The Bat (1926 film)

The Bat
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Roland West
Produced by	Joseph M. Schenck Roland West
Written by	Roland West Julien Josephson George Marion, Jr. (intertitles)
Based on	The Bat by Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood and the novel The Circular Staircase by Rinehart
Starring	Tullio Carminatti Charles Herzinger Jewel Carmen Louise Fazenda Emily Fitzroy George Beranger Arthur Housman Robert McKim
Cinematography	Arthur Edeson
Distributed by	United Artists
Release dates	March 14, 1926
Running time	86 minutes
Country	United States
Language	Silent English intertitles

The Bat

The Bat (1926) is a silent film based on the 1920 Broadway hit The Bat by Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood, directed by Roland West and starring Jack Pickford and Louise Fazenda. This film was a big influence for a popular superhero, Batman.

Plot

Writer Cornelia Van Gorder (Fitzroy) rents a house for the summer. In the house, people search for hidden loot while a caped killer (nicknamed "The Bat") murders them one by one.

Cast

• George Beranger – Gideon Bell (billed as Andre de Beranger)
• Charles Herzinger – Courleigh Fleming
• Emily Fitzroy – Miss Cornelia Van Gorder
• Louise Fazenda – Lizzie Allen
• Arthur Housman – Richard Fleming (billed as Arthur Houseman)
• Robert McKim – Dr. Wells
• Jack Pickford – Brooks Bailey
• Jewel Carmen – Miss Dale Ogden
• Sojin Kamiyama – Billy, the Butler
• Tullio Carminati – Detective Moletti
• Eddie Gribbon – Detective Anderson
• Lee Shumway – The Unknown

Production

Director Roland West made his cast work at night. "Given the quiet of the studio at midnight, when no other companies are working, and plenty of spooky music from an orchestra, the players really are in a mood to simulate dark deeds".^[1]

Remakes

Film remakes:

• Director Roland West remade his film four years later as The Bat Whispers (1930), with Chester Morris and Una Merkel, and also released by United Artists.
• A 1959 remake, The Bat, starring Vincent Price and Agnes Moorehead, was released by Allied Artists.

TV adaptations include:

• Broadway Television Theatre (1953) 60-minute TV series (WOR-TV, syndicated), with Estelle Winwood, Alice Pearce, and Jay Joslyn
• Dow Hour of Great Mysteries (1960) 60-minute NBC-TV series, with Helen Hayes, Margaret Hamilton, and Jason Robards.
• Der Spinnenmörder (1978) 88-minute German TV movie

References

1. Vieira, Mark A. (2003). Hollywood Horror: From Gothic to Cosmic. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. p. 19. ISBN 0-8109-4535-5.

External links

• The Bat at the Internet Movie Database
• The Bat (1926) at SilentEra
• The Bat at the Internet Broadway Database
• The Bat is available for free download at the Internet Archive (version with soundtrack)
• The Bat at AllMovie
• The Bat (1926) on YouTube