Some of those who have seen "The Bat Whispers" claim that it's dated - well, they should keep in mind that it's a REMAKE (and in fact, very true to the original concerning the plot) of the silent movie "The Bat"; if you're not a great friend of silents and don't like the 'hammy' acting style silent actors HAD to use to convey their feelings and intentions without words, then you might call "The Bat" dated. But "The Bat Whispers" - despite the absolute faithfulness to the original, and to the stage play on which both movies are based - has got quite an innovative style for its age.Contrary to the silent film, which was shot largely in the traditional style regarding camera techniques and other technical features, "The Bat Whispers" introduces to the mystery genre of the 30s, which had just begun to thrive at the time of its making, new camera angles which confuse and scare the audience even further; and of course the sound that was 'missing' in the original version provides us with all kinds of creepy noises like bats screaming, wolves howling, thunder - and of course the housemaid's constant screams of terror! Sound also made it easier for the scriptwriters to convey the rather twisted plot to the audience; and the dialogs are in NO way old-fashioned, neither do the actors overplay (except maybe for Chester Morris, who at times seems to take his role TOO seriously). In fact, besides Grayce Hampton as the wacky, but enormously courageous lady writer who becomes the heroine this time, Una Merkel as her niece surprises everybody who has seen a certain number of movies from the era in a most positive way: instead of the silly, squeaking little girl she usually was cast as, here she plays a sensitive, even clever young woman who only breaks down when things really become TOO horrible to bear...And, of course, the dialogs also give more room to the comical element - the way the lady and her maid quarrel and tease each other all the time isn't only hilariously funny, but also pretty modern for the time! And yet, those elements don't take anything away from the tense atmosphere and the suspense - because all the time you feel that any moment a thunder might crash or a shot might be fired, or a mysterious shadow might appear menacingly on the wall...So, the balance of comical relief and moments of extreme suspense is held perfectly, the direction is supreme and the technical quality of the picture very high for the standards of the early 30s. Now, regarding the 'old mansion mystery' plot - that may not be 'en vogue' at the moment (but it's almost sure to return someday; Hollywood screenwriters are slowly running out of new ideas...); but the audience DOES seem to be very fascinated by 'escapist' movies: today the fashion are ghost ships, resurrecting mummies and vampire love stories; compared to that, "The Bat Whispers" is a VERY realistic crime movie with a VERY real killer!

In the late 1920s until about the mid 1930s, Hollywood produced quite a few 'old, dark house' films. This genre always consisted of a group of people stuck in an old mansion as a maniac runs about trying to fill them off one-by-one. "The Old Dark House", "The Cat and the Canary" and "The Black Cat" are just a few examples of these films--as is "The Bat Whispers". So, while some today might be more impressed by this film than me, perhaps it's because they don't realize that the plot is very standard fare. And, aside from a few technical innovations, this is a rather poor example as well--mostly because it's so dreadfully boring.The film begins with folks talking about 'The Bat'--a daring and murderous thief whose identity is unknown and who has long eluded the police. Most of the film centers on one particular mansion and a group of people who run about trying to avoid being his next victims. And, at the end, the mystery is, of course, unraveled.This is an unusual film because the DVD has both a standard version and a unique 65mm version they also made for theaters. I watched the 65mm version and I could understand why some of the other reviewers disliked it. The overall look was akin to watching a film while standing far from the screen--very, very far. In other words, although they were innovating with the cinematography, they really didn't understand how to effectively utilize it. It's odd, as although they tried to innovate when it came to the picture, the sound is ancient by 1930 standards--with no incidental music and very flat sound. Overall, it's a film that looks unique (with some nice shadows and camera angles), sounds bad and bores the viewer to tears. A nice experiment--but one that just isn't very satisfying viewing.

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.

The film does feel creaky, the humor is laid a little too thick for my tastes at times (much like Paul Leni's THE CAT AND THE CANARY [1927], in fact) and Maude Eburne as the cowardly maid IS unbearable…but this is more than made up for, in my opinion, by the film's dazzling cinematography, atmospheric sets and deliberate theatricality (complete with asides to the audience in the finale). In any case, it's easily miles ahead of the inept and boring Vincent Price remake of 1959! You will have noticed that I have preceded (as is my fashion) the film's name with that of its director. I'll be the first to admit that nearly nobody today remembers Roland West, let alone be prepared to accord him "auteur" status, but you'll agree that the VERY distinctive visual style of the film indicates an assured guiding hand behind the whole project. Although hardly as well-known today or as easy to find, THE BAT WHISPERS is by no means West's only notable feature; as a matter of fact, based on the minute information I've managed to find on them in my reference books, I'd be very interested in watching THE UNKNOWN PURPLE (1923; an intriguing-sounding precursor to James Whale's THE INVISIBLE MAN [1933]), THE BAT (1926; the original Silent-film version of THE BAT WHISPERS), the gangster drama ALIBI (1929; which even earned Chester Morris a Best Actor Academy Award nomination) and CORSAIR (1931), his last film. As for myself, the only other Roland West film I've seen is the atypical and rather unsatisfactory Lon Chaney vehicle THE MONSTER (1925), which also happens to be a bizarre 'old dark house' melodrama.Elliott Stein, in Richard Roud's indispensable tome, "Cinema: A Critical Dictionary – The Major Film-Makers" described Roland West as "one of America's supremely original visual stylists, the director of a series of stunning thrillers." He also names ALIBI "one of the most oppressive films ever made…the distorted sets, odd angles and restless camera make it West's most Germanic work…this claustrophobic little nightmare would be fully at home in a retrospective of the American avant-garde film." Furthermore, he acclaims THE BAT WHISPERS as "a pictorial knock-out" and CORSAIR "a visual treat"! Unfortunately, his promising career was suddenly curtailed by a real-life tragedy. West was involved and living with renowned comedienne Thelma Todd (a frequent foil for Laurel & Hardy and The Marx Brothers) in Malibu at the time of her mysterious death in 1935. Neighbors heard them quarreling the night before the morning she was found in her garage overcome by carbon monoxide poisoning; though a suspect, he was never arrested but, of course, he could never work in Hollywood (or elsewhere) again.I've only watched THE BAT WHISPERS (twice), in Widescreen, on VHS and I've been meaning to pick up Image's DVD edition (comprising also the 'alternate' full-frame version, shot simultaneously by a different cameraman!) for the longest time. As it happens, from the online reviews I've read of the disc, the verdict as to which version is actually 'better' seems to be pretty mixed.