The Thirteenth Chair
Although his murdered friend was by all accounts a scoundrel, Edward Wales is determined to trap his killer by staging a seance using a famous medium. Many of the 13 seance participants had a reason and a means to kill, and one of them uses the cover of darkness to kill again. When someone close to the medium is suspected she turns detective, in the hope of uncovering the true murderer.
From the archive
I've been researching newly public domain films from 1929 and earlier, so I'm uploading the best possible copies that I can find. Its main claim to fame, that it was one of Bela Lugosi's early talkie films, The Thirteenth Chair is actually a remake of a film that was made in 1919 with the same name. Originally the lead role had been offered to Lon Chaney, which with both Lugosi and him would have made for very noteworthy casting. Reviews were solid, but not outstanding. While this was the highest quality version I could find, it has a fairly poor preservation.
Why this is free to watch
The Thirteenth Chair (1929) is hosted by the Internet Archive as a public-domain or openly licensed work, which means its copyright has expired, lapsed, or was released by the rights holder. The uploader declared an explicit licence, linked in the source panel. Nitrate streams the file directly from the Archive and hosts no video itself.
- Director
- Tod Browning
- Starring
- Conrad Nagel, Leila Hyams, Margaret Wycherly, Helene Millard, Holmes Herbert, Mary Forbes, Bela Lugosi, Charles Quatermaine
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