The Bat (1959 film)

Lore & Background

The plot follows mystery author Cornelia Van Gorder, who rents a summer home called The Oaks from bank president John Fleming. Fleming confesses to stealing over $1 million in securities and is murdered by his physician, Dr. Malcolm Wells. Meanwhile, a serial killer known as 'the Bat' terrorizes the town, murdering women with steel claws. The Bat breaks into The Oaks, leading to a series of killings and a final confrontation where the Bat is revealed to be Dr. Malcolm Wells, whose motives were financial.

Reader's Guide

The Bat was the final film appearance for Darla Hood, known for her role in Our Gang comedy shorts. The film was produced independently by C.J. Tevlin, former head of RKO, with a budget partly from American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatre. It was released in December 1959 on a double bill with the Hammer film The Mummy. According to Turner Classic Movies, its period-piece approach was not a crowd pleaser at the time, but its reputation has improved. Contemporary reviews were mixed: The New York Times praised Moorehead's performance and Wilbur's direction, while Variety called it 'sluggish'. Film critic Leonard Maltin gave it 2.5 out of 4 stars, calling it a 'faithful filming'. Allmovie noted the screenplay's strengths but criticized its mechanical nature and lack of scariness.

Did You Know?

• The Bat is the fourth film adaptation of the story, which began as the 1908 novel The Circular Staircase.
• The film was the final screen appearance for Darla Hood, who played 'Darla' in Our Gang comedy shorts.
• The Bat was released on a double bill with the British Hammer film The Mummy in December 1959.
• The film is now in the public domain and available for free online download.

Adaptation Lineage & Production

The story behind The Bat stretches back to 1908, when Mary Roberts Rinehart published her novel The Circular Staircase. She later co-adapted it with Avery Hopwood into the 1920 stage play The Bat, which was first brought to the screen in a 1926 American silent film produced by Mary Pickford for her United Artists studio. Decades later, RKO Pictures acquired the remake rights from Pickford, but the studio ceased film production before the project could materialize. The rights eventually landed with C.J. Tevlin, a former RKO executive, who envisioned the picture as an independent venture. In April 1959, Tevlin struck a deal with Allied Artists to produce the film, with part of the budget supplied by American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatre. The script and direction fell to playwright Crane Wilbur, who had previously penned the screenplay for the 1953 Vincent Price vehicle House of Wax. Principal photography began on April 27, 1959, setting the stage for what would become the fourth cinematic interpretation of Rinehart's original tale.

Plot & Narrative Structure

The 1959 film weaves two interlocking mysteries set in a small town. Bank president John Fleming confesses to his physician, Dr. Malcolm Wells, that he has stolen over a million dollars in negotiable securities. He pressures Wells into helping him fake his death and splitting the proceeds, but Wells shoots him instead and covers up the killing. Simultaneously, a faceless killer called the Bat terrorizes the community, ripping the throats of women with steel claws. Mystery author Cornelia Van Gorder has rented a summer home called The Oaks, where the Bat breaks in, releases a bat that bites her assistant Lizzie, and later murders several characters including Judy Hollander and Dr. Wells himself. The Bat chisels into a wall to reveal a secret room, sets the garage on fire as a diversion, and leaves a fake suicide note to frame Wells. The killer's true identity is Lieutenant Andy Anderson, the local chief of detective, whose financial motive traces back to being among the first notified of the securities theft. Warner, the chauffeur promoted to butler, unmasks and shoots Anderson dead.

Cast & Performances

The Bat assembles a notable ensemble around two veteran leads. Vincent Price, already a familiar face in horror and mystery cinema, appears alongside Agnes Moorehead, whose "good, snappy performance" earned specific praise from The New York Times in a contemporary review. The cast also includes Darla Hood, best remembered for playing "Darla" in the Our Gang comedy shorts between 1935 and 1941; The Bat marked her final film appearance. Supporting roles are filled by characters such as Dale Bailey, Judy Hollander, Lizzie, Detective Davenport, and Warner the chauffeur-turned-butler. The New York Times also singled out Crane Wilbur's direction for its effectiveness. The film positions its stars within a tightly drawn domestic setting—The Oaks, a rented summer home—where the ensemble is gradually whittled down by the Bat's attacks, creating a claustrophobic atmosphere that contrasts with the broader bank-heist subplot running beneath the surface.

Release, Reception & Legacy

The Bat reached audiences in December 1959 as part of a double feature alongside the British Hammer horror film The Mummy, a pairing that placed it squarely in the popular monster-movie circuit of the era. Contemporary reception was mixed: The New York Times praised Moorehead's performance and Wilbur's direction, while Variety's review was notably less favorable. Turner Classic Movies later observed that in an era dominated by "rampaging aliens and sinister ghouls," The Bat's period-piece sensibility did not immediately win over crowds, though its reputation has steadily improved over the decades. Today the film has entered the public domain, making it freely available for online download—a circumstance that has likely contributed to its growing following among genre enthusiasts. As the fourth screen adaptation of Mary Roberts Rinehart's 1908 novel, The Bat occupies a distinctive niche in the long lineage of the story, bridging the silent-era original and the modern horror tradition that followed.

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