Batman 1943 - a young fans reaction in Thrills and Chills Forum

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Batman 1943 - a young fans reaction

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oldmanster		#41	[-]
Mar 28 08 2:08 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	You know, Reed, we've probably given these cliffhangers more thought than those who were actually making them. D'ya think? That's what makes us Monster Kids, I suppose. I've found only one other place -- the Cliffhangers board -- that ever gets into such detail and discussion. As has been said many times here on the CHFB -- everyone has an opinion that is usually based on their first-viewing experience. All the rest is 20-20 hindsight/interpretation. If any one of us had been on that set when Bob Kane made his Batmobile remark, we'd probably yell out some sort of correction and follow it up with a long tirade about how to make the serial better. Of course, if any of us had been on that set at that particular time, we'd have lobbied for an even more vicious portrayal of the Japanese. ... Reed
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BijouBob8mm		#42	[-]
Mar 28 08 3:30 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	They may have got the car wrong but, on a more positive note, I'm glad the serials didn't stick Robin with one of those short pixie capes that Burt Ward wore. In one of the serials, Robin even managed to put his cape to practical use. He stood outside a window and used it to bring down a thug that was inside.
Wich2		#43	[-]
Mar 28 08 5:17 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I just can't look at history Relativistically: "All Things Are Equal At All Times" Every human society takes its turn at being idiotic. The 19th Century European Americans were despicable in our treatment of the natives here then; the Mid 20th Century Japanese were despicable in their treatment of the rest of Asia in their time. I recently saw a current interview with two Philippine women who had been forced into dozens-of-times-a-day sex with Japanese soldiers. The one still had horrible physical ailments from years of this; her sister, sitting nearby, could not coherently discuss what had happened. She was driven insane by it, and never recovered. That is animalistic, brute behavior, and SIMPLY DID NOT HAPPEN in American and British occupied areas. Facts are facts, and all things are not equal. Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan, were, in Lincoln's phrase describing the defenders of human slavery in his era, "attempting to blow out the moral lights around us." Cartoonish simplicity in pop culture, and governmental hamfistedness, in the U.S. of that time does not alter that historical fact. Oh - and I like Lewis Wilson's "Bruce Wayne!" (You guys know of his James Bond connection?) Best, -Craig W.
davlghry		#44	[-]
Mar 28 08 6:30 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Lewis Wilson is one of those mystifying actors who always makes me ask, "How did this guy support himself?" His acting credits are pretty flimsy. Aside from BATMAN in '43, he made a few films the next year (often uncredited), disappeared, resurfaced in the oddity BOWANGA, BOWANGA, had a supporting role in a short-lived TV series, then disappeared again. Hardly enough to keep body and soul together. Was Wilson independently wealthy? Did he invest? Work on stage? Find another line of work? We know his ex-wife married Cubby Broccoli who adopted Wilson's son Michael G. who went on to write and produce Bond movies. Lewis Wilson didn't die until 2000. I'm surprised no one ever tracked him down for an interview even back when the '66 BATMAN was on the air or later in the 90's during the Burton and Schumacher Batman films. Or maybe they did and I'm not aware of it. Equally mysterious is the after-career of BATMAN'S Robin Douglas Croft who was so good in YANKEE DOODLE DANDY and KINGS ROW. Croft left acting and died in his 30's but no one seems to know the cause. Bat-mysteries.
Wich2		#45	[-]
Mar 28 08 7:37 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	David- I seem to recall reading that Wilson left acting for a more white-collar line, & did very well. Also, that his main response when asked about the Batman connection was to gently chuckle the whole thing off! Great weekend, -Craig W.
BijouBob8mm		#46	[-]
Mar 29 08 8:03 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	"How did this guy support himself?" Lewis Wilson was originally from New York, as was wife Dana. (She had even been a New York stage actress). Had he been working onstage prior to his screen debut in BATMAN? (Does anyone know when, or how, they met?) I know Michael G. Wilson gets interviewed about the Bond films every so often...wonder if anyone has ever thought to ask him about his father. (Or is that a touchy subject with him?) Last Edited By: BijouBob8mm Mar 29 08 8:57 AM. Edited 1 times.
Wich2		#47	[-]
Mar 29 08 9:34 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Bob & gang- I'm digging into hazy memory here... I THINK it might have been an interview with Michael Wilson, MAYBE somewhere like "Bondage" magazine, where I read the tidbits above: That Wilson Sr. had done well in the Corporate world, and humorously brushed off his time in the scalloped cape. Any BOND nuts have rags they could check? Great weekend, -Craig W.
davlghry		#48	[-]
Mar 29 08 9:47 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The only other credit I've found for Lewis Wilson is a Broadway revival of R.U.R. in December 1942. It only lasted four performances but it was directed by Lee Strasberg. That must have been a shock, going from Lee Strasberg to Lambert Hillyer.
BijouBob8mm		#49	[-]
Mar 29 08 10:23 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	(Chuckling here) Lambert Hillyer was no Strasberg, but his features show he was a competent craftsman. You know, it was often common to have a couple of directors working on a cliffhanger, because of the massive amount of material. Hillyer did a solo on BATMAN, I know Spencer Gordon Bennet did the same for BATMAN AND ROBIN...wonder how many other directors did serials single-handedly?
LGravy		#50	[-]
Mar 29 08 10:41 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	James W. Horne directed ten Columbia serials sans a co-director. And in the 1950s, when serials were cheaply produced using a lot of stock footage, lone directors were the rule.
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BijouBob8mm		#51	[-]
Mar 29 08 12:08 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	in the 1950s, when serials were cheaply produced using a lot of stock footage, lone directors were the rule. Replaced by an army of editors? I was thinking more along the lines of the Forties titles, but you're right about those later outings!
LGravy		#52	[-]
Mar 29 08 5:02 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	A lot of the postwar Columbias had no co-directors. It probably showed; Derwin Abrahams and Wallace Fox were no Spencer Bennet, and working under the deadlines and thrift-consciousness of the 1940s and 1950s, Spencer Bennet wasn't Spencer Bennet, neither. And don't even get me STARTED on Fred Brannon...
gene phillips		#53	[-]
Mar 31 08 10:39 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	BijouBob8mm wrote: "How did this guy support himself?" Lewis Wilson was originally from New York, as was wife Dana. (She had even been a New York stage actress). Had he been working onstage prior to his screen debut in BATMAN? (Does anyone know when, or how, they met?) I know Michael G. Wilson gets interviewed about the Bond films every so often...wonder if anyone has ever thought to ask him about his father. (Or is that a touchy subject with him?) Until reading this I had no idea that Lewis and Dana Wilson were married, despite their sharing the same last name in BOWANGA BOWANGA.
BijouBob8mm		#54	[-]
Apr 1 08 8:31 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	That's the great thing about this board, you find out so much stuff you might not have otherwise known. (Actually, that's ONE of the great things about this board; the other great thing is the people here.)
davlghry		#55	[-]
Apr 1 08 10:52 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	In THE NEW ADVENTURES OF BATMAN AND ROBIN, Robin is played by 26 year old Johnny Duncan, certainly no "Boy Wonder." I was always astounded by this casting and wondered why this Robin wasn't more "age appropriate" like Douglas Croft in the first BATMAN. All I can think is, maybe the filmmakers thought an older Robin would be more acceptable. Maybe by 1949, the idea of a 12 year old kid being constantly put into death traps and beaten up by bad guys was deemed wildly irresponsible. Or maybe the reason was more practical since the adult Duncan could work longer hours than a kid. At any rate, the casting of Duncan is pretty jarring and adds an uneasy level of strangeness to the serial.
BijouBob8mm		#56	[-]
Apr 1 08 10:58 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Burt Ward was either 20 or 21 when he started his stint as The Boy Wonder, and Chris O'Donnell was 25. To date, Croft (at 17) has been the closed to Bob Kane's concept.
zogstar67		#57	[-]
Apr 2 08 11:10 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Apropos of nothing. Croft always reminds me of David Faustino as "Bud Bundy." Chris Herzog "The Devil's on the loose and he's dancin' with the Mummy!!!"
Tom Powers		#58	[-]
Apr 2 08 8:54 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Lewis Wilson WAS interviewed during the 60's Batman craze, by one of the news magazines (possibly Time). I read the article back in the early `80's, and he was only quoted briefly -- something along the lines of "it was kind of crazy and fun when I did it, but didn't amount to much (or cost peanuts). I'm amazed they're showing it again. I hope Adam West enjoys himself with the TV show..." If I recall correctly, he was an executive at General Mills, or some other big food company. He may have also been in the business end of the film industry at various times.
Tom Powers		#59	[-]
Apr 2 08 9:14 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Regarding the Republic Superman serial (from page two), I've heard that National Comics and Republic could not agree to a number of terms, but that money was not foremost. National apparently wanted: script approval, casting approval, and the actor playing Superman not to be credited as such. They supposedly planned to have an on-set representative, who would assure that character was protected as portrayed in the film, and that the actor was never seen or photographed doing anything injurious to the character's image while in costume. (National did receive this courtesy on the Columbia serial. In fact, I believe Kirk Ayln was required to wear a full length robe over his costume going to and from the set, studio commissary, etc.) I would venture a that guess they probably also wanted final approval on the cut of the serial.
BijouBob8mm		#60	[-]
Apr 7 08 11:08 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I had heard negotiations between the studio and publisher broke down, but never heard any details. The Republic SUPERMAN script was rewritten to become THE MYSTERIOUS DR. SATAN (which is discussed very briefly on the package for their double VHS release of that serial). there's rampant speculation about Republic's CAPTAIN AMERICA serial (1943)...It seems likely Republic's original script starred a completely different character, and when the Cap'n America rights were obtained, the screenplay was simply rewritten for him (and not very well). I have always wondered if it wasn't going to be a third Fawcett comics character, Mr. Scarlet, whose alter-ego -- like the Cap'n's in the serial -- is a district attorney. I have heard, though, that it was actually written as RETURN OF THE COPPERHEAD. Had never heard about that, before. I know Marvel kept the serial out of circulation for several years, because of the differences between it and the character in the comic. As resourceful as Republic was, it certainly rings true.... I had a bargain bin copy of the CAPTAIN AMERICA serial, and some episodes use the original title, while others had the RETURN OF CAPTAIN AMERICA reissue title on them. Last Edited By: BijouBob8mm Apr 7 08 11:12 AM. Edited 1 times.
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Batman 1943 - a young fans reaction