Of Heroes and Villains: Glenn Cravath & The Batman Serials

Contributed by collector and Overstreet Advisor Art Cloos

Not a lot is known about Glenn Cravath’s life, but it turns out he is an important name for fans of old movie serials. In particular, he’s important for Batman fans who love the 1943 and 1949 Batman serials and related collectables. Cravath’s artwork can be found on promotional material for those Batman serials, including their pressbooks, one-sheets, and lobby cards.

Cravath was born on May 11, 1897 and died in January 1964. He started as an illustrator for the New York Journal in the 1920s. He worked for King Features Syndicate as a comic illustrator and did Sunday Frank Buck comics for the New York Journal. In 1928 he began to freelance for movie studios, among them RKO and Columbia. His last published work was The Unforgiven with Burt Lancaster in 1960.

When he died, Cravath left his house and collection which contained copies of his published work to his son, Douglas. He kept his father’s collection intact until his own death and because almost none of his artwork was ever sold, Cravath is a relatively little known artist today.

Among the many films he worked on were Bring ‘Em Back Alive (1932), King Kong (1933), Son of Kong (1933), Call of the Wild (1935), Clive of India (1935), Elephant Boy (1937), The Big Broadcast (1938), Blondie Meets the Boss (1939), The Reluctant Dragon (1941), Jungle Cavalcade (1941), Song of India (1949), Apache War Smoke (1952), The Petty Girl (1955), and Jungle Jim (1948-1955).

His style has been described as that of both an Impressionist and a Modern painter. For the most part when working on serial posters, Cravath started with a still and worked from there. Occasionally, the still was simply colorized and used directly on the poster, but more often, Cravath used it as a model for his art. Cravath’s work has been offered for auction multiple times, with realized prices ranging from $75 to $4,183.

Both the 1943 and the 1949 Batman serials are considered cult classics by Batman fans despite the obvious limited budgets, goofs and flaws that resulted from short filming schedules and limited budgets. For example, no Batmobile appeared in either one, just regular cars. A black 1939 Cadillac Series 61 convertible was used in the 1943 serial. It was chauffeured by Alfred when Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson were either in their civilian or Batman and Robin identities. It is driven top up when it is the Batmobile and top down when it is Bruce Wayne’s car. Obviously, the bad guys in this movie were not too bright since they did not notice this.

The 1943 serial contributed to the Batman mythos with the introduction of the Batcave (then called the Bat’s Cave), the grandfather clock entrance to the Batcave, and a slim version of Alfred Pennyworth – all of which was soon adopted by DC comic writers.

It starred Lewis Wilson as Batman, Douglas Croft as Robin, J. Carrol Naish as Dr. Daka, and Shirley Patterson as Linda Page, with a cameo by Bob Kane. Some have suggested that Dr. Daka was originally supposed to be the Joker given his playland headquarters and a banner from the pressbook which showed Batman hitting someone who looks a fair amount like the Joker. But, because it was filmed during WWII, the villain was changed to a Japanese spy instead. However, the claim that he was meant to be the Joker has not been confirmed or disproven. The movie came out on July 16, 1943.

The next serial, which opened on May 26, 1949, starred Robert Lowery as the Caped Crusader, John Duncan as Robin, Jane Adams as Vicki Vale, Lyle Talbot as Commissioner Gordon, and Ralph Graves as Winslow Harrison. Once again the Batmobile is excluded, but instead of a limousine as in the first serial, the guys drive around in a 1949 Mercury. Their utility belts in this serial were replaced by belts without pouches and the Bat-signal was used in broad daylight instead of at night when it could actually be seen.

It’s interesting to note that during WWII Lowery, the new Batman, appeared with George Reeves in a US War Department Official Training film called Sexual Hygiene that was directed by John Ford. Then Lowery would later appear with Reeves in an episode of Reeve’s Superman TV show titled “The Deadly Rock” which originally aired on June 2, 1956.

There is a surprising amount of desirable items from the serials and much of it is very hard to find, especially from the 1943 serial. Though some items like the various sets of lobby cards and the one-sheets can be found relatively easily, other items such as the presskits, the comic heralds, the ’43 Batman banner, the ’43 giveaway mask, and the giveaway cardboard Batplane that “really flies” are very tough to find.

The 1949 serial has a collectible that is truly one of a kind. That is the surviving original art that Cravath did for the one-sheets. The record price for his art in an auction is $4,183 for movie poster illustrations for that 1949 serial, which was sold by Heritage Auctions in October 2011. The art is appealing on several levels because Batman collectors want it, art collectors want it, and movie serial collectors do as well. As far as is known, his art from the 1943 serial has never shown up for public sale. The 1949 movie serial poster from chapter 6 shows his finished work and the two full color pieces are his actual art for the serial poster.

So, as you can see collecting the two Batman movie serials is a large area to work in. There is a lot to look for, but the crown jewel of those collectibles is Glenn Cravath’s original art for the 1949 serial one-sheets which really is a one of a kind collectible and who knows when and if it might be offered for sale again.