Watch The Bat Whispers For Free

Sorry, this movie sucks

Great Film overall

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The gong-ing sound played over the opening credits was exactly the same as the one produced by an old clock in the attic of my house when I was just a kid, going back almost sixty years now. I discovered it on one of my forays upstairs and nearly jumped out of my shorts when I accidentally got it to chime. The room had pretty much the same old dark house atmosphere of the mansion in this movie, and with very little lighting, the thing just scared the bejeezus out of me. But eventually I got over it and managed to play it over and over again as the weeks went by. I had to quit though when I found out a gorilla lived up there, that was about the same time I saw "King Kong" for the first time.So this picture must have had it's fans back in the very early days of talking movies, and for that one can give it some credit. It doesn't take too long to realize that there might have been some inspiration here for the character of Batman in the comic book world, who made his debut in Detective Comics #27 in May of 1939. So that was almost a full decade later. Not only the character, but there was also that cool smokescreen effect produced by the getaway car right after the 'Bat' pulled off the bank heist. Add to that the various pulleys and ropes the Bat used in the story and you had a lot of early material being tested out here for the Caped Crusader to put into his repertoire.Story wise though, unless you're a patient sort and willing to watch just about anything (which I am), the picture can be a chore. The best thing going for it in my estimation was the great atmospherics - the dark corridors, the revolving fireplace and that makeshift laundry chute that got used a couple of times. It appears the film makers were going for comedy along with the horror/mystery element, and I couldn't help thinking that it would have passed muster if Laurel and Hardy might have shown up. But gee, most of the players wound up screeching or going into exaggerated hysterics whenever something ominous was about to happen, and for me that was something of a turn-off.And Chester Morris - man, his facial expressions were just hilarious. I guess I should have seen it coming but I didn't - when he revealed himself to be The Bat I thought it was just the dumbest thing. Here he's proclaiming "I've got the greatest brain that ever existed" while his foot's caught in a bear trap and he's wrapped in a chain by the unwitting action of some other characters. It occurred to me that all of this could have been avoided if Detective Anderson (Morris) simply didn't show up. As the Bat he pulled off the jewel heist and bank robbery, so why was he even at the Van Gorder mansion to investigate a jewel heist and bank robbery? But the best had to be the time Dr. Venrees (Gustav von Seyferrtitz) began wildly shooting at the presumed villain escaping up the stairs. With his first four shots fired, there were already more than a dozen bullet holes in the wall! It's enough to drive you batty.

I've watched the 1926, 1930 and 1930 wide screen versions many times over the years. However, the other day I finally watched the widescreen on my 5x6 foot screen which I usually save for 3D and football. The details really jumped out. There are so many wonderful camera tricks, many of which I cannot explain. As a professional modeler I can say that the miniatures were far ahead of their time, as was the skill in photographing them. They probably were only exceeded beginning with the Star Wars attack on the death star.The fluidity of the camera was amazing for its time. The old lady and the maid walk down a long corridor, talking all the time as the camera moves ahead of them. They walk into a room and sit at a table which was right in the path of the camera. Later in the film a character vaults over a 3 foot wall and runs down a path with the camera following him, apparently right through the wall. The shadows of the Bat as he hulks on the floor are inhuman. On several startling occasions the characters jump right into the camera. These and more have been mastered for years but this film discovered them. If you are familiar with the climax of The Alibi, you remember the special effect that seemed almost real, not surpassed until CGI. The Bat Whispers is filled with such effects.Yes, the film is static, despite all the goings on. And the acting, although unacceptable by 1932 standards was about average for 1930. However, I would gladly have strangled Maude Eburn who ruined every scene she was in. The Bat Whispers is really a guilty pleasure for modelers, cinematographers and horror fans.

No movie that mentions both socialism and rheumatism in the same breath can afford to be passed up. Yeah, it's an antique that also plays like one. But it's got some really compelling visuals, especially the early shots of the bat in action, creepy shadows and all. And catch those artistic compositions that pop up unexpectedly, a real treat for the eye. Then there're the wicked zoom shots zeroing in on subjects like a targeted bullet. It's almost like these great visuals are at war at times with the terrible acting (excepting old lady van Gorder). In fact, I was rooting for The Bat to put several of those so-called comedic characters out of their whining misery so I could be put out of mine. Maybe you can figure out the plot because I had real trouble. Part of the problem was keeping track of all the characters who kept popping up out of nowhere. Plus, I had difficulty identifying who they were probably because director West never uses close-ups that would help. Now, I understand that the bad acting was the hammy style of the day, but I don't understand why the absence of helpful close-ups. Anyway, it's an odd little film with both real faults and real strengths. I'm just sorry director West got mixed up with Hollywood's shady side and destroyed his career. Meanwhile, I took the epilog pledge so I won't be disclosing the identity of the mystery man, which won't be too hard since I still haven't figured it out anyway.

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.