Agatha Christie, one of the most prolific mystery writers ever, wrote numerous novels, short stories, and plays. Three of her plays have become legends of the theatre: WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION (made into a brilliant film by the great Billy Wilder); THE MOUSETRAP (Still playing in the West End after a sixty year run); and TEN LITTLE INDIANS, which may be the most-filmed of all her works; I count eight on IMDb under the original stage title, and this one, the very first film made from this play, that was released with the novel's American title AND THEN THERE WERE NONE.
Brilliantly filmed in stark black-and-white, this is a prime example of one of Christie's best formulas: a group of people gathered together in a remote location, and murder comes calling.
It's very hard to review anything by Christie because one does not want to reveal more than is necessary, but I can safely sketch the basics of the plot: Ten people are gathered at a house built on an island about a mile off of England's Devonshire coast. A few minutes of conversation among the "guests" reveals that their invitations may be questionable and they may have been gathered there under false pretenses. Then a voice is heard (it is later revealed to have been a phonograph record) accusing each member of the cast of murder (It is perhaps a good idea to point out that murder was a capital crime in England at that time). It isn't long before the guests start dying off, and there seems to be a link between the murders and the old English nursery rhyme "Ten Little Indians." The English version is slightly different from the American one (in the English version the "Indians" are East Indians; in the American one, native Americans), and as a visual aid there is a collection of Indian figurines; each time another guest dies, another figurine vanishes.
As is usual with Christie, there's more than a touch of humor about the proceedings, and as with WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION, the moments of comic relief only serve to make the more serious and even frightening aspects of the story stand out.
This is a great film, certainly one of the best films ever made from a Christie play. I can also reveal this much: Christie wrote two endings; one for the novel and one for the play; the film uses the ending from the play. I urge anyone who likes a good mystery to read the novel as well. Of all of Christie's puzzles this one is one of her most complex, and the amazing thing is that she could change the ending without disturbing the integrity of the plot.
Brilliantly filmed in stark black-and-white, this is a prime example of one of Christie's best formulas: a group of people gathered together in a remote location, and murder comes calling.
It's very hard to review anything by Christie because one does not want to reveal more than is necessary, but I can safely sketch the basics of the plot: Ten people are gathered at a house built on an island about a mile off of England's Devonshire coast. A few minutes of conversation among the "guests" reveals that their invitations may be questionable and they may have been gathered there under false pretenses. Then a voice is heard (it is later revealed to have been a phonograph record) accusing each member of the cast of murder (It is perhaps a good idea to point out that murder was a capital crime in England at that time). It isn't long before the guests start dying off, and there seems to be a link between the murders and the old English nursery rhyme "Ten Little Indians." The English version is slightly different from the American one (in the English version the "Indians" are East Indians; in the American one, native Americans), and as a visual aid there is a collection of Indian figurines; each time another guest dies, another figurine vanishes.
As is usual with Christie, there's more than a touch of humor about the proceedings, and as with WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION, the moments of comic relief only serve to make the more serious and even frightening aspects of the story stand out.
This is a great film, certainly one of the best films ever made from a Christie play. I can also reveal this much: Christie wrote two endings; one for the novel and one for the play; the film uses the ending from the play. I urge anyone who likes a good mystery to read the novel as well. Of all of Christie's puzzles this one is one of her most complex, and the amazing thing is that she could change the ending without disturbing the integrity of the plot.