The Bat

source: The Bat

Overly contrived murder mystery with as many sub-pots as rooms in the massive Oaks mansion where most of the movie takes place. Famous murder mystery writer Cornelia Van Gorder, Agnes Moorehead, is taking time off from writing and spending the summer at the Oaks which she rented from Mark Flemming, John Bryant the nephew of Zenith Bank president John Flemming, Harvey Stephens. There's been this weird looking person known as "The Bat" who runs around with a sock over his head and a clawed glove that murdered a number of people at the Oaks the previous year. "The Bat" murderous escapades is making the hired help at the Oaks very nervous and they think that he's coming back for another visit. Almost from the start of the movie we see a large hole in the storyline about "The Bat". Bank president John Fleming who's out in the woods hunting with his doctor Malcolm Wells, Vincent Price, tells the Doc. that he just stole $1,000,000.00 from his bank and hid it in a secret room in the Oaks. Fleming wants to fake his death by finding someone to substitute his body and then free from suspicion take off with the loot and live happily ever after. It turns out that the Doc. has ideas of his own and when a forest fire almost on cue, like you would expect to see a song or dance number in a musical, breaks out. Fleming is distracted Dr. Wells who shoots him making it look like his death was because of the forest fire, are the police in Zenith Township so incompetent that they wouldn't notice that Flaming died of a gunshot wound? The entire movie centers around the hidden stolen bank money in the Oaks which makes the Bat's, whoever he is, murders the previously year make no sense at all since there was no stolen money for him to look and kill for back then? Were given the usual suspects of who "The Bat" is but as usual the most obvious is the least one to suspect. We're shown right from the beginning that Dr. Wells is up to no good by murdering John Flemming so right away we know not to trust him and he also knows that the money is hidden in the Oaks. There's so many other sub-plots in the movie that you soon forget Dr. Wells and suspect almost anyone in the movie and as the movie goes on and the plot begins to become even more convoluted you even start to suspect yourself. If the movie tried to be a little less complicated instead of a puzzle that someone from the high IQ MENSA Society couldn't even figure out it may well have held ones interests but by the last half of the movie you were so lost and confused by the plot that you lost all interest in who the killer was. This loss of interest seemed to be shared by the movies cast as well who went from being terrified of "The Bat" at the start of the film to giving the audience the impression towards the end that they just wanted it to be over so they could collect their checks for being in the movie and go home.

Fans of Vincent Price know and love him for his horror films and with a title like THE BAT, you'd think that this is a film about some evil murderous bat,...right? Well, despite the title, it's actually a murder mystery about some stolen stocks and the murders that occur to try to recover this fortune. For me, this wasn't a problem--it was still a pretty good film. But some will no doubt be disappointed that this isn't a horror flick. Because this isn't exactly a horror film, it also isn't so surprising then that Agnes Morehead is the star of the film and Price is actually a supporting player. She is a mystery writer (like TV's Jessica Fletcher) and the mystery appears to be unfolding all around her. So, it's up to her and her small band of helpers to unravel who is dressing up in silly garb (the mystery person in a black hood refers to himself as "The Bat"--hence the title of the film) and killing people in the house Ms. Morehead is renting. The film features decent writing and acting, but in many ways it's obvious that this was originally a stage production. This isn't a terrible thing, though the staginess of the film is apparent at times. Additionally, since the ladies inside the rented house were being constantly threatened, I couldn't help but think "why don't they just leave the house??!!". Duh. But despite all this, it's still a decent time-passer and worth a look.

The Bat (1959) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Mystery writer Cornelia Van Gorder (Agnes Moorehead) moves into a creepy old house with her chicken secretary and soon afterwards they realize the house was the setting for several murders by a mysterious figure known as The Bat. Pretty soon there's some missing money and the threat of more murders and a variety of suspects including a doctor (Vincent Price) and a banker's nephew (John Bryant). Previously filmed in 1926 and 1930, THE BAT isn't a complete success but I think it's a somewhat charming mystery that has quite a few interesting things going for it but the rather weak direction by Crane Wilbur keeps it from being better. I think the biggest problem is the actual feel of the picture because it really does seem as if you're watching a television pilot from the era. There's just nothing here that really screams out as a theatrical feature and there's just a low-rent quality about the entire thing. With that said, there's a lot to enjoy here including the comic timing. I'm sure some might object that the movie isn't a lot darker than it is but I thought the comedy aspect was rather good and there's just something charming about the two women and their back-and-forth talks about the various spooks and chills. It also doesn't hurt that we're given some very good performances with both Price and Moorehead really standing out. The film has all the trappings that you'd expect from an "old dark house" picture including the mysterious figure in black, which was a terrific look for The Bat. I found his look to be quite effective and then there's the various plot twists throughout. THE BAT isn't a complete success but it's certainly a lot better than many films of its genre.

The embezzling banker, come back to life? The scheming, murderous doctor? The inept, old police officer? Could one of these men be ‘The Bat'? Faithfully based on the Rinehart/Hopwood play, ‘The Bat' (1959) is funny, lighthearted fun. Yes, the plot drags at times, and the film suffers a bit from its stiff, stage-like origins. But this is arguably the strongest celluloid rendering of the play, which had been brought to the screen several times earlier in the century. In fact, the 1930 version, ‘The Bat Whispers', is cited as one of Bob Kane's inspirations for ‘Batman'. Mystery writer Agnes Moorehead rents a banker's mansion for the summer. Unbeknown to her, the banker has stashed a million dollars worth of embezzled securities somewhere in a secret, hidden room. Scheming doctor Vincent Price longs for the stash, but so do others. As more characters become aware of and search for the stolen goods, folks start dying at the hands of an elusive being known only as ‘The Bat'. It's interesting to note that there are a few dramatic murders in the film, which almost seem out of place in (and at odds with) such a light, cornball movie, and that actually brings the whole affair up a notch. You see, ‘The Bat' kills his hapless victims by slashing their throats with his ‘clawed' glove, a precursor to (and inspiration for?) Wes Craven's ‘Freddy' character in the ‘Nightmare on Elm Street' films. Trivia and possible spoiler: Darla Hood, who played `Darla' in the ‘Little Rascals'/'Our Gang' shorts, has a small role here as a young adult. Her role ends when she meets ‘The Bat'. Not a bad thing. --- david ross smith

Enjoyable old dark house movie. Agnes Moorehead stars as the mystery writer who becomes wrapped up in a real-life mystery. Sort of a precursor to Jessica Fletcher. She and her comic relief sidekick (Lenita Lane) find themselves targeted by the murderous Bat. You know, Moorehead was never known as a great beauty but I've always thought she was a handsome woman and she looks particularly lovely in this film. She was always a great actress and she's very good in this, a rare starring role for her. The cast is solid. In addition to Moorehead and Lane, there's Vincent Price and Gavin Gordon. Price is terrific as always, if a little subdued. Gordon is good but every time I see him in a role I am reminded of his Lord Byron from the Bride of Frankenstein prologue and I snicker a little. Also in the cast in a minor role (and her last) is Darla from The Little Rascals. It's a pretty basic story and based on a play that's been made for film a few other times. Most notably 1926 and 1930. Both of those were entertaining for different reasons. This version I've always had a soft spot for. I watch it again every couple of years or so. I recommend anybody who enjoys these types of old films give it a shot.

Watch out for the red herrings, I was wrong. And I am very rarely wrong in pre-1980's whodunits. Grabbing this to watch early Vincent Price I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of thriller that could be produced with the technology. For those of you looking for the technological aspects of movies the lighting and shadow work was excellent. That and the sound-tract adds a lot to the overall feel of the movie. An added plus was Darla from "Our Gang" adding a cute bit part of the movie. Comletely gore-less, this movie actually does as promised and delivers thrills without blood. Something most modern movies cannot pull off. Problems with the movie - First it has a nasty habit of just dumping information on you instead of making the viewer gradually learn what happens. Second as most 1950's horror fare it does have a tendency to drag on. But both of these can be overcome by what some previous reviewers call a confusing plot. Sorry guys, if you know whodunit at the beginning of the movie it is not worth watching.

"The Bat" is indeed a very silly low budget mystery film. There are very few male characters, therefore it is not difficult to guess who "The Bat" is. Vincent Price, in the role of Dr. Malcolm Wells, has a good performance and a well developed character. The banker John Fleming has a minor but also very important participation in the plot. However, the motives of the behavior and double-identity of Lt. Andy Anderson are not explained; Cornelia van Gorder, played by Agnes Moorehead, unsuccessfully tries to be an Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot, resolving the murders, but her character is simply awful. The cold reaction of the women in the mansion when their close friend Judy Hollander dies due to the insistence of Dale Bailey to leave their locked room is a shame. My vote is four. Title (Brazil): "A Mansão do Morcego" ("The Mansion of the Bat")

I'm surprised the screen writer's efforts were listed under the term "credits". He trashed the book, he trashed the bats, and everyone who was involved in the making of this film should have been sued for wasting the viewers' time and money. Rinehart's original story was a (dated) but interesting and entertaining tale of suspense, nothing that involved misinformation about little animals. Considered by some as the author's best work, this deserved better treatment. As for the acting, well...it's not that Vincent Price was incapable of a decent performance - "Shelby" was delightfully slimy in LAURA, but he seemed to need better direction than he got in this stinker. Read the book - or watch the paint peel from the ceiling. Either would be a better use of your time.

THE BAT is a film based on the novel/play by Avery Hopwood and Mary Roberts Rinehart that was very popular in the twenties and early thirties. There were two previous film versions; one silent version made in the twenties and an early sound version made in 1930, the latter version mostly recalled today because it was one of the first films shot in 70mm and what we today call "wide screen." Watching this 1959 version, I couldn't help get the feeling that this film belongs to era more remote than 1959. This kind of plot, with its creaky old mansion, secret passage ways, mysterious masked killer, hidden money etc., had just about vanished from the screen since the mid thirties. Other films of this type include the various versions of CAT AND THE CANARY and SEVEN KEYS TO BALDPLATE. Apparently someone noticed a film of this type hadn't been made in a while and it was a long time since the last version of THE BAT had been filmed. This 1959 version is none-the-less a very entertaining "killer lurking around spooky old mansion" thriller. The entire cast is excellent, including stars Vincent Price and Agnes Moorehead. The film very effectively keeps the killers identity from the audience until the very end. But when the killers identity is revealed, it begins to make sense when one thinks about. Perhaps of interest to today's viewers is how the killer some what resembles Freddy Kreuger. Despite being an entertaining thriller, THE BAT didn't inspire a revival of this genre.