of Andor

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Therin of Andor
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Re: Batman at the Boxoffice

Post by Therin of Andor »

epaddon wrote: Sun Jan 18, 2015 1:30 pm There was certainly by 1966 a lot of precedence for theatrical versions of TV shows with episodes strung together for foreign release only.
I did some digging this week about Australian premieres, because IMDb was lacking Aussie dates for both the TV series and the movie. IMDb has allowed me to add a premiere date for the movie (Yay!), but the TV series comes up with a null field when editing. Weird.

Sydney TV premiere wasn't until June 25, 1967, with the followup episode on the Tuesday (June 27). (We had had the release of the movie-compile of the first b/w serial in May 20, 1966, following the highly-publicised success of the Chicago Playboy release!) Then we finally got the 1966 "Batman" feature on a double-bill (with the 1966 "Smoky"), from August 25 - September 7, 1967, ie. the New South Wales school holidays. (I think my parents assumed it was just episodes from the TV on the big screen? We went to "Winnie-the-Pooh and the Honey Tree" on a double bill with "The Ugly Dachshund" instead. Sigh.)

Although it was a short first-run, the 1966 "Batman" movie would continue popping up for two-day runs in Australian suburban and country cinemas over the next decade!
"Holy nostalgia, Batman!"
Therin of Andor

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Therin of Andor
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Re: Batman at the Boxoffice

Post by Therin of Andor »

Therin of Andor wrote: Tue Sep 18, 2018 5:38 pm IMDb was lacking Aussie dates for both the TV series and the movie. IMDb has allowed me to add a premiere date for the movie (Yay!), but the TV series comes up with a null field when editing. Weird.
Double yay! I worked out how to edit the premiere date of a TV series on IMDb. I had to go to the individual listing for Episode 1 and add the Sydney premiere date there. Then it turns up on the main info.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059968/releaseinfo
"Holy nostalgia, Batman!"
Therin of Andor

(aka Ian McLean, from Sydney, Australia)
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