![And Then There Were None [Blu-ray]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61sSPxsJqcL._SX300_SY300_QL70_ML2_.jpg)
![Crooked House [Blu-ray]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/815OQmrKaDL._AC_UL160_SR160,160_.jpg)
![The Mirror Crack'd (Special Edition) [Blu-ray]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81u9PiN1vBL._AC_UL160_SR160,160_.jpg)
![Evil Under the Sun (Special Edition) [Blu-ray]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81zPkRZbCyL._AC_UL160_SR160,160_.jpg)
![Death on the Nile (Special Edition) [Blu-ray]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81QYfOPaiGL._AC_UL160_SR160,160_.jpg)
![Ten Little Indians [Blu-ray]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/8183y-WuTaL._AC_UL160_SR160,160_.jpg)
Perhaps Agatha Christie’s best mystery/whodunit, “And Then There Were None” has been filmed numerous times, sometimes under its original title as a book and a play, “Ten Little Indians” (a title retained for this film in Britain). With its perfect English Gothic atmosphere and an outstanding cast of character actors, it is one of the great mystery films of the classic film era. An independent production, it was a decidedly international undertaking with a famed French director and mostly British Commonwealth cast filmed at the Samuel Goldwyn Studios and distributed by Twentieth Century Fox.
The mystery takes place in one of Christie’s favored settings, an island off the coast of Devon (even “Evil Under the Sun” was set in such a location in its novel but moved to the Adriatic for the 1970’s film). There are enough nice exterior shots of the house and island to open the piece up a bit and make it seem less like a play. The island (of course) is private and there is no boat service between Friday and Monday. It is also subject to thunderstorms and bad weather.. Seven houseguests, a newly hired secretary and two staff, all unknown to each other, are invited to this place with its large house, by a mysterious Mr. U.N. Owen. Before long, they are being murdered one-by-one.
The cast includes many of the best character actors of the era, many of whom had a tremendous amount of stage experience besides films. Though often given only small character roles they had occasionally appeared in a big role in a major film like Judith Anderson in “Rebecca” or Barry Fitzgerald in “Going My Way”. Walter Huston would soon do “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” and C. Aubrey Smith had played an aristocrat or high-ranked military man in many films, becoming practically a symbol of the British Empire. Roland Young had been in dozens of films, most notably in the “Topper” series as the lead character.
Richard Haydn, who often played eccentric characters will be seen practically forever, if not known by name, in the role of impresario Max Detweiler in “The Sound of Music”. Mischa Auer, known from “My Man Godfrey”, had his character’s name changed to suit his Russian ancestry. The lesser known actor, Louis Hayward holds his own with all these notables. June Duprez is the new secretary and is pleasant enough in her role as much as Queenie Leonard is dour in her role of the maid. It’s great to see this ensemble together and I only wish the film had been longer to give each more screen time.
There are numerous loose ends and improbabilities in films of this kind, but in this case they are few, and the script plays pretty fair with the audience. As usual many possible suspects are revealed but there are no wildly misleading hints or impossible aspects to the murders. The actual murders are not exactly as the poem suggests, but the poem is more of a nursery rhyme. Of course, being 1945, there’s no blood and gore, bullets make tiny holes in skulls and most deaths take place offscreen. But who needs that anyway? This film shows that it’s unnecessary.
The tone is a bit odd much of the time. Though everyone is in a highly fraught situation and in danger of imminent death, they read books, knit, have small talk and after dinner drinks as if they’re just spending a normal weekend in the country. Yes, the film itself is taut and suspenseful but the cast seems a bit blase about it all. They even retire each to their own room to sleep when I would imagine they would all want to stay together for mutual protection and to keep an eye on each other. This doesn’t really harm the film but seems a bit unnatural. The film moves along at a brisk pace leaving you no time to dwell on such things.
Though it was a big hit film in its day and was distributed by Twentieth Century Fox, “And Then There Were None” was allowed to fall into the public domain allowing just anyone to put out terrible reproductions which flooded the market for years. I’m happy to say that Amazon’s streamed version is sharp and clear and looks the way such a fine film should look. It runs the usual ninety minutes or so, standard for the period. The extra time is due to it being streamed in a package that includes a half hour episode of a Sherlock Holmes story.
| Additional Multi-Format options | Edition | Discs | Price | New from | Used from |
|
Multi-Format
August 27, 2013 "Please retry" | — | 1 |
—
| — | — |
Watch Instantly with 
| Rent | Buy |
Add a debit or credit card to save time when you check out
Convenient and secure with 2 clicks. Add your card
Similar items that may deliver to you quickly
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
