Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.0

The Bat Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 24, 2022

As is gotten into in some of the appealing supplements included on this release, The Bat has had a venerable history, both as a literary property, a piece for the legitimate stage, and with a handful of cinematic adaptations to boot. Noted mystery writer Mary Roberts Rinehart wrote a story which was originally serialized (as was often still the custom in the early 20th century) before making it to hardback as The Circular Staircase in 1908. The enormous success of that book helped to establish Rinehart as a mystery writer of note, and really in a way as a major precursor to a certain woman named Christie or something like that. Rinehart herself decided to adapt the book for the stage, and 1920's The Bat was the result, once again generating huge amounts of income for Rinehart and her husband, who had pretty much mortgaged their future on the production. Kind of hilariously, though, once film adaptations starting entering the fray in 1915 (prior to the play adaptation), things started getting dicey for Rinehart in terms of who really had the underlying rights to the story, whatever it was being called. This kind of ended up backing Rinehart into a corner for a while, forcing her into the probably untenable position that The Bat was in fact not based on The Circular Staircase, in spite of manifest evidence to the contrary. If that particular brouhaha ultimately died down, film adaptations of The Bat (and/or The Circular Staircase, of course) kept on a-comin', to the point that this 1959 opus is actually the fourth big screen version, after 1915's The Circular Staircase, 1926's The Bat and 1930's The Bat Whispers. The vintage of those three previous versions may indicate that, despite being ostensibly "modern" or at least mid-century-esque, The Bat is pretty resolutely old fashioned.

Cornelia Van Gorder (Agnes Moorehead) is a no nonsense mystery writer dealing with her flibbertigibbet housekeeper and assistant Lizzie Allen (Lenita Lane) as the story opens, since Lizzie is in a tizzy about news reports of a brazen criminal known as The Bat who has been terrorizing the region. Meanwhile, an initially seemingly unconnected vignette also introduces two men as a kind of counterweight to the opening scenes with Cornelia and Lizzie. The two guys are Dr. Malcolm Wells (Vincent Price) and local banking businessman John Fleming (Harvey Stevens), who seem to be on some kind of patently weird camping trip with each other. When Fleming confesses to a bit of embezzlement and makes the mistake of being slightly threatening about the disclosure, Wells takes matters into his own hands, leading to a potential transfer of funds, so to speak.

Meanwhile, Cornelia, Lizzie and what amounts to a kind of "coffee klatsch" of friends ends up at a mansion Cornelia is renting from the aforementioned Fleming. When mysterious doin's start going thump in the night, Lizzie is the first to unravel, of course, while Cornelia tries to keep a calm head. Unsurprisingly, Wells shows up while mayhem is ensuing, and with Price's reputation in the late fifties, it's not hard to see he's being depicted as a very likely suspect, though it ultimately becomes clear that the peculiar villain known as The Bat, a guy who trundles around in a fedora and a black stocking over his face, and with a clawed black glove on his hand just for villainy's sake, may be on a quest that also unsurprisingly connects to Wells' earlier activities with Fleming.

Some of the supplements on this disc get into some of the aspects of what might be termed a "comic thriller", but The Bat really plays things pretty straight, which in its own way may actually lead to hilarity of the camptastic variety. Without posting an outright spoiler, it's fascinating to note that this film uses at least something akin to the subterfuge Agatha Christie would employ years later in The Mousetrap, in terms of how trustworthy the local constabulary might be.

The Bat Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Bat is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of The Film Detective with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. As usual, The Film Detective doesn't provide any technical information, though it's notable that several online sources cite this film as having entered the public domain. Whatever element here was either in or restored to good shape, but this is another release from The Film Detective that has been shorn of virtually all discernable grain. Despite the fact that this definitely has more of a modern day digital capture appearance in terms of a sleek, smooth surface, detail levels are actually surprisingly good quite a bit of the time. Fine detail on costumes is appealing, and things are clear enough you can easily make out freckles on Moorehead's forehead, especially in some of the close-ups. Similarly, the frayed edges of the stocking The Bat has pulled over his head are precisely offered. That said, this has a somewhat soft and video-like appearance, which I'm certain will be off putting to many. Damage is really slight in any case, and contrast and black levels are consistent.

The Bat Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Bat features a DTS 2.0 Mono track which is probably perfectly supportive of the film's unambitious sound design. A kind of semi-hilarious score weirdly blends swingin' nascent rock 'n' roll infused big band charts with what also sounds like a pedal steel giving an almost Hawaiian tinge to things, believe it or not. Dialogue (including some establishing voiceover by Moorehead), occasional hysterical screams, and other sound effects are delivered without any major issues. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Bat Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Case for Crane Wilbur (HD; 22:24) is an interesting overview of the life of the actor, playwright, and, ultimately, director. Narrated by Larry Blamire.


• Commentary with professor and film scholar Jason A. Ney


• Classic Radio Episodes Featuring Vincent Price all play to an image of Price with an animated bat:

  Suspense, November 12 1943
  "The Strange Case of Charles Umberstein" (HD; 29:13)

  
  

  Suspense, June 1, 1944
  "Fugue in C Minor" (HD; 29:37)

  
  

  Suspense, September 12, 1946
  "Hunting Trip" (HD; 29:51)

  
  

  Escape, January 31, 1950
  "Present Tense" (HD; 29:27)

  
  

  Escape, March 17, 1950
  "Three Skeleton Key" (HD; 29:26)

  
  

  Escape, June 30, 1950
  "Blood Bath" (HD; 29:27)

  
  

  Theatre of Romance, October 9, 1945
  "Angel Street" (HD; 24:48)

  
  

  Hollywood Star Time, May 19, 1946
  "The Lodger" (HD; 29:48)

  
  

  The CBS Radio Workshop, April 6, 1956
  "Speaking of Cinderella" (HD; 29:20)

Additionally, the insert booklet contains an well written essay by Jason A. Ney.

The Bat Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Bat has moments of near whimsy, and it's of course a lot of fun to see Vincent Price and Agnes Moorehead paired, but things are curiously listless throughout this enterprise, and probably most problematically, they're never very scary or mysterious. This is still an intermittently interesting effort, if for no other reason than to see how that manly camper Vincent Price washes dishes when he's out in the wild. Video looks like, well, video but still retains some decent detail levels, while audio is lossy but still functional. The supplements on this disc are all well done and fun, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.