El trece fatídico

Years ago there was a dinner at an old dark house with thirteen guests invited. Only twelve showed up. Flash forward to the future and murders are being committed at that same house with the original twelve guests. Something about an inheritance. Honestly it's a confusing old creaker. It's never as much fun as you would hope from this type of movie. Notable for being an early Ginger Rogers film and for being based on the only other novel by the guy who wrote Scarface. It's watchable enough I suppose but very dry and a bit of a chore at times. Avid fans of the period and genre will likely enjoy it more.

THE THIRTEENTH GUEST (Monogram, 1932), directed by Albert Ray, from the novel by Armitage Trail, is an acceptable 70 minute programmer murder mystery that stands very well on its own merits. Starring Ginger Rogers and Lyle Talbot, both of whom would be reunited once more under Ray's direction in A SHRIEK IN THE NIGHT (Allied, 1933), another mystery thriller, THE THIRTEENTH GUEST ranks the better of the two, in spite of its current lack of television broadcasts in comparison to the frequent revivals of A SHRIEK IN THE NIGHT during the early years of cable TV during most of the 1980s. As with A SHRIEK IN THE NIGHT, THE THIRTEENTH GUEST includes no underscoring, with the exception of a Johannes Brahms composition, "Academic Festival Overture," heard during its opening screen credits.

The story begins with a young woman (Ginger Rogers) coming out of a taxi which stops in front of 122 Old Mill Road, and asking the driver to wait for her. She enters the house, which has stood vacant for thirteen years. Noticing the abandoned estate still has telephone service and electric lights, she finds and opens the envelope which reads, "To be handled to my daughter, Marie Morgan, on her 21st birthday." Envisioning the dinner party that was to have taken place 13 years ago, by which her father had died and the mysterious thirteenth guest had never arrived, the girl, after hearing a noise, suddenly screams. The cab driver leaves to notify the police. Called to the case are Captain Ryan (J. Farrell MacDonald, Hollywood's resident cop), and Gump (Paul Hurst), his stooge detective. Ryan summons Phil Winston (Lyle Talbot), a private investigator and womanizer whose catch phrase is "Ah, you go to the devil," (the frequent remark used by Talbot in A SHRIEK IN THE NIGHT). Winston finds the girl in question, apparently Marie Morgan, whose cause of death was electrocution, although there are no wires found connected to the seat where she was sitting. While going through the usual channels of investigation, and finding out that Morgan Sr. had written a will leaving a fortune to the 13th guest, John Barksdale (Robert Klein), is also found dead through electrocution. More mystery follows when a hooded mystery man wearing a black cloak is seen (by the avid movie viewer) stalking about the mansion behind the walls pulling a switch that electrocutes any his victims as well as the arrival of Marie Morgan (Ginger Rogers), very much alive, leaving more questions to be answered as to who was that other girl who was killed earlier? Who is this person with the intentions of murdering the former thirteen dinner guests one by one? Is the killer one of the thirteen guests? And what does the slip of paper found reading 13-13-13 mean?

The supporting cast in this production includes: James Eagles as Bud Morgan, Marie's brother; Erville Alderson as Uncle John Adams; Frances Rich as Marjorie Thornton; Ethel Wales as Joan Thornton; William B. Davidson as Captain Browne; Eddie Phillips as Thor Jensen; and Phillips Smalley as Dick Thornton.

While THE THIRTEENTH GUEST is a low-budget production, it was obviously a profitable little item for Monogram because of several imitators in later years, along with the studio's very own 1943 remake, retitled THE MYSTERY OF THE THIRTEENTH GUEST, starring Helen Parrish, Dick Purcell and Tim Ryan in the Rogers, Talbot and MacDonald roles. It's been noted that Monogram frequently revived THE THIRTEENTH GUEST in theaters over the years due the strength of the popularity of its leading star, Ginger Rogers, who was by then just a featured performer. Concentrating more on its creepy atmosphere and unusual occurrences to keep the action going and audiences guessing, the movie does takes time for humor, intentional or otherwise, compliments of Paul Hurst as a comical stupid cop, who could be, at times, more annoying than amusing; as well as one scene which finds the wealthy members of the family being sent to jail and sharing the cell with an assortment of people beneath their class, in other words, low-lifes.

THE THIRTEENTH GUEST, an interesting curio for some and a yawner for others, once considered a "lost" film, was formerly available on video cassette through several distributors, including Matinée Classics and Video Dimensions. Video transfers from each are satisfactory, although picture restoration is evident. Be aware DVD prints from Alpha Video doesn't include original 1932 opening titles, actually a latter 1940s reissue print credited by Equity Studios instead of Monogram. (**1/2)

This poverty row thriller has a similar storyline to "The Cat and the Canary" - haunted house, frightened heiress, a disguised killer, secret passages etc. Ginger Rogers and Lyle Talbot, who plays Phil Winston were not a romantic couple in this film (although they did date briefly in real life) until the last five minutes - he being very keen on solving the murders.

The film starts imaginatively with a clutching hand pulling down each title card. Marie Morgan (or Lela) (Ginger Rogers) arrives at her old family home - one that hasn't been occupied for 13 years to find a telephone has been installed!!! After reading a cryptic message left by her father, she remembers back to a dinner party of 13 years before. The thirteenth guest did not arrive. When her father died he left the bulk of his estate to the 13th guest who never came forward. Thirteen years later the police are called to view a girls body, they believe has been electrocuted.

There is a "hooded terror" roaming and controlling the house through an "electrified" phone - when people answer it, a lever is pushed and the victim dies. It seems that the killer wanted the police to believe that Marie was the victim but it is really an unknown woman who has had a complete facial reconstruction to look like Marie. Then the family lawyer is found dead. Winston is convinced one of the original guests is the killer and invites them all to his apartment to show them that Marie is very much alive!!!

This is a pretty good film with lots of twists and turns. Being a pre- code some of the comments are surprising. Eddie Philips being referred to as Marie's brother's "boyfriend". When Paul Hurst as a bumbling detective looks down at his shoes, realises that they are on the wrong feet and then says "Well, you told me to tail her" everyone laughs!!

Recommended.

A Ginger Rogers movie from 1932 that played well into the 1940's on her name alone.

The story concerns the deaths thirteen years after a dinner party where the host died and the 13th guest never showed up. The mystery concerns attempts of persons to unlock the mystery of the will read at that fateful dinner party.

The movie is old time and not bad. The dialog is mostly well done and the acting and direction is more realistic then one would expect from an independent production. Interestingly two of the characters are all but named as gay lovers, something that I find incredible simply because I've never seen this listed in a gay friendly histories of Hollywood and Hollywood films.(Then Again I haven't really looked) I liked it I didn't love it. Its not a bad time passer but its not something you want to search out, but its not something to turn off if you see it late at night.

Frankly even though its an average thriller I have no doubt that it would have disappeared had Ginger not been it.

A very young Ginger Rogers stars in "The Thirteenth Guest," a 1932 film also starring Lyle Talbot. Thirteen years earlier, a dinner party took place in an old house, but the 13th guest never appeared. Now the owner of the house is dead and left his estate to this 13th guest. Someone is murdering the original party guests and putting each dead body in his or her original seat at the table.

Rogers plays Marie Morgan, whom we think has been murdered early on. It turns out that it was someone else whose face was altered to look like hers. Detective Phil Winston (Talbot) investigates the situation.

This is a good haunted house mystery, but unfortunately suffers from a terrible print and bad sound. Nevertheless it's fun to see Ginger and Talbot, both of whom are very good. If you can tolerate the print, you'll enjoy it.