Source: "The Life And Times Of Alfred Hitchcock" by John Russel Taylor, 1978, page 42 "Lady who came up with the idea was Anita Ross, at the time, a publicity woman for Famous Players-Lansky. She carried a certain weight because back in Hollywood she had worked with Chaplin, and that impressed everyone enormously. The exact circumstances of how this film was made, and how far it was made (it was certainly never finished), remain obscure. Even its title presents something of a mystery. In the records of Islington Studios it is called Mrs. Peabody; Hitchcock refers to it as Number Thirteen.
When studio wound down, among the other production in the works was a modest two-reeler variously titled Number 13 and Mrs. Peabody, written by Anita Ross, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It seems to have been a comedy; It featured American film star Clare Greet, and English stage-actor Ernest Thesiger. Even as modest as it was, film was never finished and seems to not exist today ("Thank heavens", says Hitchcock) ; it had the misfortune of being in production at the time Famous Players-Lansky was winding down operations, and studio was left deserted except for a skeleton crew, including Hitchcock."
Source: "Hitchcock, A Life In Darkness And Light" by Patrick McGilligan, 2003, on page 753/ 4: "Number 13 is unfinished; also referred to as "Mrs. Peabody". The picture dealt with London low-life, the number thirteen of the title referring to the number of a tenement flat in a Peabody Building (a poor-person's dwelling). In a letter, Ernest Thesiger comments on the fact that Clare Greet was persuaded to put up some of the money towards the making of the picture, which was never actually shown. Adrian Brunel, however, remembers Hitchcock showing it to him, in an incomplete state, in 1922." Special supplement to Sight And Sound, May 1949.
For whatever this may be worth, is it listed on http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/M/MissusPeabody1922.html under the title Mrs. Peabody, with "Scenario by Anita Ross". It should also be noted that Hitchcock was involved in the making of twelve films prior to this film, making it his thirteenth film. That could be why Hitchcock referred to it as Number 13, rather than its correct title, Mrs. Peabody.
When studio wound down, among the other production in the works was a modest two-reeler variously titled Number 13 and Mrs. Peabody, written by Anita Ross, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It seems to have been a comedy; It featured American film star Clare Greet, and English stage-actor Ernest Thesiger. Even as modest as it was, film was never finished and seems to not exist today ("Thank heavens", says Hitchcock) ; it had the misfortune of being in production at the time Famous Players-Lansky was winding down operations, and studio was left deserted except for a skeleton crew, including Hitchcock."
Source: "Hitchcock, A Life In Darkness And Light" by Patrick McGilligan, 2003, on page 753/ 4: "Number 13 is unfinished; also referred to as "Mrs. Peabody". The picture dealt with London low-life, the number thirteen of the title referring to the number of a tenement flat in a Peabody Building (a poor-person's dwelling). In a letter, Ernest Thesiger comments on the fact that Clare Greet was persuaded to put up some of the money towards the making of the picture, which was never actually shown. Adrian Brunel, however, remembers Hitchcock showing it to him, in an incomplete state, in 1922." Special supplement to Sight And Sound, May 1949.
For whatever this may be worth, is it listed on http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/M/MissusPeabody1922.html under the title Mrs. Peabody, with "Scenario by Anita Ross". It should also be noted that Hitchcock was involved in the making of twelve films prior to this film, making it his thirteenth film. That could be why Hitchcock referred to it as Number 13, rather than its correct title, Mrs. Peabody.
