Cleaned and sharpened, please.
The Bat (1959) presents a murder mystery involving a small town in which it seems many of the pillars of society are riddled with termites, but the strong-willed ladies will save the day. Mystery writer Cornelia van Gorder has rented a large house named The Oaks during her visit to an unnamed small town (possibly named Zenith, which may be inaccurate but I will assume), and the owner of the house is the local bank’s president and founder, John Fleming. John is on a vacation trip, hunting in the company of the local doctor, Dr. Wells (Vincent Price). One evening he reveals that he’s embezzled $1 million (quite a lot in those days). He intends to kill their hunting guide, and requires the assistance of the doctor to have the guide’s remains recognized as Fleming’s, and also certified as so mutilated that the coffin should be sealed. The Cashier of the bank will be considered to have committed the crime and Fleming will escape with ill-gotten gains.
Dr. Wells seems mysteriously untroubled by this criminal proposition, and speculates on the location of the money. As Fleming had actually build The Oaks, he wonders aloud if the money is hidden at the house. Fleming hears something outside, and opening the door of the cabin, finds the woods are aflame. He turns to warn the doctor, but Wells has sprung into action at Fleming’s distraction, grabbing a gun and shooting the bank president dead.
Zenith has been plagued with a series of murders in which the jugular of the victims, all female, are ripped out. One victim survives long enough to describe a human with no face and claws on his hands, possibly with wings, and so the murderer is nicknamed The Bat. Cornelia’s servants, but for the maid, Lizzie, and the chauffeur, have fled her employ because of stories surrounding The Oaks, and Dr. Wells, returned from his murderous sojourn, wastes little time in reinforcing these concerns, in a most charming way. But Cornelia is no fainting flower, but a forceful tower of good sense and the intelligence that one might expect from a hard-nosed mystery writer. One storm-tossed night, she and her maid receive a fright when the maid sees an outside door open and a clawed hand reach for Cornelia, but the door is swiftly shut and locked, and Cornelia and Lizzie retreat to their bedroom, where Cornelia evidences that she’s locked and loaded for bear.
And so the movie continues, as bodies start to pile up, hidden rooms contain more than you might think, and greed merits its old rewards of disgrace and death. This story plays with evidence and supposition right to the very end, and although I did detect two or three plot holes, the pacing, cinematography, and strong performances by the cast, especially that of Cornelia (Agnes Moorhead) and Dr. Wells makes it possible to miss, or at least disregard, those plot holes as they go flying by.
This is not a cutting edge thriller, nor will it change your life, so I shan’t actually recommend it. But if you’re craving a thriller mystery with some memorable characters, The Bat may be just for you. And it’s available online:
