The Devil Bat (1940)

Director:

Jean Yarbrough

Writers:

John T. Neville (screenplay)
George Bricker (original story)

Release Date:

13 December 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Sharp Fanged Blood Sucking DEATH Dives from MIDNIGHT SKIES!

Plot:

A mad scientist develops an aftershave lotion that causes his gigantic bats to kill anyone who wears it.

Plot Keywords:

Bat | Giant Bat | Revenge | Reporter | Scientist

Cast

Bela Lugosi	...	Dr. Paul Carruthers
Suzanne Kaaren	...	Mary Heath
Dave O'Brien	...	Johnny Layton
Guy Usher	...	Henry Morton
Yolande Donlan	...	Maxine (as Yolande Mallott)
Donald Kerr	...	'One-Shot' McGuire
Edmund Mortimer	...	Martin Heath (as Edward Mortimer)
Gene O'Donnell	...	Don Morton
Alan Baldwin	...	Tommy Heath
John Ellis	...	Roy Heath
Arthur Q. Bryan	...	Joe McGinty
Hal Price	...	Chief Wilkins
John Davidson	...	Prof. Percival Garland Raines
Billy Griffith	...	Coroner (scenes deleted)
Wally Rairden	...	Walter King (as Wally Rairdon)

Directed by
Jean Yarbrough		(as Jean Yarborough)

Writing credits
John T. Neville		(screenplay) (as John Thomas Neville)
George Bricker		(original story)

Produced by
Jack Gallagher	....	producer
Guy V. Thayer Jr.	....	associate producer

Cinematography by
Arthur Martinelli		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Holbrook N. Todd

Art Direction by
Paul Palmentola

Production Management
Melville De Lay	....	production manager

Sound Department
Ferrol Redd	....	sound engineer (as Farrell Redd)

Music Department
David Chudnow	....	musical director

Production Companies

• Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC)

Distributors

• Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC) (1940) (USA) (theatrical)
• Madison Pictures (1946) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Pictorial Films (1949) (USA) (TV) (16 mm) (retitled "Killer Bats")
• Hal Roach Studios Film Classics (1986) (USA) (VHS)
• Timeless Video (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• Madacy Entertainment (1995) (USA) (VHS)
• Take 2 Video (1995) (USA) (VHS)
• Alpha Video Distributors (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• Lumivision (1997) (USA) (DVD)
• Lumivision (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Lumivision (1997) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• VCI Home Video (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Roan Group, The (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Roan Group, The (1999) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Gotham Distribution (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Navarre Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (video)
• Mill Creek Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Punto Zero (2007) (Italy) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• Bach Films (2009) (France) (DVD)
• Legend Films (2008) (USA) (DVD) (colorized version)
• GoDigital Media Group (2010) (worldwide) (all media) (digital)
• Echo Bridge Home Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD) (4 film set)
• Kartes Video (????) (UK) (VHS)
• LS Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Liberty Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Lugosi Enterprises (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Nostalgia Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Prism Entertainment Corporation (????) (USA) (VHS)
• SlingShot Entertainment (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Spotlight Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Unknown Video (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Legend Films  colorization
• Legend Films  restoration

Also Known As:

"Killer Bats" - USA (16mm release title)

Runtime:

68 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:U (video rating) (2004) | USA:Approved (PCA #6897) | Portugal:M/12

Company:

Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC)

Trivia:

This was the first, and most successful, horror film from Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC) after it was formed from the failed Producers Distrubuting Corporation (PDC). Filming began October 28 1940.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the reporter wrestles the doctor to the ground near the end of the film, their feet clearly wrinkle the fake grass on the set.

Quotes:

Dr. Paul Carruthers:I tell you, Layton, expecting a bat to be attracted by the scent of a lotion is all foolishness.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Watching the Detectives (2007)

It may be tripe, but it's GOOD Tripe!

I've seen this many times since my childhood. Probably a few dozen times... Yet, every once in a while, I'll take out my best video copy of it, and play it again. When it was screened on TCM last Halloween I was pleased as punch.

-- By the way, on that Halloween, TCM screened several other Lugosi low-budget films--- all considered bad by critics, but for some unexplainable reason, All very entertaining, and (dare I say it?) ALL were GREAT FUN to watch! (some of them were: "Scared to Death", "The Mysterious Mr. Wong", and "White Zombie").

-- Yes, I enjoyed "The Devil Bat". Another commenter on this film said it was so awful that it should be counted among the "100 worst films". That same commenter said he thought Lugosi only did "bad" films for Ed Wood.

I have news for him, and everyone else: Lugosi NEVER made any bad films!

"The Devil Bat" may be low-budget nonsense (as were Ed Wood's efforts), but it is still being discovered by new generations of film buffs. It's still "In-Print" in both VHS and DVD format (and still selling), and it's still being shown on both local and cable-network TV.

That commenter may be interested to know that Bela Lugosi made NINE low-budget films for Monogram (far more than he made for Ed Wood) as well as films for PRC and other poverty-row studios.

"The Devil Bat" may be tripe, but it's GOOD tripe, and it makes for fun viewing. Kind of like "Spooks Run Wild" (which Lugosi made with The East Side Kids), and "The Gorilla" (which he made at 20th/Fox, with Patsy Kelly and Lionel Atwill). --By the way-- The Ritz Brothers, who were billed as the 'stars' of "The Gorilla," turned in totally forgettable performances.

-- Let's not leave out "Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla", or "Vampire Over London" which Lugosi made in England, with Arthur Lucan in drag as Mother Riley (also known as: "Mother Riley Meets the Vampire").

-- In fact, Arthur Lucan's entire late-1940's-to-early-1950's series of "Mother Riley" films (all of which starred Lucan in "old-lady" drag) could have taught Ed Wood a few things about low-budget film-making.

Ed Wood may have a well deserved reputation for having made "bad, but fun to watch" films, but he sure wasn't the first one to do it.

I've always liked "The Devil Bat". I rated it 6.