(1966) *** Pg 104 min. 20th Century Fox. Directors: Leslie H.
Martinson (II), Ray Kellogg. Cast: Adam West, Burt Ward, Lee
Meriwether, Cesar Romero, Burgess Meredith.  The 1966 Batman
movie was originally intended to be a calling card for the
1966-1968 ABC TV series, executive produced by William Dozier.
When momentum on the series accelerated, the film's production
was pushed until after the filming and debut of the first season
of the show, which was quickly anointed as a pop culture
phenomenon. Writer Lorenzo Semple Jr.'s campy, pop-art vision
for Batman was to paint candy-colored absurdity while the stars
played it straight. The deadly seriousness of Adam West and Burt
Ward as Robin ("Holy nightmare!") only made their adventures
funnier to adults, and kids—who couldn't tell the
difference—thrilled to the dynamic duo's heroics and the show's
lively villains and cliffhangers.  Though the character of
Batman was originally designed to "strike fear into the hearts
of men," there's nothing remotely scary about