And Then There Were None

1945
7.4| 1h38m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 31 October 1945 Released
Producted By: 20th Century Fox
Country:
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Ten strangers are summoned to a remote island and while they are waiting for the mysterious host to appear, a recording levels serious accusations at each of the guests. Soon they start being murdered, one by one. As the survivors try to keep their wits, they reach a disturbing conclusion: one of them must be the killer.

Genre

Drama, Crime, Mystery

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Director

René Clair

Production Companies

20th Century Fox

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And Then There Were None Audience Reviews

KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?
Lightdeossk Captivating movie !
Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.
Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
zardoz-13 Agatha Christie ranked at the top of the heap when it came to writing whodunits. "And Then There Were None," the most famous of all her novels dealt with a group of unsavory people ushered out to an island where they enjoy all the amenities of food, drink, comfort, and living arrangements. None of these colorful characters have a clue about what they have gotten themselves into until the butler plays a vinyl recording as part of his instructions and all but one of the participants has their shady past revealed. One by one, each of them is knocked off by a mysterious assailant, and their deaths occur according to the 'Ten Little Indians' nursery rhyme and nothing they can do seems to prevent their inevitable demise. Of course, filmmakers plant clues throughout the 97-minute narrative that serve to exonerate certain individuals, but if you aren't paying close attention, you might miss those pointers. Nobody dies the same way, and director René Clair and "Stagecoach" scenarist Dudley Nichols don't depict the manner of death in graphic detail. Typically, we see what was used to kill them, but these unfortunate victims are never shown actually dying. Primarily, the film shows these vastly different individuals either confessing their crimes and perishing or revealing that they aren't who they seem to be and surviving. At least two cinematic remakes ensued and later a television mini-series. Suspense is the card that Clair and Nichols play to keep us glued to the action. Age seems that the only way to distinguish who dies. The most youthful cast members survive the ultimate cut. Although the remakes follow the formula, they often change the settings. The only problem is that some of the characters seem rather dull and the chief criticism is why these suspicious types allowed themselves to be led so easily into this predicament. Of course, it is classic now for such an undertaking that these characters are isolated from the rest of humanity and have no way to turn until the last murder is enacted.Judge Francis J. Quincannon (Barry Fitzgerald), Dr. Edward G. Armstrong (Walter Huston), Philip Lombard (Lewis Hayward), Vera Claythorne (June Duprez), General Sir John Mandrake (Sir C. Aubrey Smith), Emily Brent (Judith Anderson), William H. Blore (Roland Young) and Prince Nikita Starloff (Mischa Auer) endure a choppy boat ride to the island, and the filmmakers use these few moments to introduce each. Modern filmgoers may criticize the obvious use of back projection to simulate the presence of rough seas. Happily, Clair doesn't deploy such obvious photography trickery in the remainder of the story. Afterward, the action is confined to remote mansion with the characters either perishing in the house itself or in the surrounding countryside. The characters in the boat, except for the older seafaring gent who munches on a sandwich throughout the voyage, aren't only ones. When they arrive at the mansion, they are greeted by the housekeepers, Rogers (Richard Haydn) and his wife (Queenie Leonard), who also have skeletons in their respective closets. Clair stages one amusing scene when several participants are caught eavesdropping on each other. One favorite technique that these curious individuals use to conceal themselves is to run the faucets in their adjoining bathrooms and then crouch down to peer through key holes. Naturally, inclement weather follows to build atmosphere into the proceedings. One of the drawbacks of this otherwise superior saga is the death of one of the individuals is faked in such a way as could never happen. Meaning, under the Production Code, violent death could never been portrayed, so we are lead to believe that a death has occurred when the person who is supposed to be death could never have survived some a death. None of the suspects are frightfully nasty types. Indeed, Judith Anderson's Emily seems haughty, but she doesn't behave like a murderer. Sir C. Aubrey Smith's elderly soldier seems more tragic than the others because his crime was sending his wife's illicit lover to his death in combat. Prince Nikita Starloff qualifies as the most obnoxious one of the bunch. At the same time, he seems to be more idiotic than deliberately homicidal. He ran over two people in a hit and run and wasn't prosecuted for his crime. The bumbler of the bunch is the retired detective William Blore. The only obvious plant occurs early in the action when one of the characters explains why the initials on his luggage doesn't correspond to his own name. The murderer keeps track of the deaths by breaking the figures in a ceramic sculpture of the aforementioned ten little Indians and this keeps the characters on edge about who is destined to die next.Clever, suspenseful, but ultimately shallow, "And Then There Were None" is still fun not only as a cinematic artifact but also as a whodunit.
Maddyclassicfilms And Then There Were None is directed by Rene Clair, has a screenplay by Dudley Nichols, is based on the novel by Agatha Christie and stars Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, Roland Young, Judith Anderson, C. Aubrey Smith, June Duprez, Louis Hayward, Mischa Auer, Richard Haydn and Queenie Leonard.This 1945 adaptation of the novel which is possibly Christie's best is atmospheric and strangely funny considering the dark subject matter. There is plenty of suspense and a good spooky atmosphere. The characters behaviour and interaction is often very humorous, because they are all so different and some have very quirky personalities. You feel like you have actually gotten to know these characters and you are kept guessing until the end (unless you've read the book)as to who the killer is.Ten strangers are invited to spend a weekend in a house on an island as guests of Mr U.N. Owen. Once they arrive they discover their host is absent and that none of them has ever met him. On the first night a gramophone recording starts playing accusing them all of being murderers. One by one they start to be killed and the survivors must try and work out who amongst them is the killer.The films ending is very different to the books and is quite disappointing in comparison. It's odd that such a major change was made but I suppose it was done to make the story less bleak and disturbing.The entire cast are excellent with Judith Anderson, Barry Fitzgerald and Walter Huston deserving special praise. There's some wonderful camera-work, especially in the scene where Huston's character looks through a keyhole at someone else who is looking through another keyhole.
Richard Bailey I've read almost all of Agatha Christie's novels, and this one has to be her definitive work, the darkest, the most intelligent, the one that truly keeps you guessing right until the very end. I like both English language versions of the film for different reasons. There is a quality to this production that defies the year it was made, a nice mix of suspense, intrigue and humour. Lombard is a real smoothy, and June Duprez is excellent as the beautiful but sad Vera Claythorne. My only annoyance is the switch in the ending, I wish they'd had the bravery to stick to the original ending, and not use the kop out stage play ending. The house and setting look really effective, it works, so much more so then a desert or even some other awfully imagined setting like a safari!
edwagreen A definite eerie, brooding piece with ten people being invited to a remote British island and then being summarily killed off one by one. Problem was that all had committed some form of transgressions in the form of murder during their respective lifetimes.You would think that the usually sinister Judith Anderson would be up to her evil ways. Instead, she sits and knits in the way of Madame DeFarge and becomes an early victim. Walter Huston proves in his role of a doctor how vulnerable he is when he is easily duped by rascal Barry Fitzgerald, the latter in top form here.A piece proving that justice may be served.