And Then There Were None

I find it incredible how a film made 65 years ago can stand up so well, I think with every watch it gets better and better. It was very professionally made, beautifully acted and seems to avoid the brashness and showyness that the later versions were guilty of. I love the fact that every character is so charismatic, perhaps the character of the Russian was dubious casting, but The Judge and Doctor are fabulous in it, Huston and Fitzgerald showing what wonderful actors they both are. June Duprez was very beautiful, quite surprised to read that she retired rather early in her career. I'm unlike most reviewers, I actually love the 70's Oliver Reed/Elke Sommer version. Maybe this is the quintessential version though. Maybe this film is due a proper remake, who knows.

I have a theory that all her life Dame Agatha Christie hoped she would plot the perfect murder case mystery. She certainly entertained the world doing so, with way over sixty novels, books of short stories, and plays, most of which actually dealt with homicide in one form or another. Despite the sometimes too perfect clockwork that her plots could degenerate into, she was one of the masters of the form. I don't think any other mystery novelist ever found as many variations on the central theme of a detective story as she did. Of all her plots, that of AND THEN THERE WERE NONE / TEN LITTLE INDIANS was possibly her greatest achievement (the nearest competitor is an inverted form of it, MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS). Yet in every film version of the plot the perfection of the story is short circuited in the interest of "justice". Christie's original intention was that the ten people brought together to the ill-fated locale were to be found dead, and without any survivor the mystery would be apparently unsolved (though even Christie hedged her bet by having the perpetrator leave a written confession/explanation). But as the versions are now, the perpetrator is outwitted by two would-be victims at the last moment, thus leaving two survivors. The best version of the novel was this one. It was directed by French director in exile (due to World War II) Rene Clair. Of his American films this one is the most revived. Whether it is better than I MARRIED A WITCH or FLAME OF NEW ORLEANS is another matter, as they are all clever films. Clair was well served by a great cast of character actors, most of whom were victims in the story: Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, Roland Young, Sir C. Aubrey Smith, Mischa Auer, Judith Anderson, and Richard Haydn did the best with their parts. Louis Hayward and June Duprez were more than adequate as the two lovers in the plot. The secret of this film's success is that Clair treated the subject of murder lightly (to an extent). An example: Mischa Auer as a careless playboy explaining how he killed someone while driving drunk, and playing the piano while doing so - thoroughly bored looking while explaining what he did. A moment later he is gasping for breath as poison was added to his highball. He's the first victim. The key is that all the invitees to this island were acquitted of acts of homicide or manslaughter on technicalities. They all were apparently quite guilty, but lucky. So the viewer is somewhat torn after awhile - you don't like people who get away with murder, but as each one is wiped out by the mysterious host/killer we find ourselves sympathizing with their helpless plight. The original ending kept this sympathy up to the conclusion. But the improved (?) conclusion manages to dissipate this sympathy in the search for achieving a degree of justice for the victims. Oddly it still works, and the sense of impish humor is maintained even after the killer is revealed and destroyed.

Here's another movie that I never felt was anything but fair, but I kept giving it more chances and every time I did, my rating went up. It seems to get better and better with multiple viewings. One of the reasons is that the more films I watch, the more I get familiar with all these actors. If you didn't know any of these actors, the movie would be "fair" at best. You can bet if the story were re-done today, it would be faster moving. As it stands, its okay but a film in which 10 people are invited to an island and are systematically murdered one by one, should make for a tense thriller. Here, it's more of a study in paranoia, but that's interesting to view, too. I especially enjoy watching Walter Huston and Barry Fitzgerald banter back-and-forth. The ending to this mystery was well-done, too, and not something you're likely to solve. So, if you like the old classic mysteries, this should be appealing. It features an interesting cast of young and old actors, male and female.

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source: And Then There Were None

Really it was. I thought it wasn't much of a thrilling idea to change one of the character's names (Prince Nikki that is...I forgot his real name from the book), a few of the accusations of the murders that some of the characters have made, and get this -- THE ENDING!!!! I liked the movie a bit, but usually they do say that the books are better, and sometimes I agree and sometimes I disagree. In this case, the book was a lot better! So, if you liked the movie, read the book.

I find it incredible how a film made 65 years ago can stand up so well, I think with every watch it gets better and better. It was very professionally made, beautifully acted and seems to avoid the brashness and showyness that the later versions were guilty of. I love the fact that every character is so charismatic, perhaps the character of the Russian was dubious casting, but The Judge and Doctor are fabulous in it, Huston and Fitzgerald showing what wonderful actors they both are. June Duprez was very beautiful, quite surprised to read that she retired rather early in her career. I'm unlike most reviewers, I actually love the 70's Oliver Reed/Elke Sommer version. Maybe this is the quintessential version though. Maybe this film is due a proper remake, who knows.

Ten disparate people including a husband and wife butler and maid team have been employed and gathered on an island with a large mansion. During dinner as per instructions a record is played accusing each of the guests of the crime of murder in which they were never punished. Then one by one like the nursery rhyme about the ten little Indians, each dies. And Then There Were None is your typical Agatha Christie murder mystery with a very closed circle of suspects. After concluding that there is no hidden eleventh person on the island, it's got to be one of the guests. Director Rene Claire assembled a fine cast of very stylish players each perfectly fitting their assigned roles. With a group like this it's hard to pick out favorites, but I do have a few here. Walter Huston is a doctor accused of a malpractice murder is my favorite. He was drunk during the operation and he seems always ready for a shot for all occasions. What happens to him is rather fitting. Running a close second is Roland Young who is a seedy two bit gumshoe who committed perjury and sent a man to prison where he died. It's his profession to try and figure it out and he's constantly coming up with a wrong solution. First billed in the cast is Barry Fitzgerald on the strength of his Oscar winning Best Supporting Actor performance in Going My Way the year before. He's a judge who knowingly sent an innocent man to the gallows. His role is about as far from Father Fitzgibbon as you can get. He's got some pet theories of his own and a scheme to catch the killer. What's nice about this production is that there are no big box office names here to distract. Just a great ensemble cast working perfectly together. As in most Agatha Christie murders when all is revealed, the whole thing makes perfectly logical sense. But what's good about this is, it's not just who did it, but who will survive?

Judge Francis J. Quinncannon (Barry Fitzgerald), Dr. Edward G. Armstrong (Walter Huston), Philip Lombard (Louis Hayward), Detective William Henry Blore (Roland Young), the secretary Vera Claythorne (June Duprez), Prince Nikita 'Nikki' Starloff (Mischa Auer), Gen. Sir John Mandrake (Sir C. Aubrey Smith) and Emily Brent (Judith Anderson) are invited by the mysterious Mr U. N. Own to spend the weekend in an island and they are hosted by the newly-hired butler Thomas Rogers (Richard Haydn) and his wife and housekeeper Ethel Rogers (Queenie Leonard). Thomas explains that Mr. Own will arrive later and following the instructions of his master, he plays a record where the host explains that all of them have been accused of murder. Further, they realize that none of them actually knows Mr. Own. Vera plays a song about Ten Little Indians on the piano and they see a decoration on the table with ten Indians. Soon they are killed one-by-one while the each Indian vanishes from the decoration. Who might be the mysterious killer? "And Then There Were None" is an engaging thriller based on a novel and a stage play by Agatha Christie. René Clair makes an excellent theatrical but never boring film, supported by magnificent performances and a delightful screenplay with tense and humorous situations. My vote is eight. Title (Brazil): "O Vingador Invisível" ("The Invisible Avenger")