MovieChat Forums > The Bat (1959) Discussion > One scene that confuses me...

One scene that confuses me...

posted 17 years ago by novastar_6
4 replies | jump to latest

I always wondered about one scene but always for different reasons...it's when Cornelia disappears, Lizzie wakes up Mr. Davenport and goes to wake up Jane Patterson. The Bat is at the back door and he's trying to get in, then a light goes on in the window over from the door and he hides behind the tree. Exactly WHAT was he going to do if he had been able to get in through the back door? Does anybody wonder about that?

[–] Professional_Tourist 16 years ago

I think he wants to go back upstairs to try to get the money from the hiding place (which he eventually does after he sets fire to the garage).

[–] gribfritz2 12 years ago

Just one? lol..I have:

1. Mark Fleming skulking into the house and sneaking behind the grandfather clock. Why behave this way instead of saying, "Hey, I know where the blueprints are. Follow me"? There are several possibilities, but declaring the reason would have been nice.

2. How does the bat train his bats to attack?

3. Why Warner is even a suspect. The Bat is seen constantly breaking into the house. Warner lives there and would have no need to break in.

4. Where does Davenport come from? While realistic to have a random detective there, it's a bit jarring to introduce a character so far into the film.

5. Why are houseguests staying in the "death house?"

6. What was Judy Hollander's testimony going to be?

7. The Bat is hit with a poker. Wells is shown with an injury. Anderson is not. If you subscribe to the theory that there was only one Bat, how could Anderson not be injured?

8. About an hour into the movie we go from one type of narrative (the story just happening) to another type (Cornelia dictating the ending of the book).

9. Why doesn't Davenport just wait in the secret room instead of everyone waiting in there, then leaving, then opening the door on the Bat?

I could probably think of a dozen more, but I need space on the DVR :/

[–] novastar_6 12 years ago

1. Mark Fleming skulking into the house and sneaking behind the grandfather clock. Why behave this way instead of saying, "Hey, I know where the blueprints are. Follow me"? There are several possibilities, but declaring the reason would have been nice.

This I do believe was a hangover from the first two films in 1926 and 1930. Now in this movie it's explained that he rented the house without his uncle's permission, and this happened also in the first two movies, because he needed the money to pay off his gambling debts. He suspected that the money from the bank robbery was in the house, and in the first two versions that's why he went there. In The Bat (1926) and The Bat Whispers, Cornelia Van Gorder has a niece, Dale, who calls him to the house in the first place because she's engaged to the bank cashier framed for the robbery and wants to return the money and clear him. Fleming on the other hand intends to keep the money for himself and that's why he's so secretive about it, but again he gets killed just after getting the blueprints.

As to Warner, I never really got it either except he knows the layout of the house inside and out, it would be very easy for him to stage a breaking in to throw suspicion off of himself.

4. Where does Davenport come from? While realistic to have a random detective there, it's a bit jarring to introduce a character so far into the film.

Well we go from the story of the movie to it BEING a story written by Cornelia and Dale, she explains there's a detective on guard in the house and once it goes from her narration to the actual movie, that's when they formally introduce him to us.

5. Why are houseguests staying in the "death house?"

It wasn't a death house at the time Judy and Dale came to stay there, it had just been broken into previously and the servants quit because of strange happenings. Some people would find that very appealing for a mysterious weekend stay.

6. What was Judy Hollander's testimony going to be?

This, I've always wondered about this too. Because if you don't know the movie, you assume that Judy was killed because of what her testimony's going to be, which as a kid never made any sense to me because if it would any way implicate the real Bat, then I took that as meaning she would have to know who he was and she didn't.

As to 7. It is a mystery but sometimes people can be hit with sharp or blunt objects and not come up bleeding or bruised immediately, and if he was only bruised by it that would take a while to form.

[–] 12 years ago

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