The Thirteenth Chair Double Feature (1929 / 1937)

Two very different directors, Tod Browning (Freaks) and George B. Seitz (the Andy Hardy series), tackle the same sensational stage mystery nearly a decade apart in these two films from the Tiffany of movie studios. After an Englishman, and all-around cad, is murdered in Calcutta, an inspector (Bela Lugosi in 1929, Lewis Stone in 1937) is dispatched from Scotland Yard to find the killer. Aiding the inspector is the murdered man's friend (John Davidson, Henry Daniell), who hatches a scheme to use a phony medium (Margaret Wycherly, Dame May Witty) in a seance to draw out the killer from a group of suspects. When the killer uses the cover of darkness during the ritual to strike again, the medium must solve the mystery when the circumstances point to a suspect of particular interest to her. Tod Browning's take is decidedly pre-Code and heavy on atmosphere, while George B. Seitz serves up a lean and sly suspense thriller.