THE BAT WHISPERS
A film review by Jeff Meyer
Copyright 1988 Jeff Meyer
See at the Seattle Film Festival: THE BAT WHISPERS (USA, 1930) Director/Screenwriter: Roland West (from a play by Avery Hopwood and Mary Roberts Rinehart) Cast: Chester Morris, Una Merkel, Grayce Hampton, Maude Eburne, William Bakewell, Gustav von Seyffertitz
First, the archival notes: THE BAT WHISPERS is one of the first films shown in 65mm (as opposed to the 35mm which is still the standard for films today), and has been restored by the UCLA Film and Television Archive. Technically, it's a piece of history, with it's use of the big screen and numerous "moving shots" that are striking even today.
The plot is that there's a master thief by the name of The Bat who is going around, stealing, murdering and basically making the police look like "bumbling amateurs." However, a rival thief has stolen some valuable jewels before The Bat can swipe them himself, and the looney-tunes burglar (dressed up in full cape and everything) trails the New Crook on the Block to a old mansion owned by a decisive matriarch and her annoyingly loud comic-relief maid (that maid's whining was enough to almost for me to wish for Jason to make an appearance). Lots of characters arrive, and we have to figure out who is the Bat and who is his rival criminal. This film has all the signs of being made just after the switch to sound; everyone overacts outrageously and uses pantomime to ridiculous degrees, but none more than Chester Morris, winner of the coveted Life Achievement award for Cheesy Acting. His eyes roll, he stares into the night, muttering melodramatic nothings. *He* was fun to watch, I'll admit....
Outside of that, folks, this film must have been the Member's Choice at the Over-The-Top Acting Hall of Fame. It was adapted from a stage play, and was basically filmed that way, except for several miniatures and outdoor shots. It reminded me of a game of Clue: the characters have all the personality of wooden inch-high markers, and are stereotypical to the point of exasperation. A crazed butler with a hunchback! A sinister doctor vith a Transylvanian accent! A cowardly old maid! A hopeless gumshoe! A masked criminal mastermind (CrimeCausers Handbook: any *real* criminal mastermind doesn't need a mask. He or she hires someone else to do their duty work.) A truly mechanical script, too; I'm willing to take into account that this is a 1930s film, but really, the audience was laughing at it throughout the whole thing (however, not enough to justify seeing the film).
Rating: Not advised, unless you're keenly (very, very keenly) interested in the history of the American cinema. Or you want to learn how make the eyes roll back into your head....
Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
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