Search - The Thirteenth Guest (1932) [Remastered Edition] on DVD

The Thirteenth Guest
1932
Actors: Ginger Rogers, Lyle Talbot, J. Farrell MacDonald, Paul Hurst, Erville Alderson
Director: Albert Ray
Genres: Drama, Horror, Mystery & Suspense

NR 2005 1hr 17min

Marie Morgan (Ginger Rogers) takes her flashlight and key and opens the door of an old, dark and shuttered, overgrown with decay abandoned house. She is amazed to see on a cobweb-covered table, a new telephone, and as she ... more »enters the dining-room, where rats are gnawing the decayed remains of a sumptuous feast laid out years ago for thirteen guests, she is also surprised to find that electric lights have been installed. She sits in the thirteenth chair and resconstructs the scene of thirteen years before, when she, as a young girl, sat at the side of her father (Charles Meecham) who died at the table after reading a mysterious will. Outside two people climb out of an unlighted car and enter the house. Screams pierce the night air, and her cab driver (Harry Tenbrook) goes for the police. The police find Marie dead at her place at the table. Police Captain Ryan (J. Farrell MacDonald) calls in criminologist Phil Winston (Lyle Talbot) to assist him in the investigation. Police officers bring in Harold 'Bud' Morgan (James Eagles), brother of the girl, and his friend, Thor Jensen (Eddie Phillips), both also guests at the fatal meal thirteen years before. They identify the body and cast suspicions upon family lawyer Robert Barksdale (Robert Klein. ) Order are given to pick up Barksdale who is later found dead at his original place at the table. Winston is called, and as he arrives, police officers bring in Marie Morgan, the supposedly dead girl, who explains that she was frightened away by the screams when she was there and has just come out of hiding. Winston determines that a double was substituted for her at the table, and takes her to his apartment where he persudaes her to call the surviving members of the dinner to come to his apartment. First to arrive is Uncle John Adams (Erville Alderson), who Marie describes as mean enough to kill anybody, followed by Aunt Jane (Ethel Wales) and Uncle Dick Thornton (Phillips Smalley) and their daughter Marjorie (Frances Rich. ) Harold and Thor also arrive. Finding them unwilling to assist and inclined to make a joke of the whole affair, Winston orders their confinement, but later has them released with a police officer ordered to shadow each one. The trail leads back to the old house, when Marie is given a false message to meet Winston there. Winston rescues her from a secret room and the clutches of the killer, and finds that the motive had been the attempted theft of a combination in her possession which unlocked a vault containing keys to a safe-deposit box disclosing her as the beneficiary of a will made prior to the dinner party 13 years before. Written by Les Adams {longhorn3708@windstream.net}

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Movie Details

Actors: Ginger Rogers, Lyle Talbot, J. Farrell MacDonald, Paul Hurst, Erville Alderson
Director: Albert Ray
Genres: Drama, Horror, Mystery & Suspense
Sub-Genres: Drama, Horror, Mystery & Suspense
Studio: Tapeworm
Format: DVD - Color,Full Screen,Widescreen,Anamorphic
DVD Release Date: 03/22/2005
Release Year: 2005
Run Time: 1hr 17min
Screens: Color,Full Screen,Widescreen,Anamorphic
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaDVD Credits: 1
Total Copies: 0
Members Wishing: 5
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Languages: English
Subtitles: English
See Also:

The Thirteenth Guest

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Movie Reviews

A real shocker

bernie | Arlington, Texas | 02/17/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Thirteen years later one of 13 guests returns to the Morgan mansion to the scene of a last supper of which the last guest never appeared and ended in the death of the host.

There is a big bang and a hideous scream. When the police captain Ryan, (J. Farrel MacDonald), arrives they find a creepy old dusty mansion with a new telephone and a girl (Ginger Rogers) sitting at the table. As is his habit Captain Ryan calls on his intuitive friend Phil Winston (Lyle Talbot when he was still young and hansom) to sort out the clues.

Who is the dead woman?
How did she die?
Why was she there?
What is the secret of the "Thirteenth Guest?"

The length of the movie is too short to set up the proper environment and has to move too fast to enjoy the anticipation and speculation. However it is well acted and will keep you guessing even if the audience gets more of the inside track than Phil Winston.

We get all the regular suspects and the standard gathering of suspects while Phil fills in the holes and if we are lucky may beat him to the conclusion.
"

A Whodunnit that Works Backwards

Deacon | America | 05/03/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First off, this is one of Ginger Rodgers best films ever.

Now, let's get down to the film itself. This is an example of one of those classic backwards whodunnit stories. It starts off at the end with a person walking into a house and an explosion.

Then as a police detective interviews people you have to work back to the begining to figure out what happened.

This formula was recently used in the modern film The Usual Suspects and works just as well in this older film."