Thirteen Women
- October 15, 1932 (1932-10-15)
Thirteen Women is a 1932 American pre-Code psychological thriller film, produced by David O. Selznick and directed by George Archainbaud. It stars Myrna Loy, Irene Dunne and Ricardo Cortez. The film is based on the 1930 bestselling novel of the same name by Tiffany Thayer and was adapted for the screen by Bartlett Cormack and Samuel Ornitz.[2]
Several characters were deleted from the film's final version, including those played by Leon Ames, Phyllis Fraser, and Betty Furness (in what would have been Furness's film debut at the age of 16). The film portrays only 11 women, not 13, with Fraser and Furness playing the two characters edited from the film.[3]
The film premiered in October at the Roxy Theater in New York City on October 15, 1932,[3] then released in Los Angeles,[4] and a few other cities in November 1932.[5][6] A limited national release came in 1933. Originally running 73 minutes, the studio edited 14 minutes from the picture before release. The film was re-released in 1935 (post-Code) by RKO, hoping to turn a profit by cashing on the growing popularity of stars Dunne and Loy. Thirteen Women has been cited as an early "female ensemble" film, as well as an early influence on the "slasher film" genre.[7]
Plot
Thirteen women, who were sorority sisters at the all-girl's college St. Alban's, all write to a clairvoyant "swami" who by mail sends each a horoscope foreseeing swift doom. However, the clairvoyant is under the sway of Ursula Georgi, a half-Javanese Eurasian woman who was snubbed at school by the other women owing to her mixed-race heritage, behavior which eventually forced her to leave school. She now seeks revenge by manipulating the women into killing themselves or each other. She also goads the clairvoyant into killing himself by falling into the path of a subway train.
The victims are set up and killed off one by one until Laura Stanhope, living in Beverly Hills, is one of the few still alive. With the help of Laura's chauffeur, Ursula tries to kill Laura's young son Bobby with both tainted candy and an explosive rubber ball, but is thwarted. Ursula follows Laura and Bobby as they flee by train, unaware that police sergeant Barry Clive is escorting them. After confronting Laura, and hypnotizing her into falling asleep, Ursula enters Bobby's room and is caught by Clive. She then flees to the back of the train and jumps to her death.
Cast
- Irene Dunne as Laura Stanhope
- Ricardo Cortez as Police Sergeant Barry Clive
- Jill Esmond as Jo Turner
- Myrna Loy as Ursula Georgi
- Mary Duncan as June Raskob
- Kay Johnson as Helen Dawson Frye
- Florence Eldridge as Grace Coombs
- C. Henry Gordon as Swami Yogadachi
- Peg Entwistle as Hazel Clay Cousins
- Harriet Hagman as May Raskob
- Edward Pawley as Burns, Laura's chauffeur
- Blanche Friderici as Miss Kirsten, headmistress
- Wally Albright as Bobby Stanhope
- Phyllis Fraser as Twelfth Woman (scenes deleted)
- Betty Furness as Thirteenth Woman (scenes deleted)
- Lloyd Ingraham as Inspector (uncredited)
Production notes
Thirteen Women features the only film appearance of actress Peg Entwistle. Entwistle became despondent over her career and jumped to her death from the Hollywood Sign on September 16, 1932. The film premiered in New York on October 15 (almost exactly a month after her suicide), and in Los Angeles in November.[3][8] Entwistle had a supporting role in the original cut, with scenes running approximately sixteen minutes. After the film performed poorly for test audiences, her screen time was cut to four minutes.[2]
The character played by Entwistle, that of Hazel Cousins, is a married woman in the film, who kills her husband and goes to prison. In the book, Hazel is a virgin who remains so simply because she is considered too beautiful; men are either too intimidated to approach her, assume she is married or engaged or believe that she will break their heart. Hazel eventually becomes a lesbian after she is seduced by the wife of the doctor treating her for tuberculosis, and starves herself to death in a sanitarium while suffering the heartache of having been abandoned by her lover Martha.[2] In both the book and movie, May and June Raskob (played by Harriet Hagman and Mary Duncan) are twin sisters who work in a circus, but in the book they are overweight sideshow attractions rather than photogenic trapeze artists as in the film.
In this film, actor Edward J. Pawley received his first screen kiss (from Myrna Loy). He appeared in over 50 movies during his 10-year career in Hollywood, playing mostly "bad guy" roles.
Home media
On February 21, 2012, the 59-minute edit of Thirteen Women was released on manufactured-on-demand DVD through the Warner Archive Collection.[9]
References
- ^ "4 for $125,000 Amend Radio's Costly 3". Variety. August 23, 1932. p. 4.
- ^ a b c Zeruk, James Jr. (2013). Peg Entwistle and the Hollywood Sign Suicide: A Biography. McFarland. p. 226. ISBN 978-1-476-61219-5.
- ^ a b c Hall, Mordaunt (1932). "Another Murder Mystery. Thirteen Women ..." Archived December 1, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, part of multiple film reviews, The New York Times, October 15, 1932. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
- ^ Leider, Emily W. (2011). Myrna Loy: The Only Good Girl in Hollywood. University of California Press. p. 327. ISBN 978-0-520-94963-8.
- ^ Los Angeles Times review (November 4, 1932)
- ^ Quirk, Lawrence J. (1980). The Films Of Myrna Loy. Citadel Press. p. 141. ISBN 0-806-50735-7.
- ^ Basinger, Jeanine, "Few female ensemble films", Variety, June 16, 2008; retrieved September 18, 2010
- ^ Mallory, Mary (2011). Hollywoodland. Arcadia Publishing. p. 90. ISBN 978-1-439-62430-2.
- ^ Clark, Mike (March 19, 2012). "Thirteen Women (DVD Review)". homemediamagazine.com. Archived from the original on December 9, 2014. Retrieved December 7, 2014.
External links
- Thirteen Women at the TCM Movie Database
- Thirteen Women at the American Film Institute Catalog
- Thirteen Women at IMDb
- Thirteen Women at AllMovie
- v
- t
- e
- As Man Made Her (1917)
- The Iron Ring (1917)
- The Brand of Satan (1917)
- Yankee Pluck (1917)
- A Maid of Belgium (1917)
- Diamonds and Pearls (1917)
- The Awakening (1917)
- The Divine Sacrifice (1918)
- Marooned Hearts (1920)
- The Shadow of Rosalie Byrnes (1920)
- In Walked Mary (1920)
- The Wonderful Chance (1920)
- The Pleasure Seekers (1920)
- The Miracle of Manhattan (1921)
- A Man of Stone (1921)
- Clay Dollars (1921)
- The Girl from Nowhere (1921)
- Handcuffs or Kisses (1921)
- Under Oath (1922)
- Evidence (1922)
- The Power of a Lie (1922)
- One Week of Love (1922)
- The Midnight Guest (1923)
- Cordelia the Magnificent (1923)
- The Common Law (1923)
- The Shadow of the Desert (1924)
- The Storm Daughter (1924)
- The Plunderer (1924)
- For Sale (1924)
- Single Wives (1924)
- Christine of the Hungry Heart (1924)
- The Mirage (1924)
- Enticement (1925)
- Scarlet Saint (1925)
- The Necessary Evil (1925)
- What Fools Men (1925)
- The Silent Lover (1926)
- Puppets (1926)
- Night Life (1927)
- The Grain of Dust (1928)
- The Man in Hobbles (1928)
- Bachelor's Paradise (1928)
- A Woman Against the World (1928)
- Ladies of the Night Club (1928)
- The Tragedy of Youth (1928)
- George Washington Cohen (1928)
- Two Men and a Maid (1929)
- The College Coquette (1929)
- Broadway Scandals (1929)
- Framed (1930)
- Shooting Straight (1930)
- The Silver Horde (1930)
- The Lady Refuses (1931)
- Three Who Loved (1931)
- Thirteen Women (1932)
- The Lost Squadron (1932)
- The Penguin Pool Murder (1932)
- Men of Chance (1932)
- State's Attorney (1932)
- After Tonight (1933)
- The Big Brain (1933)
- Murder on the Blackboard (1934)
- Keep 'Em Rolling (1934)
- Hideaway Girl (1936)
- My Marriage (1936)
- The Return of Sophie Lang (1936)
- Blonde Trouble (1937)
- Hotel Haywire (1937)
- Campus Confessions (1938)
- Her Jungle Love (1938)
- Thanks for the Memory (1938)
- Night Work (1939)
- Some Like It Hot (1939)
- Boy Trouble (1939)
- Comin' Round the Mountain (1940)
- Opened by Mistake (1940)
- Untamed (1940)
- Flying with Music (1942)
- False Colors (1943)
- The Kansan (1943)
- The Woman of the Town (1943)
- Hoppy Serves a Writ (1943)
- Mystery Man (1944)
- Texas Masquerade (1944)
- Girls of the Big House (1945)
- The Devil's Playground
- Dangerous Venture (1947)
- Fool's Gold (1947)
- Hoppy's Holiday (1947)
- King of the Wild Horses (1947)
- The Marauders (1947)
- The Millerson Case (1947)
- Unexpected Guest (1947)
- Borrowed Trouble (1948)
- The Dead Don't Dream (1948)
- Silent Conflict (1948)
- Sinister Journey (1948)
- Strange Gamble (1948)
- Hunt the Man Down (1950)
- Night Stage to Galveston (1952)
- Apache Country (1952)
- Wagon Team (1952)
- The Old West (1952)
- Blue Canadian Rockies (1952)
- Pack Train (1953)
- Saginaw Trail (1953)
- Goldtown Ghost Riders (1953)
- On Top of Old Smoky (1953)
- Last of the Pony Riders (1953)
- Winning of the West (1953)