The Thirteenth Guest (1932)

The Thirteenth Guest (1932)

„The Thirteenth Guest“ is a 1932 mystery comedy thriller film directed by Albert Ray. The screenplay by Frances Hyland and Arthur Hoerl is based on the 1929 novel of the same name by Armitage Trail.

On the eve of her twenty-first birthday, Marie Morgan returns to the house in which she grew up, which has been empty for thirteen years. She has a slip of paper from Barksdale, the executor of her father’s estate, which reads „13-13-13.“ While Marie investigates the sound of footsteps, a scream and a shot are heard.

Later, police arrive at the house on the advice of Marie’s cabdriver and find her electrocuted body seated at the dinner table. Police investigator Captain Ryan calls in hotshot detective Phil Winston and tells him the story of how years before, Marie’s father had announced that his millions would go to the „thirteenth guest“ at a family dinner, a person who never arrived, and then died immediately after declaring his intentions.

Marie’s brother, Harold „Bud“ Morgan, and their friend Thor Jensen verify that Marie’s body is in the exact seat that she sat in on the night of her father’s death. To everyone’s astonishment, the real Marie appears at the house very much alive, and informs them that she was able to hide when she heard the scream and the shot, and then took herself to the police station.

The police discover scars on the dead girl that indicate she had facial reconstruction to make her look like Marie. Phil suspects that someone who attended the infamous dinner years before is responsible for the murder. His prime suspect is John Barksdale, the executor of the will, until he, too, is killed in the house and placed in his seat at the table.

When the Morgan family refuses to cooperate in Phil’s investigation, he places them all in jail for safekeeping, but another murder takes place in the house when someone tries to use the phone. Phil and Ryan discover that the phone is made of steel, and the victims have been electrocuted when they pick it up. The man who operated on Leila, Marie’s lookalike, informs Phil that Jensen came with Leila and also had surgery.

After Phil has the family released from jail, Marie is called to the house by him but is grabbed by a masked man before she can get there. Brad and Phil, meanwhile, arrive and find Jensen at the house. Jensen confesses to being involved in a scheme with Barksdale and Leila to get the combination to the safe containing the inheritance. Although Jensen admits he did try to kill the real Marie, he insists the masked man killed Leila. Phil realizes there are two factions at work and orders the police to smash through a wall, where they find the electrocution contraption. They also find Marie, who has locked the masked man in the safe. The masked man turns out to be her uncle Adams. Marie finds a letter from her father informing her that she is the „thirteenth guest,“ and that he was making a melodramatic attempt to save her fortune and her life. The letter warns her not to marry into a strange and greedy family as he did. There is no danger of that, however, as Marie and Phil have fallen in love.

A 1932 American Black & White pre-Code mystery comedy thriller film (a/k/a „Lady Beware“, directed by Albert Ray, produced by M.H. Hoffman, screenplay by Frances Hyland and Arthur Hoerl (uncredited), based on crime fiction author Armitage Trail’s 1929 novel of the same name, cinematography by Tom Galligan and Harry Neumann, starring Ginger Rogers, Lyle Talbot, J. Farrell MacDonald, Paul Hurst, Erville Alderson, Ethel Wales, Crauford Kent, Eddie Phillips, Frances Rich, and Phillips Smalley.

Ginger Rogers’s big breakthrough came the following year in „42nd Street“ (1933), playing Ann Lowell, aka Anytime Annie („She only said no once, and then she didn’t hear the question“).

This film includes no underscoring, with the exception of a Johannes Brahms composition, „Academic Festival Overture,“ heard during its opening screen credits.

When the prison sergeant says „Take a look at the 400 and see that they’re all there“, the reference is the „Four Hundred“, a term used to describe the social elite of New York, especially in the last half of the 19th Century.

When Uncle John refers to „Nine Yokohama“ he is talking about a famous Japanese brothel.

Monogram Pictures remade it as „The Mystery of the 13th Guest“ (1943).

Armitage Trail [Maurice R. Coons] is best known for the novel Scarface, his only other significant work, the basis of the movie „Scarface“ (1932). Trail sold the rights to Scarface to Howard Hughes for $25,000, moved to Los Angeles, and lived flamboyantly.

This poverty row thriller was a box office success and received mostly positive reviews from critics. Variety called it „vastly superior“ and „a positive money maker“.

Cast:

• Ginger Rogers – Lela/Marie Morgan
• Lyle Talbot – Phil Winston
• J. Farrell MacDonald – Police Captain Ryan
• Paul Hurst – Detective Grump
• Erville Alderson – Uncle John Adams
• Ethel Wales – Aunt Jane Thornton
• James Eagles – Harold „Bud“ Morgan
• Crauford Kent – Dr. Sherwood
• Eddie Phillips – Thor Jensen
• Frances Rich – Marjorie Thornton
• Phillips Smalley – Uncle Dick Thornton
• Allan Cavan – Uncle Wayne Seymour
• William Davidson – Police Captain Brown
• John Ince – Uncle John Morgan
• Tom London – Detective Carter
• Harry Tenbrook – Cabby
• Adrienne Dore – Winston's Date

„The Thirteenth Guest“ ist eine Krimikomödie aus dem Jahr 1932 unter der Regie von Albert Ray. Das Drehbuch von Frances Hyland und Arthur Hoerl basiert auf dem gleichnamigen Roman von Armitage Trail aus dem Jahr 1929.
Am Vorabend ihres einundzwanzigsten Geburtstags kehrt Marie Morgan in das Haus zurück, in dem sie aufgewachsen ist und das seit dreizehn Jahren leer steht. Sie hat einen Zettel von Barksdale, dem Nachlassverwalter ihres Vaters, auf dem "13-13-13" steht. Während Marie dem Geräusch von Schritten nachgeht, sind ein Schrei und ein Schuss zu hören.