''The Wild World of Batwoman'' is a 1966 American
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
superhero film
A superhero film (or superhero movie) is a film that focuses on the actions of superheroes. Superheroes are individuals who possess superhuman abilities and are dedicated to protecting the public. These films typically feature Action film, ac ...
produced, written, directed and edited by
Jerry Warren
Jerry Warren (March 10, 1925 – August 21, 1988) was an American film director, producer, editor, screenwriter, cinematographer, and actor. Warren grew up wanting to get into the film business in Los Angeles, California. He appeared in s ...
. The film stars
Katherine Victor
Katherine Victor (born Katena Ktenavea; August 18, 1923 – October 22, 2004) was an American actress, perhaps best known for her roles in Ron Ormond's ''Mesa of Lost Women'' (1953) and a number of Jerry Warren's films. She was also known ...
as
Batwoman
Batwoman is a name used by several characters of DC Comics, both in mainstream continuity and Elseworlds. The best known Batwomen are Batwoman (Kathy Kane), Kathy Kane and Kate Kane.
History
* The first Batwoman (Kathy Kane), Batwoman, Kathy Ka ...
, George Andre as Professor G. Octavius Neon, and
Steve Brodie as Jim Flanagan. The film is considered to be one of
the worst movies ever made.
With the popularity of the ''
Batman
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
''
television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...
, director Jerry Warren decided to make his own superhero bat-film. After being sued for
copyright infringement
Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, s ...
, Warren re-released the film under the title ''She Was a Hippy Vampire''.
Plot
Batwoman enjoys the services of several young female agents known as "Batgirls", in her pursuit of justice. Her archenemy is a masked villain named "Rat Fink". Added to the mix is the President and Vice-President of the "Ayjax Development Corporation". The company, using
plutonium
Plutonium is a radioactive chemical element with the symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, and forms a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibi ...
as its fuel source, has created a powerful listening device called "the Atomic Hearing Aid", which allows for limitless
eavesdropping
Eavesdropping is the act of secretly or stealthily listening to the private conversation or communications of others without their consent in order to gather information.
Etymology
The verb ''eavesdrop'' is a back-formation from the noun ''eaves ...
. The company tried to sell the device to the U.S. Government, but they were not interested due to its unstable power supply. Instead, they ordered the company to destroy the device. The President of Ayjax refused to destroy it, and Rat Fink is pressuring the company to give him the device.
The Vice President of Ayjax recruits Batwoman to protect the device, but Rat Fink's minions use drugged bowls of soup to incapacitate Batwoman and her Batgirls and steal the device. The superheroines storm Rat Fink's lair and retrieve it, unmasking Rat Fink and converting one of his minions, Tiger, to the side of justice after he falls in love with one of the Batgirls.
Cast
*
Katherine Victor
Katherine Victor (born Katena Ktenavea; August 18, 1923 – October 22, 2004) was an American actress, perhaps best known for her roles in Ron Ormond's ''Mesa of Lost Women'' (1953) and a number of Jerry Warren's films. She was also known ...
as Batwoman
* George Andre as Professor G. Octavius Neon
*
Steve Brodie as Jim Flanagan
* Richard Banks as Rat Fink
*
Steve Conte
Steve Conte is an American musician, songwriter, guitarist, music producer, and lead singer of the band Steve Conte NYC. He has worked with Japanese composer Yoko Kanno on a variety of anime soundtracks including ''Wolf's Rain'', '' Cowboy Bebo ...
as Bruno
* Mel Oshins as Tiger
*
Bruno VeSota as Seltzer
*
Bob Arbogast
Robert "Bob" Arbogast (April 1, 1927 – March 21, 2009) was an American radio broadcaster, voice actor, and television host.
Early life and education
Bob was born in Bellingham, Washington, the only child of Lewis, a champion tennis player, st ...
as Spirits in Séance (voice)
* Lloyd Nelson as Heathcliff
Production
The original idea for the film began with Jerry Warren realizing there was large popularity with the
comic book superhero Batman
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
; Warren decided to make his own Batman-like superhero character into a film.
[Ray 1991, p. 16.] Warren offered the leading role to
Katherine Victor
Katherine Victor (born Katena Ktenavea; August 18, 1923 – October 22, 2004) was an American actress, perhaps best known for her roles in Ron Ormond's ''Mesa of Lost Women'' (1953) and a number of Jerry Warren's films. She was also known ...
. Having worked on Warren's previous productions such as ''
Teenage Zombies
''Teenage Zombies'' is a 1959 science fiction horror film written, produced, edited and directed by Jerry Warren, and starring Katherine Victor, Don Sullivan, Chuck Niles and Warren's then-wife and production manager Brianne Murphy. Warren wrote ...
'' and ''
Curse of the Stone Hand'', Victor was originally not very excited about working with Warren again.
To convince her, Warren promised Victor large production values, color photography and her own Bat Boat in the film.
None of these promises ever came to fruition.
On receiving the script for the role of Seltzer,
Bruno VeSota recalled that "...once again I was in for it. It would be like memorizing a telephone book with pages picked at random."
Katherine Victor claimed that on set if an actor rubbed Warren the wrong way, their lines would be cut out or given to other actors.
Victor claimed "the pretty brunette who was kidnapped in the beginning of the picture was supposed to be the lead girl, but for some reason Jerry thought she was getting too big for her britches and gave all her lines to the girl in the leopard tights".
For the monsters in the film, Warren used footage from the
Universal Pictures film ''
The Mole People
''The Mole People'' is a 1956 American science fiction adventure film distributed by Universal International, which was produced by William Alland, directed by Virgil W. Vogel, and stars John Agar, Hugh Beaumont, and Cynthia Patrick. The st ...
''.
[Ray 1991, p. 17.] Several other scenes throughout the film are also taken from different films, one of which seems to have been from the 1959 Swedish film ''No Time to Kill'', judging by a background sign reading "Livsmedel", a
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
word used for grocery stores.
Release
Because of the similar title, the production company Associated Distributors Productions was promptly sued by
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
for copyright infringement.
Warren won this lawsuit.
[Weaver, pg. 387] After the lawsuit and as the popularity of the
television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...
''
Batman
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
'' died down, Warren re-released the film under the title ''She Was a Hippy Vampire''.
Reception and legacy
Modern reception of the film has been very negative. Fred Beldin of the film database
AllMovie
AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne.
History
AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...
gave the film one and a half stars out of five, noting the film as "a rip-off hack job no matter how you slice it, though its innocent veneer, period charm, and forced wackiness might endear the film to fans of similar goofs like ''
Rat Pfink a Boo Boo
''Rat Pfink a Boo Boo'' is a 1966 American film directed by Ray Dennis Steckler and starring Ron Haydock and Carolyn Brandt. The first 40 minutes of the film are a straight crime drama, but it jarringly segues into a superhero parody after this. Th ...
'' or ''
The Nasty Rabbit
''The Nasty Rabbit'' (also known as ''Spies a-Go-Go'') is a 1964 American Techniscope spy comedy film directed by James Landis and starring Misha Terr and Arch Hall Jr.
Plot
A Russian submarine lands one of their agents disguised as a cowboy ca ...
''".
Film director
Fred Olen Ray
Fred Olen Ray (born September 10, 1954) is an American film producer, director, and screenwriter of more than 200 low-to-medium-budget feature films in many genres, including Horror film, horror, science fiction, action film, action/adventure f ...
noted the film has "all the earmarks of Warren's worst work, but rises above the level of something as tedious as ''
Petrified World''. It is funny in an unintentional way and sometimes is not hard to look at."
Appearance on MST3K
In 1993, ''The Wild World of Batwoman'' was released as episode #515 of ''
Mystery Science Theater 3000
''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (abbreviated as ''MST3K'') is an American science fiction comedy film review television series created by Joel Hodgson. The show premiered on KTMA-TV (now WUCW) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 24, 1988. ...
'' where it was featured with the short ''Cheating''.
This episode was released later on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
by
Rhino Entertainment
Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company founded in 1978. It is currently the catalog division for Warner Music Group. Its current CEO is Mark Pinkus.
History
Founded in 1978, Rhino was original ...
and
Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...
.
'Wild World of Batwoman', 'Girl in Gold Boots', 'MST3K XXIII' reviews - nj.com
/ref>
See also
*'' Batman: The Movie'' – an official film adaptation of the hit TV show starring Adam West also from the same year
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
*
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wild World of Batwoman, The
1966 films
1960s science fiction comedy films
1966 independent films
American science fiction comedy films
American action comedy films
American black-and-white films
American independent films
1960s English-language films
Fan films based on Batman
Films directed by Jerry Warren
American superhero comedy films
1960s superhero films
Superheroine films
1960s action comedy films
Batwoman
1966 comedy films
1960s American films