mary roberts rinehart adapted "the circular staircase" into a play titled "the bat" with avery hopwood. the play opened on august 23, 1920, at morosco theatre. it ran for 878 performances on broadway before travelling to other cities as well. "the bat" would spawn adaptations of its own, including a novel titled "the bat" and three movies titled "the bat" (1926), "the bat whispers" (1930), and "the bat" (1959). in his autobiography, bob kane says that he got the inspiration for batman from "the bat."