The Thirteenth Guest (1932)

the audience applauded

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

If you're going to watch a Poverty Row production from Hollywood's Golden Age you're going to have to make allowances. The budgets were tiny, the shooting schedules hectic (generally 4-6 days), and the talent involved generally those who couldn't get a job with the real studios. THE THIRTEENTH GUEST, however, is actually a pretty decent B-movie effort. The director and cinematographer appear to have been competent if not inspired, and the cast is unusually talented, headed by young actors who were getting somewhere (Lyle Talbot and especially Ginger Rogers) and a solid character actor (J. Farrell MacDonald). The plot is imaginative albeit filled with holes, and the frequent comical interludes might charitably be described as inconsistent. (Spoiler) Shades of Psycho as our leading lady (Ginger Rogers) is murdered about five minutes into the picture. Or is it shades of Vertigo as there she is again about thirty minutes into the picture? There's a bizarre method of execution, a family get together filled with black comedy that should have been better than it was, and even a smooth-talking super sleuth (Talbot) to do the job that the hopelessly incompetent cops could never manage on their own. What else could you ask for? Maybe a little pacing, a little more of the acid-tongued Marjorie, a lot less of the idiotic detective played by Paul Hurst. but what the heck? The movie is in the public domain and is guaranteed to be worth what you'd have to pay to see it. A decent way to spend an hour or so on a rainy day.

A young woman named Marie Morgan (Ginger Rogers) arrives at night at a presumably vacant old house, and is quickly murdered by person unknown. A private detective named Phil Winston (Lyle Talbot) proceeds to investigate, with the help of an annoyingly grumpy cop and his bumbling sidekick.As the whodunit plot moves along, various characters reveal the backstory, involving a rich old man who invites thirteen guests to a dinner party at which time he will announce who inherits his estate; problem is the old man dies at the dinner without revealing his secret.The main problem is a script that is so convoluted that it's almost impossible to figure out the puzzle's solution. Once known, the solution is not remotely believable, and there are significant plot holes. Still, there's enough suspense to keep the viewer watching despite a substandard script. Dialogue comes across as stiff and stilted at times but there are a few good lines.Before the killer's identity is known, this person appears in a few scenes wearing bizarre garb that covers his/her body completely; the costume makes the person look a little like spider man. The film's prod design is cheap looking. Most of the action takes place indoors and mostly at night.Casting is acceptable except for the presence of Lyle Talbot who just doesn't have the mystery persona of someone like Sidney Toler or Warner Oland. Indeed, if the film had been made as a Charlie Chan thriller, I think it would have been better.For all its faults, "The Thirteenth Guest" is worth watching once, owing to adequate suspense in a spooky old house with hidden rooms and a masked killer. Overall, it's an average whodunit for the era in which it was made.

minor spoiler Ginger Rogers in one of her VERY early roles. She hadn't yet turned into the shrew that tormented Fred Astaire in all their dance films. Sound and picture quality are pretty rough, but as we see from the TRIVIA section, as it is now in public domain, anyone can make a (crappy) copy and sell it for profit. She arrives at a dark, dirty house, late at night, and finds an envelope marked "to be opened on Marie's 21st birthday". A shot rings out, and her taxi driver goes for the cops. The adventure begins. They bring in investigator Phil Winston (Lyle Talbot, in one of HIS early roles. ) We hear the history of the family and the house from the local policeman. I thought it was odd that even though they found the dead chick sitting in a chair, they knew right off that she had been electrocuted, in spite of the fact that the doctor says "enough to kill her but not enough to leave any marks." I would have thought that an autopsy would have necessary to find that... but I'm not a physician. The whole story revolves around a dinner party where they invited thirteen guests, but the thirteenth guest never showed up. Along the way, another girl shows up and looks JUST like the first girl found d-e-d dead. Not a bad film, but some things move pretty slowly. It's a Monogram shortie, at 69 minutes. Not bad who-dunnit, but a few cracks in the woodwork, so don't take it too seriously. And being pre-code, there are a couple naughty references in here if you pay attention.Directed by Albert Ray, a prolific actor, director, writer, who had started in silents, and moved into talkies. He died quite young at 46, but I haven't been able to find the cause of death.

Were it not for the presence of future superstar Ginger Rogers in the lead, no one would remember The Thirteenth Guest. But I suppose for that very reason it was remade by Monogram in the next decade with absolutely no one truly memorable in the film. I will say the remake had very few deviations in plot from the original.Ginger plays two roles in this film, an heiress and someone who is given plastic surgery to look like her. The lookalike is killed and the method of execution is part of the gimmick of this whole movie. In any event the real Ginger shows up with results similar to what happens in Laura though not as dramatic.Ginger comes from a family of greedy relatives. It's only a question of which ones are trying to keep her from inheriting. Even at that there's another plot twist I won't reveal.For fans of Ginger Rogers who want to see all her movies. \