After the blue tsunami, I remain in a celebratory mood. Writing about a Vincent Price movie is my idea of a celebratory act. Does that make me batty? Discuss amongst yourselves.

The Bat is based on a 1920 play by Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood. In turn, it was adapted from MRR’s novel The Circular Staircase:

The circular staircase of the OG title plays only a minor role in the 1959 film adaptation but it’s full of bats, real and ersatz. What’s not ersatz about the movie is the acting with a cast led by Vincent Price and Agnes Moorehead. It’s a great pleasure to watch those 2 fine actors match wits.

The Bat is a haunted house mystery with a serial killer twist. They wouldn’t have called The Bat a serial killer in 1959. The term wasn’t popularized until the 1970’s. Instead, they called him, her or it a fiend:

Agnes Moorehead plays a mystery writer who leased a mansion in the country for the summer. Nobody told her it was a cursed house, perhaps even haunted.

Vincent Price plays the town doctor and coroner. He’s suspected of being The Bat. A local police detective played by Gavin Gordon is on Vinnie’s trail but he has ulterior motives. I’m not telling you what they are. All I’ve got for you is a picture of the two men:

Vinnie looks downright avuncular in that picture. Can a fiend be avuncular? Discuss amongst yourselves.

The plot is an overstuffed sofa full of twists and turns. There’s an embezzlement subplot and MacGuffins galore. The twists mostly work but I’m reluctant to give them away. I should, however, post a picture of Agnes Moorehead and screaming women at this point:

In addition to the two-legged bat seen earlier, there’s a cheesy model bat:

There’s always a cheesy model in a Fifties horror flick.

You don’t need to peruse The Bat’s IMDB entry to know that it’s based on a play. It’s stagey and confined to just a few sets. BUT this adds to the claustrophobic feel that writer-director Crane Wilbur and cinematographer Joseph Biroc were going for. The look of the movie is shadowy and sinister, just how I like it.

Grading Time: I give The Bat 3 stars and an Adrastos grade of B. Beware of colorized versions.

Let’s go bat shit crazy and check out the posters.

We begin with the American and French long sheets:

You say le masque; I say the bat. Let’s call the whole thing off and look at the quad:

I go batty over this tagline: When it flies, someone dies.

I have bats in my proverbial belfry. Let’s all go to the lobby to clear our heads.

Head cleared, lobby cards presented:

It’s trailer time:

My Sunday music posts often have lagniappe. Let’s try that now. On Halloween, Dr. A and I watched a new documentary on TCM, Vincent Price: What Keeps Us Alive. It was made with the cooperation of the Price family and features footage only they had access to. It’s a loving look at a lovable man.

Here’s the trailer:

Grading Time: I give Vincent Price: What Keeps Us Alive 3 stars and an Adrastos grade of B.

The last word goes to Vinnie and Agnes: