Dow Hour of Great Mysteries (TV Series) The Bat (1960) User Reviews

Black and White TV Presentation of a Spookly Old House Classic

[snicewanger · 7/10 · 18 July 2014]

The Bat was first of seven classic mysteries presented live on television in March of 1960. Dow Chemicals sponsored the series.A stellar cast which included Helen Hayes, Jason Robards Jr,Margaret Hamilton, and Bethal Leslie makes this old Mary Roberts Rinehart chestnut a very quick moving and entertaining 51 minutes of television history. Shot on kinescope, this presentation has yet to be released in DVD form.

The Bat was released for the first time in 1926 as a silent film and again in 1930 in sound version as The Bat Whispers both films were directed by Roland West. The year before this TV production was broadcast, a third film version was released which was directed by Crane Wilber and starred Vincent Price and Agnes Mooorehead.

I saw this version on YouTube after 54 years and was delighted to see how well it has held up. Even though the 1959 film had better production values, I considered the 1960 televised version to be a better story. As a footnote Joseph Welch, the lawyer who brought down Senator Joseph McCarthy on national television in 1954, served as the host and narrator for these seven programs.

It's Helen's turn, and she's up "to bat*.

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 31 March 2016]

Playing much older than her 60 years, Helen Hayes, aka the "first lady of the American theater", plays the grand same of this T.V. thriller, just one of many versions of a grand old mystery that was older than Ms. Hayes' character. She is feisty and no- nonsense, tossing wisecracks at fraidy cat Margaret Hamilton whose housekeeper would be petrified by witches, let alone the nefarious killer who sends threats Hayes' way. She's the occupant of a spooky old dark house with rumored hidden money, giving motives to practically everybody short of Helen, and I wouldn't put it past her to not be a suspect as well.

For those who like their T.V. classic, this is a great way to look back at old anthology series and appreciate the quality level of a fairly new medium. Jason Robards Jr. co-stars along with Bethel Leslie and Sheppherd Strudwick, actors familiar to anybody who watched soaps in the 1960's. Hamilton gets the chance to toss out that very familiar scream, although this time, she's not doing it to be wicked.

Early T.V. was very experimental, but by 1960, the quality had greatly improved. While the story is as creaky as the old wooden steps, the presentation is done extremely well, and the writers keep you guessing. It's a reunion for Hayes and Hamilton who appeared in the film version of the play "Another Language" back in 1933. Ironically, this had just been done as a film (with Agnes Moorehead, Vincent Price and Darla Hood), but that does not take away from the enjoyment of this classic special.