BATMAN AND ROBIN

The dynamic duo!

BATMAN AND ROBIN (15 chapter Columbia serial/1949). Director: Spencer Gordon Bennet. Colorized. 

Commissioner Gordon (Lyle Talbot) calls in Batman and Robin to help him with a sinister foe called the Wizard who uses a remote control device and can even turn himself invisible at times. Also investigating is reporter Vicki Vale (Jane Adams), who hangs out at the estate of always-tired Bruce Wayne (Robert Lowery) and his ward Dick (Johnny Duncan), and whose brother Jimmy (George Offerman Jr.) is a member of the Wizard's gang. Suspects as to the true identity of the Wizard include dyspeptic Professor Hammil (William Fawcett); radio announcer Barry Brown (Rick Vallin); private eye Dunne (Michael Whalen); and Hammil's valet, Carter (Leonard Penn). 

WHO is The Wizard? 

Batman and Robin is one of the best of Columbia's chapterplays, building up real suspense in the final chapters, and featuring exciting fight scenes, chases, and cliffhangers. Lowery and Duncan make a good pair of stalwart heroes, Adams is plucky and pretty, and even Lyle Talbot scores as the commissioner, with Offerman also effective as the ill-fated Jimmy. The Wizard is voiced quite well by Gerald Mohr (of Angry Red Planet). 

Verdict: Despite its obvious absurdities, this chapterplay really plays. ***1/4.