Release calendarTop 250 moviesMost popular moviesBrowse movies by genreTop box officeShowtimes & ticketsMovie newsIndia movie spotlight
    What's on TV & streamingTop 250 TV showsMost popular TV showsBrowse TV shows by genreTV news
    What to watchLatest trailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb SpotlightFamily entertainment guideIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsEmmysSan Diego Comic-ConSummer Watch GuideToronto Int'l Film FestivalSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll events
    Born todayMost popular celebsCelebrity news
    Help centerContributor zonePolls
For industry professionals
  • Language
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Watchlist
Sign in
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Use app
Back
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • FAQ
IMDbPro
Una Merkel and Chester Morris in The Bat Whispers (1930)

Trivia

The Bat Whispers

Edit
One of only a handful of films to be shot in the widescreen Magnifilm 65mm format (other studios were also experimenting with other wide formats at the time). The expense of upgrading theaters with new screens and projectors - after just having to install sound equipment - coupled with the Depression and the December 1930 edict from the MPPDA that the film industry not cause "the public's curiosity to be aroused about any new innovations for at least two years" effectively killed the new format. Widescreen formats did not return until the middle of the 1950s out of the necessity to compete with television.
Long thought to be lost, a nitrate print of the film was discovered in the Mary Pickford Estate in 1987 and restored by the UCLA Film and Television Archive in 1988.
This is allegedly the film that inspired Bob Kane to create Batman.
Mary Pickford purchased the rights to this film hoping to produce a remake starring Humphrey Bogart and Lillian Gish.
The Magnifilm 65mm version was screened in about 18 large cities but had more or less the same anticipated response as did the standard version, bringing to an end (for a time) the expectation that the wider film would attract a wider audience.

Contribute to this page

Suggest an edit or add missing content
  • Learn more about contributing
Edit page

More from this title

More to explore

Recently viewed

Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
Get the IMDb App
Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
Follow IMDb on social
Get the IMDb App
For Android and iOS
Get the IMDb App
  • Help
  • Site Index
  • IMDbPro
  • Box Office Mojo
  • License IMDb Data
  • Press Room
  • Advertising
  • Jobs
  • Conditions of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Your Ads Privacy Choices
IMDb, an Amazon company

© 1990-2025 by IMDb.com, Inc.