Summary
A chandeliered manor, midnight-blue waistcoats, and a superstition as brittle as the china tremble when a thirteenth chair threatens the equilibrium of the moneyed elite. Mr. Smith—equal parts ringmaster and denialist—shanghais the drowsy gardener into a tailcoat, inflating the guest list to fourteen and detonating the social contract. Cue Stan Laurel’s loping innocence, a cue-stick that thinks it’s a divining rod, and a triangle of colored balls ricocheting through Persian rugs like escaped planets. Chalk becomes hors d’oeuvre, champagne fizzes into fire-hazard, and every gilt doorframe turns into a proscenium for pratfalls that bruise more than egos. By the time dawn leaks through the stained glass, the mansion has metabolized its own pretense into slapstick debris, leaving only the lingering suspicion that luck, like class, is just another costume that refuses to stay buttoned.
Synopsis
The film centers on a social gathering at a wealthy home. When a guest expresses concern about having thirteen people at the dinner table (believing it brings bad luck), the host, Mr. Smith, asks the gardener, played by Stan Laurel, to join them to make a fourteenth guest. This decision leads to a series of chaotic and comedic events. A notable sequence involves a long game of pool featuring various gags, including Stan accidentally eating the billiard chalk.
Cast
