Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: The Bat (1959) - Minor murder mystery with the great Vincent Price

11/10/2013

The Bat (1959) - Minor murder mystery with the great Vincent Price

♥♥

Ghoulish, sinister menace hangs heavy over this zealous poster for Wilbur Crane's The Bat

During a thunderstorm, a million dollars are stolen, and a masked murderer with a clawed glove ruthlessly hunts the money in an old mansion.

The Bat is written and directed by Wilbur Crane (The Love Liar (1916)). It is based on Mary Roberts Rinehart's (Dangerous Ways (1919)) novel The Circular Staircase (1908)), which was first adapted into the play The Bat (1920) and later two movies, The Bat (1926) and The Bat Whispers (1930).

For another entry into the hackneyed mansion-set murder-mystery sub-genre, The Bat is alright, and the cinematography by the prodigious Joseph F. Biroc (It's a Wonderful Life (1946)) is very good. Another plus is Vincent Price (The Fly (1958)), who adorns The Bat with the endless ambiguity of his sinister eyes and facial expressions in a sombre doctor part.
The Bat is drawn down mainly by a number of overly annoying female parts.

Crane Wilbur: House of Wax (1953) - De Toth's colorful classic is a must for Price fans (writer)

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: Unknown
= Uncertain

[The Bat was released 9 August (USA) and runs 80 minutes. Shooting took place at Universal Studios in California. The film was shown on a double bill with the British The Mummy (1959). Details on its cost and box office are regrettably not available. Turner Classic Movies reports that the film, at the time, was "not a crowd pleaser." It has since fallen into public domain and can be seen and downloaded free and legally right here. Wilbur as a director only returned with uncredited work on House of Women (1962) but did write more screenplays following The Bat. Price returned in 4 TV-series prior to his theatrical return in House of Usher (1960); Agnes Moorehead (The Virginian (1970, TV-series)) returned in 3 TV-series prior to her theatrical return in Pollyanna (1960)). 5.5k+ IMDb users have given The Bat a 5.5/10 average rating.]

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Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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11/10/2013

The Bat (1959) - Minor murder mystery with the great Vincent Price

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