Thirteen Women

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Movie
Original title Thirteen Women
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1932
length 59 minutes
Rod
Director George Archainbaud
script Bartlett Cormack ,
Samuel Ornitz based
on the novel of the same name by Tiffany Thayer
production David O. Selznick
for RKO
music Max Steiner
camera Leo Tover
cut Charles L. Kimball
occupation

Thirteen Women is a 1932 crime film that takes elements from the horror genre. In its portrayal of the systematic murders of a group of young women, the film anticipates some motifs from the slasher films of later decades. Due to extensive cuts, contrary to the title in the final version, there are only ten women who have to fear for their lives. The female lead is played by Irene Dunne . Myrna Loy made one of her last appearances as an Asian.

action

One day the well-known trapeze artist June Rascob received a letter from the well-known fortune teller Swami Yogadachi, in which he announced the imminent death of her sister May Rascob. June is so shocked by the news that she becomes inattentive during the trapeze performance and her sister is actually killed. June goes insane and a short time later commits suicide in the asylum. At the same time, a further number of women who were all students with June at the famous private school St. Albans receive horoscopes from Swami Yogadachi, which predict terrible deaths for them. A young woman becomes so disturbed by this that, as predicted, she shoots her husband. Helen Frye is predicted to commit suicide before Christmas. After a number of other women fell under the curse of horoscopes, Helen turned to Laura Stanhope, the student representative at the time. Laura invites Helen, the last survivor from that time, to her place in Beverly Hills. On the train ride, Helen meets Ursula Georgi, a half-Indian who also visited St. Albans at the time. At that time Ursula was treated badly by the other girls. She swore vengeance and seduced Swami Yogadachi to do so and eventually hypnotized him to punish all the girls one after the other for their previous disregard. Even now Ursula manages to manipulate Helen in such a way that she shoots a bullet in the head in her compartment that same evening. When news of Helen's death reaches Laura, she is deeply affected. She is gradually becoming unsure whether the statement in her horoscope, according to which her little son will soon die, could in the end be true. At the last second, Laura, who was almost hypnotized by Ursula too, can free herself and put an end to the culprit. Sergeant Barry Cline is of great help to her.

background

The books by Tiffany Thayer - a male author despite the ambiguous first name - enjoyed great popularity in the early 1930s thanks to their very frank portrayal of sex and violence at the time. While most established critics dismissed his works as colportage, they saw print runs in the millions. The success also resulted in some film adaptations, but it turned out to be difficult or even impossible for the scriptwriters to translate the sometimes drastic descriptions of sexual bondage, which were a trademark of Thayer's books, into a more pleasant language. Especially in the adaptation of Call Her Savage , a number of storylines that dealt with incest, drug addiction and sexually transmitted diseases had to be dropped under pressure from the censor.

When editing Thirteen Women , a detective novel that depicts 12 bloody crimes in more or less detail, numerous deletions and adjustments had to be made. In the novel, the character Hazel Cousins ​​is an unhappily married woman who is seduced and abandoned by a lesbian (in the novel the lesbian woman is referred to as Dyke ). In the end, Hazel goes mad and dies of a broken heart. In the film, the character suffers from an illness that is exacerbated by Ursula's manipulations and causes death. The film was one of the first productions that David O. Selznick accompanied on his own responsibility since he switched to the RKO in mid-1932 . In order to make the following events more believable, a quote from the then respected journal Applied Psychology is quoted in the opening credits , in which the power of suggestion is mentioned.

The shooting was problematic and resulted in a significant overrun of the budget. The role of the scheming Ursula was initially filled with Zita Johann , before she was exchanged for Myrna Loy after a few days . For Loy, the film initially meant another step backwards in her previously unsuccessful career. Since her debut as an extra in Pretty Ladies in 1925 , Loy had mostly only appeared in supporting roles. Her exotic appearance prompted the producers to repeatedly use the actress as a member of foreign ethnic groups. Over time, Loy became one of the most famous Asian actresses. However, David O. Selznick recognized the potential of Myrna Loy and immediately gave her a supporting role in the Ann Harding film The Animal Kingdom , in which Loy could prove her talent for light comedy.

The actress saw the film a few decades later as part of an honor and said about her murderous goings-on on the screen:

"The only one who got away from me in the movie was Irene Dunne, and I've regretted that every time she got a role I wanted to play."

Actress Peg Entwistle, who played her sole role in Thirteen Women , jumped to death a few months later by throwing herself off the Hollywood sign . Selznick had the film cut from originally 74 minutes to 59 minutes after disastrous previews. Three characters were also cut out, so that in the end it was only about ten women and not 13 as in the title. The film also held back from distribution until Irene Dunne gained her traction at the box office through her role in Back Street could consolidate. From today's perspective, the film with its basic premise already contains elements of the later slasher films . Audiences at the time found Thirteen Women too cruel and illogical to turn the film into a financial success.

Reviews

The critics did not find good words for the film.

The New York Times said laconically:

“Some of RKO's prettiest actresses have allowed themselves to be lured into completely unbelievable situations with firearms, knives and mysterious letters signed by Swami Yogadachi. It is horror without laughter, horror that is too terrible to look fashionable and too dark to save yourself from falling into nonsense. "

The leading industry journal Variety came to the same conclusion, albeit with a different reason:

"Between the book covers it was quick and easy reading thanks to the author, but everything on the screen degenerates into an unbelievable, abstruse slaughterhouse drama that even good actors cannot save."

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The only one who escaped me in that picture was Irene Dunne, and I regretted it every time she got the parts I wanted.
  2. ↑ Some of RKO-Radio's most comely actresses are permitting themselves to be lured into highly improbable situations with guns, knives and a mystic letter signed by Swami Yogadachi. It is horror without laughter, horror that is too awful to be modish and too strong to save itself from a headlong plunge into hokum.
  3. ↑ Between covers it was fast light reading, thanks to the writing, but on celluloid it deteriorates into an unreasonably far-fetched wholesale butcher shop drama which no amount of good acting could save.