The Bat (1959 film)

Infobox Film
name = The Bat


caption = A promotional film poster for "The Bat."
director = Crane Wilbur
producer = C.J. Tevlin
writer = Avery Hopwood
Mary Roberts Rinehart
Crane Wilbur
starring = Vincent Price
Agnes Moorehead
Gavin Gordon
John Sutton
Lenita Lane
Elaine Edwards
Darla Hood
John Bryant
Harvey Stephens
music = Louis Forbes
cinematography = Joseph F. Biroc
editing = William Austin
distributor = Allied Artists
released = 9 August 1959
runtime = 80 min
country = USA
language = English
amg_id = 1:4266
imdb_id = 0052602

"The Bat" (1959) is a mystery film directed by Crane Wilbur, and co-starring Vincent Price and Agnes Moorehead. Its tagline was "When it flies, someone dies!" The film was based on the 1920 Broadway play by Avery Hopwood and Mary Roberts Rinehart, which was previously filmed as "The Bat" (1926) and as "The Bat Whispers" (1930), both directed by Roland West. The 1959 version also features Darla Hood of "The Little Rascals" in her final film appearance. [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052602/trivia IMDB trivia] ]

Plot

Agnes Moorehead plays Cornelia Van Gorder, a mystery author who lives in a town terrorized by a mysterious murderer known only as "The Bat". The Bat is said to be a man with no face who murders women at night by ripping out their throats with steel claws. Early in the film, The Bat enters Van Gorder's house and releases a bat, who bites van Gorder's maid Lizzy, played by Lenita Lane. With Lizzy in a panic, fearing she may now have contracted "the rabies", an outbreak of which local papers have reported, Van Gorder calls her doctor, Dr Malcolm Wells (Price), who is conducting research on bats.

Meanwhile, the whole town is searching for a million-dollar stash of looted bank securities that were recently stolen. Dr Wells discovers the location of the treasure when the thief confides in him. Wells then murders the thief in cold blood, presumedly so that he can take the treasure for himself, which he believes to be hidden in van Gorder's house.

A series of break-ins and murders by The Bat brings the local chief of police, Andy Anderson (Gavin Gordon) to the Van Gorder house. The Bat then murders two people in the Van Gorder house, Mark Fleming,(John Bryant)and Judy Hollander (Darla Hood). Andy attempts to determine the identity of The Bat, suspecting both Wells and Van Gorder's new butler, Warner.(John Sutton) Wells is removed from suspicion, however, when he is murdered by The Bat in his lab.

Miss van Gorder cleverly manages to capture The Bat inside her house.The Bat shoots a detective names Davenport(Robert Williams) he is then shot by Warner. Warner unmasks The Bat, and he is revealed to be the police chief Andy.

References

External links

*imdb title | id=0052602 | title=The Bat
* [http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/4266/The-Bat/overview "The Bat"] at The New York Times