The Bat Whispers is a 1930 American pre-Code mystery film directed by Roland West, produced by Joseph M. Schenck, and released by United Artists.

An early talkie and one of the first widescreen films, West financed the cinematography, which required two cameramen and several techniques.

A mysterious criminal by the name of "The Bat" eludes police and then finally announces his retirement to the country.

A rock is thrown through the window with a note threatening harm if the occupants don't leave.

A mysterious masked man sticks a gun in the caretaker's back and tells him he had better get everyone out of the house.

As the Bat is fleeing from the house, he is caught in a bear trap, set up by Lizzie.

[1] Director West financed the Magnafilm widescreen process and employed two cinematographers, using techniques not to be seen until the 1950s and Otto Preminger.

[6] Close-up shots were also incorporated—the camera "zooms in" on the actors' faces when the characters are frightened and trying to figure out where the mysterious noises are coming from, and when The Bat is creeping up to Dale Van Gorder in the secret room.

Just as in the play and the first film, people explore an old mansion looking for a hidden treasure while a caped killer picks them off one by one.

[8][4] The domestic negative was cut down to 72 minutes for the 1938 Atlantic Pictures reissue, and subsequently was lost.

In 1988 the UCLA Film and Television Archive restored and preserved the 35mm foreign version and the 65mm Magnifilm from the original camera negatives.

[9][10] UCLA gained access through the Library of Congress upon Mary Pickford's death in 1979 when she willed them her film collection, The Bat Whispers (65mm) was among it.