Evil Empire

Author: Dan Katz

 

There are two things to notice here:

 

(1) The years of these films are N years too early, and

(2) Each film features one actor who played a Batman villain in the original series.

 

Take the Nth letter of the villain played by the actor in each film:

 

4 - Malachi Throne - False Face (S)

2 - Liberace - Chandell (H)

5 - Vincent Price - Egghead (E)

7 - Julie Newmar - The Catwoman (W)

8 - Cesar Romero - The Joker (R)

9 - Roddy MacDowall - The Bookworm (O)

7 - Victor Buono - King Tut (T)

5 - Milton Berle - Louie the Lilac (E)

9 - Frank Gorshin - The Riddler (E)

9 - Eartha Kitt - The Catwoman (M)

1 - Otto Preminger - Mr. Freeze (M)

4 - Shelley Winters - Ma Parker (A)

 

This yields the phrase SHE WROTE EMMA, indicating the answer: JANE AUSTEN.