In 1966, Batman was more than a film; it introduced an amazing pop culture wave that altered the face of superhero-themed media forever.
Adam West and Burt Ward in the movie typified how campy, colorful, and extreme the sixties were, with a cultural background of pop art, bright psychedelic themes, and a light-hearted sense of fun.
As with most legendary flicks, there were lots of outtakes and costume issues that added to the Batman movie’s appeal.
The cynical reason for the movie
I find the first Batman film to be a fantastic interpretation of 60s pop culture.
Excessive use of bright colors, crazy fight sequences, and campy humor pointed to the era when the film was created. America in the mid-’60s was going through major upheavals that involved politics, society, and culture. Is there a better way to get away from reality than watching a campy comic book hero fighting villains such as The Joker, The Penguin, and Catwoman in a world where the biggest threat was a good laugh?
Obviously, the 1966 Batman movie also had some smart and cynical motivations behind it.
As the TV series was not finished yet, William Dozier asked himself, “Why wait when I can get a Batman movie out to build up some excitement?” Doesn’t this sound like it’s going to solve the problem perfectly?
Still, 20th Century-Fox wasn’t willing to make that change. They didn’t want to take on all the cost of a film when a TV series would be much less risky to invest in. Therefore, although Dozier wanted to make a big film, the studio left the movie production to him. The age of classic Hollywood — calculated risks, but they paid off.
Adam West was clear about the features his place needed.
Adam
He was born William West Anderson and rebranded himself as “Adam West” once he went to Hollywood for some minor roles on TV in 1959.
Instead of just selecting West for his looks and charm, William Dozier focused on the actor’s work as Captain Q in a Nestlé Quik TV commercial.
After reading only 20 pages of the pilot script in 1966, Adam became very interested in the series. According to Hader, after reviewing the pilot script in 2006, he knew after the first 20 pages that it fit the kind of comedy he was aiming for.
There was a fight between West and Lyle Waggoner for the main role, and eventually, West agreed to do it on one condition. First, Ben wanted the role of Bruce Wayne to be bigger, not only focusing on Batman.
Next, he wanted to decide on who would be Robin in the show. He allowed Burt Ward to play the role, despite his low martial arts experience and no acting skills.
As explained by West, he knew how to bring his own touch to Batman: “Regular, serious, plain Batman doesn’t show the audience that there is something strange and eager to get out behind the mask.”
An unexpected surprise
After the famous 1966 TV series made him well known, Adam West struggled with trying to escape being identified just as Batman.
In spite of acting in both movies and TV series, he was always recognized as ”TV’s Batman.”
It was difficult for him to get more parts after the show finished, but he became famous once again by voicing Quahog’s mayor on Family Guy.
West lost his life in 2017 after battling leukemia for a short time.
The Joker kept his mustache throughout the story
Many people do not know that Cesar Romero, renowned for playing the Joker, strongly refused to trim his trademark mustache for the film.
In fact, the makeup artists pretty much covered her head in white paint. In every episode of the series and in the movie, this muscular actor wore heels and stayed true to his funny choice. Luckily, their efforts to look taller did not work. It would have been fast and easy for producers to use a fake mustache to hide Jack Nicholson’s facial hair, but that didn’t happen because Romero insisted on letting Nicholson keep the iconic mustache.
Romero died in 1994 at 86 because of problems following a blood clot after he was hospitalized for severe bronchitis and pneumonia. He was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6615 Hollywood Boulevard for his movies and another star at 1719 Vine Street for his work in TV.
A story that is yet untold about Lee Meriwether
Many people believe Lee Meriwether played the role of Catwoman on the Batman TV series (1966), but that was not true; the role belonged to Julie Newmar and Eartha Kitt. Still, Meriwether became famous in the role of the Penguin in the 1966 Batman: The Movie.
However, it seems that filming of the movie was already underway when Lee Meriwether was chosen for Catwoman. She is not present in the opening as the three other villains make their entrance by boarding the Penguin’s boat.
An interesting fact that not many are aware of (thanks to an old interview Lee gave in 1966) is how she got ready to play Catwoman. Because she had cats at home, the star did detailed observing of the animals before filming.
I kept a close watch on them during the whole process. I copied their movements–wide-bodied, slow, and with surprise attacks,” she explained.
The wardrobe issue
Check this out as something fun, especially if you’ve seen Batman: The Movie (1966) on the big screen. One of the most famous wardrobe slips in TV and film takes place in the movie for an unforgettable moment.
At the start of the film, Batman and Robin are seen flying in a helicopter over “Gotham City” (actually it’s Los Angeles). They see a group of women wearing bikinis up on a rooftop. Watch closely and you’ll see that one bikini (the red one) didn’t remain proper — displaying more of what wasn’t meant to be seen.
Naturally, the film’s editors quickly removed the scene in the final movie because they couldn’t reshoot it.
A lot of fans have noticed this blur and it has truly puzzled them, as one Reddit user explained, “The motion makes it look like her hair is down, yet we can see that it is up in a ponytail during the jump.” I saw this movie many times but didn’t notice that detail. It’s one of those moments that is goofy and funny, thanks to how carefully (or carelessly) the classic campy scenes were made.
The time Adam West was not himself.
One of the most interesting facts about the 1966 Batman movie was told to me by Adam West himself. More than 20 years after the movie came out, West stated there was one scene he couldn’t play with much seriousness.
The shark repellent part shows Batman hanging from a helicopter as a bomb burns in his hands, and there’s a shark about to attack.
Using the “shark repellent” spray, our hero gets away without suffering any harm. But for West, it was so ridiculous that he just had to laugh over how fake everything was.
West explained that the producers were highly unhappy with the noises that were made while Batman hit the shark. West told the crowd he didn’t care, as the shark had been clearly fake.
There’s even a blooper that appears right during the bucket-head scene. We can see from the panel that Robin is suspended upside down just above Batman when he hands him the spray. When Batman splashes the water on the shark, Robin suddenly cannot be found.
Now that we have all this plastic and flashy fights, it seems strange to watch the film. That’s actually one of the things that makes the game stand out. The Batman movie wasn’t meant to be taken very seriously. The film was meant to be playful, making fun of superheroes using strange props and unusual humor to lift people’s morale in the 1960s.
What 1966’s Batman has achieved over the years
Even with plenty of jokes and some wardrobe errors, the 1966 Batman movie is still remembered and held close by many people. It brings back a time when superheroes were exciting, easygoing, and didn’t deal with the serious problems they handle now.
Although most people see Batman as a serious, serious character, the film from 1966 made him more of a colorful, inventive hero.
For instance, at 15:00 minutes in the film, The Penguin mentions, “We shall support each other, or we will surely find ourselves hanging apart.” Even though this saying seems like something a villain might say, it was really spoken in humor by Benjamin Franklin during the American Revolution after he suspected his own delegates would call him a traitor.
Making Joker explain the city’s past is a new approach in the movie, highlighting how even bad guys can enjoy history – all with a fun, playful atmosphere.
Nearly two hours into the movie, one of the United World representatives uses his shoe to beat the table and yells. It stands for Nikita Khrushchev’s effort to interrupt a United Nations Assembly debate back in 1960 by banging his shoe on a desk.
The funny moments with costumes, the brash villains, and the poor-looking sharks together made this film unique. Has this movie stuck with you? Did any of these funny bloopers catch your attention?
