# Orson Welles' "The Bat-Man" -- Why didn't it happen? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 8, 2010, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orson-welles-the-bat-man-why-didnt-it-happen/542384 "2010-06-08T02:50:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orson-welles-the-bat-man-why-didnt-it-happen/542384/1 "2010-06-08T02:50:31Z")
I just happened on [this trailer](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu5tJGfZsgc) via some random YouTube surfing. Apparently Orson Welles’ “secret project” was _The Bat-Man,_ with himself in the title role. Why was this movie never released? Welles obviously must have shot a lot of the footage, to make this trailer – with Edward G. Robinson as the Penguin, yet! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orson-welles-the-bat-man-why-didnt-it-happen/542384/2 "2010-06-08T02:53:07Z")
Or is it, as some of the comments suggest, a hoax? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orson-welles-the-bat-man-why-didnt-it-happen/542384/3 "2010-06-08T03:19:42Z")
Fairly obvious hoax, from various sources. (I recognize the bit about “the bird of night” from the Mercury Theatre’s _Julius Caesar_, for instance.) ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orson-welles-the-bat-man-why-didnt-it-happen/542384/4 "2010-06-08T04:58:41Z")
Several shots used here appear to be Ruth Warrick, the first wife in _Citizen Kane_. There were some others that looked like they might be from _The Lady from Shanghai_ as well. I’m inclined to think hoax as well. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orson-welles-the-bat-man-why-didnt-it-happen/542384/5 "2010-06-08T05:44:46Z")
Toward the end of part 1, there’s a brief clip of someone cutting through a pane of glass, followed by a shot of a clawed hand reaching through a doorway. These came from [The Bat](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Mo20rJID4E&feature=related) (1959). An earlier film version, **The Bat Whispers** , is said to have been one of the inspirations for **Batman**. In that version, the title character (a villain) wears a cape and occasionally casts a shadow resembling a giant bat. But there’s actually much more bat imagery in the earliest film version of the story, [The Bat](http://www.archive.org/details/TheBat1926) (1926). That’s where the “bat signal” in part 2 of the fake trailer is lifted from. ---
**Author:** ![Rrose\_Selavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rrose\_Selavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rrose_Selavy)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orson-welles-the-bat-man-why-didnt-it-happen/542384/6 "2010-06-08T10:20:11Z")
Yep . it was a hoax. A clever one, though. from 2003 by Mark Millar - [http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Batman-Orson-Welles-Hoax](http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Batman-Orson-Welles-Hoax) ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orson-welles-the-bat-man-why-didnt-it-happen/542384/7 "2010-06-08T11:59:51Z")
Conrad Veidt made a great Joker in the sequel! Ditto Clifton Webb as Alfred, but I really question casting Mae West as Catwoman. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orson-welles-the-bat-man-why-didnt-it-happen/542384/8 "2010-06-08T12:00:17Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > … Why was this movie never released? … He wasn’t prepared. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orson-welles-the-bat-man-why-didnt-it-happen/542384/9 "2010-06-08T12:28:38Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Conrad Veidt made a great Joker in the sequel! I understand they did some [make-up tests](http://drnorth.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/manwholaughs-726961.jpg) for it. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orson-welles-the-bat-man-why-didnt-it-happen/542384/10 "2010-06-08T12:41:38Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Conrad Veidt made a great Joker in the sequel! Ditto Clifton Webb as Alfred, but I really question casting Mae West as Catwoman. Well, I obviously hadn’t watched the whole thing when I posted. I thought they were just sticking with The Penguin. Glad to see I did call Veidt for the Joker.