Batman 1943 - Chapter Two
"The Bat's Cave"
July 23, 1943
With the second episode, we are introduced to the Bat's Cave as it becomes an integral part to the story. The thing is, the cave itself is not that impressive in terms of content. There's a desk and a phone and that's about it. Batman still has his lab in another room. There are no filing cabinets or computers. In fact, we open the first episode with Batman brooding at his desk as the narrator fills us in on who Batman is.
You can hear the full extent of what Jim Beard and I thought about the episode here.
The episode ends in a spectacular cliffhanger as Batman is thrown off the roof of a tall building and in typical cliffhanger fashion, he breaks his fall by landing on a window cleaner's scaffold.
He and Robin then capture one of Daka's men and take him back to the Bat's Cave. And here is where the cave serves a specific purpose. It's not for Batman and Robin to hang their cowl and conduct their investigations, but rather as a means to intimidate and interrogate prisoners as Batman leaves their captive alone with bats circling about.
And then there's an interesting bit with Alfred we didn't discuss in the episode. He is seen reading a comic book with the word Detective on it. I doubt it is DC's own Detective Comics as the font looks off, but it is funny to see nonetheless. And there is a reference to Alfred's penchant for detective stories by Bruce and he and Dick startle Alfred while emerging from the grandfather clock.
I have to ask, what phone booth has a secret door in its back as Linda is nabbed by Daka's men at the Blue Parrot under Bruce and Dick's nose. For that matter, how the writers missed a trick by not having Dick note any sort of odor from the gas they used to knock out Linda.
But there is a nice nod to the comics as Bruce and Dick go undercover as a down on his luck guy and a newspaper boy respectively in their search for Linda. I have to say, Jim and I spoke about how Douglas Croft didn't look young enough as Dick and Robin, but as he plays the newspaper boy on the street, it works. We also get Alfred's desire to be of service by getting wanting to get involved in their investigation.
