Produced in 1945, this polished and very slick thriller was directed by Rene Clair and based on the novel of the same name by master mystery writer, Agatha Christie. Many character actors flood the screen, all doing what they do best. These include Barry Fitzgerald as Judge Quinncannon, Walter Huston as Dr. Armstrong, Louis Haywood as Detective Blore, June Duprez as Vera Claythorne and Judith Anderson as Emily Brent.
The plot concerns the arrival of ten people (eight guests and two servants) at a very large and gloomy mansion on a remote island in the middle of nowhere in particular. The hosts are suspiciously absent, a mysterious Mr. Owen having left a recording, which accused each guest of a crime that cost someone their life. One by one, the guests die in imaginative, tongue-in-cheek ways, including poisoning, the injection of bee venom, toppling statues and your run-of-the-mill shots to the head. The tension is cleverly built into the plot as each remaining guest suspects the other of being a murderer. They decide not to split up as the killer whoever he or she is, only strikes when the victim is alone.
Because the boat that brought them to the island from the mainland only comes twice a week, the remaining guests are forced to stay and they join forces to find the murderer in order to evade their own deaths.
The ending is a surprise and well worth the wait. (I’ll never tell!) The movie was remade in the 1960s under the title “Ten Little Indians.” It starred Hugh O Brian, Fabian, Dahlia Levi and Shirley Eaton.
This film is a must see for all lovers of mysteries ala the grand dame herself, Agatha Christie.
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