The Bat (1959 movie)

The Bat is a 1959 mystery film featuring Vincent Price and Agnes Moorehead. Its tagline was "When it flies, someone dies." It was adapted from a play by Avery Hopwood and Mary Hopkins Rinehart. The film also featured Darla Hood, of The Little Rascals, in a minor role.

Related Topics:
1959 - Mystery film - Vincent Price - Agnes Moorehead - Avery Hopwood - Mary Hopkins Rinehart - Darla Hood - The Little Rascals

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Agnes Moorehead plays Cornelia van Gorder, a mystery author who lives in a town terrorized by a mysterious murderer known only as "The Bat." The Bat is said to be a man with no face who murders women at night by ripping out their throats with steel claws.

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Early in the film, The Bat enters van Gorder's house and releases a bat, who bites van Gorder's maid Lizzy, played by Lenita Lane. With Lizzy in a panic, fearing she may now have contracted "the rabies", an outbreak of which local papers have reported, Van Gorder calls her doctor, Dr. Malcolm Wells (Price), who is conducting research on bats.

Related Topics:
Bat - Lenita Lane - Rabies

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Meanwhile, the whole town is searching for a million dollar stash of looted bank securities that were recently stolen. Dr. Wells discovers the location of the treasure when the thief confides in him. Wells then murders the thief in cold blood, presumedly so that he can take the treasure for himself, which he believes to be hidden in van Gorder's house.

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A series of breakins and murders by The Bat brings the local chief of police to the van Gorder house. The chief attempts to determine the identity of The Bat, suspecting both Wells and van Gorder's new butler, Warner. Wells is removed from suspicion, however, when he is murdered by The Bat in his lab.

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Mrs. van Gorder cleverly manages to capture The Bat inside her house, where he is shot by Warner. Warner unmasks The Bat, and he is revealed to be the police chief.

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