The Mystery of the 13th Guest

Mystery of the 13th Guest, The (1943)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Decent "B" movie about a family getting together for the eldest to announce that his will won't be read for another thirteen years after his granddaughter turns twenty-one. Thirteen years later the guests at that party start turning up dead so it's up to a private detective (Dick Purcell) and a Police Lt. (Tim Ryan) to figure out who's doing the killings. If you're looking for high art then you're not going to find it here but if you're looking for an hour to kill with some light entertainment then you might find this Monogram quickie entertaining. Old 'One Shot' Beaudine certainly doesn't do anything overly special with this murder-mystery but he at least keeps the pace up so that the brief 60-minutes go by quickly and without too much dead space. The screenplay itself certainly doesn't try to do anything ground breaking but it keeps the characters interesting and the murderer under wraps until the very end, which is pretty much all you can ask for out of a film like this. Purcell does a pretty good job with his role and makes the fast-talking wise guy fun to watch. His back-and-forth banter with Ryan is pretty entertaining and Helen Parrish makes for a good female lead. Frank Faylen plays the dimwitted cop and gets a few laughs. The rest of the cast are serviceable and give pretty much what you'd expect out of them. The mystery itself is a pretty good one as I found the murder weapon (an electrical wire attached to a phone) to be quite fun and all the horror trappings like the mysterious hidden doors and traps to help keep things moving. No one is ever going to mistake this film for a classic but if you're a fan of the genre then you'll know that there's much worse out there.

A young woman's grandfather hosts a dinner party for thirteen guests, and he mysteriously dies. Thirteen years later, the woman believes that someone connected to the fatal party is trying to kill her.

I had never heard of this film before, and I doubt very many people have. Which is a shame. It has a good pace, a good story, and wraps up in around an hour. This is the kind of film anyone could enjoy.

In some ways, it has the feel of Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None", but it is its own story and should not be written off as a derivative narrative. Well, unless you consider it derivative of the previous incarnation, "The Thirteenth Guest" (1932). As I have not seen that version, I cannot comment.

The Morgan house at has been locked up for thirteen years, ever since the death of the family patriarch (played in flashback by Lloyd Ingraham). There was, of course, the usual rigmarole of mutually antagonistic heirs, a shady lawyer, and a will calculated to make things as difficult as possible for everybody. The dying Morgan had summoned Barksdale the lawyer and all ten of the heirs out to the house to discuss his impending death and its aftermath. Morgan's will was sealed, its contents secret even from Barksdale, and it was to remain so until the youngest of his grandchildren- eight-year-old Marie (played as an adult by Helen Parrish)- turned 21. When Marie turns 21 yesterday, she lets herself into her grandfather's house, she finds it exactly as it was thirteen years ago, except with a telephone installed, which doesn't make a lot of sense in a house where nobody lives. A shot rings out, and Marie rushes to the mysterious telephone to call the police. No sooner has she lifted the handset to her ear, though, than she goes into convulsions and sinks slowly to the floor, apparently dead. Soon more dead bodies follow...

Decent enough mystery with a idea typical of the era, some fine creepy house atmosphere and shadows and a creepy looking killer donned with mask a la michael Myers, however it doesn't really lifts itself above ordinary. Still it's watchable and there's some good humorous dialogue.

I want to inject some personal information that I learned after my original 2002 review of same. I made contact with Johnny Duncan who starred as Harold Morgan in the movie. We connected thru his fan club and I conversed with him about the film and Helen Parrish, the star. We exchanged emails initially and then he gave me his phone number so we could talk in person. He was at that time the only living actor of the film. We reminisced about the actual making of the film and his interactions with William Beaudine and Helen Parrish. He confirmed Helen was as beautiful in person as she appeared on screen. The had lunch every day at the Monogram lunch room and he said they even ate with Bela Lugosi! He had on his makeup described as a greenish grease paint as he was also in a horror film at that time. He described Beaudine as man in motion, constantly making last minute changes to the scrip and never call "cut" unless the camera film broke! He remembered the movie took about 6 days to complete and then they had a party with all the actors and stage hands. I also told Duncan I had 16mm prints of 13th Guest, Batman and Robin serial and Delinquent Daughters, three of his best films in my opinion. He also invited me to come and see him in the Ozark's in Mo. He sent me an autographed picture of himself in costume as Robin in color. At that time he was still active and even as he said, mowing his lawn in his 80's. I never made it down there and found out he passed last year at 89. In my original review of 2002, I mentioned Dick Purcell, playing Johnny Smith was a reporter, He was actually a PI (private investigator). He died in 1944 (39 yrs old) after playing 18 holes on a Beverly Hills Golf Course. In closing for anyone interested in conversing further about The Mystery of the 13th Guest film or the actors especially Helen Parish or Johnny Duncan, feel free to contact me thru Facebook or the review.

The Mystery of the 13th Guest is a not a typical example of the 40's Monogram pictures productions. This one outshines most of the typical "B" trappings they produced in the early 40's. 13th Guest made the most out of the typical wartime budget's and dimly lighted set versions that Monogram made famous. The female lead, Helen Parrish made it special because she was very uder-rated to say the least. She carries the film and adds some really good action to an otherwise typical haunted house movie. She reprises the Ginger Rogers role of 1932 and adds flare and style to the character. Dick Purcel is great as the wisecracking reporter. He died soon after the film was released and it was ashame as they really sparked together. I have not seen the film on tv since the late 40's and won't either. Most of the Monograms features were struck on celuloid so they aren't around anymore. My print is on Kodak safty film so it will never die!