The Bat
- APPROVED
- Year:
- 1959
- 80 min
- 420 Views
1
Cornelia Van Gorder
(Voiceover):
Thisis the Oaks, a house
in the country which
I rented for the summer.
As an author, I write tales
of mystery and murder.
But the things that
happened in this house
were far more fantastic than any
story I've ever had published.
from my city apartment,
and my maid Lizzy Allen who had
been with me nearly 20 years.
Lizzy?
Yes, Miss Cornelia?
Cornelia Van Gorder:
Is the car ready?
It's at the door.
Look.
Hm?
Miss Cornelia, them servants
you brought from the apartment
are talking about
walking out on us.
Really?
Well, I know they
don't like it here.
But I didn't think
it was that bad.
Well, they've been hearing
things about the killer
that the police call
the Bat, and the murders
that he committed
here this past winter.
Now people are saying
he's back again.
Well, how can they
be sure of that?
Has he committed another crime?
No, not yet, but that
ain't saying that he won't.
Here's something else.
bats they have here--
Animal bats, the kind that fly.
Yes, yes.
Look what it says
in this magazine.
This is a report from the
state health department.
And it says some of
them bats is rabid.
Well.
And that ain't all.
Now there's a rumor going around
that it was the Bat himself,
the killer I mean, that
released the rabid bats
in this neighborhood.
Oh, that's ridiculous.
Well, the housekeeper,
the cook, the butler,
and the upstairs
maid don't think so.
Well, I can't help
what they think.
If hysterical nonsense like
that can scare them out
of their good jobs, it's
their loss not mine.
Come on, Lizzy.
I've got to get to the bank.
Drive directly to
Zenith bank, Warner.
I'm afraid we'll have to hurry.
It's near closing time.
I'll get you there,
Miss Van Gorder.
Thanks again.
Miss Van Gorder!
How are you doing, Mr. Bailey?
How are you?
I'm very well, thank you.
Of course, hello, Miss Allen.
How do you do?
So you're spending the
summer with us again?
Yes, yes, I've leased the
Oaks, the home of your bank
president, John Fleming.
I heard you had.
I was surprised.
Why?
Is there something
the matter with it?
No, I was surprised
because Mr. Fleming
Oh?
Well I rented it
from his nephew mark
Fleming who has the
He said his uncle would
be gone the entire summer.
That's right.
Mr. Fleming's in the north
woods now, with his physician
Dr. Wells.
Oh, pardon me.
Dale?
I want you to meet my wife.
We were married
at Christmas time.
That must have been nice.
Believe me, it was.
Oh, here she is-- my wife,
Ms. Van Gorder, Ms. Allen.
How do you do?
How do you do?
Cornelia Van Gorder.
Yes.
Oh, well I've read every murder
mystery you've ever written.
even though it gave
me the shivers.
Only the shivers?
Scared hell out of me.
Oh.
Well, I really need that
in that one.
When you refer to
my books, please
don't call me Miss Corny.
Pardon me, Mr. Bailey.
My.
Hynes is here to see you.
Oh yes, excuse me, please.
Don't be strangers now.
No, no we won't.
Oh, so you're a bride?
Well, not quite.
Not since Christmas.
I'm sure I've seen you.
Well, I-- I used to be
my husband's secretary
here in the bank.
Cornelia Van Gorder:
Of course, I remember.
May I welcome our most
distinguished visitor
back to Zenith?
Oh, that's very charming.
But, um--
Lieutenant Anderson.
Lieutenant Anderson,
of course, chief
of detectives of the
Zenith police department.
This is Miss Allen.
How do you do?
Lieutenant Anderson is one
of our favorite citizens.
He's on the bank's
board of directors.
Not bad for a policeman.
You must have made
a good thing of it.
Well, I saved my money,
if that's what you mean.
It's near closing time.
And I've got some business in
the safe deposit vault. Please
come and see me, Mrs. Bailey.
Oh, I'd love to.
And you, Lieutenant.
Thank you.
Goodbye.
Goodbye, nice to have met you.
My, what a charming woman.
She moved into the Oaks
just the other day.
That house is a proper sitting
for a writer of mysteries.
Oh, it certainly is.
Dick, what's the matter?
Come in here, both of you.
Andy, we're in trouble.
Wendell hynes came in to pick
up $350,000 worth of bonds
that we were holding as
collateral for a loan.
They were kept in
our special fault.
Mr. Fleming and I
are the only officers
of the bank who have
access to that vault.
So?
That's not all.
Other negotiable
securities are missing.
From what I can gather
short of a careful check,
the bank has been looted
of over a million dollars
worth of securities.
You'll have to notify Fleming.
I wish I could talk to him.
Unfortunately, he and Dr.
Wells are deep in the woods.
They can't be reached by phone.
What is it?
I thought I heard
someone on the path coming
from the lake, had an idea it
might be that guide of ours.
Oh, Sam won't show
up until morning.
It's a 20-mile canoe trip
from here to civilization.
Five will get you 10
Sam has a message for me.
I thought you told them at
the bank not to bother you.
I did.
But they'll bother me.
Doctor?
Yes, John.
What would you do
for half a million?
Anything short of murder.
Why not murder?
Too messy.
Dr. hynes:
Too great a risk?For half a million?
Yes.
I pinched a million
from the bank.
I'm not kidding.
I embezzled it.
Not that I think
you wouldn't do it
if you thought you
could get away with it.
I got away with it.
I'm not talking about currency.
I took negotiable
securities that
could be converted into cash.
I have the cash, in tens,
twenties, and hundreds.
I'm your doctor,
not your lawyer.
Why tell me this?
You'll find out why.
Who's going to take the
blame for the robbery?
Bailey, the cashier,l
I like Bailey.
Well, so do i. I love the guy.
I gave him his first chance.
Charming girl, I
was the best man.
Where's the million?
In my family's tomb in Zenith,
in the crypt with my father's
casket.
I don't buy that, John.
No?
No, you forget that
I had you in charge
when you were a very sick man,
when you raved in delirium.
And I heard you talk
about a hidden room.
Now, where else could
you put a hidden room
except in that
mansion you built,
that white elephant
you call the Oaks?
Look, everyone knows
I have a bad heart.
wired the bank directors
that my heart had failed, that
I had fallen from a great height
here in the woods, and that
You could ship the
body back for burial,
and instruct them not to open
the casket due to the condition
of its contents.
Well, you realize,
of course, that we'd
have to have a body to
put in that casket, which
means that we'd have to deal
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"The Bat" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 5 Nov. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/the_bat_19727>.
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