The Bat Whispers (1930)

How I love this film! Dated, yes indeed, and very proud of it. It sticks to the feeling of Mary Roberts Rinehart's play with all of its out-of-date and in this case - out-of-world - goings-on and emerges a true winner. The cinemascope ratio was offered as well as the standard screen format on the DVD I own and I like both versions equally. Perhaps I might prefer the elongated version on an actual movie screen. I'm sorry the the fire sequences weren't in red as they are in some prints. Does anybody know about this? The miniature models were simply eye-popping. Actually it would be nice to have BOTH "The Bat" and "The Bat Whispers" on the same DVD but I'm delighted with what I have. What a dazzling film.Curtis Stotlar

Bat Whispers, The (1930) 35mm version *** (out of 4) 65mm version ** (out of 4)The master criminal known as The Bat steals a necklace even though he warned police that he was going to do it. They believe he's taken shelter inside an old house, which is full of shocks and surprised for the Detective (Chester Morris) on the case. This film has a pretty strange history behind it since Roland was remaking his earlier film from 1926 and was shooting two different versions. The 35mm version is the one being reviewed it and for the most part I was shocked at how well made it was. What really shocked me is that a lot of these early sound films are quite horrid and hard to understand but that's not the case here as everyone from the director to the cast seem perfectly normal working with the sound. The actors really take off and know how to work their dialogue, which again is something I wasn't use to seeing in such a early sound film. The visual look of this film mixed in with the sound makes the film appear to be something made later in the decade and not at the start. The cast all turn in impressive performances starting with Morris who has become a favorite of mine over the past couple years. It took me a little while to warm up to his type of delivery but once I did I really enjoyed watching him and his style of comedy. Una Merkel is also very good as is Chance Ward and Richard Tucker. The film offers up a lot of comedy and for the most part it works including a scene where the two older women are being questioned and are asked how old they are. One tells and lie and this is one of the highlights of the film. Even before we get to the two versions of the film it's also important to note that the film offers up one of the first "dolly" shots with a special camera that was created just for this film, which allowed it to move 18-feet in the matter of seconds. There's also a sweeping camera shot that is way ahead of its time even though the miniature used is easy to spot. Some might find the story or settings full of clichés must one must remember that this is the film that influenced everything that would follow, which is saying quite a bit for director West as his 1926 film influenced all the future silent old dark house films. After the film we also get a quick "warning" from The Bat telling people not to spoil the movie for those who haven't seen it.The 65mm version features the exact same story and cast but of course it's shown in an early widescreen format and features all new shots by a different cinematographer. It's really amazing at how different these two versions are and I'd say the 65mm is more of a curiosity than anything else. I think the best film is the 35mm version for various reasons. For one, the widescreen process being used here really takes you out of the action in several ways as the camera is far back from the actors and this here kills several of the comedy sequences. It's also worth noting that apparently shooting this way was very expensive so they couldn't do countless takes, which might explain a few instances where lines are messed up but the actors keep going. This might also explain why the performances here are a lot more lacking than in the other version. It almost appears that the cast members are worried about messing up and this too effects their work and once again the comedy is what appears hurt the most. It's always interesting seeing these early attempts at widescreen but I think in this case it really hurt the movie. There just seems to be way too much going on trying to get this trick to work that both the director and cast aren't up in their game.

I avoided seeing The Bat Whispers for many years because I had seen a documentary called "The Horror of it All". In it they used clips and gave away the killer by showing us the ending!!! Not that it cannot be figured out by many. The great news is I thoroughly enjoyed the film (with many repeated viewings) anyway. It has become a Halloween tradition for me as I watch it once every year. The killer's identity is only part of the fun.My writing this post is due to a wonderful thunder storm we had that exactly matched the intensity and character of the storm in this film - Lightning with long pauses before thunder and NO RAIN. I have seen tons of old dark house mystery/horror/comedies from the 20s, 30s and 40s and I dare anyone to name better ones than this, Paul Leni's two mysteries, and Whale's The Old Dark House. Many of the ODH films of that time were poverty row. Some were downright boring, others interesting, but none with such a distinctive style as those mentioned. I cannot understand the harshness people can feel about this film. One has to put themselves in a mood to watch such a film. It was never intended to be incredibly meaningful like Ben- Hur, or All Quiet on the Western Front. This is pure pulp from start to end.The Bat Whispers, is in many ways, a forerunner to today's gigantic comic book movies. Some have much style (Batman, The Matrix, X-Men) and some are totally ridiculous with the same absurd plot holes (Batman, The Matrix, X-Men, etc.). So, what can one expect? A totally fun, old-fashioned mystery romp that satisfies one's need for shadows, lighting, special effects, atmosphere, mystery, horror and downright silliness. This is a masterpiece in the genre and also Roland West's greatest film. It is consistent with the films that West shot. It's a shame he didn't continue with his dark style of film-making. Chester Morris has been called a ham in these posts and that's true. And what terrific ham! He gives one of the best performances in an ODH movie. His intensity was perfectly enhanced by the powerful arc lamps that under lit him, so much so that he suffered scorched retinas and unfortunately suffered visually for the rest of his life. That is a man dedicated to the art of his film! Morris makes the proceeds far more interesting than any other 'detective' I have seen in this type of film. The supporting cast makes this effectively spooky (Gustav von Seyferritz as Ven Rees leads the way).Overall, this is stylish escapism at its' best in the old-fashioned sense. Special credit goes to the camera operators and art director. Both standard and widescreen versions are completely different takes and different films. I prefer the standard version, as Morris' close-ups are far more effective. The one when he returns and stands at the top of the stairs is avant-garde in how he is so perfectly centered and unnaturally under lit. I could go on.... a great fun film!

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.