Synopsis
The Screen Does New Thrills
A phony psychic tries to solve a murder that took place during her seance.
The Thirteenth Chair
Cast
Director
Writer
Original Writer
Editor
Cinematography
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Genre
Releases by Date
Theatrical
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USANR
Releases by Country
USA
07 May 1937
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Popular reviews
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"Thirteen's a lucky number, ma'am, to them as has done no evil."
An "out-and-out rotter" with a prominent, if unseemly, profile amongst the (then-British controlled) Calcutta swell set has taken a blade to the heart, and Scotland Yard inspector Lewis Stone's been called in to investigate. So he takes the suggestion of the murder victim’s best friend (Henry Daniell) and allows a staged séance to be held in order to catch the killer by means of psychological trickery.
Because that's a totally reasonable investigative tactic.
The kind of movie that screams: "Adapted From A Stage Play!" In fact, this was the third cinematic version of Bayard Veiller’s 1916 Manhatten-set, locked room mystery. Both Tod Browning's ‘29 take - the director's…
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My April 2021 films to watch: Movies titled with numbers 1 to 21.
5.5/10
Wait, Mr. Wales, Don't sit down. There are 13 of us here (says Heather Thatcher's character).
13 is a lucky number, Ma'am, to them that has done no evil (responds Dame May Whitty's character).
Wouldn't it be interesting to combine the better parts of an original film with the better parts of its remake?
The 1st half of the 1929 version of this former stage play labors along with little life whereas this 1937 version is far better in its 1st half. But with regard to the 2nd halves, the reverse occurs: the 2nd half of the 1929 version is a treat, whereas the 2nd half…
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After the tedium of the 1929 version, a much better Thirteenth Chair after Hollywood had relearnt how to make films. It's still no classic and the concept (seances in pitch black) is way more theatrical than cinematic but Dame May Whitty is great in the central role of the eccentric medium and there are a few moments that are pleasantly creepy.
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I wanted to watch this for the lovely and underrated Madge Evans (we both share the same last name!).
I like mysteries and stories about seances, so this was right up my alley!
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I felt when May Whitty was in focus The Thirteenth Chair (1937) was a completely different picture all-together. When she was on, this was the suspense mystery I had hoped for. Then the others where on, it lost it's edge. Elegance it still had, but excitement was stripped. I guess what I mean is that this was unfocused. Typical of these programmers. Still worth a look for those fans of old mysteries.
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Better than Browning's 1929 version, but it's close: it doesn't have any of the "wow" factor of someone making a fully-functional object in 1929 and May Whitty is worse than Margaret Wycherly was as the protagonist spirit medium, not quite nailing the "low-born self-amused wit" that the latter made such a vital foundation for her character in the '29 version. On the other hand, director George B. Seitz (plus Marion Personnet's screenplay, and just this particular configuration of actors) are leagues better at doing "ensemble," which would probably be enough already, but the '37 version outdoes the '29 on a couple of other fronts: one, Charles Clarke's strong, sometimes downright proto-noir photography is better; two, and I know this is…
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That Pat Hingle left us before playing the inspector in a remake of this is a crime
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The Thirteenth Chair follows up on a murder where someone has the idea to use a psychic to catch the murderer, and the whole plan goes south when that person is also murdered. It does fall into the standard "someone in this room is a murderer" pattern, and there's a bit of a repetitive pattern in people convinced someone accused didn't do it and lots of attempts at misdirects.
The strongest thing it has going for it, though, is the psychic herself. She's played very well by May Whitty, and part of what I found rather refreshing was that she does a lot of playing around with how tricks can be done and then pulling back that curtain with some decent timing, which gives it a bit of a Penn and Teller vibe at points.
There isn't anything in here too memorable, but Whitty (and the psychic character in general) keeps this fairly entertaining and pretty watchable.
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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…
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A mystic’s (Dame May Whitty) séance, performed to try and flush out a murderer, results in even more bloodshed.
A murder mystery hyper-focused on our show séance and the immediate investigation afterwards, with some good gimmicks and even some well-timed shocks. With a plethora of characters, it was hard to differentiate them until well into the runtime. Much of the background on various suspect characters’ possible motives is matter-of-factly divulged by our investigator (Lewis Stone), rather than gradually learned by the viewer through the movie’s natural narrative, making this movie sometimes feel like the second half of a more conventional mystery. But it’s definitely got the tempting gleam of the puzzle beckoning… a darkened, locked room where a murder happens, with all the suspects at hand but no weapon can be found. And one well-staged surprise near the end woke me up enough to enjoy the methods (if not exactly the final results) of the conclusion.
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I think this movie is peak men-in-tuxedos-leaning-against-pianos. More technically well-crafted than the 1929 version, and also more boring.
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