Credited with "settings" in this moody crime thriller about the eponymous master criminal "The Bat," William Cameron Menzies indeed set the pulpy mystery story, familiar as a popular play, against a visually arresting world that could only be achieved in cinema. Depicting a mansion of soaring, vaulted spaces sheathed in darkness, and nighttime cityscapes viewed from vertiginous rooftops, Menzies lent the film brooding atmosphere and stimulating graphic interest.
35mm, b/w, 86 min. Production: Feature Productions, Inc. Distribution: United Artists Corp. Director: Roland West. Based on the play The Bat by Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood. Screenwriter: Julien Josephson, Roland West. Cinematographer: Arthur Edeson. With: André de Beranger, Charles W. Herzinger, Emilly Fitzroy, Louise Fazenda, Arthur Houseman.
