Edgar Allan Pooh . . . each more politically incorrect than the last, concerning ten little somethings. But when viewers went to their local drive-in to see the actual film version of Dame Agatha's tale, there actually were TEN of something (plus a Who-Done-It break to place your bet will the other folks in the Microbus as to WHO the killer was, and buy some concessions, of course). The skimpy movie studio behind THIRTEEN WOMEN (run by notorious tightwads) takes its source material less literally, however. At least two of the titular females were left on the cutting room floor (which sounds like a good start at producing a better horror feature than THIRTEEN WOMEN). Obviously, the producers of THIRTEEN WOMEN should have bought the rights to the title ELEVEN WOMEN, but I assume that the copyright holders may have demanded 50 cents too much.

mark.waltz Poor Myrna Loy. Before finding her Nick Charles in William Powell, she was subjected to racist roles in movies like this and "The Mask of Fu Manchu". In her early career, she either had wild hair or overly made up exotic eyes. This is one of the few genuine disasters made at RKO during the 30's. Loy plays a "half-caste" (Japanese and Indian, and apparently Caucasian) who vows vengeance on a dozen classmates who made one year of her life miserable. For some reason, the girls have their stars read, which all spell disaster for them, not knowing that vengeful Loy works for the man reading their fortunes. Two sisters are seen working in the circus which leads to a chilling scene of the anticipation of disaster, then another falls prey to the prediction of her involvement in murder. Loy meets another one on the train whom, it is predicted, will commit suicide. Then, there is kindly Irene Dunne, a mother of a young boy Loy wishes to have killed to destroy Dunne. This leads to a scene with Loy's lover (who happens to be Dunne's chauffeur!) driving Dunne to the police station with a bomb hidden in a ball meant for the boy. The chauffeur bounds out of the speeding car, leading Dunne to have to drive it herself from the back seat without her feet on the peddles. And what happens since the police are in pursuit? The chauffeur manages to escape while Dunne must face off with Loy on a train leading to a disappointing conclusion that could have been a lot more chilling. There were some great ideas in this story of revenge, but unfortunately, the writers did not expand on what could have still been offensive but truly eerie. Loy is never totally believable as the evil woman, while Dunne and the others are sadly wasted. Even Ricardo Cortez, as the police investigator, is ill-used in this mess which fortunately wraps up in just 60 minutes to avoid any more waste of time.

MartinHafer I've got to admit that this film is far from a great work of art--with a ridiculous plot and some of the sillier story elements I've seen in some time. Because of this, you really need to suspend disbelief to enjoy the film--exactly what you'd have to do with a monster film or fantasy movie. If you CAN'T do this or you are looking for Shakespeare or something with "the Lubitsch touch", you'll probably hate the film. Read on and decide if the film is for you.The film stars Myrna Loy in a completely ridiculous role of playing a woman who is incredibly evil and possessing super-human hypnotic powers. To make it worse, she is supposed to be half-Indian (from the country of India)! This sort of bizarre casting happened several times in Myrna's career before she took on the Nora Charles role from THE THIN MAN--Hollywood producers just didn't know what to do with her. Another great example was her co-starring in THE MASK OF FU MANCHU as a Chinese woman!!! You MUST get past all this to enjoy the film, I know! In addition to Ms. Loy, the film also stars Irene Dunn and Ricardo Cortez. Both did a fine job--in particular Cortez. His role as a police detective was exceptionally well-written, as unlike MOST movie cops of the era, he was smart and didn't make the usual stupid mistakes! He was quite believable and capable in the role.The plot is all about 13 ladies who all went to the same boarding school many years earlier. Apparently, Ms. Loy didn't feel very welcomed at the school and decided to use LOTS of evil dirty tricks to exact her revenge--such as trying to murder their children, pushing them to suicide or actually killing them outright!! She is a truly diabolical and awful (but very fun to watch) nemesis! Additionally, the film breezed along well and featured some excellent and appropriate stunt work. The entire package results in a fun "guilty pleasure"--a fun film for a Saturday afternoon like THE COBRA WOMAN or an Errol Flynn adventure film.

jotix100 Swami Yogadachi seems to have a knack for predicting the future. When he tells Ursula Georgi what hers will be like, she reminds him that he, too, will die a horrible death. Yogadachi, who has been the favorite of some of the well-to-do women who were together in college, rules over their lives, except with the grounded Laura Stanhope. Laura, who has witnessed some of her former class mates die in mysterious circumstances, is not immune to a threat that comes her way and involves her young son."Thirteen Women", directed by George Archainbaud, is a hybrid film that showcased some actresses that were making their mark in Hollywood. Of course, this film would not have a chance to be made today because even with a couple of stars, it would be prohibitive. The film is a curiosity because it's seldom played. As Neil Doyle pointed out in this forum, "Thirteen Women" boasts a music score by the great Max Steiner, at a time when music didn't play an integral part of most pictures of the period.Irene Dunne makes a rare appearance in this film of mystery and esoterica. She usually was seen in comedies that catered to her talent for that type of feature. Myrna Loy appears as yet another one of her evil Asian women, a person of mixed blood who was ostracized by the snobs in college, and now wants her revenge. Ricardo Cortez plays the police detective investigating the different crimes involving the sorority sisters. Jill Esmond, Kay Johnson, Mary Duncan, Florence Eldridge, and C. Henry Gordon, who plays the Swami, do a good job.