A half-dozen genres are merrily mixed together in “The Bat,” the wild and often zany 1926 silent feature based on a Broadway play written by Mary Roberts Rinehard and Avery Hopwood, which in turn was based on Rinehart’s novel “The Circular Staircase” (1908).
The convoluted plot involves an acrobatic jewel thief who self-identifies as “The Bat” – complete with a bat-shaped calling card and a bat costume that he wears while conducting his crimes. The Bat witnesses a bank robbery and follows the crook to a mansion being rented by the writer Cordelia Gardner (played by Emily Fitzroy in a supreme aristocratic style). The mansion quickly becomes overpopulated by a mix of suspicious and screwy characters who are terrorized by The Bat.
At the time of its release, director Roland West was the main selling point for the film. Today, however, West is mostly remembered for being a suspect in the mysterious 1935 death of Thelma Todd. Instead, most contemporary interest might be focused on production designer William Cameron Menzies (of “Gone With the Wind” fame), cinematographer Arthur Edeson (of “Frankenstein” and “Casablanca” notability) and Edeson’s uncredited assistant Gregg Toland (do we really need to cite his credits?).
“The Bat” has been in the public domain for years and can easily be found online, but there’s a new DVD/Blu-ray release from Ben Model’s Undercrank Productions that presents the film in a new 2K digital restoration from 35mm elements preserved by the UCLA Film & Television Archive. This version is the most visually impressive looking available, and the film’s Expressionist style never looked better. Plus, it comes with an original score composed and performed by the indefatigable Model that perfectly mirrors the film’s eccentric charms.