La treizième chaise

Inspector Marney (Lewis Stone) investigates the murder of a man in Calcutta. When John Wales (Henry Daniell), a friend of the dead man, decides to hold a seance with the suspects, Marney finds himself with another murder on his hands.

Coming in at a brisk 66 minutes, The Thirteenth Chair is an entertaining mystery film. It shows its stage origins, mainly taking place on the same two or three sets, but the director keeps things moving at a good pace. May Whitty is the standout among the cast, but Lewis Stone is good as the police inspector. 3.5/5

"The Thirteenth Chair" (1937) is the third version of this story...a story that was originally a play back in the day. I haven't seen the 1919 version but the 1929 version was very stagy and dull. Is this third version finally one that I would enjoy?

When the story begins, a murder has already occurred. Someone has the bright idea of bringing in a psychic, Madame La Grange (May Witty), to investigate. She holds a seance....and during this seance, one of the members of this group of folks is stabbed to death. But who did these two murders? It's up to Inspector Marney (Lewis Stone) to sort it all out and apprehend the murderer or murderers.

Unlike the 1929 version, this one seemed less stagy and more interesting. A clear case where a remake was a good idea...which isn't too surprising considering that many films from 1929 were stagy and dull...mostly because the studios still were working to perfect sound pictures. Overall, an interesting and stylish little film...and I do wonder how it compares to the silent 1919 version.

The Thirteenth Chair (1937)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Remake of the 1929 Tod Browning film (which itself was a remake of a 1920 film) about a medium (Dame May Witty) who is brought into try and solve the murder of a man but during the séance another man ends up murdered. Now the detective (Lewis Stone) must try and figure out which person done it. This version of THE THIRTEENTH CHAIR is actually better than the previous one thanks in large part to some nice performances, good direction by George B. Seitz and a good story. If you've seen the 1929 version then you're going to notice that there haven't been too many changes here story-wise but what really makes this one work better is that Seitz does a much better job in the director's chair. Whereas that 1929 version was incredibly flat, this one here actually moves at a very nice pace and there are some effective moments throughout. The séance scenes are also extremely well-done and especially the one where the medium works alone. The opening title card gives Witty a huge credit and she is quite good here. She'll always be best remembered for her role in Hitchcock's THE LADY VANISHES but she's very believable here. The supporting cast is equally good with Stone turning in a fun performance as the detective and we've also got Henry Daniell playing one of the members of the party. Madge Evans, Elissa Landi and Thomas Beck are also good. The story itself has a few questionable moments but it's still effective enough for this type of "B" movie. Fans of this type of murder-mystery should really enjoy this one.

During a séance to draw out a murderer, another murder is committed. Psychic medium Dame May Witty works to solve both murders, which becomes personal when one of the prime suspects is someone close to her. Pretty good B murder mystery from MGM with a great cast. Dame May Witty, Lewis Stone, Henry Daniell, Holmes Herbert, and Charles Trowbridge are all class acts. Madge Evans and Elissa Landi are lovely. A good way to spend an hour and change. Remake of a movie made twice before, most notably by Tod Browning in 1929 with Bela Lugosi and Conrad Nagel. White-haired Lewis Stone's mustache is so light you can barely make it out but kudos to him for trying. If you haven't seen it, try to avoid reading much about it as most plot descriptions (including the TCM info) give away a fairly big plot point.

This has to be my favorite seance movie. Dame May Whitty is in her one and only main lead feature role here. She plays a medium of humble background who is sought by society people for her 'powers.' She enters a big grand house and has to endure all the skeptical jokes bandied upon her. However she is able to rebound jokes back at her well-heeled customers. Henry Daniell plays the man who believes in her powers. He has instigated the seance in order to find the name of a murderer. Rather than wondering about the whodunit aspect of the story, I found myself more concerned for the proven innocence of one of the suspects. It's revealed that the medium is more involved with one of the suspects than we know at the beginning. After the first seance produces another murder, a second seance is held. The medium finds true inspiration at last and fetches out the murderer at her second attempt.