The one-a-week chapter play was running out of steam by 1949; the burgeoning medium of television was killing the market for such things. Moreover, Republic and Columbia, the leading producers of serials in the late-1940s, were cutting corners by recycling the same footage -- cars sailing off cliffsides, planes crashing into mountains, dams bursting, etc. -- over and over, and unimaginative, budget-conscious writing resulted in one serial's script playing pretty much like any other.

All the cliffhanger cliches are on exhibit in Batman and Robin: The Complete 1949 Movie Serial Collection, but the "painstakingly remastered" (according to Columbia/TriStar's press release) serial does indeed look terrific, and the quaint nostalgia in watching the Caped Crusader fighting crime in a simpler, pre-high concept age keeps it fun and interesting.

In standard movie serial plotting, the villain of the piece is The Wizard, a hooded criminal mastermind operating from the caverns of a remote island base. (As usual with such villains, he has a lot of all-purpose futuristic equipment stacked atop sturdy wood tables.) As usual for chapter plays, The Wizard's identity is kept secret until the serial's climax, though its writers surely want viewers to think it's eccentric, paralyzed inventor (William Fawcett), who secretly sits at an electric chair-type device decked out in neon that enables him to walk around unaided.

The Wizard's henchmen steal a fantastic new invention which allows the operator to control moving vehicles of any size from extreme distances. Gotham City's Commissioner Gordon (Lyle Talbot) enlists the aid of crime-fighters Batman (Robert Lowery) and Robin (John Duncan), the secret alter-egos of wealthy -- and, in this serial, outrageously lazy -- playboys Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson. Also on the case is plucky photographer Vicki Vale (Jane Adams), who is unaware that Batman/Bruce and Robin/Dick are one and the same. According the IMDb, Vicki Vale's popularity was boosted by the serial's success, prompting Batman creator Bob Kane (who is credited in tiny print onscreen) to make the character more prominent in the comics. He reportedly based her design on Marilyn Monroe, though Jane Adams, a brunette, is rather matronly in Batman and Robin.

Some will want to watch Batman and Robin solely to mock its now dated thrills and limited budget, others will be drawn to the DVD's attractive cover art (see above) and perhaps mistake it for something else. (Columbia's large font "1949" on the box art seems an effort to stave off lawsuits from Warner Bros. and Fox.) Batman and Robin is an easy target next to, say, Joel Schumacher's over-produced Batman & Robin (1997), whose honeywagon budget alone probably eclipsed the entire cost of the serial.

It's certainly easy to laugh at Bruce and Dick grabbing their superhero costumes out of a file cabinet drawer or, in one scene, Dick putting the top up on his late model Mercury convertible so that Bruce can change into Batman. Really, though, by serial standards of the day, Batman and Robin is above average: the two-heroes-for-the-price-of-one premise is a novelty, and it has a lot of energy in some of its action set pieces. There's a long fight sequence atop a moving train that's pretty elaborate for a serial, and there's enough going on in each chapter -- mysterious submarines, underground lairs, futuristic gadgetry -- that only the most cynical audiences wouldn't be entertained.

Lowery and Duncan are only okay as Batman and Robin. As Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, the script forces them to behave like sloths around Vicki, and though physically right (at least by late-1940s standards), neither is exactly bursting with charisma. Lowery's fleshy features suggest Johnny Weissmuller, while Duncan's Robin/Dick doesn't so much resemble a Boy Wonder as he does Michael Rooker's Henry the Serial Killer. Character veteran Talbot is no match for Neil Hamilton's earnest Commissioner Gordon on the TV show, while Eric Wilton's Alfred the Butler is all but invisible.

Video & Audio

Batman and Robin: The Complete 1949 Movie Serial Collection looks very good. The original negative seems to have been sourced, as the full-frame, black and white image is very sharp with deep blacks. Republic's serials, by contrast, are generally dupey-looking on DVD, often with very poor contrast. There's one slightly annoying flaw present throughout the serial: thin little splices, which may date back to the cutting of the original negative. There are no missing frames, but these little flashing lines are noticeable. The audio is good for its age; optional Japanese subtitles are included, but there are no other audio or subtitle options.

The 263-minute show is spread over two discs with Chapters 1-8 on the first, Chapters 9-15 on the second. The first chapter is three reels long, about 27 1/2 minutes; subsequent chapters run two-reels each, about 17 minutes. There are no Extra Features.

Parting Thoughts

Since his first appearance in the May 1939 issue of Detective Comics, Batman has been a superhero among superheroes, but rarely have his big screen appearances been worthy of his enduring popularity. The quaint and unpretentiousness action of Batman and Robin gives it a slight edge over the bloated extravaganzas of recent years.

Stuart Galbraith IV is a Los Angeles and Kyoto-based film historian whose work includes The Emperor and the Wolf -- The Lives and Films of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune. His new book, Cinema Nippon will be published by Taschen in 2005.