Thirteen Women

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Thirteen Women

Directed by	George Archainbaud
Produced by	David O. Selznick
Written by	Novel: Tiffany Thayer Screenplay: Bartlett Cormack Samuel Ornitz
Starring	Myrna Loy Irene Dunne Ricardo Cortez Jill Esmond Florence Eldridge
Distributed by	RKO Radio Pictures
Release date(s)	September 16, 1932 September 14, 1935 (re-release)
Running time	73 min. (orig.) / 59 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
IMDb profile

Thirteen Women is a 1932 Pre-Code RKO thriller, produced by David O. Selznick and directed by George Archainbaud. It starred Myrna Loy, Irene Dunne, Ricardo Cortez, Florence Eldridge and Jill Esmond. Several characters were deleted, including those played by Leon Ames and Betty Furness (in her film debut at the age of 16).

It is notable for providing the only movie role for Peg Entwistle, who achieved notoriety when she committed suicide by jumping from the Hollywood sign shortly after the film's release.

Originally running for 73 minutes, the studio edited 14 minutes out of the picture after it received poor reviews. It was edited and re-released in 1935 (post-Code) by RKO, hoping to turn a profit by cashing in on the growing popularity of stars Dunne and Loy.

Not a popular success either critically or financially, Thirteen Women has achieved a "cult classic" status in recent years. Modern critics have stated that its theme was ahead of its time and out of step with the tastes of 1930s cinema patrons.

[edit] Plot summary

Thirteen women, former members of a girl's college sorority, all visit a clairvoyant (C. Henry Gordon), who reads their horoscopes. The clairvoyant is under the influence of a woman named Ursula Georgi (Myrna Loy), a half-Javanese Eurasian woman who had been a student at the college. Subjected to harsh bigotry from the other women during her school days due to her mixed-race heritage and forced out of the college, Georgi exacts revenge by using the suborned swami to manipulate the women into killing themselves or each other.

The film follows a staple formula of slasher films, though it was new at the time of its release, by setting up the victims and killing them off one by one. By the end of film, and before she is apprehended, Loy's character has caused the deaths of all but one of the women. The sole survivor is Laura Stanhope (played by Dunne), the film's heroine, whose death would have pushed the envelope way too far even in Pre-Code days.

[edit] Credited Cast

Actor	Role
Irene Dunne	Laura Stanhope
Ricardo Cortez	Police Sergeant Barry Clive
Jill Esmond	Jo Turner
Myrna Loy	Ursula Georgi
Mary Duncan	June Raskob
Kay Johnson	Helen Dawson Frye
Florence Eldridge	Grace Coombs
C. Henry Gordon	Swami Yogadachi
Peg Entwistle	Hazel Clay Cousins
Harriet Hagman	May Raskob
Edward Pawley	Burns, Laura's Chauffeur
Blanche Friderici	Miss Kirsten, Seminary Official
Wally Albright	Robert 'Bobby' Stanhope