The Batman - Orson Welles Hoax

Back in 2003 on the Comic Book Resources (CBR) website, award-winning comic book writer, Mark Millar wrote a column that to me was one of the coolest hoaxes in the world.
In the column, he claimed that in 1946, when Batman was seven years old, Orson Welles wanted to do a Batman movie.
Of course the column was fake, Welles had talked about a Shadow movie, but not The Batman.
But what if it had been true?
The comic book lovers mind fairly reels with the possibilities.

According to the article, Welles had talked George Raft signing up for the role of Two-Face, James Cagney as The Riddler, Basil Rathbone as The Joker and (get this) Marlene Dietrich as Catwoman!
As to the role of Batman, the column said that was a sticking point between Welles and the studio.
Welles wanted to portray Batman and Bruce Wayne, and the studio wanted Gregory Peck.
Millar said they had even shot test footage with Peck in a makeshift costume.
And there was no Robin the Boy Wonder.
Of course not, this movie was about Batman.

Can you imagine what kind of dark movie this would have been?
It would have put the Noir in Film Noir.
And how would a successful Batman movie by Welles would have changed the public perception of the Super Hero film?
We wouldn't have had to wait until 1978's Superman to see an actual good comic book movie.
Can you imagine Super Heroes in the same category as Westerns, Crime Dramas, Science Fiction, Comedies etc?
Can you imagine people referring to the "Classic 1946 Batman film"?

And imagine the film icons in Super Hero movies?

Gregory Peck owning the Batman role in sequels? Or maybe Batman would have pulled a 007 and become a series with actors like Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift or James Dean as the Dark Knight.
Imagine Kirk Douglas as Captain America?
Or maybe even John Wayne as Cap in a war movie?
Robert Redford could have easily played the shield slinger in the 60s and 70s.
Yul Brynner in the 60s as Professor X in an X-men Movie with Christoper Plummer as Magneto?
Rock Hudson as Kal-El in a 60s Superman film reboot?
Why do I picture Paul Newman or Steve McQueen as Daredevil?
Dustin Hoffman as Spiderman?
Nah.....

And lets not forget the ladies....
Jane Russell as Wonder Woman?
Marilyn Monroe as Black Canary?
Okay, maybe even Debbie Reynolds as Supergirl?
Come to think of it, the comic book industry might have been forced to beef up the women in comics to give the studios something to work with.

And think of the bad guys....
I keep seeing Christoper Lee as Dr. Doom.
Anthony Perkins as the Joker?
Maybe Jack Nicholson would have played the Joker in the 1970s and instead of comparing Nicholson and Heath Ledger, we'd be comparing Perkins, Nicholson, Ledger and Rathbone.

And the movies that could have been made....
Can you imagine Warren Beatty as Mister Fantastic, Faye Dunaway as the Invisible Girl, George Kennedy as the Thing and Elvis Presley as the Human Torch in 1967's Fantastic Four, directed by Arthur Penn?

Okay, I went off on a rant there, but who knows, with CGI growing by leaps and bounds, maybe one day we'll actually see Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn as Superman and Lois Lane.

You can read Mark Millar's original column at CBR here:
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=14529

Wikipedia appears to have removed the page it had about the The Batman - Orson Welles Hoax because it was, as they put it, a "non-notable hoax."
Though they still do mention it on their "Urban legend" page.