Dr. Dakka, a 'Japanese' spy (J. Carrol Nash) and his turn-coat American underlings and zombified slaves attempt to steal military secrets, develop deadly radium-based weapons, and generally disrupt the Yankee war-effort only to be thwarted at every turn by the masked heroes The Batman (Lewis Wilson) and Robin (Douglas Croft). The 15 part serial, the first cinematic outing for the Dynamic Duo, is a cheap-looking, unimpressive, and unimaginative affair. Wilson's ill-fitting bat-suit is laughable, the 'action' sequences (usually fights between the caped crusaders and Dakka's generally incompetent henchmen) are uninspired and the 'cliff-hanger' chapter endings and their subsequent resolutions are repetitive and predictable (or inexplicable, such as the plane crash that ends chapter 5). The most amusing thing about the film is watching the men keep their fedoras in place during even the most acrobatic brawls. Needless to say, the film's attitude towards the Japanese is a product of its times (the war in the Pacific was just beginning to swing in favour of the USA) so viewers sensitive to racial epithets be warned (although the caricatures and anti-Japanese sentiments in the serial pale in comparison with contemporaneous Popeye and Bugs Bunny cartoons). The chapterplay is only interesting as the first outing of Bob Kane's iconic characters, but is sadly lacking in the various bat-gadgets usually associated with the characters and features a storyline is a tedious patchwork of vaguely linked, cliched adventures. Followed by a sequel (with a different cast) in 1949: 'Batman and Robin', which is apparently not much better and, 22 years later, by ABC's 'Batman', one of the silliest yet most fondly remembered TV shows to come out of the 1960s. Unless you are a hard-core bat-fan, consider skipping the tedious 1940s serials and pick up the bat-story when Adam West dons the cowl in 1966.
Review of Batman
