The Thirteenth Chair

1929
Passed
1h 12m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Psychological Drama Whodunnit Drama Mystery

Edward Wales stages a seance to catch his friend's murderer. With 13 suspects, one kills again during the seance. The medium investigates when someone close is accused, aiming to expose the ... Read allEdward Wales stages a seance to catch his friend's murderer. With 13 suspects, one kills again during the seance. The medium investigates when someone close is accused, aiming to expose the real culprit.Edward Wales stages a seance to catch his friend's murderer. With 13 suspects, one kills again during the seance. The medium investigates when someone close is accused, aiming to expose the real culprit.

Director
- Tod Browning
Writers
- Bayard Veiller
- Joseph Farnham
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.8/10

828

YOUR RATING

Director
- Tod Browning
Writers
- Bayard Veiller
- Joseph Farnham
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win total

User reviews29

Featured review

10/10

A Small Triumph For Miss Wycherly & Mr. Lugosi

In British India, a séance in Calcutta leaves a dead man sitting in THE THIRTEENTH CHAIR...

Under the able direction of Tod Browning, this antique talkie weaves a taut tale of murder & suspense. The oppressive atmosphere & limited use of sets creates a claustrophobic sense of eerie unreality. The excellent utilization of sound during the sequences of almost total screen blackout demonstrate the director's understanding of the potentialities of the new medium.

Conrad Nagel & Leila Hyams receive top billing, but they have little to do beyond looking frightened or concerned. This they accomplish quite well.

The film is dominated by two fascinating performances. Bela Lugosi makes a rather bizarre police inspector, his mesmeric eyes, claw-like hands & compelling voice giving an early demonstration of the qualities which would make him one of the screen's top monsters (Lugosi & Browning would have to wait two more years for the huge success of their next collaboration, DRACULA). Elderly Margaret Wycherly, as a wily Irish medium, is a delight and easily steals scene after scene. It is she who comes up with the plan to ultimately unmask the killer.

Ron Oliver
Jan 23, 2002
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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Completed July 16 1929, the first sound feature in which Bela Lugosi's famous Hungarian tones were heard. This was Bela Lugosi's first venture with Browning. Two years later, the director cast him in the film version of the Bram Stoker vampire tale after Chaney, Browning's first choice for the role, died. Lugosi and Browning made one other film together, Mark of the Vampire (1935), in which he played Count Mora, a knock-off of his more famous blood-sucking cousin.

Goofs
There are several scenes where it appears the actors are waiting for their cues before they start talking, most notably when the Inspector calls them all into the room to re-create the séance.

It isn't a "goof" that the actors seem to be waiting for their cues before they start acting. Many of the earliest MGM talkies employed a technique of long, lingering inactive moments at the beginning and ending of reels, which apparently were supposed to take the place of a leader when they changed over, perhaps accommodating the Vitaphone print versions. Years ago, when these titles appeared on TV, they didn't do that, so maybe Movietone versions were more succinctly edited.

Quotes
Inspector Delzante: [Interrogating Madame La Grange, consulting his notes] Perhaps this will refresh your memory.

Alternate versions
MGM also released this movie in a silent version at 1628.55 m in length. The silent version of the film is considered lost as of February 2021.