THE DEVIL BAT (1940)
Bela Lugosi .... Dr. Paul Carruthers
Suzanne Kaaren .... Mary Heath
Dave O'Brien .... Johnny Layton (reporter)
Guy Usher .... Henry Morton
Yolande Donlan .... Maxine 'Frenchy' (maid) (as Yolande Mallott)
Donald Kerr .... 'One-Shot' McGuire
Edmund Mortimer .... Martin Heath (as Edward Mortimer)
Gene O'Donnell .... Donald 'Don' Morton
Alan Baldwin .... Thomas 'Tommy' Heath
John Ellis .... Roy Heath
Arthur Q. Bryan .... Joe McGinty (editor)
Hal Price .... Chief Wilkins
John Davidson .... Prof. Percival Garland Raines
Wally Rairden .... Walter King (radio announcer)
Directed by
Jean Yarbrough
Studio: PRC
Plot Synopsis: Kindly town doctor Paul Carruthers (Bela Lugosi), sells out for $10,000 cash after creating a successful perfume. The Heath and Morton families keep their stock and end up making millions off Dr. Carruthers’ formula. Jealous, Carruthers electronically grows giants bats that attack anybody wearing a new after shave lotion he just created. Brow beating Heath and Morton family members into wearing this new after shave lotion, Carruthers unleashes his overgrown devil bat every night to attack them. Reporter Johnny Layton (Dave O’Brien), and photographer “One-Shot” McGuire (Donald Kerr), help the police try to solve the mysterious murders of the Heath and Morton family members.
“Imbecile! Bombastic Ignaramous!”
The above line reads like Moe Howard poetry, does it not? Add Three Stooges leading lady Suzanne Kaaren (DISORDER IN THE COURT, YES, WE HAVE NO BONANZA, and WHAT’S THE MATADOR), to the mix, and on the surface, one would think, “Three Stooges short.” The immortal line above, however, was not spoken by Moe Howard before he was about to gracefully gouge a brotherly eyeball, but was instead delivered by great horror icon Bela Lugosi as he comments on the ignorance of a radio reporter regarding the creation of his devil bat! The film, appropriately enough, is THE DEVIL BAT (1940).
Bela Lugosi was a great Hungarian stage actor who was typecast in Hollywood after playing the title character in his most famous film, DRACULA (1931). Appearing in other genuine horror classics like WHITE ZOMBIE (1932), THE BLACK CAT (1934), THE RAVEN (1935), and SON OF FRANKENSTEIN (1939), Lugosi is equally as known for the legions of low budget schlockfests he appeared in, including the nine films he made for Monogram studios from 1941 - 1944 and most sadly, the three Ed Wood movies he’d appear in towards the end of his life. Made for the lowly PRC studios (the only time they would work with Lugosi), THE DEVIL BAT is arguably the beginning of this low budget horror phase for Lugosi.
Despite its status as a horror film, make no mistake about it, THE DEVIL BAT has more laughs in its compact 68 minutes than a lot of great two hour comedies. To begin with, the comic pedigree does not end with Suzanne Kaaren. Director Jean Yarbrough would later go on to direct Abbott and Costello in both features and television show episodes while Arthur Q. Bryan, who plays Editor McGinty, is known by every person reading this review, even if they don’t realize it. When Editor McGinty talks, close your eyes and focus on the voice. Surely, it’s familiar to you, and that’s because Arthur Q. Bryan is the voice of Elmer Fudd! Dave O’Brien also has his comic roots as he was the actor who went insane smoking that evil root marijuana in the camp classic REEFER MADNESS. Remember the guy who wanted that piano to be played faster and faster? That would be Mr. O’Brien.
Now that we’ve established THE DEVIL BAT has an Abbott and Costello director, a REEFER MADNESS star, and the voice of Elmer Friggin’ Fudd himself, let us move onto the film itself. The very first scene involves Lugosi in his laboratory electronically growing gigantic devil bats. The first laugh happens if you study the walls. Since the combined budget of every PRC film in 1940 was probably not the equal of one MGM film, limited resources were used, and the walls are obviously not really made of stone. Somebody painted these walls to look like stone, and the painted walls set was probably borrowed from God knows how many previous films. Already, a 6th grade play feel results. Then there’s the devil bat himself, which is obviously a stuffed animal! In order to give the illusion of movement, very blatant shots of stock footage close-ups of a real bat are used. Now that the 6th grade play feel has been furthered, Lugosi delivers his first line - talking to the bat! “Ah, my friend. Our theory of glandular stimulation through electric impulses was correct. A few days ago, you were as small as your companion, but now, look at you!” What a tongue twister of a line for any actor to deliver, nevermind one with a thick Hungarian accent!
Lugosi’s best scenes involve him brow beating Heath and Morton family members, as well as Johnny Layton, into putting on the after shave lotion - on the tender part of their necks, of course. It must be said that despite his horror image, Lugosi had an extremely kindly face when he smiled. He looked like he could be your favorite Hungarian uncle when he wanted to be, not some guy who would suck your blood. Whenever he gets somebody to try the after shave lotion, this kindly uncle side emerges, and considering that he is trying to get the recipients jugular severed by a giant bat, the results are quite funny. Lugosi is obviously having fun with this role as he delivers certain lines with the perfect touch of comic irony. When ill-fated Tommy Heath tries on the deadly after shave, Carruthers states, “I don’t think you’ll ever use anything else.” Wink-wink, nudge-nudge. Or when one character tries on the lotion and talks about worrying about the future of the cosmetics industry, Carruthers states, “You can believe me Henry, you don’t have to worry.” Another classic is after a character claims the lotion makes him smell to high Heavens, Carruthers states, “That will be the secret of its success.” The best line of comic irony is Lugosi’s “goodbye” delivery everytime he is going to part somebody who just tried on the lotion. This is perhaps the most famous Lugosi line (it appears about four or five times), in THE DEVIL BAT, and rightfully so. One of Lugosi’s best acting traits was his ability to deliver an ironic tone in certain lines, and a few of his deliveries in THE DEVIL BAT display this as well as any line he’s ever read in his career.
Besides Lugosi’s great line deliveries, another comic highlight is the bat attacks. The key to the comedy is the high pitched noise the bat makes as it attacks. Unfortunately, words cannot do the noise justice, but it has to be heard to be believed. The close ups of the actors faces as they are about to get attacked are good for a laugh as well. My favorite bat attack, by far, happens to Tommy Heath. His line deliveries come across as nothing short of pompous, and when he finally does get moments later, you can’t help but cheer. Actually, just about all the Heath and Morton characters are underdeveloped and paper thin. Nothing but boring rich people, and while most wouldn’t wish devil bat attacks on anybody in real life (smirks), including boring people, I suppose in the context of a movie, it’s alright.
The intended comic relief comes from Donald Kerr as “One-Shot” McGuire. He’s not a comic legend by any means, but for the standards of comic relief in golden age horror films, he’s actually quite tolerable, even mildly entertaining. He basically chases around after a very delicious looking French maid throughout the entire film. “Let’s see a little more of yer stocking, Frenchie.”
Overall, THE DEVIL BAT ranks as one of Bela Lugosi’s most entertaining performances and his best poverty row film. Adding Lugosi’s performance to a cheap lab, obviously fake bats who make funny noises, a murder a reel, and a brisk 68 minute pace, and you have a horror-comedy that you’ll return to over and over again for pure fun. If you ever need 68 minutes to kill, check out THE DEVIL BAT. Since it’s public domain, you can buy it from several different companies, and for cheap.