Batman (1966 –
Limited Edition CD Soundtrack)
Sound: B-
Music: B+
When Batman first came arrived in live-action form, it was
in the Columbia Pictures serials of the 1930s and 1940s, but the take-off of
The Shadow did not really make his mark on film until the mid-1960s TV series
in his name. It was a sensation that
lasted three seasons (and might have lasted four if Fox had not torn the sets
down before NBC called with interest in a fourth season). It was a series that helped the ABC network
become competitive with NBC and CBS.
20th Century Fox decided to release a B-movie
budgeted a feature film version of Batman in 1966, which made sense as
the show was shot in color, but most people did not have a color TV yet. Also, analog TVs of the time did not look as
good as 35mm film, and digital High Definition TV has not become that good yet
nearly 40 years later. The problem is
that this was rushed like a B-movie and the proper adjustments were not made to
go from small to big screen, made more frustrating by the fact that the series
creators were thinking of a feature film to begin with. It sure did not feel like it.
That brings us to the music, which was done by the
legendary composer/arranger Nelson Riddle.
After Neal Hefti did the original theme song for the show, Riddle took
over and created equally memorable pieces of music that helped make the series
a TV classic. Together, both men
created one of the most duplicated and ripped-off works of music in the latter
half of the twentieth century to the point that the instrumental arrangements
and signature pieces are icons of music and sound. It is a monumental achievement for which neither composer gets
enough credit. The same whimsy surfaces
later in Hefti’s music for TV’s The Odd Couple, while Riddle would bring
the same character to other genre works like TV’s Voyage to the Bottom of
the Sea.
Though Riddle gets to expand upon his work that was
limited by a half-hour format with commercials, the way the music is extended
does not drag itself, but sadly signifies the ways the film gets bogged
down. Without commercial breaks, the
film gets into narrative run-on trouble.
The bigger screen shots and fancy machinery cannot cover up the problems
and bizarreness of the screenplay.
Lorenzo Semple Jr., who was a writer on the show and its story editor,
allows a darker tendency to invade the film that the TV show would never
offer. The idea of people being
disintegrated, as well as being mixed-up, is something the censors might have
objected to, but it rides in the face of expectations the show had already set
up. That accounts for the film’s
box-office and critical failure. He
would go on to write the James Bond Thunderball remake Never Say
Never Again in 1983, as well as on dramas like Three Days of the Condor
(1975) and the brilliant Parallax View (1974), which may well be his
masterwork.
The music scores all this, so the stretched-out, extended
works offer an echo of dread that does not match the upbeat spirit of the show,
its sets, and that Deluxe color. Even
the upbeat points here form the show seem to be upended by his strange
undercurrent, which makes one think (hope) that a climax is on the way, only to
have a letdown occur instead. Some of
the humor also falls flat. However,
Riddle’s mastery of orchestration helps save this film from being worse. It also makes for a particularly interesting
comparison to, of all things, the DVD-Audio edition of Linda Ronstadt’s 1983
Nelson Riddle-produced hit album What’s New.
When I first played that DVD-A’s 5.1 mix, I was stunned by
the amazing musical soundfield of orchestration Riddle constructed for
Ronstadt’s voice to sing over. Such a
multi-channel experience is a great thing, yet, here is Riddle doing a
monophonic film soundtrack that offers plenty of excitement. It is a testament to his talents that he
could get his ideas across so clearly, no matter what the playback, and 5.1 was
very new when he cut that album and its follow-up (though obviously not part of
their original release).
The reason to get this CD, besides its limited 3,000 CD
pressing, is for the familiar music, all presented here in a clear PCM CD
Mono. The source material is in fine
shape, one of the best Fox releases from Film Score Monthly’s FSM
label. Being this will be one of their
most vital collector’s items, now would be the time to order your copy at www.filmscoremonthly.com before
they run out, because the Batman fans
are as numerous as the soundtrack fans at least.
Now the CD runs about 66 minutes, but this made me wonder
why brief cues from the series like the Batgirl theme or music reminding us of
Alfred the Butler, or even some cues of other villains were not included. The liner notes suggest a TV soundtrack
could be offered, which would be great.
I should also add how nice the booklet is in this CD. FSM has done some exceptional releases, and
this Batman CD ranks among their very best.
- Nicholas Sheffo
