Vincent Price is a shady doctor who ices shady banker Harvey
Stephens to get to the money Stephens stole from his own bank and hid in the
house he’s leasing to mystery writer Agnes Moorehead. Meanwhile, Moorehead’s
neighborhood is being terrorized by a masked, clawed serial killer who takes
the novel approach of releasing rabid bats on his victims—hence his nickname
and the title of The Bat. Based on
Mary Roberts Rinehart’s play of the same name (based on her own novel The Circular Staircase), Crane Wilbur’s The Bat is not exactly unpredictable as
a mystery, but it is simply oodles of fun as an old dark house picture with
shadowy, stormy atmosphere. The script is sometimes corny, sometimes genuinely
witty, and always breezy fun. Most significantly, this picture is a fab vehicle
for Moorehead and Lenita Lane, who plays her companion. It is particularly
refreshing as it doesn’t limit Moorehead and Lane to the usual “helpless
female” roles. They take an active role in solving the mystery, always support
and love each other, and are often more on the ball than the ineffectual cops
in charge of protecting them. Moorehead even refers to the dynamic duo as “two
strong women” at one point. Price does his patented menacing routine, which
means he’s a blast to watch too (also, be sure to look out for little rascal
Darla Hood in her final role).
The Film Detective’s new blu-ray of The Bat is a very appealing antidote to all the crummy versions of
this public domain movie floating around. There are a lot of white specs, and
thin scratches appear with some regularity, but the picture beneath the flaws is
handsome, indeed, with natural grain, nice detail, and bold contrast. Audio
suffers from occasional crackling, but it’s also strong overall, showing off
Louis Forbes’s smashing score well—I love his use of slide guitar to signal the
killer!
