Good concept, poorly executed.

I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Typical thirties movie made by Monogran Pictures with Ginger Rogers in good shape and beauty like ever starring this mystery about a young girl who has an inheritance from his father who was afraid about your daughter's security,so he decides to give his money after she turns 21 years old,when she is ready,the lawyer invites her to goes to old father's house to hear the will,but nobody came,but a hidden man try to kill her,so police department are in charge to investigate this case,funny and silly story told a dozen times...the movie has some importance by Gingers Roger's presence and some funny characters whose in some points of the movie stolen the show!!!Resume: First watch: 2017 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 6

Unlucky numbers aren't that common across the globe, and they vary. I don't know how Western Europe settled on thirteen. To the Chinese, four is the unlucky number. There are no fourth floors in old Chinese hotels. I just threw that datum in I had to learn it once. I don't see why anybody else should be excused.To make up for it, I will now give away the snappiest line in the movie. "Poor Marjorie. Your soul must look like the inside of a vinegar bottle." I didn't say it was a flight of poetry. I just said it was the best line, which should give you some idea of what the rest of the lines are like.It's a haunted house mystery. Thirteen years ago, a dinner was given in his ancient house. The thirteenth guest failed to show up. Then the house was shut up and now, thirteen years later, the original thirteen guests receive invitations to show up again. There's a great deal of money at stake since the host, having died, has left his fortune to one or more of the guests and they're all anxious to find out who gets what. One by one, the guests get picked off, despite the presence of the brusque police captain, J. Farrell MacDonald, and the suave private investigator, Lyle Talbot. (Sounds like Agatha Christie at this point.) The murderer creeps, masked, through secret rooms in a black hooded cape and wears gloves. We see the shadow of his clawed hand against the wall, and he pipes up with the theatrical guffaw of a complete maniac. (Now it's beginning to sound like Abbott and Costello.) I've always wondered who pays these private investigators. The word "fee" sometimes shows up in Sherlock Holmes. Hercule Poirot is sometimes hired, but more often just happens to be present when the crime takes place. I've often wondered whether he was a serial murderer himself. Coincidence is one thing, but a correlation approaching unity is another. Charlie Chan never seemed to bother about money. He may have been on per diem from the Honolulu Police Department. In more carefully constructed detective stories the gum shoe usually is hired for his services. The negotiation provided some amusing moments in "The Maltese Falcon." The first half hour or so is a little dull. It belongs to MacDonald as the cop in charge. He stomps around shouting orders. Talbot is so smooth that by the time he appears he seems to have slid into the story on greased skids. But Ginger Rogers enters and it seems to be spiced up. Madonna, she was cute as hell. Wait. Let me look up her age when this was made. Okay. She was twenty-one. Nice figure, as the public would discover in a few more years. And she could dance too.Creepy old houses like this one can have a lot of promise, whether they're done seriously ("The Haunting") or used in a comedy ("Murder He Says"). This one is without distinction. It's not bad, not insulting, just strictly routine. Don't bother going out of your way to catch it.

The DVD sleeve's synopsis offers a good preview: "A wealthy gentleman hosts a dinner party where he is going to reveal the heir to his fortune, in front of the thirteen guests attending the dinner. Unfortunately, only twelve people show up for dinner and the host dies before he can reveal the heir's identity. Years later, the host's daughter returns to her long boarded-up family home to discover someone is killing off the dinner guests, making everyone wonder who will be the next victim." In the opening scene, Ginger Rogers (as Marie Morgan and Lela)'s recollections introduce the "guests", and reveal something critical about the plot. Ms. Rogers and Lyle Talbot (as Phil Winston) make the cast look promising; but, the real attractions are James Eagles (as Harold "Bud" Morgan) and Eddie Phillips (as Thor Jensen), due to the matter-of-fact way their likely relationship is depicted. This, and the "you told me to tail her" joke, near the end, are better than this otherwise dreary version of a done-to-death plot.**** The Thirteenth Guest (8/9/32) Albert Ray ~ Ginger Rogers, Lyle Talbot, J. Farrell MacDonald, James Eagles

This is one of Roger's & Talbot's earliest film and, by far the best of the "13th Guest" films" (several remakes were done).At a dinner party many years ago, 13 people were invited, but only 12 showed up. The host died at the table, and the house was closed up for many, many years. Then, the bodies of the people who attended that dinner party started turning up in that abandoned house, sitting in the same chairs they occupied so long ago.It turns out they are being murdered by a black-cloaked figure who just MIGHT have been one of dinner guests. He peers out thru a secret viewing hole, and cackles insanely after he murders someone.A very, very eerie film!