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Batman Serials

post #1 of 42
3/25/04 at 10:14am
Thread Starter 
Any word on the Batman Serials from the 30's and 40's being released on DVD? Of have they been already?


Bryan
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post #2 of 42
3/25/04 at 10:24am
I'd love to get these too. I think I read somewhere that the guy who has the rights/negatives to these is being stingy with them, but I could have that confused with a different serial (Superman?)
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post #3 of 42
3/25/04 at 10:25am
I remember about a year after the first "Batman" film came out in theaters, I came across the second serial, "Batman and Robin", on two VHS tapes from GoodTimes Home Video. Some time after that, the very first serial, dubbed "Batman: The Serial", was released also from GoodTimes Home Video. Both serials were recorded in LP format from really grainy prints, and the end result was mediocre at best.

Since the WB and DC Comics owns the Batman property, I don't know why they haven't gone into their archives yet and released these two serials on DVD. They should.
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post #4 of 42
3/25/04 at 11:12am
I have those Goodtimes VHS tapes, too. Not only are they recorded in LP but the soundtrack of the original World War Two-era serial has been rather clumsily rendered politically correct. I'd like to see it uncut.
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post #5 of 42
3/25/04 at 11:55am
At one point I believe one of the Batman serials was owned by Sony or at least was released on home video by them ... one of the villians was a sterotypical Japanese; all of the references to the character being Japanese were changed. If Goodtimes is releasing this, it sounds as if the serials are in the public domain ... could this be the case? I would think that WB owns the character (don't they?) and could assert copyright ownership based on that ...
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post #6 of 42
3/25/04 at 12:48pm
There was a Batman Serial from the 30s and 40s like Superman?
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post #7 of 42
3/25/04 at 1:37pm
The first "Batman" serial came out around 1942 and was an extremely low-budget affair. How low-budget, you ask? The Batmobile was nothing more than a gray sedan! In this very el cheapo serial, Batman and Robin attempted to thwart the plans of a Japanese scientist (played by J. Carroll Naish). I forget at the moment who played Batman and Robin.

The second "Batman" serial, entitled "Batman and Robin", came out in 1948 and featured Robert Duncan and John Lowery in the title roles. This one was more professionally produced, as it was handled by Sam Katzman. (Joel Schumacher and that shlockmeister of scribe, Akiva Goldsman, should have screened this serial to see how to get their "Batman and Robin" right!)

Bob Kane, Batman's creator, served as a consultant on both serials. He talked about the development of the serials in his entertaining autobiography, "Batman and Me".

I don't know if Sony had the video rights to the serials or not, all I know is what came out from GoodTimes Home Video. This leads me to believe that the serials are very likely in the public domain.
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post #8 of 42
3/25/04 at 2:53pm
I would love to have these. I have caught a few of them on cable in the past and they are great to watch.

How many did they make and how long was each one?
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post #9 of 42
3/25/04 at 3:59pm
I checked my Batman tapes and they carry a copyright by Columbia Pictures, with renewal. Goodtimes isn't strictly a public domain outfit.
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post #10 of 42
3/26/04 at 8:16am
Definitely not in public domain, but owned by Columbia.

Goodtimes licensed a number of older films from Columbia back in the day for VHS release.

As stated above, the original serial was altered and edited to remove things that weren't considered PC, and the second serial was also slightly truncated by Goodtimes.

Columbia later released the second serial on VHS themselves in an SP version which was intact, I think.

I've got the first serial in the original unaltered form and it isn't anything that needs to be hidden from the public. They could easily put a little featurette on there which could comment on the times in which it was made and how things have changed. But they won't.....
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post #11 of 42
3/26/04 at 10:25am
I was wondering about these myself, I came across my Batman & Robin serial the other day and remembered how much fun they were. The Wizard was the badguy. Lots of goofs, flubs and stock footage used hehe.

Also have the Captain America one as well.


I would love to see these on DVD.
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post #12 of 42
3/26/04 at 6:19pm
AMC aired these several years ago. I still have the tapes. As far as I can remember, it was uncensored.

Neil
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post #13 of 42
3/26/04 at 7:15pm
Thread Starter 
I have both serials stashed away on VHS somewhere; the picture quality on the first one was awful, but if I remember correctly 'Batman and Robin' wasn't too bad at all. Even if this was a barebones release, maybe a featurette on the disc, it would still do alright I think.


Bryan
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post #14 of 42
3/22/05 at 10:06am
Anyone else picking this up today?
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post #15 of 42
3/22/05 at 12:10pm
When to Best Buy and they want $22.99...I think that's MSRP. Well, Deep Discount for me.
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post #16 of 42
3/22/05 at 12:36pm
Quote:
When to Best Buy and they want $22.99...I think that's MSRP. Well, Deep Discount for me.
MSRP is $29.95. Deep Discount DVD has it for $22.06.

Regards,
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post #17 of 42
3/22/05 at 1:11pm
Quote:
MSRP is $29.95. Deep Discount DVD has it for $22.06.


Yup, going to BB and getting it today is worth the extra buck.
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post #18 of 42
3/22/05 at 2:46pm
Thread Starter 
Let us know what you think when you have a sec!
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post #19 of 42
3/22/05 at 4:26pm
BATMAN AND ROBIN is terrific. I love the serial, cheesy as it is, and the new DVD looks and sounds great.

BATMAN was released in 1943, and changes to the comics were made as a result (it featured "The Bat's Cave" prominently, and had a tall, think Alfred rather than the chubby short guy in the comics prior to that time). Contrary to what is written above, the budget for BATMAN is no lower than other serials at the time. It's extremely unpleasant in its rampant anti-Japanese slurs, though.

In 1948, Columbia released the serial SUPERMAN (with Kirk Alyn) and it was such a hit that they immediately commissioned a sequel to BATMAN, which was BATMAN AND ROBIN. (A sequel to SUPERMAN, called ATOM MAN VS. SUPERMAN, followed in 1950).
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post #20 of 42
3/22/05 at 8:43pm
Can the 1943 Batman serial be gotten uncensored? I read somewhere a long time ago that it was changed to remove the racial slurs...
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post #21 of 42
3/23/05 at 6:43am
Racial slurs in movies made while we were at war with Japan?

Shocking!
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post #22 of 42
3/23/05 at 7:11am
Yeah, let's censor another film because of some bozo that wants to tell me what I can't watch. They ought to drown them all!!!
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post #23 of 42
3/23/05 at 8:15am
Drowning people who are reluctant to release racist films of the 1940s seems a little harsh to me.

Believe it or not, American Movie Classics showed the unedited version of BATMAN several years ago, and there are "grey market" versions of it around.
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post #24 of 42
3/23/05 at 4:23pm
Are the opening and end titles intact for each seperate episode?
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post #25 of 42
3/23/05 at 10:04pm
Yep, and that great Knox Manning narration.
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post #26 of 42
3/24/05 at 6:21am
Not only are openings and closes intact, but Columbia thoughtfully drops a chapter stop right after the opening so if you're watching straight through you can skip them if you like. Best of both worlds. Nice transfer of some mildly problematic elements.
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post #27 of 42
3/24/05 at 7:30am
"Nice transfer of some mildly problematic elements."




Only for those that want to impose their views on others!!!
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post #28 of 42
3/24/05 at 8:13am
Quote:
Quote:
"Nice transfer of some mildly problematic elements."
Only for those that want to impose their views on others!!!
You seem to have missed his intent entirely. The elements are problematic due to their age and condition. I don't think this "imposed view" is worthy of three exclamation points worth of defiance.

Regards,
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post #29 of 42
3/24/05 at 8:23am
"...if you're watching straight through you can skip them if you like..."

Anybody who watches a serial straight through should be drowned.
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post #30 of 42
3/24/05 at 8:32am
Quote:
Anybody who watches a serial straight through should be drowned.

No, wait! I have a better idea...!
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