The Thirteenth Chair (1929)

★ 5.1 1h 12m IMDb

Although his murdered friend was by all accounts a scoundrel, Edward Wales is determined to trap his killer by staging a seance using a famous medium. Many of the 13 seance participants had a reason and a means to kill, and one of them uses the cover of darkness to kill again. When someone close to the medium is suspected she turns detective, in the hope of uncovering the true murderer.

The Thirteenth Chair

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Cast

Conrad Nagel
Conrad Nagel as Richard Crosby Died 1970 · Keokuk, Iowa, USA Conrad Nagel was an American stage and film actor, as well as radio and television performer and host. He was a matinee idol and star of the Silent cinema era and beyond. He was a founding member of t...
Leila Hyams
Leila Hyams as Helen 'Nellie' O'Neill Died 1977 · New York City, New York, USA Leila Hyams (May 1, 1905 – December 4, 1977) was an American model, vaudeville and film actress, who came from a show business family. Her relatively short film career began in the 1920s during the er...
Margaret Wycherly
Margaret Wycherly as Madame Rosalie La Grange Died 1956 · London, England, UK Margaret De Wolfe Wycherly (born Margaret De Wolfe, 26 October 1881 – 6 June 1956) was an English stage and film actress.[2] She spent many years in the United States and is best remembered for her Br...
Helene Millard
Helene Millard as Mary Eastwood Died 1974 · Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Helene Millard (September 30, 1905 – September 20, 1974) was an American supporting actress of the 1930s and 1940s. She started her film career in a featured ro...
Holmes Herbert
Holmes Herbert as Sir Roscoe Crosby Died 1956 · Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England, UK From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Holmes Herbert (born Horace Edward Jenner; 30 July 1882 – 26 December 1956) was an English character actor who appeared in Hollywood films from 1915 to 1952. He...
Mary Forbes
Mary Forbes as Lady Alice Crosby Died 1974 · Hornsey, Middlesex [now in Haringey, London], England, UK From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Mary Forbes (1 January 1883 – 22 July 1974), born Ethel Louise Young, was a British-American film actress, based in the United States in her latter years, where...

Audience Reviews

CyrusPK 4/10 Jul 30, 2018
Some films are known more for the trivia associated with them than their actual content – The Thirteenth Chair (1929) being one of them.

As the first sound film for director Tod Browning and his first collaboration with the Hungarian emigre actor Bela Lugosi it is these points of interest in a film a few years before Dracula (1931) that draw most attention.

Browning seems very restricted by the early sound recording systems and this very theatrical film plays out mostly on a single set in prolonged wide shots. The opening scene as a mysterious figure enters a building and almost steps on a pool of blood left by a murder victim is handled with some style but is one of the few visual treats in a very static film.

Lugosi is very engaged in his part, talking much faster and with greater passion than his lugubrious Dracula performance, indicating the latter was very much an interpretation of his original stage part. His dramatic confrontation with the suspects is full of passion and a certain intensity.

Of the remaining cast John Davidson as Edward Wales is the sole standout, bringing a creepy intensity and mystery to his role, which is portrayed as one of mystery.

Existing prints of this film are fairly washed out and damaged which reduces the ability of the modern viewer to identify clearly what is going on. A full restoration might be of benefit if quality elements exist but this is far from being the forgotten masterpiece of early sound horror that a viewer might have hoped for.

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