The Bat Whispers

Based on a play that was filmed four years earlier by the same director this is a wonderful film that is hampered only by the limitations of sound. That said this is probably the best version of the story.

A fiend known as The Bat is lurking around the mansion of a rich family and its up to an intrepid detective to prevent him from getting the goods.

This movie is a lot of fun, with several wonderful performances especially by Chester Morris as the detective.

Interestingly the film was filmed both in the standard aspect ratio and in an early wide screen process (Both are on the DVD). The films are more or less identical, but since they were taken from different takes they both play like two different nights of the same play.

I like this film a great deal and recommend it to anyone who likes the Old Dark House genre.

This is a great old black and white mystery/suspenser. If you have the capacity to enjoy films of the 30's and 40's and you like mysteries and fine film craftsmanship, see his movie. Chester Morris is very good as the lead. The plot is relatively true to the Hopwood/Rinehart original screenplay. The setting is an old mansion with a spinster and family members terrified by a super criminal known as the Bat. They get outside help, but the Bat strikes anyway. Who is the Bat? What does he want in the old mansion? The story answers those questions in a most old-fashioned, entertaining manner. Of the three movie versions of the Bat, the 1926 silent, the 1950's Vincent Price/Agnes Moorhead version, and this one, this is the best.

Great fun! The special effects are amazing for a 1930 movie. Miniaturized sets are used & although they're primitive by today's standards, keep in mind that this movie is over 70 years old. It's an excellent Old Dark House movie, complete with thunderstorms, secret passageways, a mysterious creature named "The Bat," comedic elements, a large old house, several murders, etc. It's been noted that the comic strip character, "Batman," owes some of his origins to "The Bat," & it's apparent in the outfit, the shadows cast from buildings, & in the name of the character itself. "The Bat" is indeed a pretty scary entity. The sound effects are good, camera work is excellent, & the ending is bizarre. It kept my interest throughout its 83 minutes. Well worth seeing for Old Dark House fans (this is one of the best). I rate it 9/10.

No doubt about it, the silent screen acting technique is still present in this early talkie. Everyone behaves as though they had a case of first night stage jitters--and the supposedly comic moments are painfully obvious and tainted with smokehouse ham.

But aside from the theatrics of some of the cast, this is an entertaining and truly spooky old dark house kind of comedy-mystery that was so popular during the '30s and '40s. What is most amazing is the fluidity of the camerawork through the innovative use of miniatures and the camera's ability to zoom forward and slink along the exteriors of an old mansion like a prowling cat. It is worth seeing alone for the atmospheric sets and photography, especially considering that this was filmed in 1930 when sound itself was only two years old.

Only Chester Morris among the performers delivers a really credible performance acceptable by today's standards of acting. The others are way over the top--including Una Merkel and just about all of the supporting players with the exception of William Bakewell.

If you're a fan of Mary Roberts Rinehart stories, you'll enjoy this version of her successful play. It's far superior to the later remake with Vincent Price. Be sure to see this in the newly released Wide Screen Version. It's a pristine transfer from the restoration by the UCLA Film and Television Archive.

From the memorable opening scene of the newsboy yelling "You won't get the Bat! I'll bet the Bat makes a chump out of you!" to the police, it was clear this would be a much more stylish film than the 1926 one. Roland West directed both films. This one is markedly superior visually and, unlike a lot of other directors at the time, West seems to make the transition from silent to sound filmmaking seamlessly. I've seen all three versions of The Bat and enjoyed them all but this is probably the best version. This is also the version that, according to Bob Kane, was part of the inspiration for Batman. The Bat looks less silly here than in the last movie, where he had big mouse ears and was more adorable than scary. Anyway, it's a good old dark house thriller with a cool beginning and an amusing ending. Any movie with Una Merkel in it can't be that bad.