Mon 27 Feb 2012
A Movie Review by Dan Stumpf: THE BAT WHISPERS (1930).
Posted by Steve under Mystery movies , Reviews[6] Comments
THE BAT WHISPERS. United Artists, 1930. Chester Morris, Chance Ward, Una Merkel, Richard Tucker, Wilson Benge, Maude Eburne. Based on the play by Avery Hopwood & Mary Roberts Rinehart. Director: Roland West.
This, if memory serves, is the film that inspired Bob Kane to create Batman, and I was much struck by the similarities between it and the Tim Burton film Batman with Michael Keaton: The Bat Whispers offers deliberately cartoonish sets, which the camera sweeps across like a hurtling winged thing; a nocturnal protagonist lurking about rooftops casting bat-like shadows; and a doppleganger relationship between a neurotic detective and a mad master criminal, who gets the last laugh in an eerie fadeout.
Fine stuff, this, done with style and obvious relish, and a pleasure to watch.
Unfortunately, Director Roland West (who was implicated in the death of his mistress Thelma Todd a few years later) occasionally has to pay attention to the Mary Roberts Rinehart play this was based on, at which times the action pretty much grinds to a halt while characters stand around and explicate.
Also to its detriment, The Bat Whispers features Three (count ’em) Three “comedy” relief characters, each funnier than the next and all of them put together about as amusing as Hepatitis. Definitely a flawed film, then, but also quite engaging at times, with the Batman parallels an added interest.
I should also make note of Chester Morris’s intriguing performance as the slightly-off-kilter Detective. No sane-on-the-surface madman, this, but a character whose carefully limned ticks get eerily unsettling very quickly. There’s a scene where he’s laying down the law to red herring Gustave Von Seyfertitz that drips with restrained menace.
Chester Morris never really hit the Big Time, despite a couple of chances, ended up his career in things like The She Beast (’57) and is little remembered today, but after this and Three Godfathers (’36) I’ll be seeking out his films a bit more carefully.
February 28th, 2012 at 12:13 am
I remember Morris best as Boston Blackie. I was surprised to see at IMDB, he was nominated for Best Actor Oscar for ALIBI (29). But Dan’s right, he deserved a better career.
Comic book historians still debate who created BATMAN, Bob Kane or comic book writer Bill Finger. I lean towards they both did as writer and artist working together.
The influences on Batman (and Superman) were many and this film’s style was not unique in this era of German Expressionism.
But this film was an influence on what followed and as Dan said is worth watching for that.
February 28th, 2012 at 1:18 am
I remember being delighted to see Morris in a little gem of a small supporting performance in THE GREAT WHITE HOPE, Chester Morris’ last film circa 1969-70.
February 28th, 2012 at 7:16 am
Saw this again last week and was struck once more by the visual similarities between this & the early BATMAN comix I grew up with. Chester Morris particularly looks like Bruce Wayne with a moustache!
February 28th, 2012 at 11:15 am
I was always impressed by how intriguing the visuals are, especially as the alternate version, shot simultaneously, used a prototype large format 65mm widescreen process used more notably perhaps by Raoul Walsh in the John Wayne film, THE BIG TRAIL.
February 28th, 2012 at 1:08 pm
In fact, Chester Morris “ended up his career” mainly on the stage, taking the road companies of Broadway hits all around the country, getting far better reviews than he ever got for his film work.
He also staked out a claim in live and filmed TV as a respected character actor, with a sideline as a game show guest (his magic background often came in handy).
Chester Morris’s last film appearance was in The Great White Hope, released just after his death; he got some of his best notices for his role as the corrupt boxing commissioner.
OK, maybe not superstardom, but attention ought to be paid …
February 28th, 2012 at 2:33 pm
Mike Doran has it right. Morris spent most of his time on the stage with an occasional television appearance. He was a regular on a summer replacement television program “Diagnosis Unknown” where he played a detective working with Patrick O’Neal, who played Dr. Daniel Coffee, the pathologist created by Lawrence G. Blochman.
I remember the program because it was one of the first produced on video tape rather than film. Not a bad production but hampered by the rather static staging.
Much more interesting are his guest spots on filmed programs. One of his last such role was as an excellent villain in “Without Honor” one of best episodes of Stuart Whitman’s “Cimarron Strip”.
His “Three Godfathers” is now available on DVD paired with the even earlier version of the story “Hell’s Heroes” directed by William Wellman. I’ve always thought the 1936 version was superior to that of John Ford.
Some of his “B” movies are worthy of viewing including “Five Came Back” (1939) with Lucille Ball and a screenplay by Dalton Trumbo and “Blind Alley” (1947).