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October Batman Release

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I've never seen Batman Begins, but October will see the release of one of my favorite Batman movies... and that's the original 1943 Columbia Batman serial. I'm a little bit sad because I have the 1990 tapes that I've never seen in anyone else's possession. Now it will be released to the public again, and I won't feel as special. But I need some backup copies. And, hopefully, it will be the uncensored version, which I've never seen before. I love the Japanese and all, but I think it's only fair to release the audio track intact... if it still exists since the censored track was created in the 1960s. If anyone has any idea what I'm talking about (or cares to know more since I'm pretty big on these cornball but fun serial), feel free to post here!

500th post!

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.

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I have no idea what that is, but I care. It was 1940s a matinee serial like Flash Gordon? Was it as campy and goofy as the 1960s series?
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
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It was before the CCA, so the campiness didn't exist in Batman at the time. It is considered racist by today's PC standards because it had a rather negative view of our then-enemies the Japanese.

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Every serial or cartoon released during the war had this politically incorrect view on the enemies, but those were quite justifiable and not really offensive if you know what's the history behind it. But I didn't know there was a WW2-related Batman serial...
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
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Okay, here's the scoop. It was released in 1943 starring Lewis Wilson as Batman and Douglas Croft as Robin. Yes, ric, it was a Flash Gordon-esque serial with cliffhangers at the end of every chapter. The whole Batman story was redone to have Batman and Robin be secret government spies (it's wartime, you know), but they still wanted Batman to have that vigilante image, so he was avoiding the cops the whole time. They faced off against Japanese spy, Dr. Tito Daka (J. Carroll Naish), who had rounded up an organization of crooked businessmen who had been "dishonored by America" (i.e. captured and sent to prison) in order to colonize America once Japan won the war. He had an electronic laboratory that he used to convert people into zombies, making them superstrong and unable to think without Daka's orders over a special microphone. His secret weapon was a cool-looking (for the time) radium gun, and a lot of the movie was spent trying to track down new sources of radium.

It is very campy now, but it's not purposefully campy. But by the 1960s, it was considered campy. Movie execs put it together in two parts (1-7 and 8-15, just like my tapes are divided) with redone narration and some censored lines but visually unchanged and entitled it "An Evening with Batman and Robin." Apparently, William Dozier saw this, and it gave him his impetus to create the 1960s Batman TV series.

And it did have some Japanese-bashing lines, although I haven't heard most of them, just heard of them. Like the original narration talked of Japanese internment like this: "... the wise government having rounded up the shifty-eyed Japs," was changed to, "... the wise government having rounded up the immoral hoods." Seems just as bad to me. Other lines by characters have been obviously redubbed since they sound nothing like the actor, but that just adds to the hilarity. Another racist gem is when Robin tells Daka, "You're as yellow as your skin!" which has also been censored out. To be honest, though, their treatment of the Japanese seems a lot more generous than cartoons of the time with the buckteeth, high-pitched, glasses-wearing Japanese soldiers fighting Bugs Bunny. I mean, Daka is cold and calculating and intelligent. He kills people, including his own men. I mean, I know ruthless isn't exactly a positive thing, but it's a much better villain than a bumbling idiot.

The cliffhangers range from pretty cool to kind of lame. Lame being when the cliffhanger ends with Batman being in a plane that crashes. How does he get saved? Well... it just shows him walking out of the plane unscathed in the next chapter. Most of them involve Batman ending up in some mortal peril and Robin coming in to save him at the last second. My personal favorite just for the craziness of it is the next to last chapter where the following episode takes about 5 minutes to explain how Batman didn't die.

Most people who have watched it with me have found it hilarious. I take it seriously most of the time. I've been watching it since I was 6, so I find it really enjoyable. When I watched it again this past summer, though, I finally caught onto some things. My personal favorite line is when Batman and Robin are interrogating some hoods in the Batcave (complete with bats held up by strings) when Alfred comes on over the PA system and says, "Batman, I want you." Seriously. He says that!

I'll come back and post some pics in a minute. But I'd recommend buying it and hoping that the uncensored version is finally released. To be honest, I was surprised that they were going to release it at all since Columbia is owned by Sony now, so kudos to them!

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.

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Okay, here are my two favorite pics from here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Batman_(1943_movie)

Batman is holding the radium gun.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000AQOHNA/qid%3D1125417797/sr%3D11-1/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F1/103-6290408-2305434

And here's a picture of the DVD cover. Pretty accurate, huh?

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.

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Wow I will have to check this out sounds good.
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It is indeed. And if you check out imdb, you'll find that every single cast member is deceased. I know that's not too surprising, but it intrigued me some very light night in June when I looked up the bios at all the cast members. I mean, every possible way to die is covered by this cast. It bugs the hell out of me not knowing how Douglas Croft died, though.

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.

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I will have to check out their deaths now. As if I dont spend enough time at IMDB.
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Serials are great. Yes, many of them are campy by todays standards, but are still solid. The 1943 Batman serial is much better than the "sequel" in 1949. That one is just plain dull. Hopefully this means that some other Columbia serials will come out on DVD, like The Shadow, Superman, and Atom man Vs. Superman. Of course Republic made some of the best serials, but that is another story.
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Originally posted by: Number20
Serials are great. Yes, many of them are campy by todays standards, but are still solid. The 1943 Batman serial is much better than the "sequel" in 1949. That one is just plain dull. Hopefully this means that some other Columbia serials will come out on DVD, like The Shadow, Superman, and Atom man Vs. Superman. Of course Republic made some of the best serials, but that is another story.


Yeah, I still can't sit through all of Batman and Robin without getting bored. Granted, I only have the first tape of it, so I can't actually sit through the whole thing... only the first half, but you get my point. The original movie was better.

And, Dayv, sorry if I didn't make that clear, but I meant that the reason I'll be buying the DVD is so the DVD can give my poor decade and a half old tapes a rest because they're (especially Volume 1 since I've had that longer) starting to become quite worn from repeated use. Much thanks for the offer, though. I've never made a back-up for a DVD before. Is it a good idea to do so?

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.

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How do you do it? Just with a standard computer DVD burner and a DVD-R?

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.

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Are these downloadable programs, or are they purchased software?

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.

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Hmm. Well, we'll just have to see in October. Maybe I shall require your services when the time comes if the offer still stands.

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.

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Arigato gozaimasu

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.

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Originally posted by: Gaffer Tape
Arigato gozaimasu


Douitashimashite
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
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And I was just about to burst into a chorus of:

Domo Arigato Mista Roboto
Domo Arigato Mista Roboto
Domo Arigato Mista Roboto
Domo Arigato Mista Roboto....

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Originally posted by: PSYCHO_DAYV
YOU'RE WELCOME, GT.


I said that to him. But... in japanese!

I'm taking japanese classes, gotta practice everytime I can.
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
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Same here!

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.