THE MYSTERY THE 13th GUEST
US, 1943, 60 minutes, Black and white.
Dick Purcell, Helen Parrish, Tim Ryan, Frank Faylen, Johnny Duncan, John Dawson, Addison Richards.
Directed by William Beaudine.
With an intriguing title, suspicions on the number 13, this is a routine supporting feature from the 1940s. It was directed by William Beaudine whose directing credits number 372, beginning with shorts in 1915, through a decade of the silent era, multiple films during the 1930s and 40s, into television episodes and a final film, 60 years later, a martial arts feature.
The film is reminiscent of those Old Dark House films where somebody reads a will and the subsequent murders. The focus of attention is on a young girl to whom the old man is fortunate is left but she is not to open the will until her 21st birthday. Intriguingly, on the day she comes to the abandoned house – and is soon murdered!
A journalist and the police start to investigate the case, with a request that the guests from the original dinner come to the house and sit in their old places. There is a certain apprehension! Then there are some murders, especially the family lawyer. The film shows the variety of suspects, a snooty elderly couple, a rather glamorous young woman, the murdered woman’s brother and cousin.
Yes, there is a twist, the initial murdered woman was an imposter, set up to get the will and the information about the money. The young woman’s younger brother is very earnest – but it is the cousin who is revealed as a rogue, in collaboration with the lawyer, hiring the substitute to get the copy of the will.
The usual investigations, interrogations of the suspects, gathering them altogether and the revelation – and the usual repartee between journalists and police and the usual deadpan humour of the detective who is not always on the ball.
