''Thirteen Women'' is a 1932 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorshi ...

psychological thriller Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting. In terms of context and co ...

film, produced by David O. Selznick and directed by

George Archainbaud George Archainbaud (May 7, 1890 – February 20, 1959) was a French-American film and television director. Biography In the beginning of his career he worked on stage as an actor and manager. He came to the United States in January 1914, and s ...

. It stars

Myrna Loy Myrna Loy (born Myrna Adele Williams; August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993) was an American film, television and stage actress. Trained as a dancer, Loy devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. ...

Irene Dunne Irene Dunne (born Irene Marie Dunn; December 20, 1898 – September 4, 1990) was an American actress who appeared in films during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She is best known for her comedic roles, though she performed in films of other gen ...

and

Ricardo Cortez Ricardo Cortez (born Jacob Kranze or Jacob Krantz; September 19, 1900 – April 28, 1977) was an American actor and film director. He was also credited as Jack Crane early in his acting career. Early years Ricardo Cortez was born Jacob K ...

. The film is based on the 1930 bestselling novel of the same name by

Tiffany Thayer Tiffany Ellsworth Thayer (March 1, 1902 – August 23, 1959) was an American actor, writer, and one of the founding members of the Fortean Society. Biography Born in Freeport, Illinois, Thayer quit school at age 15 and worked as an actor, reporte ...

and was adapted for the screen by

Bartlett Cormack Edward Bartlett Cormack (March 19, 1898 – September 16, 1942) was an American actor, playwright, screenwriter, and producer best known for his 1927 Broadway play ''The Racket'', and for working with Howard Hughes and Cecil B. DeMille on sev ...

and

Samuel Ornitz Samuel Badisch Ornitz (November 15, 1890 – March 10, 1957) was an American screenwriter and novelist from New York City; he was one of the "Hollywood Ten"Obituary ''Variety'', March 13, 1957, page 63. who were blacklisted from the 1950s on by ...

. Several characters were deleted from the film's final version, including those played by

Leon Ames Leon Ames (born Harry L. Wycoff;U.S. Federal Census for 1910 for Fowler, Center Township, Benton County, State of Indiana, access via Ancestry.com January 20, 1902 – October 12, 1993) was an American film and television actor. He is best rememb ...

Phyllis Fraser Phyllis Cerf Wagner (born Helen Brown Nichols; April 13, 1916 – November 24, 2006), also known as Phyllis Fraser, was an American socialite, writer, publisher, and actress. She was a co-founder of Beginner Books. Early life Fraser was born H ...

, and

Betty Furness Elizabeth Mary Furness (January 3, 1916 – April 2, 1994) was an American actress, consumer advocate, and current affairs commentator. Early years Furness was born in Manhattan, the daughter of wealthy business executive George Choate Furness ...

(in what would have been Furness's film debut at the age of 16). The film portrays only 11 women, not 13, with Fraser and Furness playing the two characters edited from the film.Hall, Mordaunt (1932)
"Another Murder Mystery. Thirteen Women ..."
, part of multiple film reviews, ''The New York Times'', October 15, 1932. Retrieved November 22, 2017. The film premiered in October at the Roxy Theater in New York City on October 15, 1932, then released in Los Angeles, and a few other cities in November 1932. A limited national release came in 1933. Originally running 73 minutes, the studio edited 14 minutes from the picture before release. The film was re-released in 1935 (post-Code) by

RKO RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheu ...

, hoping to turn a profit by cashing on the growing popularity of stars Dunne and Loy. ''Thirteen Women'' has been cited as an early "female ensemble" film, as well as an early influence on the "

slasher film A slasher film is a genre of horror films involving a killer stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools like knife, chainsaw, scalpel, etc. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a ...

" genre.

Plot

Thirteen women, who were sorority sisters at the all-girl's college St. Alban's, all write to a

clairvoyant Clairvoyance (; ) is the magical ability to gain information about an object, person, location, or physical event through extrasensory perception. Any person who is claimed to have such ability is said to be a clairvoyant () ("one who sees cl ...

"swami" who by mail sends each a

horoscope A horoscope (or other commonly used names for the horoscope in English include natal chart, astrological chart, astro-chart, celestial map, sky-map, star-chart, cosmogram, vitasphere, radical chart, radix, chart wheel or simply chart) is an ast ...

foreseeing swift doom. However, the clairvoyant is under the sway of Ursula Georgi, a half- Javanese

Eurasian Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago ...

woman who was snubbed at school by the other women owing to her mixed-race heritage, behavior which eventually forced her to leave school. She now seeks revenge by manipulating the women into killing themselves or each other. She also goads the clairvoyant into killing himself by falling into the path of a subway train. The victims are set up and killed off one by one until Laura Stanhope, living in Beverly Hills, is one of the few still alive. With the help of Laura's chauffeur and lover, Ursula tries to kill Laura's young son Bobby with both tainted candy and an explosive rubber ball, but is thwarted. Ursula follows Laura and Bobby as they flee Beverly Hills by train, unaware that police sergeant Barry Clive is escorting them. After confronting Laura, and apparently hypnotizing her into falling asleep, Ursula enters Bobby's room and is caught by Clive. She then flees to the back of the train and jumps to her death.

Cast

as Laura Stanhope *

as Police Sergeant Barry Clive *

Jill Esmond Jill Esmond (born Jill Esmond Moore; 26 January 1908 – 28 July 1990) was an English stage and screen actress. She was the first wife of Laurence Olivier. Early life Esmond was born in London, the daughter of stage actors Henry V. Esmond and ...

as Jo Turner *

as Ursula Georgi *

Mary Duncan Mary Duncan (August 13, 1894 – May 9, 1993) was an American stage and film actress. She is best known for her performances in F.W. Murnau's '' City Girl'' (1930) and ''Morning Glory'' (1933). Early years Duncan was born in Luttrellville ...

as June Raskob *

Kay Johnson Catherine Townsend Johnson (November 29, 1904 – November 17, 1975) was an American stage and film actress. Family Johnson was born in Mount Vernon, New York. Her father was architect Thomas R. Johnson, who worked in the firm of Cass Gil ...

as Helen Dawson Frye *

Florence Eldridge Florence Eldridge (born Florence McKechnie, September 5, 1901 – August 1, 1988) was an American actress. She was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play in 1957 for her performance in '' Long Day's Journey into Night''. E ...

as Grace Coombs * C. Henry Gordon as Swami Yogadachi *

Peg Entwistle Millicent Lilian "Peg" Entwistle (5 February 1908 – 16 September 1932) was a British stage and screen actress. She began her stage career in 1925, appearing in several Broadway productions. She appeared in only one film, '' Thirteen Women'', ...

as Hazel Clay Cousins * Harriet Hagman as May Raskob *

Edward Pawley Edward Joel Pawley (March 16, 1901 in Kansas City, Missouri – January 27, 1988 in Charlottesville, Virginia) was an American actor of radio, films and Broadway. The full name on his birth certificate is Edward Joel Stone Pawley; he never ...

as Burns, Laura's chauffeur *

Blanche Friderici Blanche L. Friderici (January 21, 1878 – December 23, 1933) was an American film and stage actress, sometimes credited as Blanche Frederici. Early years Friderici was a native of Brooklyn, New York. Her parents were William E. Friderici ...

as Miss Kirsten, headmistress *

Wally Albright Wally Albright (born Walton Algernon Albright Jr.; September 3, 1925 - August 7, 1999) was an American actor, water sportsman, and businessman. As a child actor, he was best known for his role in the ''Our Gang'' film series. Career The son of ...

as Bobby Stanhope *

as Twelfth Woman (scenes deleted) *

as Thirteenth Woman (scenes deleted) *

Lloyd Ingraham Lloyd Chauncey Ingraham (November 30, 1874 – April 4, 1956) was an American film actor and director. Biography Born in Rochelle, Illinois, Ingraham appeared in more than 280 films between 1912 and 1950, as well as directing more than 100 f ...

as Inspector (uncredited)

Production notes

''Thirteen Women'' features the only film appearance of actress

. Entwistle became despondent over her career and jumped to her death from the

Hollywood Sign The Hollywood Sign is an American landmark and cultural icon overlooking Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Originally the Hollywoodland Sign, it is situated on Mount Lee, in the Beachwood Canyon area of the Santa Monica Mountains. Spelling ...

on September 16, 1932. The film premiered in New York on October 15 (almost exactly a month after her suicide), and in Los Angeles in November. Entwistle had a supporting role in the original cut, with scenes running approximately sixteen minutes. After the film performed poorly for test audiences, her screen time was cut to four minutes. The character played by Entwistle, that of Hazel Cousins, is a married woman in the film, who kills her husband and goes to prison. In the book, Hazel is a virgin who remains so simply because she is considered too beautiful; men are either too intimidated to approach her, assume she is married or engaged or believe that she will break their heart. Hazel eventually becomes a lesbian after she is seduced by the wife of the doctor treating her for

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

, and starves herself to death in a sanitarium while suffering the heartache of having been abandoned by her lover Martha. In both the book and movie, May and June Raskob (played by Harriet Hagman and

) are twin sisters who work in a circus, but in the book they are overweight sideshow attractions rather than photogenic trapeze artists as in the film. In this film, actor Edward J. Pawley received his first screen kiss (from Myrna Loy). He appeared in over 50 movies during his 10-year career in Hollywood, playing mostly "bad guy" roles.

Home media

On February 21, 2012, the 59-minute edit of ''Thirteen Women'' was released on manufactured-on-demand DVD through the

Warner Archive Collection The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the inte ...

References

External links

* * * * {{George Archainbaud 1932 films 1930s psychological thriller films American mystery thriller films American black-and-white films Films about fraternities and sororities American films about revenge Films based on American novels Films directed by George Archainbaud Films scored by Max Steiner American psychological thriller films 1930s mystery thriller films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films