Batman and Robin
Tags: good versus evil, suspenseful, violence

Plot synopsis:
In Gotham, one year after the defeat of Two-Face and the Riddler in the previous film, Batman and Robin attempt to thwart Mr. Freeze from robbing diamonds, but he steals one and flees. In South America, Pamela Isley is working under Dr. Jason Woodrue, experimenting with the Venom drug. She witnesses Woodrue use the formula to turn the violent, but diminutive, convicted serial murderer Antonio Diego into a hulking monstrosity dubbed "Bane". Woodrue and Isley argue over the use of the drug and Woodrue kills her by overturning a shelf of various toxins. She transforms into the beautiful and seductive Poison Ivy before killing Woodrue with her poisonous kiss. She finds that Wayne Enterprises funded Woodrue, thus she takes Bane with her to Gotham City. Meanwhile, Alfred Pennyworth's niece, Barbara Wilson, makes a surprise visit and is invited by Bruce Wayne to stay at Wayne Manor until she goes back to school.
Wayne Enterprises presents a new telescope at a press conference interrupted by Isley. She proposes a project that could help the environment, but Bruce declines her offer, as it would kill millions of people. That night, a charity event is held by Wayne Enterprises with special guests, Batman and Robin, and she decides to use her abilities to seduce them. Freeze crashes the party and steals a diamond from the event. However, he is captured and sent to a chamber prison in Arkham Asylum, but escapes with the help of Ivy and Bane. Batman and Robin begin to have crime fighting relationship problems because of Ivy's seductive ability with Robin. Ivy is then able to contact Robin once more, she kisses him but fails to kill him due to Robin wearing rubber lips. Robin and later on Batman become trapped, but are rescued by Batgirl, who shows up and defeats Ivy, and reveals that she is Barbara Wilson and knows the location of the Batcave.
Batman, Robin and Batgirl decide to go after Freeze together. By the time they get to the lab where Freeze and Bane are, Gotham is completely frozen. Batgirl and Ivy fight each other as Robin is attacked by Bane. Robin eventually defeats Bane when he and Batgirl kick apart his venom tubes stopping the flow of venom to his body, Bane collapses before transforming back to his original diminutive size of Antonio Diego and is left helpless on the ground. Meanwhile Batman and Freeze begin to fight each other, with Batman defeating Freeze. Batgirl and Robin manage to unfreeze Gotham; and Batman shows Freeze a recording of Ivy during her fight with Batgirl. Freeze learns that Ivy has betrayed him over the death of his wife. Ivy blamed Batman for Nora's death, but she informs Batgirl that it was her idea. Freeze is angered by the betrayal and is informed by Batman that his wife is not dead; she is restored in cryogenic slumber and has been moved to Arkham waiting for him to finish his research. Batman proceeds to ask Freeze for the cure Freeze has created for the first stage of MacGregor's Syndrome, the disease that Freeze's wife is suffering from, for a friend (Alfred) who is dying. Freeze atones for his misunderstanding by giving him medicine he had developed. Ivy is shown imprisoned in Arkham and Freeze walks in. Alfred is eventually healed and everyone agrees to let Barbara stay at Wayne Manor.

Review: Just as before the United States got into the War, the villains country could be implied, but not specifically stated.The second Batman chapter-play did follow all of the above mentioned, using a large number of common underworld types and a secret leader of unknown origin and identity (until the end), who was bent on, what else, world domination.The cast and production team changed as Columbia had Sam Katzman produce it.
The best known of these would probably be the EAST SIDE KIDS series, one branch of the DEAD END Family Tree.This was the second serial for a comic character;but it was not the first time that it was done.
But unlike these others, which may have had one or two changes in cast, the 1949 Batman film cleaned house, leaving no one from the original.Veteran Robert Lowery, who referred to himself as "the King of the B's", was a good choice for Bruce Wayne/Batman.
He possessed the build and obvious athleticism to bring a certain authenticity to the role.John Duncan* had been around doing juvenile roles for several years (including the previously mentioned EAST SIDE KIDS series), and now had matured some, giving him both the youthful appearance and the gymnast-like musculature that Robin would have.Additionally, we have all characters and elements taken directly from the comics feature.
News Photographer,Vicki Vale (Jane Adams), Alfred the Butler(Eric Wilton) and Police Commissioner James Gordon(Lyle Talbot) were all characters out of the comic book adventures.
They reprised the Bat Cave from the '43 version and added The Bat Signal(the bat emblemed searchlight,Batman summoner of Gotham City's sky), albeit in a sort of vest pocket size.Like many serials, they did employ a hooded mystery man villain as the "brains" heavy you know, unknown but having several on screen suspects to keep the audience guessing for 15 chapters.This was okay, or at least adequate, but begs the question: Why not use one of the great colorful villains from the comics pages?
The Batman TV of 2 decades later did so, making the series so memorable.As for THE NEW ADVENTURES of BATMAN and ROBIN, it ranks far above most serials of its Post World War II period.
As well as common crooks and masked super villains, it confronted the Super Nova Explosion of Technological Advancement, a phenomenon of which we still have a lot of apprehension.NOTE* John Duncan, now a man in his 80's, still makes appearances a various Film Fan conventions around the country.
The reason is, that I saw this serial for the first time as an 8 year old matinée movie goer in Florida during it's first release.It was much different then, and I'm not convinced that in spite of the advancements in production values and special effects that it was any more fun or magical to be a movie kid today as it was in the 50's.
OK, folks, let's get real, don't watch this if you are looking for high-tech special effects, brilliant dialogue, women (there's only one and she's a main character, Vicki Vale...who is always "getting in trouble", with Batman having to save her!), a Batmobile or any Bat-gadget!
(Don't scoff, all you baby boomers....cartoon makers of the 1970s did the same thing...with the same bad dialogue and bad acting...witness "Superfriends", (which I also liked!), they just did it for Television!) I started watching this serial having never seen it...only saw a little of it in the special features of the 1966 Batman movie DVD.
The costume is silly...looks like Bruce Wayne's grandmother sewed it together...Robin's costume isn't much better....there is no Batmobile, (although Batman and Robin do ride around in a Mercury convertible, and even change costumes in it..hmmmm..homo erotica?
A super-villain..namely "The Wizard", whom the episodes lead you to think is an old, wheelchair bound scientist, who, when he sits in a chair that looks like it was stolen from the state penitentiary's execution room, regains the use ofhis legs...and puts on a black costume, shrouding his entire body, and, using a stolen bit of technology he created, can remotely control all motor vehicles...but not only that, he can make them explode as well, and the pies de resistance....he can make himself INVISIBLE!!
If you're a die-hard Batman fan, you should like this, unless you get upset by movies not following the comic's story lines!
When I was a small boy of 7, I saw a few Batman and Robin chapters at the local theater because my parents took me along as they wanted to see the feature and this serial happened to be playing.
I thought that Robert Lowery was a very good Batman as he was a big man with a determined voice and John Duncan was fine as he as not treated like a comic sidekick.
I wish some younger kids shows of today had the guts to try something like that, and reinvent the classic stories.I especially remember the submarine going to the hidden lair of the villain.And also Batman and Robin riding around in the standard convertible.
Wow this movie is great and quite exciting.The costumes looks funny and many jokes about Batman started probably out of this.Furthermore a great movie even for younger Batman fans like me.Personally Batman is my favourite hero because he is just a normal bloke with nice gadgets,some muscle and a brain.The action is superb and storyline for me gets an A.Great plot and fighting too.Just don't mention the Batmobile but alas any comicbook fan will tell you that the Batmobile appeared much later detective comics # 27.
In 1949, six years after the original Batman Movie Serial was released, Columbia Pictures, released the the long awaited sequel, "Batman and Robin".
Having to wait a WHOLE WEEK to find out how Batman or Robin escaped from their impending fate...be it a bomb or approaching steam train, was exquisite torture!In hindsight, this serial probably WAS the inspiration behind the 1960's Adam West/Burt Ward revival.
If you want a good evening of entertainment and good fun watch the New Adventures of Batman and Robin..
Plus, Robert Lowery, who plays Batman here, looks strikingly similar to Adam West, his costume looks similar, as does Robin (Johnny Duncan) and his costume, Alfred (Eric Wilton), Commissioner Gordon (Lyle Talbot), the Bruce Wayne house set, the Batcave set, and so on.
It makes you realize that the Adam West television series arrived at its tenor by just slightly exaggerating this serial enough so that it would become a tongue-in-cheek spoof.So how do you know if you'll like Batman and Robin if you haven't seen it?
If you've seen the Adam West television show, imagine it toned down just a tad, film it in black & white, and set it in the late 1940s--Batman even drives a big, old late 40s gas guzzler instead of the Batmobile.
Now it's just humorous, especially how The Wizard can "tune" the remote control machine into any object of his desire by arbitrarily tweaking a couple big rotary knobs.In order to stretch out the serial, which is just the one story (maybe that's normal for serials--I don't know, this is the first one I've seen so far) into 15 episodes, most of which are around 16 minutes in length, minus the minute or two recap of the previous episode's cliffhanger at the beginning, The Wizard has to run into a lot of technical glitches, almost have his henchman caught a few times, and they keep trying to dispose of Batman and Robin in different ways--each time saying, "Now they're really out of our hair for good!"--This is said about ten times.
The bulk of each episode consists of material like this, plus the obligatory, frequently hilarious fight scenes.That might not sound completely attractive, but the absurdity of the scenarios and the absurdity of the "repetitions" make Batman and Robin very entertaining.
Although I don't know the extent to which Batman and Robin was actually an influence on Lucas, it's interesting to note at least some minor resemblances to Star Wars, including the fact that The Wizard has Darth Vader qualities, some episodes have names like "The Wizard Strikes Back", and the musical cue when the episode title card appears sounds suspiciously similar to John Williams score when the episode title cards appear in the Star Wars films.
Batman and Robin battle The Wizard.This feels more like the 1966 Batman TV series than the previous 1943 serial did.
The ten elements that make this just so good: Batman, Bruce, Robin, Dick, The Wizard, the fights, the high energy stock music that just keeps going for the whole serial, the remote control machine that gets a "fix" on things (a pre-Time Tunnel?), the 1940s cars that race around country roads and the very straight tone of the show.Don't confuse this with the lesser 1943 "Batman" serial, this 1949 serial is totally different and 100 times better!
Some of my reasons for liking 49 Bat are too private to put on-line, but to me, they don't come better than 49 Bat. I have seen all the modern dark takes on Batman (often without Robin!) and they don't compare to this harmless cliff-hanger serial.I like 1940s movies and/or serials but I don't spend a lot of time on them, this B&R serial is the only 1940s production I often return to with repeat DVD viewings.
It's the old story of the hooded mad scientist villain trying to take over the world by employing some secret destructive ray.Robert Lowery and Johnny Duncan play Batman and Robin respectively in this outing.
The best that can be said about Duncan's "acting" is that I hope he didn't quit his regular job before undertaking this role.The rest of the cast is good though, led by Lyle Talbot as Commissioner Gordon and many of Columbia's stock company of villains in assorted roles.The identity of the Wizard is skillfully kept in doubt until the end of the last chapter.
The worst things are about this serial are Batman and Robin's masks, which are indeed atrocious.
My experience watching it, however, was that by the end of the 2nd chapter I had gotten used to them, as well as Robert Lowry's gut, and they no longer distracted me from enjoying this better-than-average-late-period Columbia serial.Overall, Robert Lowry and Johnny Duncan make pretty good heroes.
There is a neat part where Batman is standing right up straight to a thug and lets the thug punch him in the face, but Batman doesn't even flinch, simply saying, 'that hurt,' and then slugging and knocking out the thug.Johnny Duncan has a receding hairline and looks about 30, but he has a build like a college wrestler and is credible as Robin, despite some ridiculous fight choreography for the character: Robin does a lot of really goofy stuff in fight scenes, like riding a thug's back, and getting on all fours to trip a running thug.
I just hope Burt Ward appreciated the fight choreographers 20th Century Fox provided him for the TV series.Fortunately, Batman fares much better in the fight scenes, and there are no special Bat-weapons here, just good-old-fashioned fisticuffs, which is appropriate for a serial.
Crooks refer to our hero as 'The Batman,' and generally refer to Robin as 'Batman's pal' as though they are too polite to state what they suspect the true nature of the relationship to be.This serial introduced the character Vicki Vale, who is probably the most annoying female character ever to appear in Batman comics.
Nonetheless, Miss Vale does play an important role in the story, and so we can tolerate her presence.The villain, the Wizard, is a better-than-average serial villain, but not as good as Ming the Merciless or Lyle Talbot's Lex Luthor.
The plot moves along and there is some fun business as Batman employs some low tech deception to protect his secret identity, and other nifty stuff.Overall, the plausibility factor here is average to good for serials, and certainly much better than it would be by early 1950's.
In an interview, Johnny "Duncan" Robin said that in one scene he and Batman had to run from the car to the house and that Lowery was doubled over out of camera range because his girdle was too tight!
Duncan himself looks more like a motorcycle hood than a boy wonder-- in fact he's more like a guy in his thirties waiting for Lowery to kick off so he can wear the big cape.Driving a Batmobile that looks like it rolled off Honest Al's Used Car lot at below sticker price-- the Dynamic Duo don't put a lot of effort into hiding the fact that it's Bruce Wayne's car they're driving-- in fact it's noted by several characters throughout the serial.The acting is wooden-- the sets are cheap-- the dialogue is horrendous and if there was even a script they were following I'm sure it read along the lines of "Batman says something here" because it certainly seems like they're making it up as it goes along.Batman's Utility belt is made out of thin fabric with no apparent pouches to hold his gadgets-- in one scene when Batman needs a full size blow torch the producers just tuck one in as the scene starts-- never to be seen again.
Not that it matters much to the motorist who has probably died from exposure trying to hoof his way back to Gotham City.There is a tired subplot with Lois Lane clone Vicki Vale who is convinced Bruce Wayne is Batman-- she must have noticed the Batmobile parked outside of Bruce's house-- or maybe she saw Batman and Robin running up the walk in the clearly densely populated suburban neighborhood.Everything about this serial is bad-- and all but the youngest in the audience will want to hurl toast at the screen.
IF you're looking for bad cinema you could not hit a better mark-- if you want entertainment, try the Burton Batman films, the Adam West Batman TV Series or the earlier Lewis Wilson Batman serial..
15 CHAPTERS (COLUMBIA SERIAL) Sequel to 1943's (Adventures of )Batman, Robert Lowery looks a bit more convincing than paunchy Lewis Wilson.
The best moment in the series comes when Vicki Vale pulls up behind Bruce Wayne's car (the Batmobile does not exist in this version) and Batman and Robin pop out.
Granting the budget and time constraints of serial production, BATMAN AND ROBIN nonetheless earns a place near the bottom of any "cliffhanger" list, utterly lacking the style, imagination, and atmosphere of its 1943 predecessor, BATMAN.The producer, Sam Katzman, was known as "King of the Quickies" and, like his director, Spencer Bennett, seemed more concerned with speed and efficiency than with generating excitement.
(Unfortunately, this team also produced the two Superman serials, starring Kirk Alyn, with their tacky flying animation, canned music, and dull supporting players.) The opening of each chapter offers a taste of things to come: thoroughly inane titles ("Robin Rescues Batman," "Batman vs Wizard"), mechanical music droning on, and our two heroes stumbling toward the camera looking all around, either confused or having trouble seeing through their cheap Halloween masks.
They capture more of the authentic mood of the comic book than all 15 chapters of BATMAN AND ROBIN combined.Now for the good news -- this is not the 1997 version!.
There is a sway of personalities between Batman and Bruce Wayne and for Robin and Dick Grayson which this film has the right look on.
Possible Spoilers.I can only recall having seen two 40's era movie serials, CAPTAIN MARVEL-1941 (CM) and BATMAN & ROBIN-1949 (BM&R) and so can only base my opinions on serials made during this time based on these two films.
In each episode Batman & Robin would track down the masked villan known as the Wizard.
It is obvious to all that have seen both Bruce Wayne & Dick Grayson and Batman & Robin that they are are the same persons.
So if your a fan of old serials or Batman & Robin this would probably be worth watching.
BATMAN AND ROBIN is a 15-instalment cliffhanger serial from 1949 that follows the intrepid duo as they battle against a masked villain called The Wizard and his plans to destroy the world.
Robin seems to be on tranquilizers, and looks more like Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer than the Boy Wonder.
Including consulting with Commissioner Gordon as Bruce and Dick, in a manner indistinguishable from their consultations as Batman and Robin, except that they spend a lot of time saying things like "Batman asked us to give you this, " rather than just wearing the damn costumes.
Jane Adams plays a very forgettable Vicki Vale, and Eric Wilton plays an Alfred who looks very much like the TV show's Alan Napier, but has little to do except wear a spare Batman costume when required to, much like a few episodes of the TV series.The villain is a masked mystery man called the Wizard who has some outlandish scientific devices.
Presumably, the plot is a mystery to figure out who the Wizard is, but the detective work leaves a lot to be desired.The costumes and budget are worse than the 1943 serial, with Batman's cowl looking like a Halloween devil mask, but it is cool to see that huge bat across Batman's shirt a la "Batman Year One".
The only advantage either serials' Robin costume has over the TV series is the longer (and in John Duncan's case, dark - presumably green) cape vs.
Ward's elf shoes.There is no Batmobile, as both Bruce and Batman drive the same plain gray Mercury convertible, and the Bat-Signal appears to be the size of a portable TV set.The serial has some good moments, and you can really see how the TV series was a camped up version of it, but its just not nearly as fun or entertaining as the 1943 serial..
So Bad it's GOOD, BATMAN AND ROBIN rates a solid 7 for sheer Entertainment Value..