Synopsis for
The Bat (1959) More at IMDbPro »

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]