Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Excellent, a Must See

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Released in 1929, "The Thirteenth Chair" is the filmed version of a rather popular play of the same name. Today, it is a hopelessly dated movie that creaks along at a snails pace and is truly an endurance test to sit through despite its 72 minute run time. The only memorable aspect is the first appearance of Bela Lugosi in a leading role, demolishing scenery as only the future Dracula can. Whether mangling the English language or speaking lines with . . . .his . . . trademark . . . pauses . . . Mr. Lugosi commands ones attention. Set in Calcutta, India for some reason, the story is a murder mystery wherein a man is slain in the middle of a seance. Lugosi is called in to solve the case and, after much cajoling and bullying, manages to do so with the aid of the medium. The film itself is tough to watch mainly due to the poor acting and static nature of this early talkie film. It could benefit significantly from tighter editing as certain shots seem to drag on for at least 5 seconds too long. Conrad Nagel is the top-billed star but I'm not sure what character he played (It was Richard, the fiancée). He has absolutely nothing to do except console the prime suspect, Helen, portrayed by Leila Hyams. As the phony medium, Margaret Wycherly gets kudos from reviewers for her contribution but to me she'll always be Ma Jarrett from "White Heat." The rest of the cast is unmemorable, to be kind. Which brings us to Lugosi. He is easily the most memorable character in the film and performs all the Lugosi shtick (glaring, clutching, deliberate . . . line . . . readings . . . etc.) that he has become famous (or infamous) for. For some reason director Tod Browning constructed a lot of his shots with the back of Lugosi's head visible to viewers (maybe he had a fetish for Bela's neckline or it was a joke a la John Ford photographing Ward Bond's posterior whenever possible). Despite being billed seventh he is the closest thing to a male lead in the film and he dominates the scenes he is in. Without him the film would be impossible to sit through. As an early example of a talking film, "The Thirteenth Chair" pretty much sums up the brief period before directors figured out how to take a play and make it cinematic instead of simply filming a stage drama. It is certainly a treat to see Bela Lugosi in a normal leading role before his entire life would be cast under the spell of Dracula.

This film proves that in 1929 a lot of talking films were still primitive and although most of the cast seemed reasonably at ease with dialogue, John Davidson's perfect and slow pronunciation really stuck out. There is even a scene toward the end where people are grouped (obviously waiting to begin the scene) and after a few seconds they start talking and mingling. "Locked room" movies were all the rage in these early days - one set was all that was needed and the studios could then show off their sound skills. For MGM, who had already made "The Broadway Melody", "The Last of Mrs. Cheyney" and "Halelujah", this film was static and unimaginative. The magic that Tod Browning had weaved with Lon Chaney in the 20s seemed to evaporate when talking pictures appeared. Apart from "Dracula" and "Freaks", which harked back to his days as a director of shock and suspense, he spent the rest of his career in programmers and remakes of his silent hits.It also feels like it has a few minutes missing from the start - or I'm a bit dense!! Everyone seems to know what's going on already - renowned womaniser Spencer Lee has been killed by a woman - but which woman??? Ned Wales (John Davidson) is the only person in the house who liked Lee (Spencer had saved him from drowning when they were children) and who is determined to find his killer. Even he acts suspiciously, trying to bribe the servants (again, the action obviously takes place in India but the audience is never told). There is an establishing shot of the two leads, Richard Crosby (Conrad Nagel) is trying to convince Helen O'Neill (Leila Hyams) to marry him. It's the old "you may be only my mother's secretary but you're good enough for me" routine. Nagel and Hyams may have been the leads but they are only required to stand around looking worried, fearful, determined etc. The stage is set for the show down between the real stars - wonderful Margaret Wycherley as the medium Madame La Grange, an unassuming "nanny" type, who nevertheless, has a few secrets and menacing Bela Lugosi as Inspector Delzante and he still manages to act like Dracula. Even though that film role was 2 years in the future he had played it on Broadway on and off during the 20s. Just to hear him say "What you propose is too horrible to contemplate - but we will do it!!!Margaret Wycherley was a character actress supreme. She really hit her stride in the 40s and even though you struggle to remember some of the movies, you definitely remember her ("Johnny Angel" - she played a domineering nanny). Of course she was Ma Jarrett in "White Heat" and Ma Forrester in "The Yearling" - "my boy, my poor crookedy boy". In "The Thirteenth Chair" she was a breath of fresh air and proved stage actors weren't always stiff. Her husband, Bayard Veiller wrote the original play "The Thirteenth Chair" that had a healthy run of 328 performances, back in 1916 and in which Margaret Wycherley played the same role of Rosalie La Grange.Recommended.

Thirteenth Chair, The (1929) ** (out of 4) Early Tod Browning talkie has a man murdered during a psychic reading. The local inspector (Bela Lugosi) shows up to solve the case. This mystery/thriller doesn't have too much mystery nor thrills and in the end comes off incredibly slow moving and boring. Once again, this sound film features none of the wonderful techniques delivered by the director in his silent films. As with most early sound movies, this one here simply has way too much talk and not much of it very interesting. Even though he gets sixth billing, this is certainly Lugosi's film and he delivers a pretty good performance as the fast talking, often screaming inspector. Lugosi's accent stands in the way from understanding a few lines but it isn't too bad. I would have deducted another half star had it not been for the Browning weirdness showing up in the end when a dead body helps solve the murder. In the end this is only for Lugosi or Browning fans who need to see everything the men did.

This isn't a typical Tod Browning film. It's more or less a very basic filming of a stage play (I gather; I don't know that for sure, but it feels very stagey) about a group of rich people who hire a medium to find out who killed their friend (and, to some of the group, an enemy). When they go into their seance, right as the name of the killer is about to be spoken, one of the men in the circle, the one who was succeeding at questioning the medium, is stabbed in the back. They then call a detective (Bela Lugosi) who grills them, trying to discover who murdered both of these men. I don't generally like whodunits, especially the Clue variety, where a detective gathers all the suspects in a room and attempts to root out the real killer, but The Thirteenth Chair is exceptionally written. The characters, and there are many, are quite well developed. The climactic scene, while asking that we suspend our disbelief, is truly suspenseful. See this gem if you ever get the chance. 9/10.