The Bat Whispers (1930) on Netflix
Passed19301h 23mCrimeDramaHorrorMysteryThriller
A thief called The Bat eludes the police and retires to the country. In Oakdale, a bank robbery has left Cornelia Van Gorder's maid uneasy, and her niece Dale arrives.
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- Netflix3.3/5
- IMDb6.3/101,547 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes67%
Trailer
Plot summary
A thief known as The Bat eludes the police and announces that he is retiring to the country. In Oakdale, a bank robbery has put Cornelia Van Gorder's maid, Lizzie, on edge, and the cashier suspected of the robbery has disappeared. Cornelia is leasing her house from Mr. Fleming, the president of the Oakdale bank, who is in Europe. Her niece, Dale, arrives, followed by the gardener she has hired, and Dr. Venrees brings word that Fleming is returning soon and will need the house.
Cast
- Chance Wardas Police Lieutenant
- S.E. Jenningsas Man in Black Mask
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Bat Whispers (1930)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Comic-book creator Bob Kane said in his 1989 autobiography Batman and Me that the villain of The Bat Whispers was an inspiration for his character Batman.
- Because 1930 movie cameras were not portable enough for the back of a car, Charles Cline invented a camera used for filming The Bat Whispers, mostly in Ray June's cinematography, to show the Bat in flight. It was a 24-foot-long camera dolly that could send a camera 18 feet in a fraction of a second.
- Director Roland West financed the Magnafilm widescreen process himself and employed two cinematographers, using techniques not seen again until the 1950s and Otto Preminger. Along with The Big Trail (1930), the film is one of the first known uses of widescreen.
- The Bat Whispers was shot in three versions: two 1.33:1 35mm negatives for US and foreign prints, and a 2:1 65mm widescreen Magnifilm version. The domestic negative was cut down to 72 minutes for a 1938 Atlantic Pictures reissue and was later lost.
- The UCLA Film and Television Archive restored and preserved the 35mm foreign version and the 65mm Magnifilm from the original camera negatives in 1988. UCLA gained access through the Library of Congress after Mary Pickford died in 1979 and willed them her film collection.
