The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

Batman was a 15-chapter serial released in 1943 by Columbia Pictures. The serial starred Lewis Wilson as Batman and Douglas Croft as Robin. J. Carrol Naish played the villain, an original character named Dr. Daka. Rounding out the cast were Shirley Patterson as Linda Page (Bruce Wayne's love interest), and William Austin as Alfred the butler. The plot is based on Batman, a US government agent, attempting to defeat the Japanese agent Dr. Daka, at the height of World War II.

The film is notable for being the first filmed appearance of Batman and for providing two core elements of the Batman myth's. It introduced "The Bat's Cave" and its entrance through a grandfather clock, which subsequently appeared in the comics. The serial also had an effect on the depiction of the Alfred character in later Batman works. Alfred was overweight and clean-shaven in contemporary comics, but the later comics portrayed him as trim and sporting a thin mustache following William Austin's appearance. The serial was successful in its day, and was followed by a sequel, Batman and Robin, in 1949. However, its low production value and over-the-top action and dialogue caused later audiences and reviewers to find it ridiculous. It was re-released in 1965 to capitalize on its camp value. The re-released version, called An Evening with Batman and Robin, proved very popular, and its success inspired the intentionally campy Batman television series starring Adam West and Burt Ward.

Chapter titles
1. The Electrical Brain
2. The Bat's Cave
3. The Mark of the Zombies
4. Slaves of the Rising Sun
5. The Living Corpse
6. Poison Peril
7. The Phoney Doctor
8. Lured by Radium
9. The Sign of the Sphinx
10. Flying Spies
11. A Nipponese Trap
12. Embers of Evil
13. Eight Steps Down
14. The Executioner Strikes
15. The Doom of the Rising Sun