The Bat (1959)
Directed by Crane Wilbur
Starring Agnes Moorehead, Vincent Price, Gavin Gordon, John Sutton, Lenita Lane, Darla Hood, Elaine Edwards

Let’s be straight right from the start. This is not a horror film. BUT . . . if you’re a fan of the ‘old dark house’ types and dark thrillers, then you are going to want to watch this anyway. It’s got a great cast and not to mention it is a fun little picture.

The Bat stars Agnes Moorehead, not yet famous playing the witchy mother on the TV show Bewitched in 1964, but here she plays Cornelia van Gorder, a mystery writer that has rented an old house that has a past of murder by a masked character named The Bat. Because of its reputation, the staff doesn’t stay long so it is up to her and her secretary to fend for themselves. Bodies start to pile up, plenty of red herrings, hidden passageways, all the while Cornelia tries to figure out how she would have written this mystery in order to discover who the killer is.

While Vincent Price’s name is usually all over the place, he really is a supporting character, but nonetheless, any time he shows up onscreen, it’s always a plus. Also in the cast is Gavin Cordon, who’s voice might be more recognizable than his face. He played Lord Byron in the opening segment of The Bride of Frankenstein (1935). John Sutton, who plays the butler, appeared with Price in The Invisible Man Returns (1940). And Darla Hood, all grown up for her stint with the Little Rascals in the Our Gang shorts, appears as one of the houseguests. This would be her last film appearance.

This version was actually the fourth one, with the first being a silent film in 1926, under the same title. It was called The Bat Whispers in the 1930 version. The story was originally based on the stage play by Mary Roberts Rinehart in 1920, which in turn was based on her own novel from 1908 called The Circular Staircase. The stage play was a huge success and ran for over 1000 performances between New York and London alone. It was revived twice on Broadway, once in 1937 and then again in 1959.

The writer/director of this version was Crane Wilbur, who started his career as an actor and then screenwriter, creating some intense and memorable films that leaned towards the tough and gritty side of life. He actually wrote the screenplay for House of Wax (1953), which would not only star Vincent Price, but pretty much make him a star.

This new Blu-ray release from The Film Detective looks great. Because of the use of shadows, the light and dark play an important part here and it looks glorious. There is a commentary by Professor and Film Scholar Jason A. Ney, that gives us a good overview of not only the film but director Wilbur as well. To even further that, there is a featurette on Wilbur called The Case for Crane Wilbur. I guarantee you will learn a thing or two here. And as bonus, the disc includes 9 archival radio re-broadcasts episodes starring Price.