Gaumont-British Picture Corporation

The production history of "Number 13" — also called "Mrs. Peabody" in studio documents — is still a point of intrigue and uncertainty for modern film scholars and Hitchcock enthusiasts. One detail that does seem apparent is that the production was shut down due to a lack of funds. Whether this means Gainsborough Pictures did not have enough faith in the movie and its new director to put up the money itself is unclear. All that's really known is that "Number 13" was financed by two private individuals rather than the studio's own funds.

The first of the film's financiers to come aboard was John Hitchcock, Alfred Hitchcock's uncle. The second was Clare Greet, an actor who was also playing one of the leading roles in "Number 13." Despite the film never being completed, Hitchcock was so grateful for Greet's contribution that he ended up casting her in six of his other films: "The Ring," "The Manxman," "Murder!," "The Man Who Knew Too Much," "Sabotage," and "Jamaica Inn."

Greet would have appeared alongside Ernest Thesiger in "Number 13." The two stars were set to play a married couple in a story about the residents of a building — one funded by real-life philanthropist George Foster Peabody — meant to provide affordable housing for low-income Londoners. The script was written by Anita Ross, a staff member at Islington Studios whom Hitchcock alleged had some kind of connection to Charlie Chaplin (yes, that Charlie Chaplin) when interviewed by Francois Truffaut for his famous book "Hitchcock/Truffaut." Outside of this comment, though, Hitchcock rarely ever spoke of "Number 13." Leave it to the Master of Suspense to leave the rest of us hanging forever.