History Film / TheBatmanSerial

* {{Yellowface}}: The Japanese Tito Daka is played by Irishman J. Carroll Naish.

* BatmanGambit: Fittingly. Batman runs out of leads on Daka's organization, so he locks a mook in the Bat's cave. The mook eventually tries to make a phone call using a phone in the Cave. Batman has the phone rigged so the call not only doesn't go out, but he sees the number dialed and gets a location to investigate.
* CanonForeigner: The villain, Tito Daka, who is a {{Yellowface}} {{Expy}} of ComicBook/TheJoker.

* CliffhangerCopout: Continuity is tweaked for nearly every chapter ending, recapped at the beginning of a following chapter. For instance, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7SyRZlsbP8 Chapter 13, "Eight Steps Down,"]] ends with Batman stuck in a DeathTrap in which [[TheWallsAreClosingIn spiked walls are closing in]] on him, which is cut away from just before the walls are about to crush our hero with no hope in sight for rescue. Then, the beginning of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muRg_TGzCqs Chapter 14, "The Executioner Strikes,"]] shows Robin appearing ''much earlier'' during the same scene with more than enough time to slip Batman a crowbar to brace the walls moving in. In turn, the conclusion of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tld8Tm9mt8 Chapter 14]] shows Batman locked in a box and dropped in an alligator pit only for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbCRVZCCC_g the next chapter]] to show that Robin managed to break Batman free in secret much earlier and replace him with a hapless [[{{Mooks}} mook]].

* EdgyBackwardsChairSitting: Bruce does this, apparently in an effort to add to his bad guy persona, when he's pretending to be mobster Chuck White in episode 9 and infiltrating the BadGuyBar. In episode 12, the mook holding Linda Page captive does this, presumably to look more intimidating.
* EntertaininglyWrong: In episode 10, Dr. Daka, observing the way Batman keeps turning up despite his mooks repeatedly "killing" him, entertains the suspicion that maybe "Batman" is a CollectiveIdentity for several agents.

* {{Expy}}: J. Carrol Naish was hired to play ComicBook/TheJoker, and early press materials advertise his role as such. The Joker was evidently changed to CanonForeigner Daka late in production to accommodate wartime propaganda, though his characterization is still basically a {{Yellowface}} Joker.

* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: Batman locks a {{Mook}} in a room full of bats to try and loosen his tongue.
* LovableCoward: Unlike other versions of the story in which Alfred is usually either a DeadpanSnarker or a helpful assistant in derring-do, this Alfred is a lovable coward, as well as being vaguely effete. When Batman and Robin are fighting some mooks in episode 3, Alfred hides under a desk and calls the cops, saying "I'm being murdered here!" Then he picks up a loose gun and starts shooting at random...with his eyes closed.

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* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking: Batman smokes as he hunts down the Japanese.

* RichIdiotWithNoDayJob: Bruce Wayne's cover for being Batman, cranked up much higher than usual in other works. It actually gets him into trouble, as his girlfriend is often dismayed that Bruce frequently ditches her to work as Batman without offering a decent excuse as to why he's ditching her.

* CheapCostume: The ears on the Batman Costume are sometimes not rigid, as they are in other film incarnations of the character, and the ears flop around as Batman moves except for scenes where they suddenly appear as rigid and rounded as devil horns. They and the short cape make it seem much more like a Halloween costume than anything.

* AdaptationDistillation: Despite being one of the character's most well known traits, Batman does not use any gadgets in the entire series. The only tools he and Robin use are an occasional grappling hook, a flashlight that creates a Bat Signal on a wall, and a Radium Gun that Batman took from the villains.

* BackFromTheDead: Daka's superiors send him an important message by sending him a casket with a dead comrade inside it. Daka then uses a device that can bring a dead person back to life for a handful of seconds so the officer can give him the instructions and intel.

** The visual appearance of Alfred in the comic books was changed to match that of the actor in the serial; prior to this, Alfred was portrayed as a portly, clean-shaven butler.

* CheapCostume: The ears on the Batman Costume are not rigid, as they are in other film incarnations of the character and the ears flop around as Batman moves. They and the short cape make it seem much more like a Halloween costume than anything.

* DescendingCeiling: The episode 7 cliffhanger is Batman knocked out at the bottom of a freight elevator, as the elevator descends upon him.
* DoesNotLikeGuns: Notably averted with Batman. Dr. Daka has developed a Radium Gun that can blast through anything. Batman steals it early in the series and uses it several times, though never on a person; he only uses it when he needs to cut through something, such as the roof of the villains' armored getaway vehicle.

* EntertaininglyWrong: In episode 10 Dr. Daka, observing the way Batman keeps turning up despite his mooks repeatedly "killing" him, entertains the suspicion that maybe "Batman" is a CollectiveIdentity for several agents.

* ExtraExtraReadAllAboutIt: In the first episode a newspaper boy is hawking an extra with a headline about Batman, establishing that Batman is a public hero.

* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: Batman locks a {{Mook}} in a room full of bats, to try and loosen his tongue.
* LovableCoward: Unlike other versions of the story in which Alfred is usually either a DeadpanSnarker or a helpful assistant in derring-do, this Alfred is a lovable coward, as well as being vaguely effete. When Batman and Robin are fighting some mooks in episode 3, Alfred hides under a desk and calls the cops, saying "I'm being murdered here!". Then he picks up a loose gun and starts shooting...with his eyes closed.
* MindRape: Dr. Daka has a machine that can transform people into "zombies". Not in the traditional sense; they don't die, but they obey his every command without thought or question.
* NobodyHereButUsStatues: Daka's headquarters are reached through a carnival ride of Japanese war atrocities. Immediately outside the secret entrance is a guard, who poses as one of the waxworks on the ride until he's required to stop people entering or leaving without permission.

* PoliceAreUseless: Batman and Robin apprehend ''a lot'' of criminals with absolutely zero police assistance. If police do show up, it's long after there's anything useful to be done.
* PortraitPaintingPeephole: Dr. Daka uses one to observe "Chuck White", while screening him as a potential employee.
* RichIdiotWithNoDayJob: Bruce Wayne's cover for being Batman, cranked up much higher than usual in other works. It actually gets him into trouble, as his girlfriend is frequently dismayed in that Bruce frequently ditches her to work as Batman without offering a decent reason why.

* TaintedTobacco: In "Embers of Evil", Daka kills Marshall in jail by having Bernie deliver a pack of poisoned cigarettes to him. Bruce finds a half-smoked cigarette on the floor and makes off with it. he determines that the cigarette was poisoned and calls Captain Arnold as Batman to tell him about the cigarettes and Bernie's involvement. And just in time, too, because Captain Arnold apparently routinely helps himself to the personal effects of dead prisoners and was just about to light up one of those Medusa cigarettes himself.

* UnderestimatingBadassery: In the early episodes, Daka insists that Batman is an "amateur" unworthy of comparison with his organisation. Several thwarted plots later, he's forced to change that opinion.

** The villain, Dr. Daka, is a stock WWII era Japanese villain. Played by J. Carroll Naish, an Irish-American actor.
** The narration and dialogue in the serial makes very clear who was fighting whom in WWII. The opening narration describes how "a wise government rounded up the shifty-eyed Japs" to explain the abandoned part of town in which Daka operates.

* YourCostumeNeedsWork: Two mechanics mistake Daka for one of the actors in his carnival ride, and tell him that while his costume's fine, [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall his accent needs work]].

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. Dr. Daka possessing a dangerous device able to turn people into Zombie-like creatures. It also features an insanely ornate office-type Batdesk.

* YourCostumeNeedsWork: Two mechanics mistake Daka for one of the actors in his carnival ride, and tell him that while his costume's fine, [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall his accent needs work.]]

* TheWallsAreClosingIn: One of the cliffhanger death traps between Chapters 13 and 14.

* EdgyBackwardsChairSitting: Bruce does this, apparently in an effort to add to his bad guy persona, when he's pretending to be mobster Chuck White in episode 9 and infiltrating the BadGuyBar.

* EntertaininglyWrong: Dr. Daka, observing the way Batman keeps turning up despite his mooks repeatedly "killing" him, entertains the suspicion that maybe "Batman" is a CollectiveIdentity for several agents.

** Tito Daka is a wholly original character meant to cash-in on American wartime fears of the Japanese, though he would eventually make an appearance in comic book form almost 80 years after his debut in [[https://www.cbr.com/batmans-first-movie-villain-vaka-dc-universe-debut/ ''DC's Crimes of Passion'' #1]].

The film is noteworthy as Franchise/{{Batman}}'s first live-action (and theatrically released) depiction as well as being the inspiration for the [[Series/Batman1966 1960s TV show]] that popularized the comic book character even further. In addition, this film marked the first appearance, film or print, of the Batcave. It also spawned a sequel serial called ''Film/{{Batman and Robin|Serial}}''.

The film is noteworthy as Franchise/{{Batman}}'s first film and live action depiction as well as being the inspiration for the [[Series/Batman1966 1960s TV show]] that popularized the comic book character even further. In addition, this film marked the first appearance, film or print, of the Batcave. It also spawned a sequel serial called ''Film/{{Batman and Robin|Serial}}''.

The film is noteworthy as Franchise/{{Batman}}'s first film and live action depiction as well as being the inspiration for the [[Series/Batman1966 1960s TV show]] that popularized Batman even further. In addition, this film marked the first appearance, film or print, of the Batcave. It also spawned a sequel serial called ''Film/{{Batman and Robin|Serial}}''.

Not to be confused with [[WesternAnimation/TheBatman the animated series of the same name]], nor the [[Film/TheBatman2021 2021 film]].