The eleventh chapter of Columbia Pictures' 15-part serial Batman and Robin (1949) afforded matinee-goers the unexpected sight of the Caped Crusader plummeting to his death from the window of a Gotham City skyscraper, the fatal plunge unimpeded at any point along the way by window ledges or supportive awnings. As the Wizard's henchmen celebrate the demise of their heretofore indefatigable antagonist, Bruce Wayne (Robert Lowery), the Batman himself appears curbside to assure frazzled witness Robin (Johnny Duncan) that he is still very much alive, and that at the last minute-while he was incapacitated by one of the Wizard's booby trap-underworld turncoat Jimmy Vale (George Offerman, Jr.) took his place in the cape and cowl in a failed attempt to rescue his kidnapped sister, Vicki (Jane Adams). As the Dynamic Duo return to pick up the Wizard's trail, the elusive supervillain reasons that Jimmy could not have been the real Batman...and surmises that the man behind the mask just might be "lazy do-nothing" playboy Bruce Wayne. Luring Wayne into a trap, the Wizard's henchmen hold him captive as the chapter earns its title, "Robin's Ruse," as faithful valet Alfred (Eric Wilton) dons the Batman unitard to misdirect suspicion. Both Robin/Dick Grayson and Alfred Pennyworth were the invention of comic book illustrator Jerry Robinson (1922-2011), a protégé of Batman creator Bill Kane, who had a hand as well in creating the Batman nemesis The Joker for the first issue of Batman comics in 1940.

By Richard Harland Smith