With Batman (Robert Lowery) and rescued railroad president Winslow (Ralph Graves) having escaped death in the opening frames of "Robin Meets the Wizard," 8th chapter of Columbia Pictures' 1949 Batman and Robin serial, the Caped Crusader and Commissioner Gordon (Lyle Talbot) decide to trick master criminal The Wizard into thinking the Caped Crusader is dead and that the railroad is willing to concede to his extortion demands for $5 million. Dusting treasury notes with radium powder in order to track the ransom, Batman and Robin (Johnny Duncan) are led to an abandoned waterfront warehouse. Despite the chapter's title, the Boy Wonder never meets the elusive Wizard but is instead coldcocked by the masked villain as the radioactive banknotes cause the warehouse to burst into flames. The pinchpenny nature of producer Sam Katzman keeps Batman and Robin unintentionally amusing through all of its 15 chapters, with the Dynamic Duo forced to hitch rides with the Gotham City Five-O and use payphones to contact police headquarters. Chapter 8 makes a welcome return to The Wizard's subterranean lair, accessible only via submarine. Katzman's Jungle Jim films, starring former Tarzan Johnny Weissmuller, would earn him the nickname "Jungle Sam." He would later produce a number of Elvis Presley vehicles for MGM but Katzman is best remembered for his forays into science fiction, among them It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955), Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956), and The Giant Claw (1957).

By Richard Harland Smith