Batman (1943)

the audience applauded

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Batman's first movie is still one of the best Batman movies we have.Tim Burton tried back in 1989. A noble attempt, but the movie was too violent and had weak action scenes. Not just because of the stiff and heavy rubber suit. The car chase in the middle of the movie was one of the slowest ever put on screen.It's sequel, also made by Burton, was even more violent, vulgar and disturbing. It was inspired by German expressionist movies, which is a strange choice for a superhero movie. Audiences expected a classic tale of good vs evil, but saw instead a nihilistic piece of garbage.Batman Forever and Batman & Robin had improved action scenes, but ruined it with all the homoeroticism and sexual innuendo. Christopher Nolan's trilogy was much better than the previous attempts, but the movies tried too hard to be "realistic", which unfortunately made them unintentionally funny at times. It's surreal to see a growling Christian Bale dressed up as a bat, riding a weird motorbike in a Gotham that looks too much like Chicago.Batman returned last year in the sequel to Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of "Justice", and this time with more nihilism and more fake muscles on his suit. Inspired by the the grumpy pants Batman from Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns (only more sadistic), this version enjoys inflicting pain on villains. The movie was so depressing and meaningless, they even had the awful Neil DeGrasse Tyson show up and tell us how pointless our existence is. Batman from 1943 is the complete opposite of all those movies. The violence is bloodless. The batsuit is just a regular costume without a lot of unnecessary stuff. Batman stands for something good, he's not just a bully with bat ears. There's plenty of action, and no vulgar sexual content. The humor is lighthearted. You can watch it with your kids, but should probably explain why there's some anti-Japanese content in it. Back then, the Japanese were as barbaric as today's ISIS. The batsuit looks just like you would expect from a serial made in the 40s. It looked way worse in the sequel. Lewis Wilson's Batman must be the toughest live action Batman. No body armor, no fancy gadgets, no bat-tank. Just a guy with two fists and a costume. He did a very good job as Bruce Wayne/Batman, and I think it's sad that there's so little information about him...what he thought about the role, the character etc. From what I've heard, he didn't want to be interviewed back in the 60s when the new show was popular.It's funny that after so many years, and so many Batman movies, the old serials still have the best action scenes. I didn't grow up when serials where popular, but I wish more modern superhero movies could be like them.

The first Batman adventure put on film everInteresting is the word for this...but I personally think the next serial, titled Batman And Robin (1949), is better. The second one had better casting/scripting/action/music. But many don't agree with me and some even get angry when I say this.I once viewed this 1943 version in an Australian movie theatre and the mostly 20something crowd was just so surprised that racist language like this was once used in Hollywood shows. As for showing this serial to today's kids? It should be fine for them, however adults might need to explain to them why the racist comments are present.

I've seen parts of Batman, (the 1943 version) wow and I've noticed the way DC is drawing him now! makes me wonder if theve gone back and doing Batman the way Lewis Wilson was built, the black bat on his chest and all, wow, ill admit there's no batmobile in this very first movie about the dynamic duo but hey ya cant have everything !laugh out loud! Dauglas Croft is pretty good as Robin, caurse in each incarnation hes always been more of the TEEN wonder than boy wonder! AND the way Lewis Wilson and Dauglas Croft actually take off there masks while still in costume! now thats something you only see them do in the comic books! but wow, Im impressed, as far as im concerned guys Lewis Wilson was the ultimate and definite Batman at least for that era!

As serial addicts know, chapter plays are driven by a logic all their own, a logic which often ignores plausibility. Viewers should always check their common sense in the lobby to enjoy these old cliffhangers. "Batman" is no exception and contains some especially enjoyable lapses of credulity.My favorite "Batman" moment involves the message that the captain of a Japanese submarine wants to impart to spymaster Daka. Although he speaks to him on short wave radio, he does not give him the message directly but tells him to follow "Plan 92," a labarynthian scheme which involves sending his henchmen to Smuggler's Cove to pick up a coffin that is only be accessible at low tide. Why the message was not communicated while they were speaking to each other directly is not explained. Instead of using a more discreet truck or van to transport the coffin, Daka orders his men to contact a third-party local funeral parlor to transport the coffin back to the ring's headquarters. The audience can only surmise what the henchmen could possibly say to the undertakers to explain why a coffin would be on partially submerged rocks near a beach that wouldn't arouse suspicion. When the coffin does arrive, it shows no sign of having been underwater and contains the body of a uniformed Japanese soldier. Daka explains that he is in a state of "animated suspension" and revives him with smoke-filled electrical charges directed a la Dr. Frankenstein into his wrists. Although the soldier will only be conscious for "a few moments" before dying with finality, Daka wastes time by first welcoming him to the country that will soon become "a colony of Japan's expanding empire." The soldier sits up with difficulty, delivers the Banzai greeting and conveys the message that the henchmen should steal the Lockwood plane, (one of the film's MacGuffins), and rendezvous with the submarine at Pelican Island. Before he dies, the soldier rips a button off his uniform, gives it to Daka, and tells him it contains more information. Why the information is formatted this way is also unexplained. He then dies with finality, only too happy to have given his life for the Emperor.The rationale which required the death of a soldier and the coffin to convey a byzantine message that could have been communicated directly by radio is left a mystery. Serials usually omit logical explanation. In another delightful scene, Daka orders Batman brought into headquarters inside a coffin so that he can feed him to his pet crocodiles. Actor J. Carroll Naish obviously relished playing the sadistic Zaca, and his scenes involving him feeding the crocodiles roasted chickens from a zombie's picnic basket are among the film's most enjoyable. When the coffin carrying Batman arrives, Zaca doesn't seem to want to open the coffin in order to confirm that the Caped Crusader is indeed inside it and summarily orders the six foot pine box thrown into the narrow, constricted crocodile pit. It obviously hits at least one of his beloved pet crocs on the head, and, even if the heavy wooden box didn't injure him, it would have severely restricted further movements of the reptiles in the narrow confines of their habitat. Why not simply take the body out of the coffin first? Any serial lover will know the answer. The body is one of Daka's henchmen, not the Dark Avenger, inside the pine box. Later on, when the crocodile pit is shown, the pine coffin has mysteriously vanished. So much for logic and continuity!