Silent movies - The Bat

Today's film is 100 years old! It will never cease to amaze me not only that these films exist at all, but that some of them were regarded as lost - as was this one - and then suddenly a print turns up somewhere. Check your attics, people! 😉
I offer to you "The Bat" from 1926.

I'll give you the plot first, but it'll be different from how I usually do it.
For one, there will be spoilers, but not the major spoiler for the ending because "Can you keep a secret? Don't reveal the identity of "The Bat". Future audiences will fully enjoy this mystery play if left to find out for themselves." This is the first title card for the movie. The play it is based on also advised the audiences not to give the secret away. Okay then, if they insist.
Secondly, the plot is a little confusing. There are several floors in the house, long staircases, and a lot of doors, visible and secret ones. So I'm going to start by listing some characters.

We have:

Courtleigh Fleming - (late) bank president and former owner of the Fleming Mansion
Richard Fleming - Courtleigh's nephew and heir
Dr. Wells - Courtleigh's doctor
Cornelia Van Gorder - current tenant of the Fleming Mansion
Lizzie Allen - Cornelia's maid (for 20 years)
Dale Ogden - Cornelia's niece
Brooks Bailey - bank cashier, suspected of robbing the bank
Detective Moletti - detective sergeant
Detective Anderson - private detective called in by Cornelia
Billy - the (Japanese, and yes, they manage to make it awkward at times) butler
*** - an unknown injured man
*** - a man hiding his face
*** - a miller moth
*** - THE BAT

The Bat is a criminal dressed as, you've guessed it, a bat. He's terrorizing the town and not shying away even from murder. He has already stolen the Favre Emeralds and killed their owner Gideon Bell. Now he wants to rob the Oakland Bank, but a man hiding his face behind a scarf has beaten him to it. As Brooks, the cashier, has disappeared, he's the prime suspect.

Now we come to the lonely Fleming Mansion leased by Cornelia Van Gorder in search of some peace and quiet. What could offer more comfort than a house with walls, doors, and windows at least 15 feet high?
She lives there with her maid Lizzie who's very nervous about The Bat and her niece Dale who introduces a new gardener who's actually Brooks hiding from the police. Brooks also happens to be Dale's (still secret) fiancé.
You also need to know Dr. Wells and Richard Fleming want to scare them all away for yet unknow reasons.

A lot of people call on Cornelia now, Dr. Wells, Richard Fleming, Detective Moletti ... so much for peace and quiet.
Richard is snooping around for a blueprint, but then gets himself shot on the stairs. Dr. Wells tries to get the blueprint, Moletti suspects Dale to have shot Richard (whom they leave lying on the stairs throughout the whole movie if I saw that right). Detective Anderson joins them. Brooks is searching. Lights go out. Windows are fastened and unfastened.
Everyone is running after everyone, there are hidden rooms, hidden doors, hidden money ... ah, now we know. The money is hidden somewhere in the mansion and everyone is searching for it.

And they ran happily ever after?

There are a lot of pistols around, too, so everyone can threaten the others with one. They get dropped on the floor, left unguarded on tables, and to be honest, it's a miracle that not more people get killed - don't forget this is a "horror comedy" (not much horror, I would think, even for an audience of 1926, so "comedy mystery" may be a better description).
And who the heck is the injured man who crept in and out and called for help from the garage (which gets burned down later to add an extra kick) and pretends to be unconscious, but isn't? Aren't we confused enough?

Are we confused? We are confused.
I am. So very confused.

Let's stop it here as I took the vow of silence this time. It wasn't that difficult to guess after a while, but I won't be the one to tell you who The Bat is (and what a shame that Wikipedia gives it away).

What can I say?
There are not just a lot of pistols, but also a lot of people, too many people for my taste. Brooks and Dale didn't do anything for me or the film, neither did Detective Anderson.
I think cutting out some of the characters and some of the running scenes would really have helped.
And still, I found the movie strangely entertaining for which credit definitely goes to Cornelia and Lizzie.

Cornelia is a rock in all of this madness.
She never loses her cool until the end, she's smart and witty and she's the perfect counterpart for ...

A real knitter doesn't let a little bat disturb her.

... her maid Lizzie who keeps panicking in the most hilarious way, but also saves the day in the end together with her mistress.

It was worth watching the movie for those two. It looks as if they had a wonderful relationship, after all Lizzie stood by Cornelia "through Socialism, Theosophism, and Rheumatism" even if she draws the line at "Spookism". They should have got their own mystery series - how does "Van Gorder & Allen" sound? I mean, just look at them up on the roof!

Now let's get to The Bat.
Have you been wondering? Yes, it's true. Not this movie, but one of its talkie successors, "The Bat Whispers" from 1930 (also directed by Roland West), was one of the inspirations for Bob Kane in creating Batman. Maybe you can use that information at the next table quiz.

That mask is horror - to wear?

This, however, is not an early Bat-Signal, but turns out to a "moth-miller on a headlight". Could have fooled me.

There were some great shots which reminded of German expressionism, but it's a pity that they couldn't carry the whole movie.
Like I said, I found it strangely entertaining, but think it could have been more - or actually less. You know what I mean.

A very cool robe. Too bad Gideon won't
live much longer to wear it.

Further reading:

1. Fritzi Kramer: The Bat (1926) - A Silent Movie Review. On: Movies Silently, March 18, 2015
2. Lea Stans: Thoughts On: "The Bat" (1926). On Silent-ology, October 7, 2021