And Then There Were None

Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully Done, Well Preserved
Review: This is a great movie with great performances. Moreover, though, the DVD edition shows great "tender loving care" for its subject. The sound track is crisp and clear - no "rising hiss" or annoying back noises. They took this one frame by frame to restore it.

The special features are great too. I learned much about how Walter Huston was recruited into this film, and how the leading man/leading lady combination dictated Rene Clair's decision to rewrite Christie (a mistake).

For Agatha Christie lovers, and for fans of the 1930s. You get a better show than you probably would have in a movie palance in 1939! And reflect, too, on the "murder in a teacup" flava: people in a big house isolated on an island that looks like a miniature Alcatraz, cut off from outside communication, and they still dress for dinner...gotta love it.

Rating:
Summary: Great adaptation and a great price
Review: Certainly the best "And Then There Were None" made. The DVD is a great print at a great price.

Many people are disappointed in that the it doesn't follow the book, however it does follow Agatha Christie's stage play. She intentionally wrote stage plays with different endings so as to maintain the surprise for people who had read her books.

Rating:
Summary: You will not be disappointed!
Review: When ten strangers all go to the secluded, island mansion of a mysterious Mr. U.N. Owen, they suddenly find that Owen wants them all dead. One by one, each is murdered in the same way as the ten little Indians in the nursery rhyme. Can the survivors find the murderer before it's too late? Watch and find out! [Black-and-white, released in 1945, with a running time of 1:37.]

This is a great movie, filled with excitement and suspense. The characters are quite interesting, and the storyline is wonderful (the movie being based on Agatha Christie's novel of the same name). I must say that, for me, Barry Fitzgerald simply stole the show, and the black-and-white film adds to the brooding tone of the movie.

So, if you are a fan of old time movies, or simply love a good mystery, then I highly recommend this movie to you. You will not be disappointed!


Rating:
Summary: The BUTLER did it!! Or did he??
Review: +++++

I watched this movie whose New York premiere was on Halloween day at the Roxy Theatre without first reading the novel that it is based on. I'm glad I did this! Why? Because I was forced to really watch the movie in order to deduce who the murderer was.

According to the opening credits, this movie is "based on the [1939] novel [of the same name] by [Dame] Agatha Christie" (1890 to 1976). (Note that in America, this novel is titled "Ten Little Indians.") However, this is not quite accurate. This movie is really based on the play version of this book that has a slightly different ending than the book.

As a synopsis, ten strangers are invited as weekend guests to the only mansion located on an isolated island. When the host, with the unusual name of "U.N. Owen" and his wife don't show up, the guests start dying, one by one, according to the lines in the children's poem entitled "Ten Little Indians."

The poem is as follows:

10 little Indians going out to dine;
One choked his little self and then there were 9.
9 little Indians sat up very late;
One overslept herself and then there were 8.
8 little Indians traveling in Devon;
One said he'd stay and then there were 7.
7 little Indians chopping up sticks;
One chopped himself into halves and then there were 6.
6 little Indians playing with a hive;
A bumblebee stung one and then there were 5.
5 little Indians going in for law;
One got in Chancery and then there were 4.
4 little Indians going out to sea;
A red herring swallowed one and then there were 3.
3 little Indians walking in the zoo;
A big bear hugged one and then there were 2.
2 little Indians playing with a gun;
One shot the other and then there was 1.
1 little Indian left all alone;
She went and hanged herself and then there were none.

These ten guests and the viewer are constantly reminded of the body count as each of the ten figures on a ceramic display are secretly broken, one by one, directly after a murder is committed.

Who exactly are these ten strangers? They are as follows (in the order in which they are killed):

1. Russian Prince Starloff (played by Mischa Auer)
2. Maid Rogers (Queenie Leonard)
3. Retired General Mandrake (Sir C. Aubrey Smith)
4. Butler Rogers (Richard Haydn)
5. Spinster (?) Brent (Dame Judith Anderson)
6. Judge Quinncannon (Barry Fitzgerald)
7. Dr. Armstrong (Walter Huston)
8. Detective Bloor (Roland Young)
9. Explorer Lombard (Louis Hayward)
10. Secretary Claythorne (June Duprez)

The above cast does a stellar job in their roles. They make the movie come across not only as a mystery but also as a black comedy (thanks to a well-crafted script). Personally, I think the actor who portrayed the butler did the best job.

As the murders begin to occur, the guests realize that there is a person acting as "judge, jury, and executioner." And that person, they surmise, is Mr. Owen. Suspense is created when these guests (and the viewer) start asking themselves questions:

(1) Is Owen hiding in the mansion killing them one by one?
(2) Is Owen one of them? That is, is the "loose cannon" one of them?
(3) (Is Owen the boatman that drove them from the mainland to the island?)

This movie is in black and white. It gives the movie a claustrophobic feeling (adding another dimension to this movie). The cinematography is breathtaking. The main background music for this movie is unique, something I did not expect.

I thought this movie was a little rushed at the beginning. However, it slowed down as it progressed.

Finally, the DVD (the one distributed by the studio Image Entertainment) has just one extra. Even though it lasts less than two minutes, it is VERY interesting.

In conclusion, this is a fun movie, even if you have read the book it's based on!!

(1945; 100 min; black and white)

+++++