More and more often I notice for myself that I have been preparing to write about something for a very long time – I collect photos, links, other material – and then, suddenly for myself, I write a completely different article. I feel myself… like a Joker. But definitely not the Joker played by Joaquin Phoenix. I’m more of a harmless Joker, and, like, I’m not crazy yet. Yes, there was such a Joker at one time: the famous villain was prescribed in a mental hospital only in the 70s, more than 30 years after the appearance of the character. And before that…
The Joker began, in fact, back in the 1920s – and it was another wonderful decade with a lot of pleasant, forgotten little things. For example, pink was associated with blood and was considered male, while blue was the female color. People were sold radioactive water called Radithor, which replaced another wonderful drug – heroin, which had just recently been banned. Radithor was almost like Nuka-Cola, and the most famous fan of radioactive water was so soaked in it that he was buried in a leaded coffin – he was so faint. Some professions that nowadays are considered purely feminine were masculine at that time – for example, it was the guys who were often the very waiters on roller skates in car cafes. Or cheerleaders – and you can write a separate article about this in general, since being a cheerleader in the first half of the twentieth century was almost more prestigious for a student than actually playing on the field. Cartoons were still being drawn for adults-and they were delightfully psychedelic.
It was at that glorious time, in 1928, that the film The Man Who Laughs was released. Despite the fact that it was a drama, the character of Conrad Feidt and his adorable smile made such a deep impression on the audience that the film was popularly dubbed horror. And twelve years later, the first Joker appeared, almost completely copied from Guinplain. In 1940, many concepts of the 20s were already outdated: Radithor was banned, pink was gradually becoming feminine, and very soon the United States would enter World War II, which would lead to a huge number of vacant jobs – and thus ladies would enter the ranks of waiters and cheerleaders. It is worth saying that cartoons at that time were still drawn for an adult audience, but comics, initially aimed at the public of any age, were increasingly leaning towards children.
Nevertheless, in his first appearance on paper, the Joker made his debut as a classic noir villain: he stole precious stones, simultaneously killing their owners with the help of the famous Joker Poison, while announcing the victim’s name on the radio in advance – in general, the first appearance of the clown prince of the underworld determined many character traits that have come down to our times. But in this form, the Joker did not last very long: as I have already mentioned, comics were increasingly focused on children, and therefore noir villains were fading, and already in 1942 The Joker Walks The Last Mile story was published, which is considered to be the beginning of the transition of the Harlequin of Hate into the so-called Silver Age of Comics.
The point on the original character – and on many other principles of classic comics – was put by a horseradish walrus named Fredrik Vertam, who published the book Seduction Of The Innocent in 1954. Almost 400 pages of waste paper have collected all the thoughts that Vertam has been trying to convey to the people since 1948. But in short, six years of all these extremely deep conclusions can fit in one line:
You won’t believe it, but it is comics that teach young people to violate the law and public order, as well as to be cruel, take drugs, enter into same-sex relationships, and so on.
But the book fired, because society can’t just take and admit that it is the imperfection of society itself and the imperfection of the people living in it that quite logically generates those who somehow disagree with imperfection – or even with what just personally seems imperfect to them. By the way, it would not be superfluous to mention that the Joker with Joaquin Phoenix is reproached, in fact, for the same thing: they say, it is this film that will provoke everyone to take up arms and go shoot people. Yes, it is the cinema itself, not the society and not the people who were transferred to the screen based on very real problems.
In general, in the same 1954, after the release of Seduction Of The Innocent, there was such a thing as the Comics Code Authority, which de facto became the censor of comics. Horror comics got the most, as werewolves, the walking dead, vampires, vampirism and much more were banned in any form. Of course, blood, murder, torture, agony – all this was also forbidden to draw. Yes, with notes like “you can’t show excessive violence,” but who exactly decides when violence becomes excessive? In general, the Joker turned from a gangster into a mostly harmless fan of practical jokes, and Batmen: The Movie has also ceased to be particularly intimidating.
Towards the end of the Silver Age, in 1964, Julius Schwartz, who frankly did not like the Joker, became the editor of Batmen: The Movie comics. The future of the character began to become extremely vague, as Julius tried in every possible way to push the clown away. But in 1966, the film adaptation of Batmen: The Movie happened in the form of a television series, and together with the bat-man, the Joker appeared on the screen for the first time, and performed by Cesar Romero himself. Nowadays, the first Joker movie raises a lot of questions and controversies, but at that time the result was very obvious: the show was popular, lasted as long as three seasons and a full-fledged film was shot along the way. So no matter how modern Joker fans treat Comrade Romero’s mustache, he is one of those people thanks to whose efforts the Joker remained on the pages of comics.
That’s why every Joker fan should definitely watch the 66th film. From the point of view of a cinema lover, this film is not of particular value, although several strengths can be found in it. For example, like the TV series, the movie is a sitcom – that is, a sitcom. But, unlike most sitcoms, Batmen:The Movie completely lacks voice-over laughter – and this is rare for the sixties, since at that time voice-over laughter was the dominant trend. Batman: The Movie producer William Dozier once stated that it was the only sitcom on the air without a laugh track. And the film fulfills its task: it is able to make the viewer laugh with the sheer absurdity of what is happening, without using artificial reactions.Actually, it seems to me that even nowadays there are not so many sitcoms that don’t use voice-over laughter – although maybe I just don’t watch modern sitcoms that often. But if you also rarely see such a format of comedies – try Batmen: The Movie. It is quite possible that you will be pleasantly surprised.
Batman: The Movie 66th was the reason for the appearance of one of the real Batmobiles – and this is a great example of what everyone either loves George Barris or hates. 
On the other hand, if you, on the contrary, consider yourself a fan of classic, pre-television sitcoms, then Batman:The Movie is entirely your movie. The whole farce of what is happening on the screen refers to the classic works of Charlie Chaplin, and the dialogues while watching the film feel like a very secondary thing. If the movie were silent and black-and-white, then in my opinion, it would have lost Batman: The Movie only a small part of its content. On the other hand, without color, it is impossible to feel the full power of deliberate kitsch – or camp; to be honest, I don’t really distinguish them. In this regard, the hyperbolization of everything shown is less modest than in Chaplin’s comedies, but I find another plus in this. The fact is that by choosing the popular elements of culture at that time and unscrewing them by 11, Batmen: The Movie combined all the good and bad from the 60s in one bottle at the same time. Perhaps the value of this approach was questionable at the time of the film’s release, but now this film is an excellent example of the culture of that time.
Batman: The Movie and Robin in the costumes most relevant for the spring of 2020.
So for the whole movie, nothing serious happens on the screen. The movie’s Batmen: The Movie and Robin climb down bat poles into the bat cave, ride a bat mobile and a bat cycle, fly a bat copter, and, in general, use bat everything in a row to bat-punish villains. Which, in addition to the Joker, include Catwoman, The Penguin and the Riddler. Moreover, the main source of insanity is rather the Riddler, against which the Joker looks like a model of sanity. If you suddenly watched the movie Black Dynamite and remember the scene where the main characters in a cafe in three minutes went from the phrase “melts in your mouth” to the fact that Nixon’s plan is to reduce the genitals of the entire black population of America – so, Black Dynamite parodied exactly what happens in Batmen: The Movie every time The riddler makes another riddle (which he draws in the sky, launching Polaris ballistic missiles from a submarine). Except that it doesn’t even take a minute to solve the next mystery for Batmen: The Movie and Robin to solve the next riddle.
“What weighs 170 grams, sits on a tree and is very dangerous?” – Commissioner Gordon reads aloud. “A sparrow with a machine gun,” Robin replies confidently. “Yes, of course!” – The commissioner nods in agreement, slightly raising his eyebrows.
The Pentagon is selling a decommissioned submarine to Mr. P. N. Gwyn, while The Penguin himself and his accomplices fly on giant jet umbrellas. The Catwoman pretends to be a reporter for the Moskovsky Gorn newspaper, comrade Kitanya Irenya Tatyana Karenska Alisoff is just a Kitty for friends. She refers to the Batman: The Movie and Robin as nothing but “wild Cossacks,” and if you took all this at least for a second seriously, you have problems. On the other hand, it can’t be said that Batmen:The Movie doesn’t have any idea at all.
The main message of the film is simple and clear: it is presented in the form of a local UN Security Council. Each member of the Security Council pays absolutely no attention to the outside world and only bends his line, not trying to see or hear at all what is happening two steps away from him. Even Robin, as a result, suggests slightly “correcting” the guys from the Security Council, arguing that this is better for the whole world. But Batman:The Movie replies that mortals should not argue with the laws of nature – in other words, people themselves need to learn how to live in peace, and no superhero will help this. Besides, Bruce Wayne does not fall in love with anyone, but with a Russian reporter Kitka… It’s funny, but in the same 1966, another wonderful comedy was released, called the Russians Are Coming! The Russians are coming!, and all this against the background of the wild popularity of the series Agents of A.N.K.L. – is it worth mentioning that the Vietnam War was extremely unpopular?
It seems to me that everyone is able to draw conclusions from all of the above, and I will say a few last words about the film. By and large, the 66th year of the Batman:The Movie is by no means a masterpiece, but, nevertheless, it is a good movie that carries the right ideas for the most part. It’s nice to pass the evening behind him, and, in general, they just don’t make such comic book movies nowadays. I can’t say anything about acting for the reason that it’s hard to judge: being part of kitsch, the actors’ acting is filled with pathos, inappropriate seriousness and deliberate overplaying. Actually, the quote by Cesar Romero very well characterizes the specifics of the roles in this film:
“Playing the Joker is a lot of fun. We generally have a lot of fun shooting the show, and had a lot of fun shooting the movie. And part of it, you know, is… You can do everything you’ve always been told not to do. In other words, you can play as bad as you want, and being completely open is a lot of fun. I’m enjoying it.”
That’s it. I hope I helped you decide whether to watch this movie. Good luck to you and don’t let the viruses bite you.
