THE THIRTEENTH CHAIR

The great Bela Lugosi

THE THIRTEENTH CHAIR (1929). Director: Tod Browning. 

When playboy Spencer Lee is found stabbed to death, it is suspected he was killed due to his negative writings on the thugee cult. But his old friend Edward Wales (John Davidson of Dick Tracy vs. Crime Inc.) is sure the killer was a woman. At the home of Sir Roscoe Crosby (Holmes Herbert), Wales is present when a medium, Madame LaGrange (Margaret Wycherly), arrives to hold a seance. Others present include Crosby's son Richard (Conrad Nagel), who is engaged to his father's secretary, Nellie (Leila Hyams); his daughter, Helen Trent (Moon Carroll); his wife, Lady Crosby (Mary Forbes); the disbelieving Mary Eastwood (Helene Millard); and others. The seance begins, a scream rings out, the lights go on -- and somebody else has been murdered! Inspector Delzante (Bela Lugosi of Son of Frankenstein) arrives ... 

Conrad Nagel and Leila Hyams

The rather creaky Thirteenth Chair betrays its theatrical origins with its stage-bound quality and generally old-fashioned acting styles. It eventually becomes interesting in a minor way, and it's fun to watch Bela Lugosi adroitly hammering home his accusations as he questions the host and many guests. Margaret Wycherly, repeating her stage role, is excellent, as is Leila Hyams, who plays with comparative restraint, something you certainly couldn't say of the over-the-top Helene Millard. Conrad Nagel acquits himself nicely as he repeatedly protests his fiance's innocence. Not enough is made of the gruesome business of the corpse of the second victim being present at a second seance -- two people are forced to hold hands with a dead body! The film was remade in 1937 and filmed previously in 1919. Two years after this film Browning directed Lugosi in Dracula. 

Verdict: Minor mystery with some good performances and an unexpected conclusion. **1/2.