Batman (1943)

Approved  |   |  Action, Adventure, Crime  |  16 July 1943 (USA)
6.6
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 6.6/10 from 1,237 users  
Reviews: 37 user | 13 critic

Japanese spymaster Prince Daka operates a covert espionage organization located in Gotham City's now-deserted Little Tokyo which turns American scientists into pliable zombies.

Director:

Writers:

(comic books created by), (screenplay), 5 more credits »
0Check in
0Share...

On Disc

at Amazon

10 Bond Trivia Facts

Count down 10 things only real James Bond fans know about James Bond.

Watch now

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 24 titles
created 28 Sep 2012
 
a list of 33 titles
created 20 Jan 2013
 
Dc
a list of 39 titles
created 16 Mar 2013
 
a list of 22 titles
created 30 Apr 2014
 
a list of 39 titles
created 7 months ago
 

Related Items

Search for "Batman" on Amazon.com

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: Batman (1943)

Batman (1943) on IMDb 6.6/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of Batman.

User Polls

Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Action | Adventure | Crime
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.2/10 X  

The caped crusaders versus The Wizard, black-hooded mastermind.

Director: Spencer Gordon Bennet
Stars: Robert Lowery, Johnny Duncan, Jane Adams
Superman (1948)
Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.2/10 X  

Superman comes to Earth as a child and grows up to be his home's first superhero with his first major challenge being to oppose The Spider Lady.

Directors: Spencer Gordon Bennet, Thomas Carr
Stars: Kirk Alyn, Noel Neill, Tommy Bond
Animation | Action | Adventure
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.2/10 X  

Batman, Robin and Batgirl fight crime in Gotham City with the "help" of Batmite.

Stars: Adam West, Burt Ward, Melendy Britt
Certificate: Passed Action | Adventure | Fantasy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X  

To protect a magic talisman from being used for evil, a boy is given the power to become an adult superhero with a single magic word.

Directors: John English, William Witney
Stars: Tom Tyler, Frank Coghlan Jr., William 'Billy' Benedict
Adventure | Mystery | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.1/10 X  

Captain Drummond becomes a prisoner when he intents to protect a beautiful heiress of an espionage organization.

Director: James P. Hogan
Stars: Ray Milland, Guy Standing, Heather Angel
Short | Documentary | War
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.6/10 X  

The Japanese attack on Midway in June 1942, filmed as it happened.

Director: John Ford
Stars: Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell, Logan Ramsey
Animation | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

In the eyes of most Superman fans, this series consisted of four seasons. Season 1 (1966-1967) was a 30 minute show featuring two Superman segments sandwiched around one Superboy story. ... See full summary »

Stars: Bud Collyer, Joan Alexander, Jackson Beck
Spies (1943)
Animation | Short | Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X  

Private Snafu has a secret: his ship leaves for Africa at 4:30. He's determined to keep it, but bit by bit it slips out, and eventually, the details end up right on Hitler's desk and the ship is engaged.

Director: Chuck Jones
Stars: Mel Blanc
Super Friends (1973–2011)
Animation | Action | Adventure
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.2/10 X  

The greatest of the DC Comics superheroes work together to uphold the good with the help of some young proteges.

Stars: Sherry Alberoni, Norman Alden, Danny Dark
Adventure | Mystery
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6/10 X  

Drummond, his girlfriend and his butler try to free an high post of Scotland Yard who has been kidnapped.

Director: Louis King
Stars: John Howard, Heather Angel, H.B. Warner
Animation | Short
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.1/10 X  

Using Snafu as an example, Techanical Fairy First Class teaches the methods of effective camouflage.

Director: Chuck Jones
Stars: Mel Blanc, Robert C. Bruce
Short | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.1/10 X  

An indicment of the evils of child labor, the film was controversial in its time for its use of actual footage of children employed in a working mill.

Director: George Nichols
Stars: Marie Eline, Ethel Wright, James Cruze
Edit

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Lewis Wilson ...
Douglas Croft ...
...
...
Edit

Storyline

In his first screen appearance, the Caped Crusader of Gotham City (belying the lethargic facade of his alter ego Bruce Wayne) battles Dr. Daka, Japanese mastermind of a wartime espionage-sabotage group. Daka has a radium-powered death ray that pulverizes walls, a classic alligator pit to dispose of enemies, and can turn men into electronic zombies who do his bidding and transmit video signals to Daka's lab! Batman has no Batmobile, but there are bats in the Bat Cave... Written by Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Taglines:

Pulse pounding, red-blooded serial. (Lobby cards). See more »


Certificate:

Approved | See all certifications »
Edit

Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

16 July 1943 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

An Evening with Batman and Robin  »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

(15 episodes)

Sound Mix:

(RCA Sound System)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

Because of the strict serial regulations, Batman and Robin were portrayed as covert FBI agents in the serial. In the comic books at the time, they stood as publicly deputized; Batman was officially recognized and deputized by Commissioner Gordon and the local authorities in BATMAN # 7 (October-November, 1941) and the Bat-Signal came along in DETECTIVE # 60 (February, 1942). A platinum badge appeared in DETECTIVE # 70 (December, 1942) to commemorate this situation. See more »

Goofs

At the end of chapter four, Batman blows a hole in the roof of an armored car, but when it goes over the cliff moments later, there is no hole. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: High atop one of the hills which ring the teaming metropolis of Gotham City, a large house rears its bulk against the dark sky. Outwardly there's nothing to distinguish this house from many others, but deep in the cavernous basements of this house is a chamber hewn from the living rock of the mountainside, strange, dimly lighted, mysteriously secret bat cave headquarters of America's #1 crimefighter, Batman! Yes, Batman, clad in the somber costume which has struck terror to the ...
See more »

Connections

Version of The Batman (2004) See more »

Soundtracks

If I Were King
(uncredited)
Composed by Adolphe Adam
Used in episodes 4 and 10
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

 
What? No Bat-signal?
18 September 2005 | by (Teaneck, United States) – See all my reviews

As a lover of the Saturday serials I was delighted to see that Columbia/Sony/etc.... was releasing the 1943 "BATMAN" on DVD (co-incidently on the same day that "Batman Begins" is released on DVD). I HAVE seen it at the movies on 2 consecutive Saturdays years ago and thought myself lucky to have "acquired" a bootleg copy through a fanzine (lousy print but when you're a collector you take the good with the bad). While it was unfortunate that our Japanese neighbors received harsh treatment due to the wartime climate, it was still good to see the rough and tumble action that Lewis Wilson and Douglas Croft (or to be more precise, their stunt doubles) brought to the screen. I won't dwell on Lewis' less than athletic presence in costume but as Bruce Wayne he was a dead ringer. Rumor has it that the BatCave, the Grandfather's clock entrance and Alfred's miraculous weight loss in the comics were directly influenced by this serial. Some of the second in command gangsters were just as Kane drew them and although Shirley Patterson did little more than scream she was none the less a hottie as Linda Page. Throw in J. Carrol Naish as villain Dr. Daka and you have 4 hours of escapist enjoyment.


9 of 9 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
The Batman on TCM michaelkeaton_soa
Man, they were racist back then. Weren't they? lalaru55
1943 version or 1949 version? Smallville1A-1
The Batman 1643 rocksteady269
The Batman (Lewis Wilson) condormanbw
Copy Shoot_To_ILL
Discuss Batman (1943) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page