Thirteen Women



Thirteen Women is a 1932 American pre-Code psychological thriller film, produced by David O. Selznick and directed by George Archainbaud. It stars Myrna Loy, Irene Dunne and Ricardo Cortez. The film is based on the 1930 bestselling novel of the same name by Tiffany Thayer and was adapted for the screen by Bartlett Cormack and Samuel Ornitz.

Several characters were deleted from the film's final version, including those played by Leon Ames, Phyllis Fraser, and Betty Furness (in what would have been Furness's film debut at the age of 16). The film portrays only eleven women, not thirteen, with Fraser and Furness playing the two characters edited out of the film

Plot
Thirteen women, who were sorority sisters at the all-girl's college St. Alban's, all write to a clairvoyant "swami" (C. Henry Gordon) who by mail sends each a horoscope foreseeing swift doom. However, the clairvoyant is under the sway of Ursula Georgi (Myrna Loy), a half-Javanese Eurasian woman who was snubbed at school by the other women owing to her mixed-race heritage, behavior which eventually forced her to leave school. She now seeks revenge by manipulating the women into killing themselves or each other. She also goads the clairvoyant into killing himself by falling into the path of a subway train.

The victims are set up and killed off one by one until Laura Stanhope (Irene Dunne), living in Beverly Hills, is one of the few still alive. With the help of Laura's chauffeur and lover (played by Edward J. Pawley), Ursula tries to kill Laura's young son, Bobby, with both tainted candy and an explosive rubber ball, but is thwarted. Ursula follows Laura and Bobby as they flee Beverly Hills by train, unaware that police sergeant Barry Clive (Ricardo Cortez) is escorting them. After confronting Laura, and apparently hypnotizing her into falling asleep, Ursula enters Bobby's room and is caught by Clive. She then flees to the back of the train and jumps to her own death.

In this film, actor Edward J. Pawley received his first screen kiss (from Myrna Loy). He would go on to appear in over 50 movies during his 10-year career in Hollywood, playing mostly "bad guy" roles with some of Hollywood's greatest actors.