BATMAN: THE 1943 SERIAL (1943) ***

Batman and Robin make their screen debut in this awesomely dated 15 chapter serial.  The plot has Japanese spy Prince Daka (J. Carroll Naish) threatening Gotham City with a “radium gun” and turning people into mind control zombies.  The funniest scene is when Daka puts a poor dope into “the zombie chair”, which looks like a cross between a spittoon, a sunhat and an electric chair.  Batman’s costume changes from chapter to chapter (from black to blue, from short and pointy ears to long and curved).  It was made just after Pearl Harbor, so it’s filled with hateful dialogue and racist characters.  Lewis Wilson stars as Batman and Douglas Croft plays Robin.  Lambert (The Invisible Ray) Hillyer directed.