REEL RETRO CINEMA | 13th Dimension, Comics, Creators, Culture

Nov01

The Oddball World of 1949’s BATMAN AND ROBIN

Posted by 13th Dimension on Nov 1, 2019

The Oddball World of 1949’s BATMAN AND ROBIN

REEL RETRO CINEMA: New looks at old flicks — and their comic-book roots! — UPDATED 11/1/19: I’ve been watching the 1949 Batman and Robin serial with my 20-year-old son Sam, and I was reminded of this fun piece from 2016. So it’s a great time to present it again! Dig it. — Dan — Hey, it’s a special REEL RETRO CINEMA two-fer! We’re gearing up BATMAN/SUPERMAN WEEK, so it only figured to have Rob Kelly take a look at our heroes’ filmic roots — namely, two of their serials! For 1950’s Atom Man vs. Superman, click here! For the complete BATMAN/SUPERMAN WEEK Index, click here! — By ROB KELLY Did you know there was a film titled Batman and Robin that doesn’t make the average Bat-Fan want to throw themselves in front of the nearest train? It’s true! It’s a 1949 movie serial starring the Darknight Detective and the Boy Wonder squaring off against the mysterious hooded bad guy known as the Wizard! Batman and Robin was Columbia’s second Batman serial, but featuring an entirely different cast. Robert Lowery plays Batman/Bruce Wayne, Johnny Duncan (who died just last month, at age 92) is Robin/Dick Grayson, Jane Adams is Vicki Vale, and Lyle Talbot plays Commissioner Gordon. The Wizard is uncredited until the final chapter, since part of the “cliffhanger” aspect to this story is the Dynamic Duo trying to figure out who he really is. The initial suspect seems to be the uber-crotchety Professor Hammil (William Fawcett), who has invented a device that allows the user to remote control any vehicle in Gotham City. Not too long after confronting Hammil for the first time, the wheelchair-bound inventor calls our heroes “A pack of careless idiots.” See? Crotchety! The Wizard steals the device, and starts using it in ever-larger doses to show Batman and the GCPD that he means business. The machine runs on diamonds, so that means he has to steal a lot of them to keep it running. He spends a lot — a lot — of time in his secret cave base flipping switches and turning dials, while letting his fedora-d henchmen do the heavy lifting. As you can see from the first chapter, where poor Bats has to tilt his head up so he can see through the eye-slits of his dime-store cowl, Batman and...

Oct08

The Goofy Charm of 1950’s ATOM MAN VS. SUPERMAN

Posted by Dan Greenfield on Oct 8, 2019

The Goofy Charm of 1950’s ATOM MAN VS. SUPERMAN

Kirk Alyn was born 109 years ago! — UPDATED 10/8/19: The late Kirk Alyn, the original screen Superman, was born 109 years ago! My 20-year-old son Sam and I have been watching the old Superman serials, so it’s a great time to re-present this piece from 2016! — Dan — Hey, it’s a special REEL RETRO CINEMA two-fer! We’re gearing up BATMAN/SUPERMAN WEEK, so it only figured to have Rob Kelly take a look at our heroes’ filmic roots — namely, two of their serials! For 1949’s Batman and Robin, click here! For the complete BATMAN/SUPERMAN WEEK Index, click here! — Dan By ROB KELLY Ever since I was a kid, I have loved “versus” movies: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla. Dracula vs. Frankenstein. Freddy vs. Jason. Kramer vs. Kramer. There’s something about a movie just boldly stating—right there in the title–what it’s going to give you that I have always found very exciting. Forget about complicated themes or nuanced character studies, this movie is about two titanic titans squaring off! So as we await Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, we’re going all the way back to 1950 to look at that other Superman “vs.” movie, the 15-chapter movie serial Atom Man vs. Superman! Atom Man vs. Superman (why does the Man of Steel always get second billing?) stars Kirk Alyn as Superman/Clark Kent, Noel Neill as Lois Lane, Tommy Bond as Jimmy Olsen, and Lyle Talbot as Lex Luthor (and the Atom Man—but shhh! It’s a secret). Alyn, Neill and Bond all played these roles before, in 1948’s Superman serial, making Atom Man vs. Superman a sequel of sorts. Also, by its use of Lex Luthor as the bad guy, it’s the first comic book-based movie serial to use a villain from the original source material. Atom Man vs. Superman opens with a series of robberies that are plaguing Metropolis. It is, of course, the work of Lex Luthor, who threatens to destroy a nearby bridge if he and his gang don’t receive all the money from the Metropolis Trust Company. He turns a destruction ray on the bridge, but luckily Superman arrives to keep it in place while police rescue some stranded motorists. The Man of Steel then finds Luthor, arrests him, and the arch-criminal is sent off to jail. A year later, everyone is perplexed by a...

Home » REEL RETRO CINEMA