With the identity of arch-criminal The Wizard continuing to baffle the authorities, the list of potential suspects grows longer as Columbia's Batman and Robin (1949 serial reaches its sixth chapter: "Target--Robin." Could the villain be eccentric Professor Hammill (William Fawcett), the wheelchair-bound inventor of a remote control device capable of rendering all of Gotham City powerless? Might the Wizard's black cowl conceal the face of radio columnist Barry Brown (Rick Vallin), who seems to know about criminal events before they occur? Or could the culprit be Dunne (Michael Whalen), a shifty private eye who shadows the Dynamic Duo as if afraid of what their investigation may uncover? Apprehending one of the Wizard's goons, Batman (Robert Lowery) assumes the man's identity to gain entry into the waterfront Harbor Club, known hangout of the Wizard's "remote control gang." When the thugs grow suspicious, Batman is coerced into proving his loyalty to the Wizard--by killing Robin! Echoing a scene from Anthony Mann's T-Men (1948), Batman levels a pistol at the captive Boy Wonder and does what he knows he must--pull the trigger. Appearing in the supporting role of Holt, one of the Wizard's henchman, is stuntman Eddie Parker, who doubled for Lon Chaney, Jr. in several Universal monster movies--among them The Mummy's Tomb (1942) and The Ghost of Frankenstein (1943)--and who would don the moldy raiment of the immortal Klaris in Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955).

By Richard Harland Smith