After reviewing "The Old Dark House" (1932), I've been seeking some of the screen origins of the subgenre of the same name, and director Roland West seems central here. Besides "The Bat," he also made the earlier "The Monster" (1925) starring Lon Chaney and remade this one as the talkie, "The Bat Whispers" (1930). Other than these taking place in spooky houses, though, they're quite different. James Whale's 1932 trope namer is all about characters, who are trapped by a storm in an otherwise not especially interesting residence. "The Monster," on the other hand, features a sanitarium that is an expression of the lunatics that run it, complete with secret passages and a mad doctor's laboratory in the basement. Here, in "The Bat," the characters are caricatures--including one that runs around dressed as a batman--and it's the house that contains all of the character. Additionally, while "The Old Dark House" seems firmly entrenched in the horror genre Universal was largely introducing to Hollywood at the time, and "The Monster" could be considered a horror comedy, "The Bat" is more of a whodunit--the murder mystery being tied to the identity of the murderous batman thief.
Nevertheless, what would become the tropes of the subgenre appear here, including an assortment of people in the house out for a fortune, hidden passages, flickering lights, long staircases, characters running around scaring themselves silly with at least one character (the maid, here) especially serving as the comic relief scaredy-cat. There are also a couple of detectives on the scene to emphasize the murder mystery element. A storm would be added in the talkie remake. "The Bat" criminal here and in "The Bat Whispers" are credited with inspiring the comic-book superhero Batman, and one can certainly see why. Besides the bat costume, he climbs rooftops, swings on buildings, leaves bat-shaped messages that look similar to Batman's throwing stars, he seems to be followed around by actual bats, and there's even a sort of bat signal in one scene. The historical influence is more interesting than the whodunit, and the characters fail to shine in the house, which is the real star of the show, with its hidden room and the characters fighting over the blueprint of more interest than solving crime. It doesn't help the actors, either, that camera placements tend to be distant, but it does help to show off the large interiors designed by William Cameron Menzies, as well as the use of miniatures, and some good lighting effects help, too. The distant views do give a stagy look at times, though, emphasizing the lack of fourth walls and the story's origins on the stage.
It's a bit ironic that Universal in its attempts to launch the Dark Universe, with "Dracula Untold" (2014) and "The Mummy" (2017), has largely turned to imitating superhero movies, especially the Dark Knight trilogy; yet, all the while, the Batman had his origins in these spooky houses at night.
Nevertheless, what would become the tropes of the subgenre appear here, including an assortment of people in the house out for a fortune, hidden passages, flickering lights, long staircases, characters running around scaring themselves silly with at least one character (the maid, here) especially serving as the comic relief scaredy-cat. There are also a couple of detectives on the scene to emphasize the murder mystery element. A storm would be added in the talkie remake. "The Bat" criminal here and in "The Bat Whispers" are credited with inspiring the comic-book superhero Batman, and one can certainly see why. Besides the bat costume, he climbs rooftops, swings on buildings, leaves bat-shaped messages that look similar to Batman's throwing stars, he seems to be followed around by actual bats, and there's even a sort of bat signal in one scene. The historical influence is more interesting than the whodunit, and the characters fail to shine in the house, which is the real star of the show, with its hidden room and the characters fighting over the blueprint of more interest than solving crime. It doesn't help the actors, either, that camera placements tend to be distant, but it does help to show off the large interiors designed by William Cameron Menzies, as well as the use of miniatures, and some good lighting effects help, too. The distant views do give a stagy look at times, though, emphasizing the lack of fourth walls and the story's origins on the stage.
It's a bit ironic that Universal in its attempts to launch the Dark Universe, with "Dracula Untold" (2014) and "The Mummy" (2017), has largely turned to imitating superhero movies, especially the Dark Knight trilogy; yet, all the while, the Batman had his origins in these spooky houses at night.