And Then There Were None
Reviews
barrymost
If you enjoy this review, please check out my blog, Old Hat Cinema, at https://oldhatcinema.medium.com/ for more reviews and other cool content. And then there were...too many. From Agatha Christie’s highly acclaimed novel, originally published as Ten Little Indians, comes this mediocre “thriller”. With an all-star cast, including Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Houston, Louis Hayward, and Roland Young, and directed by Rene Clair, you’d think you were in for one of the all-time great mystery thrillers of the ‘40’s. Especially considering the material it came from: Christie’s expertly-written, suspenseful, and at times downright frightening novel is a great read that I highly recommend to anyone whose nerves can handle it. It’s one of the greatest stories of human corruption and brutality, of heinous crimes committed by a twisted mind, ever written. Bottom line: the film is a bleak and utter disappointment. I then found out that the movie was actually based upon the stage play version, also written by Agatha Christie in 1943, four years after the publication of the novel. She rewrote the ending, reportedly feeling that the original ending would be too depressing for wartime audiences…making the very title no longer applicable! Instead of the dark and bloody climax of the novel, she went in for a “happily ever after” love story. Miss Christie, what were you thinking?! If the production had been adapted from the novel instead, perhaps it could have been a good, worthwhile film. Although, the movie was also made during wartime; hence the usage of the alternate, rather than the original, ending. Ultimately, the film never reaches the level of shock and suspense that is inherent in the novel. The only positive thing I can say is that the cast was competent, and Walter Huston definitely stood out. Overall, you’d be better off reading the real And Then There Were None. In the film, there were too many left.
CinemaSerf
This is a superbly directed (by René Clair) adaptation of one of Agatha Christie's more intriguing murder mysteries that I don't think has been surpassed in the 75-odd years since it first hit the screen. A great ensemble cast are invited to weekend on a remote island by a couple they have never met. Once on the island, their host - by way of a record - accuses each of them of committing heinous crimes; then slowly - but surely - they start to drop like flies. I suppose I have to warn that in the vernacular of the 2020s, this film contains language and terminology that we might find offensive nowadays, but suspend the correctness for 100 minutes and you'll get a great murder mystery featuring a super cast - especially Barry Fitzgerald ("Judge Quincannon"); Louis Hayward ("Lombard") and June Duprez ("Vera") ; as well as some classy contributions from Judith Anderson and Sir C. Aubrey Smith and some clever staging/dialogue with a genuinely good "whodunit" ending with a twist. As with a few Christie stories, it's quite plausible that anyone did it and on stage it wasn't always the same character behind the plotting - so don't assume you will know who is the cunning brain behind it all if you've seen any other iterations.
Movie Recommendation
Ten Little Indians1965-07-31Ten strangers are invited as weekend guests to a remote mountain mansion. When the host doesn't show up, the guests start dying, one by one.More...
Dragonwyck1946-04-19For Miranda Wells, moving to New York to live in Dragonwyck Manor with her rich cousin, Nicholas, seems like a dream. However, the situation gradually becomes nightmarish. She observes Nicholas' troubled relationship with his tenant farmers, as well as with his daughter, to whom Miranda serves as governess. Her relationship with Nicholas intensifies after his wife dies, but his mental imbalance threatens any hope of happiness.More...
Umbrella2020-12-25While visiting a home for children, a little girl meets Joseph, a boy whose only dream is to have a yellow umbrella. This unexpected encounter awakens his memories of the past.More...
And Then There Were None1974-09-24Ten people are invited to a hotel in the Iranian desert, only to find that an unseen person is killing them one by one. Could one of them be the killer?More...
Karlsson on the Roof1974-12-02Svante is a young boy who lives with his family in a Stockholm apartment. One day he meets Karlsson, a chubby little man in the prime of his life, who can fly using a propeller on his back and who lives in his little house on the roof.More...
Fog Island1945-02-15Leo, a former convict, is living in seclusion on an island with his step-daughter, the daughter of his late wife. Leo was framed by a group of former business associates, and he also suspects that one of them killed his wife. He has invited the group to his island, tempting them by hinting about a hidden fortune, and he has installed a number of traps and secret passages in his home. He is aided in his efforts by a former cell-mate who holds a grudge against the same persons. When everyone arrives, the atmosphere of mutual suspicion and the thick fog that covers the island promise a tense and hazardous weekend for everyone.More...
Inherit the Wind1999-05-29Two great lawyers argue the case for and against a science teacher accused of the crime of teaching evolution.More...
Space Dogs2019-08-09Laika, a stray dog, was the first living being to be sent into space and thus to a certain death. A legend says that she returned to Earth as a ghost and still roams the streets of Moscow alongside her free-drifting descendants. While shooting this film, the directors little by little realised that they knew the street dogs only as part of our human world; they have never looked at humans as a part of the dogs’ world.More...
And Now the Screaming Starts!1973-04-27In the late 18th century, two newlyweds move into the stately mansion of husband Charles Fengriffen. The bride, Catherine, falls victim to a curse placed by a wronged servant on the Fengriffen family and all its descendants.More...
Bloodsucking Freaks1976-11-03Sardu, master of the Theatre of the Macabre, and his assistant Ralphus run a show in which, under the guise of 'magic', they torture and murder people in front of their audience. But what the punters see as a trick is actually real.More...
Compulsion1959-04-01Two close friends' plan to execute a flawless crime is crushed when one of them inadvertently leaves his glasses at the crime scene.More...
Murder Ahoy1964-09-22During an annual board of trustees meeting, one of the trustees dies. Miss Marple thinks he’s been poisoned after finding a chemical on him. She sets off to investigate at the ship where he had just come from. The fourth and final film from the Miss Marple series starring Margaret Rutherford as the quirky amateur detective.More...
The Paradine Case1947-12-31Attorney Anthony Keane agrees to represent Londonite Mrs. Paradine, who has been fingered in her husband's murder. From the start, the married lawyer is drawn to the enigmatic beauty, and he begins to cast about for a way to exonerate his client. Keane puts the Paradine household servant on the stand, suggesting he is the killer. But Keane soon loses his way in the courtroom, and his half-baked plan sets off a stunning chain of events.More...
The Apartment1996-07-27Max is a former playboy who has decided to settle down by marrying his current love, Muriel. However, when Max catches a glimpse of the great lost love of his life, he becomes obsessed with rekindling their relationship.More...
Feather2016-10-20Ferro and Cate, two kids trying to get to grips with an unplanned pregnancy, their families (rebellious Ferro’s hospitable, ‘normal’ family, and level-headed Cate’s unhinged, atypical one), exams at school, friends and a general lack of jobs.More...
Suddenly, Last Summer1959-12-22The only son of wealthy widow Violet Venable dies while on vacation with his cousin Catherine. What the girl saw was so horrible that she went insane; now Mrs. Venable wants Catherine lobotomized to cover up the truth.More...
The Kid with a Bike2011-05-18Abandoned by his father, a young boy is left in the hands of an unqualified childcare provider.More...
The Hawks and the Sparrows1966-05-04A man and his son take an allegorical stroll through life with a talking bird that spouts social and political philosophy.More...
The Asphalt Jungle1950-05-12Recently paroled from prison, legendary burglar "Doc" Riedenschneider, with funding from Alonzo Emmerich, a crooked lawyer, gathers a small group of veteran criminals together in the Midwest for a big jewel heist.More...
Evil Under the Sun1982-03-05An opulent beach resort provides a scenic background to this amusing whodunit as Poirot attempts to uncover the nefarious evildoer behind the strangling of a notorious stage star.More...
Similar Movies
Chinatown
1974-06-20Private eye Jake Gittes lives off of the murky moral climate of sunbaked, pre-World War II Southern California. Hired by a beautiful socialite to investigate her husband's extra-marital affair, Gittes is swept into a maelstrom of double dealings and deadly deceits, uncovering a web of personal and political scandals that come crashing together.Strangers on a Train
1951-06-27Having met on a train, a smooth-talking psychotic socialite shares his theory on how two complete strangers can get away with murder to an amateur tennis player — a theory he plans to test out.Brief Encounter
1945-11-24Returning home from a shopping trip to a nearby town, bored suburban housewife Laura Jesson is thrown by happenstance into an acquaintance with virtuous doctor Alec Harvey. Their casual friendship soon develops during their weekly visits into something more emotionally fulfilling than either expected, and they must wrestle with the potential havoc their deepening relationship would have on their lives and the lives of those they love.Who Framed Roger Rabb...
1988-06-22'Toon star Roger is worried that his wife Jessica is playing pattycake with someone else, so the studio hires detective Eddie Valiant to snoop on her. But the stakes are quickly raised when Marvin Acme is found dead and Roger is the prime suspect.Sliver
1993-05-21A woman moves into a Manhattan apartment, where she learns that the previous tenant's life ended under mysterious circumstances.M*A*S*H
1970-02-18The staff of a Korean War field hospital use humor and hijinks to keep their sanity in the face of the horror of war.Saw IV
2007-10-25Despite Jigsaw's death, and in order to save the lives of two of his colleagues, Lieutenant Rigg is forced to take part in a new game, which promises to test him to the limit.Face/Off
1997-06-27In order to foil a terrorist plot, an FBI agent undergoes facial transplant surgery and assumes the identity of a criminal mastermind. The plan turns sour when the criminal wakes up prematurely and seeks revenge.Primal Fear
1996-03-06An arrogant, high-powered attorney takes on the case of a poor altar boy found running away from the scene of the grisly murder of the bishop who has taken him in. The case gets a lot more complex when the accused reveals that there may or may not have been a third person in the room.Double Indemnity
1944-07-06A seductive housewife draws an insurance salesman into a plot of adultery and crime to collect on her husband's life insurance.Blood Diamond
2006-12-08An ex-mercenary turned smuggler. A Mende fisherman. Amid the explosive civil war overtaking 1999 Sierra Leone, these men join for two desperate missions: recovering a rare pink diamond of immense value and rescuing the fisherman's son, conscripted as a child soldier into the brutal rebel forces ripping a swath of torture and bloodshed countrywide.The Last King of Scot...
2006-09-27Young Scottish doctor, Nicholas Garrigan decides it's time for an adventure after he finishes his formal education, so he decides to try his luck in Uganda, and arrives during the downfall of President Obote. General Idi Amin comes to power and asks Garrigan to become his personal doctor.Dangerous Paradise
1930-02-13Heyst, a hermit on his own tropical island, plays unwilling host to red-headed stowaway Alma. Danger looms...The Devil's in Love
1933-07-21The French Foreign Legion is the setting for this episodic adventure yarn. Victor Jory plays a Legion doctor falsely accused of murdering his commander over the love of Loretta Young. Jory escapes prosecution by heading for parts unknown, but when a deadly illness strikes his old fort, he returns to aid his comrades. He is arrested, but clears himself of the murder charge and ends up with Young. Devil's in Love is distinguished by the surprise appearance of Bela Lugosi, who shows up unbilled as a relentless prosecuting attorney in the courtroom scenes.Andha Naal
1954-04-13Rajan, a radio engineer, is found murdered in Madras during the tense World War II era, amid fears of a Japanese air raid on the city. CID officer Sivanandham investigates the case as each suspect—Rajan's wife, lover, relatives, and neighbors—narrates a different version of events, revealing hidden motives and secrets that lead to the truth.Sita Sings the Blues
2008-02-11Utilizing the 1920s jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw, the epic Indian tale of exiled prince Ramayana and his bride Sita is mirrored by a spurned woman's contemporary personal life, and light-hearted but knowledgeable discussion of historical background by a trio of Indian shadow puppets.Summer to Winter
2014-11-25Tam, an introvert, finds solace in his unlikely friendship with the optimistic Kimhan by the sea, but as they grow close, their future together remains uncertain.The Home of Dark Butt...
2008-01-11Haunted by his traumatic past and cautious about the prospects of an uncertain future, a fourteen year old boy named Juhani winds up in an isolated boys' home known as The Island. Juhani has been shuttled between foster homes and temporary families for the past six years, leaving any prospect of stability in his life a faded dream. When Juhani winds up in a remote shelter for troubled youth known as The Island, he has little idea of how ruthless superintendent Olavi Harjula can truly be.Bora Bora
1968-11-20A Frenchman finds his runaway wife on an island in the Pacific.Continent
2024-07-18After 15 years of living abroad, Amanda returns home with her French boyfriend, Martin. They arrive at her family's large-scale farm, located in a secluded village on the endless plains of southern Brazil. There, Amanda finds her father in a coma in the midst of increasing tension among the workers. The sole doctor in the nearby village is Helô, a young woman who resigns herself to caring for the local townspeople. The imminent death of the farm owner will put Amanda, Martin, and Helô at the heart of a disturbing settlement between the village and the farm owners.