Sunday, September 21, 2014

BATMAN and the Mean Streets of Kennington - blog entry by Ian Baker

[Updated Jan 13th 2023]

In May 1967,  during the hiatus between season 2 and season 3 of the Batman TV show, Adam West flew to England and shot a road-safety film, some photos of which are captured here. Batmania was still at its height in Britain. 

According to the Ealing edition of the Middlesex County Times , (Friday May 12th edition),  shooting commenced on Sunday May 7th with scenes on the Embankment, near the Houses of Parliament. One of the children was five-year old Patrick Cooney.

Subsequent scenes were filmed later that week on May 12th 1967, in Denny St in Kennington (according to notes on the photos)

Adam West as Batman in Denny St, Kennington

The incongruity of Batman juxtaposed with an Austin 1100 car, or surrounded by onlookers in a grey London jumps out of the photos.

According to a blogger pcarroll3 on Amazon.co.uk , Batman's dialog in the film was: 

"I'm taking a break from crime-fighting in Gotham and I'm here to tell you about a daily deadly danger.... TRAFFIC!.. and it finished
REMEMBER, Always do your..(pause for effect, look stern into the camera) KERB DRILL! "



© People Disc HM0458 (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
...and now...the actual advert itself...

Posted by at
Labels: ,

9 comments:

  1. KidSeptember 21, 2014 at 7:43 AM

    This one I'm not sure about. I probably saw it on TV at the time, but I'd have to see it again to know for sure. (The old memory needs jogging from time to time.) You have to hand it to Adam West 'though - he gave the role everything he had.

    ReplyDelete
  2. GBCDecember 3, 2017 at 7:33 PM

    Is this Nigel Brown who published Superstuff fanzine?
    If so, my name is Greg Chown and I was a friend of Alan Austin's back in the 70's.
    I was in possession of his old Gestetner in 75-76 and published Ugg Rotten Comix in my garage in Northampton...
    I honestly can't remember what I did with it afterwards. I moved back to Canada in 1977.
    gster909@gmail.com
    Greg Chown

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousMay 31, 2018 at 6:39 PM

      Yes.
      I remember your name from Fantasy Unlimited/Comics Unlimited. Good artwork.
      Nigel Brown

      Delete
    2. baggseyJune 18, 2021 at 11:37 AM

      Hello Greg - Ian Baker (co-editor of Superstuff73) here. You might be interested to learn that Alan Austin wrote a book about his life and days as a Comic Dealer which friends have now managed to get published. It is available on Amazon at a very affordable price. More info in our post here http://superstuff73.blogspot.com/2021/06/announcing-publication-of-alan-austins.html , although you can order directly on Amazon.ca (assuming you're still in Canada).

      Delete
    3. baggseyJune 18, 2021 at 11:50 AM

      Hello Greg - Ian Baker (co-editor of Superstuff73) here. You might be interested to learn that Alan Austin wrote a book about his life and days as a Comic Dealer which friends have now managed to get published. It is available on Amazon at a very affordable price. More info in our post here http://superstuff73.blogspot.com/2021/06/announcing-publication-of-alan-austins.html , although you can order directly on Amazon.ca (assuming you're still in Canada).

      Delete
    4. baggseyJune 18, 2021 at 11:50 AM

      Hello Greg - Ian Baker (co-editor of Superstuff73) here. You might be interested to learn that Alan Austin wrote a book about his life and days as a Comic Dealer which friends have now managed to get published. It is available on Amazon at a very affordable price. More info in our post here http://superstuff73.blogspot.com/2021/06/announcing-publication-of-alan-austins.html , although you can order directly on Amazon.ca (assuming you're still in Canada).

      Delete
  3. LyndonApril 13, 2018 at 1:30 AM

    This is not Kensington but Kennington , Denny street

    ReplyDelete
  4. baggseyMarch 2, 2019 at 12:09 PM

    Thanks for the information....I shall update the article.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)