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
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