Agnes Moorehead was the star and her character the protagonist of the movie. She deserved first billing. Vincent Price had a supporting role; but of course he was the bigger "horror" star of that time.
shareThat's for sure, anytime anybody's been able to get the part of Cornelia Van Gorder, they become the star of the show. Just goes to show that a movie status doesn't mean a thing when it comes to something like The Bat.
shareI've got to admit that Aggie looked pretty hot with her dress down around her shoulders. Guess I'm just not used to thinking about "Endora" that way.
shareI've got to admit that Aggie looked pretty hot with her dress down around her shoulders.
Guess I'm just not used to thinking about "Endora" that way.
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I agree she should have gotten top billing. I bought this DVD to see Vincent Price, and he was very good in it, but Agnes Moorhead really carries this film. I love how she talks to the camera at the end, warning the audience that murder doesn't pay.
shareOh yes, I absolutely LOVE the ending when she says "But don't try it, no matter how clever you are, you can't hide murder." Those words always had such a profound effect on me, even when I was about 6, and it always made sense to me, even long before I knew anything about DNA testing, I just always figured that the police would hunt for the real killer in any case until they got them.
And you know, earlier in the movie when Cornelia told Dale and Judy "Now if anything happens you just sing out and two strong women will come to the rescue", that always made sense to me too because Cornelia Van Gorder in this movie always struck me as a VERY strong woman like my mother, the sort who can handle anything, who can face anything, because through the whole movie she never really panicked even with all the murder and mayhem that surrounded her. I always loved that.
Yup, what an incredible/person actress she was. Love this movie and the fact she's in it. In some movies they would have presented the women as freaked out & possibly would have left the house, but not Aggie.
shareOh and definately, today you would NOT have a woman be as strong in the midst of all that danger as Aggie was here, and this was during a time when women's parts in movies were not all that great, a few good ones perhaps but they didn't become the real stars who stared danger in the face and laughed. Most of them were still hiding behind their husbands and what not. Cornelia doesn't have a husband, she's not married, she is an independent woman, a very rare idea for its time really, even rarer given when the original story was written, she's a strong woman who knows what she's going to do and she refuses to be frightened out of her home. You have to respect that in a woman, especially for their time, but even more so since they don't do that in movies now.
shareI believe this was her only starring final outside of her final one, DEAR DEAD DELILAH (also a horror picture). It was great to see she could carry a film - though of course we knew she could - though I must confess I was surprised to see her given the role. This is a great part for a late middle-aged actress and I could easily see Bette Davis or Gloria Swanson accepting it had it been offered to them. This would have been a perfect late career starring role for Swanson who was so difficult to cast in her later years because she was so glamorous, here it would have worked perfectly as a world famous novelist. Still, I'm glad Agnes got the chance to star.
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