The 13th Man

"The 13th Man" is a pretty good B murder mystery. And, like so many of these films, it seems to have all the usual tropes...such as the smarter than the cops reporter who busts the case, an incredibly complicated and rather insane way of murdering people and the obligatory gather everyone into one room and watch the guilty incriminate themselves scene at the end.

The story begins in a town where the District Attorney is running for re-election. In order to gain publicity and rid the town of crooks, he's leading a crackdown. So far, he's arrested a dozen mobsters and on the radio he announces he's about to arrest a 13th. And, as you'd always expect in such a film, the DA is about to assume room temperature before he can divulge who this man or woman is!!

Overall, this is very typical of a B mystery....not just in the ways mentioned above but in its fast pace, run time of about an hour and because it's predictable but still entertaining. Worth seeing if you enjoy the genre or just want to see what the first Monogram release was.

This B film from Monogram looks like it was butchered in the editing which was typical for the poverty row studios. But reading between the lines you'll find a decent plot and the kind of method of homicide usually reserved for authors like Arthur Conan Doyle.

The District Attorney falls over dead attending a prize fight and first it's thought to be heart failure. Before attending the fight he made a radio speech saying that he was about to bring in an indictment, The 13th Man he's brought to trial for racketeering and he gives some possibilities in the speech.

It's not natural causes of course that kills the DA and Walter Winchell like columnist Weldon Heyburn and his leg man Milburn Stone are on the trail. Stone makes a fatal discovery for him and it gets real personal for Heyburn after that.

Some familiar character players will be seen. Best of all is Dewey Robinson who usually played good natured mugs. He's a former prizefighter who due to a ring accident has been left with a lilting tenor and now has a new career in radio. Hearing him sing Will You Remember Me with the dubbed tenor is funny stuff.

Worth seeing the film for.

District Attorney William Gould is running for re-election. He has put a dozen men into prison in his efforts to clean up the city. He announces on the radio that tomorrow he will have the Grand Jury indict the thirteenth man, a man who controls all the city's rackets. Unfortunately for his plans, he drops dead while in the audience of a prize fight. It's thought at first that he died of a heart attack, but an autopsy turns up curare. He has been murdered! Newspapermen/broadcasters Weldon Heyburn and Milburn Stone start to investigate. Then Stone dies also. When looking through his pockets, a cigarette holder shows up. But Stone never smoked cigarettes!

After two years of dealing with Herbert Yates at Republic, Trem Carr and Ray Johnson left to reform Republic Pictures. They produced a score of movies in their first year, and this was the first released. It's fast, it's moves right along, it's a fair enough mystery, but despite lead Heyburn looking adequate, director William Nigh seems to be more interested in getting his picture in the can and under budget, which is probably why DP Paul Ivano shoots almost all his set-ups in medium two-shots and doesn't move the camera much. There's a lot of editing for Russell F. Schoengarth to do, and he does it very well, keeping this to a non-boring 78 minutes.

"The Thirteenth Man" is a reasonable B-Mystery with a decent plot and enough suspense to keep your attention most of the time. The cast and characters are mostly routine, but Weldon Heyburn does bring some life to the lead role.

The story starts when a tough D.A., who has recently put away 12 of the town's most notorious criminals, announces that he will soon target his 13th man. Before he can do so, he is murdered, and two reporters (Heyburn and Milburn Stone, later of "Gunsmoke") decide to investigate, although there are many possible suspects and few clues. While the production itself is strictly low-budget, the murder mystery plot is not bad, without any big holes, and it keeps you guessing to the end.

Overall, while nothing spectacular, this is probably better than average for a B-Mystery.

The district attorney is determined to clean up the town - he has so far arrested 12 miscreants, members of the underworld. And he announces he's about to arrest a 13th.

There are a lot of choices, and when the DA falls over dead due to a poison dart, an investigation begins as soon as it's revealed he did not die of a heart attack.

Among the most interested is Swifty Taylor (Weldon Heyburn), a radio journalist. He wants a scoop, so he does some investigating on his own. When his friend (Milburn Stone) runs into trouble, Swifty becomes more determined than ever to solve the case.

Fast-moving B movie.