The Bat: A Mystery Drama in Three Acts

One of Mary Roberts Rinehart creations is a costumed super-criminal called "the Bat", who was mentioned by Bob Kane as one of the inspirations for his “Batman.” The Bat was originally produced as a play written by Rinehart with Avery Hopwood, who collaborated with her in writing other plays as well the novelization of The Bat. The play was also adapted to cinema in a silent movie with the same title by Roland West. It was filmed a second time by Roland West with the title The Bat Whispers. A third, more recent, adaptation was filmed in 1959 with the tagline “When it flies, someone dies!”