The Thirteenth Guest (1932)

Directed by Albert Ray
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Alpha)

Typical early mystery set in an "old dark house". Pre-fame Ginger Rogers revisits the home of her youth, shuttered for 13 years. There is a flashback to the reading of her father's will as a young girl at a banquet table with relatives. Someone is killing them off and placing the bodies in the same chair they sat in at the banquet, including Ginger. But wait! It's not really Ginger but a lookalike with a face lift. In steps police detective Lyle Talbot, who can't be bothered to answer his phone while romancing the local beauties. The killer is seen garbed in a mask and cape, operating the "electric telephone" from a hidden room. Talbot soon figures it out, despite the lack of help from his dumb partner, who provides comic relief. Talky, boring, confusing.