Mill Creek Entertainment has added Batman and his sidekick
Robin to its already busy Oct. 4 release calendar. It’s a sweet collectible package that
arrives on DVD under the promotional banner titled, Superhero Origins: Three Classic
Serials.
Included in the mix are Bob Kane and Bill Finger’s 1939
comic book creation, Batman, in his screen debut, the 1943, 15-chapter serial
titled simply Batman, directed by Lambert Hillyer and starring Lewis Wilson
as the original Batman, with Douglas Croft as his sidekick, Robin.
This thrill-a-minute wartime adventure pits Batman and Robin
against the evil Japanese spy (and his “zombie” minions), Dr. Daka (played by
veteran character actor J. Carrol Nash), who has a death ray that could win the
war for Japan!
Next is the 1949 follow-up, Batman and Robin (also 15
suspense-filled chapters), directed by the legendary Spencer Gordon Bennet,
with Robert Lowery taking over the persona of Bruce Wayne/Batman and Johnny
Duncan as his sidekick, Robin.
The villain, The Wizard, is a complete unknown (only
revealed in the last chapter), who has stolen a device that controls cars from
a remote distance, which he (or, maybe she) can use to wreak havoc (for
criminal purposes). Half the fun is
trying to guessing who The Wizard is … the other half is the cliffhanging
thrills!
The last serial entry in the Superhero Origins: Three Classic
Serials DVD package is director James W. Horne’s 1940, 15-chapter
serial based upon the creation of writer Walter B. Gibson (aka: Maxwell Grant),
The
Shadow.
An extremely popular radio and “pulp fiction” crime fighter
appeared in two feature films — The Shadow Strikes (1937) and International
Crime (1938) — before moving to Columbia Pictures in 1940 in The
Shadow serial, starring none other than Victor Jory as Lamont Cranston
(aka The Shadow), who, along with his beautiful assistant, Margo Lane (Veda Ann
Borg), must battle the sinister Black Tiger through 15 thrill-packed
episodes!
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