THE BAT WHISPERS

Who is ... the Bat?

THE BAT WHISPERS (1930). Director: Roland West. 

A master criminal named the Bat uses acrobatic skills and cleverness to rob a safe in a high rise, then heads out of the city for a small town in the country. Feisty old Cornelia van Gorder (Grayce Hampton), accompanied by her hysterical, imbecilic maid Lizzie (Maude Eburne), has rented an estate from the owner, a banker named Fleming. Bailey (William Bakewell of Radar Men from the Moon), the fiance of Cornelia's niece, Dale (Una Merkel of The Kettles in the Ozarks), was accused of robbing the bank, and is hiding out at the estate pretending to be a gardener. Dale is convinced the missing money is hidden in the house (it is never quite made clear why) and searches for it even as the masked, skulking figure of the Bat does the same. 

Gustav von Seyffertitz and Chester Morris

It isn't long before the creepy old house is full of people -- suspects, cops, and potential victims. These include Fleming's nephew, Richard (Hugh Huntley); the sinister Dr. Venrees (Gustav von Seyffertitz); private eye Jones (Charles Dow Clark); the caretaker (Spencer Charters); Detective Anderson (Chester Morris of The She Creature); and others. The Bat Whispers, based on a stage play co-authored by Mary Roberts Rinehart, was filmed as the silent The Bat in 1926 and remade, also as The Bat, in 1959. The early sequences with the villain robbing the high rise may have influenced Bob Kane in his creation of Batman. 

Una Merkel, Grayce Hampton, Chester Morris

There are two versions of The Bat Whispers, one filmed in 35 mm and another in an early, discarded widescreen format. The picture has some inventive camera work and is rather stylish and even suspenseful at times, but it's also slow and has too much humor. Although Maude Eburne has her amusing moments, there is way too much of her and she nearly stinks up the picture with her not-so-hilarious antics. The other actors all do a good job with their roles. 

Verdict: "Modern" in some ways for its time but nowadays rather creaky. **1/4. 

THE SHE CREATURE

Chester Morris and Marla English

THE SHE-CREATURE (1956). Director: Edward L. Cahn. 

Dr. Carlo Lombardi (Chester Morris) claims he is able to get in touch with the past lives of his subject, Andrea (Marla English of Runaway Daughters), by putting her in a trance. Andrea can give details of her 16th century life as a woman named Elizabeth. Lombardi can not only also regress Andrea to an ancestor from thousands of years ago, but call this ancestor -- a kind of humanoid, prehistoric sea creature -- up from the sea, where it proceeds to kill people. Dr. Ted Erickson (Lance Fuller of This Island Earth) is out to debunk Lombardi, while Timothy Chappel (Tom Conway of Bride of the Gorilla) wants to turn him into a star -- for 50% of the profits. But things get sticky when Red and Andrea fall in love ... 

Lance Fuller with William Hudson in the background

The She-Creature is one weird and nonsensical movie. Chester Morris, in an unusual role for him, gives a good account of himself, but we never learn how he knew that Andrea was once this strange creature nor is it explained why or how he can materialize it from the sea. It simply makes no sense. On the other hand, there simply isn't enough of the creature and its attacks to keep the excitement level up, and the film eventually becomes tedious. The actors, including Fuller and English, do the best they can and are generally more than adequate.

close-up of the She-Creature

Others in the cast include Cathy Downs [Missile to the Moon] and Frieda Inescort (as Conway's daughter and wife), Ron Randell [Captive Women] as a police lieutenant, El Brendel as Conway's comical butler, Frank Jenks as Randell's associate, Jack Mulhall as Lombardi's lawyer, and William Hudson as a tippling party guest who has a thing for Downs. These last two were both in The Amazing Colossal Man while English, Fuller and Conway also appeared in director Cahn's production of Voodoo Woman. The She-Creature, portrayed by Paul Blaisdell, has claws, intense eyes and large breasts.

Verdict: Sounds like fun but really isn't. **.