I Give a Better Review of Thirteen Women

No, I am not discussing thirteen living, breathing women. Rather, it is my thoughts on an odd 1932 movie I talked about in the past, but this review is better, trust me: 

About time I gave this oddity a better review. I first critiqued the film way back in 2014; while I’m always self-critical of what I write (the fact that too often, I randomly look at old reviews & notice errors is a reason why…), my original review did not even mention Peg Entwistle and that was a mistake. She was a British actress who was a success on Broadway but the story was not the same in Hollywood, so because of that and mental health struggles, she jumped from the H in the Hollywood sign and took her own life soon before this-her only film-was released. It’s a tragic tale which I understand was part of a Ryan Murphy show on Netflix, but as it’s Ryan Murphy I haven’t seen it and would really rather not in general. Her role here was a supporting one; she vanishes after the opening act.

Thirteen Women was based on a lurid novel from Tiffany Thayer, a writer who is actually a male despite the name and apparently wrote trashy genre fare by the standards of the time. What a wild premise this has: thirteen women (only some of whom we actually see in this 60 minute picture) are sent horoscopes from a “swami” that all portend doom for them. That psychological manipulation is effective on several of the females; lead girl Irene Dunne is like me in recognizing that astrology is utter nonsense. Well, the alluring Myrna Loy (still in the era of playing “ethnic” stereotypes; her character Ursula Georgi is mixed-race, but is referred to by terms that are offensive by today’s standards) is behind this cruel plot, for reasons that aren’t completely insane. 

Of course, her scheme to MURDER Dunne’s young boy is insane; in fact, this is part of the Criterion Channel’s new collection of Pre-Code Horror, most of the titles have already been reviewed by me in the past. Originally this was filmed as a 73 minute film but was trimmed to its current length before wide release; it was the sort of story that would have benefited from more time to tell its story. What we got is still pretty wild with the mental manipulation/hypnosis of multiple people by a character who unfortunately was a stereotype, threatened child murder, a woman taking her own life (thankfully not played by Entwistle), and other Pre-Code zaniness.

As others have noted, a remake would be welcomed in this case as the story could easily be adapted for modern times. Heck, something an entire season long would work with its 13 characters plus the villains. I’d watch it… as long as it’s not a Ryan Murphy production.