The Bat (1959)

Starring Vincent Price, Agnes Moorehead, Gavin Gordon, John Sutton, Lenita Lane
Directed by Crane Wilbur
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A mystery writer and her friends are terrorized by a masked killer seeking a million dollars hidden in the mansion they are renting. 

Writer/director Crane Wilbur, who had a hand in two of Vincent Price's early horror films, House Of Wax and The Mad Magician, adapts the popular play by Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood, and trades on Price's sinister mystique quite memorably, making this one of the more entertaining versions of the play.  He also manages to integrate the large cast into the story more successfully than previous adaptations, making the film easier to follow.  However, the elements from the story which supposedly inspired the creation of Bob Kane's Batman character are all but absent, with a rather drab costume and the elimination of the character's calling card.  Had Wilbur played these up they might have added more atmosphere and suspense.  It's still enjoyable in its own right with Moorehead a fine casting choice as author Cornelia van Gorder, and Gordon and Sutton providing dignified support in their roles as a police detective and a suspicious butler respectively.  The only thing that doesn't seem to fit is the jazzy theme music, which while a catchy tune, is a strong departure from the rest of Louis Forbes' score.