Like `The Cat and the Canary', `The Bat' has been filmed many times and is a highly influential example of the `Old Dark House' type of spooky murder mystery popular in the 1920s and 30s. Based on a successful stage play by Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood, both the play and the various film versions of it seems slightly antiquated now, although both combine enough humour with thrills to remain sufficiently interesting. The opening scenes of this version, `The Bat Whispers' are said to have greatly influenced the Batman cycle and Bob Kane.
One can see why The gloomy 30s expressionist art-deco architecture, the shadowy figure of a man-sized, bat-like figure seen against walls and windows, and the way in which the character of the Bat is built up to give the master criminal an almost supernatural aura are very well done. Unfortunately, the film's early promise is let down somewhat as it drifts into what amounts to little more than a filmed version of the stage play, somewhat hammily conducted y some of its stars.
The plot big-time crook the Bat takes time to haunt a mansion rented to a retired gentlewoman for the summer while other mysterious events are going on keeps one generally entertained. The high points of the film after the opening scenes establishing the exact nature of the Bat's criminal activities, featuring a daring robbery and murder, lie in the performance of star Chester Morris and some imaginative photographic tricks. A camera zooms in on a country mansion, and continues right inside the house, giving a dizzying, high-speed tour of the creepy building. At one point Anderson (Morris) runs down the garden and the camera travels with him, taking the viewer right into the heart of the action. Certainly, director Roland West and his team were able to use tricks like this to their benefit at a time when few other directors had even grasped the effective use of sound (also used imaginatively in `The Bat Whispers'). It is these elements that give it a more modern feel than many films of that bygone era now possess. The finale, in which the Bat is finally unmasked, also shows considerable understanding of cinematic technique. That is not to say that the film is wholly accessible to a modern audience. Overall it is too talky and some of the performances, particularly Gustav Von Seyffertitz as Dr Venner (whose English is almost inaudible), occasionally make the film hard going.
However, lovers of the old dark house genre will revel in it and the performances of Morris as slick city detective Andersen and Una Merkle as the love interest more than make up for the deficiencies of others.
Certainly an unusual film and one many will want to come back to as each reviewing brings previously unseen images into the mind.
One can see why The gloomy 30s expressionist art-deco architecture, the shadowy figure of a man-sized, bat-like figure seen against walls and windows, and the way in which the character of the Bat is built up to give the master criminal an almost supernatural aura are very well done. Unfortunately, the film's early promise is let down somewhat as it drifts into what amounts to little more than a filmed version of the stage play, somewhat hammily conducted y some of its stars.
The plot big-time crook the Bat takes time to haunt a mansion rented to a retired gentlewoman for the summer while other mysterious events are going on keeps one generally entertained. The high points of the film after the opening scenes establishing the exact nature of the Bat's criminal activities, featuring a daring robbery and murder, lie in the performance of star Chester Morris and some imaginative photographic tricks. A camera zooms in on a country mansion, and continues right inside the house, giving a dizzying, high-speed tour of the creepy building. At one point Anderson (Morris) runs down the garden and the camera travels with him, taking the viewer right into the heart of the action. Certainly, director Roland West and his team were able to use tricks like this to their benefit at a time when few other directors had even grasped the effective use of sound (also used imaginatively in `The Bat Whispers'). It is these elements that give it a more modern feel than many films of that bygone era now possess. The finale, in which the Bat is finally unmasked, also shows considerable understanding of cinematic technique. That is not to say that the film is wholly accessible to a modern audience. Overall it is too talky and some of the performances, particularly Gustav Von Seyffertitz as Dr Venner (whose English is almost inaudible), occasionally make the film hard going.
However, lovers of the old dark house genre will revel in it and the performances of Morris as slick city detective Andersen and Una Merkle as the love interest more than make up for the deficiencies of others.
Certainly an unusual film and one many will want to come back to as each reviewing brings previously unseen images into the mind.