You won't be disappointed!

So much average

Memorable, crazy movie

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

It's been thirteen years since an unsolved murder where the thirteenth guest never showed up and now, the murders start all over again. It all starts with the electrocution death of Ginger Rogers, yet nothing is as it seems. The surviving family gathers together, presumably to mourn Rogers, but the family has a few surprises in store, particularly the possibility that one of them is the killer. With detective Lyle Talbot on the case (surrounded by several buffoon police officers), the killer is bound to make mistakes.Monogram, who produced many old dark house thrillers like this, actually did this story twice, one again a decade later. All the archetypes of this type of film are there, but never was the dialog as sardonic as this. That keeps it quite fresh, and it ranks above most of the others. Of course with young Ginger in an early role, the curiosity value is up, and she doesn't disappoint. Slightly creaky, it still remains entertaining thanks to some racy dialog and a family that can only be described as nuts.

Were it not for the presence of future superstar Ginger Rogers in the lead, no one would remember The Thirteenth Guest. But I suppose for that very reason it was remade by Monogram in the next decade with absolutely no one truly memorable in the film. I will say the remake had very few deviations in plot from the original.Ginger plays two roles in this film, an heiress and someone who is given plastic surgery to look like her. The lookalike is killed and the method of execution is part of the gimmick of this whole movie. In any event the real Ginger shows up with results similar to what happens in Laura though not as dramatic.Ginger comes from a family of greedy relatives. It's only a question of which ones are trying to keep her from inheriting. Even at that there's another plot twist I won't reveal.For fans of Ginger Rogers who want to see all her movies. \

A Ginger Rogers movie from 1932 that played well into the 1940's on her name alone.The story concerns the deaths thirteen years after a dinner party where the host died and the 13th guest never showed up. The mystery concerns attempts of persons to unlock the mystery of the will read at that fateful dinner party.The movie is old time and not bad. The dialog is mostly well done and the acting and direction is more realistic then one would expect from an independent production. Interestingly two of the characters are all but named as gay lovers, something that I find incredible simply because I've never seen this listed in a gay friendly histories of Hollywood and Hollywood films.(Then Again I haven't really looked) I liked it I didn't love it. Its not a bad time passer but its not something you want to search out, but its not something to turn off if you see it late at night.Frankly even though its an average thriller I have no doubt that it would have disappeared had Ginger not been it.

Spoilers herein.I've been slogging through many 1930's film mysteries. Dozens of them, and this is one of the most interesting. I've seen it three times now and still can't figure it all out. That's a good sign.It starts simple enough, and follows a standard pattern established over decades in radio mysteries: a raffish detective, incompetent comic police, beautiful girls, society people. There's a puzzle, hidden passages and a villain dressed in a black silk hood and gown. That villain has an evil laugh inherited from radio conventions.Things chug along predictably until the end which has a pretty interesting twist. The twist is on the notion of twist itself as the bad guy is someone you suspect and for the reason you suspect. The twist is that there are two conspiracies working at cross-purposes. So even though the solution itself is mundane, the next to the last step toward the solution is pretty darn clever.Oh, and a very young and pretty Ginger Rogers is the girl.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.