Batman: The Movie *** (1966, Adam West, Burt Ward, Cesar Romero, Frank Gorshin, Burgess Meredith, Lee Meriwether, Alan Napier) – Classic Movie Review 5107

Director Leslie Martinson’s campy, spoofy, amusing and still very fondly remembered 1966 cinema movie spin-off from the Sixties TV show Batman (1966-68) delivers the goods to nostalgia buffs in a movie that is real good fun for all the many fantasy fans. The film and TV series were both basically comedy shows because of producer William Dozier’s lack of knowledge of comic books.

Adam West and Burt Ward star as the Dynamic Duo, billionaire Bruce Wayne and his ward Dick Grayson, who as Batman and Robin find themselves battling the combined might of four of comic book filmdom’s most charismatic supervillains – the Joker (Cesar Romero), the Riddler (Frank Gorshin), the Penguin (Burgess Meredith) and Catwoman (Lee Meriwether).

Naturally, the arch-villains of the United Underworld are all out for the ultimate goal of world domination, planning to hold the world for ransom using a gadget that dehydrates humans and reduces them to particles of dust. Luckily, Batman and Robin have a Batboat and Batcharge missiles at their disposal to help them fight back.

Also from the TV series, Alan Napier, Neil Hamilton, Madge Blake and Stafford Repp all re-create their roles as butler Alfred Pennyworth, Police Commissioner Gordon, Aunt Harriet Cooper and Chief O’Hara.

It is Reginald Denny’s last film, playing Commodore Schmidlapp, aged 75, before his death in 1967. Also in the cast are Milton Frome as Vice Admiral Fangschliester, Gil Perkins as Bluebeard, Dick Crockett as Morgan and George Sawaya as Quetch.

Lorenzo Semple Jnr’s screenplay is of course based on the Bob Kane cartoons in Detective Comics.

Decades later, Batman finally returned to the big screen with Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992).

RIP beloved Adam West, who died after a brief battle with leukemia in Los Angeles on 9 June 2017 at the age of 88.

Burt Ward said: ‘I am devastated at the loss of one of my very dearest friends. In my eyes there was only one real Batman and that is and always will be Adam West.’

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5107

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