The Bat

In The Bat, top-billed Vincent Price brings his silky, sinister elegance to the second remake of the hoary old dark house stage play. But the real stars of the show are Agnes Moorehead, as an eccentric mystery writer who decides to pull off the million-dollar bank heist, and the steel-clawed killer known only as The Bat. Price's devious doctor is but one of a rogues' gallery of suspects that include a Johnny-on-the-spot police detective, a chauffeur turned butler with a checkered past, and a housekeeper with echoes of Rebecca's Mrs. Danvers. Moorehead is a kick as the spirited author, and makes the most of her expanded role, but fans of the early film productions (1926's The Bat and 1930's The Bat Whispers, both directed by Roland West) will be less forgiving of other changes, especially writer-director Crane Wilbur's decision to draw the story out over a succession of nights. Wilbur loses the tension and claustrophobia of the originals with a rambling pace and handsome but airy photography, more appropriate to an episode of Perry Mason. Moorehead and Price bring a little spirit to the otherwise bland film, but not quite enough. --Sean Axmaker ...

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