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Sunday, 23 August 2015
THE FIRST BATMAN MOVIE...
"Some days, you just can't get rid of a bomb!" Having said that, I enjoyed the 1966 BATMAN movie, though I didn't see it until around ten years later, on TV. Good for a chuckle!
14 comments:
Anonymous
said...
They got this film out really quickly as the TV show had only started in January '66. It just seems like an extended TV episode and I don't see the point of it but I agree it's a fun watch. Maybe the makers of the Batman TV show/film had it right all along and super-heroes should be played for laughs - a lot of these modern super-hero films are ridiculously serious considering we are talking about people running around in gaudy costumes.
I believe they'd wanted to make the movie first, but didn't (or couldn't) for some reason or other. The point of it, CJ, was to cash in on the Bat-fad that was sweeping the country - and the world. I think superhero movies should reflect the tone of the comics they're based on, and Batman was originally a serious character. In that way, I think they got it right with the first Michael Keaton Batman movie.
When I was eight, Batman seemed just as dramatic as Gunsmoke and Dragnet.
I suspect that even the producers realized that camp comedy and super heroes were a passing fad, so they rushed to make the movie and get it released as soon as possible. (That may also be why they couldn't postpone production until Julie Newmar was available.) Strike while the iron is hot.
Always the best time to strike, TC. As you say, no doubt the producers wanted to capitalize on the success of the TV show while it lasted, but I still seem to recall reading somewhere that they'd intended to do the movie first, but were delayed for some reason.
It wasn't too bad but got some reason they didn't use the batman theme music. I recall Lee Merriweather being gorgeous after all she was Miss America. I remember seeing it in the theater and Batman and Robin making a personal appearance during the movie. They stopped the movie, Adam and Burt ran in an said something I don't remember and they left. Apparently they did this all over during the premiere of the movie. I think that would be a good publicity move. Imagine you're watching the newest Terminator and Arnie makes a "surprise " appearance at select cinemas.
According to Wikipedia, producer William Dozier wanted to do the movie first, but 20th-Century Fox insisted on testing the waters by doing the first season of the TV series first. Apparently, that was less expensive, because Fox could share the costs with the TV network.
Each version of Batman was a reflection of its time. When it began in 1939, it was what today would be called "grimdark." There was influence from pulp magazines (The Shadow, Phantom Detective) and movies (gangster movies, and maybe also horror films). Similarly, the sci-fi trend circa 1960 probably reflected the popularity of the "bug-eyed monster from outer space" movies at the time.
In 1966-67, the fad was action-adventure mixed with campy comedy. You can see it in the movie versions of Matt Helm, Modesty Blaise, Diabolik, and Barbarella, most of which were campier than their source material. The same with the made-for-TV movies/series pilots, I Love a Mystery and The Perils of Pauline.
Of course, the camp fad passed, and Batman returned to the grim Dark Knight image, which was reflected in the Michael Keaton movie.
I understand that one of the reasons they decided to make the Batman show camp, TC, was because the BM serials from the 1940s cane over as camp to students who watched them (when they were shown back-to-back in movie theatres - or cinemas as I'd call 'em) in the '60s. Students apparently loved the serials, so the decision was taken to make the Batman TV show - and to camp it up.
******
I think if you've got this movie, Chris, then the TV show boxed set is rather redundant. Apart from to ogle Julie Newmar's @rse, that is.
14 comments:
They got this film out really quickly as the TV show had only started in January '66. It just seems like an extended TV episode and I don't see the point of it but I agree it's a fun watch. Maybe the makers of the Batman TV show/film had it right all along and super-heroes should be played for laughs - a lot of these modern super-hero films are ridiculously serious considering we are talking about people running around in gaudy costumes.
I believe they'd wanted to make the movie first, but didn't (or couldn't) for some reason or other. The point of it, CJ, was to cash in on the Bat-fad that was sweeping the country - and the world. I think superhero movies should reflect the tone of the comics they're based on, and Batman was originally a serious character. In that way, I think they got it right with the first Michael Keaton Batman movie.
The thing is, when I went to see this on release, as a lad, it didn't seem daft at all!!
Quite exciting, in fact!!
I wasn't aware of the humour in the TV series at the time, JP. I thought it was all meant to be taken seriously.
When I was eight, Batman seemed just as dramatic as Gunsmoke and Dragnet.
I suspect that even the producers realized that camp comedy and super heroes were a passing fad, so they rushed to make the movie and get it released as soon as possible. (That may also be why they couldn't postpone production until Julie Newmar was available.) Strike while the iron is hot.
Always the best time to strike, TC. As you say, no doubt the producers wanted to capitalize on the success of the TV show while it lasted, but I still seem to recall reading somewhere that they'd intended to do the movie first, but were delayed for some reason.
It wasn't too bad but got some reason they didn't use the batman theme music. I recall Lee Merriweather being gorgeous after all she was Miss America. I remember seeing it in the theater and Batman and Robin making a personal appearance during the movie. They stopped the movie, Adam and Burt ran in an said something I don't remember and they left. Apparently they did this all over during the premiere of the movie. I think that would be a good publicity move. Imagine you're watching the newest Terminator and Arnie makes a "surprise " appearance at select cinemas.
Was it actually Adam & Burt, Phil, or just a couple of stand-ins in the costumes?
According to Wikipedia, producer William Dozier wanted to do the movie first, but 20th-Century Fox insisted on testing the waters by doing the first season of the TV series first. Apparently, that was less expensive, because Fox could share the costs with the TV network.
Each version of Batman was a reflection of its time. When it began in 1939, it was what today would be called "grimdark." There was influence from pulp magazines (The Shadow, Phantom Detective) and movies (gangster movies, and maybe also horror films). Similarly, the sci-fi trend circa 1960 probably reflected the popularity of the "bug-eyed monster from outer space" movies at the time.
In 1966-67, the fad was action-adventure mixed with campy comedy. You can see it in the movie versions of Matt Helm, Modesty Blaise, Diabolik, and Barbarella, most of which were campier than their source material. The same with the made-for-TV movies/series pilots, I Love a Mystery and The Perils of Pauline.
Of course, the camp fad passed, and Batman returned to the grim Dark Knight image, which was reflected in the Michael Keaton movie.
My children love this film. One of our most over played DVDs.
I understand that one of the reasons they decided to make the Batman show camp, TC, was because the BM serials from the 1940s cane over as camp to students who watched them (when they were shown back-to-back in movie theatres - or cinemas as I'd call 'em) in the '60s. Students apparently loved the serials, so the decision was taken to make the Batman TV show - and to camp it up.
******
I think if you've got this movie, Chris, then the TV show boxed set is rather redundant. Apart from to ogle Julie Newmar's @rse, that is.
Kid I like to think so it was NYC.
I'd like to think it was, too. So it was.
Oops, 'came over as camp' in one of my above replies, not 'cane over...'
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