The Bat (1926)

You can’t keep a classic off the screen for long. While remakes may be something of a modern phenomenon at our local multiplexes, the tradition started in the silent era. There wasn’t a home video market. There wasn’t a second run for features. Once a picture went through the movie houses it was likely never seen again, lost in a vault, burned, or if it was lucky - possibly buried in the ice at Dawson. Once enough time passed, a new creative team and cast was hired to resuscitate a fan-favorite project. Thus the reason Mary Roberts Reinhart’s classic play was made into a film no less than four times (possibly even more versions were made but were lost) between 1915 and 1959. 

Director Roland West actually took two turns with this chilling tale of mystery and suspense. His first run was 1926’s silent feature The Bat starring Louise Fazenda, Jack Pickford, Jewel Carmen, and Arthur Housman. When talkies became the hit format of Tinseltown, West would do the film again in 1930 retitled as The Bat Whispers. Then in 1959 came the more famous (but lesser version) of The Bat starring Vincent Price. 

Dialing back to the 1926 silent film, the feature is a gas by combining classic Thriller, Horror, Crime, and Comedy elements as the film rips through its brisk 86-minute runtime. Our key cast is in excellent form with Louise Fazenda and Jewel Carmen carrying much of the Suspense/Comedy weight - much like Agness Moorehead and Lizzie Allen in the 1959 version. Their interplay is what sets the stage for all of the plot beats to fall in place while ramping up tension, but also letting off some steam for a good ice-breaker laugh. 

Shot by Arthur Edeson with art direction by the legendary William Cameron Menzies, the film is a beautifully moody and atmospheric piece of work with deep creepy shadows and stage design for our titular killer to hide. And speaking of hiding, what this version does better than any other version (that I’ve seen at least) is the identity of The Bat. The 1959 version was too telling and obvious to be a fully rewarding experience, but even for those familiar with this story, there are some nice twists and turns to enjoy. 

It’s also impossible to discuss this film without bringing up Bob Kane and Bill Finger’s now iconic superhero Batman. Kane long told the story that he got the idea from the original 1915 silent film, much like Finger was inspired by 1928’s The Man Who Laughs for creating The Joker. To that, watching through this version again after many years away from it (I watched this my first year in film school 20+ years ago), this version had to have weighed on that creative process. While The Bat himself bears little resemblance to the superhero (outside of the rooftop stalking scenes), the moody mansion serves as a perfect Wayne Manor surrogate, the cops look pretty familiar to the dumpy band that populated the first issues, and a certain “Shadow of the Bat” is quite a bit more obvious tell. But that’s all fun for the Batman fanatic that I am. 

Potential source reference for a future superhero aside, 1926’s The Bat is a true classic. It is satisfyingly thrilling, and it’s also funny when it needs to be. West’s adaptation of Reinhart’s play feels so tightly paced that the 86-minute runtime breezes by without shortchanging the plot or characters. Silent films might not be everyone’s brand, but they’re always worth trying. If you’ve never seen 1926’s The Bat, it’s time to turn out the lights!

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray 
Roland West’s The Bat stalks Blu-ray with a new single disc release from Undercrank Productions. Pressed on a BD25 disc, the disc is housed in a standard Blu-ray case. The disc loads to a static image main menu with basic navigation options.

One thing about watching silent films is that you get used to them looking a certain way. Given their age and how badly they were mistreated or discarded (or even buried), you more or less have to take what you can get because there’s likely no other option available. In the case of The Bat I was floored to see this transfer sourced from a new 2K restoration by Undercrank Productions. The archival 35mm elements were provided by the UCLA Film and Television Archive and the final results on this disc are quite magnificent. There are still the expected nicks, scratches, and speckles to be seen, but you can tell a lot of cleanup work was managed for this restoration while also preserving the natural film-like appearance. I’ve seen some horribly soft de-grained transfers for silent films and this looks amazing. Fine details are immaculately preserved allowing you to fully soak in the production values, costuming, and the titular Bat! A genuinely excellent restoration for fans to enjoy.

No silent film is complete without a great score. Ben Model delivers a treat for musical accompaniment with a jaunty theater organ-styled score. Adding to the suspense but also playing to the comedy elements, this original piece sounds lovely in LPCM 2.0 making sure the film has your full attention without sounding canned. Obviously there is no dialog, but for some key scenes, there are some small incidental sound effects like a door buzzer that play well in the moment.

On the bonus features side, we have a nice tribute essay to Roland West with the 1926 comedic short A Fraternity Mixup. At just under 9 minutes, the tribute to West packs a lot of interesting factoids about his life and career. The comedy short runs a swift twenty minutes and is a hoot all on its own lending more to classic madcap comedy than visual simple hijinks. Overall it’s in pretty good shape, it’s notably rougher than the main feature, but clarity is respectable and it’s a fun worthwhile watch. 

• Roland West: Cinematic Man of Mystery (HD 8:44)
• A Fraternity Mixup (HD 19:17)

It’s fall and we’re steadily edging our way towards Halloween. The days are shorter and the nights are darker, crispy, and cold. It’s the perfect season for horror and suspense thrillers. Even ones that are nearly 100 years old! Roland West’s The Bat is just one of several adaptations of Reinhart’s stylish whodunit play, but I’d argue it’s probably the best of the lot. A great cast anchors the thrills and chills while delivering some devilishly well-timed comedy antics. Thanks to Undercrank Productions, the film finds itself a terrific Blu-ray release. The transfer is often stunning and the new original score is pitch-perfect accompaniment. Add in a couple of extras and you’ve got a nice evening huddled under the blankets ahead of you! Recommended