From the memorable opening scene of the newsboy yelling "You won't get the Bat! I'll bet the Bat makes a chump out of you!" to the police, it was clear this would be a much more stylish film than the 1926 one. Roland West directed both films. This one is markedly superior visually and, unlike a lot of other directors at the time, West seems to make the transition from silent to sound filmmaking seamlessly. I've seen all three versions of The Bat and enjoyed them all but this is probably the best version. This is also the version that, according to Bob Kane, was part of the inspiration for Batman. The Bat looks less silly here than in the last movie, where he had big mouse ears and was more adorable than scary. Anyway, it's a good old dark house thriller with a cool beginning and an amusing ending. Any movie with Una Merkel in it can't be that bad.
Review of The Bat Whispers
