Adam West agreed to do the film “Batman” (1966) partly with a stipulation to have more screen time as Bruce Wayne than he did on the television show. Reportedly, being told by producers that without his involvement in the film, the part of Batman/Bruce Wayne would be recast had a little something to do with it, too.
Producers were unhappy with the sound made when Batman was hitting the rubber shark in one scene in the film. West said he told them the sound doesn’t matter because the shark looked so fake anyway.
West claimed he had to run around with the prop bomb for five hours to film the scene where Batman has to get rid of a smoking bomb. “It’s a good thing I was a jock, or I don’t know if I would have been able to do it,” he added.
Originally planned as the pilot film for the TV series, the movie was instead produced between the show’s first and second seasons. The producers took advantage of the larger budget to have a number of new Bat-gadgets constructed, such as the BatBoat.
As part of the promotion for the film, West and Burt Ward were sent to New York City on a bus to make appearances at various theaters. Ward noted they were supposed to hit 36 theaters, but, due to the popularity of the show and being mobbed by fans, they only made it to 33. At one point, fans even tried tipping over the bus. West would exit the bus first and quickly race through fans, but Ward was stuck picking up the rear. He was subsequently drowned in fans. West remembers it as a fun football play. (IMDb)
