VividSimon Simply Perfect

Marketic It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Freaktana A Major Disappointment

Dalbert Pringle In this fast-paced (and fairly entertaining) "whodunnit" from 1965 - The characters in this one's story are, literally, dropping like flies (left, right, and centre).Set at a remote castle atop a steep mountain cliff - (Where the game of death gets underway) - Everybody is suddenly under suspicion and the mad race to uncover the true identity of the mysterious "Mr. Owen" escalates the drama into a literal frenzy of false leads and erroneous accusations.Based on Agatha Christie's 1939, mystery novel "And Then There Were None" - "Ten Little Indians" features an all-star cast headlined by Hugh O'Brian, Shirley Eaton, and (1960's pop idol) Fabian.

secondtake Ten Little Indians (1965)This is a remake of a classic Agatha Christie movie, and it's so closely modeled after the first you don't need to watch them both. I don't think one is very much better than the other, either, depending on your taste (the earlier one is more highly regarded in general).But watch them both I did this last week, and the slightly wry or almost humorous tone to both films is a reminder this is purely light entertainment. I think even Christie's story, which I read ages ago, has more depth (though her novels were always charming along the way, to be sure). The idea of a group of guests invited for a macabre evening as one by one they are murdered is about as gruesome as it gets, so it's natural the movie doesn't really go there.That the movie is black and white in 1965 isn't so unusual, even though color has by this point become mainstream. The old material and the old style of acting (Fabian notwithstanding—he's a great but awkward addition) make the movie feel not much newer than the original, "And Then There Were None" from 1945. That film, directed by Rene Clair, is considered the classic, and it has the advantage of being first. But like this later one, it's filled with stereotypes, and some canned acting clichés (like discovering the dead body right in front of them with a gasp). But I take it too seriously. The whole aura of the book is legendary—including that it is the largest selling mystery novel ever. The original title was pejorative, "Ten Little…" (using the N word, which the Brits seem to make less offensive somehow), but this was changed worldwide to "And Then There Were None." The song that explains how each will die was changed to "Indians' and then more recently to "Soldier Boys," the last apparently fine (until some veterans group raises it's hand).There is a 1974 version I haven't seen, and a 1987 Russian one (which I want to see). But then there are the takeoffs like "Murder by Death" which is a spoof all the way. And there are some twenty others, including television bits. Which means maybe the real movie to see is the first one, which came two years after Christie herself did a stage adaptation (during the war—drawing room murder as a diversion from mass murder).One final word—the book is best. And partly because the ending is best. Christie changed the ending for the stage version (which I can't even hint at of course) and this new ending was used in both the movie adaptations mentioned here. Director George Pollock is a workaday director, and so expect nothing much here. He did adapt some other Christie novels first, so might have a feel for the style, but it strikes me as a fakey 1960s British era that movies like "Alfie" and "Darling" make clear much better.

Neil Doyle TEN LITTLE INDIANS benefits from making good use of the original Agatha Christie story while making changes that don't detract from one's enjoyment of the puzzling mystery. And the fact that it includes some highly enjoyable performances from WILFRID HYDE-WHITE, DENNIS PRICE and STANLEY HOLLOWAY makes it worth watching for the cast alone.Others in the cast are less noteworthy, including HUGH O'BRIAN in the romantic lead and SHIRLEY EATON, who are somewhat less convincing as the hardiest survivors of a plan to do away with ten people at an isolated mansion where they have gathered for a dinner party.LEO GENN and MARIO ADORF are also well used as unfortunate victims of a wealthy man's determination to get rid of his household guests by murdering them one by one. Since this version concentrates more on the mysterious circumstances of each guest and omits a rampant use of comic touches that filled the Rene Clair version (AND THEN THERE WERE NONE--1945), it stays an absorbing who-dun-it until the final scene.Crisply photographed with some stunning B&W photography of exteriors and interiors, it somehow is not quite as entertaining as the original version starring Louis Hayward and June Duprez with memorable performances from a cast that included Judith Anderson, Walter Huston and Barry Fitzgerald.None of the performances here are memorable, but most of them hit the mark. Mario Adorf makes an interesting butler, his gloomy personality a stark difference to the sort of butler Richard Haydn played in the original. And changing the locale of the story to a mountainous retreat in the dead of winter doesn't affect the story in negative way at all.Summing up: Good, but still not as effective overall as the 1945 version.

blanche-2 Agatha Christie's novel "And Then There Were None" has been made into a film several times, most often under the name "Ten Little Indians." Based on the nursery rhyme, people meet their deaths in various ways according to the poem: choking, bee sting, etc. In the original Christie story, the setting is an island (in this version it's an isolated ski resort) to which a group of people are invited by a U.N. Owen. Their unseen host accuses each one of them of a crime; in each case, the crime was due to the unforeseen result of an action, making the wrong decision, that sort of thing. And one by one each guest is killed. Before that happens, the guests realize that U.N. Owen is one of them.Good story, but this film has some problems, not the least of which is the grooveadelic '60s music that makes it seem like a swinging Dean Martin comedy instead of a mystery. Another problem is Fabian, and after you see this film, you'll realize why he never could go the Frankie and Annette route. His character is wisely dispatched right away.The rest of the cast consists of some excellent British character actors: Wilfred Hyde-White, Dennis Price, and Stanley Holloway. Playing a film star is the beautiful, exotic Israeli actress Daliah Lavi, and her clothes are a high point of the film; the gorgeous Shirley Eaton is in the cast as Ann Clyde, a secretary who becomes the love interest of the very handsome lead, Hugh O'Brian (from my home town, I might add).Black and white, "Ten Little Indians" is atmospheric but moves somewhat slowly. In a way it's hard to judge, as I knew the story coming in. Newcomers to the plot should enjoy it.