Batman’s Cinematic Origin Story

With the upcoming ridiculously titled Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice blockbuster opening this weekend, I though it’d be fitting to get some protein and veggies into this weekend’s otherwise diet of nothing by Kit-Kats and popcorn. As the the cinematic comic book universes have become more and more obsessed with origin stories, I thought I would link you lot up with the cinematic materials that inspired Bob Kane and Bill Finger when they created the Batman and the Joker.

This may not be all that new to hardcore fans of the Batman, but for the more casually interested in Batman or more obsessively interested in cinema, these Silent Era gems should be interesting.

First of all before cinema, we must acknowledge the primary literary influences on the Batman, who is a strange alchemy of Sherlock Holmes and Dracula. Narratively speaking, Batman has always belonged to the mystery genre with a keen deductive mind like the resident of 221 Baker Street. However, the much closer connection in terms of the iconography of Batman, is Dracula. Clearly the nocturnal nature and the use of bats is quite closely related. But we must remember the cape and cowl is very reminiscent of even Bela Lugosi’s Dracula.

It is true that Universal’s Dracula in 1931 predates the first appearance of Batman in 1939 and the Gothicism of Universal’s monster movies would continually be a major influence on the look of Batman comics from the 60s onward. However, the first cited film is The Bat, directed by Roland West twice first in 1926 as a silent feature and again in 1930 under the name The Bat Whispers.

The villain of the story is a man in a bat-suit who is both a thief and a murderer. That’s right, Batman is based on the bad guy! The character uses a stylized bat for his notes; makes use of ropes from atop buildings and there is even a Bat-signal moment where a moth on a car headlight creates a bat-shadow.

It is really fascinating that this film provides the basis for the character of Batman, not just because of the irony that we are dealing with a bad-guy flipped over to a good guy. Also because so much of the iconography of the character just came ready made from Roland West’s films. Furthermore, this film is basically an Agatha Christie mystery in which several characters are locked up in a mansion and must solve the mystery in order to escape. Fortunately this film is readily accessible on YouTube and you can check it out. FYI there is even an alternate version with Danny Elfman’s score from the 1988 Batman that’s not bad. Though it relatively hard to find. Here’s a version with a traditional score by Jerry Goldsmith.

Then there is the Clown Prince of Crime, the Joker. Obviously, the most interesting comic book villain of all time (that’s right, Marvel, shove it!) we again find a surprising narrative twist in which much of this character’s design is based on the hero from The Man Who Laughs.

Based on a Victor Hugo novel, the titular gentleman with a good sense of humor, is Gwynplaine, an orphan who has been surgically disfigured. That disfiguration is precisely the permanent smile we see on the face of the Joker in the Batman comics. Now it turns out that our hero is actually a nobleman by birth and will fight to win back his name and the woman he loves (who is conveniently blind) in fairly typical fashion for the silent era melodrama. It is fascinating to consider that the inspirations for both characters were reversed in the role of hero or villain in the original work.

The Man Who Laughs is a very solid piece of German Expressionist cinema, well directed by Paul Leni and acted by Conrad Veidt (who would later play the villain in Casablanca) and absolutely worth your time if it had nothing to do with Batman. With that connection in consideration, it becomes essential and you can watch it right here:

So there you go! After consuming this serious eye nutrition, you’ve earned the right to have a little candy. Go ahead and enjoy Batman V Superman!