Batman: The Movie

*This page is about the 1966 film. For the 1989 film, see Batman (film).*

> Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin. Together with all their fantastic derring-do and their dastardly villains, too!
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> Tagline

***Batman: The Movie***, originally released as simply ***Batman***, is a 1966 action superhero film based on the DC Comics character Batman, directed by Leslie H. Martinson and written by Lorenzo Semple Jr. It stars Adam West as Batman, Burt Ward as Robin, Lee Meriwether as Catwoman, Cesar Romero as the Joker, Burgess Meredith as the Penguin, and Frank Gorshin as the Riddler. A continuation of the first season of the classic *Batman* TV series, the film follows Batman and Robin as they fight to save Gotham City from a host of supervillains including Catwoman, the Joker, the Penguin, and the Riddler.

The film was produced by William Dozier under his company William Dozier Productions, with Greenlawn Productions co-producing. The first live action feature film starring Batman, it was released to theaters by 20th Century Fox on July 30, 1966.

William Dozier had hoped to produce a theatrical feature film to generate interest in his upcoming *Batman* TV series in 1965, but 20th Century Fox initially refused. However, the studio eventually approved the production after the success of a 1965 screening of 1943's *Batman* serial and the television series' first season. Filming began on April 28, 1966 and ended in a month.

*Batman: The Movie* was well-received by critics and successfully turned a profit through rentals. The film is looked back upon as a cult classic, and received two animated sequels: *Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders* in 2016 and *Batman vs. Two-Face* in 2017. The universe of the 1966 television series and its tie-in film was also continued in comic form in the *Batman '66* comic series from 2013 to 2016.

## Plot

When Batman and Robin receive an anonymous tip that Commodore Schmidlapp is in danger aboard his yacht which is transporting a new invention, they fly to the yacht's location aboard the Batcopter. As Batman descends the bat-ladder to board the yacht, it suddenly disappears and Batman finds himself being attacked by a shark. Robin passes Batman the bat-shark repellent, which he uses to dislodge the shark, which then falls into the water and explodes. At a press conference, Batman informs the press that nothing is amiss, but afterward discusses the situation with Commissioner Gordon and Chief O'Hara. They determine that the tip was a set-up by the United Underworld: an alliance between the Joker, the Penguin, the Riddler, and the Catwoman.

The four members of the United Underworld have set up their headquarters in the upstairs of a shady bar by the docks, where they have abducted Schmidlapp and appropriated his invention. They are furious that Batman and Robin escaped their trap, and decide to try another method to destroy them. They board the Penguin's war-surplus submarine with their pirate-themed henchmen Bluebeard, Morgan, and Quetch. Batman and Robin return to the site of the trap from earlier in the Batboat, and discover a buoy equipped with a holographic projector. However, they find that the buoy has trapped them with a powerful magnet and are targeted by torpedoes fired by the Penguin's submarine. They detonate two of the torpedoes with a radio transmitter, while a porpoise sacrifices itself to intercept the third.

Catwoman disguises herself as a Soviet journalist named Kitayna Ireyna Tatanya Kerenska Alisoff, or Kitka for short, and lures Bruce Wayne into a trap sprung by the other villains. The villains bring Bruce back to their lair, believing Batman will come to rescue him. There, they will spring a trap, launching Batman into the water where an exploding octopus will be waiting. However, Bruce frees himself and fights the villains before escaping into the water outside. He returns to Wayne Manor and reunites with Robin, and the two set out to rescue Kitka from the United Underworld. Meanwhile, the villains use Schmidlapp's invention, a dehydrator, to dehydrate five henchmen into piles of dust. Batman and Robin arrive at the United Underworld's lair, but find no sign of Kitka and only a smoking bomb, which Batman struggles to dispose of. Batman finally deposits the bomb safely into the water, taking cover from the blast behind steel pipes. The Penguin disguises himself as Schmidlapp and approaches Batman and Robin. While they do not buy the disguise for a minute, they decide to bring him to the Batcave to confirm his identity. At the Batcave, the Penguin rehydrates the henchmen and orders them to attack Batman and Robin. However, the Penguin unknowingly rehydrated them with heavy water used to recharge the Batcave's atomic pile, rendering them highly unstable and causing them to dissipate into antimatter when struck. Batman pretends to believe that the Penguin is Schmidlapp and takes him away in the Batmobile, then pulls over after pretending something is wrong with the vehicle. The Penguin uses his umbrella to spray the Dynamic Duo with knockout gas and steals the Batmobile, but Batman and Robin had inoculated themselves against the gas and let the Penguin steal the car, knowing he would bring them right to the United Underworld.

From their submarine, the villains fire Polaris missiles at the Batcopter, causing it to fall out of the sky. Fortunately, Batman manages to land it on a pile of foam rubber. However, the Dynamic Duo is delayed and cannot stop the villains from using the dehydrator to abduct the nine members of the United World Security Council. Batman and Robin pursue the Penguin's submarine in the Batboat and manage to draw it to the surface using bat-charges. They board the submarine and engage in a fistfight with the villains and their henchmen. Catwoman pushes them off and tries to escape below deck, but falls. Batman and Robin get back onto the sub and corner Catwoman, only to discover she was Kitka all along when her mask falls off. Batman is heartbroken, having fallen in love with Kitka, but arrests Catwoman nonetheless. Schmidlapp accidentally knocks over the vials containing the dehydrated Security Council members and sneezes on them, scattering the dust.

Batman and Robin bring the dehydrated Security Council members to the Batcave, and use the Super Molecular Dust Separator to filter the dust. Robin asks Batman if they should alter the dust in order to ensure world peace, but Batman tells him that they should not tamper with nature, reminding him of what happened to the Penguin's henchmen. Robin agrees, and the device successfully separates the dust into nine vials. Batman and Robin bring the dehydrated Security Council members to the United World Building and rehyrate them in front of the whole world. The men continue arguing amongst each other, oblivious to what happened. However, they now each speak a language other than their own. Batman hopes that this strange "mixing of the minds" will prove beneficial. The Dynamic Duo then exits through the window and descends the building on their batropes.

## Cast

* **Adam West** as **Bruce Wayne / Batman**, the wealthy head of the Wayne Foundation who fights crime as a masked superhero.
* **Burt Ward** as **Dick Grayson / Robin**, Batman's young sidekick and partner in fighting crime.
* **Lee Meriwether** as **Catwoman**, a costumed cat burglar and enemy of Batman and Robin. Meriwether replaces Julie Newmar, who played the role in the television series.
* **Cesar Romero** as the **Joker**, the Clown Prince of Crime and Batman and Robin's arch-enemy.
* **Burgess Meredith** as the **Penguin**, a crime boss who characteristically dresses in a tuxedo, top hat, and monocle and wields a trick umbrella.
* **Frank Gorshin** as the **Riddler**, a costumed criminal who commits crimes and leaves behind riddles.
* **Alan Napier** as **Alfred Pennyworth**, Batman and Robin's loyal butler.
* **Neil Hamilton** as **James Gordon**, Gotham's police commissioner and an ally to Batman and Robin.
* **Stafford Repp** as **Miles O'Hara**, Gotham's police chief who helps Batman and Robin.
* **Madge Blake** as **Harriet Cooper**, Dick Grayson's aunt who lives with him and Bruce at Wayne Manor.
* **Reginald Denny** as **Commodore Schmidlapp**, an inventor who is kidnapped by the United Underworld.
* **Milton Frome** as **Vice Admiral Fangschleister**, a Navy admiral who unknowingly sold a war surplus submarine to the Penguin.
* **Gil Perkins** as **Bluebeard**, one of the United Underworld's pirate-themed henchmen.
* **Dick Crockett** as **Morgan**, one of the United Underworld's pirate-themed henchmen.
* **George Sawaya** as **Quetch**, one of the United Underworld's pirate-themed henchmen.
* **Van Williams** as **President Lyndon B. Johnson** (voice, uncredited)
* **Jack LaLanne** as **man on rooftop** (uncredited)

## Production

In order to generate interest in his upcoming *Batman* TV series, William Dozier wanted to produce a theatrical feature-length film and have it play in theaters while the first season of the show was filmed. 20th Century Fox rejected the idea for financial reasons, as it would have to cover the entire cost of a film. However, the studio relented when the 1943 *Batman* serial enjoyed a successful screening in 1965 and the television series proved incredibly popular. *Variety* announced the project on March 26, 1966.

The film was written by series writer Lorenzo Semple Jr. and directed by Leslie H. Martinson, who directed two episodes of the show's first season. Semple Jr. completed the film's screenplay in just 10 days. Principal photography began on April 28, 1966, and wrapped within 28 days. Three more days were taken for second-unit photography.

## Music

Nelson Riddle composed the original score for *Batman: The Movie*. It was not released commercially until 2010, and re-issued in 2016.

## Release

*Batman: The Movie* premiered at the Paramount Theater in Austin, Texas on July 30, 1966, and was a moderate box office success. It was first aired on television on ABC, the same network that broadcast the show, on July 4, 1971.

### Home media

*Batman: The Movie* was released to Betamax and VHS in 1985 by Playhouse Video, in 1989 by CBS and Fox Video, and in 1994 by Fox Video.

It was released to DVD in 2001 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. It was re-released to DVD and to Blu-ray on July 1, 2008.

## Reception

*Batman: The Movie* has received mostly positive reviews since its release. The film holds a 79% rating on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, indicating 79% of critics have given the film a positive review, with an average rating of 6.4 out of 10. The site's critic consensus reads "*Batman: The Movie* elevates camp to an art form—and has a blast doing it, every gloriously tongue-in-cheek inch of the way." On Metacritic, the film holds an average score of 71 out of 100 based on four critic reviews.

### Box office

In order to break even, the film needed to earn at least $3.2 million in rentals, and ended up earning $3.9 million. Adjusted for inflation, this total equates to about $31.1 million.

## Sequels

The story of the television series was continued after *Batman: The Movie* in subsequent seasons of the show. From 2013 to 2016, a comic titled *Batman '66* continued the story of the series, introducing new characters not seen in the show such as Harley Quinn and Bane. Two animated sequels were produced: *Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders* in 2016 and *Batman vs. Two-Face* in 2017, with Adam West and Burt Ward reprising their roles. The latter film was West's final time portraying the character and one of his last roles prior to his death.

## Trivia

* An unmade film titled *Batman Meets Godzilla* would have been a crossover between the 1966 *Batman* TV series and Japanese studio Toho's *Godzilla* series. It received two story treatments, but was never produced.
* This film features a famous scene in which Batman attempts to dispose of a smoking bomb, uttering the phrase "Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb!" This line is repeated by Two-Face in the film *Batman Forever*.

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## External links

* ***Batman*** at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia