The Bat
Murder-mystery writer Cornelia van Gorder [Agnes Moorehead] has leased a large country
house called "The Oaks". After being in the house for only a few days,
Cornelia's longtime maid, Lizzie Allen [Lenita Lane], informs her that the servants are
upset over rumors they have heard about the murders committed in the house
last winter by the archcriminal who goes by the name of The Bat. They fear
he is back, and they're also concerned about rabid bats that have
supposedly been released by The Bat. That's hysterical nonsense, Cornelia
says as she heads into Zenith to conduct some business at the Zenith City
bank. She has another surprise when vice-president and head cashier of the
bank, Victor Bailey [Mike Steele], mentions that the bank president and owner of The
Oaks, John Fleming [Harvey Stephens], once said that he would never rent the house. Again,
Cornelia is not concerned since she rented the house from his nephew, Mark
Fleming [John Bryant].As Cornelia chats with Victor's wife Dale [Elaine Edwards] and Lieutenant "Andy"
Anderson [Gavin Gordon],a detective with the Zenith City Police Department and a member
of the board of directors of the Zenith Bank, Victor is informed that the
bank has been looted of over $1,000,000 in bonds and negotiable
securities. Since the only two people with access to the vault are Victor
himself and bank president John Fleming, who is currently away on a
hunting trip in the Northwoods, Victor is arrested and attempts are made
to contact Fleming.Meanwhile, at his lodge in the Northwoods, John Fleming informs his
hunting partner and physician, Doctor Malcolm Wells [Vincent Price], that he has just
embezzled over $1,000,000 from the bank and he needs help in covering it
up. His plan is to murder their hunting guide and disfigure the body
enough that Wells can pass it off as Fleming. After "Fleming" is declared
dead and buried, the two of them will split the million. The money is
currently hidden in the Fleming family crypt in Zenith, he explains. Wells
recalls a time, however, when Fleming was very sick and, in fever, talked
about hiding the money in a hidden room in The Oaks. When Fleming
announces that, if Wells doesn't go for the deal, he'll kill Wells and
call it a "hunting accident," Wells turns his shotgun on Fleming.I ain't afraid of ghosts, Lizzie tells Cornelia when they read in the
paper of John Fleming's death. Although the rest of the staff, except for
Warner [John Sutton], the chauffeur, have quit their jobs, Lizzie intends to stay with
"Miss Corny" under any circumstances. Because there's a storm brewing,
Lizzie and Cornelia check to be sure all the doors and windows are shut.
Lizzie suddenly sees a black-clawed hand reach through the front door,
just about to grab Cornelia's throat. Lizzie's screams scare him off;
Cornelia calls the police. They send someone over to check the grounds,
but no one is found.Cornelia and Lizzie go upstairs and lock themselves in a bedroom.
Meanwhile, The Bat has cut a hole in the front-door window, unlocked the
door, and entered the house. As Cornelia and Lizzie try to sleep, he opens
the transom into their room and releases a bat that flits around for a
moment, lands on Lizzie's arm, and bites her. Concerned that the bat may
be rabid, Cornelia phones Dr Wells. He's in his laboratory conducting an
experiment (on a bat!), but he comes over to look at Lizzie. He dresses
her arm and gives her a sleeping pill. After examining the bat, he
proclaims that it doesn't look sick but that he won't know for sure until
he examines its brain under a microscope. Meanwhile, Lt Andy has taken
advantage of Dr Wells' absence and let himself into the lab where he
snoops around and notices the experimental bat and a figure of a large bat
in one of the windows. Andy then drives over to The Oaks, arriving just as
Wells is leaving. Andy points out the hole in the glass where The Bat
gained entrance and assures Cornelia that an officer will keep watch on
the house for the rest of the night.Several days/weeks? have gone by, and Victor Bailey's trial is coming
up. His secretary, Judy Hollister [Darla Hood], apparently has some information that
will help to acquit him, so people are beginning to suspect that John
Fleming robbed his own bank. Lt Anderson, concerned that his holdings at
the bank will be wiped out if the money isn't found, pays a visit to Mark
Fleming. Mark reveals that he hasn't received a dime of his inheritance
from his uncle because the money is nowhere to be found. Meanwhile,
Cornelia has managed to retain John Fleming's old maid, Jane Patterson [Riza Royce].
When Dr Wells, Dale Bailey, and Judy Hollister drop by for tea, they all
discuss the possibility that it was John Fleming who actually robbed the
bank. Cornelia suggests that Fleming may have hidden the money in The
Oaks, and Dale phones Mark to see whether there are any floorplans of the
house. Mark isn't sure why she would want the floorplan, so Lt Andy
suggests that maybe Uncle John DID steal the money and hid it in the
house. Mark agrees to come over that evening and help look for the plans.Come over Mark does, but he lets himself into the house with his own
key while Cornelia, Dale, and Judy are eating dinner. He moves aside a
grandfather clock and opens a panel to a secret closet. While he looks
over the floorplans, The Bat enters the house and sneaks up behind,
clobbers Mark, and makes off with the floorplans. After dinner, Cornelia
is amazed to hear the grandfather clock striking the hour, when it hasn't
done so in years. They notice that the clock has been moved, then Dale
sees the panel behind it. They open the panel to find Mark Fleming...dead.
Lt Anderson and Dr Wells are notified after the police are called. After
seeing the claw marks on Mark's throat, Anderson proclaims it the work of
The Bat.Later that night, after the police have combed the house for clues
and Mark's body has been taken to the morgue, Lt Anderson remains to make
sure all the windows and doors are locked. As he checks the rooms, he
doesn't notice that Warner is watching him. After the ladies have gone to
sleep, Cornelia and Lizzie in one room, Judy and Dale in another, The Bat
comes in through the unlocked front door. First, he cuts the phone line.
He then goes up to the third floor and into a storage room where he starts
tapping on the walls. The noise wakes up Judy and Dale. Thinking she may
be able to find the hidden money and clear her husband, Dale sneaks up to
the third floor. The Bat locks her in the room and runs downstairs. On the
way down, he runs into Judy and kills her, then he flees out the front
door, after first being struck in the neck by a poker thrown by Cornelia.Shortly thereafter, Lt Andy comes in the front door. He explains that
he was chasing someone on the grounds and asks as to the whereabouts of
Warner the chauffeur. Warner suddenly comes in the front door and explains
that he was following Anderson when he was suddenly hit on the head. It's
then that Anderson remembers seeing a wanted poster with Warner's picture
on it, but Warner says that he was tried and acquitted. He vehemently
denies being The Bat. Suddenly, Dr Wells walks in the front door. He had
an accident about a mile down the road, he says, and walked back to the
house to use the phone. Andy notices blood on Wells' neck. Hmmm, could Dr
Wells be The Bat?Several nights later, after the house had been searched from top to
bottom without finding any money or a hidden room, Cornelia decides to
conduct an investigation of her own. When the detective on duty falls
asleep in his chair, Cornelia goes up to the third floor to look around in
the storage room where The Bat was tapping on the walls. Measuring the
distance between the storage room and the room next to it, Cornelia
notices a loss of about five feet between the two rooms. She pounds on the
walls, then on the panels of a fireplace. Suddenly, one of the panels
opens up, revealing a switch that allows the fireplace to swing open.
Cornelia has found the hidden room. It is empty, except for a safe in the
wall. As she kneels before the safe, the fireplace swings closed, trapping
her in the room.Meanwhile, The Bat has gone to Dr Wells' lab where he hangs a note on
the wall. It says: "Here lies The Bat -- threatened with exposure he
destroyed himself." As The Bat turns around, Wells walks into the room with
his gun drawn. The doctor taunts The Bat with the fact that he knows where
the money is hidden and that he's going to shoot The Bat and put his own
sign on his own chest. Just as Wells cocks the gun, The Bat leaps at him.
They struggle, the gun goes off, and it is Wells who is shot.Cornelia's pounding on the walls wakes Lizzie, who notices that
Cornelia's bed is empty. She goes down to the parlor and tries to wake up
Detective Davenport [Robert Williams], only to find him drugged into sleep. Lizzie wakes
the maid who goes to get Warner, only to find him missing. The detective
calls headquarters to alert Lt Anderson only to find that he's been sent
to investigate the death of Dr Wells. The three of them -- Lizzie, Jane,
and Davenport -- look outside for Cornelia, but she doesn't answer their
calls. Suddenly, Lizzie notices a light on the third floor and redirects
everyone up there. The air in the hidden room is rapidly depleting.
Cornelia can barely manage call out. She tells them to hit the panels over
the fireplace and then passes out. Lizzie gives each panel a pound, finds
the switch, and opens the fireplace just in the nick of time.Outside the house, The Bat is slinking around in the bushes. He has
started the garage on fire, but Cornelia is wise to him. That fire was set
to get us out of the house, she tells everyone. Instead of leaving, they
turn out the lights and wait. A few minutes later, The Bat appears. When
The Bat enters the hidden room, Davenport fires a shot. But The Bat is
quicker and shoots Davenport. He then turns to the ladies who are hiding
behind some boxes. Just as he's about to open fire on the ladies, he is
shot from behind. Warner enters the room, his gun smoking. They remove the
hood from over the Bat's face to find ... Lt Anderson. [Original synopsis by bj_kuehl]
murder