Thirteen Women | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | George Archainbaud |
Screenplay by | Bartlett Cormack Samuel Ornitz |
Based on | Thirteen Women by Tiffany Thayer |
Produced by | David O. Selznick |
Starring | Irene Dunne Ricardo Cortez Jill Esmond Myrna Loy Florence Eldridge |
Cinematography | Leo Tover |
Edited by | Charles L. Kimball |
Music by | Max Steiner |
Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 59 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $125,000[1] |
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.[2]
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 11 women, not 13, with Fraser and Furness playing the two characters edited from the film.[3]
The film premiered in October at the Roxy Theater in New York City on October 15, 1932,[3] then released in Los Angeles,[4] and a few other cities in November 1932.[5][6] A limited national release came in 1933. Originally running 73 minutes, the studio edited 14 minutes from the picture before release. The film was re-released in 1935 (post-Code) by RKO, hoping to turn a profit by cashing on the growing popularity of stars Dunne and Loy. Thirteen Women has been cited as an early "female ensemble" film, as well as an early influence on the "slasher film" genre.[7]