''The Thirteenth Chair'' is a 1929 American

mystery film A mystery film is a genre of film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur Detective, sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means ...

directed by

Tod Browning Tod Browning (born Charles Albert Browning Jr.; July 12, 1880 – October 6, 1962) was an American film director, film actor, screenwriter, vaudeville performer, and carnival sideshow and circus entertainer. He directed a number of films of vari ...

. The picture is based on a 1916 play of the same name by

Bayard Veiller Bayard Veiller (January 2, 1869 – January 16, 1943) was an American playwright, screenwriter, producer and film director. He wrote for 32 films between 1915 and 1941. Biography He was born on January 2, 1869, in Brooklyn, New York to Phi ...

. It stars

Conrad Nagel John Conrad Nagel (March 16, 1897 – February 24, 1970) was an American film, stage, television and radio actor. He was considered a famous matinée idol and leading man of the 1920s and 1930s. He was given an Academy Honorary Award in 1940 and ...

Leila Hyams Leila Hyams (May 1, 1905 – December 4, 1977) was an American film and stage actress, model, and vaudevillian, who came from a show business family. Her relatively short film career began in 1924 during the era of silent films and ended in 193 ...

and

Margaret Wycherly Margaret De Wolfe Wycherly (born Margaret De Wolfe, 26 October 1881 – 6 June 1956) was an English stage and film actress. She spent many years in the United States and is best remembered for her Broadway roles and Hollywood character parts. On ...

. The film was one of many released in both

sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...

and silent versions. The initial television airing of the sound version was by TCM on August 22, 2019. An earlier version of the film, starring

Creighton Hale Creighton Hale (born Patrick Fitzgerald; May 24, 1882 – August 9, 1965) was an Irish-American theatre, film, and television actor whose career extended more than a half-century, from the early 1900s to the end of the 1950s. Career Born in Cou ...

, was made in 1919 by ACME/

Pathe Exchange Pathe or Pathé may refer to: * Pathé, a French company established in 1896 * Pathé Exchange, U.S. division of the French film company that was spun off into an independent entity * Pathé News, a French and British distributor of cinema newsr ...

, directed by Leonce Perret. In 1937, the film was again

remade Bas-Lag is the fictional world in which several of English author China Miéville's novels are set. Bas-Lag is a world where both magic (referred to as "thaumaturgy") and steampunk technology exist, and is home to many intelligent races. It is inf ...

by MGM under the same title starring

Elissa Landi Elissa Landi (born Elisabeth Marie Christine Kühnelt; December 6, 1904 – October 21, 1948) was an Austrian-American actress born in Venice, who was popular as a performer in Hollywood films of the 1920s and 1930s. She was noted for her a ...

and Dame May Whitty.

Plot

Inspector Delzante (

Bela Lugosi Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), known professionally as Bela Lugosi (; ), was a Hungarian and American actor best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the 1931 horror classic ''Dracula'', Ygor in ''S ...

), investigates a pair of murders near a British mansion in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

. Helen O'Neill (

) becomes a chief suspect based on circumstantial evidence. A fake Irish medium, Madame LaGrange (

) is called in to try to help solve the first murder.

Cast

Production

''The Thirteenth Chair'' was director

's first

sound film A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...

. It was based on one of the most famous of the "old dark house" stage plays:

's ''The Thirteenth Chair'' which debuted on Broadway on November 20, 1916. The play had previously been adpated as a

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

by Léonce Peret as '' The Thirteenth Chair'' In late May of 1929, MGM hired

to reprise her stage role as La Grange. Shortly after,

was also cast. For the leading role of Richard Crosby, the press has stated that

Lon Chaney Leonidas Frank "Lon" Chaney (April 1, 1883 – August 26, 1930) was an American actor. He is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and affli ...

was offered the role but turned it down. ''

The Hollywood Filmograph ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' stated later that

Joel McCrea Joel Albert McCrea (November 5, 1905 – October 20, 1990) was an American actor whose career spanned a wide variety of genres over almost five decades, including comedy, drama, romance, thrillers, adventures, and Westerns, for which he beca ...

would play Crosby, but

replaced him before production began. Bela Lugosi took a break from Tod Browning's performing the play ''Dracula'' from June 23 to July 21 to appear in

's ''The Thirteenth Chair'' as the film's inspector. Lugosi had replaced

William "Stage" Boyd William H. Boyd (December 18, 1886 in New York City, New York – March 20, 1935 in Los Angeles, California) was an American actor billed as William "Stage" Boyd or William Stage Boyd. Biography Boyd was an early 20th century stage actor who appe ...

, which led to the characters name and being changed to Inspector Dezlante, to suit Lugosi's accent. The script labelled as the "First Temporary Incomplete" script dated May 8, 1929, by

Elliott Clawson Elliott J. Clawson (January 19, 1883 – July 21, 1942) was an American screenwriter. He wrote for more than 80 films between 1913 and 1929. He was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, and died in Vista, California. At the 2nd Academy Awards in 19 ...

changed the plays setting from New York to

, India. The film otherwise largely follows the story of the screenplay but changes who was the actual murderer. The film was set to start production on June 3, 1929, but only started on June 10. Rehearsals and shooting totalled to 36 days with principal photography being completed on July 15, 1929. The ''Hollywood Filmograph'' reported Browing being in post-production and near completion of the film on August 10.

Release

''The Thirteenth Chair'' was released on October 19, 1929. Shortly after this release, a silent version of the film was released. This was a regular occurrence during this period in film history as several film theatres were not equipped to show sound film. The silent version of the film is considered lost as of February 2021.

Reception

Historians Gary Rhodes and Bill Kaffenberger stated that contemporary response to the film was varied. ''The Hollywood Filmograph'' stated that several scenes depended strictly on sound, "to which the audience did not react favorably." Among the positive reviews, ''The Education Screen'' stated the film was "tense and gripping murder mystery, skillfully picturized, well acted" and was "above average". ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' declared it "rattling good entetainment" with Tod Browning "giving his better efforts, and leaves the picturegoer completely satisfied" A review in ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' found the ending weak, but stated the film should satisfying audiences. ''

Motion Picture News The ''Motion Picture News'' was an American film industry trade paper published from 1913 to 1930. History The publication was created through the 1913 merger of the ''Moving Picture News'' founded in 1908 and ''The Exhibitors' Times'', founded ...

'' stated the film had "nothing outstanding to recommend it beyond capable direction of Tod Browning" '' Weekly Film Review'' declared that it "just misses being good entertainment" ''

Harrison's Reports ''Harrison's Reports'' was a New York City-based motion picture trade journal published weekly from 1919 to 1962. The typical issue was four letter-size pages sent to subscribers under a second-class mail permit. Its founder, editor and publisher ...

'' declared that the story was thing, and the action was slow-paced and the inter-woven romance was not interested and that only the seance and the disclosure of the real murderer held any attention.

References

Sources

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thirteenth Chair 1929 films 1929 mystery films American black-and-white films American mystery films Films directed by Tod Browning Films set in country houses Films set in India Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Transitional sound films 1920s English-language films 1920s American films