Alicia I love this movie so much

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Kayden This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

gridoon2018 "The Bat Whispers" boasts striking, spacious sets and some remarkably (for 1930) fluid camera-work, but it still can't completely shake off its staginess, and it includes not one, not two, but three unfunny comic relief supporting characters (the maid's squealing is absolutely insufferable). As for who The Bat is, it is possible after a point to put 2 and 2 together and figure it out before he is unmasked. But the final 2 minutes are most unusual - for this ending, and the visuals, the film is worth a look. **1/2 out of 4.

calvinnme This is a wonderful find. Roland West teams with star Chester Morris once again to give us "The Bat Whispers" a year after the same team gave us "Alibi", one of the very good films from 1929, and a Best Picture nominee from the 1928-1929 season.West uses some of the same photographic techniques that were ground-breaking in "Alibi". The camera moves along so you see what the police see as they ride along in their squad cars, and now the camera also swoops up the sides of buildings and "flies into" rooms at a birds-eye (or bats-eye) view."The Bat" is a super-criminal. He taunts the police by telling them what he intends to do next and then performs his crime under their noses. He dresses and moves like Batman, has the Joker's indifference to human life and confidence in his own immortality, but unlike the Joker his motive is not chaos - it is unmitigated greed. In that way he is like a merging of Batman, the Joker, and Bank of America.The rather complex plot involves a bank that has been robbed in which the suspect is a young teller who is in love with Una Merkel's character. Her aunt has rented an old dark house from the bank owner's son. However, someone is trying to frighten her into leaving. There are secret rooms and passageways, the mysterious activities of several guests involved, and the presence of Chester Morris as a police inspector who arrives on the scene. For some strange reason he is dressed as a middle-aged man here, and I could never figure out the reason for that one. The questions are - who is The Bat, is he at work here, is he working alone, and what is he after? The only negative is the maid in the old dark house. She is constantly screaming and yelping at every little noise. By the film's midpoint I was ready to dress up like The Bat and get rid of this annoying person myself. Alas, she survives until the end of the film without really adding anything. I get the fact that scary things are going on. I didn't need her 90 minute conniption fit to drive that point home.If you love early talkies you have to see this one. It came before Batman and Universal's old dark house sound films, so it actually is more original than the modern viewer might give it credit.

metaphor-2 Roland West's THE BAT WHISPERS was based on a hugely successful Broadway play, The Bat, widely credited for having created the vogue for thriller plays in the 1920's. (The 1927 production "Dracula" which starred Bela Lugosi on stage was part of the mystery vogue, and led directly to the 1930 Universal film which kicked off the 30's cycle of horror movies). West filmed The Bat in 1926 as a silent, with great success. The 1930 remake was a large production, shot simultaneously in standard 35mm and a new widescreen 65mm process. Theater owners largely rejected the expense of installing 65mm equipment, and most people who saw this film on its release saw the 35mm version. Among them was Bob Kane, who credited it as a major influence in his creation of Batman in the late 30's. It's easy to see why. This is a stunning looking film (I'm referring to the 35mm version, which I saw at the 2004 UCLA Festival of Preservation) gorgeously photographed by Ray June. In an old dark house where the lights are constantly going off, and lighting is frequently provided by candles, or lightning, bizarre lighting effects start to become the norm, and the dramatic possibilities take off. The director used every conceivable angle to keep things visually lively, mirroring the ridiculous complexity of the plot with a visual complexity that always keeps the viewer slightly off balance.Much has been made of the sweeping camera moves and the use of miniatures. The miniatures are a bit obvious, but their intent remains effective if you're willing to go with it. (Being willing to "go with it" is pretty much a necessity in general for this film, which was a wild and unrealistic ride in its time, and deliberately so.) The photography benefits from a number of technical innovations, including a lightweight camera dolly invented for this production that allowed the camera to be moved 18 feet vertically in a matter of moments. The performances - both comic and dramatic characters - are deliberately hokey, very stagey turns that were the standard for this genre. Much of Chester Morris' mugging and squinting, however, are attributable to the violently bright underlighting that was used in his closeups, which eventually scorched his retinas (a condition which became known as Klieg Eye). Within that context, they are wonderful performances. Morris is particularly engaging, as is Grayce Hampton as the patrician Cornelia Van Gorder, the middle-aged spinster who refuses to be scared out of the house. (Hampton appears to be a very capable stage actress, and offers perhaps the most natural performance in the film. She had made one previous film – in 1916 – and made numerous subsequent ones, usually in bit parts, until she was nearly 80.) Her no-nonsense dowager centers the film perfectly, keeping the other characters (and performances) from plunging completely off the deep end.The plot? A master criminal, The Bat, is on the loose, a half-million dollars have been stolen from a bank by somebody else, and The Bat is trying to get it. The money has apparently been brought to a lonely mansion in a rural town (apparently somewhere on then-rural Long Island) where a middle-aged woman and her made are renting for the summer. Someone is trying to scare her out of the house, so she has sent for detectives. From there, anything goes.

BaronBl00d Roland West first filmed the story of the Bat, a killer that steals money and jewels for their value as well as for adventure, in 1926. He then made The Bat Whispers in 1930, which is a sound version of his silent film. The transition is not entirely smooth yet rewarding. Let me first state that the silent film is easily the superior of the two. The silent film had a much more creepier feeling to it. The acting was far superior, and the sets were incredible. West does duplicate much of the sets and shots that were in his first version. The acting, however, is not very good as it is obvious that sound pictures have not been around too long. West tries to accommodate that new innovation which sometimes results in stagey scenes and long dialogue sessions. Chester Morris is...well, to say the least...a ham. His performance is a bit over-the-top for me. He does show glimmers of talent though. The story is pretty much the same and that is the film's strength. It's a fun mystery that by today's standards will seem crude and silly, but taken in context of its time should provide some entertainment. Oddly enough, the mystery seemed less mysterious in this version. I knew who the killer was with ease(trying to distance myself from the memory of the first film as I did this). West again has some impressive camera shots. The opening scene of the bat stealing a jewel from an apartment high in the sky was incredible as was the journey of the bat over a bank and following a man with a lot of money. The camera work of West is innovative, and it is a pity that his life was cut short and we did not get a chance to see him employ his talents in other projects.