Batman (1966 film)
| Batman: The Movie | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Leslie H. Martinson |
| Produced by | William Dozier |
| Written by | Lorenzo Semple, Jr. |
| Based on | Characters by Bob Kane Bill Finger |
| Starring | |
| Music by |
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| Cinematography | Howard Schwartz |
| Edited by | Harry Gerstad |
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Production
companies |
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| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
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Release date
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Running time
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105 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | US$1.5 million |
| Box office | $1.7 million (est. US/ Canada rentals) |
Batman, often promoted as Batman: The Movie, is a 1966 American superhero film based on the Batman television series, and the first full-length theatrical adaptation of the DC Comics character Batman. Released by 20th Century Fox, the film starred Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin.
Released in July, the film hit theaters two months after the last episode of the first season of the television series. The film includes most members of the original TV cast, with the exception of Lee Meriwether as Catwoman, the character previously played by Julie Newmar in two episodes of the series' first season.
When Batman and Robin get a tip that Commodore Schmidlapp is in danger aboard his yacht, they launch a rescue mission using the batcopter. As Batman descends on the bat-ladder to land on the yacht it suddenly vanishes beneath him. He rises out of the sea with a shark attacking his leg. After Batman dislodges it with bat-shark repellent, the shark explodes. Batman and Robin head back to Commissioner Gordon's office, where they deduce that the tip was a set-up by the United Underworld, a gathering of four of the most powerful villains in Gotham City (Joker, Penguin, Riddler, and Catwoman).
The United Underworld equip themselves with a dehydrator that can turn humans into dust (an invention of Schmidlapp, who is unaware he has been kidnapped), a submarine made to resemble a penguin, and their three pirate henchmen (Bluebeard, Morgan and Quetch). It is revealed the yacht was really a projection. When The Dynamic Duo return to a buoy concealing a projector, they are trapped on the buoy by a magnet and targeted by torpedoes. They use a radio-detonator to destroy two of the missiles, and a porpoise sacrifices itself to intercept the last one. Catwoman, disguised as Soviet journalist "Miss Kitka", helps the group kidnap Bruce Wayne and pretends to be kidnapped with him, as part of a plot to lure Batman and finish him off with another of Penguin's explosive animals (not knowing that Wayne is Batman's alter-ego). After Wayne escapes captivity, Penguin disguises himself as the Commodore and schemes his way into the Batcave along with five dehydrated henchmen. This plan fails when the henchmen unexpectedly disappear into antimatter once struck: Penguin mistakenly rehydrated them with toxic heavy water, used to recharge the Batcave's atomic pile.
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