Friday the Thirteenth (1933)

There's something to be said for the dozens of methods of public transportation and the billions of stories which arise out of them every day in every city lucky enough to have them. For the dozen or so people on the London bus just before midnight ironically on Friday the Thirteenth during a horrible thunderstorm, their fates will all be questioned with the sudden collapse of a construction crane.Like the oft-filmed "The Bridge of San Luis Rey", this flashes back to the last 24 hours of their lives up to this point, but here, there were only two fatalities and only a few injuries. An all-star cast of British actors (some familiar to American audiences from later films) run the gamut of types from sleazy blackmailer, busy businessman, an ex-con, sexy chorus girl, philandering husband and a dizzy wife who keeps forgetting to re-order the marmalade. Moods swing from light comedy to heavy drama and other sequences hold the interest more than others. Mary Jerrold is adorable as the sweet businessman's wife who spends most of the film fretting over a letter she forgot to deliver. Future "Santa" Edmund Gwenn is the frustrated husband tired of his aging wife's forgetfulness who doesn't realize that with the strike of lightning and the nearing strike of the Tower of London's clock at midnight, fate might strike a blow to his life which would change the course of his life. Musical comedy favorite Jessie Matthews gets a few delicious wisecracks as a basically innocent chorus girl who still knows a few things about men to keep them in line.Fortunately, if you forget about the opening sequence just before the accident, you will have the opportunity to re-visit it with more details once you get to know who is who. The end is one of those great moments of coincidence, a tag-line involving two characters who were not a part of the accident, and a view of what the real definition of fate really is.

With today being Friday, September 13, I decided to watch a movie called Friday the Thirteenth. Now, if you're reading this under the title heading, then you know I'm not reviewing the 1980 slasher flick, nor its sequels nor the remake from a few years ago, all involving the character of Jason Voorhees. No, what I'm reviewing here is an obscure British film that's about a bus crash on that particular day that then flashes back toward the beginning of that day in telling the passengers' lives beforehand. All I'll mention now is that a couple of deaths result but this is not a horror or suspense film but a comedy with some dramatic moments that entertained me quite a bit most of the way through. So on that note, I highly recommend Friday the Thirteenth.

Interesting mix of Hitchcock-type of mystery and early film noir has a London bus careering down the road, on a rainy Friday the 13th, at 11.59pm, when lightning strikes causing an accident which kills two on board. Big Ben winds backward, and we're taken back to Thursday the 12th and shown (in far too much detail?) the lives of the people involved in said bus accident. This series of vignettes ties together each individual's story, placing them together on this doomed bus ride. The mystery comes from wondering which of the two passengers perish in the accident.A bit of fun is had along the way at the expense of ridiculous clichés and superstitions (seven years back luck, throwing salt over one's shoulder, the film's date of occurrence) and the last scene, with the small boy and the old lady, is most amusing.

No need to praise this little gem, as previous reviewers have done so already. There is a nicely democratic air about the piece, looking at a wide range of people going about their daily lives. We see the hardworking souls at the bottom of the heap such as the stall-holder in the street market, the bus crew at the depot (and at the races), attendants at the Turkish baths, office workers, teachers and entertainers. Then there are the more parodic pictures of idler, stupider and richer folk.Not only does the film draw you into the lives of the people on the bus up to the moment of the crash, but it also gives you resolutions for the problems they were facing. For example, the chorus girl realises she was foolish to head for the lecherous agent's flat and that she'll be better off marrying her dull but loving schoolmaster. Also, the two deaths are in fact blessings. One is undeserved, but it means that the victim never knows the unfaithful wife he loves has left him, even though the faithful dog waiting for him in the empty home tears our hearts. The other is richly deserved, ridding the earth of a useless villain, despite him doing a good deed seconds before he dies, and freeing his victims to marry in peace. Matrimony is celebrated, despite its flaws, as the great social cement. Extra-marital sex, whether achieved or just wished for, is corrosive (yet all the behind the scenes shots of the chorus girls, while titillating, are fun.) And I must have a juvenile sense of humour because I found Jessie Matthew's posh voice discussing knickers hilarious.