Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
    • Television
      • TV by Decade
        • TV – 1950s
        • TV – 1960s
        • TV – 1970s
        • TV – 1980s
        • TV – 1990s
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Kids TV
      • Variety
      • News & Sport
      • Advertisements
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • Music – 1950s
        • Music – 1960s
        • Music – 1970s
        • Music – 1980s
        • Music – 1990s
      • Artists – A to K
        • Artists – A
        • Artists – B
        • Artists – C
        • Artists – D
        • Artists – E
        • Artists – F
        • Artists – G
        • Artists – H
        • Artists – I
        • Artists – J
        • Artists – K
      • Artists – L to Z
        • Artists – L
        • Artists – M
        • Artists – N
        • Artists – O
        • Artists – P
        • Artists – Q
        • Artists – R
        • Artists – S
        • Artists – T
        • Artists – U
        • Artists – V
        • Artists – W
        • Artists – X
        • Artists – Y
        • Artists – Z
      • Artists – 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Playlists
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • Movies – 1950s
        • Movies – 1960s
        • Movies – 1970s
        • Movies – 1980s
        • Movies – 1990s
      • Movies – 0 to 9
      • Movies – A to K
        • Movies – A
        • Movies – B
        • Movies – C
        • Movies – D
        • Movies – E
        • Movies – F
        • Movies – G
        • Movies – H
        • Movies – I
        • Movies – J
        • Movies – K
      • Movies – L to Z
        • Movies – L
        • Movies – M
        • Movies – N
        • Movies – O
        • Movies – P
        • Movies – Q
        • Movies – R
        • Movies – S
        • Movies – T
        • Movies – U
        • Movies – V
        • Movies – W
        • Movies – X
        • Movies – Y
        • Movies – Z
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Movies»Movies by Decade»Movies - 1960s
    Movies - 1960s Movies - B 3 Mins Read

    Batman (1966)

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    With the instant popularity of the campy 1966 Batman TV series, 20th Century Fox decided a big-screen adventure was in order. Production commenced only six months after the series debuted, with writer Lorenzo Semple Jr pumping out just a single draft of the script in just four weeks.

    At $1.5 million, the budget was pumped up, enabling the crew to build a new Batcycle (with a sidecar for Robin), Batcopter and Batboat. But the shoot was shockingly fast – filming was completed in 26 days and post-production lasted under a month, with the film rocketing into US cinemas on 30 July 1966.

    batman_033

    The plots were still ludicrous and the dialogue even sillier, but as always, stars Adam West and Burt Ward played their parts with a straight-laced sincerity that made things all the more hilarious.

    The dastardly deeds begin when the arch-villains of The United Underworld – Catwoman, The Joker, The Riddler and The Penguin – combine forces to dispose of Batman and Robin as they launch their fantastic plot to control the entire world.

    From his flipper-powered submarine, Penguin and his cohorts hijack a yacht containing a super dehydrator, which can extract all moisture from humans and reduce them to particles of dust.

    The evil-doers turn the nine United World Security Council members into vials of multicoloured crystals.

    Batman and Robin track the villains in their Batboat and use Batcharge missiles to force the sub to surface. But first, they have to defeat a ticking time bomb, an exploding octopus and a shark with a six-foot vertical leap!

    Fans went crazy for several instantly iconic moments: Batman running around Santa Barbara pier trying to get rid of a bomb while avoiding kids, nuns, a Salvation Army band, and baby ducklings (“Some days you just can’t get rid of a bomb!”); Batman fighting off a shark with Shark-Repellent Bat Spray, calmly and rationally looking for a way to discourage the beast biting his leg; and the United World Security Council being turned to coloured dust.

    Much of the film also concerned Bruce Wayne’s infatuation with beautiful Russian reporter “Miss Kitka” – Kitanya Irenya Kerenska Alisoff of the Moscow Bugle – who, unbeknownst to him, is secretly his arch-nemesis, Catwoman (Lee Meriwether).

    The film was well-received, with Variety citing its “uniformly impressively improbable” acting.

    batman82

    Batman/Bruce Wayne
    Adam West
    Robin/Dick Grayson

    Burt Ward
    Catwoman/Kitka

    Lee Meriwether
    The Joker

    Cesar Romero
    The Penguin

    Burgess Meredith
    The Riddler

    Frank Gorshin
    Alfred

    Alan Napier
    Commissioner Gordon

    Neil Hamilton
    Chief O’Hara

    Stafford Repp
    Aunt Harriet

    Madge Blake
    Commodore Schmidlapp

    Reginald Denny
    Vice Admiral Fangschliester

    Milton Frome
    Bluebeard

    Gil Perkins
    Morgan

    Dick Crockett
    Quetch

    George Sawava

    Director
    Leslie H Martinson

    Related Posts

    • Batman Returns (1992)
      Batman Returns (1992)
      Batman Returns pits the Dark Knight of Gotham City against a new gang of villainous fiends. Oswald Cobblepot (Danny De Vito)…
    • Longest Day, The (1962)
      Longest Day, The (1962)
      This epic film depicts the Allied D-Day landings at Normandy on 6 June 1944 - the turning point of World…
    • Brides of Fu Manchu, The (1966)
      Brides of Fu Manchu, The (1966)
      Miraculously escaping death in a fiery explosion set by Nayland Smith, Chinese criminal mastermind Dr Fu Manchu (Christopher Lee) and…
    • Reptile, The (1966)
      Reptile, The (1966)
      Blowup may have been the peak of auteur-driven cinema in Britain in 1966, but the year also represented something of…
    • War of the Planets (1965)
      War of the Planets (1965)
      Following Assignment: Outer Space and Battle of the Worlds, Italian director Antonio Margheriti was approached by MGM to make four…
    • Munster, Go Home (1966)
      Munster, Go Home (1966)
      The Munster family debuted on the big screen just as their two-year stint on CBS was winding down. When the cast made…
    • Fathom (1967)
      Fathom (1967)
      When sexy secret agent Fathom Harvill (Raquel Welch) is sent on a mission to Spain to retrieve an H-bomb triggering…
    • Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion (1965)
      Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion (1965)
      Combining jungle adventures with slapstick comedy, Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion was an African safari for the whole family. At the start of…

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleBattle Of Britain, The (1969)
    Next Article Behind The Green Door (1972)

    Comments are closed.

    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    You May Also Like
    • Band of Joy
      Band of Joy formed in 1966 in West Bromwich with Chris Brown […]
    • Tube Mice
      1 9 8 8 (UK) 26 x 5 minute episodes Oxford Circus Tube Station […]
    • View from Daniel Pike, The
      1 9 7 1 – 1 9 7 3 (UK) 13 x 50 minute episodes This BBC2 […]
    • Me and Maxx
      1 9 8 0 (USA) 10 x 30 minute episodes When Norman Davis (Joe […]
    • Purple Gang, The
      A jug band put together by a bunch of Stockport art students and […]
    • Quest, The
      1 9 7 6 (USA) 15 x 52 minute episodes This NBC series told the […]
    Twitter Feed
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Popular Tags
    1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1975 1976 Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games Britpop Canada Crime Disco Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen Labels Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Power Pop Pub rock Punk Radio Scotland Ska Soul music Surf music
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Copyright © 1998, 2022 Nostalgia Central
    • About
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.