The Thirteenth Chair

The Thirteenth Chair
Film poster
Directed by	Tod Browning
Produced by	Tod Browning
Written by	Elliott J. Clawson Joseph Farnham
Based on	The Thirteenth Chair 1916 play  by Bayard Veiller
Starring	Conrad Nagel Leila Hyams Bela Lugosi
Cinematography	Merritt B. Gerstad
Edited by	Harry Reynolds
Distributed by	MGM
Release dates	October 19, 1929 (1929-10-19)
Running time	72 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Thirteenth Chair is a 1929 American Pre-Code mystery film directed by Tod Browning. The picture is based on a 1916 play of the same name by Bayard Veiller. The supporting cast features Bela Lugosi, whom Browning would direct as Dracula two years later.

Plot

Inspector Delzante (Bela Lugosi), investigates a series of murders near a British mansion in Calcutta. The murders are pinned on a young runaway named Helen O'Neill (Leila Hyams) who is taken in by a well-intentioned fake Irish medium, Madame LaGrange (Margaret Wycherly).

Cast

• Conrad Nagel as Richard Crosby
• Leila Hyams as Helen 'Nellie' O'Neill
• Margaret Wycherly as Madame Rosalie La Grange
• Helene Millard as Mary Eastwood
• Holmes Herbert as Sir Roscoe Crosby
• Mary Forbes as Lady Alice Crosby
• Bela Lugosi as Inspector Delzante
• John Davidson as Edward 'Ned' Wales
• Charles Quatermaine as Dr. Philip Mason (as Charles Quartermaine)
• Moon Carroll as Helen Trent
• Cyril Chadwick as Brandon Trent
• Bertram Johns as Howard Standish
• Gretchen Holland as Grace Standish
• Frank Leigh as Professor Feringeea
• Clarence Geldart as Commissioner Grimshaw (as Clarence Geldert)

Trivia

Advertisement for the 1919 silent version.

• This film was one of many released in both a sound film and a silent film version. The sound version of this film is known to survive.
• Margaret Wycherly, who was at one time married to the writer Bayard Veiller, appeared in the original 1916 play cast as well as in this film.
• An earlier version of the film, starring Creighton Hale, was released in 1919 by Pathe Exchange. In 1937, the film was remade by MGM, again entitled The Thirteenth Chair, starring Elissa Landi and Dame May Whitty.

See also

• Béla Lugosi filmography

External links

• The Thirteenth Chair at the Internet Movie Database
• The Thirteenth Chair at AllMovie
• The Thirteenth Chair at the TCM Movie Database
• The Thirteenth Chair at the American Film Institute Catalog