Batman (serial)

Batman is a 1943 American 15-chapter theatrical serial from Columbia Pictures, produced by Rudolph C. Flothow, directed by Lambert Hillyer, that stars Lewis Wilson as Batman and Douglas Croft as his sidekick Robin. The serial is based on the DC Comics character Batman, who first appeared in Detective Comics #27 in May 1939. The villain is an original character named Dr. Daka, a secret agent of the Japanese Imperial government, played by J. Carrol Naish. Rounding out the cast are Shirley Patterson as Linda Page, Bruce Wayne's love interest, and William Austin as Alfred, the Wayne Manor butler.

The serial's story line involves the Batman, a secret U.S. government agent, attempting to defeat the schemes of Japanese agent Dr. Daka operating in Gotham City at the height of World War II. Serving Daka are his American henchmen.

Batman is notable for being the first appearance on film of Batman, and for introducing story elements that quickly became permanent parts of the Batman character's mythos, such as the Batcave and its secret entrance through a grandfather clock inside Wayne Manor. The serial also changed the course of how Alfred's physical appearance was depicted in future Batman stories. At the time Batman was released in theaters, Alfred was drawn as a portly gentleman in the comics. Subsequent issues suddenly depicted Alfred as slim and sporting a thin moustache, following actor William Austin's appearance.

The serial was commercially successful and in 1949, four years after World War II, spawned another Columbia serial, Batman and Robin. The entire 1943 Batman serial was re-released to theaters three times: in 1954, 1962, and 1965. The latter reissue, now titled An Evening with Batman and Robin with all the chapters shown consecutively, proved very popular. Some theaters showed the 15 chapters as a weekend matinée, seven chapters on Saturday and the remaining eight on Sunday. Its success inspired the action-comedy lampoon series Batman (and its 1966 theatrical feature film spin-off) starring Adam West and Burt Ward.