Your favorite screen Batman?

[OKITOMAGIC]

I agree  with several people on the best Batman -
Adam West , Chris Bale , and the Timm Cartoons
Who is the best Bruce Wayne
West, Bale , and Kilmer , although I like Bob Kane's idea of Robert Wagner (in the auto)
The best Robin/Dick Grayson -Burt Ward

[Composite Superman]

Best movie Batman: Christian Bale
Most fun Batman: Adam West
Best Bat-Voice: Kevin Conroy

[Lee Semmens]

No one for Lewis Wilson or Robert Lowery?!?

My favorite Batman is Christian Bale.

I quite like Adam West, even though he doesn't particularly strike me as being very convincing as the athletic, very fit type (a little paunchy rather than muscular in my opinion), but the TV show was a bit too campy for my liking.

I never really cared for Michael Keaton in the role - I thought he was totally unsuitable for the part of Batman.

[nightwing]

I quite like Adam West, even though he doesn't particularly strike me as being very convincing as the athletic, very fit type (a little paunchy rather than muscular in my opinion), but the TV show was a bit too campy for my liking.

Adam looked better in shirtless, pool-side photos of the time than he did in the outfit.  I think there was something about that utility belt that made him look fat.

As for the camp element, I think they nailed it in the first season with episodes that worked on two levels; straight adventure for kids and snickering parody for their parents.  A lot of those episodes were lifted directly from the comics, and dialog and situations that seemed perfectly acceptable on the four-color page came off as insane when acted out by real human beings.  The big appeal of the show for me -- then and now -- was that it was the most faithful adaptation of comic to screen EVER.  Everything since has hedged its bets (hence the "armor" for Bale's Batman, biker outfits for the X-Men, etc)

Unfortunately as time wore on the comedy got broader, the budget got smaller and the whole thing became an endless parade of has-been movie stars as "villain of the week" (Rudy Vallee?  Liberace?!?!?!)  When we saw Batman singing "Buttercup" even the youngest among us knew the shark had been jumped.

If there's any real problem with the "camp" approach it's that it succeeded too well, and so became the only approach Hollywood would take to superheroes for years and years (even seeping into Donner's "Superman" via Hackman's campy Luthor).  If "Batman" had been quickly followed by an equally successful but more serious superhero adaptation ("Green Hornet" tried, but failed), then I think we'd have been okay.  But people became convinced that campy was the only way to do superheroes...that in fact, comics themselves were camp...and that's where we ran into trouble.  Kind of like how after "Star Wars", every SF film had to have "blaster" pistols and comic relief robots.  Don't blame "Star Wars" (or "Batman") for succeeding...blame everyone else for having no imagination.

[Klar Ken T5477]

I like the 2nd Batman serial a lot - best music, Commissioner Gordon AND the bat signal, a decent masked villain and a lot of fun although Robin seems more like a young tough.

Charm include the villain having a better mansion than Bruce Wayne.  Robert Lowery's bored Bruce is nicely done.  The action is brisk  and is a lot of fun despite the limitations of being a Sam Katzman Columbia cheapie.  If only Republic had done the Batman serials although Spy Smasher is their best serial.  They also were negotiating  the rights to Superman at one time but were ultimately too expensive opting for Fawcett (Capt. Marvel, Spy Smasher) and Marvel characters (Capt. America) instead.

[nightwing]

Yeah, Lyle Talbot was a good Gordon.  And it was neat to see the Bat-signal, even if it was about the size of an overhead projector, and he rolled it over to the window to activate it. 

Lowery was pretty good as Bruce Wayne but it's a shame the costume was so poorly done.  Also, anyone who complains about Adam West's girth should be forced to watch chubby old Lowery lumbering around with his "man-boobs." He looks like a poor man's Victor Mature. (There's an old rumor that he had an oxygen tank on hand for all his running scenes). Great voice, though, and certainly less annoying than Lewis Wilson with his New England, "Thurston Howell III" accent (which he makes no effort to disguise as Batman!).

For those of you who have Seasons 3 and 4 of the Adventures of Superman on DVD, you can see Robert Lowery as Clark Kent's globe-trotting adventurer buddy in "The Deadly Rock."  Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent, together again.

[Klar Ken T5477]

Nightwing,
I think both Lowery and Duncan were doubled extensively in their 'action' scenes.

As for the best Batman over all -- winner and still Bat-champion Adam "1966" West!

[TELLE]

I think Wonder Woman mostly escaped camp but at the expense of intelligence.  Of course, the obvious charms of Lynda carter partly mitigated that.

The closest to Batman would be Spidey and Blue Beetle on the Electronic Company, in terms of superhero camp.  Can't think of any others right now.