The Thirteenth chair

   Written by Bayard Veiller as a vehicle for his wife, Margaret Wycherly, this three-act thriller opened on 20 November 1916 for 328 performances presented by father and son producing partners William Harris Sr. and Jr. at the 48th Street Theatre. Wycherly played Rosalie La Grange, a medium engaged by Mrs. Crosby to contact a murdered friend in hopes that his spirit will identify the killer. During the séance, Edward Wales, a friend of Mrs. Crosby, is stabbed, but no knife can be found. Helen, who is engaged to Mrs. Crosby's son, Will, is suspected, particularly when it is revealed that she is the medium's daughter. However, a second séance reveals the true killer. Wycherly appeared in the 1929 motion picture version, but there were two others, in 1919 and in 1937, with Dame May Whitty playing Rosalie in the last.