Film Record: Bats Out of Hell

Young spectators watch midget racing cars at Hastings Park.

Date produced: 1937

Production credits:

• Oscar C. Burritt, cinematographer, stiil photographer, film processor (1937)
• Dennis J. Duffy, video editor, music editor, producer (2025)
• David Mattison, music composer/performer (2025)

Country of Production:

Canada

Duration:

00:08:36

Format:

16mm

Colour:

B&W

Sound Notes:

Silent

Sound:

Silent with added musical score (2025).

Description:

"This unique footage of midget car racing at Hastings Park racetrack may have been the first film shot by Vancouver cinéaste Oscar Burritt (1908-1974). He shot and hand-processed the original footage, using his own home-built processing rig (set up in a bathtub). He added several still photographs that he had also filmed. But he doesn’t seem to have gone any further with the project." (Seriously Moving Images)

In 2025, working with a digitized analog video copy, D. J. Duffy edited and completed the film from Burritt's footage, adding a musical score comprising two tracks by David Mattison.

Resources:

Dennis J. Duffy. "Bats Out of Hell: A 'Lost' Vancouver Film from 1937 by Oscar Burritt, Now Given a Fresh Coat of Paint." Seriously Moving Images. August 2025. URL = https://tinyurl.com/yrvyayjc

Locations:

• Hastings Park (Vancouver, BC) (Filming)

Repository:

YouTube.

Video Link:

• The 2025 edited video version of "Bats Out of Hell," with added musical score.

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