In the early days of talking pictures, movies were rather awkward because the sound equipment was so cumbersome and antiquated. It was also awkward simply because directors and actors were used to making silents and making the acting seem normal and natural was an evolving process...and it's obvious in "The Thirteenth Chair" that it still needed a lot of evolution! The dialog is, at times, clunky and unnatural and the delivery often sounded like a stage production instead of a movie. To make it worse, the film had some of the absolute worst editing I've ever seen. For example, a man and woman are talking in the garden and yet the camera keeps cutting back to other folks in another part of the house...and you can still hear the lovers making small talk. Another example are times that folks have their backs to the camera for extended periods as they talked. Surprisingly, the director was Tod Browning...one of the best directors of the 1930s and the man responsible for some of the best horror films of all time (such as "Dracula" and "Freaks"). He obviously still had a lot to learn in 1929.This murder mystery is unusual because it begins AFTER some scoundrel has been murdered. In order to trap the unknown killer, a seance is being staged...and it's hoped that the murderer will betray themselves.The story is not too bad but it's obvious that it was a play first. And, instead of properly adapting it to film, it looks much like they just filmed the play...and poorly. Even with a chance to see and hear Bela Lugosi in his first talking film, it's a curio...but a dull one.

When sound came to the motion picture there must have been a scramble for written material of any kind for the studios. Once it was proved it could be done, the public wanted to hear their screen idols speak and they had to have dialog.What works on stage did not often work on screen and when The Thirteenth Chair was made the studios were still getting sound right. We got all kinds of dialog, but here it was all kind of static and dull. And the cast generally overacts in this filmTwo performers here stand out. Margaret Wycherly best known as the mothers of Alvin York and Cody Jarrett later on was in the original cast on Broadway when it opened in 1916. She plays a psychic medium who is brought in to solve a murder already committed. During the séance the guy who arranged the séance is also dispatched. After that the cops call in.Lots of mysteries always have that climatic scene where the detective gathers the suspects be it Nick Charles or Jane Marple. But this is a film where the whole film is that scene. The other actor is Bela Lugosi who in this mystery set in British India speaks that marvelous Hungarian as a Scotland Yard detective.Lugosi acquits himself well, but he's just so well known in those horror films I expected him to be the murderer.Everybody overacts, but they were learning on the job the art of acting in talking pictures.

In British India, a séance in Calcutta leaves a dead man sitting in THE THIRTEENTH CHAIR...Under the able direction of Tod Browning, this antique talkie weaves a taut tale of murder & suspense. The oppressive atmosphere & limited use of sets creates a claustrophobic sense of eerie unreality. The excellent utilization of sound during the sequences of almost total screen blackout demonstrate the director's understanding of the potentialities of the new medium.Conrad Nagel & Leila Hyams receive top billing, but they have little to do beyond looking frightened or concerned. This they accomplish quite well.The film is dominated by two fascinating performances. Bela Lugosi makes a rather bizarre police inspector, his mesmeric eyes, claw-like hands & compelling voice giving an early demonstration of the qualities which would make him one of the screen's top monsters (Lugosi & Browning would have to wait two more years for the huge success of their next collaboration, DRACULA). Elderly Margaret Wycherly, as a wily Irish medium, is a delight and easily steals scene after scene. It is she who comes up with the plan to ultimately unmask the killer.

You have to be a fan of Bela Lugosi to really enjoy this film. The pacing is slow, the direction is wooden, and many of the supporting cast is just so-so.Being a filmed stage play in the very early talky era, The Thirteenth Chair doesn't have much action. What it does have is Bela Lugosi who becomes the focus of the film as Inspector Delzante as soon as he makes an appearance. There are few surprises to anyone who has seen very many mysteries, but a few genuinely spooky scenes occur in the darkened room as the sound takes over and your imagination is allowed to supply the imagery. On the prints that I have seen the sound is of a poor quality with a high level of hiss as in so many older films. It takes some dedication to sit through, and listening carefully to understand all the dialogue. It is fascinating to see Lugosi as a key supporting character before he was typecast.