The Bat (1959)

Agnes Moorehead: Cornelia van Gorder

Photos 

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Quotes 

• Cornelia van Gorder : [to Lizzie Allen]  When you refer to my books, please don't call me "Miss Corny".

• Cornelia van Gorder : This is the Oaks, a house in the country which I've rented for the summer. As an author I write tales of mystery and murder, but the things that have happened in this house are far more fantastic than any book I've ever had published.

• Cornelia van Gorder : [on the phone]  Yes will you connect me to Dr. Malcolm Wells' office please? ...No I don't know his number and I have no phone book up here but it's an emergency, will you connect me please?

  Lizzie Allen : Dear oh dear, I'm going to get the rabies!

  Woman : Hello?

  Cornelia van Gorder : Hello! Dr. Wells' Office?

  Woman : This is the call service. Dr. Wells is out at the moment but if you'll give me your name, I'll try to locate him.

  Cornelia van Gorder : Well this is Miss Van Gorder at the Oaks. My maid has just been bitten by a bat that may be rabid and she must have medical treatment as soon as possible. And I was told that Dr. Wells is the nearest physician.

  Woman : I'll try to locate him for you but if I can't, I'll send you another doctor.

  Cornelia van Gorder : Well thank you very much.

  [hangs up] 

  Cornelia van Gorder : Oh he's out on a case! I hope it's not a delivery, a baby I mean they can be terribly complicated!

  Lizzie Allen : It never bothered me none.

  Cornelia van Gorder : Oh Lizzie, you never had a baby.

  Lizzie Allen : Of course I didn't, that's why it never bothered me!

• Cornelia van Gorder : [reading newspaper headline]  Mr. Fleming will be laid to rest in his family's tomb on Monday.

  Lizzie Allen : And I hope he stays there.

  Cornelia van Gorder : Well why shouldn't he?

  Lizzie Allen : This is his house, and ever since he died, some funny things have happened here.

  Cornelia van Gorder : For instance?

  Lizzie Allen : The housekeeper, the cook and the butler said that they heard strange noises at night, and the upstairs maid swore she met a man without a face coming up the back stairs.

  Cornelia van Gorder : Oh so that's why they quit and left me to run this place without a staff.

  Lizzie Allen : They didn't tell you, Miss Gordy, but the truth is they were scared to stay.

  Cornelia van Gorder : But you're still here, Lizzie! Haven't you seen anything?

  Lizzie Allen : No... no and even if I had, I ain't afraid of ghosts. They're afraid of me! Honest, Miss Gordy, a spiritualist once told me that ghosts was allergic to me.

  [Cornelia Van Gorder laughs] 

  Lizzie Allen : But, but this bat fella they keep talking about in the paper - I - I think he'd be different.

  Cornelia van Gorder : No, I don't think you'd have the same effect on him.

  [thunder crashes] 

  Cornelia van Gorder : Oh dear!

  Lizzie Allen : What are they trying to do, drive people away from this part of the country?

  Cornelia van Gorder : Why? What does it say about the Bat?

  Lizzie Allen : His specialty seems to be killing women, my goodness, two of them in one night, all his victims died the same way, like their throats had been ripped open with steel claws.

  Cornelia van Gorder : That's charming, I'll have to try it some time.

  [Lizzie stares at her weird] 

  Cornelia van Gorder : In a book.

• Lizzie Allen : [the wind is banging a shutter against the house]  That ain't nothing, just something bumping against the house.

  [wind blows a door open and closed] 

  Lizzie Allen : That's just the wind banging the door, pay no attention to it. Listen to this,

  [reads paper] 

  Lizzie Allen : 'One of his victims who lived for a moment after she was found described the Bat as a man without a face'. Honestly, Miss Gordy, I think that woman was exaggerating.

  [a tapestry blows against an open window] 

  Lizzie Allen : That's just the taphestry at the top of the stairs.

  Cornelia van Gorder : I know, I know, I've heard it before on a windy night.

  [taphestry clinks a shaking suit of armor] 

  Cornelia van Gorder : That sounds as if someone were on the stairs, I know there isn't, at least there shouldn't be.

  Lizzie Allen : Them's just the noises you hear in any old house on a windy night.

  [reads the paper] 

  Lizzie Allen : It says here that the Bat never leaves no fingerprints.

  Cornelia van Gorder : That's understandable, having no face he probably has no fingers either.

• Cornelia van Gorder : Surely you don't think he's...

  Lt. Andy Anderson : Warner and I have met before, I can't recall where or when, but I will.

• Cornelia van Gorder : [locking their door]  Nothing should get us now, I think, this door seems good and solid.

  Lizzie Allen : Like the door to a tomb.

• Police chief : [on the phone]  A police car is outside your house and an officer has reported that there's no sign of a prowler anywhere on the grounds.

  Cornelia van Gorder : Well the man's inside now, he's in the hall just outside my bedroom! Have your men break through the kitchen door and search this place from top to bottom!

  Police chief : Allright Miss Van Gorder, sit tightly.

  Cornelia van Gorder : I will, I have a gun, and I know how to use it!

• Cornelia van Gorder : Relax, relax Lizzie the police did a good job, they couldn't find anybody in here.

  Lizzie Allen : But we both saw him, Miss Cornelia!

  Cornelia van Gorder : Allright, allright, so he got away, but there are men on guard outside, so just try to get some rest, there's nothing that can get us in here.

  Lizzie Allen : Hmm...

• Lt. Andy Anderson : [finding Judy dead]  The Bat.

  Cornelia van Gorder : Yes the Bat, he caught her at the head of the stairs. We saw him rushing down the stairs as we came out of our rooms. I hurled that

  [a fireplace poker] 

  Cornelia van Gorder : at him, I hit him I believe. 'I'm going to cover this place from attic to basement' you said, well what were you covering out there while that poor child was murdered, where were you?

  Lt. Andy Anderson : I saw a man outside on the grounds. I went out and hunted him, I hunted him among the trees so far as the brook down near the back road, then I lost him. After that I'd give my own life than let this happen to Judy, but I told you to stay in your rooms and lock your doors and stay there! What was she doing at the head of those stairs?

  Dale Bailey : That was my fault.

  Cornelia van Gorder : They heard a strange noise, heavy pounding in one of the rooms on the third floor, we all heard it.

  Dale Bailey : I wanted to see what it was, but Judy, she wouldn't let me go out there by myself,

  [crying] 

  Dale Bailey : I made her stay on the balcony!

  Lt. Andy Anderson : What about your new butler?

  Cornelia van Gorder : Oh he's in his room I suppose.

• Lt. Andy Anderson : What about your new butler?

  Cornelia van Gorder : Well he's in his room I suppose...

  Lt. Andy Anderson : Oh Mrs. Patterson.

  Jane Patterson : Yes?

  Lt. Andy Anderson : Do you know what happened here tonight?

  Jane Patterson : No sir but I heard the screams, I went to call Warner, we both have rooms on the same floor, but he wasn't in his room. His bed hasn't been slept in.

  Lt. Andy Anderson : If Mrs. Matterson could hear those screams, Warner could certainly hear them.

  Warner, the chauffeur : [stepping into the room]  You're quite right, sir, I heard them.

  Lt. Andy Anderson : Oh you did, and where were you?

  Warner, the chauffeur : Outside on the grounds.

  Lt. Andy Anderson : Miss Holland has been murdered.

  Warner, the chauffeur : No!

  Lt. Andy Anderson : Oh, so you're surprised, shocked... well I've seen better performances... I remember you now, your name's not Warner, I've got a circular in my office with your picture on it. The Chicago police not so long ago were hunting for you in connection with the robbery.

  Warner, the chauffeur : You're right again, sir, they found me and they tried me and I proved my innocence and I was acquitted.

  Lt. Andy Anderson : That could've been a lucky break. WHERE were you when this child was killed?

  Warner, the chauffeur : I was following you. I saw you leaving the house, it seemed you were hunting someone and I thought that you might need some help.

  Lt. Andy Anderson : [scoffs]  Oh!

  Warner, the chauffeur : Oh yes sir, I followed your flashlight down through the trees... then it disappeared. And suddenly as I was staring out into the darkness, I was struck by something on the back of the head. The next thing I knew, I was lying on the ground, I realized I'd been knocked out.

  Lt. Andy Anderson : I wish you had been knocked out, for then we found you with your mask still on your face. You went here in this house, with this poker you were rushing down those stairs after that child...

  Warner, the chauffeur : Oh no sir! You can't pin this on me, I'm not the Bat! I've never killed! I couldn't kill! I won't take the rap for this!

• Cornelia van Gorder : Can't you see that fire was set to get us out of the house?

  Detective Davenport : Out of the hou... are you talking about the...

  Cornelia van Gorder : Yes, yes, I'm talking about the Bat! Now that the lights are out, he'll think his trick has worked, and we've gone, here'll be here in a minute.

  Detective Davenport : So will Lieutenant Anderson.

  Cornelia van Gorder : I hope so but the Bat will be here first, and he'll KILL AGAIN if we get in his way... we've got to be as clever as he is!

• Jane Patterson : What's that noise? Miss Van Gorder, the garage is on fire!

  Detective Davenport : Great Scot, look at that!

  Cornelia van Gorder : [shuts off the light]  Lizzie you put out the light in the other room...now where're you going?

  Detective Davenport : To put out the fire.

  Cornelia van Gorder : Will you just stay right here?

  Jane Patterson : But Miss Van Gorder, the garage!

  Cornelia van Gorder : Well let it burn, you watch the stairs.

• Cornelia van Gorder : Jane Patterson, my new housekeeper, knows this house better than you do, Doctor, she worked for John Fleming, and Warner was my chauffer.

  Dr. Malcolm Wells : Chauffer turned butler?

  Cornelia van Gorder : [laughs]  Yes, it's incredible, he can play any part in a moment's notice.

• Cornelia van Gorder : [about Warner]  Now there's a character.

  Dr. Malcolm Wells : How long did you say he worked for you as chauffer?

  Cornelia van Gorder : About three months.

  Dr. Malcolm Wells : Well I hope he doesn't have a police record.

• Cornelia van Gorder : This is Warner, Lieutenant, he's my butler, he was my chauffer.

  Lt. Andy Anderson : Why did you promote him?

  Cornelia van Gorder : Well it's very difficult to find a butler, they don't like service in the country.

  Lt. Andy Anderson : Have you been a butler before?

  Warner, the chauffeur : I've served in many capacities sir, but this was my night off and I forgot my keys.

  Lt. Andy Anderson : I heard that part.

• Cornelia van Gorder : Uh, did you get a plumber, Warner?

  Warner, the chauffeur : No, we can't get a plumber for 3 days, madame.

  Cornelia van Gorder : What about that leaking pipe in the basement? We'll be flooded in 3 days!

  Warner, the chauffeur : The pipe is no longer leaking.

  Cornelia van Gorder : You mean it's dried up of its own accord?

  Warner, the chauffeur : No, not quite. I packed the elbow where the water was coming out.

  Cornelia van Gorder : [slightly taken aback]  "Packed the elbow"? Oh, where did you learn how to do that?

  Warner, the chauffeur : Well, into every life a little rain must fall, and the careful man learns to keep himself dry.

• Cornelia van Gorder : Good old Andy. With all his ill-gotten gains invested in bank stock... it's rather a clever way to hide stolen money. In the open, as it were, and so respectable. But don't try it: no matter how clever you are, you can't hide murder.

• Dr. Malcolm Wells : Can you, uh, shoot one of those things without shutting your eyes?

  Cornelia van Gorder : Oh, Doctor, there are guns in every book I've ever written. I don't write about things I'm unfamiliar with.

• Lizzie Allen : He leaves no fingerprints

  Cornelia van Gorder : Understandable, haning no face he'll have no fingers

  Cornelia van Gorder : That must be the cat xroppiyits denturesy