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 KETTLES IN THE OZARKS

Ma Kettle reads Pa's letter to one of their children

THE KETTLES IN THE OZARKS (1956). Director: Charles Lamont. 

Ma Kettle (Marjorie Main) packs up all of her brood and takes off to the Ozarks, where she plans to help her brother-in-law, Sedgwick (Arthur Hunnicutt) with his farm. Sedge has been affianced to gal pal Bedelia (Una Merkel) for twenty years, and Ma hopes to do something about that situation as well. Some shady men rent the barn from Sedge, but they turn out to be bootleggers trying to avoid "revenuers." 

Una Merkel, Richard Eyer and Arthur Hunnicutt

By this time Percy Kilbride had had enough of playing Pa Kettle and neither he nor the character appear in this film. Most of the humor has to do with the interplay between the bootleggers and the very mischievous children, with a little reserved for the not-very-romantic romance between Sedge and Bedelia. There's also a goose named Gertie who walks around wearing galoshes on her feet. Otherwise, this entry in the Kettle series is pretty weak.

Gertie the Goose goes out for a walk

The supporting cast includes child actor Richard Eyer [The 7th Voyage of Sinbad] as one of the Kettle children; Richard Deacon ("Mel Cooley" on The Dick Van Dyke Show) as an Indian; Joe Sawyer as a neighbor; and Sid Tomack and Ted de Corsia as two of the bootleggers. Bonnie Franklin, who plays one of town children, later became a sitcom star with her show One Day at a Time. Main, Hunnicutt, and Merkel give very good performances. 

Verdict: Some amusing moments but not enough. **.