The Thirteenth Chair

The Thirteenth Chair (1929)

Who Killed Spencer Lee?

Although his murdered friend was by all accounts a scoundrel, Edward Wales is determined to trap his murderer by staging a séance using a famous medium. Several of the thirteen participants had a motive, and one uses the cover of darkness to kill again. When someone close to the medium is suspected, she turns detective in hopes of uncovering the true perpetrator.

Date of release
1929-10-19
TMDB
5.5 / 10 (15)
Runtime
1h 12m
Genres
Mystery, Drama, Horror
Director
Tod Browning

Casting

Interesting facts

The Thirteenth Chair is a 1929 American mystery film directed by Tod Browning. The picture is based on a 1916 play of the same name by Bayard Veiller. It stars Conrad Nagel, Leila Hyams, and Margaret Wycherly.

Production

The Thirteenth Chair was director Tod Browning's first sound film. It was based on one of the most famous of the "old dark house" stage plays: Bayard Veiller's The Thirteenth Chair which debuted on Broadway on November 20, 1916. The play had previously been adapted as a silent film by Léonce Peret as The Thirteenth Chair

In late May, 1929, MGM hired Margaret Wycherly to reprise her stage role as La Grange. Shortly after, Leila Hyams was also cast. For the leading role of Richard Crosby, the press has stated that Lon Chaney was offered the role but turned it down. The Hollywood Filmograph stated later that Joel McCrea would play Crosby, but Conrad Nagel replaced him before production began.

The script labelled as the "First Temporary Incomplete" script dated May 8, 1929, by Elliott Clawson changed the play's setting from New York to Calcutta, India. The film otherwise largely follows the story of the screenplay, but changes the identity of the actual murderer. The film was set to start production on June 3, 1929, but only started on June 10.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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