The Sea Bat (1930) User Reviews

Above Average Early Sound Action Picture

[genet-1 · 5/10 · 4 May 2009]

Wesley Ruggles began directing THE SEA BAT but Lionel Barrymore completed it. This would account for the contrast between the outdoor scenes, shot on Mexican locations, and the interiors, particularly a sponge-diving episode, filmed in the studio tank, and some dialog between Charles Bickford and Raquel Torres.

The exteriors bear all the hallmarks of Ruggles - in particular a long tracking shot following Torres through the ramshackle village to the dock, where the sponge fishing boat is about to leave with her brother Asther aboard. The hand of Ruggles is also evident in the scene of Torres fending off potential rape on the rocky seashore, the star pulling a knife and snarling defiance at John Miljan and cronies as spray soaks her flimsy blouse (revealing a pre-code absence of lingerie.)

On the other hand, one is inclined to lay at Barrymore's door an embarrassing voodoo sequence, with Torres performing an unconvincing dance, and also the scene where she tries to vamp Bickford as he stolidly studies the Bible.

The casting, as often in early sound films, mixes talents on the way up with once-eminent silent performers working out the end of their contracts; Charles Bickford and Boris Karloff among the former, Gibson Gowland (GREED), Nils Asther (WILD ORCHIDS)and Mack Swain (Keystone) the latter. George F. Marion parades another of his excruciating accents, a serious rival to his performance in ANNA Christie as Garbo's father.

Considerable effort has gone into creating the manta ray "bat",a towed semi-submersible on the order of "Bruce", the shark in JAWS. More whale than ray, it spouts, and overturns boats. This impressive piece of physical special effects, as usual with early studio productions, is uncredited.

Completely laughable stuff unless you were Charles Bickford...

[AlsExGal · 4/10 · 25 May 2016]

...because he felt very baited and switched seeing he had left the stage to do DeMille's first talkie, "Dynamite", which was a good and innovative film for its 1929 pedigree. Then, other than "Anna Christie", he got stuck into some real B minus MGM efforts such as this one.

The plot is unbelievable, the acting is bad in general, and according to Bickford's biography, even the director knew this one was a stinker. The leading lady is Raquel Torres, who started out in the late silent era and was completely out of feature roles in motion pictures by 1933, washed up at age 25. She got a few roles in the early sound era, mainly because her sultry voice actually went with her looks - that counted for something at the dawn of sound.

Raquel plays Nina, who is extremely close to her brother, Carl (Nils Asther), a sponge diver on the Caribbean island on which they live. Nils was on his way out at MGM, and they gave him this brief part in a bad property to partly justify them not picking up his option later that year. Well, while sponge diving, Carl is killed by the "Sea Bat", a large manta ray who seems to have the disposition of a great white. Actually they are gentle creatures and you would be more likely to be attacked by a goldfish. That's silly plot point number one. Silly plot point number two is that for all her ranting about the evil sea bat, Nina seems to quickly forget about Carl. She offers herself to any man who kills the sea bat, then goes off for some recreational voodoo dancing with the natives. Meanwhile Bickford arrives on the island dressed as a preacher, when all the while he is an escapee from devil's island. Unfortunately for him, Juan (John Miljan), who wants Nina for himself, recognizes him and figures he can kill two birds with one stone by putting Bickford back in the slammer AND collecting the reward for his capture.

Meanwhile Bickford's character, after seeing all of Nina's erratic wildcat behavior is suddenly falling for her...Why??? As for Nina, who was that Carl fellow who has been dead for all of two days? George F. Marion plays the law on the island who has lost all control of the entire population - natives, seafarers, and his daughter Nina included. He's hoping this new preacher can help restore order for his own sake as much as anything.

Bickford is really good here. He's the only reason this film gets two of its four stars from me. From the minute he enters the scene he does a great job of showing that he is not a preacher by showing his discomfort and awkwardness when trying to act "holy" with just glances, posture, and tone of voice. The audience should totally get what is going on without being told anything.

There are some good sea action scenes that almost got too good. The engineering team did a bad job and actually sank a boat in which Bickford was supposed to be tied up. But Bickford could see the problem before it happened and made sure that it just appeared he was tied up. Then when the boat sank he saved himself from drowning, as well as the cameraman who fell into the drink, but the camera was lost. Unfortunately, the film survived.

Bickford had nothing good to say about this one in his autobiography other than complimenting the work of fellow actors George F. Marion and John Miljan. It didn't help matters that he had to point out to the crew that some of the native extras appeared to have leprosy - they did. And the re-shooting of much of the film back in Hollywood led to a shouting match between Bickford and the vindictive mogul Louis Mayer that eventually led to several years in the wilderness for Bickford's career.

I'd say watch it for Bickford, and for the wonder that MGM could make such dreck and still stay in business.

Sin! Salvation! Sea Bats!

[Fred_Rap · 5/10 · 1 May 2011]

Half-Maugham, half-Melville and all hooey, this tropical potboiler is chock full of sin and salvation, with a giant sting ray tossed in as -- I kid you not -- a romantic deus ex machina.

The setting is a West Indies island where a bunch of grimy sponge divers lust after barefoot temptress Raquel Torres, who only has eyes for the beautiful (and, with his thick Swedish accent, virtually unintelligible) Nils Asther. But when he dies in the clutches of the title monster villain, she turns her back on God and offers herself as reward to the man who destroys the beast. It's a decision she quickly comes to regret, and as the body count increases, the guilt-ridden Raquel flails her arms and pounds her breasts with the frenzy of a silent movie diva.

As if this plot weren't febrile enough, Torres begins falling for newly arrived man of the cloth Charles Bickford, who does his damnedest to resist her overtures since he's actually an escaped convict from Devil's Island.

This awesomely wacky nonsense was concocted by the radical left-wing screenwriter John Howard Lawson without a hint of the political agitprop that infused his later screen work. The film, however, is not without interest: the camera work by Ira Morgan is sensuous and inventive (particularly when underwater) and the cast of scurvy Island rats is populated with such compelling character types as John Miljan (in a departure from his usual urban smoothie), Boris Karloff (as the glowering Corsican), and silent film veterans Gibson Gowland and Mack Swain.

It would have made a great silent film.

[reptilicus · 17 January 2002]

I suppose people turned out to see an early talkie which not only had lots of outdoor footage but also underwater photography. THE SEA BAT is a good film but I think it would have been better had they made it about 5 years earlier as a silent as the characterisations and plot complications come directly from the silent days. The giant manta ray (a Sea Bat) is making life rough for the sponge divers on the island of Portuga (where everyone claims to be of Spanish descent but talks with French accents). This would have been enough for a plot but throw in a minister (Charles Bickford) who won't preach any sermons and stumbles through a funeral service picking passages from the Bible at random. It is not revealing too much to say that this fellow is an eccaped convict who stole a ministers outfit to get off Devil's Island. Now about this being a silent style film? Well the idea that a former pirate who broke jail and is hiding behind a ministers collar reforming just because he reads a few verses from the Old Testament is something you'd expect from D.W. Griffith, circa 1920, yet that is just what happens. Also the scene where the latest victim of the Manta (Nils Asther, best remembered from OUR DANCING DAUGHTERS, 1928) is brought back to port is staged exactly as if this were a silent film. The cast is a joy to see. Watch for Gibson Gowland (GREED) as a Cockney seaman, former Charlie Chaplin comic foil Mack Swain as a bartender, and look fast for a still-unknown Boris Karloff in 3 scenes as a sailor referred to as "The Corsican". The damsel in distress is Raquel Torres, best remembered from F.W. Murnau's docu-drama WHITE SHADOWS IN THE SOUTH SEAS (1928). The scenes of the giant manta are well done and convincing.

Jumbo size stingray

[bkoganbing · 4/10 · 7 March 2013]

After scoring well in Cecil B. DeMille's first talking picture Dynamite and opposite Greta Garbo in Anna Christie, Charles Bickford's career might well have taken a bath with Sea Bat. For those who don't know, The Sea Bat is a jumbo size stingray which can grow to the size of a great white shark. They're the terror of the sponge divers in the West Indies.

Into this tropic paradise otherwise than for the present of those giant creatures in the water comes Charles Bickford pretending to be a man of the cloth, but who is actually a Devil's Island escapee. If he were really a man of the cloth we would have had yet another version of Rain as Bickford fends off the amorous advances of Raquel Torres. But he's not a real minister and in fact has other things on his mind besides a little with nookie with Torres. He wants to get out of the area where he's been in disguise for a few years now.

Raquel Torres has made going after the giant stingray a personal crusade after her brother Nils Asther is killed during a sponge dive. With what she has to offer to the guy who gets the giant a lot of the men are ready and willing.

Bickford also has to worry about a pair of sponge fisherman who recognize him and want to claim the reward from the French. And it's not easy to keep up the pretense when folks are looking for you to preach a sermon or offer up some spiritual guidance like Raquel's father George Marion.

The Sea Bat which probably for its location shooting and special effects wizardry for its time in creating the giant stingray and its encounters with man was really something. It really hasn't aged well and now is one camp hoot.

"What that Nina needs is a horse whip(ping)!"

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 20 May 2016]

"The Sea Bat" is a thoroughly silly film--the sort of steamy adventure film you could have easily found back in the so-called 'Pre-Code' days. What I mean is that up until mid-1934, Hollywood did a lousy job of policing what was in movies and many of the films from about 1930-34 are amazingly steamy when you see them today. Sex, adultery, abortion, homosexual and the like were relatively common in movies and unlike the post-code era, they often went unpunished! This film implies a lot...sex, rape and more. And to fill that bill, they cast the blazing wild woman of the era, Raquel Torres...a Mexican actress who excelled at showing off skin and her ample good looks. Here you see her in LOTS of suggestive outfits, poses and situations...and often playing against the new preacher on the island, the Reverend Sims (Charles Bickford).

Torres plays Nina, a fiery young woman living on a fictional Caribbean island. When her boyfriend is torn apart by a shark, she becomes bitter and angry...and the new preacher decides to make her his pet project. Who will win in the end...the earthy and sex-crazed Nina or the godly preacher? Considering it's a Pre-Code film...the possibilities are endless...and most likely rather cynical!

The film is, not surprisingly, anything but subtle. Torres' character is more a caricature than a real woman and the dialog, at times, is a bit embarrassing...such as her father insisting that what she needed was a good horse whipping! He also refers to the locals as a group of 'slimy, drooling native'! So much for subtlety or political correctness! But that also is what makes the film oddly entertaining. What also helps is the surprisingly good cast including Boris Karloff, John Miljan, Gibson Gowland (of "Greed") and Mack Swain (a frequent foil in Chaplin films).

Overall, it's a film more entertaining than well made. Technically, it ain't great--with a silly script and too much stock footage. But, despite this, it IS fun.

"I have my own way of doing God's work!"

[utgard14 · 5/10 · 20 May 2016]

Silly bit of hokum about the goings-on with people on a tropical island, including a woman who says she'll give herself (wink wink) to any man who can kill a giant stingray that killed her brother. Enter an escaped convict posing as a minister, who sees the woman writhing around during a voodoo ritual and promptly falls in lust with her. I'd imagine all those fishermen out risking their lives for booty (literally) aren't too happy about that. Raquel Torres plays the woman and, for those in desperate need of titillation, she's prancing about half-naked throughout and even has the 1930 equivalent of a wet t-shirt scene. Charles Bickford plays the convict and, judging by his hair and eyebrows, Louis B. Mayer's car must have been short two quarts of oil during the filming of this picture. Boris Karloff also appears in a minor role but nothing worth his fans getting excited about. The best parts of the picture are the water scenes and the "sea bat" itself, a nice bit of special effects for the time. Unfortunately there aren't enough of these scenes. I had no idea that stingrays were thought of as mysterious monsters less than a century ago or that sponge diving was a "weird industry." These are things I learned from watching this movie. It's worth a look if you have no prejudices against early talkies. Just don't expect anything impressive.

Colorful Characters, A Cool Sea Beast, And A Horrible Ending

[verbusen · 7/10 · 23 March 2013]

+++SPOILER ALERT+++Colorful Characters, A Cool Sea Beast, And A Horrible Ending, that sums up my impression of the Sea Bat which I watched on Turner Classic Movies. This film, at a mere 75 minutes long, could have been a classic and it may be to many still but the way they ended it is so cornball and 1930'ish that the film doesn't hold up. But until that ending you have some of the most colorful characters you will ever see and there is a "sea bat" that actually looks pretty cool except that it has a blow hole like a whale. I watched this because it has Boris Karloff in it, but his part is very minor, however I am really happy I watched it because I noticed I really enjoyed 2 films staring Charles Bickford, this one and Anna Christie, so I'm going to start to search for more early 1930's Charles Bickford films as they look juicy and hard core. I also had the hots for Raquel Torres, she looks like a real life Betty Boop here, too bad she wasn't in more stuff, she's smoking hot. I was going to rate this lower then a 7 but after thinking about it all even with the cornball ending (he ends the film saying he's going to finish his time at Devil's Island and will leave Raquel Torres, yeah right! How cornball is that?), I was immensely entertained by almost everything in this film so I'm giving it a 7, highly recommended for us early talking film buffs. BTW, I asked my wife, "How do you think he got the preacher outfit?" She said "maybe he bought it at a priest store?" LOL, oh my, too funny. I was thinking more along the lines of he killed a preacher, lol. Another spoiler, they never killed the Sea Bat, hurray for the monster!

Before "Jaws", there was "Manta!"

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 5 April 2019]

A very enjoyable early talkie melodrama , this West Indies adventure yarn combines some gorgeous tropical photography with a religious spin involving minister Charles Bickford trying his best to reform temperamental native Raquel Torres who has a body for sin and a desire for life any way she can get it. She is surviving the loss of her brother (Nils Asther) who was brutally killed by the giant manta ray after the envious John Miljan cut his line while Asther was exploring the coral reefs. Bickford, a sermonless minister, arrives for an agenda of his own, and like Walter Huston in "Rain", finds himself obsessed with reforming Torres. although he doesn't go as far as Huston did with Joan Crawford. Miljan takes things too far by intending to feed Bickford to the huge "sea bat", and this leads to a chilling conclusion where the size of this true sea monster is revealed.

While a bit clunky compared to the standards of films made just a few years later, this has an exotic feel to it, and stands the test of time outside the bounds of just mere curiosity. If you blink, you might miss a youngish Boris Karloff, barely recognizable. Bickford and Torres do display some heat together, and in spite of what could have been a one dimensional part, Torres makes her character likable. Bickford, who could play brutes on screen, is quite understated here. But the best performance is by George F. Marion as Torres' drunken father who in spite of seemingly constant intoxication is quite spiritual. This is enjoyable for its fabulous use of exotic locations and pre-code insinuations of sexual desire. The direction by Wesley Ruggles and Lionel Barrymore apparently went uncredited, but this is pretty much the kind of film where the photographer is really the star behind the scenes, a testament to cinematographer Ira H. Morgan whose career spanned the mid teen's to the late 1950's.

Menace Above & Below The Waves

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 3 June 2005]

The lives of sponge divers are disrupted by the arrival of a tough cleric and the deprivations of THE SEA BAT.

It is unfortunate that this splendid little film from MGM has become so obscure as it has much to offer in the way of ambiance and good acting from an interesting cast. The production values are high and the location shooting (on Mexico's Mazatlán coast) with its glimpses of pseudo West Indies island culture add to the film's atmosphere. Director Lionel Barrymore keeps the action moving right along, with just enough requisite romance, suspenseful encounters with the hideous sea bat and a dandy fist fight near the end to keep the viewers happy.

Mexican actress Raquel Torres plays the fiery island miss who wants to escape the tragedy which has attacked her family. Silent screen star Nils Asther is her gentle, loving brother, a sponge diver. His departure from the story early on is poignant & regrettable. Disheveled George F. Marion steals most of his scenes as their disreputable father. Sturdy Charles Bickford is the no-nonsense pastor with a secret who arrives on the Island of Portuga and is quickly confronted by danger. All four give excellent performances.

Other crew members of the sponge boat are played by lecherous John Miljan, who acted the villain in many early MGM talkies; blustering Gibson Gowland, who only five years earlier had starred in von Stroheim's masterpiece GREED; and, in a tiny role, pre-celeb Boris Karloff. Silent movie comic Mack Swain portrays the owner of the island grog shop.

********************

The giant Atlantic manta (Manta birostris), sometimes called a sea bat, is a type of devilfish and is characterized by its large flapping fins and two horny protrusions near its mouth, giving it a diabolic appearance. It lives in the warmer waters near both islands and coastlines, where it eats small fish & plankton. The Atlantic manta can grow to 23' from fin tip to fin tip and weigh up to 2,200 pounds. Despite its sinister aspect it is known -contrary to legend- to be gentle and does not attack divers.

I Really Liked This Film

[januszlvii · 9/10 · 7 June 2021]

I recorded The Sea Bat off of TCM and is the third film I have seen involving Devil's Island prisoners in a month, and although not the best I ever saw ( that would be Papillon), it is the best of the three and the others had All-Time greats Ronald Colman.( Condemned ( also like here directed by Wesley Ruggles)) and Clark Gable.( Strange Cargo). Here Charles Bickford plays a man named John Dennis who is an escaped convict from Devil's Island who pretends to be a Minister named. Reverend Sims and falls for local girl Nina ( Raquel Torres). It is interesting that both Sims and Nina lost their faith in God and are able to get it back. One criticism I read from a poster is why would he surrender instead of being with Nina. Actually Nina ( who is way hotter then Ann Harding ( Condemned) and especially Joan Crawford ( Strange Cargo)) has spoilers ahead said she will wait for him.,Dennis had not had a happy life and having a woman like Nina waiting for him is something that will get him through his sentence. The Sea Bat spoilers ahead plays a huge role in the movie and does survive.and ending scene does indeed have Bickford in the water in a dangerous situation ( no stunt men). I really liked the movie give it 9/10 stars.

Fair

[Michael_Elliott · 11 March 2008]

Sea Bat, The (1930)

** (out of 4)

Pretty dull action/love story has a man escaping Devil's Island and landing on another island where he pretends to be a priest and falls for the island vamp. The fisherman on the island also struggle with a huge sea bat. The love story stuff is so unbelievable that you can never take it serious and the leads really aren't too interesting. The underwater footage of the sea bat is very well done and there's some nice special effects work with the creature, although I think a few of the scenes were filmed with a real bat. Boris Karloff has a minor role.

Not JAWS, but FINS!

[gengar843 · 8/10 · 7 November 2021]

THE STORY & GENRE -- This is an island drama but it has a giant manta ray (an early "giant monster" film), and therefore qualifies as genre. Boris Karloff has a minor role. Lionel Barrymore co-directed.

THE VERDICT -- Considering Lon Chaney was supposed to take the lead role but could not due to cancer, it's no coincidence this is similar to WEST OF ZANZIBAR or KONGO with its exotic location, salacious acting, and torrid female lead Raquel Torres. This is solid pre-code stuff. That in itself makes it a 7. You'll also be intrigued to know the manta footage is not hokey but satisfying, and therefore bumps it up to 7.5.

FREE ONLINE -- I don't believe I've ever seen it streaming. You can download it from a 68-minute adequate-looking TCM broadcast if you can find it.