When sound arrived in Hollywood, a studio remaking their recent silent hits with a talkie cast wasn’t that unusual. This was especially true for movies that had a lot of dialogue written on cards. People were eager to experience the film without thinking they were reading the book. When director Roland West was able to remake his hit The Bat (1926), he did more than bring a microphone onto the set. He talked United Artists into letting him shoot the film on 65mm for a process known as Magnifilm. Seeing how most theaters in 1930 weren’t equipped to handle the format, the film had to also be released in 35mm. Instead of taking reducing the 65mm to 35mm with a pan and scan, West had a 35mm film camera to capture a second version of the film during the production. For the longest time, people thought the 65mm was lost forever. The film elements were discovered in Mary Pickford’s archive. Pickford was one of the four stars that formed United Artists which is why the actress had them. Making things even more interesting was that Roland West made an alternate 35mm British version of the film that was slightly different from the US release. Roland West’s sound remake comes in three different versions. All are part of The Bat Whispers: Special Edition.
The movie opens with a massive clock on top of a skyscraper. The camera pulls back, tilts down at the traffic in front of the building, drops toward the road and straightens up to capture police vehicles leaving the building. The camera takes us inside a police wagon with a radio. The announcer is focused on a thief known as The Bat being on the loose that night. This opening was rather revolutionary for 1930. The building shot is a mix of models and a quick cut to the real cars pulling out. This must have astonished audiences of the time. How did Roland West and the 65mm cinematographer Robert H. Planck accomplish such a visual feat with a huge movie camera? I haven’t a clue. They revolutionized what you could do with large format film except they were too early since studios stuck with 35mm until the 1950s. They keep up interesting shots and angles throughout the film.
That night turns out to be The Bat’s final daring burglary. He leaves a note that he’s retiring. Although the cops don’t quite buy it. Cornelia Van Gorder (The Unexpected Father‘s Grayce Hampton) has rented a country mansion that belongs to a bank president. The house is a bit creepy with creaks and bumps coming from odd places. The maid Lizzie Allen (The Vampire Bat‘s Maude Eburne) believes the place is haunted. Cornelia’s niece Dale Van Gorder (Road to Zanzibar‘s Una Merkel) might be creating a few bumps with her wildlife. Van Gorder’s vacation gets interrupted when reports surface that the bank has been struck by a robber that hit the vault. The manor’s owner is coming back from Europe to investigate what happened so she might have to go home. But someone wants Van Gorder out sooner as a rock comes through the window with a note telling her to hit the road. Detective Anderson (Boston Blackie‘s Chester Morris) drops by to investigate. There’s a sense that something fishy is happening at the manor. Has The Bat returned to his burglary business?
Not to spoil the ending, but the finale features a character stepping out from the theater curtain and begging for the audience to not tell anyone about the true identity of The Bat. This is a bit of breaking the fourth wall that works. I’m wondering if this was also part of the play that was adapted from the original novel. I won’t tell you who was really The Bat.
The three versions on the film have different running times: U.S. Version 1:32:1 (85:32) British Version (85:56) and 65mm version (84:50). Each version does have slight changes. I recommend starting with the 65mm since it is what the big wow factor for 1930. Roland West wanted to create a more impactful film than his silent version. There’s a shot of The Bat in the city that you’d swear was from a Batman movie. Turns out there’s a bit of reverse truth to the moment since Batman didn’t appear in comic books until 1939. Bob Kane, the creator of Batman admitted in his autobiography Batman and Me that that The Bat Whispers inspired his creation of the Caped Crusader.
The Bat Whispers is one of the earliest examples of a feature film shot on 65mm. They didn’t just set up the camera and capture master shots. This should be compared to Christopher Nolan using Imax cameras for part of The Dark Knight. In a way, they’re both Batman movies. You might wonder why an innovative director such as Roland West vanished shortly after making this movie? Turns out he was involved with actress Thelma Todd and suspected in her mysterious death. The studios didn’t want to touch him. At least his 65mm version of The Bat Whispers is back.
The Video has the 65mm version in 2:1 anamorphic for the Magnifilm effect. The US and British version both at 1.32:1 full frame. The restoration of all three versions make them look like they had just returned from the lab the first time. The Audio is LPCM 2.0 mono. The soundtrack is rather clean for its age. The movie is subtitled.
Booklet has all the details about the 65mm version and what it took to create this restoration.
The Commentary Track by Mick LaSalle give backgrounds on the movie’s history, the cast and what happened to Roland West.
The Photo Gallery (5:26) includes posters, press photos, newspaper pages, advertising, lobby cards, They identify the various actors.
Version Comparison 1.32:1 US vs British (10:14) has a lot of little differences in what was shown on either side of the Atlantic Ocean.
The Bat (79:57) is another tale of a criminal known as The Bat. The film came out in 1959. Agnes Morehead (Bewitched) is a mystery writer who rents a mansion in the country. Her staff is freaked out because the mansion was a crime scene involving The Bat. Out in the woods, a doctor (Vincent Price) goes fishing with his favorite patient and discovers something he really didn’t want to know about the guy. The Bat wears leather gloves with sharp claws on the fingertips. This originally was double billed with Hammer’s The Mummy. The 1.85 anamorphic transfer looks sharp.
Version Comparison: US 1.32:1 vs Widescreen (10:14) shows how the two different movies varied when they shot the film twice in the two different formats. They didn’t completely duplicate their roles and the angles.
The Bat (1926) vs The Bat Whispers (7:33) is how Roland West changed thigns up between the silent film and the sound version.
The Bat (1926) Before & After Restoration (1:54) show how much care went into making the silent version look so much better.
VCI Entertainment and MVDvisual present The Bat Whispers Special Edition. Directed by Roland West. Screenplay by Roland West. Starring Chester Morris, Una Merkel, Chance Ward, Richard Tucker, Wilson Benge, DeWitt Jennings, Sidney D’Albrook, S.E. Jennings, Grayce Hampton, Maude Eburne, Spencer Charters, William Bakewell, Hugh Huntley, Charles Dow Clark & Ben Bard. Running Time: Rating: Not Rated. Release Date: August 13, 2024.
