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In Mark Millar's latest The Column over at Comic Book Resources he discloses a recent find about Orson Welles and Batman.
Seems that back in 1946 for a period of about 8 months Welles was not only considering making a movie about Batman but he had an all-star cast already signed up and ready to go.
While doing research for an upcoming biography on Welles, Lionel Hutton, a movie critic and film historian, came across a large amount of information about this movie including photos of proposed cast members in makeshift costumes and a 36 page treatment.
Welles seems to have been a long-life comics fan, a fact that I had never known. Read the article through the link provided above. If you are a fan of Welles like I am you'll realize too that we missed out on a movie that would likely have been as classic as Citizen Kane. And the reason the movie didn't get made? Read the article.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Thanks for posting the link, Scott. It's a fascinating article.
Basil Rathbone as the Joker? Hmm...
-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
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Still, you could sell Orson Welles being interested in the Batman story - the materially successful misfit, employing a little fantasy to play vigilante.
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I didn't wanna be the FIRST one to say it. It just sounded wrong to me.
This month, I watched a documentary about Humphrey Bogart which stated he got several of his big breaks by taking parts TURNED DOWN by George Raft. I doubt Raft EVER played anything Bogart turned down!
Also, THE RIDDLER did not appear in the comics until a year or two AFTER the described scenario supposedly took place.
In his 1965 book, THE GREAT COMIC-BOOK HEROES, Jules Feiffer wrote (in chapter 9): "Everyone went back to study CITIZEN KANE. Rumors spread that Welles, himself, had read and learned from comic- books! What a great business!"
Registered: Aug 2003
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